His voice was so soft that anyone who heard it would have been amazed.
- You must be busy. I’m sorry. Are you available for a call right now?
“It’s fine. Did you get home okay?”
- Yes, thanks to Mr. Kim, I got home comfortably. But… please don’t do that next time. Mr. Kim is a key figure at the company, and I feel bad that he keeps getting called out because of me.
“I understand. I’ll come next time.”
- No, that’s not what I meant…
Hearing her flustered voice made Ju-hyuk smile slightly.
He could clearly picture her blushing face, looking all flustered.
Earlier, he had been annoyed by the disappointing meeting, but her voice immediately calmed him down.
And, more than anything, the fact that she was at home right now helped him focus more on work.
Though he hadn’t told her, he had given Mr. Kim an important task, and last night, he had ended up napping in the office’s sleeping room because he hadn’t slept well.
The fact that he could go home where she was made him feel more at ease, making it easier to focus on his work.
“Is there something you wanted to say?”
- Huh?
“I don’t think you’d call just to tell me you got home safely.”
Of course, that was the least of Ju-hyuk’s concerns.
- Oh, right. While cleaning your study, your aunt found some documents on your desk. She thought you might have forgotten them.
Documents?
As he listened carefully, a thought suddenly flashed through Ju-hyuk’s mind.
- If they’re important…
“They are important.”
- Really?
“I’m sorry, but could you bring them to the company? I need to look at them right away. I forgot about them.”
- Sure, I’ll bring them.
At Chaerang’s answer, the stern expression that had been on Ju-hyuk’s face during the meeting finally softened.
“I’ll send a driver, so take a ride here.”
- A driver?
“Not Mr. Kim. Is that okay?”
Ju-hyuk added that just in case she might refuse.
But he was so excited to see her that he had overlooked something important.
- Ju-hyuk.
“Huh?”
“So, I just give them to the driver, right?”
“What?”
“The documents. I’ll just give them to the driver…”
Ju-hyuk realized his mistake a little too late and, for once, was at a loss for words. He ran his hand through his hair and, as usual, chose to stick with his excuse.
“No, it can’t be.”
- Huh?
“No, it can’t.”
- Why?
“It’s confidential.”
- Confidential documents?
The word “confidential” didn’t make sense here.
Even though he was the CEO, it was strictly forbidden to take confidential documents out of the office.
So, what he was saying made no sense.
“Why would I ask you if it wasn’t important? As you said, I could just ask anyone else to do it.”
- Oh…
“If it was something anyone could do, why would I have asked you? I trust you with it.”
Ju-hyuk hadn’t expected to come up with such an excuse just because he wanted to see her.
“Chaerang?”
After a short pause, Ju-hyuk called her urgently, trying to hide his nervousness.
- I get what you mean.
“That means…”
- Yes, I’ll go.
Ju-hyuk let out a breath of relief without realizing it.
“Great, I’ll send the driver now.”
- Okay, see you soon.
After ending the call, Ju-hyuk walked out of the meeting room with a much lighter step.
Meanwhile, after hanging up, Chaerang got up from the table, and the housekeeper asked her.
“Did you say it was important?”
“Yes. He said I need to bring them right away.”
“That’s surprising, though. How could someone as thorough as him forget something important? But at least you caught it early.”
“Yeah. I’ll take the documents to Ju-hyuk, so you can go ahead and finish your work.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
“Thank you for your hard work today.”
After finishing the conversation with the housekeeper, Chaerang went upstairs.
She walked past Ju-hyuk’s room, then stopped.
“Oh, right. I’m not supposed to be here…”
While she was at the Chairman’s house yesterday, Ju-hyuk had someone move her luggage from the guest room to their bedroom.
When she came back in the morning and saw that her luggage was gone, she was shocked.
If the housekeeper hadn’t told her, she would’ve had no idea.
Chaerang turned back and entered Ju-hyuk’s room.
As she stepped into the walk-in closet next to the bedroom, she saw both her clothes and his neatly hung on opposite sides. It felt a bit awkward.
She didn’t have many clothes with her, so her side of the closet was empty.
She hadn’t expected to stay here for long.
“Hmmm…”
She looked at the few clothes she had and bit her lip.
“What should I do?”
She realized she had nothing to wear.
She never thought she would be saying that.
She wasn’t interested in fashion, so she always just chose something simple.
But Ju-hyuk was different.
Maybe because he had grown up surrounded by luxury, he had a great sense of matching clothes. His tall, handsome figure made everything look good on him.
“What should I do…”
The thought of going to his company made her nervous.
It felt like when they first met.
But wearing the same clothes again felt a bit lacking.
As she kept thinking, her eyes landed on a shopping box.
“Oh, no way…”
She slowly opened the box, and as expected, there was a soft pink dress.
“Oh my god…”
It was a dress she would never forget.
It was the dress she wore the first time she met Ju-hyuk.
The day before, she had been just as worried about what to wear. The Chairman was handling most of the wedding arrangements, but she wanted to impress Ju-hyuk, so it wouldn’t hurt to look good.
It was the dress she had carefully chosen after thinking it over.
With a knee-length, elegant vibe and a neckline that exposed her collarbones, it was a graceful dress.
Chaerang took the dress out and looked at it.
She had kept it carefully after wearing it just once.
She probably didn’t even realize it had gotten mixed in with the things she brought to Korea.
“I guess I’ll try it on.”
She didn’t really have any other choice.
She changed out of her loungewear and slipped into the dress.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she felt like she had gone back six years in time. Of course, she had a more mature aura now, but it was amazing how clothes could have that kind of effect.
Feeling a bit excited about the old memories, she quickly did some light makeup and got ready.
When she was about to leave with the documents, the housekeeper gave her a surprised look.
“Oh my, madam. You look so beautiful.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“No, I really mean it. You were already pretty, but now, you look like a celebrity. Ju-hyuk will probably fall for you all over again.”
“Oh, no…”
Chaerang blushed at the housekeeper’s flattery, unsure how to respond. Just then, the message from the driver arrived, saving her from having to answer.
“Well, I’ll be off now.”
“While you’re at it, why don’t you have lunch with the CEO? It’s exactly lunchtime.”
“I don’t know if Ju-hyuk has time. He’s always so busy.”
Chaerang hurriedly left through the front door.
On her way to meet Ju-hyuk in the car, her heart was beating faster than usual.
Maybe it was because of the housekeeper’s words.
‘Ju-hyuk will probably fall for you again.’
She knew it was just a casual remark, but her excited heart couldn’t calm down.
After a while, the car finally turned onto the CK Cosmetics headquarters driveway.
When the car stopped, the driver quickly got out and opened the door for her.
“Thank you.”
Chaerang got out of the car and walked into the building.
The lobby was busy as usual, with people hurrying around for lunch.
“Madam, welcome.”
It was Mr. Kim’s voice from behind.
“Oh, Mr. Kim. Hello.”
“I’ll take you to the CEO’s office. This way, please.”
Chaerang followed Mr. Kim into the elevator.
As she watched the numbers rise, she quietly took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
Ding—
The elevator doors opened wide.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
Mr. Kim stepped out first, leading the way.
As they walked down the soft carpet, they turned the corner.
“Ah, the CEO.”
Mr. Kim stopped walking and spoke, and then Chaerang saw Ju-hyuk standing with his back to the secretary’s desk.
At the same time, Ju-hyuk turned his head.
“Ju-hyuk.”
“…”
Seeing her smile, Ju-hyuk didn’t respond at all.
In fact, he couldn’t.
