Look here, Executive Director. It’s eight o’clock in the morning.
On top of that, she had switched rooms—how had he even found her…?
Normally, she would have thrown a massive tantrum, but today she was in no position to say a word.
Her posture was bound to look bizarre with the bed bent like this, but she would still have to pretend to sleep.
At least he answered the one thing she was curious about on his own.
Hong Jeong-yeon, you just wait and see today. Lying in her awkward position, Yu-yeon ground her teeth.
“…”
Realizing the man had no intention of simply leaving, Yu-yeon replied in a groaning voice.
“…”
When Yu-yeon refused to budge, Hyeon-myeong laid out his business first.
At this unexpected subject, Yu-yeon’s deliberately closed eyes flew wide open. For now, she wanted to hear what he had to say.
Yu-yeon rolled over slowly and looked at Choi Hyeon-myeong.
The moment their eyes met, she flinched involuntarily. Even at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning, the man's handsome face practically radiated light.
With his brow slightly furrowed in earnestness, he looked even sexier than usual…
‘Ah, stop it.’
Yu-yeon internally chided herself for dazing out at his looks instead of focusing on what he was saying.
Not every programmer from S University is versed in security, you know. Yu-yeon started to snap back, but bit her tongue.
Presently, Hyeon-myeong spoke again.
Six years ago, the country had been thrown into an uproar over a villa rental deposit fraud.
A criminal ring had swindled countless ordinary working-class citizens, young adults, and newcomers to society out of their jeonse lease deposits, subsequently fleeing abroad. Police tracing the gang caught on to their use of an overseas email platform known as SecureMail, but SecureMail, touting absolute privacy protection as its motto, refused to cooperate with the Korean police's investigation on grounds of its privacy policies.
That was when the hacker ‘Dolsoe-hyeong’ emerged.
Dolsoe-hyeong cracked a vulnerability in SecureMail’s security, hacked into the criminals’ email accounts to secure crucial intel, and submitted an anonymous tip to the police, playing a major part in apprehending the culprits and recovering the victims’ losses.
While it was a great service to Korea, Dolsoe-hyeong’s actions were undeniably illegal. SecureMail threw itself into tracking down Dolsoe-hyeong, bent on either suing or hiring the hacker, but ultimately failed, leaving Dolsoe-hyeong's whereabouts a total mystery.
The sole clue regarding Dolsoe-hyeong was that the hacker had used an IP address from S University's College of Engineering computer lab.
Yu-yeon rolled her eyes, wearing an expression of deep contemplation.
Unable to tell whether that meant she knew or didn't, Hyeon-myeong grew taut with tension for a fleeting second.
And then Yu-yeon finally parted her lips. Her voice sounded rather calm.
Haah. Hyeon-myeong let out an unwitting sigh of relief.
Pulling his chair right up beside Yu-yeon, Hyeon-myeong coaxed her.
Mulling over Hyeon-myeong’s words, Yu-yeon nodded slowly.
“…”
Her slow nodding gathered a bit of energy after a moment. Then, snapping her head up with lively eyes, Yu-yeon let slip a hidden truth about Dolsoe-hyeong.
“…”
Hyeon-myeong gave his answer with confidence. He meant it. If Dolsoe-hyeong could resolve this crisis, paying hundreds of millions of won as a daily fee wouldn't feel wasteful in the least.
Having extracted the answers she wanted from Hyeon-myeong, a smile spread across Yu-yeon’s lips.
Seeing her give such positive replies, she must be quite close with this Dolsoe-hyeong person.
A pang of jealousy stirred in him, but he couldn't afford to let personal jealousy get in the way of securing crucial talent.
Hearing Yu-yeon’s dependable response, Hyeon-myeong rose from his seat. It was to give her privacy to speak with Dolsoe-hyeong.
“…”
About to leave the hospital room, Hyeon-myeong froze. This time, a deep crease formed between his brows.
Someone she could see without reaching out first—did that mean this person came by every day?
No one had visited every day while she was in a coma. Had this person shown up in the meantime?
This pretty girl was popular as ever. Another guy had attached himself to her already. And of all people, Dolsoe-hyeong.
Hyeon-myeong gritted his teeth and asked, striving not to let it show at all.
“…”
At his request to meet Dolsoe-hyeong immediately, Hong Yu-yeon simply raised both hands and splayed them above her shoulders.
Hyeon-myeong blinked, wondering what this was supposed to mean.
“…”
A moment later, the woman unveiled her second alter ego in a bright, clear voice.
This spunky woman seemed especially delighted by Hyeon-myeong’s earlier words.
Having discovered Dolsoe-hyeong’s true identity, Hyeon-myeong simply blinked his eyes without a word.
Yu-yeon demanded an explanation from Hyeon-myeong.
It wasn't that he couldn't believe it. He was simply astonished.
It reminded him of a fairy tale he had read as a child. A story of a brother and sister who ventured on a journey in search of the bluebird, only to find it right inside their own home in the end.
Come to think of it, this woman had never concealed her capabilities. She simply hadn't spoken of her past, but Hyeon-myeong had always known she was remarkably gifted.
After dropping such an earth-shattering truth, she grumbled as if offended that he wasn't believing her.
No. It wasn't that he didn't believe her. He was genuinely in shock.
His mind had frozen completely.