Chapter 21
Chapter 3: The Man at 8 A.M.
Woohyun rubbed his aching stomach and swallowed another digestive pill.
His indigestion had persisted ever since returning from Samcheok.
Like someone afflicted with an unknown illness, even drinking water left him feeling bloated and sick.
The same thing happened during his brief three-day business trip to Hong Kong.
Wearing a deep frown, he attended trunk shows for Brands C and H. No one dared approach him casually.
The brand managers, who had expected him to spend hundreds of millions of won as if it were pocket change, gradually turned pale.
For some reason, Seo Woohyun wasn’t opening his wallet.
The manager wanted to grab him by the collar and demand an explanation.
You collect our suits like a fanatic. So why aren’t you spending a single cent on the most important event of the year?
“The stares are pretty intense.”
“They’re probably just happy to see you attending again after so long.”
Leaving the desperate brand manager behind, Woohyun walked leisurely through the showroom.
Then he stopped.
A women’s watch set with pink diamonds caught his eye.
It was the only item that held his attention all day.
He thought of Lee Byeol.
That bulky diver’s watch she woreācompletely practical, utterly lacking elegance.
The moment he pictured it wrapped around her slender wrist, his already upset stomach seemed to burn even hotter.
As casually as adding something to an online shopping cart, he bookmarked the watch in his mind.
But nothing was more uncertain than a shopping cart.
As expected, Seo Woohyun never opened his wallet.
The event, organized exclusively for VVIP clients, ended up being a financial loss.
“What about the watch you were looking at earlier?”
Secretary Kim asked as they left the venue.
“I’m not buying it. She’s already calling me obsessive. Imagine if I gave her a watch that expensive. I don’t even want to picture the reaction.”
Had it not been for business obligations, he wouldn’t have attended in the first place.
Secretary Kim silently bid farewell to the beautiful watch.
“Then let’s head to the next appointment.”
“All right.”
Next came a meeting about inspections and operating profits for the P Hotel built in Hong Kong the previous year.
Even there, Woohyun couldn’t focus.
Japan. Hong Kong. Australia. Canada.
Meetings everywhere.
His entire year was packed with overseas business trips.
Yet somehow…
Out of all those trips, none gave him a reason to visit Samcheok.
Even stranger, Lee Byeol had disappeared from social media.
Ever since the day he returned to Seoul, the #GoddessLeeByeol hashtag had gone completely silent.
In the end, he’d wasted an entire three-day business trip without accomplishing anything.
It unsettled him.
This had never happened before.
He had never imagined himself failing at work.
His condition kept deteriorating for no reason.
Constant indigestion.
And dreams.
Dreams filled with spinning disco lights.
“Director… if it’s urgent, perhaps you should use the restroom?”
Manager Yoon said as he entered with approval documents.
“What are you talking about? I don’t need the bathroom.”
“That’s strange. You look pale enough to have been constipated for five days. Are you really okay?”
After signing the papers, Woohyun shoved them back at him.
“Manager Yoon, your jokes are getting better. Maybe I should transfer you to work under the Chairman. I think you’d get along wonderfully with that old man. Want me to recommend you?”
“I was wrong, Director.”
Manager Yoon immediately bowed ninety degrees.
Working under Chairman Bang meant saying goodbye to weekends, annual leave, five-day workweeks, and even the fifty-two-hour workweek.
As he turned to leave with the documents, he suddenly stopped, folded his fingers one by one as if counting, then looked back with an incredulous expression.
“Could this… be withdrawal symptoms?”
“Withdrawal?”
“Lee Byeol withdrawal.”
Silence fell.
Woohyun, who had been lounging in his chair, slowly straightened.
The fingers tapping rhythmically on his desk came to a halt.
“You think so too?”
“Yes.”
“…Even so, wouldn’t it look bad if I contacted her first?”
Manager Yoon hugged the approval folder to his chest as though it were his life before hurrying closer and leaning against the desk.
“You know… I’ve never seen you date anyone.”
“We’ve been through everything together, and still not once.”
“It got so bad that Representative Bang once asked me which countries allow same-sex marriage.”
“The look in her eyes that day…”
“…Thinking about it still hurts.”
He shook his head with a sigh.
So that explained the strange looks his mother had been giving him.
She’d been worrying about that.
Even if her son showed no interest in dating…
Woohyun found himself seriously reconsidering the kinds of dramas his mother watched.
“Woohyun.”
Manager Yoon called his name for the first time in a long while.
Woohyun folded his arms.
“What now?”
“Unrequited love is supposed to hurt.”
“It aches.”
“It tears at your heart.”
“If she hasn’t contacted you once in five days…”
“…I think you should just give up.”
Once again, something churned painfully in Woohyun’s stomach.
He glared at his silent phone.
If Secretary Kim had been rightā
If he really had come across as somewhere between a stalker and an obsessive man…
“Poor guy.”
Manager Yoon shook his head sympathetically and reached out as if to hug him.
Just thenā
“Director.”
Neither of them had heard the knock.
They looked up to find Secretary Kim standing awkwardly in the doorway.
Behind her stood a woman with an uncertain smile.
She looked vaguely familiar, yet completely unremarkable.
“We have… a visitor.”
Her name was Jang Seoyoung.
She introduced herself as the woman from the arranged blind dateāthe one he had never actually met.
She joked that she wanted him to make up for the expensive meal she’d missed that day.
The restaurant she chose was Haerin (ęµ·ē).
Of all places.
Even worse, they were seated at the exact same table where he’d come with Lee Byeol.
Without even looking at the menu, Woohyun ordered,
“The same as last time.”
A strange look crossed Seoyoung’s face.
“I heard you’ve been very busy lately.”
“I’m afraid discussing my schedule is inappropriate.”
“This is our first meeting.”
“I don’t think we’re close enough for conversations about our private lives.”
“Ah… but we’re not business partners, either.”
“Don’t be like that.”
“For all we know, we could hit it off and end up walking down the aisle arm in arm.”
“…Forgive me for asking.”
“Were your parents killed when you were young?”
“…What?”
Even the barley tea at Haerin was carefully selected to complement the meal.
The pleasant expression she’d worn after tasting it immediately disappeared.
“My parents are alive.”
“And healthy.”
“I see.”
“My apologies.”
“I thought perhaps you had some painful past.”
“You mentioned walking into the wedding arm in arm.”
“As far as I know, the bride walks in with her father.”
Her face instantly flushed bright red.
She’d only meant to smooth over the awkwardness.
She hadn’t expected him to seize on her words.
Looking perfectly understanding, Woohyun glanced over the dishes as they arrived.
“This meal costs five hundred thousand won.”
“I’m sorry for standing you up last time.”
“Please enjoy it.”
“The expensive meal you wanted.”
Everything was identical to the meal he’d shared with Lee Byeol.
Except for the appetizer.
Same dishes.
Same order.
“You’re interesting, Mr. Seo.”
“You have unusual tastes.”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
“Oh?”
She covered her mouth and laughed delicately.
That soft, fluttering laugh…
Woohyun involuntarily shivered before returning his attention to the food.
If he’d met Jang Seoyoung instead of Lee Byeol that day…
Just imagining it was unpleasant.
He almost said, I hate this.
Even the food tasted different.
Why?
He tilted his head.
“Wow, it’s delicious.”
“No wonder this place is famous.”
“It feels like eating art.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“To me, though…”
“Don’t you come here often?”
“I think the flavor has changed.”
She remarked that she liked men with picky tastes before picking at her food in tiny bites.
It amazed him.
How could anyone appreciate flavor while eating so little?
Still…
There truly was something different about today’s meal.
Was this another Lee Byeol effect?
“Actually…”
“Your mother invited me to dinner once.”
“But you never showed up.”
“So I decided to come myself.”
“I was curious.”
“I wanted to know what kind of person Seo Woohyun really is.”
“My mother?”
“Representative Bang Soomi.”
“Our mothers are close friends.”
“I’ve called her Aunt ever since I was little.”
“So you came hoping things might work out between us?”
“I already told my mother…”
“…but it looked like you’d broken up.”
“I saw you with another woman that day.”
Ridiculous.
She clearly already knew everything.
Why ask?
His stomach twisted again.
Whatever appetite he’d had vanished completely.
He set down his chopsticks and rested an elbow on the table.
“You’re hitting a sore spot.”
“We never even started.”
“So there’s nothing to break up.”
“I’m still working hard to win her over.”
“So comments like that…”
“…are a little burdensome.”
“…You’re still seeing her?”
I just said we haven’t even started.
“Actually…”
“I’ve been told I’m a bit…”
“…clingy.”
“I want updates on her by the minute.”
“If I can’t find things out myself…”
“…it feels like my head’s going to explode.”
“So I’ve deliberately held back for five days.”
“If she still hasn’t contacted me…”
“…does that mean she genuinely dislikes me?”
Seoyoung stared blankly at him.
Without answering, she quietly finished tasting each dish, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and stood.
Leaning back in his chair, Woohyun frowned.
“Where are you going?”
“Sit down.”
“You should at least eat five hundred thousand won’s worth before leaving.”
“Mr. Seo, I…”
“You said you wanted to give this a chance.”
“Then let’s try.”
“Since we’re both the perfect son and perfect daughter everyone compares their kids to…”
“If someone offered you an 85-million-won watch or an 85-thousand-won practical item…”
“…which would you choose?”
“Miss Jang.”
Even he thought it sounded like the question of a madman.
Eighty-five million versus eighty-five thousand.
Yet she seemed genuinely intrigued.
Instead of leaving, she slowly sat back down.
After thinking for a moment, she answered.
“Even an eighty-five-thousand-won item could create more value than eighty-five million for someone.”
“For example…”
“Someone who invested eighty-five thousand won in stocks years ago and turned it into 8.5 billion.”
“That person is sitting right in front of me.”
Her eyes sparkled with pride over her investment skills.
Woohyun nodded slowly.
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“I was asking something much more fundamental.”
“By any chance…”
“…do you launder money?”
“Were you a finance major?”
“I graduated from MIT.”
“I simply call it… modest asset management.”
“So are you planning to buy that eighty-five-thousand-won stock?”
Woohyun let out a long sigh.
Even if they’d met under perfectly normal circumstances…
He instinctively knew he would have walked away by this point.
More and more…
He wanted to see Lee Byeol.
Curious.
Missing her.
He placed his napkin on the table and stood.
The chef, who had just been coming out to greet them, looked as though he was cursing under his breath.
“My investment portfolio is already full.”
“My family could live comfortably for three generations.”
“So no.”
“I’m sorry.”
“But I can’t stand conversations where we’re speaking completely different languages.”
“Miss Jang.”
“Finish your five-hundred-thousand-won meal.”
“The desserts here are worth trying.”
“They’re homemade.”
“I have urgent business to attend to.”
“Please excuse me.”
