Chahyun nodded calmly.
“I’m always the same as ever.”
“I suppose in your own way that was meant to be a compliment?”
“You know me well. I meant you’re a waste.”
“Right. I’m so moved I could cry with gratitude.”
Kim Heejin glared at Chahyun reproachfully, then soon smiled broadly. Her expression showed she was used to Chahyun’s off-putting manner of speech. Chahyun thought, having observed Ji Eunho and Kim Heejin’s reactions:
It seemed nothing much had changed if even people he’d known this long couldn’t feel any sense of incongruity.
He hadn’t thought he’d make mistakes just because he’d lost his memory, but the conversation was flowing more naturally than he’d expected.
‘Then even at twenty-eight, was I only different with Bae Yiyoung?’
Yiyoung had said Chahyun was affectionate and attentive. It might have been natural differential treatment since they were lovers, but he wanted to confirm. If his personality itself had changed, he’d have to act accordingly to some degree. It was difficult to guess what his attitude had been like from documents alone, which was why he’d come here.
Chahyun looked around the banquet hall and thought:
‘It would be good if there was someone here I’ve met more recently.’
Just as Chahyun was looking around for someone he might know, Kim Heejin raised her voice.
“Woohee-ya!”
Chahyun reflexively turned his head toward ‘Woohee.’
A slender silhouette who would be about 170 centimeters tall even without the killer heels that were easily the height of a palm was walking this way. Woohee stylishly pulled off a tight knit dress that could easily look burdensome. It went without saying that she was a beautiful woman.
Ji Eunho, who was standing next to him, let out a dumbfounded exclamation.
“Ugh……”
Ji Eunho looked mesmerized by Woohee, his expression one of having forgotten to breathe.
Chahyun immediately frowned and stepped away from Ji Eunho. It was because he looked low in intelligence. Chahyun didn’t want to be seen as part of a group with a pathetic bastard who couldn’t keep his dignity in front of a beautiful woman of the opposite sex.
In the meantime, Woohee, who had approached the table, said to Chahyun:
“Fancy seeing you again in a place like this?”
Then Kim Heejin suddenly looked back and forth between Chahyun and Woohee with an intrigued gaze.
“You two know each other?”
She was a complete stranger to him. But he did know of her.
‘Baek Woohee, 28 years old. Only daughter of the CEO of Baek & Jang Law Firm.’
And she herself was also a capable lawyer, a person discussed as a strong candidate for the next CEO of a law firm that dominated the Korean legal world with its solid connections to former high-ranking officials.
According to Igyeong’s materials, Chahyun had gone on a blind date with Baek Woohee about two months ago.
***
Chahyun coldly looked Baek Woohee over and made his final assessment.
‘She was worth going on a blind date with me.’
Right, she had to be at least this much for Moon Chahyun to even attempt to match her level.
The twenty-eight-year-old Chahyun probably had similar thoughts, which was why he went on the blind date. Still, it was fortunate that he hadn’t been a crazy bastard who was so blind over Bae Yiyoung that he’d ruined even the important business of marriage.
In any case, he’d found her. Someone he didn’t remember but had met recently.
Baek Woohee would give him clues about what kind of man the twenty-eight-year-old Moon Chahyun had been.
Chahyun asked Baek Woohee:
“Did you get a wedding invitation?”
Baek Woohee looked at the wedding invitation in her hand front and back, then asked back:
“Yes. Why?”
“Then let’s leave together.”
Rather than being flustered by Chahyun’s sudden words, Baek Woohee blinked with an expression of interest. Instead, it was Kim Heejin who grumbled in bewilderment:
“What? You just got here.”
“Who wants to stay long at a party like this?”
It was elegant, but boring. When he was twenty and partied like a hooligan, spraying champagne in the air, it was a hundred times more fun.
Baek Woohee looked Chahyun over with an interested gaze and played hard to get once.
“I wonder. I also made time with difficulty for business purposes, so that would be difficult?”
“Talking with me for 10 minutes is better than handing out business cards to everyone here.”
It was a fact without a shred of exaggeration. The man before Baek Woohee’s eyes was a super-client among clients who could exert influence across Moongang Group’s affiliates. Even if Baek Woohee succeeded in making everyone here her clients, it wouldn’t be more valuable than saving Moon Chahyun’s personal contact information in her phone.
Baek Woohee seemed to be doing that calculation, appearing to ponder for a moment, then obediently nodded.
“Alright. It would be even better if you’d tell me your business in advance?”
Instead of answering, Chahyun held out his palm toward the banquet hall’s entrance. Then he let out a chuckle and followed Baek Woohee as she walked ahead out of the banquet hall.
Baek Woohee stopped abruptly in front of Chahyun’s Pagani Huayra and smiled brightly.
“A supercar with a beginner driver sticker. How cute.”
It wasn’t attached for her to find cute. He’d attached it to survive.
In any case, Baek Woohee seemed to genuinely find Chahyun adorable. She even appeared to have developed a favorable impression of him. Chahyun glared sullenly at Baek Woohee and got in the driver’s seat.
Baek Woohee sat in the passenger seat and spoke in a tone that wasn’t surprised at all.
“Your manners are consistent as always. People usually at least open car doors.”
She must have only met the likes of Ji Eunho. No, did everyone have no pride?
Anyway, those bastards who acted spineless in front of beautiful women were the ones tarnishing men’s dignity. Chahyun would rather die than become an idiot putting on all kinds of shows just because the other person was somewhat pretty.
Chahyun put his hand on the car navigation and asked:
“Where’s your house?”
“My house is 5 minutes from here.”
Baek Woohee let out a hum of admiration and said something quite clever.
“Let’s go to my office. You should give me the 10 minutes you promised?”
Her attitude showed she obviously knew Chahyun wasn’t asking her on a date. He liked that she was quick-witted. It took 25 minutes to Baek Woohee’s office.
Baek Woohee quite seriously did business while the car headed to the law firm.
That was a bit unexpected. Because Baek Woohee smiled charmingly throughout and showed subtle interest, he’d internally thought she would try to seduce him once they were alone. But Baek Woohee cleanly only talked about work. Chahyun unexpectedly listened attentively to Baek Woohee’s words and readily admitted:
‘She’s professional.’
Honestly, she was very attractive. It made him think that perhaps he might not be gay. Chahyun speculated he might be bi, judging from his body’s reaction, which was overflowing with vitality beyond just being healthy.
He’d never distinguished between men and women when evaluating others’ attractiveness until now.
The car arrived at the law firm. When he stopped the car in front of the building, Baek Woohee asked Chahyun with a confident expression:
“What do you think? Is this enough to be Executive Director Moon’s dedicated lawyer?”
“Indeed. To be honest, it’s beyond expectations.”
He rarely praised others. Since she’d received recognition from none other than Moon Chahyun, Baek Woohee could live with pride for the rest of her life.
Chahyun took out Director Jin Gicheol’s business card from the car cabinet and handed it to Baek Woohee.
“Contact them and say you’re my new lawyer. They’ll understand.”
There was no harm in having many good lawyers. Baek Woohee received the business card with a triumphant expression and got out of the car. It had been a beneficial conversation for Chahyun too.
‘It’s definitely not that my personality itself changed.’
Baek Woohee hadn’t shown any signs of feeling incongruity during her 25-minute conversation with Chahyun.
If so, there wouldn’t be much problem conducting external activities just by looking at the documents Igyeong gave him. Although they said it was likely a temporary symptom, it was difficult to just stay holed up waiting for memories that he didn’t know when they’d return, so Chahyun felt relieved.
Just then, Baek Woohee knocked on the passenger side car window. When he lowered the window, the slender beauty bent at a nice angle and leaned both elbows on the window frame to ask:
“But why did you ask me to leave together? I thought you weren’t interested in me.”
“Did I say that?”
Chahyun couldn’t resist his curiosity and blurted out the question. Fortunately, Baek Woohee didn’t find Chahyun’s question strange and nodded.
“Don’t you remember? You said you had no thoughts of marriage so don’t waste time and look for someone else, very politely and coldly.”
Hmm. So that crazy bastard had said that.
And here he’d thought he at least had proper intentions about marriage, but that was an absurd expectation. At times like this, he really thought it was extremely fortunate that he’d lost his memory at such an opportune time.
