Chapter 84 - Will You Marry Me?

In the chaos of  it all, the thought didn’t even cross her mind to check whether Woojin woke  up, and she clumsily jumped to her feet. She scurried out of the bedroom like  a panicked mouse, not even bothering to pick up the clothes she had left  behind after washing the previous night. The sound of her rushed footsteps  reverberated in the dark, quiet room, followed by a click as the door swung  open and another when she shut the door closed.

At the same   time, the sheets on the bed rustled as Woojin’s eyes opened. His clear pupils   stared blankly at the ceiling. He touched his own lips, feeling the remnants   of her kiss, and looked at the clothes that Hyein had left behind on the side   table. Irritably rising to his feet, he stared at the tightly closed door.   “Who are you, Seo Hyein?”

Woojin had not slept for a single second from the moment he lay on this bed today.

* * *

Upon arriving at  the airport, Woojin leaned back on the sofa at the VIP lounge of MP Airlines  and breathed in deep. His security had been upped ever since the scandal last  time as reporters had started chasing him around. Because of that, every time  he moved about, he was two times as fatigued.

“Can I get  you something to drink?” Chief Ha asked. Woojin shook his head,  forcefully loosening the tie neatly secured around his neck. He hadn’t been  able to sleep since last night with the time wasted pondering over an  impossible problem. He had definitely seen better days. Chief Ha continued,  “Are you not going to take further action even though Executive Director  Shin came all the way to the gallery? I believe it might be a good idea to  take some action at the hotel or at Ms. Seo’s residence while you are away on  this business trip.”

“I should.  Arrange some people to watch both Seo Hyein and Executive Director Shin, just  in case.”

“Yes, sir.” Sat across Woojin, Chief Ha handed Woojin his work tablet and tacitly asked, “Are you not going to ask?”

Woojin crossed his legs and arrogantly jutted his chin at Chief Ha, “Ask what?”

“About Ms. Seo. She went back in the middle of the night without even saying anything, yet you’re not curious as to why.”

Woojin’s subdued gaze slowly turned to Chief Ha. Already in a bad mood, he snapped, “What are you trying to say?”

Chief Ha  flinched, but he didn’t back down. There was a reason he chose to start the  conversation here, where it was just the two of them instead of in the car on  the way to the airport. “Director Shin, I know you were awake at that time  yesterday.”

Last night, after Hyein left, Woojin had gone on the intercom and ordered one of the employees to follow her home to make sure she arrived safely. He had specified that they should not ride in the same car and instead had the employee trail her. It seemed that someone had informed Chief Ha of this matter.

Woojin retorted, “Yes, I was awake. Something wrong with that?”

“Are you really alright? Please be honest…”

“What is it that I have to be honest about?” Woojin answered indifferently.

Chief Ha looked into Woojin’s eyes, hesitating before adding, “Well, simply put, you still like Ms. Seo. If you plan on forgiving her for what happened in the past, why don’t you tell her as soon as possible and ease the burden? The longer you two are bound by the contract, the more you will hurt each other. If you see a shortcut in front of you, there’s no need to go around in circles, right?”

Taking a deep   breath, Woojin considered his right-hand man’s advice. He recalled last   night’s incidents. Hyein had been acting peculiar last night. She had called   him ‘sunbae’ as she had done in the past, thinking he was asleep. On top of   that, without him even asking for it, she had voluntarily stolen a kiss from   him. He had butterflies in his stomach; it was the first time she had kissed   him after their reunion, after all.

‘If, by any chance, she was still unable to let go of him…’ This was time for him to keep a cool head, yet hopeful thoughts bloomed in his mind irrevocably. ‘If she was even the slightest bit ready… would we be able to start over again now?’

Woojin sighed defeatedly. He shook his head to erase his mind of Hyein and waved his hand toward Chief Ha, “I’m tired. Please wait outside. Let me be alone until it’s time for the flight.”

Hearing this, Chief Ha turned on the tablet in front of Woojin hurriedly and navigated the screen to display a well-organized spreadsheet. “Please give me five more minutes. I would like to present the main points of discovery regarding the investigation you ordered on the people around you, Director Shin. Here’s the list,” he pointed.

The spreadsheet had systematically organized data about the people around Woojin eight years ago. It had not only the names of his family members but also college classmates; elementary, middle and high school alumni; teachers; other acquaintances as well as anyone with any trivial connection with the aforementioned people. “We plan on focusing on mutual connections between you and Ms. Seo, sir.”

“Prioritize  people who wronged Hyein without me realizing it. If their actions severely  crossed the line, then you should go over their information with a fine-tooth  comb.”

Every blazing  fire started with minuscule, insignificant embers, after all.

“I have planted a number of secretaries to trace their movements over the past eight years. We will be able to organize it and report back to you soon.”

Woojin nodded,  then suddenly snapped his finger towards Chief Ha as if something bothered  him, “Right, about Executive Director Shin.”

“Yes, is anything bothering you?”

“He knew about Hyein and her sister. He said that we aren’t the only ones who know this information since I called 911.”