Chapter 4. I’ll Gladly Track Her Down

“Is this the end of it?”  

He flipped it over, wondering if there might be something written on the back, but it was clean.  

The message left by the woman who disappeared was remarkably concise and simple.  

“‘It was fun.’ ”  

He couldn’t help but laugh, the sound leaking through his teeth in disbelief.  

It was Lee Hyun’s first time having a one-night stand, so he didn’t know if this was how it typically went. But one thing was certain: he wasn’t feeling great about it.  

Then again, waking him up to say, ‘I’m leaving, you can sleep in,’ would’ve been odd.

Being left alone in this suite room at the hotel felt equally unpleasant.  

It really felt like he’d been used and discarded.  

Lee Hyun sat on the bed, alternately staring at the ring and the note the woman had left behind.  

Of course, having her cling to him and insist on continuing the relationship wouldn’t have been welcome either.  

But leaving so cleanly, as if she had no regrets at all, didn’t sit well with him either.  

“After all I did for her.”

The woman also seemed inexperienced—perhaps it was her first time having a one-night stand.  

Ah, not just a one-night stand, but this kind of relationship in general, she had said.  

Of course, Lee Hyun was in the same boat, so there was no need for either of them to feel bad about it.  

Still, this was crossing the line.  

“Shouldn’t she at least have said thank you?”  

Or is that weird?  

Tilting his head, Lee Hyun picked up his phone.  

Forgetting it was five in the morning, he called someone.  

“Hey, it’s me.”  

-Do you know what time it is?  

“5:30 in the morning.”  

-Sigh. Director, I’m sure you know I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know. 

Secretary Choi, who had been sleeping, answered the call with clear irritation.  

Normally, he wouldn’t have reacted like this.  

Lee Hyun’s long-time friend and excellent partner, Hyun Joon, had recently resigned, saying he was overwhelmed with work.  

Faced with losing both a friend and a secretary, Lee Hyun had tried hard to convince him to stay, but Hyun Joon was resolute.  

He even warned Lee Hyun not to contact him unless he had found a replacement.  

Of course, Lee Hyun didn’t remember such warnings.  

-You’re not calling to tell me you’ve found my replacement, are you? 

“No, but there’s someone I want you to find.”  

-I’m not a private investigator, you know.  

“A woman disappeared.”  

-What?  

Hearing something so unexpected from Lee Hyun, Hyun Joon seemed to wake up instantly.  

-A woman? What are you talking about?  

“I met a woman yesterday.”  

-And then?  

“When I woke up, she was gone.”  

-……  

There was a moment of silence.  

Cautiously, as if he couldn’t believe it, Hyun Joon asked:  

-Did you have a one-night stand?  

“Yes.”  

-……  

Hearing Lee Hyun’s confident answer, Hyun Joon seemed at a loss for words again.  

-So you’re saying the woman you spent the night with was gone when you woke up?  

“Exactly. That’s why I value you, Secretary Choi.”  

-Director, listen to me carefully.  

“Yeah.”  

For a moment, Lee Hyun waited expectantly.  

Thinking that his smart Secretary Choi must have already come up with the perfect way to find the missing woman, he felt a little excited.  

-It’s best not to look for her.  

“Why?”  

-Sigh. That’s the unspoken rule of a one-night stand.  

Lee Hyun frowned slightly and slowly rubbed his eyebrow with his index finger, displeased.  

After thinking for a moment, Lee Hyun spoke.  

“I never made such a promise with her.”  

-It’s not about promises. It seems the woman wasn’t very satisfied with you, Director.  

“What did you say?”  

Lee Hyun’s face twisted in irritation.  

“That’s not it.”  

Then his frown smoothed out.  

-How can you be so sure?  

“I saw it myself.”  

Her face, lost in pleasure.  

Of course, he didn’t share such a specific detail and instead cleared his throat.  

“She was at the after-party of the Chetto Charity Auction.”  

Speaking slowly, as if dictating, Lee Hyun listed the details of the woman he’d lost.  

“She was about chest-high to me, had short blonde hair, and was quite pretty.”  

He didn’t want to admit it, but he might have fallen for her at first sight.  

Keeping that thought to himself, Lee Hyun urged Secretary Choi to find her.  

-I’ll try my best, but there’s something more urgent.  

“What is it?” 

-My replacement…

“Handle it quickly, Secretary Choi.”  

Without properly listening to Hyun Joon’s words, Lee Hyun hung up the phone.  

Closing his eyes slowly, he recalled the moment he first saw her last night on the rooftop.  

When she bumped into him, her wide-eyed surprise and her face—his first thought was, ‘She’s beautiful.’  

Of course, he’d seen plenty of objectively beautiful people before.  

But her unique and captivating aura couldn’t be compared to the conventional beauty he was used to.  

At that moment, he didn’t think much of it.  

While chatting with his group at a table some distance away, he felt a gaze on him.  

Assuming it was just another woman eager to seduce him, Lee Hyun turned his head indifferently.  

It was the same woman he’d bumped into earlier.  

What was surprising was that she wasn’t blatantly trying to seduce him.  

When their eyes met, she deliberately turned her head, pretending she hadn’t been looking.  

What was that?  

He was curious and intrigued.  

Was this some new method of seduction?  

He thought that.  

She was an interesting woman.  

So, Lee Hyun deliberately stared at her a few more times.  

The woman, pretending not to look, kept stealing glances at him from the corner of her eye. Their gazes met several times in the air.  

Each time, she quickly looked away, blushing.  

Why was she so embarrassed just because our eyes met a few times?  

Once his curiosity about her was piqued, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to find out more.  

He swore that she was the first person to ever catch his interest like this.  

So, he approached her with the pretense of asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend.  

Her flustered expression as she froze in front of him was incredibly charming.  

Her attempts to hide her thoughts while occasionally blurting them out unexpectedly were even more refreshing.  

When he bluntly asked if she liked him, she blushed but didn’t avoid answering.  

Watching her go through the motions, Lee Hyun became curious about what lay beyond her exterior.  

What was her true face beneath the heavy makeup?  

What expressions would she make if provoked intensely?  

And so, for the first time in his life, he proposed a one-night stand.  

In conclusion, she was unlike any woman Lee Hyun had ever met.  

The fact that she disappeared without a trace after such a meaningful night proved it.  

Most women he encountered were desperate to stay connected with him, eager to gain something from the association.  

But this woman seemed to have only been interested in his body, leaving without a single word.  

She didn’t even share her name, which only fueled his curiosity further.  

Most women who approached Lee Hyun couldn’t stop bragging about themselves.  

There was another strange situation that the woman left behind.

Lee Hyun was used to waking up alone, but for the first time, he felt hollow and lonely.  

It was absurd that the absence of a woman he’d spent only a few hours with could make him feel this way.  

“If she keeps piquing my interest like this until the end…”

Lee Hyun carefully gathered the note and the gold ring, the only clues he had to find the woman.

“I’ll gladly track her down”

The woman probably didn’t know.

That Lee Hyun had never let go of or lost anything that had once come into his hands.

And that once he made up his mind, he was a man who would see it through to success no matter what.

Boom, thud—

Thunder roared once again.

As if cheering for Lee Hyun, who had firmly made up his mind.

***

A week had passed since that passionate night with the woman.

Secretary Choi seemed to have no intention of finding her, perhaps as a form of protest against Lee Hyun.

There were far too many tasks for Lee Hyun to handle himself.

Knock, knock—

A knock was heard, and an utterly exhausted Secretary Choi appeared.

“Secretary Choi, did you find her?”

“Director, now is not the time to be looking for that woman.”

“The most important thing to me right now is finding her…”

Secretary Choi cut him off mid-sentence.  

“Wouldn’t it be perfect for the new secretary taking over my position to continue the search for the woman you fell in love with at first sight, Director?”

Secretary Choi’s eyes sparkled, as if urging Lee Hyun to check out the secretary candidate he had brought.

It was true that he had fallen for her at first sight, but it wasn’t love.

Secretary Choi had completely misunderstood.

Not knowing where to start correcting him, Lee Hyun opened his mouth.

But soon, even that felt tiresome, so he firmly shut it again.

Instead, he shifted his gaze to the folder Secretary Choi handed over.

“Director, here’s the information on the candidates for my replacement.”

Lee Hyun flipped through the documents Secretary Choi had given him and narrowed his eyes on one particular resume.

Seeing Lee Hyun take interest, Secretary Choi excitedly continued his briefing.

“She used to be the secretary for Executive Director Mo. She’s outstanding in both experience and skills.”

“Han Yerin, huh…”

“Do you like her the most?”

A faint hissing sound escaped Lee Hyun’s lips.

And that smile gradually widened.

Secretary Choi watched Lee Hyun, puzzled by his sudden laughter while looking at the secretary’s resume.

“If you don’t like her, then…”

“I like her very much.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Where on earth did you find her, Secretary Choi?”

“I didn’t find her myself. The HR team selected suitable candidates.”

Relieved that Lee Hyun seemed to like Yerin, Secretary Choi showed the brightest expression he had since stepping into the office.

“Then I’ll inform the HR team to ensure she can assist you as soon as possible.”

“Good. Quick work.”

Lee Hyun smiled at Secretary Choi, pulling up the corners of his mouth for the first time in a while.

Even after sending Secretary Choi away and trying to focus on work, he couldn’t stop his lips from curling upwards, making him feel like a madman laughing for no reason.

“The reason she was so adamant about not revealing her name, could it be…”

Was it because we worked at the same company?

If so, it meant Yerin approached him knowing who he was.

And yet, why had she fled so quickly that morning?

Her truth intrigued him to no end.

“To think she was this close all along.”

He couldn’t help but look forward to working hand in hand with the new secretary.