How could she know who the executive director was when she didn’t even know which company had assigned the work?

Seeing Ha-yoon’s confused expression, Ji-won clicked her tongue regretfully and continued.

“He’s the second son of the famous Daesin Group. Well, there are rumors he’s an illegitimate child, but who cares? He’s handsome and capable.”

“Daesin Group… second son…?”

Ha-yoon suddenly stopped in her tracks. The words being listed sounded strangely familiar.

Could it be, could it possibly be him?

Ha-yoon wasn’t the only one surprised. Deputy Manager Lee’s eyes also widened, though his expression seemed more curious than shocked.

“Handsome and capable?”

“According to my friend who works at that company, he’s so handsome you’d be amazed even from a hundred meters away. And apparently he’s a head taller than most people? Handsome, capable, and from a wealthy family. He really has everything.”

“It’s more surprising that such a person actually exists. Aren’t the rumors exaggerated?”

Deputy Manager Lee shook his head as if certain it must be false gossip.

Ji-won’s voice rose as she suddenly faced the risk of being labeled a rumor-monger.

“Come on, my friend works at his company! Apparently 99.9% of the female employees there are his fans. I heard the company’s stable growth over the past ten years is all thanks to him as a developer and founding member. Even after becoming an executive director, he handles all sorts of development team tasks and doesn’t even have time to date. And despite all the women throwing themselves at him, he doesn’t even bat an eye.”

Despite Ji-won’s rapid-fire words, Deputy Manager Lee seemed somehow less interested.

“Is that so? Perhaps he prefers men over women?”

“Deputy Manager, how could you say that! It’s not that—he’s just a workaholic. Actually, I was so curious that I searched for information online. You know, to see if there were any tabloid stories. I wondered how handsome he must be for my friend to make such a fuss.”

“And did you find any tabloids?”

Deputy Manager Lee asked, lowering his voice with renewed interest.

Ji-won sighed softly and matched his lowered tone.

“I couldn’t find any. The only rumors were what I mentioned earlier—that he’s an illegitimate child and doesn’t get along with his family.”

Ha-yoon momentarily frowned. It was difficult to listen calmly to such gossip about him.

She felt a strong urge to snap at Ji-won but managed to hold back.

Having just returned after several days of absence, she didn’t want to cause unnecessary conflict.

“But then I found some photos that were amazing. He doesn’t seem to like being photographed much, so I barely managed to find a few shots from some events, but even from those, I could tell. That man has looks that are beyond human.”

Ji-won spoke with an enraptured expression, perhaps recalling the face of the man she had seen in her search.

After a moment, she turned to Ha-yoon with a disgruntled expression.

“So our Ha-yoon here has landed such a golden opportunity to meet him in person. How lucky you are. Why am I always so unlucky?”

Ha-yoon, who had been suppressing her displeasure all this time, momentarily furrowed her brow.

Deputy Manager Lee quickly intervened to smooth things over.

“It’s not that you’re unlucky, but that Ha-yoon is capable.”

“Deputy Manager, that makes me feel worse. But, huh?”

Ji-won stopped mid-sentence and muttered to herself with a blank expression.

Her gaze was fixed on something beyond Deputy Manager Lee’s shoulder. Naturally, both Deputy Manager Lee and Ha-yoon followed her line of sight.

Soon, Ha-yoon spotted him. A tall man standing at the end of the line of people waiting for the elevator. A man casually looking up at the elevator—unfamiliar yet perhaps not so unfamiliar after all.

“What’s wrong, Ji-won? Do you know him?”

When Deputy Manager Lee asked with a voice full of curiosity, Ji-won muttered with a dazed expression.

“I know him, well, I know who he is, but he doesn’t know me.”

“Who is that man?”

“That’s him—Kang Seohyuk, the second son of Daesin Group.”

At Ji-won’s words, Ha-yoon, who had been standing in a daze, startled and shushed her.

She was concerned he might have heard.

However, Ji-won and Deputy Manager Lee merely lowered their voices without any intention of stopping their conversation.

“Kang Seohyuk, the second son of Daesin Group? Wow! That client? The one who’s a game company developer and executive director?”

“Yes, that’s him. Wow, I heard the meeting was the day after tomorrow, so why is he here already? Does he know someone here? My goodness! I never thought I’d see him in person after only seeing him in news photos. I must be really lucky today.”

As Ji-won continued to stare at Seohyuk while muttering, Deputy Manager Lee also smiled contentedly and joined in.

“You’re right, he is handsome. Tall and well-built too. It’s refreshing just looking at him.”

“Shh, he might hear us. There are a lot of people waiting—should we just take the stairs?”

Just as Ha-yoon cautioned them with that question, the elevator arrived with a ding and opened wide, as if to say there was no need to use the stairs.

If there had been people getting off, she would have used that opportunity to slip away, but unfortunately, the elevator was completely empty.

“The elevator’s here. Let’s get in quickly.”

Before Ha-yoon could retreat, she was pushed into the elevator by Deputy Manager Lee’s guiding hand. With people waiting behind them pushing forward, it would have been difficult to back out anyway.

Please don’t get in. Take the next elevator up.

Contrary to her wishes, the man naturally followed them into the elevator.

Ha-yoon, who had entered first and turned around, found her gaze naturally drifting toward the man standing casually.

Her heart raced. It was him. Though his face, eyes, and hair color were different, he was unmistakably McClain.

She didn’t expect him to recognize her.

She knew his real face because she had entered his fantasy, but he never had the opportunity to recognize her.

Even if he had safely returned to reality, he wouldn’t be able to recognize her.

Realizing this made her feel strangely deflated.

She was about to withdraw her fixed gaze with a short sigh when he slightly raised his head and their eyes met directly.

Ha-yoon froze momentarily. Or more precisely, she couldn’t turn her head away, as if bound by his pitch-black eyes. All she could do was stare at him blankly, unable even to blink.

It had been four days.

Since she had returned to reality alone through the dimensional gate.

She had been so preoccupied wondering whether he had defeated the Demon King and escaped safely, whether he had returned to this reality like her, or if he remained in that world, that she had been slow to realize her own return to reality.

She paced anxiously alone. She almost left another comment on the original author’s SNS out of desperate hope but eventually calmed herself.

If he had also returned to reality, it would have been a pointless act.

She wanted to use the fragmentary information she had to find him. To meet him, confirm he had returned safely, and reveal that she was that very Natalie.

But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. In fact, she hadn’t even searched for which company had made that game.

She was afraid. Afraid he wouldn’t recognize her. Afraid of realizing he had returned to being a complete stranger.

In truth, she couldn’t be certain about anything.

The real-world version of him had never transmigrated into the McClain character, and there was a possibility that all of this was merely her imagination or a single night’s dream.

That’s why she couldn’t acknowledge him even while staring at him. Why she couldn’t reveal that she was Natalie, the woman who had once stood by his side.

She could only look at him with eyes full of lingering attachment and feel relieved at his well-being.

He looked somewhat different from the youthful man in her memory. His face had thinned, making his jawline sharper, but this only added to his mature and capable image.

Perhaps displeased by her fixed stare after their accidental eye contact, he slightly furrowed his brow. Yet Ha-yoon couldn’t bring herself to look away.

She couldn’t guarantee when she would have another chance to meet his eyes like this. She wanted to take in as much of his real appearance as possible while she had the opportunity.

But the company elevator moved cruelly fast.

When the doors opened again with a ding, Ha-yoon had to force herself to move her reluctant feet.

“Ha-yoon, what are you doing? Let’s get off quickly.”

Even as she exited the elevator under Deputy Manager Lee’s urging, Seohyuk remained inside.

Before the elevator doors had fully closed, Ji-won began pouring out her admiration while clicking her tongue.

“You saw him too, right, Ha-yoon? Wow, amazing. How can a person be that handsome?”

“I know, he really was handsome. Even our workaholic Kim couldn’t take her eyes off him.”

“Oh my, really? Ha-yoon, that doesn’t mean you can throw yourself at the client during the meeting the day after tomorrow. You might become public enemy number one.”

Ha-yoon gave a bitter smile to Deputy Manager Lee and Ji-won with their exaggerated reactions, then turned around to find the elevator already heading up to higher floors.