“If friends ask about me, just smile and don’t answer. I’ll handle all the responses myself.”

As they got in the car, Si Heon mentioned a few things to keep in mind. So Yi swallowed hard and nodded.

“And.”

As if trying to reach the peak of anxiety, Si Heon paused for a moment before continuing.

“Don’t rush over excitedly when you see actor Choi Ji Wook.”

“Huh? Actor Choi Ji Wook?”

So Yi tilted her head in confusion.

“Even if you’re a fan, you’re attending as my partner now. Don’t show it.”

That’s when she vaguely remembered mentioning that Choi Ji Wook was her ideal type.

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

So he was friends with actor Choi Ji Wook.

Though not a die-hard fan, she had always thought he was a handsome actor who acted well, so she trembled slightly at the thought of seeing him in person.

She became even more excited as she recalled his passionate performance in the movie she had seen recently.

A moment later, So Yi blinked her big eyes as she saw Ji Wook smiling brightly in front of her.

“Hello, I’m Choi Ji Wook. Nice to meet you.”

They met Ji Wook in the elevator of the fine dining restaurant they arrived at with Si Heon. He said he just arrived as the filming ended a bit late.

“I heard you’re my fan.”

Until just recently, she could only see him through screens, but now he was greeting her with a bright smile.

“Yes, hello. I’m Jin So Yi.”

So Yi quickly gathered her wits and greeted Ji Wook.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. I wondered how the great Cha Si Heon could fall in love at first sight, but now that I see you in person, I understand why.”

“Thank you.”

So Yi blushed at Ji Wook’s words about falling in love at first sight. In fact, she felt even more embarrassed because she was the one who had fallen in love at first sight.

“I heard you worked overtime today? Your company CEO must be ruthless, making you work this late.”

“It wasn’t the CEO’s orders. I had a proposal that I couldn’t meet the deadline for, so I ended up working late.”

So Yi quickly answered, trying to shake off the memories of that night from her mind.

“Wow, are you defending your boyfriend so he won’t get criticized?”

“Ah, no. That’s not it…”

As So Yi was flustered by Ji Wook’s playful words, the elevator doors opened.

“Let’s go in quickly. The other friends have already arrived and are eating.”

So Yi tried to cool her suddenly reddened face and forced a smile. The memory of that night, which she had forgotten, made her whole body heat up in an instant.

Just as she managed to shake off the thoughts of that night and cool down, Si Heon suddenly gently grasped her hand.

Thump thump, her heart pounded.

“Whoa, Cha Si Heon. I didn’t know you had this side to you?”

Ji Wook’s eyes widened. He looked back and forth between So Yi and Si Heon’s hands, then smiled and shook his head as he opened the door.

So Yi’s pulse was still racing, beating violently.

In the private room of the restaurant they entered with Ji Wook, several of Si Heon’s college friends were already seated.

The friends who had finished their meal were each sipping wine, so So Yi also sat among them and started to sip wine.

“By the way, wasn’t the role you played in this movie just you?”

One friend asked, looking at Ji Wook.

“Really? Am I that charming?”

“What’s with the innocent act? Do you think they give titles like global star, Korean wave star, rising star to just anyone?”

Ji Wook smiled sheepishly.

“Right, So Yi? Our Ji Wook is very popular, isn’t he?”

The man turned to So Yi and asked. She had been thinking he looked familiar, and realized he was the heir apparent to JD Chemicals who had appeared in news articles.

So Yi nodded eagerly and opened her mouth.

“That’s right. Especially when you played the role of Kim Do Jun in ‘Sweet City’, you were hugely popular for your witty banter. But I also really liked your role as Jung Han Seok, the warm sunshine man, in the recently released ‘Spring Light’.”

“Oh, So Yi. You must like movies?”

“I was in movie clubs in high school and college.”

So Yi smiled, her cheeks flushed, perhaps from the wine.

“Oh, even clubs? What’s your favorite movie?”

“‘The Notebook’.”

So Yi’s expression noticeably brightened as the topic of movies came up. Si Heon’s friends seemed pleased to see So Yi, who had been sitting tensely until now, answer with sparkling eyes, and focused more on her words.

“And ‘The Secret’, ‘Be with You’, and ‘A Moment to Remember’ are my life movies.”

“Oh? Isn’t ‘A Moment to Remember’ Ji Wook’s work too?”

“Yes, that’s right. Actor Choi Ji Wook’s acting was very impressive then too.”

Si Heon’s expression began to harden. Oblivious to this, one of the friends asked Si Heon,

“Cha Si Heon, don’t you like watching movies?”

“Not really. I tend not to be interested in other people’s stories.”

So Yi looked at Si Heon as if she couldn’t understand.

“What do you mean other people’s stories? Sometimes the emotions and lessons contained in one story can be of great help to me.”

Si Heon just smiled silently.

“Oh, then what emotions and lessons did Jin So Yi get from that movie?”

The heir apparent to JD Chemicals asked.

“The common point of ‘The Secret’, ‘Be with You’, and ‘A Moment to Remember’ is love that transcends time. Love that overcomes the inevitable force of time that keeps people apart. When people watch such movies, they learn to believe in true love that they can stake everything on.”

Though he couldn’t sympathize with why one should stake everything on love, Si Heon nodded.

“No, Cha Si Heon doesn’t need to watch movies.”

Another friend jokingly said. From what she overheard, he was the son of the president of Hanlim Construction.

“His life is just like a movie. Isn’t that right, So Yi?”

“Pardon?”

“He fell in love at first sight with you in Italy where he went to get some fresh air. How romantic is that?”

The friends laughed loudly, agreeing it was true.

“No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t feel real. Cha Si Heon falling in love at first sight.”

“That’s right. I never expected this from Cha Si Heon of all people.”

“Three years in middle school, three years in high school, and four years in college. Add the time he spent in the military, and it’s been over 10 years that I’ve known Cha Si Heon. I just can’t get used to this.”

“The very idea of falling in love at first sight is unrealistic to begin with. It’s not like Cha Si Heon won a contract at first meeting, but he fell in love?”

The friends all shook their heads and laughed as if they couldn’t believe Si Heon’s behavior.

So Yi glanced at Si Heon, who was calmly drinking water. She thought that perhaps he could have succeeded as an actor if he had chosen that path.

“What do your parents do?”

At that moment, a sharp voice froze the air in the room.

From the moment they entered the room, one piercing gaze had been persistently clinging, and finally threw out a pointed question.

“Jang Ha Young. Why should my partner tell you that?”

Si Heon answered on her behalf, smirking. She had been wondering how to react, as he had told her to just smile and not answer anything if possible.

“I was just asking. Why are you getting so serious?”

Ha Young pouted, embarrassed, and someone else tried to change the subject by asking Si Heon,

“By the way, what happened during Cha Si Heon’s meeting yesterday?”

The atmosphere became even chillier.

“Yeah. That story has been buzzing on our company’s internal bulletin board yesterday and today.”

“Why are you asking about what happened during a meeting at someone else’s company?”

Ji Wook quickly interrupted.

“It’s because it’s Cha Si Heon of all people, everyone’s dying of curiosity. I heard something happened with Director Choi Tae Sik?”

“From what I heard, Director Choi Tae Sik didn’t say anything particularly wrong?”

Ha Young lifted one corner of her mouth as if she knew something, raising her wine glass.

“Jang Ha Young. Why don’t you try to fix that habit of blurting out things you don’t know well?”

Ji Wook, who had been speaking in a gentle tone until now, said in an icy voice.

“What did I say? I just relayed what I heard.”

Ha Young said, looking at So Yi with sharp eyes.

So Yi quickly averted her gaze and picked up the wine glass in front of her. She felt uncomfortable, as if thorns were stuck all over her chair, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Alright, Jang Ha Young. Even if it’s just something you heard, make sure you know the facts before you relay it. So you don’t embarrass yourself later.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? Cha Si Heon has been with the granddaughter of Daehan Electronics since before…”

“Jang Ha Young!”

Unable to listen anymore, Ji Wook furrowed his brows and raised his voice.

“Oh my, you startled me. Why are you getting so serious?”

So Yi was also startled by Ji Wook’s sudden outburst. But everyone just looked at Si Heon’s reaction and no one took Ha Young’s side. It seemed like something serious must have happened during the meeting.

At that moment, Si Heon, who had been slightly frowning, lifted his wrist to check his watch.

“I think we should get going now.”

“Right. We all have to go to work tomorrow.”

As Si Heon stood up, everyone started to tidy up.

Still tightly holding one of her hands, Si Heon led So Yi to stand up as well.

“Jin So Yi. It was nice to meet you. Let’s meet again next time.”

Ji Wook, who had come to the parking lot together, smiled gently again as if he had never raised his voice.

“Yes, it was very nice to meet you too.”

In fact, while he wasn’t really So Yi’s ideal type, the charisma Ji Wook showed today immediately made her understand why he could claim the title of national actor in one go.

He was infinitely gentle when smiling, but his resolute voice had strength. Perhaps that’s why So Yi’s eyes shone brightly as she looked at Ji Wook.