07. Guk Geon-woo
Flustered, Lee-yeon looked back down at the business card she had set aside.
Jeongdo Holdings. Executive Director Guk Geon-woo
Judging by the title alone, he seemed to be an executive at a decent company, but she couldn’t even fathom why such a person was present at this meeting.
She knew nothing about a company called ‘Jeongdo.’ She wasn’t even sure what a ‘Holdings’ company actually did.
In this completely shrouded situation, the only clear fact was that he was not San.
The person who wrote that script is definitely San, though……
Imagining what San would look like as an adult had been her long-standing hobby and sole solace. Consequently, she had dozens of different, extremely detailed versions of his character carefully crafted in her mind.
Yet, not a single one of them matched the man sitting right in front of her.
She could be certain of this, judging not just by his outward physical traits, but also by his distinct aura, his attitude toward her, his gaze, and his expressions. Everything was different. He could even be described as the exact polar opposite of the San she had imagined.
Above all, if he were San, she would have recognized him instantly.
Even if he had completely reconstructed his face, there was no way Yeon-hwa wouldn’t recognize San.
So, this situation was highly bizarre. It was a place where San naturally should have appeared……
The fact that the writer had been certain she would recognize who it was and try to meet immediately upon reading the script conversely proved that the text was written by San.
But why did he send someone else instead of coming out himself? Has something happened to him?
“I hope it’s a face to your liking.”
“……Pardon?”
Amidst her troubled thoughts, the man kept spouting random things. He did so with a face so brazen she doubted whether it was some modern joke she wasn’t aware of.
“I’m sorry. I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about right now, Guk Geon-woo……”
She decided it would be better to answer honestly. She lacked the wit to respond cleverly to random jokes about whether she liked his face, nor did she have the heart to do so.
At that, Guk Geon-woo frowned slightly with a laugh before shifting his posture.
“I guess no fan has ever asked you something like this before.”
“Ah…… A fan……”
“You can pretend you didn’t hear it. Relax.”
While she was picking her words, thinking he must be a rather peculiar person, he added:
“Still, aren’t I better than Jeong Si-heon?”
What did this mean again? She was clearly hearing his words with her ears, but it felt as though everything he said was bouncing right off her.
“Are you referring to…… President Jeong Si-heon of the JW Hotel right now?”
“I heard that in Korea, people usually call each other by just their names when they’re dating. Or pet names. What does President Jeong Si-heon call you?”
“……Did you happen to do a background check on me?”
“Is there any need to do something like that? You two hang around together for all to see. I merely watched.”
The man answered, tilting his head slightly.
“Out of fan sentiment.”
Contrasting his beautifully curving lips, his gaze was chillingly cold. As if he had a grievance of some sort.
Perhaps because of the bizarre tension that arises when confronting something too alien, a faint shiver ran down her spine. Still, since she couldn’t let it show, she closed her eyes deeply for a moment before opening them. It seemed his instruction to relax had been nothing but empty words.
Correcting her briefly scattered focus, she resolved to keep her wits about her.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss him at a place like this.”
“Why is that?”
“Because that is my private life.”
“Does President Jeong Si-heon know you came to this meeting, Lee-yeon?”
For some reason, he displayed hostility toward Jeong Si-heon.
It was close to impossible to understand this man who lashed out as if clawing at someone who wasn’t even present, and during that time, another doubt surfaced.
Could it be that the person who sent that script wasn’t San, but this man?
In truth, if San had wanted to meet her, there had been plenty of opportunities. It had already been four years since she began working in earnest as ‘Lee-yeon.’
Yet, it was honestly a bit strange that he had remained quiet all this time only to suddenly contact her like this.
It was just that the moment she felt certain it was San, she had simply ignored those doubts out of anticipation that she might finally meet him.
The text was definitely written by San. But what if making this meeting happen wasn’t San’s will……? But how could this man?
If Guk Geon-woo had sent the script, it meant he also knew that the text could draw her out. That would mean San had explained the meaning of that scenario scene to this man.
San, Guk Geon-woo, Jeong Si-heon. And Lee-yeon.
Arrows flew back and forth in her mind involving the four individuals. However, because she knew nothing, the diagram was filled with nothing but question marks.
The longer her thoughts dragged on, the more her hope of meeting San began to vanish.
Because if he had even a shred of desire to meet her, he would have appeared at this meeting himself.
As the memory of the moment she parted from him—which she had tried so hard to turn away from—arose, all subsequent predictions began to tilt toward the negative.
“Your expression doesn’t look good. I only said that because I was worried you might face an unnecessary misunderstanding with your lover, Lee-yeon.”
“It’s not that…… I want to talk about the person who wrote that script.”
“The person in front of you right now is me. Do you have nothing you’re curious about regarding me?”
“I am curious. Whether you came out here at that person’s request, Guk Geon-woo, or if you used that person’s writing for your own purposes.”
“…….”
Lee-yeon felt a bit more disappointed as she stared at the man who still smiled only with his mouth.
It really didn’t seem like Guk Geon-woo was someone who had come out on San’s behalf. San’s name had not escaped his lips even once so far, and he was treating her as ‘Lee-yeon.’
Right. If the intention was to draw out Yeon-hwa, San didn’t need to go through the trouble of writing and sending a script. He would have drawn her to this meeting even if he had merely conveyed the single name, ‘San.’
It was a deduction so simple it was strange she hadn’t made it sooner.
In one way or another, Guk Geon-woo had gotten his hands on that text and sent it to her company to draw Lee-yeon out. That meant the one who had business with her was not San, but this man.
Seeing how he brought up Jeong Si-heon right off the bat, it might be business related to that side.
Lee-yeon stopped thinking further.
Instead, she tried hard to calm her heart, which was deflating violently like a balloon that had been released before being tied.
“Then…… please answer just one thing accurately. Do you at least know him? Have you seen him?”
“…….”
“Whether he is doing well…… is an important matter to me.”
Nothing else mattered. Whether San had given that script to this man of his own free will or if it had been taken from him, her only concern was his well-being.
“Please answer me.”
At that, the corners of the man’s mouth, which had been turned upward as if hung there until a moment ago, gradually stiffened.
He had merely stripped away his smile, but an entirely different aura began to flow from his face than before.
She felt that this side was likely his true self.
Though concealed beneath an expensive suit, a watch, a deep perfume scent, and a painted-on smile, Guk Geon-woo’s real face was surely this one.
Without realizing it, Lee-yeon clenched her fists tightly and held her breath.
However, Guk Geon-woo didn’t say yes or no. Nor did he show any signs of fluster like someone whose weak point had been pricked. He simply kept his mouth shut tightly, his expression turning terrifyingly blank.
Did I guess wrong?
She couldn’t even avert her gaze from his as he stared at her silently. Because for some reason, she felt that she shouldn’t. It felt suffocating, but thinking she must not back down in order to verify San’s well-being, she put strength into her eyes and held out.
Then, she was suddenly overcome by a strange sensation. A chilling feeling, as if she had missed something important, causing her to furrow her brow unconsciously.
What did I miss?
It was right when she was engrossed in finding a clue. For a fleeting instant, it felt as though he let out a chuckle.
And then, his aura shifted drastically once more.
As if his cold expression from a moment ago had been entirely fake, he crinkled his eyes and smiled, a smile that felt almost hypnotic. Was it a relief that she wasn’t dense enough to be fooled by it?
He was definitely smiling brightly, but in Lee-yeon’s eyes, a deeply angry face overlapped with it.
“Am I really that unappealing? It’s my first time being pushed to the back burner like this, so I’m a bit flustered.”
However, she was just as flustered by this situation.
“Guk Geon-woo. I’m not in the mood for word games right now. Do you have any idea how much it took for me to come to this meeting—”
“What do you think about me? Do I look like a person with time to waste?”
A smirk, exceedingly full of mockery, flashed across his face as he cut her off mid-sentence.
Her heart felt as though it dropped heavily at the sheer sharpness that surfaced for an instant.
“That’s not it…… First, answer my question—”
“Lee-yeon.”
Letting out another deflating chuckle, he rested his elbows on the table and intertwined his fingers.
Through his ten fingers, which towered toward the sky like a stag’s antlers, an unreadable, subtle expression was visible.
Thump, thump— she worried that the sound of her heart, which had begun to beat violently, might be heard outside. She wasn’t particularly frightened, but perhaps because she was tense…… It was the exact moment her eyes locked with his as she curled her tingling fingertips.
“Have you always been that…… good at lying?”
