Chapter 3
The place the man had chosen to meet was The One, a membership club in Hannam-dong.
Min-ju vaguely remembered hearing about it from Director Kwon. It was a members-only establishment—no one could just walk in. Kwon had even joked that once inside, there was nothing in Korea that couldn’t be accomplished.
“There’s usually a months-long wait just to reserve a room,” Kwon had said with a sly grin, “maybe I should ask them to approve the INTO project while we’re at it.”
Stepping into a place where entry was so exclusive, Min-ju was surprised to be escorted to a third-floor room without any objection. She surveyed the tastefully understated interior, and about ten minutes later, the man appeared—swinging the door open without even knocking.
Since he had entered first, this must be the VIP room.
“You’ve been waiting long?” he asked.
“It was bearable,” she replied.
Min-ju stood as he approached. He walked casually, hands in his pockets, and plopped down across from her, legs crossed—a posture far from respectful.
“Do you want to stand there and look around?”
His casual remark drew a sharp glare from her, and he laughed, waving a hand.
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
Min-ju had no intention of blaming him for his appalling manners. That was just who he was. She simply observed him coolly, quietly grinding her teeth inside.
Bastard…
Jung Hyung-woo, Vice Chairman of Jungseon Chemical. He seemed oblivious to how rude his words had been and poured himself some bottled water, saying, “Sit down.”
As the future heir to the Jungseon Group, he wasted no time cutting to the point.
“So, have you made up your mind?”
He was asking for her answer to the proposal she had brought after attending her father’s forty-ninth-day memorial.
“I’m curious. I wonder what answer you’ve brought.”
If one were to identify the most malevolent human trait, it would be the mouth—shamelessly consuming and spewing filth without hesitation.
Min-ju locked eyes with Jung Hyung-woo, poured herself a full cup of water, and, without hesitation, hurled it straight at his disgusting face.
“Ugh!”
His expression froze briefly, then he chuckled, flicking the water off. The smile couldn’t conceal the humiliation on his lips.
“Did you just… pour water on me?”
“Yes.”
“You’re feisty.”
“And you, Vice Chairman, are a bastard.”
As before, or maybe even then, he had twisted his smile while making cruel proposals.
“Don’t scold me alone. We have a history from five years ago.”
Min-ju had come determined, yet the simple mention of “five years” made her expression crumble. How could she remain composed? The last five years had been agony, every moment a tearing of skin and strangling of breath. If he had any conscience, he wouldn’t have dared speak—he was the one who had exiled her into that time of suffering.
Yet glaring at him with contempt would hardly threaten him. She had come here of her own accord; the least he could do was not underestimate her.
She had never imagined sitting across from Jung Hyung-woo again. She had certainly not expected to be presented with a proposal that could overshadow what had happened back then.
“Don’t you want your father’s company back?”
This time it wasn’t a command to abandon it—but what she truly wanted to reclaim was her father, not the company. Still, the thought of restoring the company he had devoted his life to stirred something she couldn’t suppress.
“I suppose your temper has cooled. Let’s hear the answer you brought.”
Jung Hyung-woo wiped away his smirk, pressing for a response. The sight of his smug face, casually waiting after dangling a bait she had no choice but to take, made her stomach churn.
She remembered clearly the joy in her father’s eyes when, after more than ten years of investment and technical development, he had signed a subcontract with Jungseon Chemical. Even when the board vote of no confidence passed against him, he reassured Min-ju that the company still belonged to him.
Naïve and yielding—that was how things had gone awry.
Friends visiting her father’s wake had all expressed their sorrow. And yet, Jung Hyung-woo had dared to propose a deal to Min-ju, dangling the company that had caused her father’s death.
“Do you want the company back?”
The very man who had taken it and driven her father to death had the audacity to ask. Aligning with him was shameless, yet Min-ju clenched her fists with the steadiness of someone enduring shame, leaning on desperation for patience.
“I’ll accept your proposal.”
Her composed answer twisted Jung Hyung-woo’s lips into a vile smirk, one that would have warranted tearing him apart.
“You’re clever, Min-ju. I like that.”
“Make sure the promise to return the company is enforceable.”
“Agreed.”
He tossed her a handkerchief to dry his hands after flicking off the water.
“Come to headquarters tomorrow. Bring your lawyer to handle the paperwork.”
Was this the right move? Her heart wavered, but before she had arrived, she had resolved herself. She wanted to curse him out, storm out—but she had already made her peace.
“Understood.”
She would do it. If it meant repaying her father for the time she had neglected him, she would willingly shake hands with Jung Hyung-woo. Even if it meant descending to his level, she would reclaim what her father had lost.
She knew what lay ahead would scar her soul, but it was a small penance for failing to prevent her father’s death—the last call she hadn’t taken.
“Let’s start without dragging this out.”
Jung Hyung-woo straightened his pants and rose, leaving Min-ju alone in the room as he intended. About thirty minutes later, the room door opened again, carrying his overpowering cologne.
“Have you found it?”
First came the fresh scent of skin lotion, then a low, soft voice. Min-ju closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the man’s presence.
She had to rise. That familiar personal scent—the one that had whispered in her ear, kissed her, embraced her gently—awoke memories deeply buried within her.
“……”
Slowly turning her head, she saw a tall man leaning slightly, looking at her. A low chuckle escaped him as he loosened his tight tie.
“Hah.”
The owner of The One. Jung Tae-hwa—the first love, the complex mix of affection and resentment, who had shaken twenty-year-old Min-ju and been abandoned by twenty-five-year-old Min-ju.
The last room had been a meeting with a prominent ruling party figure. Tae-hwa had finished connecting several opinion leaders and defense company representatives to support the budget increase for the National Defense Committee, wrapping up around 11 p.m.
“Who wanted to see me?”
Handing the bottle of wine to Kyung-jun, he asked.
“A young woman, sir.”
From 6 p.m. to midnight, meeting people like rolling dice in this building was his job. He didn’t care whether it was men or women. He only met those who requested him until a single bottle of wine opened that day ran dry.
Tae-hwa had ended his previous appointments early and stood at the room Kyung-jun led him to. There were two glasses of wine left for reception purposes.
“Pretty?”
“She has a face you’d like… but I can’t judge freely.”
“If she turns a man on, she’s pretty. Open the door.”
With a casual joke, Tae-hwa tightened his tie once more and took the wine from Kyung-jun. He had intended to relax and let go, feeling heavy as wet cotton on a Friday night…
But the moment he saw the woman precariously seated at the table’s edge, he knew he had lost control. Tae-hwa twisted his tie back down, thinking of Kyung-jun’s failed joke, and let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah.”
She was still beautiful—Min-ju.
