Chapter 1.3

Late into the night, the lights in the executive office of Taeseon Department Store showed no sign of turning off. 

In-wook stared beyond the large glass window that took up one side of his office, furrowing his brow deeply. 

— The call cannot be connected, so it will be redirected to voicemail. After the tone…….

Today, too, instead of the voice he had been eagerly awaiting, an unwanted mechanical tone came back. 

“You’re quite bold, Yoon Hae-soo.”

In-wook let out a smirk as he stared at the phone screen that had switched to voicemail. The situation was far from amusing. And understandably so, as it had already been a week since he last managed to contact Hae-soo. 

He had tried reaching out whenever he had a spare moment, but there was no reply to either calls or messages. It was the same even through his younger sister In-ah, who was Hae-soo’s closest friend. No matter the method, he couldn’t get any news about Hae-soo. 

“No matter how much you try, you’re still in the palm of my hand, so why waste your energy?” 

In-wook narrowed his brow in displeasure but soon let out a small chuckle. 

In truth, finding Hae-soo wasn’t a difficult task for him. A few instructions to his secretarial team would reveal not only where Yoon Hae-soo was and what she was doing at any given moment but even details he wasn’t particularly curious about. 

Yet, the reason he hadn’t resorted to that was because he knew better than anyone that Yoon Hae-soo would never want to be found in such a way. 

She surely needed time. In-wook had made the very conscious and clear-headed choice to become the shameless person who gave in to the absurd invitation of welcoming a provocative dream and crossed a line with his sister’s friend. But Hae-soo hadn’t. 

“Since I’m dreaming of being intimate with my best friend’s older brother, I might as well rationalize it to myself by thinking, ‘Let them curse me as the craziest woman of the century.’” 

Judging by those earlier words, Hae-soo had committed to the act fully believing it was all a dream. So, upon waking up to find herself lying next to him, she must have been quite shocked. 

The sole reason he had patiently endured being completely ignored up to now was precisely that. But now, he was slowly reaching his limit. 

“It’s about time to wake up from the dream. Are you still coming to terms with reality, Yoon Hae-soo?” 

In-wook muttered while rubbing his temple. He had given her time because it seemed necessary, but he had no intention of letting her avoid him any longer. 

If she kept playing around with such childish tactics, responding in an equally childish way would be more his style…….

It was while he was freely wandering through such meaningless thoughts that a sudden knock echoed through the quiet office. 

“Sir.” 

The door opened, and in came Chief Kim. 

In-wook glanced at the time before standing up from his seat. As he headed toward the sofa placed in the center of the office, he noticed something unusual about Chief Kim’s expression reflected in his eyes. 

“You’re still here at this hour without going home. What’s the matter?” 

In-wook asked as he took the head seat. Meanwhile, Chief Kim, who sat down after him, looked even more flushed. Moreover, the eyes directed at In-wook were sparkling with an almost burdensome intensity. 

“It seems I’ve managed to handle the discreet task you assigned some time ago much faster than expected.” 

“A task from some time ago…… Well, it’s not as if the tasks I’ve assigned to you, Chief Kim, are just one or two, right?” 

In-wook shrugged nonchalantly. It was certainly not the reaction Chief Kim had hoped for. Disappointed, Chief Kim, with a face full of urgency, quickly added an explanation. 

“I’m referring to the task of looking into Henry Price. The destination Henry Price is secretly planning to visit this year!” 

Chief Kim clapped his hands, unable to hide his excitement. Only then did In-wook look at Chief Kim with wide, surprised eyes. 

“You mean you’ve found that out?” 

“Yes!” 

“Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations, but it seems your abilities exceed my imagination, Chief Kim.” 

In-wook even let out a hollow laugh. He truly hadn’t expected this. Henry Price was as famous for his thoroughness as he was for his reputation. 

Even seasoned paparazzi struggled to uncover the destinations Henry visited each year. It was said that Henry embarked on his trips only after meticulous preparation. 

“So, where is it? The destination Henry Price is said to be visiting this year?” 

In-wook’s voice, as he asked again, was surprisingly calm. But inwardly, he was just as excited as Chief Kim. 

Information about Henry Price was something In-wook had been eagerly waiting for the past three quarters. 

Henry Price was the CEO and representative director of the prestigious European luxury brand ‘Arno,’ known for his arrogance. He was also the iconic designer of Arno, so much so that he was called the ‘Human Arno,’ perfectly embodying the brand.

In-wook had been tirelessly pushing for a meeting with Henry countless times. The reason was to bring Arno, a brand exclusively established in Europe and the Americas, into Taeseon Department Store, thereby earning the title of the first Asian location for the brand. 

If successful, it would positively impact not only Taeseon Department Store but also the image and stock value of the entire Taeseon Group. This, in turn, would solidify In-wook’s standing within the group. 

However, the problem was that Henry consistently declined meeting requests from Asian countries. So how could In-wook not welcome the news about Henry that Chief Kim had brought? 

In-wook nodded a couple of times at the whispered report from Chief Kim that followed, then gave instructions based on the information he had organized in his mind. 

“That’s good. Let’s adjust our schedule to depart in line with Henry’s itinerary.” 

“Yes, Sir. Then I’ll look into flight tickets right away.” 

“It couldn’t have been easy. Thank you for your hard work in finding this out.” 

In-wook offered sincere encouragement. Perhaps because his sentiment was fully conveyed, Chief Kim smiled proudly and bowed respectfully. 

The sound of lively footsteps echoed out of the office just as energetically as when Chief Kim had entered. Soon, the sound of the door opening and closing was heard, and silence settled in.  

In-wook recalled Chief Kim’s briefing once more as he took out his phone. He intended to check his schedule by looking at the calendar. 

But the moment he turned on the screen, a name he had briefly forgotten about struck his eyes sharply. 

Yoon Hae-soo (2) 

The contact from Yoon Hae-soo that he had never managed to reach. 

In-wook checked today’s date and recalled the departure date for Henry that Chief Kim had mentioned. 

His fingers, resting on the armrest of the sofa, lightly tapped up and down.  

Once, twice, thrice. 

Only after tapping exactly three times did his fingers stop, and his lips, which had been pressed together, moved slightly. 

“Three days.” 

Three days. The time he could remain in Korea before departing to meet Henry. 

But those three days were hardly enough even to handle the urgent tasks that needed to be resolved in preparation for his absence. 

“Ha, Yoon Hae-soo.” 

In-wook muttered lowly as he rubbed his face. More than the tasks he needed to address ahead, it was the matter concerning Hae-soo alone that complicated and cluttered his mind. 

A heavy sigh escaped him. 

* * * 

Late for lunch, Hae-soo entered a café with a haggard face. She placed an order with familiarity and found an empty seat to sit down. 

The moment her backside touched the seat, her head thudded onto the table. It made quite a loud noise, but she didn’t care. The dull pain felt on her skin was far less intense than the throbbing headache. 

“Ha, I’m exhausted…….” 

Hae-soo muttered in a sunken voice. Even though the sun was high in the sky, her hoarse voice showed no sign of returning to its usual condition. 

And understandably so. It had been over a week since she had last had a proper night’s sleep. 

The sleepless nights had begun in earnest about eight days ago. 

“Ha, seriously, isn’t this guy completely unhinged?” 

Her phone rang incessantly at all hours. From 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., except for just those three hours, calls came in every hour. As if an alarm had been set, there wasn’t even a minute’s discrepancy. 

The caller was Baek In-wook. 

There was a sense of madness in the ringtone itself. That alone was reason enough to avoid answering, but the real reason for not picking up was something else. 

What reason could Baek In-wook possibly have for calling her? 

That night, the one she didn’t even want to think about. 

It was obvious that his purpose was related to that night, and for that very reason, she couldn’t bring herself to answer the call. 

She lacked not only the confidence to hear what Baek In-wook had to say but also the courage to respond to his words. So, without any plan, she simply kept avoiding him. 

At some point, she even started hearing phantom rings from the incessant calls. Only then did she remember another function of her phone and switched it to silent mode. 

But it was a meaningless effort. Her mind, already conditioned to recognize his persistent attempts to contact her, was fully aware of his calls even in the silence where no sound was made.