Chapter 5

At lunchtime, a clear voice rang out over the noise of the crowded ‘1983’.

“As for me, I want to have a love like green grapes. A love where everything inside is soft and sweet, protected by a firm skin. How sweet? Very sweet.”

Kim Ji-woo’s cheeks quickly puffed up as she chatted while poking a plump, juicy green grape with her fork.

“Manager, you’re having that kind of relationship, right? Chef Kang has become really famous these days, so it must be uncomfortable for you. If my boyfriend went on TV like that, I think I’d be too anxious to live.”

“……”

“When I think about it, Manager, you’re really broad-minded. As long as I’m alive and have my eyes open, I would absolutely never allow my boyfriend to do something like that.”

“Ji-woo, you’re still single, right?”

“Gasp. Team Leader, how could you hit me right in the bones with such a calm face? My body and heart both hurt.”

The table was noisy with laughter as they ate their desserts.

“Oh, then Chef Kang will be coming to the Baekyaje too.”

Crunch.

Woo-yeon, who had been chewing on a coconut tuile, froze completely.

She brushed off the thin, crispy crumbs, and Kim Ji-woo handed her a tissue.

“Everything about that is good, but the crumbs. Right? Then, Manager, are you coming with Chef Kang?”

Woo-yeon slowly raised her head.

Oh, I was dumped.

She could not bring herself to say it.

Instead, she took a sip of her warm Americano.

The people at Nason Gallery worked together day and night, but sharing the messy details of their personal lives felt too much like oversharing, so she hesitated.

She had deliberately kept it to herself because she did not want to share her private life.

But she had honestly forgotten that Yu-gun was also close with Representative Na.

Kim Ji-woo’s bright gaze moved away from Woo-yeon.

Kim Ji-woo was one of the gallery staff who worked as an art dealer focused mainly on selling artworks, a galleryist who planned exhibitions and managed artists, or an art advisor.

Although each person had different strengths, most of the galleryists at Nason were skilled enough to work across different areas without strict boundaries.

And now Nason was putting great effort into preparing for the Baekyaje.

On the hottest day of summer, the special exhibition held at the gallery lasted only one day, but the amount of money earned there was enormous.

It was also a place where artists and sponsors were connected, and where potential customers could be secured.

The guest list was carefully selected, including journalists, critics, curators, and others.

Because the event also served as proof that the gallery was still strong, the entire gallery was busy and fiercely working toward it.

Just like this table, where the conversation had somehow drifted from one topic to another until it reached the customers.

“You know that man who came a few days ago. Wasn’t he the COO of M Holdings? I heard he’s a director. Apparently, he’s actually like the chairman of Haeshin Group’s right-hand man. I knew there was something about him from the moment Director Seo Jeong-ju from Haeshin Art Center called us.”

If left alone, Kim Ji-woo could talk endlessly.

Ignoring her chatter, Woo-yeon thought of Kwon Jung-heon.

“He’s a self-made man who grew up with nothing, relying only on his fists in the back alleys. Do you know how hard his life was? If he’s the one person the chairman favors most after going through enough hardships to build buildings from the bare ground…”

“He must be a fox, then. From what I hear, the chairman of Haeshin isn’t an easy man either.”

Jeong Ha-kyung, the exhibition team leader who had worked with Woo-yeon for a long time, shook her head knowingly.

A fox?

Woo-yeon suddenly remembered how he had used his excuse of being unfamiliar with art to make her talk endlessly about the history of the art world and different artworks until her mouth went dry.

Even then, until the very last moment when he left the gallery, Kwon Jung-heon had never once shown that he knew anything.

Remembering his emotionless eyes, Woo-yeon fell deep into thought.

Thinking about it, it was possible.

After he left, she had searched for him online. His place of birth and brief profile matched what Woo-yeon already knew.

Even so, why had he pretended not to know her until the very end?

Was it consideration?

Or was it simply ignoring her?

“Do you think he has a girlfriend?”

“Of course he does. At his age, with those qualifications, and especially with that face, if he didn’t have one, he’d be failing at his job.”

At Jeong Ha-kyung’s clear conclusion, Kim Ji-woo nodded repeatedly.

“Exactly. If a man with that face didn’t have a girlfriend, he’d be failing at his job. And his physique—wow. Come to think of it, he was wearing a huge ring too. Could he be married?”

“A married man wouldn’t have that much coolness leaking through his suit. Ji-woo, you really don’t know anything, do you?”

Ha-kyung added that even if she searched his face carefully, there was not the slightest trace of the hardships of life on it.

“That’s true. Anyway, he was handsome. I keep finding myself secretly looking at him without even realizing it…”

Amid the murmuring voices, Kwon Jung-heon’s image became clear in Woo-yeon’s mind again.

Those endlessly deep, dark, and clear black eyes.

Just remembering the arrogant gaze that had crossed the distance between them suddenly made her feel as if a cold wind were blowing.

Woo-yeon felt a chill and wrapped both hands around her mug.

Maybe it would be better if we just continued not knowing each other.

Whenever she thought about Kwon Jung-heon, the threads inside her head became completely tangled.

“Oh, by the way, Representative Na asked me to check whether Director Kwon Jung-heon of M Holdings will attend the Baekyaje.”

Woo-yeon raised her head at Ji-woo’s added comment.

“He’s our number-one potential VVIP customer.”

Ji-woo met her eyes, wiggled her eyebrows, and grinned.

It already took days just to carefully select and narrow down the invitation list.

Yet after visiting only once, they were already asking whether he should be invited.

“This is proof that money really is everything in a capitalist world. You must be happy, Manager.”

“I know. You really are Nason’s sales queen.”

“Exactly! How did you manage to make him buy everything you recommended? What’s your secret? Let’s cooperate and make money together!”

“There’s no secret like that. I was just lucky.”

Was she really?

At Kim Ji-woo’s chattering voice, Woo-yeon remembered the sharp and cold gaze.

“Let’s recommend a few more.”

She remembered her own stubbornness, which had made her recommend one thing after another simply because those words had irritated her.

And she remembered Kwon Jung-heon’s gaze.

He had not cared about her stubbornness at all.

Instead, he had calmly said he would buy everything.

The Cloud Building overlooked the entire Gwanghwamun district.

Inside the spacious office, graphs moved rapidly across several neatly arranged monitors on the desk.

Knock, knock.

At the sound of the knock, Jung-heon pressed a remote control with the hand that had been clicking the mouse.

The smart windows, which had been opaque on all sides, instantly became transparent.

Beyond the glass, the busy office came into view.

Seon Yoon-jung was standing outside the door, holding a flower basket larger than her own body.

“Come in.”

“Director, take this. Quickly.”

The moment Jung-heon saw Yoon-jung struggling to carry it into his office, he got up and took it from her.

After almost pushing the flower basket into Jung-heon’s arms with a heavy thud, Yoon-jung rolled her shoulders as if stretching.

“What is this?”

“Codename sent this to thank us for the offering we sent them a few days ago.”

Thump.

The flower basket was placed on Jung-heon’s desk.

Orange roses, grapefruit tulips, gerberas, and marigolds filled the basket beautifully, sending a fresh floral scent through the room.

It was the result of the goodwill he had shown a few days earlier when he had practically bought out the famous bakery in front of Nason Gallery.

“The flower meaning is ‘happiness that will surely come.’”

Seon Yoon-jung smiled as she read the card attached to the basket.

“Put it outside.”

“Why? It says ‘happiness that will surely come.’ You should keep it.”

“Flowers…”

Instead of finishing his sentence, Jung-heon shook his head and turned his gaze back to the monitors.

Flowers, women, entertainment, drinking, singing and dancing.

His reaction was completely typical of Kwon Jung-heon, who remained consistently indifferent toward the things most people in the world enjoyed and found interesting.

“This looks like the right place. I’ll put it here.”

Even though he had told her to take it outside, Seon Yoon-jung casually placed the flower basket on a table where she thought it suited the room.

“Oh, this place is so empty. And you’re empty too, Director. I thought something really needed to come here.”

At Yoon-jung’s playful words, Jung-heon let out a quiet laugh.

“What happened with the gallery? You’re not really planning to buy all of that, are you?”

“I am.”

Jung-heon nodded as if there was no chance he would change the decision he had made that day.

Yoon-jung frowned and shook her head.

“You really are going to buy all of it? Where are you going to put it? Did you suddenly become interested in a refined cultural lifestyle? Is it paintings this time?”

“Probably.”

At his indifferent answer, Yoon-jung frowned and muttered:

“I just don’t understand.”

How could he suddenly buy four paintings right there without any warning, careful consideration, or proper process?

Not a single penny of her own money was being spent on the art investment, but she still could not help feeling that it was a waste.

“Four paintings. Because of your sudden impulse, something you’ve never done before, the sunk cost is a whopping 700 million won.”

“It’s not sunk cost. If anything, you could call it a ‘fuck-it expense.’”

“What do you mean, ‘fuck-it’? How can you say something so vulgar…”

“Let’s just call it an investment. You know that I don’t invest in things without value.”

“I know that, but…”

“We put as much as 40 billion won into ‘Bacchus.’ Isn’t this a reasonable investment compared to that?”

“How can you compare the two? ‘Bacchus’ is a business we’ve staked everything on, while the paintings are…”

“A hobby. A life-or-death hobby.”

Jung-heon smiled faintly as he spoke.

“For me to have a hobby in my current situation, I have to stake my life on it.”

Yoon-jung’s round eyes widened in disbelief.