“Please, Seung Joo!”

At that moment, as she stamped her feet, she heard people entering behind her.

Eun Seo’s vision turned black.

It was too late now. Everything was over.

Seung Hyun approached and gently embraced Eun Seo’s swaying shoulders.

“Are you alright?

Even though there was no need to forcibly associate with this person anymore now that things had turned out this way, Eun Seo didn’t even have the strength to push him away. Soon Seung Joo would be humiliated in front of everyone and lose everything, but there was nothing I could do. I can’t stop it…

“Elder brother, you look amazing today?”

While Eun Seo was half out of her mind, Seung Hyun looked at his elder brother as if in admiration. It was true that the tuxedo suited his dignified physique perfectly, but in reality, what he was interested in was not the outfit but his elder brother’s expression.

Seung Joo raised his eyes to look at Seung Hyun, who was practically embracing Eun Seo. However, there was not the slightest trace of the defeat or hurt from last time in those eyes.

That gaze unique to Kwon Seung Joo, as if looking down from above.

Looking at his half-brother with eyes no different from before, Seung Joo replied.

“Thank you. For preparing the party for me too.”

His voice was also extremely calm. Even when he saw Yoon Eun Seo next to Seung Hyun, there was not the slightest tremor in his expression. It was as if he was dealing with an invisible person.

It was rather Seung Hyun who was flustered by the attitude so drastically different from a few days ago.

‘What’s this? Has he already sorted out his feelings? Even though he liked her so much?’

Trying hard to hide his bewilderment, Seung Hyun replied.

“Uh… of course, we’re brothers like no other.”

As they exchanged a few words, people started arriving one after another. Throwing a light glance as if to say let’s talk later, Kwon Seung Joo immediately went to greet the guests.

“Oh my, Chairman Kwon, are you feeling alright?”

“Thank you for your concern. Thanks to you, I’m feeling very refreshed now.”

“Chairman Kwon Seung Joo, it’s been a while. Congratulations on your return.”

“Thank you for coming despite your busy schedule.”

Kwon Seung Joo greeted each arriving guest with appropriate greetings. It was a relaxed and sophisticated manner befitting the host of the party.

Seung Hyun watched his elder brother from a distance. Sipping champagne and trying to calm his surprised heart, he thought.

So far he’s been getting by with improvised greetings, but how long can he keep it up? When you talk to people without knowing who they are, mistakes are bound to happen eventually.

Seung Hyun waited for that moment of mistake with the eyes of a wolf eyeing its prey.

“Ooh!”

Suddenly there was a stir in the hall. A famous person had appeared. It was Leon Kennedy, the owner of the Grand Hotel, which was also the venue for today’s banquet.

Despite his middle age, his beauty seemed to brighten up the entire banquet hall, and even fellow businessmen looked at him with admiring eyes.

Originally, Chairman Kennedy was a tycoon in the American business world, leading the giant hedge fund ‘Van der Linde LLC’. It was only in the past year or two that he had appeared like a comet in the Korean business world by acquiring hotels and department stores.

So there was no way an eighteen-year-old Kwon Seung Joo would know about this person. Even if he knew from newspapers or broadcasts, it would just be his face and name.

The problem was that the two had a personal friendship. One of the reasons Daewon Construction, which was almost in a state of abandoning business even at headquarters, had made a miraculous recovery was thanks to securing investment from Van der Linde. And that investment was entirely drawn directly from Chairman Kennedy by CEO Kwon Seung Joo.

So he couldn’t just brush it off with generic greetings that would work for anyone, like thank you for coming or it’s an honor, as he had done so far. Chairman Kennedy was not an opponent he could gloss over like that.

“It’s been a while, CEO Kwon Seung Joo.”

Chairman Kennedy approached first and spoke.

As expected, Kwon Seung Joo looked startled to see him. He must have been surprised to hear a perfectly normal foreigner greet him in fluent Korean.

Seung Hyun’s heart pounded wildly as he watched.

‘Well, it’s finally time to start the show!’

The next moment, Kwon Seung Joo said to Chairman Kennedy.

“Oh my, Chairman, I think I see some slight wrinkles around your eyes?”

Chairman Kennedy pouted his lips at the sudden jab.

“You get married and raise kids later, CEO Kwon. I’ll see if you age or not, I’ll be watching.”

The two laughed as they looked at each other after exchanging casual jokes.

Then Kwon Seung Joo also greeted Chairman Kennedy’s wife next to him. His wife was Korean, and their romance was known not only in the business world but to the entire nation.

“Your wife is still beautiful as ever. How is Eunha doing?”

Kennedy’s wife replied with a smile.

“Of course. She loves the toy you sent as a first birthday gift so much, she still plays with it.”

Seung Hyun was confused.

‘How is this possible?’

It was the same afterwards. As he greeted the many businessmen arriving one after another, Kwon Seung Joo never made a single mistake.

There was absolutely no room to intervene. No matter how hard he had memorized, there would surely be a mistake in words or actions with at least one of these many people. Then I was going to seize that gap and shout ‘Everyone, the truth is!’ to prove to the world that Kwon Seung Joo had lost his memory and become a child.

…But not even that small gap was visible.

It was the same when greeting Kwon Ji Hwan, the CEO of DH, a premium interior company, and his wife.

“I heard you took sick leave for a while because of a car accident? I wanted to visit but they said you were recuperating in the countryside, I was worried. What happened?”

Kwon Ji Hwan asked while maintaining a handshake with Kwon Seung Joo.

“I just took the opportunity to rest a bit, using the accident as an excuse. The accident itself wasn’t a big deal, I’m sorry for causing unnecessary worry.”

The two were classmates from the Business Department at Korea University. It was a natural conversation between friends that anyone could hear.

“So, is your grandfather still in good health?”

“Of course. He says he’ll live to see his great-grandchildren get married.”

“Please tell him I’m sorry for not paying my respects more often, and that I’ll visit for New Year’s greetings next year.”

Kwon Ji Hwan’s grandfather, Chairman Kwon Jung Hyun of Daehan Construction, was originally a close friend of Chairman Kang Sun Ho of Daewon Group, who was Kwon Seung Joo’s maternal grandfather when he was alive. He especially cherished Kwon Seung Joo, who was also a friend of his grandson Kwon Ji Hwan, saying “We are of the same lineage, so you are no different from my grandson,” and helped a lot in the revival of Daewon Construction.

The problem was how Kwon Seung Joo, who had lost his memory, knew all of that.

“How has your wife been? Are the twins all healthy?”

Kwon Seung Joo also greeted Kwon Ji Hwan’s wife. Ji Hwan’s wife, who had a noticeably voluptuous figure even among the many women in the banquet hall, smiled beautifully.

“They’re growing well thanks to you. CEO Kwon, you’ve become even more handsome in the meantime.”

Kwon Ji Hwan quickly blocked in front of his wife with a look of wariness.

“That’s enough greeting, Seung Joo, you go away now. The farther the better.”

Watching this scene, Seung Hyun’s mind was in complete disarray.

No matter how much of a genius he is, there’s no way this could all be memorized. Unless he received the guest list in advance.

He had planned this party himself. To prevent even the slightest chance of it leaking to his elder brother, he had strictly controlled to make sure the guest list was not leaked. Even if by some chance he had obtained the guest list in advance, there was no way he could have known all those personal details.

So this…

‘Has his memory really returned?’

Amidst the confusion, Chairman Kwon Yong Chul of Daewon Group and Ji Yeon Hwa finally arrived.

“I’m sorry for causing you concern, father.”

“That’s enough.”

Chairman Kwon replied with displeasure to his eldest son’s greeting who had come out to welcome him.

“You, can’t you even give a word of encouragement to the child who has just recovered and returned!”

Kwon Seung Joo bowed his head politely to his stepmother, who glared at her husband.

“Mother.”

Ji Yeon Hwa, wearing an elegant evening dress, glared again as if resentful.

“You heartless boy… do you know how worried your mom was?”

“I’m sorry, mother. Instead, I’ll treat you to a meal at a nice place next time.”

Seung Hyun watched in amazement as Kwon Seung Joo showed perfect behavior even to his father and stepmother.

‘This isn’t right… This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.’

Suddenly, Kwon Seung Joo turned to look at Seung Hyun.

“Don’t just stand there blankly, come here. Now that you’ve become a team leader in our company, you need to greet the guests. I’ll introduce you.”

Kwon Seung Joo lightly gestured towards his startled younger brother. It was an elegant yet arrogant gesture, as if ordering a subordinate.

Greetings were no longer the issue. Seung Hyun approached closely and asked quickly in a low voice.

“Has it returned?”

For a moment, a subtle smile played on his elder brother’s perfect lips.

He bent slightly and whispered something in his younger brother’s ear.

“……”

The color slowly drained from Seung Hyun’s face.

*

After seeing Kwon Seung Hyun’s face turn deathly pale upon hearing Seung Joo’s whisper, Eun Seo slipped out of the banquet hall.

Her chest swelled as if about to burst with relief and pride.

‘Well, who is our Seung Joo after all. He ranked 9th nationally!’

No wonder he didn’t budge even when she urgently pulled his arm to run away, he had a plan all along. He must have obtained the guest list in advance and studied thoroughly.

But still, his acting skills were amazing, surprising her every time she saw him. How could he deal with people he couldn’t even remember with such perfectly natural manners.

Anyway, one worry was gone now. Kwon Seung Hyun must have gotten burned badly this time, so he won’t think of messing with Seung Joo for a while. Since he broke the promise with her first, there was no need to forcibly date him anymore.

Even if Seung Hyun tattles to his father, Seung Joo has already returned and is excellently handling his work. It probably won’t be easy to prove that he lost his memory. Today, he didn’t fail even in front of all these people, did he?

The misunderstanding with Seung Joo… it would be resolved if she sincerely apologized. Eun Seo decided to believe that.

Our Seung Joo has a broad and kind heart after all.

Her steps felt light as air even in the unfamiliar high heels. As Eun Seo came out of the banquet hall like dancing and was passing through the quiet corridor, she suddenly felt someone grab her arm. Startled, she turned around to find Seung Joo holding her arm, having followed her out at some point.

“Seung Joo!”

The moment she saw Seung Joo’s face up close, tears suddenly poured out.

“What the heck, you should have told me in advance… You really surprised me!”

She cried and laughed with joy as she punched his shoulder.

“How did this happen? Did you get the guest list in advance? Even so, my goodness, how on earth did you memorize all those people…!”

The words pouring out suddenly stopped midway.

Because the man who had been silently watching her behavior suddenly rushed in and overlapped his lips with hers.

It was a kiss as if devouring her.