TLR 07

Chapter 7 …

“Oh, yes. I’m Han Seol.”

“I’ll definitely make it up to you next time. Thank you so much for today.”

The man—or rather, Park Junhyuk—spoke brightly, a gentle smile hovering on his lips the entire time. Unlike his usual sharp, icy demeanor, he felt remarkably easygoing and down-to-earth.

“Sure, get home safely!”

Seol gave him a much more relaxed farewell, realizing that those sharp, penetrating looks he gave her now and then were probably just him trying to dig through faint, distant memories.

Knock, knock.

Junhyuk glanced toward the door before shifting his eyes back to his monitor.

“Excuse me, Executive Director.”

Secretary Park bowed respectfully before walking over to stand in front of the desk.

“Here are the business cards you ordered.”

“Good work.”

“It was no trouble at all.”

After offering the standard response, Secretary Park stared blankly at the stack of business cards inside the clear case.

Park Junhyuk. Deputy Manager, BM Electronics.

Out of everything printed on those cards, Moon Junhyuk’s personal cell phone number was the only thing that wasn’t a complete lie.

Secretary Park couldn’t begin to fathom what his unreadable boss was planning to do with a fake card like this. Usually, when someone asked for counterfeit business cards, it almost always involved financial fraud. But why on earth would a man like him bother pulling off a scam under the humble title of a mere deputy manager?

“I already mentioned it to BM’s youngest son, so it’s taken care of.”

“Pardon? Ah, yes, sir.”

“If you get arrested for forging private documents, you can just tell them you were following my orders, so you can stop worrying so much.”

“Not at all, sir. That thought never even crossed my mind.”

Junhyuk let out a dry chuckle as he watched his secretary tell such a transparent lie.

Normally, prying into his personal life beyond what was necessary would be an immediate strikeout, but in his current mood, he was feeling generous enough to let quite a bit slide.

He was so utterly humiliated by the fact that he was Moon Pilyong’s son that he had scrubbed every single photo of himself from the internet. It had been an exhausting process, and he was still spending money continuously just to keep his face off the web.

The only reason he kept pushing off taking over the CEO position was that he couldn’t stand the thought of appearing on the news.

‘Succeeding the late Chairman Moon Pilyong, who passed away last year, Executive Director Moon Junhyuk, the eldest son, has taken the helm as CEO of MS.’

Just imagining news broadcasts running that headline alongside side-by-side photos of himself and Moon Pilyong was enough to make him physically sick to his stomach.

Even with his photos wiped, there was still a chance Seol might recognize his face—whether from a high school yearbook or something similar.

In fact, he could easily find out everything he needed to know right now just by hiring a private investigator.

‘By the way, have we met somewhere before?’

He had floated that question just to test the waters.

Based on her reactions so far, it was highly unlikely she knew who he was, but he still needed to confirm whether she recognized his true identity. Only then could he figure out how to handle things moving forward.

And as it turned out, Seol did remember him from that brief encounter in the past.

“…Well then, I’ll take my leave now.”

Secretary Park, who had been watching his boss chuckle to himself with a look of utter terror, bowed his head.

“Hold on a second.”

Junhyuk stopped him, his face snapping back to a cold, impassive mask as if he hadn’t just been smiling a moment ago.

“Yes, Executive Director?”

“Sign a lease on one of the studio apartments listed on this note today.”

Junhyuk gestured with his eyes toward a small piece of paper on his desk.

“Understood. Should I proceed with a long-term deposit lease or a monthly rental?”

“I won’t be using it for long, so there’s no need to buy it. Either a deposit lease or a monthly rental is fine.”

“Understood, sir.”

Secretary Park glanced down at the note to check the location.

The outer edges of Seoul. It was quite a distance from Junhyuk’s penthouse near the main office.

“Get the interior repairs, cleaning, and furniture layout wrapped up by the end of this week.”

“What style of furniture should I go with?”

“Tastefully stylish. Just make it look like a place where an average guy in his early thirties lives alone.”

Is he seriously planning to live there himself? The more they talked, the more Secretary Park felt like he was wandering into a total maze. He paused for a fraction of a second before answering:

“Understood, sir.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Junhyuk offered the dismissive brush-off and turned his attention back to his monitor.

The gap between day and night temperatures was shrinking, and the days were growing noticeably longer. Seol’s daily routine remained unchanged, save for one tiny detail.

When she greeted him with a polite ‘Welcome’ and ‘Have a good night,’ Junhyuk would give her a brief, silent nod. That was the one and only change.

“So then the male lead turns to the female lead and goes…”

“Right.”

“‘The only reason I went to that hotel with her was…’”

Seol was listening to the owner recount the plot of a hit drama that was all the rage these days when, out of nowhere, every single light in the café went out.

“Huh? What’s going on?” a customer shouted into the dark.

Instinctively, Seol reached for her phone on the counter, turned on the flashlight, and shone it around the shop.

“So sorry, everyone! It looks like we just lost power!”

The owner raised her voice to reassure the patrons before turning to Seol.

“Seol, step outside and see if the other shops lost power, too.”

“Sure thing.”

Illuminating her path, Seol hurried outside.

She didn’t even need to check the shop next door—the entire street was blanketed in pitch-black darkness. Even the apartment windows across the road were completely dark.

“I think it’s a neighborhood-wide blackout. The apartments are all pitch black, too.”

Just as Seol returned and relayed the news to the owner, every phone in the room buzzed at the exact same time.

‘A power outage has occurred in the area. Authorities are currently investigating the cause…’

“Ugh, seriously? Who’s going to compensate me for lost business on a night like this?” the owner grumbled.

“Um, boss, do you mind if I give my mom a quick call?”

“Yeah, go ahead. Hurry.”

The line rang and rang without an answer. Gnawing nervously on her bottom lip, Seol felt a wave of anxiety creep over her.

— …Hello?

“Oh, Mom! It’s me, Seol.”

— What is it…?

“I got an emergency alert about a blackout, so I wanted to call and check if you were okay—”

— Ugh! I was sleeping so soundly! Do you have any idea how bad my head hurts when I get woken up like this?!

Donghee cut her off, screaming at her through the receiver. The heavy slurring in her voice reeked of alcohol.

The line clicked off abruptly. The owner cleared her throat awkwardly, having clearly overheard the entire exchange.

Unable to bring herself to look up, Seol just stood there in silence.

“Of all days, it had to happen right after I restocked the milk,” the owner sighed after the remaining customers left. “Seol, let’s call it a night.”

“You can head home first, boss. I’ll hang around for a bit in case the power comes back on soon.”

“What are you going to do sitting here all by yourself in the dark? What if an accident happens?”

Seol had only offered to stay because she really didn’t want to go home, but now it felt like she was just being a burden. She reached behind her back to untie her apron strings.

“Then again, it’s not like going home is going to be any brighter. Fine, stay if you want. I’m heading out first.”

“Ah, okay. Get home safely!”

“You be careful out here, too.”

The owner offered a lighthearted wave and headed for the exit.

As the chime of the door bell faded away, a heavy stillness settled over the café. Seol stepped out from behind the counter and sank onto the sofa.

“62%…”

That was all the battery she had left, and since it was the end of the month, her mobile data was completely tapped out.

Setting her phone down on the table, Seol leaned her head back against the cushion and stared into the dark.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting there in the shadows when a loud crash echoed from outside, followed by a harsh “Fuck!” and a round of rowdy, boisterous laughter.

“I—I should lock the door.”

Seol scrambled to her feet.

When she switched on her flashlight to find the deadbolt, a dark shadow suddenly loomed over the glass door outside.

She was so startled that her voice got stuck right in her throat. Her mouth flapped open and shut in silence before she mustered the courage to shine her phone light upward.

Junhyuk winced, throwing a palm up to block the harsh light aimed straight at his face.

“I’m so sorry!” Seol squeaked out, quickly dropping her hand.

Junhyuk pulled the glass door open and stepped inside.

“I noticed the whole street was completely dark on my way over.”

“Oh! Yes. Apparently, there’s a blackout across the whole area.”

Seol felt an overwhelming sense of relief that the person outside turned out to be Junhyuk. Her face brightened slightly, though her shoulders quickly tensed up again.

Through the glass door, a rowdy group of people strolled past. A few of them even pointed their phone lights inside, gesturing wildly at the shop.

“Kids having a field day out there,” Junhyuk muttered, glancing over his shoulder before casually adding, “Kicking over trash cans, shouting profanities… Why are you sitting here like this, anyway?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking why you’re sitting here all by yourself in the middle of a blackout.”

“Well, the power might come back on soon. If it does, we have to reopen.”

“It’s not coming back on anytime soon. A outage this big will take at least a few hours to fix.”

Junhyuk stated the fact with absolute certainty.

“Oh… so then…”

“So then?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Seol let her words trail off.

She wondered why he had bothered coming all the way here in the first place if he already knew the power wouldn’t be restored anytime soon.

Then again, given that she herself was hanging out in a pitch-black café, she realized it was a pretty silly question to ask.

“I’ll walk you home. Let’s go.”

“What?”

“All the streetlights are out, so it’s dangerous for you to walk alone. The internet cafes are closed, too, which means there’s a whole fleet of those idiots roaming the streets right now.”

“Ah… okay. Thank you.”

Junhyuk’s logic was rock-solid. Giving up on her plan to stick around a bit longer, Seol complied politely.

“It’s not even 8:00 PM yet, but it’s so dark out,” Seol said, raising her voice with deliberate cheer as they stepped outside. It felt a bit awkward to constantly rely on someone who was technically just a customer.

“You’re right. It’s not even 8:00 PM yet,” Junhyuk muttered softly.

Seol used her phone flashlight to illuminate the path ahead, steeling herself to match his pace as soon as he started walking.

“Since it’s not even 8:00 PM yet,” Junhyuk said out of nowhere, “let’s go grab dinner.”