I trailed off my words, stopping whatever I was going to say and looked at Lee Hyun, he sat there eating calmly without a care in the world. I felt like I was falling into a huge bog. Mrs Yang stared at my red face with her eyes squinted and asked,

“Don’t tell me you don’t like our Executive Director Kwon? That’s unexpected.”

“It’s not that…”

“Don’t worry, young lady. I’m not the type of woman who would give you a hard time during your marriage with my son. I heard you’re an architect, right? After you two get married, come under Executive Director Kwon and continue to do what you want. I won’t push you to have a child. I just want to see my Lee Hyun eat, sleep, and settle down properly.”

Why was this family so good at cutting people off?

In addition, Mrs Yang made a terribly ideal and unbelievable proposal. If she wanted to make such proposals, it would have been better to find a woman with better conditions and more things to offer than me. It was true that my background is not enough for Seoryang, but how did Kwon Lee-Hyun come to such a regretful situation?

“Thank you for your words, but I think you are too generous.”

“Generous? ? Oh, you’re saying such weird things. That’s funny, young lady. Why…did you think I would care about where you came from?”

It was Kwon Lee-Hyun who saved me when I was querying my lips in search of something to respond. He put down the spoon aloud, wiped his lips with a napkin, and then stood up gracefully from his seat.

While buttoning his jacket, he looked down at me and said,

“Thank you for the meal. I will grab a coffee with Lee Ji-Eun. Then the two of us will discuss the wedding. Lee Ji-Eun, I know this is our first time meeting, but can we have this conversation just between the two of us? Then, please excuse me first.”

“Follow me.”

With a gentle hold on my shoulder he bent down and whispered in a deep voice and left the private room. For a moment, I felt the hairs all over my body stand upright. Even with the delicacies set in front of me, I couldn’t move my spoon. Silence filled the spacious room.

Mrs Yang, who was staring at Lee-Hyun’s empty seat with an amused look, slowly moved her eyes and stared at me.

“Young lady.”

“Yes.”

“I want him to regret it.”

I batted my eyelashes and silently grabbed my hand on my lap.

“No. Anyway… you don’t know how hard I have tried to set him up with dates so he can get married and settle down. Until now, he had rejected all of them even without meeting them in person or seeing their faces. I believe he has refused more than 30 people by now. He was completely uninterested in them, even if they were famous actresses or came from a wealthy family. But strangely today, he was so active and even took the lead.”

She smiled to herself as a self-soothing gesture and dipped her spoon into her meat soup. Mrs Yang’s hand trembled as she held her spoon. I nodded with an awkward expression and got up from my seat.

“Make him regret it. He has to experience it himself… He must know how his mother feels.”

“…Then I’ll be going.”

“Alright. Don’t take it too seriously. I mean, I hope my Lee-Hyun will like you a lot. You should go. He must be waiting.”

I forced myself to take steady steps. Glancing back, I could see Hee-Joo sitting there smiling satisfactorily. I left my complicated mind behind and walked out of the private room. Shortly after, I spotted Lee Hyun standing at the entrance of the dining room. Around him, several attendants and the general manager of the hotel stood reporting something to him. Nodding his head, he placed down a half-empty glass of water on the tray Secretary Kim held.

When I approached him, the people around him retreated like a low tide.

“Where are we going to grab a coffee?”

With a tired look, he turned towards me.

“To my hotel room.”

“A room?!”

“Yes. I want to quit my schedule. If you don’t like the room, we can go to my apartment.”

Now only I remembered that he had arrived a few hours ago from a business trip. His tone had faint irritability and he had a weary face. I looked at Secretary Kim standing behind Lee-Hyun and asked,

“Will Secretary Kim come with you like last time?”

“No, it’s just the two of us this time. Why? Are you nervous?”

“Yes…”

“I suppose I am a man at the end of the day after all.”

His smile was dreamy but he was holding back. It seems like the Kwon Lee-Hyun I knew had resurfaced finally, and the tension that had been tied to my body this whole time was finally relieved. He gazed down at me and pressed against the corners of his eyes and swept over his neat hair.

“I am close to faint on the bed.”

“Yes… It looks like that.”

“So if you have something to say, you can follow me or go back. Don’t waste your time.”

He turned around without even hearing my answer. Then he stood in front of the elevator and pressed the button. I looked at him confused and hurriedly rushed to him. He glanced at me rushing towards him with a calm gaze and got into the elevator when it arrived.

“Hey!”

I grabbed the elevator door and called for Lee Hyun. He inserted a card into the slot and pressed on the 58th floor. He leaned against the wall, a galaxy light projection fell over his head as he stood there with his hands in his pockets. The interior of the elevator was themed after the dark night sky and Lee-Hyun appeared as if he was a part of that darkness.

“About what your mother said. So…”

He stared at me quietly, then suddenly he pulled his hand out of his pocket and pulled me by my arm. I was dragged helplessly across the dark elevator and shoved my face into his large chest. I abruptly raised my head and covered my nose at the sudden stabbing pain. He leaned against the wall and slowly closed his eyes with a grin.

“Lee Ji-eun, you must be insensitive to safety, seeing how you’re so loosened up.”

“What? No, that’s not it…”

I couldn’t finish what I was saying, all of a sudden Lee hyun started swaying like a drunk.

“Hey… are you not feeling well?”

I forgot my pain in the nose and grabbed his arm. He slightly opened his eyes to look down at me and suddenly leaned helplessly on my shoulder. I staggered at the unexpected weight, but on time the elevator arrived on the 58th floor and the doors slid open.

Standing outside waiting was Lee-Hyun’s assistant secretary, whom I saw in Germany. He hastily rushed in to help support Lee-Hyun who was still leaning on me fully. He leaned on his secretary and struggled to come to his senses. 

“There’s a reporter here, if you don’t want your identity to be discovered, follow me. I won’t lay a finger on you today.”

(T/N: He said today… )