He disappeared from view. I couldn’t decide whether to follow him or not. And I checked my phone again.

The restaurant name written at the hotel was the one Tae Hong had entered. I walked slowly at first, but my pace gradually quickened.

Once I actually went inside, the entire restaurant had a room structure. So I couldn’t find Tae Hong who had come in here.

Hae Jin postponed searching for Tae Hong for now and checked the reservation with an approaching employee. She followed the employee deep inside.

As she was about to head towards the place the employee pointed to, the shoes placed beside it looked quite familiar. And next to them were red shoes.

What is this, what could it be? Hae Jin stood hesitating for a moment, unable to enter. Then reluctantly went into the room.

The whole time she entered, Hae Jin was preoccupied with the room next door. Could it be Tae Hong or not? Whose shoes were next to his?

No sound could be heard from the next room. It was perfect soundproofing where truly nothing could be heard.

While all sorts of thoughts were swirling in her mind, the closed door opened. And the person who appeared was not Jun Tae, but Seo Woo.

Why is this person here?

“I can see everything from here.”

Hae Jin instinctively sensed it. The fact that Seo Woo had already come out knowing everything. His acting wasn’t skilled enough to pretend to be surprised. And the perceptive Hae Jin didn’t miss that.

“I was disappointed when you said you couldn’t come today.”

Seo Woo sat down naturally across from Hae Jin, adding that they should proceed with the pre-ordered course. After the waiter who took the order left, the two were left alone.

“Did I have to send an SOS to the chairman just to see Deputy Jung Hae Jin’s face?”

Seo Woo blurted out without hesitation, not hiding his purpose.

Ah, so in the end it was a set-up.

“Since I’ve seen you like this in the end, I feel better now.”

She herself was just a pawn that had to move quietly there. It was confusing what this situation was all about. In the end, it seemed like this was all Jun Tae’s arena.

Hae Jin began to question every scene that flashed through her mind.

“How much of this was planned?”

Even when asked directly, Seo Woo didn’t seem particularly fazed.

“Well, the hotel was truly coincidental, the lounge and party venue were half coincidence, half intentional.”

“Coincidence and intention?”

“Yes. I really had business at that hotel that day for the lounge, and I got information that Yeon Chang would be attending the party venue.”

As Seo Woo rattled off, the pre-ordered food arrived. Unlike Seo Woo who gestured for her to eat, Hae Jin couldn’t eat any of the food.

“Then what about the MOU?”

“Ah, that was my intention.”

He was becoming increasingly creepy as he spoke without blinking an eye.

“And this was with the chairman’s help.”

Every time Seo Woo acted nonchalant, Hae Jin’s wrist felt a tingling sensation. A person who says it’s not bad to know, would Park Seo Woo really fall under that category?

Hae Jin had no reason to stay here any longer. If she had to meet Seo Woo for work anyway, that would have been when accompanying Tae Hong.

“I don’t think this is a place for me to be.”

Hae Jin stood up with a brief greeting. As she opened the door, the door to the adjacent room that had been bothering her also opened.

**

Tae Hong massaged his stiff neck. The phone call from Jun Tae that morning kept bothering him.

“What’s the matter?”

Tae Hong took out a bottle of water from the refrigerator, his voice lowered considerably.

“Why should I go?”

Tae Hong expressed his refusal without even listening to the other person’s story to the end.

“I have an important meeting today. I don’t have time to worry about such trivial things. Handle it yourself.”

−When we launch the brand, shouldn’t we spin it off as a subsidiary?

It was the project planning he currently prioritized most. If it succeeded properly, he planned to create a hotel subsidiary.

−He’s a recommended professional manager. There’s no harm in meeting him.

Tae Hong was also looking for a professional manager. The brand launch would certainly succeed, and what came after was more important.

−This is important as Yeon Chang’s successor. I don’t expect anything else from you. But for Yeon Chang, you should do at least this much.

“Please send me the time and place.”

He was both a father and the head of Yeon Chang. This time, he decided to trust him not as the former, but as the latter.

This project had to succeed no matter what. It was the first job Hae Jin was in charge of, and it was also a job Jun Tae was watching.

The fact that Jun Tae himself brought up a professional manager meant that he too was keeping an eye on it. So it was a job that had to be finished perfectly from start to finish.

And at the beginning and end of that was Jung Hae Jin. Come to think of it, it was ultimately for Jung Hae Jin.

I wonder what she’s doing now. Fortunately, what put his mind at ease was that since the schedule for the agreement with Tosan was canceled, she wouldn’t have to meet Seo Woo.

He arrived at the meeting place, but the moment he entered the lobby, Hae Jin came to mind.

I should bring her to this hotel.

He thought of Hae Jin’s face, which would light up like a child’s. Thinking of Hae Jin, who would look around here and there with sparkling eyes trying to take in every corner, the corners of his lips naturally turned up.

He’s happy every day lately. Hae Jin was at the center of it, and even now, just thinking of her made him smile.

He knew her courage. When she held his cheek with trembling hands, he vowed.

That he would never let her go. He couldn’t help it.

He wondered if there could be a woman in the world who would share her heart with him.

The purpose of approaching women was clear, and the outcome was predictable.

It was money rather than heart, pride rather than love. Such relationships weren’t fun.

He was tired of the meaningless waste of uninteresting time. Boredom occupied quite a long time. As a result, he liked the honesty of clear results and numbers that sales figures showed.

They were busy hiding their purpose behind pretense, and decorating that pretense extravagantly.

When Hae Jin said she would approach one step at a time, he wanted to hug her and run. He thought, I’ll walk in your place, so just come quickly.

But he knew that wasn’t a very good method. He had to respect Jung Hae Jin’s own pace.

She really was a different woman, different from anyone else. He didn’t know why he kept smiling more and more the more he thought about it.

For Tae Hong, things to smile about were when he achieved results, when a desired contract was signed favorably, when stocks went up.

But these days, it was when Jung Hae Jin ate, when Jung Hae Jin sat in the passenger seat, when Jung Hae Jin came into view entering the office.

Jung Hae Jin was at the center of his happiness.

Thinking about her again like this made him want to see her. Should they go eat somewhere nice after work? His heart fluttered at the thought of being with her.

While his mind was completely filled with thoughts of Hae Jin, a restaurant employee guided him to a room. He was representing Yeon Chang. He sat down with a social smile.

But Tae Hong ended up frowning at the sight of an unfamiliar woman opening the door and entering.

“We meet again.”

Se Young slid off her sunglasses and entered the room where Tae Hong was with a haughty face. A strong scent that stung the nose filled the room without permission.

“Who are you?”

Tae Hong looked at Se Young’s face, which had completely removed her sunglasses, with indifferent eyes. It wasn’t a particularly memorable face, but she said they met again.

“I think you’ve come to the wrong room. The person I was supposed to meet isn’t a woman.”

“It must be me. Don’t you remember me? We met at the hotel lounge bar with Jung Hae Jin then, and at the party venue too.”

Tae Hong’s face twisted again at the mention of Hae Jin’s name flowing between the bright red lipstick. He remembered now that it was related to Hae Jin.

The girl who changed the dress code as she pleased. The girl who acted overly friendly with Jung Hae Jin when they weren’t that close. The girl who openly disrespected our Hae Jin while doing so. The girl who mentioned arranged meetings.

In other words, an unpleasant girl.

“The chairman must not have said anything separately. Seeing that you came out not knowing.”

That’s right. He’s not the type to do that willingly. Why am I more angry this time as he hits his son from behind again like this?

Perhaps it’s because of the betrayal of the belief that this absolutely wouldn’t happen.

To think he would try to personally tie up a failed arranged meeting.

Tae Hong, who had been hit hard from behind by his father, drank some water. There was no particular reason for him to be here since she wasn’t the person he was supposed to meet.

“I’m sorry, but you must not have left much of an impression.”

Se Young trembled. Her elaborately manicured nails gripped the water glass. Tae Hong had barely touched the food. Se Young didn’t seem particularly interested in the food either. Her interest was solely on Tae Hong.

“Is Jung Hae Jin still doing well?”

Just as he was about to stand up, Se Young’s tactless remark about Hae Jin pushed his patience to the limit.

It’s something I’ve felt several times, but Hae Jin’s name on other people’s lips was certainly enough to make me uncomfortable.

Moreover, an even more sensitive reaction popped out towards people I particularly didn’t want her to be associated with. Se Young clearly brought up Hae Jin to get Tae Hong’s attention, but it wasn’t such a good idea.

“Unlike someone whose business card just says director.”

Se Young’s bright red lips were half smudged.

“She’s working properly better than anyone, so stop paying attention to Deputy Jung Hae Jin.”

Tae Hong looked alternately at the food on the table and Se Young with his arms crossed. The limit of patience revealed its end. It didn’t seem like anything good would come out if he stayed any longer.

“It seems like you’ve finished eating.”

Now it was time to stop playing along with this staged act. Tae Hong, judging that he had done enough, stood up without hesitation.

Thinking of Hae Jin who had been with Seo Woo, the urgency he had suppressed raised its head again.

“Shall we get up?”

“No, we still have things to talk about.”

Things to talk about, was there such a thing between us?

“Are you talking about things like marriage?”

The corners of Se Young’s eyes curved like a bow. She thought they were finally on the same page.

“Marriage with a woman who lacks presence. Father has really lost his touch.”

Tae Hong got up without regret and opened the door to leave. And at a good timing, he saw Hae Jin and Seo Woo coming out of the room next door.

Jung Hae Jin.

Why are you here?