After Chairman Kwon returns to his quarters, Kwon Seung-jo bows deeply toward him. His expression is cold as he thinks about the chairman’s order to keep Sonamu in Seoryang.
Seung-jo reasons that Sonamu came to Jeju to earn money, and everyone works for money. Therefore, offering her profitable work is not necessarily wrong. He then loosens his tie and shirt collar, trying to relieve the tension he feels.
He immediately gives the general manager instructions to add the seafood restaurant Chairman Kwon liked to the hotel’s seasonal room-service menu. When the manager says the restaurant owner is extremely proud and may refuse, Seung-jo bluntly tells him to meet the owner and use money if necessary.
He also suggests a strategy involving the restaurant’s limited daily menu, explaining that customers who miss the limited dishes may visit the original restaurant themselves. In his view, both sides can benefit if the arrangement is handled intelligently.
Although he is outwardly calm and businesslike, Seung-jo feels deeply irritated. He cannot quite explain why. He simply feels as though he needs something cold enough to clear his head.
After returning to the main building with several members of the management-support team, he heads toward the lounge. He dismisses the employees for the day and asks Manager Han Ji-hee where Sonamu went after her performance.
Han Ji-hee says Sonamu left immediately after finishing.
Seung-jo asks where she went, but the manager does not know.
He orders ice water and leans against the bar, chewing on pieces of ice while staring toward the empty stage.
Everyone around him knows how striking Seung-jo is. His appearance has been praised in magazines and online, and he has even been described as a stereotypical wealthy third-generation heir with an exceptionally attractive appearance.
Yet Sonamu has never reacted to him that way. Even when he is standing directly in front of her, she often treats him as though he is invisible.
This continues to irritate him.
His phone rings. Several powerful executives invite him downstairs for drinks. Seung-jo recognizes them as men who have come to Jeju hoping to gain Chairman Kwon’s favor.
He agrees to join them.
Before going downstairs, he stops at the hotel convenience store to buy a hangover remedy. There, however, he unexpectedly sees Sonamu.
She is standing in front of the refrigerated food section, carefully studying the selection of triangular rice balls while holding two bottles of wine.
Seung-jo is almost amused by how seriously she is considering such a simple meal. He thinks she looks too thin and wonders why she is eating something so small.
He deliberately walks behind her and opens the refrigerator. Sonamu merely moves aside without recognizing him.
Seung-jo watches her choose a tuna-mayonnaise rice ball and nearly stops her, thinking he should simply order room service for her instead.
Before he can say anything, a woman’s voice suddenly rings through the convenience store.
It is a conversation between the couple Sonamu had noticed in the lounge.
The woman says that Sonamu was supposed to be in Seoul and that her performance had supposedly been canceled. The man explains that Sonamu trusts him and that she believes he is in Japan. He also mentions that because Sonamu cannot recognize faces, she will probably assume someone who resembles him is simply another person.
The woman, however, becomes uncomfortable with the deception. She says that even if Sonamu cannot distinguish faces, people still have instincts, and she no longer wants to participate in what they are doing because she is Sonamu’s friend and feels guilty.
The woman leaves, and the man calls after her:
“Seo Joo-young!”
Seung-jo realizes that this is the same couple who had caused the disturbance in the lounge.
Sonamu then speaks to him.
Seung-jo realizes she has been watching the entire exchange. Her eyes are red, and she asks whether he is actually going to buy the rice ball.
Later, Seung-jo is sitting in the hotel bar, drinking Scotch while watching Sonamu through the window.
Sonamu is sitting alone on a bench along the coastal walking path.
Several men have already approached her, attempting to speak to her. She ignores them, but Seung-jo becomes increasingly irritated watching them hover around her.
He also notices that she is drinking the wine she bought at the convenience store directly from the bottle. He realizes she has already consumed quite a bit and is not eating anything with it.
Meanwhile, the executives around Seung-jo are talking about his growing position within Chairman Kwon’s circle. They praise his ambition and speculate that he might even receive shares in the apparel business.
One executive then brings up Sonamu.
He recognizes her as the daughter of Hanbin Heavy Industries and remembers that she and Seung-jo were once engaged.
Another executive makes a cruel remark about her family’s financial collapse, implying that her family essentially used her marriage prospects to survive.
The comment is technically close to the truth, but Seung-jo becomes visibly irritated.
He finishes his drink and politely excuses himself. He tells the group that he cannot drink much and leaves them to continue without him. He also reminds them that Chairman Kwon will wake up early, so arriving in front of him smelling of alcohol would be a bad idea.
After leaving the group, Seung-jo loosens his tie and asks an employee how to get outside.
He heads toward the outdoor area.
Several men are still lingering around Sonamu. Seung-jo deliberately gives them a cold look, and his intimidating presence causes them to move away.
Yet even after going outside, he cannot shake the feeling of discomfort.
He remembers that he saw Sonamu at the convenience store but did not speak to her. He had felt that he should not simply leave her alone, but he also feared that if he reached out and grabbed her hand, something inside him would break.
Eventually, he approaches her.
Sonamu senses someone nearby and raises her head.
Seung-jo cannot tell whether she is drunk or simply tired. Her expression is usually distant, but her slightly flushed cheeks make her appear unusually unguarded.
She slowly blinks, frowns, and tilts her head.
Seung-jo finds her expression strangely captivating and tells himself that the only reason he is reacting this way is because she happens to fit his physical preferences so perfectly.
He asks what she is doing.
Sonamu finally recognizes his voice and asks:
“Kwon Seung-jo?”
Seung-jo is surprised by how uncertain she sounds.
For a moment, he wonders whether she really failed to recognize him again. His pride, which no one has normally been able to damage, seems to become increasingly fragile whenever he is around her.
The night air is still cold.
His eyes move from her thin shoulders and visible collarbones down to the bottle of wine in her hand.
He notices that it is inexpensive wine and sarcastically comments on her choice, asking whether she actually likes drinking something that cheap.
