Chapter 2
Chapter 2. Your Thoughts
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In a hotel cafe on a weekday afternoon, the dazzling sunlight stayed outside the window, failing to penetrate the interior. The lighting, with its lower intensity than the summer sun, the dark mahogany furniture, and the monotone fabrics made the spacious area look cozy.
That coziness was disturbed when a man appeared. Italian leather shoes struck the marble floor. The sound of his footsteps echoed heavily in the high-ceilinged room.
The gazes of those idly chatting turned towards the man crossing between the tables.
The man walked with a face that seemed to mock the midday idleness.
His hand tucked into only one side of his suit pants and the crooked curve of his lips showed his discomfort, yet people’s eyes couldn't tear themselves away from his handsome face, as if sculpted by an artist.
As if accustomed to the attention, the man walked towards the inner part of the hotel cafe without a care.
Inside the cafe, a woman sat demurely in a seat that had been kept vacant since opening hours.
When the man stopped in front of her, the woman, dressed in an elegant one-piece, stood up with a blush on her face. Anyone could see she was excited, waiting for the man.
As if accustomed to this, the man waited for her to speak. She repeatedly bit and released her brightly painted lips. Finally, she parted her lips and said,
“It’s been a while, Oppa.”
It was a perfunctory greeting for the time she had waited. The man sat down without replying.
He raised his hand towards a waiter watching them from a distance, and a man in uniform quickly approached.
As if to disdain the woman who had waited for him for so long, the man didn't spare her a glance, speaking briefly to the approaching waiter.
“Water.”
“Water?”
“Yes, water. Quickly.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The woman watched the man blankly, and only after the waiter had moved away did she part her lips.
“Taeseo Oppa, you seem a little different lately. I heard you’ve been working hard these days, unlike before.”
Taeseo looked at his left wrist, exposed from the cuff of his suit. The angular body of an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was visible.
Seeing him glance at his watch, the woman spoke quickly, as if impatient.
“You’re interested in work now, and I think I can help with your business…”
Only then did Taeseo’s gaze fall on the woman’s face.
“Then Father will also help Namkyung Group…”
The woman flinched and stopped speaking.
A waiter approached with a bottle of water and a glass on a tray. The woman pressed her slightly parted lips together. Her background was not so insignificant as to be humiliated in front of others.
Taeseo opened the water bottle the waiter had left and poured it into a glass. The woman’s gaze lingered on his long fingers holding the glass.
The man was beautiful, from his lips touching the glass to his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed. In that moment, the woman, who had seemed so vulnerable, showed a deep possessiveness.
“Seo Jia, you’re quite funny.”
However, Taeseo had no intention of being played by the woman.
“Funny?”
“You know, back then. I dated you because you asked me to. How did we end it?”
Taeseo leisurely raised the glass he had been holding and brought it to his lips.
“That was 4 years ago, Oppa…”
Meeting his gaze as he held water in his mouth, Jia felt her mouth dry up with thirst.
“Right. 4 years ago. How did we end it?”
“……”
“I dated you because you asked me to, and I held you because you asked me to. You said you wouldn’t bother me then.”
As Taeseo said, they had been in a relationship. Jia, who had harbored a crush on Taeseo since childhood, had pursued him for over five years before they became lovers.
“You couldn’t even keep the promise you made with your own mouth.”
Thanks to the promise not to bother him, she had stood by his side, but Jia, unwilling to lose what she had finally grasped, resorted to cunning.
She visited the OB/GYN to track her ovulation and took medication to increase her chances of getting pregnant. The relationship ended when she was caught tampering with contraception.
Four years had passed since then, and this was the first time the two were sitting face to face in four years.
“That’s why you’re funny. Four years have passed since we broke up, and you suddenly show up, saying, ‘Let’s get married’?”
“Oppa. We’re getting older now, and it’s not just about us, but also about benefiting our businesses—”
Taeseo cut her off, as if he had heard enough.
“Take care of the rumors you spread.”
Jia’s eyes flashed fiercely for a moment.
She had suffered for years trying to hold onto Kwon Taeseo. This time, she had orchestrated a larger scheme, using not just a man and a woman, but the harmony of families and the pursuit of mutual benefit.
Then and now, he still saw through Seo Jia as if looking at his own palm.
“Is it because of that woman?”
She blurted out the words “that woman” on impulse. At that moment, he showed emotion for the first time since sitting down.
“Ahn Yuna.”
Jia spat out Taeseo’s sex partner’s name as if to chew her up.
“Is it because of her?”
Taeseo’s demeanor, which had been leisurely as if telling her to rant all she wanted, changed abruptly.
“Stop talking such bullshit.”
Jia’s face, which had been feigning a submissive expression until now, turned vicious.
Just ‘that woman’? She let out a hollow laugh.
“This is ridiculous. Because of some insignificant woman?”
How had he always looked at women? With what contemptuous eyes had he viewed the women who admired him?
On one hand, it was fortunate that his weakness was merely such a woman. If it was actress Ahn Yuna, she could manipulate her as she pleased.
“I can understand everything. Men who work outside, having other women outside, I can understand all of that.”
Jia said, staring into Taeseo’s eyes.
“If Namkyung Group gets more involved with that woman, it will be troublesome.”
Not only was Namkyung’s second son behind Ahn Yuna, but her entire family lived off Namkyung’s money.
The easiest people to move in the world were those moved by money, and the wealthy knew this well.
“Even if we get married and you meet that woman, I will cover for you. I won’t be jealous or envious, and if she has a child, I will treat it the same as my own and raise it.”
At this point, she thought she could hook Taeseo, but that was Seo Jia’s delusion.
Taeseo removed his hand from the water glass he had been holding and gazed at her with even colder eyes.
“You’re really putting a lot of effort into talking such bullshit.”
Unlike a moment ago, the trace of agitation in Taeseo’s eyes had completely vanished.
“You’re talking as if I’d marry you and have a child. Who would want to marry someone like you?”
This time, Jia gripped the handle of the glass in front of her tightly. The mug, which had been hot from waiting for Taeseo alone for an hour, had cooled down.
“Marriage or whatever.”
She gripped the glass she wouldn’t touch again tightly because she had to hide her trembling hands from humiliation.
“You’re not even someone I see as a woman.”
Taeseo stood up.
“I won’t say it twice. Clean up what you’ve started. Let’s not create any more opportunities to meet.”
His words, like a warning, pierced Jia’s heart like a dagger.
Seo Jia had waited for Taeseo at this spot for just over an hour, but Taeseo left with determined steps, as if he didn’t want to spare her even ten minutes.
\ \ *
The mansion overlooking the Han River resembled a gallery, filled with objects and furniture from renowned designers like Jaime Hayon and Arne Jacobsen.
The artwork lining the walls, the geometric rug, and the constant indoor temperature of 24 degrees Celsius actively reflected the owner’s taste.
Although it was a modern space, a murmuring that didn’t fit the surroundings had been emanating from it for quite some time.
“Period, period, period, fuck, period.”
Under the artichoke lamp, Taeseo, lying diagonally on a long white sofa, tapped his palm with the remote control in his hand.
He had met Seo Jia earlier that day, but it wasn’t Seo Jia who made him ponder.
Absurdly, it was thoughts about a woman’s menstrual cycle that had kept him confused for half the day.
Even though it wasn’t him experiencing it, he had been counting her menstrual cycle for years. He meticulously tracked the 28-day cycle as if he suffered from PMS, all because of Ahn Yuna.
Yuna refused to meet Taeseo when her period was due. The reason was that they couldn’t be intimate during her period.
Even without physical intimacy, there were many things men and women could do. They could talk about their recent lives instead of engaging in physical acts, or even cook and share food.
But at some point, Yuna stopped making time for such moments with Taeseo.
Since her debut as an actress, Ahn Yuna had soared like she had grown wings, thanks to Taeseo’s patronage.
Now, Ahn Yuna’s face could be seen in advertisements anywhere in Korea, but paradoxically, Yuna had slipped through Taeseo’s fingers like sand during that time.
Now, he saw Ahn Yuna on TV more often than in person.
On days like today, when he heard Yuna’s name through others, he wanted to meet her directly and ask what was going on, but she wouldn’t answer Taeseo’s calls during her period.
“As if anyone would eat me alive…”
Taeseo, who did whatever he pleased, would unquestioningly believe Yuna’s words about being sensitive due to hormonal fluctuations or suffering from menstrual cramps.
The Yuna he knew was not someone who could deceive others. Ahn Yuna was the kind of person who would offer her other cheek if slapped on one.
She was a gentle woman who needed protection. That’s why it was displeasing to hear her name uttered by someone as vicious as Seo Jia.
Taeseo, who was about to call Yuna, paused as he moved his hand towards his phone on the coffee table.
‘My period cramps are severe, so I need to take medicine and sleep well. Others just say their stomach hurts, but my head feels like it’s splitting…’
She’s in pain, damn it, she’s in pain. Why would I need to burden her with unnecessary worries?
“Ha, that crazy Seo Jia.”
Annoyingly, Seo Jia had spread rumors about her and Taeseo’s marriage. She had even drawn a grand picture of Namkyung Group and S Financial joining forces.
Taeseo, who was accustomed to such rumors, was well-versed in them. Like many from wealthy families, Taeseo had also gone through a period of wandering and instability until his early twenties.
He had peers from similar backgrounds during his wandering, but among those who caused trouble together, Taeseo always drew the most attention.
He was someone who made people want to look at him more. Even when causing trouble with others, the focus of public attention was always on Taeseo.
He went through a longer period of adolescent turmoil than ordinary children, but those events also subsided over time.
Therefore, he thought that the rumors spread by Seo Jia would also be dismissed as mere gossip and die down.
He overlooked the fact that all rumors reach the ears of the involved parties the latest.
Taeseo turned on the TV with the remote control in his hand.
The background music of a commercial flowed through the long speakers on either side of the large screen.
The moment the actress’s face appeared, holding an orange cosmetic bottle and saying, ‘I won’t let go,’ Taeseo sat up from the sofa.
In his recent busyness dealing with an overwhelming workload, the model for Yuna’s commercial had changed.
