5 AM.

Ba Ha, still half-asleep, tossed and turned, burrowing into the increasingly warm spot as if drawn to it.

Feeling something broad and firm even in her sleepy state, Ba Ha opened her eyes. Realizing she had fallen asleep in Tae Un’s arms, Ba Ha blinked and slightly raised her head.

“Ah…”

What on earth possessed her to make such a blunder? Even if she had been drinking, it seemed insane to have made such a mistake. It felt like she had completely lost her mind.

Ba Ha desperately wanted to kick the blankets in frustration right now, but fearing she might wake Tae Un sleeping soundly beside her, she swallowed dryly and turned her back as gently as possible.

“Ah…”

All that came out were sighs. As she kept sighing with her back turned to Tae Un, the events of yesterday quickly flashed through Ba Ha’s mind.

‘Go ahead. Whether it’s a blind date or marriage. I don’t care.’

Tears welled up again.

It was pathetic.

More than being angry at his words saying he didn’t care what she did, the fact that his words still hurt so much was truly pathetic. The fact that tears still came first when thinking of him was so pathetic.

It pained Ba Ha deeply that she felt this damned guilt over something the man who left her wouldn’t even care about.

“Ah…”

She opened her eyes wide and bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Ba Ha carefully sat up on the bed, trying not to make a sound.

She wanted to leave the hotel room before Tae Un woke up.

How disheartening would it be for him to open his eyes first thing in the morning and see the woman sleeping next to him with red eyes?

She felt sorry yet grateful.

Despite her clumsy seduction to entice him, all she had done in this hotel room with him was cry in his arms.

“Oh my!”

Just as Ba Ha was trying to get up as quietly as possible, Tae Un, who had been lying next to her, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into his arms.

“What are you doing? I can’t breathe!”

Ba Ha squeezed her eyes shut, held even closer now than when she first opened her eyes, with not even a gap between them.

“Why? Were you trying to run away just like that?”

“No, what are you…! Who said anything about running away?”

Stung by Tae Un’s words, Ba Ha kept struggling, so Tae Un slightly loosened his arms that had been holding her tightly and looked into her eyes.

He knew.

That tears were welling up in Ba Ha’s eyes.

Tae Un had been awake since Ba Ha started squirming, and he was awake when she turned her back and sniffled. He had simply kept his eyes closed, waiting for Ba Ha to gather her emotions.

But she wasn’t planning to leave first, right?

“Your eyes are red? Did you cry this morning?”

“Who said I… cried!”

She threw a needless tantrum.

It wouldn’t have mattered if Ba Ha had been thinking about Lee Han. He knew what he was getting into. The reason for this tantrum was simply that it seemed like Ba Ha was trying to fulfill her words about leaving this room alone and never seeing him again.

“Hey. Can you let go of this now?”

“Why? I’m quite enjoying it.”

“No, still…”

Realizing she was in Tae Un’s arms as soon as she opened her eyes sober, Ba Ha’s face reddened, and seeing this, Tae Un couldn’t help but smile.

“I don’t think I got an answer yet. So what’s your name? Are you not going to tell me today either?”

Tae Un wanted to hear the answer to the question he couldn’t get yesterday.

Why did this woman he had only met a few times keep coming to mind? Seeing Ba Ha kept bringing up memories he didn’t want to recall, which was bothersome.

Tae Un wanted to know everything about Ba Ha, one by one, and find the answer to this feeling.

“Why do you keep asking that?”

“Do I need a reason to ask? Because I want to know.”

“…”

She couldn’t understand.

Ba Ha couldn’t understand why he wanted to know the name of a woman he had only spent one night with so badly.

To Ba Ha, Tae Un was someone she never wanted to see again.

Every time she saw Tae Un, she would be reminded of yesterday, and every time she saw him, she felt she would carry guilt on one side for today’s events.

To Lee Han, who wouldn’t even care about her, and to the man in front of her now.

So Ba Ha wanted to end this relationship here.

“Is that such a difficult question? Or do you want to keep doing this? I don’t mind.”

Ba Ha threw up her hands and feet at Tae Un’s slyness. Seeing Ba Ha not answering, he tightened his arms around her more and more, and Ba Ha struggled, patting his back with her palms.

“H-Han Ba Ha! It’s Han Ba Ha!”

“Ba… Ha. Han Ba Ha.”

It was a name that somehow felt familiar.

He had heard it somewhere, but where exactly?

Well. It didn’t matter.

She would be right in front of him now anyway.

“Now let go of this!”

Only after hearing her name did Tae Un loosen his arms, and Ba Ha was finally able to escape from his embrace.

“Hey. Then I’ll just…”

“Ms. Han Ba Ha, aren’t you curious about me at all?”

“…No, I’m not.”

Ba Ha firmly told Tae Un as she got up from the bed alone and prepared to leave the room, while Tae Un just watched her.

“Thank… you for yesterday.”

“Then let’s meet again sometime. Us.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll go first. I’d rather not see you again.”

“Ms. Han Ba Ha, why do I feel like we’ll keep meeting? Even if we happen to run into each other, let’s not pretend we don’t know each other.”

“No. Let’s not see each other anymore. Us.”

Ba Ha deliberately tried not to pay attention to Tae Un’s words.

If she just didn’t go to Alice, would there be any chance of running into him? Even if Seoul is small, would we really see each other again?

Probably not.

Ba Ha let Tae Un’s words go in one ear and out the other as she left the hotel, leaving him behind.

She was exhausted.

Ba Ha lay in bed all weekend. Her head throbbed painfully all day from thinking too much, and Chairman Han’s incessant phone calls beside Ba Ha, who was lying down, nearly drove her crazy. Ba Ha covered herself with a blanket, not eating and not planning to leave the bed until right before work.

‘Ah… Please stop calling. I’ll go on the blind date. But I won’t return to Taesan.’

‘You never listen the first time, do you?’

‘I’ll become part of Yoo An Group anyway if I marry according to your wishes, so what’s the problem? And since when did you care so much about me? Did you suddenly develop some affection?’

‘…’

‘I don’t understand why you keep insisting I come back. Do you suddenly want to play family? Do you suddenly miss your daughter? I’m never going back to Taesan!’

It was surprising every time.

Ba Ha shook her head in amazement, watching Chairman Han seize the opportunity of his daughter’s breakup and refuse to give up, calling until Ba Ha answered.

“No. I don’t want to. Really.”

She didn’t even know how the weekend had passed.

Ba Ha’s mind was troubled, but she had a headache all weekend from Chairman Han’s constant phone calls. Her nerves were on edge all weekend from suddenly receiving attention she had never gotten in her life.

Her whole body was exhausted, and she didn’t feel recovered even after going to work.

Ba Ha’s mind was entirely focused on the approaching blind date.

“Ah… Senior, you don’t like it either? No, isn’t this too much?”

“Why is Doo Na so upset again?”

“No…! Why is our department preparing for the new vice president’s inauguration ceremony?!”

“That’s what I’m saying. But there’s not much time left. Doo Na, stop complaining and let’s just push through a little more.”

“Ah… Okay. I understand.”

As soon as they arrived at work, there was a sudden emergency to prepare for today’s inauguration ceremony, and Doo Na complained the whole time about how difficult it was. Ba Ha smiled slightly with her mouth, but her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Was it because of the upcoming blind date?

Her head felt like it was about to explode, and now she was starting to connect everything happening in this company to the Yoo An Group’s heir she didn’t even know well.

“So our company’s vice president is actually the eldest son of Yoo An Group, and he’s coming over after finishing as the U.S. branch manager. Then does that make him my brother-in-law? Ah… I don’t know. Your family isn’t that ordinary either.”

How could she not know?

It had been in the news constantly for a while. Even though it was a fact she wasn’t interested in, she couldn’t help but know because it was on everyone’s lips.

Every little detail spread, including the fact that Tae Un would grow up by his mother’s side as Joon Hwan and Soo Hyun divorced.

Ba Ha shook her head. She sighed at the fact that both families were far from ordinary, and sighed again at the word ‘brother-in-law’. She tried to relieve her complicated feelings by muttering quietly, but they showed no signs of improving.

“Ah… What brother-in-law? I just want to overturn everything! Really!”

The water had already been spilled.

Now I don’t know either. Chairman, you’ve won. I give up. I surrender.

“Alright! It’s about to start. Let’s focus and wrap things up!”

Hearing Manager Park’s voice, Ba Ha shook her head, trying to shake off the stray thoughts floating in her mind, and threw herself into preparing for the inauguration ceremony.

“Senior, it’s over. I don’t know why we have to attend this too. Senior, let’s just sit down and rest.”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

Once the inauguration preparations were finished, Ba Ha and Doo Na reluctantly took seats in the very back row.

For Ba Ha, sitting in this seat was extremely uncomfortable, but for different reasons than Doo Na.

She had to see the person who would soon become family.

It seemed like sitting in front of a computer typing on the keyboard all day would be better than this approaching discomfort.

Couldn’t she see her brother-in-law’s face later, when she hadn’t even seen her future husband’s face yet?

Ba Ha sat in her seat, resting her chin on her hand propped on the armrest, waiting for the inauguration ceremony to begin soon.

“Senior, I think it’s about to start.”

“Ah… Looks like it.”

As the lights on the stage brightened, signaling the start, Ba Ha looked ahead with a still indifferent expression.

She just hoped it would end quickly.

Not knowing what was about to happen, she just wanted this inauguration ceremony to start and finish quickly.

“Now we will welcome our new Vice President, Woo Tae Un.”