Sonamu’s eyes flash with irritation at Kwon Seung-jo’s words, especially the way he describes her as being “hung up” and insignificant. She wonders whether he actually took lessons in how to be irritating or whether this attitude is simply part of his nature.
She insists that she did not deliberately ignore him—she simply failed to recognize him. Seung-jo is incredulous. He points at his own face and boasts that his appearance has hardly changed since he was seventeen and that he has been called a “face genius” for more than ten years. Sonamu is embarrassed by the fact that he is praising his own looks.
When she says she needs to check out, Seung-jo casually tells her that her checkout has been extended indefinitely and that the plane ticket provided for her has already been canceled. He makes her sit down so they can discuss what to do next. Sonamu protests about the misuse of her personal information, but Seung-jo points out that she agreed to its use and reminds her that the person who purchased her round-trip ticket already had access to her information.
A meal soon arrives. Seung-jo has ordered an absurd amount of food: Korean beef-bone soup, a Western breakfast with bread, eggs, and bacon, and a Jeju sashimi meal. Sonamu jokes that his basal metabolic rate must be over 10,000. He tells her he ordered several different kinds because he could not remember what foods she liked.
Sonamu chooses the beef-bone soup, exactly as Seung-jo expected. He watches her while she eats, remembering that she dislikes greasy food and cannot eat raw food. She decides that since the meal has already been prepared, she might as well eat enough to make the expensive food worthwhile.
While she eats, Seung-jo suddenly tells her that she is to begin performing at the hotel lounge that very day. Sonamu reminds him that he was the one who fired her before. He replies that he fired her because he wanted to and is now bringing her back for the same reason.
He suddenly moves closer, startling her. Sonamu pulls away and firmly asks him not to touch her without warning. She asks why she was brought to the hotel in the first place. She explains that she received the performance offer through a professor.
Seung-jo then reveals that his grandfather, Chairman Kwon Ju-cheol, was behind her invitation. His grandfather wants to find out whether Seung-jo still has feelings for Sonamu.
Sonamu is surprised when Seung-jo openly admits that he once liked her. She doubts him, believing he may simply be trying to provoke a reaction from her. Seung-jo argues that he would not have behaved so intensely toward a woman he did not actually like.
Sonamu tells him to stop living in the past and insists that what happened between them was simply a mistake.
Seung-jo then changes tactics and offers to give her the piano in the lounge—or even order her a better one—if she agrees to perform. Sonamu sarcastically criticizes his habit of solving everything with money. Seung-jo accepts the criticism without embarrassment, saying that if spending his money is part of his nature, there is no reason to change it.
He also explains that, according to his grandfather, their relationship has to be completely settled before Seung-jo can move forward and become engaged to another woman considered “safe” and unlikely to cause problems.
Sonamu realizes that what Seung-jo once felt may not have been pure love. Perhaps he had simply been fascinated by the idea of possessing someone who could become his. Their old engagement had also been largely a practical arrangement between their families, with marriage offering advantages to both sides.
When Seung-jo offers to buy the piano entirely with his own money, Sonamu is genuinely tempted. The piano is extraordinarily valuable—not merely because of its price, but because of its rarity and musical significance. Yet her pride prevents her from accepting such a gift from him.
In the end, she refuses the piano but agrees to perform at the lounge. She establishes one condition: from that moment onward, they are strangers, and Seung-jo must not acknowledge her as someone he knows.
Later, Sonamu receives a message from Lee Jun-yeop saying that he has arrived in Japan and has to go directly into a meeting, so he will contact her that evening.
She then calls Professor Kang Jung-hwan, the professor who introduced her to the performance opportunity. He had recommended the position because the hotel possessed a Steinway Black Diamond, one of only eight such pianos in the world. For a pianist like Sonamu, the chance to play such a rare instrument was extremely tempting, especially because she would be performing in a hotel lounge rather than an ordinary concert hall. Her curiosity about the piano made her accept the offer almost immediately.
During the call, Sonamu asks Professor Kang about Professor Cheon. Kang explains that Professor Cheon is an adviser affiliated with the Seoryang Art Center and is also his senior.
Sonamu immediately understands what happened. Just as Seung-jo suspected, someone deliberately arranged for her to come to Seoryang so that she would encounter him again. It appears that the purpose was to test Seung-jo’s feelings and perhaps force the two of them to confront their past.
Professor Kang encourages Sonamu to slowly restart her career and says that someone with her talent should be able to find a sponsor and make a comeback.
But Sonamu does not want a comeback. Because of her prosopagnosia, ordinary social life is extremely difficult for her. She frequently fails to recognize people, which causes misunderstandings and mistakes. She also struggles to maintain eye contact, and others sometimes interpret her behavior as arrogance.
Despite herself, Seung-jo’s earlier confession keeps returning to her mind. She sits in front of the mirror and touches her flushed cheeks, wondering what her face looked like in the past—and, more importantly, what face Seung-jo remembers when he thinks of the Sonamu he once knew.
She wishes that Joo-young were there so she could talk everything through and clear her head.
Her thoughts are interrupted by the hotel doorbell. When she opens the door, a female hotel employee politely explains that she has come under Kwon Seung-jo’s instructions to escort Sonamu somewhere and asks whether she is ready to leave.
