IHMSFL-03

CHAPTER 3

Incheon International Airport.

Among the crowds pouring out of the arrivals hall, a man caught Jung Hye’s eye.

“Hee-mok!”

Jung Hye raised her hand high and waved.

When a faint smile appeared at Hee-mok’s lips, Jung Hye was overjoyed.

It was the same familiar smile she had seen two years ago, the last time they met.

Cha Hee-mok.

Known as the youngest son of Cha Sung Group Chairman Cha Jun-bae, Hee-mok was more precious to Jung Hye than anyone else.

“Noona.”

When his enviably handsome face finally came within reach, Jung Hye eagerly grabbed both of Hee-mok’s hands.

“Hee-mok, have you been well? Was the trip difficult?”

He seemed taller than he had been when she last saw him, and somehow his features had become even more striking.

Just who did he take after?

“Difficult, my foot.”

“Are you feeling all right? I heard you were sick not long ago.”

Jung Hye examined every inch of Hee-mok’s tall, well-built body, her expression quickly filling with concern.

She was still as overprotective as ever.

With a faint smile on his lips, Hee-mok shook his head.

“I’m fine now. And when was that? Why are you still bringing it up?”

“I was so worried about you. I heard you had a really high fever.”

“It was just a passing cold. The herbal medicine you sent me made it disappear completely, so don’t worry.”

“You finished all the herbal medicine I sent you? Every single packet?”

“I told you I did.”

Only after receiving such a firm answer did relief spread across Jung Hye’s face.

“That’s a relief. By the way, the in-flight meal was probably disappointing, right? Let’s hurry home and eat. It’s probably been a long time since you had Korean food.”

“There are plenty of Korean restaurants in America.”

“Still. Is it the same as eating it in Korea?”

Worried that her fully grown little brother might not have been eating properly, Jung Hye found another reason to fuss over him.

“Let’s hurry. Father’s been waiting impatiently for you to come home.”

Jung Hye spoke affectionately as she held out her hand.

Perhaps she was worried that her grown little brother might even get lost on the way.

Hee-mok let out a hollow laugh, then, pretending he had no choice, took the hand Jung Hye offered and left the airport with her.

—

Five minutes before quitting time.

Seo-eun’s mind was entirely occupied with her upcoming meeting with Do-yoon.

Her thoughts were tangled as she wondered what she would say to him and how she would say it when they met today.

She had so many things to ask him: What had he been thinking when he did such a thing with Ji-yu? How was he planning to define their relationship from now on? And did he really intend to marry Ji-yu?

There was so much she wanted to say, but she wasn’t even sure she would be able to get the words out properly.

Every now and then, Seo-eun could feel Do-yoon’s eyes lingering on her.

Whenever he had a chance, Do-yoon tried to speak to her or sent her messages, but Seo-eun never responded.

Perhaps because of that, his expression was sullen by the time work was ending.

Seo-eun pretended not to notice and began tidying her desk.

Then she spotted an unfamiliar document envelope.

It was a file Do-yoon had received from Executive Director Seo Gi-jeong and then dumped on her.

Knowing that it was nothing more than him passing his work off to her, she had shoved it away without a second thought.

Seo-eun reached for the envelope to open it.

But she soon stopped.

She simply didn’t feel like it.

She remembered how she had spent all this time handling the trivial tasks Kang Do-yoon had dumped on her.

She had completed every task he gave her, even if it meant working overtime, and she had always put his name on the proposals she wrote.

Looking back on it now, she had been little more than Kang Do-yoon’s secretary.

…Why had she done that?

Seo-eun put down the half-opened envelope and was brooding over her sense of injustice when—

“Assistant Manager Han.”

The voice calling her name snapped her out of her thoughts.

Do-yoon approached her and glanced at the document envelope she had been about to review.

“Looks like you were just reviewing this.

“What should we do?

“I think we’ll have to hold a meeting about this today.”

So he was trying to avoid me somehow.

It was a bitter realization that they had spent so much time together that she could now tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression.

Seo-eun got up from her seat without answering.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll be leaving first.”

“W-Wait, Assistant Manager Han, what are you talking about?

“I said we’re having a meeting now.”

Do-yoon’s eyes widened at Seo-eun’s unusually curt response.

The other employees’ gazes turned toward the two of them.

Seo-eun didn’t care.

She stared straight at Do-yoon alone.

The space between his brows was crumpled like a scrap of paper.

Yes, you were always this kind of man.

A man who hated losing face in front of others more than anything and trusted only those who followed him.

Seo-eun had been terribly mistaken.

She had thought she was the only one allowed inside his fence.

“I’m sorry, but I’m meeting my boyfriend at the café right in front of here in five minutes.

“So I’m going to leave early today.

“Goodbye.”

Seo-eun gave him a polite bow and picked up her handbag.

As she confidently turned away, the employees’ eyes followed her back.

There were questioning looks among them, as if they were wondering whether she had a boyfriend.

Do-yoon, publicly humiliated, flushed bright red.

—

“I clearly told you not to come back to Korea, so who is responsible?

“Was it you?

“Jung Hye, did you tell him to come back?!”

Instead of warm conversation, coarse shouting echoed through the dining room of the grand mansion, where an elaborate dinner had been laid out.

Cha Jun-bae, chairman of Cha Sung Group, was known as the ‘Old Tiger.’

Even with age, neither the authority in his gaze nor the force in his voice had diminished.

“Why aren’t you answering me?!”

At his booming demand, Jung Hye, the person responsible for the whole affair, lowered her head.

But she wasn’t entirely remorseful.

Though her head was bowed, her spirit remained upright.

Cha Jun-bae had refused to allow his youngest son, Hee-mok, to return to Korea all this time.

Even so, Jung Hye had brought Hee-mok back to Korea without warning, inevitably earning her father’s fury.

But at that moment, Jung Hye had something more urgent to worry about: filling Hee-mok’s stomach.

“Father, eat first and talk afterward.

“Hee-mok probably didn’t get enough to eat on the plane.”

“What?

“You think food is the problem right now?

“Hee-mok is standing right in front of his father!

“I asked who brought him back!

“If you have a mouth, then answer me!”

Their father-daughter relationship had never been particularly good, and Jung Hye’s concern over Hee-mok’s dinner only poured oil on the fire.

Hee-mok, who had been at a loss for words after facing such a situation for the first time in years, finally stepped forward.

“It was me, Father.

“I did it.

“So please don’t say anything to Noona.”

When Hee-mok tried to take all the blame upon himself, Jung Hye whipped her gaze toward him.

W-What?

Jun-bae’s wrinkled eyes widened, and a harsh shout erupted from him.

Rather than shrinking back under Jun-bae’s fury, Hee-mok calmly responded.

“I came because I wanted to.”

“What did you just say…?

“Just because you have a mouth, you think you can say whatever you want?!”

Jun-bae trembled with a sense of betrayal.

He had never once pressured Hee-mok, telling him simply to live freely, yet even that had apparently been too much to ask.

Don’t live in Korea.

Jun-bae couldn’t understand why that was so difficult, why Hee-mok couldn’t even endure that one thing for his father.

“H-Hee-mok…”

Jung Hye softly called his name and looked at his profile.

She had thought Hee-mok had boarded the plane only because she had pressured him, but she could see a determined resolve on his face that she had never seen before.

“I mean it, Father.

“So please don’t say anything to Noona.”

“You little…!

“What are you going to do by coming to Korea?

“What is there for you to do here?

“Didn’t I tell you to live freely abroad and do whatever you wanted?!”

“You did.

“You did, but…”

Jung Hye’s brows furrowed slightly.

There was clearly something going on that she didn’t know about.

Amid the tense silence, Hee-mok finally spoke.

“There’s something I really want to do.