Chapter 6.5

As she passed through the entrance, ascended the escalator, and walked past a massive sculpture, a hall came into view.

“Vice Minister Yoon!”

Someone who had arrived in the hall earlier greeted Vice Minister Yoon, who was accompanying Eun-sol. It was a foreign couple with blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Oh, it’s the French Ambassador and his wife. Would you like to greet them, Ms. Eun-sol?”  

“Pardon? No, I’ll pass. I’m not very good at French or English.”  

“Then, if you go through that way, you’ll find another main hall. CEO Kwon is probably there.”  

“All right. Thank you, Vice Minister Yoon.”

Eun-sol walked down the hallway alone. The corridor was tall and deep. The grand arched ceiling and the flower-patterned floor were befitting of a wedding aisle.

In the hallway, people enjoying the party stood in small groups, holding glasses of wine and chatting.  

It felt real now—that she had stepped into their world, into a party that belonged exclusively to them.  

On the walls of the hallway hung several large frames, resembling digital displays, showcasing the history of the Taepyeong Group.  

Eun-sol’s gaze stopped at one of the frames. It was a photograph taken during the groundbreaking ceremony for the very hotel she was standing in, and Jeong-hyeok’s grandfather was in the picture.  

‘The bond between Taepyeong Group and Sowon Construction really is extraordinary.’  

It was something she already knew well. Hesitating would only make her feel more intimidated. Summoning her courage, Eun-sol boldly entered the main hall.  

The main hall was so vast that it seemed almost as big as a football field. It was so immense that she briefly worried she might not be able to find Kwon Jeong-hyeok.  

However, it took less than a minute to realize how wrong that thought was.  

In this expansive space, amidst the peacock-like flamboyance of the crowd, there was a man who stood out with an unparalleled presence.  

At the center of everyone’s attention, the man who was the focus of the room was none other than her husband, Kwon Jeong-hyeok.  

Around him gathered a group of young people. There were men and women, but two women in particular stood out.  

‘Ah, that woman?!’  

One of them was Tae Mari, and the other was a top actress. She was the most famous actress in South Korea, reportedly earning tens of billions for a single commercial.  

The top actress was wearing a dress that exposed her cleavage. She was an actress who had garnered attention for boldly performing n*de bed scenes.

Tae Mari’s dress, compared to the actress’s, was modest, but her gestures were anything but. Even from a distance, it was clear that Tae Mari was trying to get as close to Kwon Jeong-hyeok as possible.

And it wasn’t just Tae Mari. The actress, not to be outdone, kept flashing coquettish smiles. Both women’s eyes were fixed on Jeong-hyeok, as if by some unspoken agreement.

‘Have those women completely forgotten that Kwon Jeong-hyeok is a married man?’

Her insides churned with anger.

From where she stood, Eun-sol couldn’t see Jeong-hyeok’s expression. However, the radiant smiles on the faces of the two women in front of him seemed to reflect his mood.

Eun-sol gripped the clutch she was holding tightly.

She considered stepping forward and dousing the inappropriate atmosphere with a metaphorical bucket of cold water. But then, a thought struck her—she was an uninvited guest who had come here in secret.

‘Is this why he didn’t want to bring me along?’

The effort she had put into dressing up suddenly felt meaningless. The high heels that had momentarily excited her now felt unbearably uncomfortable.

In this space filled with people of the same elite class, she felt like a complete outsider.

‘I can’t turn back now, not after coming all this way.’

The two irritating women in front of her were bad enough, but when she thought about Vice Minister Yoon’s kindness in bringing her here, retreating wasn’t an option.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she resolved to press on. That was when her eyes met those of a man standing at a distance.

“……!”

She instinctively knew this wasn’t a coincidental glance. The purposeful gaze, as though he had been waiting for her, carried a clear intent.

‘Who? Who is he?’

The man had a scholarly appearance, with dark brown pomade-styled hair.  

While most men’s party attire looked similar, his outfit stood out for its simplicity. It wasn’t stylish but adhered to just the right level of formality.

What caught her attention, however, was the badge on his chest.

‘A lawyer?’

It was the type of badge worn by lawyers.

Regardless, his face was unfamiliar. Perhaps she knew him but couldn’t recognize him due to forgotten memories.

As she hesitated, unsure of what to do, the mysterious man began walking toward her.

“……!”

As the distance between them closed, his eyes became clearer. Behind his horn-rimmed glasses, his eyes looked moist, as though they might spill tears at any moment.

“Ms. Eun-sol, how have you been?”

“…Who… are you?”

The man who had approached her rubbed his forehead with a low sigh.

“Ha, I don’t even know what to say.”

Struggling to contain his overwhelming emotions, he finally managed to speak.

“I’m sorry. It’s been so long since we last met. I heard that you lost your memory.”

He let out a long breath, as though the words were painful to say. It didn’t seem like he was acting.

“Ms. Eun-sol, do you really not remember me? I’m Chu Seo-jin.”

“…Chu… Seo-jin…?”

“You genuinely look like you don’t recognize me. I had hoped, even if just a little…”

The man gave a bitter smile.

“Judging by your expression, I guess I’ll have to explain how we met. I’m a lawyer, and we first met when I provided you with free legal counsel during a difficult time.”

“…Ah…”

Hearing his brief explanation eased some of her vague apprehension.

“If you don’t mind, would you like to step out to the terrace over there and talk?”

The man, who called himself Chu Seo-jin, gestured toward the terrace outside the hallway.

Eun-sol hesitated for a moment.

She was curious about what he wanted to say. His gentle demeanor and harmless expression didn’t seem malicious.

“Can’t you just tell me here?”

Still, she couldn’t recklessly follow someone whose identity she wasn’t entirely sure of.

“You don’t trust me, do you? I just told you that we met when I offered you free legal counsel, didn’t I? Of course, that’s not the whole story.”

Chu Seo-jin gave a wistful smile and, instead of answering, began fiddling with his phone.

“This photo should provide the clearest answer.”

He held out his phone.

After a brief hesitation, Eun-sol took it from him.

“Ah…!”

When she saw the photo, she let out a short gasp and dropped the phone to the ground.

On the phone that Chu Seo-jin had handed her was a picture of a man and a woman wearing mustard-colored couple scarves.

Chu Seo-jin was smiling brightly, holding the woman close in his arms. And the woman nestled affectionately against him was…?!

“Ah…!”

Eun-sol’s trembling eyes widened as she lowered her head. She looked again at the photo on the phone lying on the floor.

Even on a second look, even from a distance, it was unmistakably her.

Her stomach churned in a dizzying wave of nausea.

‘There’s no need to be shocked. This must be the ex-boyfriend Hye-mi mentioned. It’s possible I had a boyfriend back then.’

However, since she had no memory, seeing herself in the arms of another man felt utterly alien.

Moreover, the background in the photo made her feel even more disoriented.

Behind them, a Christmas tree was prominently featured, with a large banner above it that read, “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” The year written on the banner was the current year. In other words, this photo had been taken only about five months ago.

Her mind became a whirlwind of confusion. Even if it were a case of rebounding from a previous relationship, she had thought that things with her ex-boyfriend must have already been bad or that there must have been some kind of issue.

‘To think that I took such an affectionate photo with this man, only to get married to Kwon Jeong-hyeok the very next month?!’

She began to question if she had been a promiscuous woman or if her sense of morality had been so broken that she could treat a man’s devotion as something trivial. She felt completely lost, unable to make sense of anything.

‘…Could it be… a forgery? Yeah, it could be something like that.’

If she looked closely at the phone, she might be able to tell whether it was fake or not. But she didn’t want to look at the photo any closer.

She was afraid that, upon closer inspection, the photo might turn out to be real and not a forgery. And she didn’t want to see herself clinging affectionately to another man any longer.

“I-I should leave now!”

As she tried to hurriedly leave the party venue, her steps faltered and tangled. The heels she was wearing were far too high. She thought she was about to fall embarrassingly to the floor, but someone’s arm wrapped tightly around her waist, supporting her collapsing weight.

“Ah…”

She didn’t need to look up to see who the owner of the arm was.