FC 06

Chapter 6

Ji-won lifted her chin and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Sung-hyun, whom she had naturally assumed was still in his study, was standing right in front of her.

“When did you come upstairs……………?”

Even after the tray had been taken from her, both of her arms remained frozen in the position they had been holding it.

Seeing this, Sung-hyun lightly tapped each of her arms in turn.

Tap. Tap.

Her stiff arms dropped like those of a wooden puppet.

“You’re not going to eat it, are you?”

“Hm? Ah, no.”

“She’s stubborn.”

His words were blunt, but the fact that he had taken the tray from her was completely at odds with his tone.

Ji-won’s lips twitched, unsure whether she should smile.

Had he come upstairs because he was worried about Ria?

She was still reeling from the shock of their reunion, so her nerves were already stretched taut.

Joo Sung-hyun.

Just like before, she could never tell what he was thinking.

“I could have taken that myself……………….”

She couldn’t even tell whether taking the tray from her was simply an act of consideration or whether there was some other meaning behind it.

“Forget it. It’s your first day, so get some rest early.”

Only after hearing those two additional sentences did she finally understand where the conversation was going.

Even then, she couldn’t tell whether this was consideration or something else.

“No, give it to me. I’ll throw it away.”

Whenever she looked at Sung-hyun, it was as though an electric current ran through her body.

Her hands trembled slightly.

Ji-won flexed and relaxed her fingers, calming herself.

“Didn’t you come here because you were working? Go back. The tray—”

“Sleep well.”

“Huh?”

“Save your energy. We have a lot to talk about tomorrow.”

“………………”

Sung-hyun glanced briefly at her wide eyes before turning away as calmly as ever.

Having failed to reclaim the tray, Ji-won stared stubbornly after him.

We have a lot to talk about…………….

Before she knew it, his final words had completely filled her mind, replacing even the thought of the precious fried rice.

Meanwhile, Sung-hyun returned to his study and placed the tray on the table.

The fried rice, now completely cold, looked far from appetizing.

Compared with Mrs. Park’s elaborate plating, it was nothing more than food dumped onto a plate.

Why had he gone out of his way to bring it into his study?

Well…………… who knew?

Even he wasn’t pleased with his own behavior, so his tongue slowly swept the inside of his cheek.

His eyes remained fixed on the plate on the table, shining as though he were seeing fried rice for the first time.

Feeling pathetic for no reason, he quickly walked back to his desk.

I’m not even going to look at it. Just watch me.

With that meaningless resolution, he focused on the graph displayed on his monitor.

How much time passed like that?

His feet moved to the table of their own accord.

He picked up the plate again.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he picked up the spoon as well.

It was only because he felt bad for Ria.

He swore he hadn’t wanted to eat it.

But the moment he took a bite of the ordinary fried rice, he became as rigid as stone.

He didn’t even remove the spoon from his mouth.

He forgot to chew.

He simply savored the taste lingering across his tongue.

His eyes, unaccustomed to revealing emotion, softened for just a moment.

Two bites.

Three bites.

His movements, which had been unbearably slow, suddenly became faster.

He ate so hurriedly that if Mrs. Park, who was always lamenting about how little he ate, had seen him, she would have been horrified.

When he finally put the spoon down, he had no choice but to admit it.

This ridiculous fried rice.

The one you made.

………………This ridiculous fried rice.

He had missed this humble plate of food so desperately.

Seoulheon

Although the night was deep, the lights in the main residence of Seoulheon were still on.

Pil-seong carefully examined the documents he had received during the day.

Se-young, sitting beside him, let out a deep sigh and snatched his glasses away.

“Aren’t you going to give them to me?”

Pil-seong glared at his granddaughter, who had boldly stolen his glasses and put them on.

Se-young immediately took them off again when everything began spinning before her eyes.

“Go to bed now. That’s enough for today!”

“Ahem.”

“What happened to the tablet I gave you last time? Why are you doing this when you’re the chairman himself?”

Se-young tapped the documents in Pil-seong’s hands with her fingernail and glanced at the clock once more.

“They say you sleep more as you get older, but that’s a complete lie. Don’t give Oppa a hard time. He’s a workaholic just like Grandfather.”

“Are you going to keep fooling around?”

“If you keep overworking yourself—”

“Hearing about it isn’t enough. I have to see it with my own eyes.”

“Why? Are you so proud of how much Oppa has raised the stock price that you have to see it yourself?”

Since she’d hit the nail exactly on the head, Pil-seong glared at his fox-like granddaughter.

She had finally managed to stop him from working.

He closed the file and blinked his tired eyes.

“Your brother is about to swallow the European market too. His work addiction has gotten serious. He’s ruthless. I wasn’t even that bad.”

Hearing her grandfather, who was stingy with praise, acknowledge Sung-hyun made Se-young feel pleased, but also somewhat bitter.

“I think he’s living that way even more because he’s conscious of Aunt’s family. It makes me sad.”

Pil-seong silently listened to the thoughts she’d casually let slip.

In front of the tiger that everyone else was busy trying not to anger, this youngest granddaughter was the only one who freely said whatever was on her mind.

As a result, when they were alone, Pil-seong would often reveal his own thoughts indirectly as well.

“Honestly, Grandfather, you were too harsh.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Putting Daehun Oppa in charge of Jaewon Corporation.”

Gwak Daehun was the only son of Pil-seong’s daughter, Joo Hwa-jin, and the nephew of the three siblings.

He was Se-young’s maternal cousin, but they weren’t close because of the resentment that had accumulated between them over the years.

When the competition for the position of vice president of Jaewon Corporation had been fierce, Pil-seong had chosen Daehun over Sung-hyun.

At the time, Sung-hyun had hurried back from an overseas branch and needed time to understand the domestic market.

Pil-seong, a cold and calculating businessman, had promoted Daehun, who was then an executive director at Jaewon Corporation.

It wasn’t difficult to understand his decision, but Se-young still found it disappointing.

If it had been her brother, he certainly would have done well.

Well, in the end, he did crush Daehun at a frightening speed.

“You know that from the day Oppa went to Jaewon Electronics, he started carrying a knife between his teeth, right? As if things weren’t already bad enough because of Aunt……………… He absolutely can’t stand losing to Daehun Oppa.”

No matter how much she disliked her aunt, Se-young was wary of criticizing her in front of her grandfather.

She sneakily glanced at Pil-seong.

As always, the old man said nothing either way.

Feeling guilty for no reason, Se-young pushed the documents aside and changed the subject.

“Anyway, are you really going to leave Ria at that house?”

“Why? Is there something wrong with that?”

“Father is problematic for trying to set Oppa up by sending Jung Da-bin there, but Grandfather isn’t much better. This isn’t like you.”

Se-young looked at Pil-seong cheekily, then suddenly felt sorry for her brother and continued.

“Oppa absolutely hates her just hearing Jung Da-bin’s name. And I’m completely against her too.”

“You shouldn’t badmouth someone behind their back, you little rascal.”

“Whaaat? Grandfather, are you on Jung Da-bin’s side too?”

“I think you’re the one who hates her more than Sung-hyun does.”

Pil-seong teased Se-young before retrieving the file she had cleared away and opening it again.

“If he refused because he disliked that girl, he should have met someone else. But just look at what he’s doing. If we leave him alone, the family line will end. He’s been on so many blind dates and still won’t settle down, so I’m going to let your father handle things his way.”

“Our father must be happy.”

Wasn’t that family desperate to become in-laws with them?

With Pil-seong’s support, Dong-hwan would surely grit his teeth and try even harder this time.

“It won’t be easyyy. Jung Da-bin won’t workkk—”

Se-young continued teasingly, making fun of Dong-hwan’s plan.

Pil-seong pushed up his glasses and lightly flicked her forehead.

“Ouch!”

“No one can guarantee what kind of fate people will have.”

Rubbing her forehead, Se-young still refused to back down and confidently declared,

“But it’s definitely not her, right?!”

“If it’s a relationship that isn’t meant to happen, it will fall apart even without you making a fuss. We’ll know if we wait and see.”

What exactly does he mean?

Was he saying that he wanted Sung-hyun and Jung Da-bin to work out?

Or was he saying the opposite?

Once again, Se-young failed to completely understand her grandfather’s intentions.

Sweat had gathered in tiny beads across his elegant face.

A group of middle-aged women who had climbed the mountain and were now coming back down with him kept sneaking glances at Sung-hyun and giggling.

Sung-hyun placed his foot near an air compressor and brushed the dirt off without looking toward them.

This happened often whenever he climbed the mountain behind his home.

He’s got such a great build, but such a pretty face.

What kind of man is this handsome?

Does he live nearby?

If he got caught by the wrong person, they could keep him there talking for what felt like forever.

That was why, despite loving the mountains enough to deliberately choose a home with one behind it, he couldn’t hike as often as he’d like.

“Young man, do you have a girlfriend?”

“……Pardon?”

“I’m asking if there’s a woman you’re seeing.”

“Ah, I’m married.”

“Oh my goodness! Really?!”

“Yes. I have three children too.”

“My goodness!”

He had gotten pretty good at handling situations like this by now, but they were still just as exhausting.

“You don’t even look thirty, but you already have three children!”

Just as the conversation was about to enter its second round—

Perfect timing.

Min-seok’s name appeared on his smartwatch.

“Excuse me. I’m getting a call.”

He walked farther away and tapped his earphones.

Taking that as his chance, he quickly descended the stairs.

“Hey, Secretary Han.”

—Vice President, where are you?

“The mountain behind the house.”

—Oh? What brought you there? You hadn’t gone for a while.

Exactly.

Even though he knew he’d inevitably be bothered, he’d climbed the mountain anyway.

He’d lived alone, and now he’d suddenly taken in two outsiders.

It was driving him insane.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t because of the little brat.

It was because of Seong Ji-won, who had appeared after ten years.

“What time is it?”

—Wow. Since you haven’t been coming to work, have you lost your sense of time too…………….

“You’re talking too much.”

—Yes, yes. It’s 6:05 AM. Ahem. I’ll begin the report.

There was no night, no dawn, and no distinction between morning and afternoon for Sung-hyun.

Naturally, Min-seok’s voice was also energetic at an hour when most people were barely considering getting out of bed.

“………………According to the results, we’ve moved from the appraisal loss range into the appraisal profit range. And yesterday, we finalized the MOU with W Motors. There’s already a lot of interest because we’re linking the smart-home system with the infotainment system in the vehicles.”

“What about the CES exhibition? Everything is being prepared without problems, right?”

—Yes, that’s correct.

“When we release the article, emphasize the multi-control function in the headline.”

—Yes, Vice President.

After finishing the morning report, Min-seok returned to his mischievous tone.

—When are you planning to come back to work? Since you’re taking time off anyway, why don’t you take a trip somewhere? Bali is nice. It’s great for a vacation……………… Ah, forget it. You’re coming in tomorrow, right?

As though recommending a vacation was simply a waste of breath, Min-seok abandoned the subject.

Around that time, the back entrance of the apartment complex connected to the hiking trail came into view.

Sung-hyun began jogging lightly.

“I’ll be working from home for the time being.”

—What?!

Min-seok sounded excited, as though he’d misheard him.

—You made a mistake just now, right? Is there something wrong with my ears? No, you told me to find a babysitter immediately and—

“I’ve been neglecting my niece too much. I’m going to try being a proper uncle.”

—You neglect everything except work anyway. What’s so special about this………………?

Min-seok continued rattling on before suddenly lowering his voice.

—Vice President, by any chance—

“What.”

—Maaaybe—

“Are you going to fire me?”

—Ah! Why do you threaten to fire me every time!

“If you’re going to say something useless, let’s hang up, Min-seok.”

Afraid that he really might hang up, Min-seok hurriedly blurted out the rest.

—I’m talking about the babysitter. You didn’t happen to fall head over heels because we found you someone too pretty, did you? It’s hard for someone who doesn’t even wear makeup to be that beautiful. And how are you even the same age? Nothing happened yet, right? Of course nothing would happen even if the sky fell, but if that’s why you don’t want to come to work, I’ll even bow down and—

Click.

Sung-hyun ended the call and shook his head.

Han Min-seok drained his energy more than the mountain did.

“Fall head over heels? Who?”

Sung-hyun scoffed.

But then he roughly pressed a hand against his solid chest.

He had already come up with an excuse now.

If his heart kept pounding like this, he could explain it to himself as the result of climbing the mountain since dawn.

The problem was that he knew the truth himself.

It was nothing more than Seong Ji-won.

Just her existence alone had turned everything upside down.