At that moment, Jiwook was calmly flipping through the screen of his tablet PC and moistening his throat with water in a wine glass.
“I’ll handle the secondary recall matter myself on Monday. I’ve already approved everything else, so proceed as is.”
It was already well past the 3 o’clock appointment time, but Jiwook made no mention of it. No, he seemed like he wasn’t even paying attention to it at all.
Secretary Choi carefully observed whether he was suppressing his anger, but he really seemed not to be angry. Secretary Choi was very surprised by Jiwook’s appearance but didn’t show it and obediently nodded at Jiwook’s words.
Jiwook valued time more preciously than gold. He threw money around like water, but he saved and hoarded time, gripping it tightly so that no spare time would ever be left. He was a man born to be a businessman.
Some occasionally criticized him for being too wasteful, but Jiwook just scoffed at such words.
Spending money makes the domestic economy run well, what’s the problem? If chaebols don’t spend money, who will? Jiwook was someone who spent money because the time spent worrying was too precious.
Suddenly Jiwook raised his head.
“What time is it?”
“It’s 3:51 PM.”
“I must have scheduled the appointment too tightly.”
With that small murmur close to talking to himself, Jiwook turned his gaze back to the tablet. His attitude suggested it wasn’t particularly significant.
That’s it? This is the end?
Secretary Choi checked his wristwatch once more in bewilderment. Normally, before even waiting 51 minutes, even if someone was just 1 minute late, he would have left without delay…
Secretary Choi, while extremely flustered and surprised, decided to make a good impression on Jaejin Construction’s youngest omega whose face he didn’t even know. He didn’t know the details, but for this cold-blooded person to yield and accommodate someone like this…
It seemed that making a good impression on this omega was a shortcut to making a good impression on Jiwook. Making a good impression couldn’t hurt.
Unaware of Secretary Choi’s inner thoughts, while Jiwook looked down at the tablet screen, his head was filled entirely with thoughts of Uyeon.
How had he been all this time? Did he still have rabbit-like eyes and rosy cheeks? Were those plump cheeks baby fat? If so, had they slimmed down more now? Had he grown taller than the last time he saw him?
It didn’t matter if Uyeon couldn’t remember Jiwook. In fact, it was normal not to remember. His feelings for Uyeon were one-sided on Jiwook’s part.
To Uyeon, Jiwook was just his friend’s hyung whose face he’d encountered a few times in passing. And from now on, Jiwook planned to embed himself in Uyeon’s memory.
He’d deliberately chosen a meeting place that wasn’t a stiff hotel restaurant, but somewhere with beautiful surroundings and appropriately formal. Of course, he’d heard that Secretary Choi had struggled a bit to find a place he could rent out entirely in one day, but that wasn’t Jiwook’s concern.
Secretary Choi had sensibly found a moderately casual yet upscale place. Jiwook nodded slightly in satisfaction as he entered the restaurant, and Secretary Choi let out a sigh of relief at that nod.
The restaurant located on the riverside in Hanam was run by a chef who had worked at an SG Group affiliated hotel. Not only was the food excellent, but the interior was also splendid.
Just in case, he’d rented out the entire restaurant, but Jiwook planned to treat Uyeon in a clean room with a good view of the Han River.
Will he like the place I’ve prepared? Jiwook casually attributed Uyeon’s lateness to his own fault for scheduling the appointment too tightly, and revised his plan to have tea time followed by a meal.
According to Driver Kim’s contact, it seemed Uyeon hadn’t been awake for long. He probably hadn’t eaten anything and would be hungry. It would definitely be better to eat something. Coffee on an empty stomach—what nonsense. If his wrong choice ended up making Uyeon’s stomach hurt, he would really feel terrible.
At Driver Kim’s contact estimating the arrival time at around 4:30, Jiwook told Secretary Choi to arrange for them to have a meal first as soon as Uyeon arrived.
Jiwook recalled the second time he’d met Uyeon.
When they first encountered each other, he’d been caught up in the urgent situation and hadn’t been able to properly take in Uyeon’s pretty face with his own two eyes. He didn’t regret it, but it was extremely disappointing.
Jiwook spent several years feeling that disappointment, and finally resolved that regret at their second meeting. Like the first time, it was a chance encounter with Uyeon.
At the time, Jiwook was facing discharge and still hadn’t escaped his buzz cut, after serving a military life 3 months longer than others because he was an alpha.
Alphas serving an additional 3 months was for the military exemption of male omegas.
Unlike female bodies, male omegas generally had much weaker bodies because they had wombs in male bodies that weren’t suitable for pregnancy. Moreover, if a heat cycle were to burst out in the military crawling with dark-skinned men, that would be a disaster in its own right.
However, Jiwook had no complaints whatsoever about these 3 months. If it meant Uyeon wouldn’t have to go to the military, he could serve 3 more months or however many more.
After meeting Uyeon, all his standards had become Uyeon.
Uyeon, whom he saw again…
Lost in memories, Jiwook put down the tablet and covered his face with both hands, dry-washing it.
His chest tightened instantly with overwhelming emotion. The thought that the person who was so precious just to recall would soon appear before him after such a long wait made his breathing naturally roughen. As he tensed his body, the perfectly tailored shirt pulled taut and wrinkled horizontally.
Secretary Choi looked strangely at Jiwook, who was experiencing an uncharacteristic storm of emotions. The person who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed a drop even if pricked with a needle was blushing his earlobes red like a pubescent boy.
Jiwook hunched his shoulders like that for a while, then seemed to finally calm down as he took a deep breath and removed his hands from his face. The corners of his eyes were moistly wet and slightly reddened.
Secretary Choi struggled to hide his incredulous expression and calmly pressed down on his twitching lips. Jiwook soon returned to his usual self as if nothing had happened and tried to continue what he’d been doing, but nothing caught his attention.
Jiwook wanted to somehow escape the position of “close friend’s hyung whose face he’d barely seen properly a few times” and be recognized by Uyeon as a romantic interest.
He’d waited a long time, burning alone with anxiety over the ten-year age gap and the trauma Uyeon had about rough alphas. It was about time he started thinking that it might be okay to reveal his existence a little.
When he heard the news that Uyeon, who had been homeschooled throughout elementary, middle, and high school, was preparing for university, he hurriedly moved desperately to establish his position at the company. He lived obsessed with work to the extent that he could hear murmurs calling him a workaholic. He devoted all his efforts to becoming perfect as Uyeon’s marriage partner.
It took exactly a year and a half from completing his integrated MBA master’s-doctorate program and returning, going through the position of Strategic Planning Office Team 2 Leader, to rising to the position of M&A Division Head. It was an astounding speed, but no one could point fingers at him calling him a parachute hire. Jiwook had perfectly resolved the affiliate merger issue being pursued at the time in just one quarter, and starting the very next quarter, he began directly planning major projects that would visibly boost stock prices.
As soon as he could barely catch his breath and look around, Jiwook immediately checked on Uyeon’s current status. Uyeon was spending a dazzling college life, really prettily and admirably.
His midterms had just ended and it was the warm spring of May, so Jiwook called Mrs. Min, the wife and director of Jaejin Construction, without further delay. He was interested in Uyeon, their youngest omega.
Mrs. Min, who had seen Jiwook since he was young, was well aware of his prudence. She also clearly remembered that he had made a tremendous contribution during Uyeon’s kidnapping incident. Perhaps because of that, Mrs. Min secretly liked Jiwook and immediately sent an okay sign on the spot. And three hours later, she conveyed that permission had also come back from Uyeon.
Jiwook tried not to show an excessively moved expression as he safely, calmly finished the call. And in the office in the evening with all the corridor lights turned off, he screamed silently.
‘I did it!’
That morning, the man with a body as solid and thick as a rock hesitated for a long time in front of his wardrobe. Since it was full of achromatic suits, he hastily had Secretary Choi sweep up the entire department store. Thanks to that, brightly colored clothes filled one corner of his wardrobe, but as expected, these kinds of clothes still felt awkward.
In the end, Jiwook put down the pastel-toned knit and took out a familiar white shirt. It was the most casual among the shirts he’d worn before. Though he could hear Housekeeper Yun’s disappointed sigh from behind as he put down the knit, Jiwook paid no mind.
The custom-made Oxford shirt clung smoothly, drawing a perfect line along Jiwook’s solid chest. For pants, instead of dress pants, he chose slim-fit navy cotton pants. The sensation of his well-developed thighs squeezing tightly inside the pants with just the slightest bit of room was quite uncomfortable, but he trusted Housekeeper Yun’s words that he looked young and wore them as is.
The pants were still uncomfortable, but his heart was floating as if about to fly away.
Secretary Choi couldn’t let go of his anxious feelings despite Jiwook’s peaceful appearance and kept glancing toward the door. It was the fate of a secretary.
When would they arrive? He might be fine now, but one never knew when Jiwook’s mood might become uncomfortable. Jiwook didn’t usually act unexpectedly, but this current situation was close to unexpected behavior, and one couldn’t know when he’d return to his usual behavioral patterns.
After about 40 more minutes had passed, the bell attached to the restaurant’s front door finally rang.
Ding-a-ling.
Even though it came from beyond the door, Jiwook caught that not-very-loud sound like a ghost. Jiwook lowered the hand covering his face and straightened his hunched body to sit properly.
Though he’d watched over Uyeon for a very long time, today was the first time they would properly exchange greetings. On such an important day as today, he couldn’t show a hunched appearance.
His heart beat like crazy. He struggled to calm his pounding heart, which was thumping so hard he suspected it might break through his ribs, as Jiwook cleared his throat and steadied his breathing.
It was an overwhelming moment.
Jiwook pretended to be calm and turned his gaze forward with a composed expression. At the same moment, the door opened. It was perfect timing.
And the person Jiwook had been waiting for so long revealed himself.
