“Drive?”
Secretary Park Min-sook hurriedly spoke to Kim Ah-young.
“Shouldn’t you take at least a bodyguard with you?”
“It’s okay. Who would recognize my face anyway?”
Watching this, Park Min-sook realized once again.
“She’s going to meet Lee Hyun-woo.”
Kim Ah-young’s father, Kim Sung-moo, the head of Guseong Group, was someone who greatly disliked his daughters being exposed to the media.
Thus, the rare appearance of Kim Ah-young in the media was when she was young, and past that point there was almost no media exposure.
So, there probably wouldn’t be anyone who would recognize her if she walked around the streets.
“But still, this won’t do.”
Park Min-sook is the one would later have to take all the responsibility, could she allow this?
She spoke in a more resolute tone.
“This time, it absolutely won’t do. Please take a bodyguard with you.”
“If I take one, it will draw even more attention.”
“Even if you don’t take one, you’ll still stand out. Do you think men would just leave you, Director, alone?”
Although she understood the context, Kim Ah-young found bodyguards annoying.
“If I don’t comply, it will be a problem for Secretary Park later, right?”
Reluctantly, she compromised with the following statement.
“Send someone who can keep their mouth shut. Especially someone who doesn’t look like a bodyguard.”
“Yes, understood.”
After a while, Park Min-sook carefully selected one person.
And she firmly instructed the bodyguard.
“This matter must be kept absolutely secret. Understood?”
“Yes, understood.”
“And you must not let it show that you’re a bodyguard. But keep a reasonable distance to ensure there are no dangerous incidents. Understood?”
“Yes, understood.”
The bodyguard, almost robotically repeating himself, was named Jung Jin-seong.
He was of average height, not overly muscular, and had a clean appearance, somewhat like a typical office worker.
In short, he had an ordinary look.
Therefore, Kim Ah-young would surely be satisfied.
Park Min-sook had not been observing Kim Ah-young for just a day or two.
She could roughly guess who she had met and who she was going to meet.
Thus, she felt the need to keep more secrets even if Kim Ah-young didn’t say anything.
‘I hope she settles her heart soon…’
Having experienced youth, Park Min-sook believed everything was just a phase.
She hoped it wouldn’t last long this time.
If Kim Ah-young’s parents found out, Park Min-sook would have to take all the blame.
“Sigh…”
A small sigh escaped her.
In his past life, Lee Hyun-woo knew that Kim Ah-young liked public and ordinary things when she was young.
So, he had casually suggested soju, and she accepted it.
“I got it right.”
Indeed, the information from his past life was helpful in many ways, not just for making money.
Of course, it was most helpful for making money.
A little later, watching the returning sales warriors, he felt it.
“When I went to GB, they said they would contact me after checking. But from the tone, it seemed like they had already called somewhere.”
“It was probably the Guseong representative I met. He was on the phone in front of me.”
As Kang Dong-ho and Han Se-jin answered in turn, Lee Hyun-woo smiled.
“I might just get all the ads from the top three home appliance companies.”
The marketing budget of the three companies was astronomical.
Most of it was for TV, but now it was starting to move to new media like portals.
Thinking that he had accelerated that process made him feel good.
Opportunities pass by unnoticed in this world.
Only those who know how to seize them can succeed.
This time, Lee Hyun-woo had firmly grasped the opportunity given by the heavens with both hands.
Naturally, a bright smile spread across his face.
Kang Dong-ho continued.
“I’ll stop by Daejin after work.”
“No, I’ll meet them personally.”
“Both of you, don’t go today. Enjoy your life after work. There’s no need to rush. You can do it after Guseong and GB confirm their ads.”
Lee Hyun-woo temporarily suppressed their enthusiasm.
He genuinely felt there was no need to rush.
Would the third top home appliance company hold out when two others were doing it?
When there was no answer, he emphasized again.
“I don’t want to work with employees who are exhausted from work. Now, you might enjoy working with your youth, but later you’ll be surrounded by work. Then all your daily life will come to a halt.”
“……”
“……”
“Do you think it won’t happen? If you don’t think about work at home these days, I’ll admit my thoughts are unfounded.”
Their eyes momentarily clouded.
They were reflecting on their life after work.
And after about a second of silence, they couldn’t refute Lee Hyun-woo’s words.
Because it was true.
Soon, Lee Hyun-woo’s voice echoed in their ears.
“Leave early. And spend some time on self-development or dating.”
“Yes… haha…”
“It’s a bit hard to enjoy life after work without a girlfriend, but yes, understood.”
Only then did satisfactory answers flow from the two.
Naturally, they began preparing to leave.
Watching this, Lee Hyun-woo briefly reminisced.
“I used to enjoy work like them too.”
Some people live off personal achievements.
Lee Hyun-woo, too, felt such emotions soar with repeated successes during his early career, driven by the praises of his superiors and the cheers of his colleagues and juniors, and he tirelessly immersed himself in work.
With a sense of belonging added, his job and he became one entity.
Naturally, he considered the success of Dukseong as his success.
Looking back now, that was the path to becoming a workaholic.
When he realized he was too deep into it, there was no one left beside him.
Thinking this far, a corner of his heart slightly ached.
“I must not do that in this life…”
He was slightly worried about today.
Meeting Kim Ah-young after work seemed like an extension of business.
He tried to think comfortably.
“She brought me the ads, so one exception should be fine.”
Inwardly, he was thinking that this exception might not become exception anymore depending on how it goes with Kim Ah-young.
That is, if she talked about business, today’s post-work meeting would be a one-time thing, but if she talked about something far from business, they could continue meeting as friends.
With this mindset, Lee Hyun-woo used the subway instead of a car since he would be drinking.
The meeting place was an ordinary pub in Jongno.
He had been there a few times in his past life, and he felt nostalgic thinking that visiting today might bring back memories.
“I went there a few times with my ex-wife too.”
The flow of consciousness always brings up unexpected people.
It was the same now.
Suddenly, he was curious about how the woman he was connected to in his past life was living.
“How would she be living, she’s probably still a college student since she’s four years younger than me.”
In his past life’s timeline, she would have joined Dukseong two years after him and formed a connection.
But the chances of that happening in this life were very low.
No, they were almost zero.
She might still join Dukseong, but more importantly, Lee Hyun-woo’s starting point in society was completely different.
“Wherever she lives, I hope she meets a better man than me and lives well.”
Leaving such a hackneyed sentiment inwardly, Lee Hyun-woo wished her well.
Then, a very interesting scene unfolded before him.
Although not his connection, he visually confirmed the presence of another connection from his past life.
It was none other than Kim Ah-young and Jung Jin-seong.
These two were married in their past life.
Of course, it didn’t end well.
They didn’t just part ways like Lee Hyun-woo but ended up in a fierce legal battle.
“I wonder how things will turn out in this life?”
He chuckled.
The situation was somehow amusing, and he laughed, but at that moment, Kim Ah-young noticed Lee Hyun-woo and waved.
Lee Hyun-woo looked at Jung Jin-seong, who was a bit further away, and then at her, smiling as he approached.
“You only brought one bodyguard.”
“What?”
“That person, he’s a bodyguard, right?”
Kim Ah-young’s eyes widened.
She had instructed him to keep his distance and just watch without Lee Hyun-woo noticing, but he had been caught from the start.
Flustered, she admitted.
“How did you…”
“It’s obvious just by looking.”
“Well…”
“It’s okay. Of course, you can’t move alone. You’re not an ordinary person.”
“……”
“Let’s go, I know a place.”
Lee Hyun-woo always took the initiative by catching her off guard.
But strangely, Kim Ah-young didn’t dislike it.
Walking shoulder to shoulder with him now, she felt the same.
Not just that she didn’t dislike it, but every time her sleeve brushed against his, she felt an inexplicable excitement filling a space in her heart.
However, she felt burdened by the gazes she sensed while walking.
“Could it be that they recognize me?”
No matter how careful she tried to be, she had been exposed to the media.
Especially at the beginning of the year, the news that she had become a registered director of Seorabeol Hotel briefly adorned the economic section of the newspaper.
While the public is forgetful, and they probably wouldn’t remember, she had come out almost unguarded, but many people kept glancing at her, making her gradually worried.
Would she make Lee Hyun-woo uncomfortable because of her?
‘That wouldn’t be good.’
She had already made him uncomfortable by bringing a bodyguard.
If it added to this, would such a meeting happen again?
At that moment.
“It’s because of me. People keep staring since I dyed my hair orange. I thought it would get better with some black hair growing back.”
Lee Hyun-woo’s voice blamed himself.
Kim Ah-young then realized that the gazes were directed at Lee Hyun-woo, not herself.
‘People are really looking at him, not me.’
However, she felt that more women than men were looking, realizing it wasn’t because of his orange hair.
With a gentle smile on her lips, she asked Lee Hyun-woo.
“You’ve been in the newspapers and on TV a few times, right?”
“Huh? Well, yeah.”
“You had a scandal with Kim Yoon-sun too.”
“Oh… right! So that’s why they’re looking. No wonder, people kept staring at me on the subway.”
Most of those people were probably women.
He seemed unaware of the reason himself.
This was amusing too.
It felt like discovering a clumsy side to a perfect person.
Then he said,
“I should never do interviews again. Oh, and I shouldn’t create any more scandals.”
His words made her smile.
Somehow, everything he said and did was amusing.
But this time, he did something unusual.
He suddenly stopped walking and extended his hand forward.
“Just as I thought…”
“……?”
“Did you get hit?”
“Huh?”
“Raindrops are falling.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, let’s go quickly.”
Following Lee Hyun-woo, who started walking again, she also felt raindrops.
“Oh? It is indeed raindrops…”
At that moment, Kim Ah-young was speechless.
Lee Hyun-woo’s hand had positioned itself above her forehead even once they started walking again.
“I should have brought an umbrella; your makeup will get ruined.”
Along with his soft low voice.
‘Why am I like this?’
Thump thump, her heart pounded.
It seemed like she was about to fall in love.
