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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Second Time Is Harder Than the First
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Yeongin spun around and quickly retraced her steps.
Startled, Haeyun's eyes widened, and she hurried after her.
“Team Leader, what's wrong?”
Yeongin paused, her eyes landing on the restroom.
“...I-I really need to use the restroom.”
Haeyun quickly followed Yeongin into the restroom.
“Your face suddenly went so pale, I thought you were sick! You scared me.”
Yeongin instinctively turned to the mirror. As Haeyun said, her complexion was indeed pale. Sweat beaded on her palms.
“Go back to the office, Haeyun.”
“Okay, have a good meeting.”
Haeyun, who had only intended to accompany her to the meeting room anyway, quickly exited the restroom to allow her team leader some privacy.
Stepping into a stall and locking the door, Yeongin let out a long sigh.
Her relief at not having run into Seonghyeok's mother was fleeting, replaced by a surge of self-loathing for having scurried away like a criminal.
That day, his mother hadn't raised her voice even once. She had said her piece with utter elegance and then stood up.
Nevertheless, it had been more humiliating than ever because she'd felt that Han Insuk Yeosa didn't see her as an equal.
It was enough to make her reflect on whether she had dared to covet someone beyond her station.
Suddenly, she wondered.
If she had stood face-to-face with his mother in the hallway just now, would she have been chastised for still lingering around her son? And if so, would she have been able to retort that it was her son who was circling her, not the other way around?
She couldn't say for sure. She hadn't expected herself to be so utterly flustered just by seeing Seonghyeok's mother.
However, one thing was certain.
While she might be the only thing Cha Seonghyeok lacked, to everyone else, she was his sole flaw. And that "everyone" included herself.
***
Ms. Han hadn't seen Yeongin's face. She merely thought two women had been walking side-by-side, then suddenly turned around and disappeared.
How could she possibly suspect that Chae Yeongin was working at SL Entertainment? It was simply unimaginable.
She opened the door to the CEO's office, and a refined-looking secretary rose from her seat.
“How may I help you?”
“I'm CEO Cha Seonghyeok's mother.”
The secretary's eyes widened.
“...Ah, hello.”
“Is CEO Cha alone?”
“Yes.”
“Then please tell him his mother is here.”
“Please wait a moment.”
The secretary went into the office, then returned, politely gesturing towards it with both hands.
“Please go in.”
“Thank you.”
Returning the smile, Ms. Han entered the office and beamed at her son.
“Son.”
“Have a seat.”
Seonghyeok, with an expressionless face, moved away from his desk and gestured to the sofa.
“How did you come without calling? The security team on the first floor didn't get any notice either.”
Like any other company, the SL Entertainment building wasn't a place anyone could just walk into. Visitors had to get an access pass from the first-floor security team to use the elevators.
It was standard procedure for the secretary's office to be notified first if someone without an appointment came to see the CEO, yet when he asked his secretary, she said she hadn't received any call.
“I was curious about how you work, so I stopped by on my way. I told them not to call you, that I'd go up quietly.”
Seonghyeok waited for Ms. Han to sit on the sofa first, then took the seat opposite her.
“I have a meeting starting at 4 PM.”
Ms. Han remained unhurried, even after confirming there were only ten minutes left.
“I'll be leaving soon. But let's have dinner together.”
“Dinner?”
“I'm on my way to get my hair done now. It'll probably take about three hours, so how about 7 PM?”
“Do you have something you want to talk about?”
Ms. Han wrinkled her nose, looking slightly hurt.
“Does a mother need to have something specific to say just to have a meal with her son?”
Seonghyeok realized he hadn't had a single meal alone with his mother since returning to Korea.
In fact, this was only the second time he'd seen his mother's face. Even for a son as indifferent as him, pretending to be busy today pricked his conscience.
“Is there anything you'd like to eat?”
A smile returned to Ms. Han's face.
“Let's meet at the H Hotel restaurant. Make a reservation under your name.”
“Okay.”
“I'm leaving now.”
“...”
The son couldn't help but look at his mother, who rose with astonishing nonchalance, with a puzzled gaze.
***
Yeongin finished her work and left the office to meet a drama writer she was friendly with.
As soon as she arrived at the underground parking lot, her eyes went straight to the CEO's designated parking spot.
The spot was empty.
‘Did he leave for the day?’
Yeongin walked a short distance, got into her car, hesitated for a long time, then picked up her phone. She called Seonghyeok.
After a brief dial tone, the call connected.
-“Oh, Yeongin.”
“...”
His tone was so natural, as if they'd just spoken that morning, that the person who had made the call was momentarily flustered.
-“Is this the first time you've called me in three years?”
Yeongin took a shallow breath and began to speak.
“Is it okay to talk for a moment?”
-“It's fine. I'm driving.”
“I called because there's something I want to ask.”
-“Ask away.”
“What do your parents know about why you came to SL Entertainment?”
She had been curious ever since the day she saw him in the CEO's office at SL Entertainment. The question, which she had forgotten amidst all the chaos, resurfaced after meeting his mother.
She was asking because she thought knowing what he had told his parents might make her less flustered if something like today happened again. She didn't want to act foolishly like she had today.
-“I haven't mentioned you. Don't worry.”
“...”
Yeongin was momentarily speechless, caught off guard by how quickly he'd grasped the underlying meaning of her question.
-“I'll tell them when you accept me.”
He had never been particularly cold towards her, but now he was far more humble and gentle than he had been three years ago. The fact that the formidable Cha Seonghyeok had become a docile lamb wasn't entirely pleasing to her, precisely because she couldn't give him the answer he wanted.
“Then you'll never have to tell them.”
-“No, I'll be telling them very soon.”
“That won't happen.”
-“It will. I guarantee it.”
“Don't you remember what you told me, Senior? That you never know what'll happen, so don't guarantee anything.”
-“This time is an exception. I can't help but guarantee it.”
“...”
Yeongin couldn't help but let out a small, bitter laugh at his brazenly confident attitude.
-“Let's make a bet on whose words are right. The winner gets to make a wish.”
“Why are you acting so unlike yourself, Senior?”
-“Why? Is it childish?”
“Yes.”
-“I never thought I'd say something like this either. But it's actually not so bad. I could get even more childish if it's for you.”
“...”
It was incredibly difficult and agonizing to hear such heart-fluttering and touching words and yet be unable to show any reaction.
-“But why are you suddenly curious about that? Did something happen?”
“I just suddenly became curious.”
She swallowed the words, "I saw your mother today."
“I'll hang up now.”
-“Yeongin.”
Yeongin, who had been about to pull the phone away from her ear, paused.
-“The first time is hard, but the second time is easy.”
“What do you mean?”
-“I mean, call me first, like you did today.”
“Senior.”
-“Yes?”
“Some people find the second time harder than the first.”
That was her.
Her relationship with Cha Seonghyeok was like that.
Perhaps because the first time had been a impulsive decision made in anger, but now she was holding back, protecting herself from getting hurt.
It could also be because she could foresee her future with him, or perhaps because she now knew how painful a breakup with him could be.
-“Alright, don't strain yourself. I can do it.”
“...”
Yeongin hung up the phone without a word.
Today was the day she was forced to face reality once again, through his mother. Yet, it was also a day when she yearned more desperately than ever to forget that reality.
***
After hanging up the phone, Seonghyeok's expression darkened.
“Something must have happened...”
Just from her voice, he immediately recognized that Yeongin was more sensitive than usual. Her denials and retorts were similar to her usual manner, but the underlying atmosphere was different.
He hadn't pressed her on her vague answer of "just suddenly" because he knew he wouldn't get a truthful reply no matter how much he probed.
Lost in thought while driving, he snapped back to attention to find himself already in the hotel parking lot.
Seonghyeok parked his car and went up to the restaurant.
He stepped out of the elevator precisely one minute before 7 PM.
A staff member standing at the entrance approached to assist him.
“What is the name on the reservation?”
“Cha Seonghyeok.”
“Please come this way.”
Seonghyeok followed the staff member walking towards the window seats. Since it was a same-day reservation, all the private rooms were already booked, so he had no choice but to reserve a table in the main hall.
As he unconsciously replayed Yeongin's voice in his mind, a familiar face entered his vision.
“Oppa!”
Seonghyeok cast a listless glance at Arim, who had sprung up from her seat.
“What a coincidence, seeing you here.”
He hadn't even noticed that the staff member had stopped beside the table where Arim was sitting.
“Come eat with us.”
Seonghyeok hadn't even bothered to ask Arim the perfunctory question of who she was meeting, simply because he wasn't curious in the slightest.
If he had asked anything out of politeness, she would have replied, and then he would have been forced into a few annoying exchanges. So, he had cut her off entirely, giving her no opening. Yet, despite giving her no room, an irritating situation had arisen.
“I'm going to eat with you, Oppa?”
“Why would I eat with you? I'm here to meet my mother.”
“No. You came to meet me, Oppa.”
“I came to meet *you*?”
“Yes, Oppa, you came here for our blind date.”
Arim smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling at the corners. In contrast, Seonghyeok's brow furrowed sharply.
