Sung Hyuk noticed from Young In’s widened eyes that this was not an agreed-upon matter. His gaze turned back to Jin Gyo.

“Don’t you need a field manager?”

“That’s right.”

“Chae team leader is not a field manager.”

Jin Gyo, without any response, asked Young In sitting across from him.

“You’re not doing it, not that you can’t do it, right?”

“Yes.”

“You know I’m not the type to ask for much, right?”

“I know.”

Jin Gyo stretched his lips into a smirk.

“Then do it for me.”

Before hearing Young In’s answer, he added one more thing.

“I’ll do the driving. You don’t need to worry about anything.”

Sung Hyuk, who had been listening silently, interjected.

“Then why do you need Chae team leader?”

Jin Gyo turned to Sung Hyuk and answered with a slight smile.

“I’m a bit shy with strangers.”

Young In inwardly laughed at his words, which she couldn’t relate to at all. If he was shy, then there wouldn’t be anyone in the world who wasn’t.

“It’s also fun to be with Young In. The care I mentioned earlier is mental care.”

Sung Hyuk had no intention of letting Chae Young In go for Seo Jin Gyo’s mental care. He decided to send out the one who wasn’t helping his own mental care first.

“I have something to discuss with Chae team leader privately. Could you please leave us?”

“Alright.”

As Jin Gyo nodded and stood up, Young In also jumped up quickly.

“I’ll show you to the reception room.”

Sung Hyuk promptly stopped her.

“That’s the secretary’s job.”

While Young In was inwardly shouting about why he was mistreating such a godsend, Sung Hyuk called the secretary on the keyphone. The secretary immediately entered the office.

“Yes, Chief Executive.”

“Please escort actor Seo Jin Gyo to the reception room.”

Young In knew that if she went against Sung Hyuk’s words here, the atmosphere would become terrible. So she could only silently watch Jin Gyo leave following the secretary.

“You’ll bore a hole in the door. Look at me, will you?”

When she turned around, his furrowed brows clearly showed his displeasure.

“Sit down.”

As Young In sat back down, Sung Hyuk asked her.

“You’re going to be Seo Jin Gyo’s field manager too?”

“Yes, what’s so difficult about that?”

“If Seo Jin Gyo doesn’t sign with SL Entertainment, you won’t be able to do it even if you want to.”

“……”

Young In was at a loss for words due to his unrealistic assumption. She was at a complete loss on how to dissuade him.

“I’m not very keen on this, do we really have to go through with this contract?”

The one fortunate thing was that he didn’t outright say he wouldn’t sign the contract. She could guess what answer he wanted to hear, but she had no intention of giving it.

“We absolutely must.”

His thick eyebrows furrowed roughly, as if displeased.

“Why?”

“Because there isn’t a single company that would turn down an actor like Seo Jin Gyo who came personally to sign a contract.”

“If we look hard enough, there might be one.”

Seeing Sung Hyuk’s indifferent reaction, Young In decided to play her trump card. It was all or nothing.

“If you break off this contract, I’ll quit the company.”

Sung Hyuk’s eyes cooled down.

“Why? Are you going to start your own company and recruit Seo Jin Gyo?”

“Yes.”

Of course, it was a lie. Pushing so hard, even to the point of lying, was entirely for Sung Hyuk’s sake.

Young In was certain that the fact of recruiting actor Seo Jin Gyo after his appointment as CEO would contribute to solidifying his position. Though he himself probably wouldn’t care.

“Don’t even dream about it. I’ll do whatever it takes to prevent you from quitting.”

A resigned sigh escaped from between Young In’s lips.

“Then just sign the contract. What’s the problem?”

“You’re the problem.”

Sung Hyuk crossed his legs irritably as he continued.

“I don’t like you handling Seo Jin Gyo, let alone being his field manager for a month.”

“Please separate personal matters from work, I beg you.”

“I have no intention of doing that. My coming here was a decision full of personal feelings, how can I separate personal and work matters when it comes to things related to you?”

He felt a bit wronged belatedly.

“Did you say that to Seo Jin Gyo?”

“What?”

“To separate personal matters from work.”

“……”

Young In realized that even Jin Gyo’s actions, strictly speaking, were personal rather than professional, yet she had only given Sung Hyuk such proper advice.

Anyway, Cha Sung Hyuk was a man who excelled at leaving one speechless in many ways.

“I don’t like it, but this time I’ll do as you say.”

He was also a man who knew how to yield his stubbornness at crucial moments.

“Really?”

“Don’t be so happy. It makes me want to take it back.”

“……”

Young In quickly shut her mouth.

Just as Young In didn’t want to miss the contract with Jin Gyo for Sung Hyuk’s sake, Sung Hyuk yielded his stubbornness for Young In’s sake. He knew that recruiting Seo Jin Gyo would raise Young In’s status within the company.

The two were completely unaware that their choices were for each other’s benefit.

“Tell the legal team to prepare the contract.”

Sung Hyuk stood up, hoping that Seo Jin Gyo wouldn’t have any particular schedules for the next month.

Seo Jin Gyo and SL Entertainment smoothly concluded their exclusive contract.

The status of Management Team 5 rose sharply, and some credit also went to Sung Hyuk.

As Sung Hyuk had hoped, Jin Gyo’s schedule wasn’t too busy. Since wrapping up at the end of last year, he had only been doing occasional advertising and photo shoots.

The advertising shoot location that Young In went to as a field manager after a long time was near the riverside in Yangsu-ri.

When the shooting was delayed due to camera setting issues, Jin Gyo, waiting in the car, suggested a walk around the area to Young In and the stylist.

The stylist flatly refused, saying it was bothersome, so only Young In followed him. Although she was tired from only sleeping two hours due to reviewing the script that Sung Hyuk had given her access to, she couldn’t bring herself to let him go alone.

The two got out of the car and walked side by side.

“I’ll drive on the way back, senior.”

Jin Gyo had insisted on driving himself this morning, and Young In had ultimately failed to dissuade him.

“I said in front of the CEO that I would drive. Are you trying to make me look like an insincere person?”

“What does that matter?”

“Why doesn’t it matter? I’m a person who keeps his word.”

The two stood a little away from where the shooting preparations were in full swing, gazing at the calm river.

While Young In was completely absorbed in the quiet and peaceful scene, Jin Gyo asked her.

“Cha Sung Hyuk is that person, right?”

Young In turned her head towards him.

“Your ex-boyfriend.”

For a fleeting moment, Young In’s pupils trembled. But she quickly regained her composure. Seeing his eyes not probing but certain, she strangely felt at ease.

“That’s right.”

Young In frankly admitted and returned the question to Jin Gyo.

“How did you know?”

“You said it before. That I have a similar feeling to him.”

Jin Gyo had felt a similarity to Sung Hyuk when they first met. Although their appearances were completely different, there was something oddly similar in their way of speaking and atmosphere.

“Did I say such a thing to you, senior?”

“You might not remember. You said it casually while drinking.”

He remembered Young In’s answer to his question about what kind of man he was.

“He was a very wonderful person. Someone I shouldn’t dare to look up to…”

The self-deprecating smile he saw that day was still unforgettable.

“I don’t know why I think of that person when I see you, senior.”

“Do I resemble him?”

“Our faces are different and our personalities are different, but there’s a similar feeling somewhere that I can’t quite place.”

The look in her eyes as she said those words while staring at his face was etched in his heart.

Since that day until now, every time he met Young In, he was curious. Just how amazing was this man?

It wasn’t just simple curiosity or inquisitiveness. In fact, there was more displeasure. How amazing could this man be for Young In to still not forget him?

He was jealous of and resented a man whose name and face he didn’t even know. Because of you, whom I don’t even know, I haven’t been able to confess even once, he thought.

He knew that confessing to a woman who held another man in her heart would only result in rejection.

“It’s an honor to be told I’m similar to such an amazing person.”

The day he first saw Cha Sung Hyuk, he had his suspicions, and the second time he saw him, he was certain. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he had to nod in agreement that it would take someone of this caliber for the words “someone I shouldn’t dare to look up to” to come out of Chae Young In’s mouth.

“I’m sorry, senior. I don’t remember, but I’m sure I didn’t say it with bad intentions.”

“I know you didn’t. I wasn’t offended.”

Just a bit bitter.

Perhaps it was because he now knew the reason why Chae Young In, who set boundaries and built walls with most people to the point of seeming cold, was a bit more relaxed with him.

“What was good about CEO Cha?”

Young In thought for a moment before answering.

“Because he was a man without any deficiencies?”

When she first saw Cha Sung Hyuk in her first year of middle school, he seemed like a person living in a different world from her. She was surprised by his appearance, and then surprised again when she heard about his family background.

When she found out that he was good at both studying and sports, she was even amazed. That was all. She didn’t admire him like an older sister, nor did she look up to him like a younger brother.

But in one autumn at the age of twenty-three, she received a proposal from him to date. Although it didn’t start because she liked him, she grew to like him more as time passed. To the point where it sometimes scared her.

“You mean he’s perfect?”

Young In silently nodded.

Was it because she felt imperfect herself? She liked being loved by a man who everyone saw as perfect. Of course, it wasn’t all good.

“That’s why I disliked it too. Because it made me feel more inadequate.”

It was at that moment that a low voice was heard from behind.

“What should I do now that I’ve developed a deficiency because of you?”

Young In, startled, quickly turned around.

The man standing crookedly with his hands in his pockets was Cha Sung Hyuk.