ALRE 04

Chapter : 4

Lee Young just went along with it.
“You look like you were dragged out here against your will. Let’s just have a cup of coffee and call it a day.”

Those words were a relief.
“Yes, sir.”

A little later, the coffee they ordered arrived, and Lee Young silently took a sip.

But she couldn’t just sit there doing nothing—her dad would definitely ask later how the blind date went. She’d better have at least something to say. So she decided to strike up some small talk.

“Um, may I ask how old you are?”

Lee Young blinked her eyes innocently as she asked.
Age was the basics, after all.

She was even more curious because he was said to be the owner of an officetel building at such a young age.

At her question, his thick eyebrows twitched slightly as he stared straight at her.
His gaze was so sharp it almost felt like she had said something offensive.

A little scary. That wasn’t what she meant at all…

“Thirty-four.”

He finally opened his mouth after a moment.
“Oh, I see.”

She had thought maybe he was thirty at most—he looked younger than she expected.

“My youngest brother is twenty-eight.”
“Sounds like you have a lot of siblings.”
“Two younger brothers.”
“No younger sister?”

At that, he nodded, then spoke offhandedly.
“Thank God.”

And the way he looked her over—like he was saying it was a blessing he didn’t have a little sister like her.

What the heck, this guy.

He was subtly trying to provoke her.

And Lee Young was not the kind to ever back down from a challenge. Smiling with her eyes, she said sweetly,
“I think it’s a blessing too. That I don’t have an older brother like you.”

He immediately caught her meaning and smirked faintly before glancing at his watch.

Was that his way of saying he wouldn’t bother with such a childish argument?

“Let’s get going. No need for either of us to waste more time.”
“Ah, yes.”

That was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Lee Young grabbed her backpack and stood up. When he noticed it, he glanced at it and twisted his lips.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to sell me out and then go have fun with your friends. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“What?”
“We spent exactly thirty minutes having coffee, and then we went our separate ways. That’s what I’ll tell President Kang—if it ever comes up. Not that I plan on tattling. Just don’t run around getting into trouble with your friends, especially tonight. I can’t stand dealing with annoying things.”

Lee Young glared at him in disbelief.

She had planned to just leave quietly, but now she couldn’t help herself.
“You know what?”
“…What?”
“You’re really unpleasant.”
“I’ve been told I ruin appetites.”

The landlord replied so casually it was infuriating.
He wasn’t even fazed.

Feeling utterly defeated, Lee Young spun around and stormed out of the lounge.

At least the blind date was over safely. Now it was time to hit the snowy slopes.

*

Tenant of Unit 1004.

She had shown up with her hair cut short, like soggy seaweed.

Jaewon could only give a dry laugh at the absurdity of it all.

President Kang’s precious jewel turned out to be the crazy tenant from unit 1004.

Maybe she wasn’t a jewel at all, but a headache in disguise.

A suspicion crept up in Jaewon’s mind—perhaps President Kang had set up this blind date just to dump that troublemaker on him.

They say you can know the depth of a river, but never the depth of a person’s mind.

And…

No matter how annoying she was, this was the first time a woman had ever looked him in the face and called him unpleasant.

Watching her small figure walking away, Jaewon’s sharp eyes followed her for a moment before he pulled out his phone and called Manager Lee.

The blind date had ended a good thirty minutes early.

No point wasting time—he could head straight to Gangwon Province.

He had to personally check on a renovation project for a five-star hotel suite.

“Manager Lee, where are you now?”
—“You’re already done? I just got out of the taxi. I’m right at the hotel entrance.”
“Wait there. I’ll be right out.”

Lee Jisoo, the design team leader, was a junior from university and one of the designers at the interior firm Jaewon owned. She had been assigned as his partner for this hotel renovation business trip.

Jaewon exited the hotel and walked toward the parking lot. Jisoo spotted him and came running, waving her hand.
“You finished earlier than expected, sir.”
“Yeah, it turned out that way.”
“Who were you meeting?”

Jaewon didn’t answer. He simply walked to his parked SUV, took off his jacket, tossed it onto the back seat, and got in.

Jisoo, sitting in the passenger seat, kept stealing glances at his expression.
“It was a personal matter.”

Even with a university junior like her, Jaewon never liked talking about his private life. With that short answer, he started the engine.

A heavy silence filled the car.

Then, suddenly, he spoke.
“Am I really that unpleasant?”

Jisoo, who had been staring blankly out the window, flinched at the unexpected question.

Who on earth had dared to say something like that to President Jung Jaewon?

“W-what? Who said that?”

Whoever it was had some serious guts.

“There she is.”

He pointed out the window.

Jisoo followed his gesture and peered outside.

There, on the sidewalk, was a petite woman in a thick parka, walking briskly.

“That woman?”

It was too dark to see clearly, but she looked small and slender. Her short, sleek hair fluttered in the wind as she brushed it back, annoyed.

Just then, the car’s headlights illuminated her face—small, delicate, and strikingly pretty.

Even as a fellow woman, Jisoo had to admit she was lovely—her milky, soft skin looked like it would melt at a touch.

“She looks like a college student… That student said that to you, sir?”
“Unbelievable as it sounds, she’s twenty-six.”

As Jaewon said her age, a faint smile curved on his lips.

Jisoo, surprised to see such an expression on his face, looked out the window again.

Who is she? she wondered, her expression darkening.

“There will be snowfall in the Gangwon Yeongdong and Gyeongbuk coastal regions, as well as the Gangwon mountain areas… Please drive carefully, as conditions are expected to worsen.”

Listening to the weather report on the radio, Jaewon pressed the button on the steering wheel, switching to calm classical music.

“The snow’s getting heavier,” Jisoo murmured, glancing nervously around.

Their destination was the Palace Hotel in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province.

Many hotels in the area were being renovated to upgrade their facilities.

Thanks to the reputation from their previous renovation project, new orders had been flooding in.

Normally, such work would be done during the off-season, but this case was unusual—
the client had requested the renovation after the ski resorts had already opened, so there was no choice but to hurry.

To keep things on schedule, Jaewon had to oversee it personally.

It would usually take about three and a half hours from Seoul to Pyeongchang, but with the snow falling, traffic was worsening fast.

They’d almost certainly arrive late at night.

Since it was just a two-day, one-night trip, Jaewon had decided to drive himself instead of bringing a chauffeur—but he already felt exhausted.

“Sir, what about dinner? Should we stop at a rest area?”
“Sure.”

Jaewon drove on silently.

As Jisoo suggested, they stopped at the next rest area, ate a quick bowl of udon, and got back on the road.

Once on the expressway again, the conditions grew even worse.

The car crawled forward, stopping and starting over and over.

“Oh, there must’ve been an accident up ahead,” Jisoo suddenly exclaimed.

A luxury express bus was parked on the shoulder, with people standing outside. Smoke was billowing from inside the bus—it looked like the engine had overheated and nearly caught fire, forcing everyone to evacuate.

The road had turned into a parking lot, cars inching forward like snails.

Bzzzt—

Jaewon rolled down the window to check outside. Cold air rushed into the car. Jisoo coughed and hunched over.
“Better zip up your jacket.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Damn, this road’s basically a parking lot.”

The cold wind didn’t bother him; in fact, it eased the heaviness in his chest.

Who knew how long they’d be stuck here?

Frowning, Jaewon stared out the window—aware of Jisoo’s clingy gaze on the side of his face.
“You’re going to wear a hole in my face.”
“Oh—sorry…”

Jisoo’s cheeks flushed red as she looked away.

Maybe I should’ve brought Team Leader Cho instead, Jaewon thought wryly.

Just then, a familiar voice drifted through the night air.

“Hey! Are you guys seriously leaving me here like this? You call yourselves friends? How could you ditch me out here in this freezing cold?”

That voice… sounded just like the tenant from Unit 1004.

A furious female voice rang out through the winter night.

Jaewon turned his head toward the sound, disbelief written all over his face.