CHAPTER 49

As soon as Taegyeom arrived in the United States, he immediately travelled to Manhattan, where the conference was being held, and tirelessly managed a schedule for five days.

During his rare visit to the United States, Taegyeom managed to find time for personal matters here and there. However, due to Incheol’s demand for detailed reporting on everyone, he and Manager Song was completely drained and exhausted.

With a tired expression on his face, Manager Song, who managed to force a smile, extended his phone towards Taegyeom. Hoping that the last mission of this business trip would be successfully concluded, Manager Song spoke politely.

“Chief Hwang is calling.”

Taegyeom glanced at Incheol’s name on the screen and nonchalantly picked up the phone, placing it to his ear.

“Yes.”

• Thank you for your hard work. Your handling of this external business seemed quite experienced, not like it was your first time. The media response has been enthusiastic, and the Chairman is also very pleased.

Incheol smoothly praised Taegyeom’s efforts while expressing the Chairman’s satisfaction. Taegyeom quietly listened to the conversation, aware that the aftermath of this business trip would likely complicate things further.

• Your schedule must have been tight, and the flight time was long, so you must have been through a lot. Indeed, youth is a blessing. As for me, I’m getting older, so after such high-intensity business trips, I suffer quite a bit from the aftereffects.

Announcing a lineup of new products at an international conference in Manhattan every summer has long since become an annual tradition for GK Group’s electronics affiliate, the company’s flagship business.

In the early days of the event, Chairman Kwon himself led the event, and as the group has grown in size, it has evolved to include the presidents of the subsidiaries, but this year, Taegyeom was specifically asked by Chairman Kwon to play the role of face of the event.

In contrast to the closed and exclusive atmosphere typical of conglomerates, Chairman Kwon Kyungrok has been moderately open with the media about his personal life and that of his family, building a friendly and approachable image.

Having Shin Joo-ah serve as chairwoman of the sponsorship foundation and filming and broadcasting a scandalous documentary portraying a passionate and selfless chaebol matriarch was part of this image makeover.

• I’ve scraped the major media reactions and big data analysis data and sent them to your email just now. Please check it carefully on your way home. Then……

Taegyeom handed the phone, which he had just ended, to Manager Song and quickly made his way out of the immigration area. The faint weariness that had seeped into his smooth face had disappeared without a trace, leaving him with a perfect poker face.

He had just been inducted into the GK Group royal family, a ceremony that had been shrouded in secrecy. No wonder his mood had been low for the past week, sinking to rock bottom, given now that it was known to the world that he was born with Kwon Kyungrok’s filthy blood, he was bound to feel like sh*t.

“The press is waiting. Let’s go this way.”

Manager Song walked ahead, keeping an eye on Taegyeom. Once outside the gate, he saw a car waiting for him with its emergency blinkers on. The driver ran up to him, took his luggage, and put it in the trunk.

With a few dry words, Taegyeom dismissed the driver and Manager Song and climbed into the driver’s seat himself. A faint sigh escaped his lips as he sat in the solitude and silence of the car, where no one was aware of him or watching him closely.

The car started off smoothly and was soon out of the airport. As they crossed the Yeongjong Bridge, a waning crescent moon floated in the windshield. The curved lines and white moonlight suddenly reminded him of Hyun Leeseo.

Her white flesh and the subtly curved tips of her lips as her neck bent back to receive his kisses made him realize that the moon didn’t remind him of her, but she reminded him of the moon.

This is bad.

Taegyeom mocked softly, turning the steering wheel. He’d been in this state of neediness for the past few days, unable to suppress his urges. If he had only gone as far as to lose control, it might have been better.

When he saw the dazzling sunlight of New York pouring in from his bedside and the blue of Central Park flashed past the window of a fast-moving car, the image of Leeseo occupying his mind without context made him feel ridiculous. If he was going to do this, he told himself coldly, he should have just tied a rope around her wrist and brought her with him.

Not feeling like he needed to tell her, Taegyeom left without telling her about his week-long business trip. He thought, “If she’s curious, she’ll contact me first,” but he never heard from her, which made him feel foolishly conceited.

As Tae-gyeom drove down the highway toward Seoul, he tried to imagine how the Hyun-isa he knew would have spent the past week. She’d probably been quietly going about her business and filling her days with loving care from those around her, occasionally glancing out at the darkened outbuilding.

While driving on the highway toward Seoul, Taegyeom pondered how Leeseo had spent her past week. She’d probably been quietly going about her business and filling her days with loving care from those around her, occasionally glancing out at the darkened annex.

A tepid heat spread across the nape of his neck, stiff with irritation and fatigue, and he felt tired. It was an unfamiliar sensation.

As he thought about the annex, which was nothing more than a temporary shelter where repulsive humans resided, and not a home to him, his fingertips itched as if he wanted to hurry there.

What he needed now was rest. The kind of relaxation that washed over his entire body as he opened up and buried himself deep inside her.

Taegyeom tightened his grip on the steering wheel, hoping that Leesoe had been wondering about him the whole time he was gone.

* * *

[Come across.]

It was the first text in a week. Leeseo alternated her gaze between the text message on her phone screen and the darkened window of the bedroom in the annex.

Through conversations among the staff during the day, she had known that Taegyeom would be returning soon, but it was sooner than she had anticipated. Considering the time in Korea, the event in the United States had roughly concluded in the early morning, so she had guessed Taegyeom would return tomorrow or the day after.

Above the new text that had just come in was the one from exactly one week ago, when he had summoned her to the annex with a few tasteless words. There was a week’s gap between the two letters.

When she first learned that he had gone on a business trip without mentioning anything, she was engulfed in a sense of inexplicable emptiness. She knew he was not the kind of man who would keep her updated about his whereabouts. Still, even knowing that, the emptiness persisted. However, Leeseo suddenly realized something.

This emptiness originated from the inherently empty nature of their relationship. A relationship with no commitments, boundaries, or rights. A convenient relationship where either could turn away if one got tired or bored, and it would be over.

So, there was no need to feel upset, no reason to expect anything from him. Leesoe understood that she had to put the brakes on this plunge into the fascinating, selfish, and dangerous existence that was Kwon Taegyeom. It might be better this way.

As she stepped outside, the scorching heat of summer hit her. Once the peak of summer passed, the end was near. So, until then…

Entering the annex, she punched in the now-familiar password and unlocked the front door. As she stepped inside, between the kitchen and the living room, Kwon Taegyeom was standing in front of the island dining table.

For the first time in a week, he looked a little tired and worn out. His suit jacket, which he had taken off as soon as he entered, was draped haphazardly over the back of his dining chair, and his tie was haphazardly disheveled on top of it. Leeseo could picture him furrowing his brow and undoing the knot in his tie.

He had just gotten out of the shower, and his hair was still slightly damp and shiny. His pants hung loosely to reveal his shirtless upper body and gorgeous abdominal muscles. He lifted his eyes to look at her.

“Hey, come here.”

As if he had seen her just yesterday, Taegyeom greeted her with a casual tone and gestured to the chair in front of him. As she approached, he pulled out another cup and asked nonchantly,

“Coffee?”

“…Sure.”

Taegyeom seemed completely unaffected, to the extent that Leeseo felt foolish for being so conscious of by his absence. She quietly took a seat in the chair he offered.

Taegyeom glanced at Leeseo, who was sitting silently, and transferred the coffee beans from the grinder to the filter. Leeseo noticed that he was an expert at making coffee, unlike her, who had relied on the capsule machine all this time. She observed him making coffee, expertly aligning and tamping the grounds, and skillfully extracting the espresso.

He placed a cup of diluted coffee in front of Leeseo. She watched him go through the entire process again, transferring the coffee to an espresso cup. Taking a sip of the espresso he had prepared, the rich aroma filled the air.

“Have you eaten dinner?”

It was nearing ten o’clock. When the weather was hot and she had no appetite, the chef said that bibimbap was the best, and the young radish bibimbap that the chef mixed in a spoon was the dinner menu for the employees today.

“Yes. I had dinner with everyone a while ago.”

Leeseo replied, her eyes fixed on Taegyeom, who was tilting the espresso cup to his lips. She had a weakness for caffeine, and drinking strong coffee made her heart pound and kept her awake all night, so coffee was an effective stimulant for her when she had exams coming up.

She was surprised that he could drink that bitter espresso without raising an eyebrow.