Chapter 9
After putting down his drink, Lee Hyun sat back against the sofa and stroked his smooth chin.
“What do you gain by going that far?”
“I just want to free myself from their nagging. Actually, it is my last resort. You know that my dad, he is a businessman to the bone.”
“Then what do you lose?”
“My sense of morality.”
Hearing her answer he narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t think my proposal is not that immoral.”
“Executive Director Kwon Lee-Hyun.”
“Yes.”
“Have you at least heard a word called empathy?” She gave him a look.
“What do you mean?”
With a light snort, he leaned his body over. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared into her deep brown eyes. He, who had only considered Ji-Eun as a woman with a striking appearance, found himself staring into her dark brown eyes.
Feeling his stare she stared back at him and smiled. She leaned back and made some distance in between them and lowered her eyes to her hands.
“I’m sorry. It’s just how I feel. First of all, I belong to SIN, and people know me as Lee Ji-Eun from SIN.”
She spoke so softly that Lee Hyun barely heard her, but he stared at her with a thoughtful expression.
“After getting out of a small, medium-sized business that is struggling to catch up with SR, and then setting up an office in partnership with a large corporation? It’s not a big deal when you’re talking about someone else, but when it is my business, it becomes quite upsetting. It’ll be a tag alone for a while. No matter how much you try not to be affected by others, it’s hard to avoid from the framework of this society.” She said.
Slowly blinking her eyes, she shifted her gaze to the wine glass and grabbed it. Ji-Eun emptied the remaining wine in the glass while looking at the streets over the window. One by one, the signboard lights went out. There were fewer cars on the road. Without knowing more than half of the wine bottle had disappeared.
While the silence settled between both of them, background music from the restaurant drifted in the air, a slow-flowing jazz melody. Lee Hyun, who filled another glass, broke the silence.
“This… may be an off-topic question, but I’m curious. What if things get out of hand and go in a completely unexpected direction? Will you consider marrying me?”
He gently tapped the table with his fingertips. It was as if he was counting seconds or measuring the heartbeat. He stared intently at Ji-Eun’s face, waiting for an answer. The corners of her lips twitch.
“I never thought about marrying someone without love.”
“It seems that love is important to Ms Lee Ji-Eun.”
“Well, what I meant was, for business families marriage is another way of merging or acquisition of new businesses. But I’m just an ordinary person. I don’t want to be swayed or involved in any of these anymore.”
Lee Hyun had to stifle up the laughter that was to escape from him.
“What kind of person am I in your head? Do you think I’m a villain?” Asked Lee Hyun.
“Kind of…”
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea.”
Ji-Eun opened her mouth as if to say something and stopped without actually saying anything.
Those eyes. A strange sense of satisfaction bubbled up inside him when he stared into the same eyes he had seen in Germany. He remembered those eyes, pale and terrified, swayed in front of him. He continued speaking, all the while questioning the strange inclinations within himself.
“Even if we skip dating and straight away get married, I think it will be quite fun with Lee Ji-Eun.”
She responded to his mischievous words with a serious face.
“Nope. You saw it wrong. I’m not the fun type, but I’m a very high-maintenance type.”
“That’s no problem, I can take care of that.”
“We are not getting married. Stop joking, okay. Everyone around me who is married is miserable. And now you want to talk about me and you getting married? Really, it sounds terrible.”
“Hmm, you even say it’s terrible, huh.”
“Okay, let me rephrase it. What I meant was not terrible… but you see it’s quite burdensome.”
Lee Hyun finally let loose the laughter he tried to hold back for so long and seeing this Ji-Eun lowered her eyes as she was embarrassed. The alcohol was working its magic to relieve the built-up tension between them. As if to finish her quota, she emptied the rest of her glass. While Lee-Hyun slowly savoured his drink without taking his eyes off Ji-Eun, soon enough, he also emptied his glass.
“I think it’s better to go now before a mistake happens.” Said Lee-Hyun.
She reacted when she heard him say the word ‘mistake’. Perhaps it wasn’t a lie when she said her limit was just one bottle. Her face was flushed with a deep pink hue than before. The soft, rosy tint that spread across her cheeks stood out clearly under the dark lighting.
“If I have made a mistake…”
“No. It’s not you, I’m afraid I will make a mistake.”
He shook his head and got up from his seat. He could feel her lingering stare at his fingers when he buttoned up his jacket. He thought the reason he felt so drawn to her right now was because he was also a bit drunk. He was exhausted from work, and he was at his limits physically and mentally. And to make things worse the dark lighting made the woman who was right in front of him look more attractive.
It seemed as if he was hallucinating from drunkenness and stress.
“Ms Lee Ji-eun, can I see you again in the morning?”
“After I resign from the company. I guess the morning would be most convenient for you.” Ji-Eun responded.
“Rather than a meeting, there is something I want to check personally.”
She got up after him and put her handbag over her shoulder. Ji-Eun rolled her dark brown eyes at him after getting what he said, she nodded with a soft smile and said,
“Well, okay.”
“Alright then, I’ll try my best to kick you down without mercy.”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to your kind cooperation.”
As if she had received the desired answer, she greeted him with a soft smile and stood in front of him. With her body at her full height including her heels, the crown of her head was barely touching the tip of his chin. Ji-Eun raised a hand to sweep aside the strands of hair that fell over her face, a small red dot stood out from the small gesture.
A tiny bright spot was lodged in the side of her temple.
For some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off that one tiny red mole.
He reached out his hand for a handshake. She stared at his outstretched large hand for a second and gently grabbed it with her small one. A sudden heat passed between them through that simple gesture. He gently squeezed Ji-Eun’s hand but she didn’t show any reaction.
***
As wealth flows down and desire rises up, it grasps onto the host and sinks its root down into the ground. Higher, higher, to a higher place.
I couldn’t remember from what movie I heard those lines, but I remember hearing something similar to that. I didn’t know why those lines suddenly came to my mind, but I kept thinking about it unconsciously.
I got into Lee-Hyun’s car and closed my eyes as his secretary drove the car. Lee Hyun was sitting next to me and was looking at some documents he received from his secretary a while ago. Whenever I opened my eyes, I kept looking at him. It was really uncomfortable as I did that unconsciously and I couldn’t stop doing it.
A strong scent of alcohol hung in the air, suggesting a time of indulgence, I felt so out of place.
When I opened my eyes again, the car had stopped. How long has it been? It seemed I had dozed off there for a moment. I inhaled sharply when a large hand suddenly rested on my shoulder. I could feel heat spreading across my cheeks, I slowly looked away avoiding his gaze.
“Are you okay? We are at your place. I’m sorry, it’s like I have called someone really tired out to have a drink with me.”
How can he speak in such an eloquent way even at this hour of the day? Pressing against my sleepy eyes, I looked out the window to see that the car had stopped at the intersection in front of my apartment. No one was there in the streets other than the people who had gathered in front of a convenience store.
“Thanks for the ride, and I drank well.”
“Next time, we will go to a place that Ms Lee Ji-Eun likes.”
Instead of answering, I gave a small nod and got out of the car. Lee-Hyun too got down and walked around the trunk and stood next to me. I hesitated for a moment in front of the automatic door of my apartment complex. Then he put his hand in his pocket and looked at me intently and smiled.
“Go in and get some rest. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay sir, you too get home safely.”
“By the way, Lee Ji-Eun.”
I was about to take out the door card from my handbag but turned my head toward Lee Hyun.
“Did you really not save my phone number?”
“Ah…”
“Even though you knew it was me.”
“That… I never thought that I would need it…”
“Need it?’
“I mean, I never thought we would meet again…”
Lee Hyun stared at me with a soft smile on his face. How can someone’s smile be so perfect? Perhaps because of that, I remembered a question that had been on my mind for a while.
I placed the card on the central door sensor, the automatic door opened with a short mechanical whirl. But instead of stepping in, I turned to Lee Hyun who was standing behind me.
“I have a question too.”
“Go ahead.”
“How did you know who I was?”
He raised his chin slightly and seemed to ponder over my question for a moment. Even though it wasn’t that long ago, he narrowed his eyes with his head tilted slightly as if he was thinking.
“A year ago, the Seoryang Foundation held an architecture competition. In that competition for the construction of the new building to be built in Sejong City, I can remember I gave a person named Lee Ji-Eun the grand prize. Yet, president Jin-tae Lee came instead. I heard he was awarded the prize on your behalf as your guardian.”
He took a step closer and leaned down to my eye level.
“Ms Lee Ji-Eun, I’m more of a suspicious person than you think. You have to find out what you’re curious about to get rid of it.”
I could feel the hair on the back of my neck straightened out.
He raised himself back into his full height and let out a small chuckle. He grabbed me by the shoulder and gently pushed me into the doorway.
“Then, I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”
***
I kicked my blanket to the side.
It was hot, extremely hot. My face was burning, and I could see a jumble of puzzle pieces floating in front of my vision.
It was past three in the morning. I couldn’t sleep, and my mouth was dry from drinking. Feeling a faint headache, I got out of bed and opened the refrigerator. I just left the door open and buried myself in the cold air thinking the heat would subside.
After a series of monotonous beeps sounded from the long-opened fridge, I closed the door and sank to the floor.
It’s been a year – a little over a year.
In an act of defiance, I had violated the company rules and submitted my work to the contest. It was a new building construction design contest hosted by the Seoryang Foundation. The extreme stress caused by the criticism of the building client and nagging from the seniors was only just the beginning.
I never imagined that the work I submitted at the time would win the grand prize. Fortunately, the blueprint was not displayed and I couldn’t attend the awards ceremony in person.
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That day, it was a mistake to ask my dad for help.
He personally visited the awards ceremony and proudly revealed that he was Lee Ji-Eun’s father, and thanks to him, articles about the hidden daughter of the CEO of Iris Cosmetics swarmed everywhere.
Whenever I come across such articles, I always tend to get a little panicked. After that day, I got fed up with people’s excessive attention, I didn’t want to get involved with my dad anymore.
Judging from all of these situations, Kwon Lee-Hyun must have been curious about Lee Jin-Tae’s, my dad’s extraordinary move, which had been hiding the existence of his daughter, that was me. Perhaps it might have been a simple curiosity. Maybe it was just an innermost thought of a man who didn’t want to think complicatedly.
He always had a twisted nuance to his polite attitude that was very evident. However, the expression he had when he talked about marriage did not disappear from my mind. It was the most sincere expression I had seen on Lee-Hyun from the few short days I had spent with him.