Chapter 22
Billion
Pure Love
22.
Those Words, That One Sentence
The dinner with the French business associates, who arrived right on time, began. Yeonwoo and Seongheon sat side by side with the interpreter, as a refined multi-course meal began to fill the table.
Seongheon and the associates conversed through the interpreter. While eating to Seongheon’s left, Yeonwoo kept the corners of her mouth turned up the entire time.
It wasn’t as easy as she thought to just sit and smile aimlessly among unfamiliar people, unfamiliar food, and an unfamiliar setting. Since everything was so foreign, she couldn’t help but feel that Seongheon, sitting right next to her, was the only source of comfort.
The interpreter kept the conversation flowing smoothly, but there wasn’t much she could understand. It was mostly business talk; the currency units being tossed around were numbers she could hardly fathom, and with the addition of technical jargon, it was difficult to judge when she should smile and when she shouldn’t.
She kept her smile fixed, relying on her intuition. The French associates glanced at Yeonwoo from time to time, responding with smiles of their own as if they found her gentle, rippling grin pleasing.
Every bite of food felt like it was getting stuck in her esophagus. Yeonwoo emptied her plates according to Seongheon’s pace, and though she felt like she had already reached her limit, she continued eating so as not to disrupt the flow.
Before long, the meal came to an end. Having remained faithful to her assigned task by never losing her smile until the very last moment, Yeonwoo stood up. Seongheon pulled her chair out halfway for her, and after stepping around it, Yeonwoo stood behind him.
Seongheon continued his conversation with the associates all the way out of the restaurant. Walking slowly and minding her high heels, Yeonwoo watched Seongheon’s back as the distance between them widened.
Throughout the entire meal, Seongheon hadn’t looked at her once. He hadn’t even spoken to her. She had smiled as hard as she could, but she didn’t know if she had done a good job; it seemed today’s event, which had been so full of talk and trouble, was simply ending like this.
When Seongheon stopped, presumably to see the associates off, Yeonwoo quickened her pace to catch up. Every step felt like she might twist her ankle, but she didn’t know why.
Upon reaching Seongheon’s side, Yeonwoo fixed the smile back onto her face. Since it wasn’t over until it was truly over, she couldn’t stop smiling until the associates were out of sight.
The French associate, finishing his farewell to Seongheon and exchanging a brief greeting with the interpreter, looked at Yeonwoo.
[It was an honor to be able to dine with such a beautiful lady.]
As the interpreter quickly relayed the words, Seongheon glanced at Yeonwoo. Though she was already smiling, Yeonwoo gave a brighter grin and spoke in a small voice.
“Thank you. Safe travels.”
As Yeonwoo spoke, the associate took her hand and lightly kissed the back of it. Startled by the sudden physical contact, Yeonwoo gripped her clutch tightly, and the associate let go of her hand with a lingering gaze.
His gaze, which had lingered on Yeonwoo’s face for a long time, slid down toward her chest. Then, as if nothing had happened, the associate boarded the elevator with his characteristic smiling expression and departed.
The interpreter, having finished their job, also left quickly after saying they had worked hard. Left suddenly alone with Seongheon, Yeonwoo looked around tentatively, wondering if it was time for her to disappear as well.
Even though an elevator going the other way arrived, Seongheon showed no intention of boarding. He simply stared down at the floor with his hands shoved in his pockets, then began to let out a dry, hollow laugh.
Ah. Should I go now?
Just as Yeonwoo was hesitating over whether she should say she was leaving first, Seongheon turned his head and met her eyes. Seizing the moment, Yeonwoo opened her lips.
“Um, Vice President. I’ll be taking my leave…”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have brought you.”
“Ah.” Yeonwoo’s voice trailed off. Seongheon, who hadn’t spared her a single glance since they arrived, was now staring at her openly while muttering those words. Forgetting what to do, Yeonwoo could only fret with her lips.
Her heart sank, wondering if she had made a mistake during the meal.
“I’m sorry.”
The apology slipped out before she even knew why. Seongheon was staring intently at her face, and a chilling coldness emanating from him made the back of her neck go cold. Had she not smiled enough? Or should she have laughed out loud?
Her complicated thoughts were written clearly on her face. As Yeonwoo stood there frozen with a shadowed expression, Seongheon turned his body to face her fully.
“What are you sorry for?”
“Oh, well, I thought perhaps I didn’t smile properly.”
That was the only thing she could think of. She hadn’t uttered a word, she hadn’t eaten at an odd pace, and she hadn’t even touched a drop of wine. No—even if she had made some mistake in the middle of it all, there was no way Seongheon, who hadn’t looked at her, would have noticed.
“…Hah. You’re hopeless.”
She wondered if he was mocking her.
She wanted to know why Seongheon was being so cold, yet she also didn’t want to know. While the elevator went up and down several times, its doors opening and closing, Seongheon just stood there staring. He seemed to have no intention of moving or explaining his reasoning.
It was only after a long while that his voice was heard again.
“We were having a meal with hundreds of billions in investment funds on the line between our two companies, and that French associate looked like he’d lost his mind.”
“He was like that from the start, and he couldn’t pull himself together until the very end.”
Yeonwoo felt momentarily wronged, wondering if she had to take responsibility for a French associate losing his mind.
Seongheon looked at the silent Yeonwoo and tilted his head slightly.
“Or maybe not. Since that mindless bastard agreed to contract terms that were favorable to us, I suppose I should consider that Ms. Ji Yeonwoo has done her job.”
“……”
“I didn’t know you had so many talents, Ms. Ji Yeonwoo. You even know how to make a person nervous just by sitting there.”
His words felt like they were laced with thorns. Seongheon let out a long breath as he spat out words filled with foul emotions.
It would have been reasonable for her to look up and demand to know what on earth he meant by that, but seeing Yeonwoo just standing there silently listening, an unidentifiable surge of irritation rose within him.
A short while ago, when she had arrived at the meeting place—
Seongheon, who had been standing there waiting for Yeonwoo, found his gaze drawn to a woman who stood out exceptionally. Her posture as she walked from a distance was so effortlessly elegant that it seemed to overwhelm the surrounding scenery.
She was so tall that he thought it was someone else at first, but the moment he realized it was Yeonwoo, his heart began to beat erratically.
It started from then. He found it incredibly difficult to look at her. He spent quite a bit of time just trying to steady his already chaotic mind, and he had struggled to focus on the meeting by treating her as if she weren’t there.
If he looked at her, she would occupy his thoughts, and he didn’t think he’d be able to concentrate on business talk. Adding a level of desperate effort he hadn’t used in a long time, Seongheon had ignored Yeonwoo.
But the French man sitting across from them was different. He was in a state where he couldn’t focus on the conversation at all. Since she, with her elegant appearance like a single flower, was smiling at him the whole time, his besotted state was truly a sight to behold.
Even while they were shaking hands after the conversation ended, he waited for Yeonwoo to approach, and he didn’t hesitate to commit the madness of pulling her hand to his lips, then let out a perverted smirk while blatantly scanning her chest.
- 3 -
………His blood was boiling.
“What is money worth, that I’m standing here enduring this sight? Me.”
“I’m not quite sure what you’ve been talking about for a while now.”
When Yeonwoo finally spoke up, unable to bear it any longer, Seongheon lowered his head and let out a long breath. As if trying to clear his head, he pressed his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and looked at Yeonwoo.
“If I made a mistake, please scold me. I might not be able to take responsibility, but I’d rather receive proper criticism.”
“Hah………. It’s not your fault.”
The moment that boorish man’s gaze had landed on her chest, he felt as if a nerve had snapped. Yeonwoo might not have known because she was dazed from entertaining a foreigner with a completely different culture, but Seongheon could see right through the man’s dark intentions.
What he was thinking while looking at her. How hot it must have been under the table at his waist.
“Vice President.”
“You didn’t make a mistake.”
When Yeonwoo called him in a small voice, Seongheon forced his eyes open and added to his words. His heart, desperate to see those worried eyes relax, began to pound again, this time urging him to reassure her.
“…….”
“Ms. Ji Yeonwoo didn’t make a mistake. You ate well. You smiled well.”
“Thanks to you, the contract was led smoothly.”
Yeonwoo’s lips parted slightly. Wondering what could possibly tint them to make them so beautiful, he began to understand the heart of that French bastard who had sat across from her.
He probably couldn’t hear the words well.
Yes. It must have been hard to look away. His heart must have been racing.
“Um, I don’t know about everything else, but if the contract went smoothly, isn’t that a good thing?”
“It went well. And that’s why I’m dying because I can’t say a single word. It’s upsetting, and it makes me furious.”
He must have been happy because she smiled for him.
Yes. It’s understandable. I would have been the same.
He felt sick to his stomach, as if he had gained a profit by selling her smile. He was at a loss as to how to immediately cool the anger simmering inside him.
The elevator opened once more. Wondering if he wouldn’t board this time either, Yeonwoo had already given up on getting in.
Seongheon looked straight at Yeonwoo. Even while looking at her face, the deeply plunged neckline that caught his eye in his peripheral vision seemed to disturb his mind, so he took off the jacket he was wearing and handed it to her.
“Put this on. The night air is still chilly.”
Yeonwoo took it reflexively and obediently put it on.
Only then did Seongheon press the elevator button, and before long, the arriving elevator doors opened.
As Yeonwoo moved her feet, once again conscious of her high heels, Seongheon reached out his arm. It was a signal for her to hold on.
“One employee getting hurt from a fall is enough.”
Looking at Seongheon as he repeated words he had said once before, Yeonwoo carefully placed her hand on him.
With his help, Yeonwoo boarded the elevator easily. As she reached for the button to go to her floor, Seongheon intercepted her and pressed the first floor.
The first floor? Yeonwoo turned her head and looked at Seongheon.
Seongheon opened his lips while looking at her reflection in the elevator doors.
“If it’s alright, let’s walk a bit. I have something to say.”
It was a moment of sudden tension.
“Yes, Vice President. That’s fine.”
Only after hearing Yeonwoo’s answer did Seongheon let out a long breath. Those words, that one sentence, gripped his heart and then let it go.
