Kwon Jua’s father, Kwon Sangyeol, went in to the office early in the morning.
It wasn’t because there was work he had to handle.
He was simply anxious.
When he was at home, his thoughts multiplied, and when his thoughts multiplied, his chest grew tight.
If he sat in the office, he could at least deceive himself into thinking he was doing something.
In the empty office, he let out a deep sigh.
Haa...
Kwon Sangyeol had never imagined things would turn out this way.
He had thought that as long as he founded a company, as long as he handed out his business cards, people would line up at his door.
Everyone around him had said the same.
“If you start a consulting company, Director, you’ll do incredibly well. I’ll entrust everything to your company, no question.”
“Your ideas are truly remarkable, Director. It’s such a waste to use them only here.”
But reality was completely different.
No requests came in for him.
He had worked as a president at a conglomerate known as one of the best companies in the country.
He had retired as the head of the Strategy Planning Division, the very core of the core.
Within the group, Kwon Sangyeol had been called “the troubleshooter.”
Whenever a problem arose, his name was the first to be mentioned.
Whatever the matter was, once it passed through his hands, it was always resolved.
Kwon Sangyeol had liked that nickname, troubleshooter, very much.
Because it seemed like a nickname that clearly showed his value. He had liked it a great deal.
The losses he had prevented exceeded hundreds of billions of won.
He had also overcome several crises that were difficult even to convert into monetary value.
At least, Kwon Sangyeol believed so.
But at some point, Kwon Sangyeol began to feel disappointed in the company.
Though Kwon Sangyeol had accomplished great things, the compensation he received was woefully insufficient in comparison.
That shook Kwon Sangyeol’s loyalty.
He loved and liked the company, but he did not want to be treated poorly.
He wanted to receive fair compensation for what he had done.
Consulting firms no one had ever heard of proposed consultations that did not even suit the group and walked away with several billion won each time,
while Kwon Sangyeol, who had provided tailored consulting in exactly the right places for the company, received only a few million, or tens of millions, in incentives.
A pat on the shoulder and a “Good work” was all he got.
He found that deeply disappointing.
What if Kwon Sangyeol started his own company and solved problems?
Wouldn’t he quickly earn billions, even tens of billions of won?
Once that thought entered his head, it was not easily shaken off.
In the end, he chose to resign.
He chose independence, where he could display more of his abilities.
But reality was cold.
Contrary to his expectation that people would line up the moment he opened.
Contrary to the words of those around him who said they would definitely hire him.
Kwon Sangyeol’s company was only quiet.
There were no requests, and even fewer contracts.
His former workplace, which had seemed as though it could not function without Kwon Sangyeol, was still running perfectly well.
Of course, he had expected it would, but confirming that reality only left a bitter taste.
It would have been nice if it had staggered without Kwon Sangyeol.
Strategy, risk management, crisis response.
There were many things he could do, but no one gave him a request.
In truth, he had received a few requests when he first opened.
But the results of those consultations were not good.
First of all, he lacked too much information.
It was far too different from the place where Kwon Sangyeol had worked.
There, a single word from Kwon Sangyeol had been enough to prepare everything from industry trends to the latest technical materials immediately.
The materials he had once checked with a single click were now difficult to view even if he paid for them.
He had been somewhat prepared for it, but the gap was severe.
On top of that, the consulting proposals he had struggled to produce were not adopted by the companies.
The reason was that they required too much funding for those companies to execute.
There were also comments that they were simply too difficult to implement in practice.
If it had been his former workplace, that level of project could have proceeded without any problem.
Only then did Kwon Sangyeol face reality.
It was not that Kwon Sangyeol had been outstanding.
It was only that the system at his former workplace had been outstanding.
Excellent talent processed information, they had the ability to execute it with a single word from him, and they had the funds to carry it out.
Kwon Sangyeol had overlooked that.
He had thought it was his own ability.
After failing his first request, he lost many things, but the greatest was confidence.
His confidence that he would succeed as long as he became independent broke when he faced reality.
He was afraid.
Still, he could not give up.
He met people here and there and did sales.
He gave small pieces of advice and tried to grow them into contracts.
Then, one proposal came in.
A financial company affiliated with a conglomerate.
On the surface, it was investment advisory, but in reality, internal conflict and succession issues were involved.
It was the field Kwon Sangyeol was most confident in.
The conditions were clear.
Not short-term advisory work, but an ongoing partnership.
And they said they needed firm assurance that the partnership would be carried out.
The other party spoke indirectly, but Kwon Sangyeol understood at once.
“Marriage.”
The other party was a child of a chaebol family caught up in the succession structure,
and that family wanted a “stable, professional image.”
A doctor, a prestigious university, a flawless family background.
Kwon Jua fit exactly the conditions the other party had presented.
Kwon Sangyeol calculated the proposal.
A five-year contract period.
Retainer fees, advisory fees, performance bonuses.
It was a contract that could raise his declining company back up in a single stroke.
Kwon Sangyeol thought of it as a deal, a contract.
It was absolutely not selling his daughter.
‘Marriage is about conditions anyway.’
‘No one gets married on love alone.’
‘It’s not a bad choice for Jua’s life either.’
‘If he becomes the heir, that’s good, and even if he fails, it’s still a chaebol family.’
Thinking that way put his mind at ease.
Thinking that he would have a chaebol family as in-laws made him feel secure.
That night.
“Jua, why don’t you go on one blind date?”
That was how Kwon Sangyeol recommended to his daughter a contract disguised as a matchmaking meeting.
Kwon Sangyeol was consulting his daughter’s life.
******
“You said you have this weekend off, right?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how long it’s been since I had both Saturday and Sunday off at once. No, wait. Is this the first time?”
Kwon Jua spoke with a smile, as if she was happy just thinking about resting on the weekend.
It was the morning after her night shift ended.
We were eating toast together on the street and talking.
The smell of freshly toasted bread and the aroma of coffee made it feel as though the morning was beginning.
“So, about that... do you want to go somewhere this weekend?”
Kwon Jua asked cautiously.
“This weekend?”
“Yeah. Somewhere nearby is fine, or what about Jeju Island?”
Hmm...
I thought for a moment.
Going itself was not a big problem, but I had to move this weekend.
Construction on the townhouse I had bought last time was finished, and I was scheduled to move in this week.
Honestly, it would not matter much even if I wasn’t there, but I preferred to be present when moving, if possible.
Not only that, Anna and Chen Zhihao were also scheduled to come in from the Philippines.
Anna was coming in to execute the ten trillion won that would go into Daeyeon Development.
And because Chen Zhihao was needed to transform the Triad into an intelligence organization, I had told Chen Zhihao to come as well.
They were also going to stay at the townhouse.
Since I had called them over, it felt wrong for me not to be there.
By my standards, it was a breach of manners.
But I also wanted to travel with Kwon Jua.
When I hesitated a little, Kwon Jua quickly changed her words.
“No, I’m not saying we have to go. We can go another time.”
“That’s not it... Hmm... I’m moving this weekend.”
Kwon Jua’s eyes grew round.
“Moving?”
“Yeah.”
Kwon Jua looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
“Then I’ll help you move.”
“Huh? There won’t be much to do.”
“Still, when you’re moving, it’s better to have even one extra pair of hands. I’m surprisingly good at cleaning.”
Kwon Jua lifted her slender wrist and spoke confidently.
The sight was too cute.
I couldn’t refuse.
“Okay. Got it. Help me, then. I’ll be counting on you.”
“Yeah. Leave it to me.”
.
.
.
Kwon Jua’s heart was complicated.
The more she met Inbae, the more she found herself leaning on him.
The only time in her day when she could breathe was when she met Inbae and talked with him.
She wanted to be with Inbae longer.
She wanted to talk more and laugh more.
So she mustered her courage.
She asked him to go on a trip.
A trip that might even become an overnight stay.
She wanted to have time to grow a little closer to Inbae.
But Inbae refused without quite refusing.
Moving, of all things.
Come to think of it, she did not even know where Inbae lived.
Inbae had always come to pick her up and drop her off.
Kwon Jua realized it.
That she knew nothing about Inbae.
Because it seemed like he did not want to talk about it, she had not asked,
and she had told him to tell her when he was ready.
Still, she could not help being curious.
She was curious about Inbae.
She felt that she needed to know more about him.
So she said she would help him move.
She had never done anything like moving before, and she had never cleaned either, but that was not important.
Couldn’t she just do it?
What mattered was seeing Inbae’s space.
Entering that space.
She refused his offer to send a car and took a taxi.
“You live in a nice place.”
“Pardon?”
When she gave the address, the taxi driver spoke in a voice full of envy.
“I hear this place is incredible.”
“Ah... yes.”
Kwon Jua casually brushed off what the driver said and looked out the window.
After leaving the crowded city center and driving along the Han River for a while, the car soon turned and entered the foot of Maebongsan Mountain.
“We’re here.”
The taxi driver stopped the car in front of the barrier gate.
Security personnel stopped the car.
They said the taxi could not enter the complex.
When Kwon Jua got out of the taxi, she heard the guards’ radio transmissions one after another.
“Code Pink has arrived.”
After getting out of the taxi, Kwon Jua looked at the view of the townhouse complex.
The townhouse was much quieter than she had expected, and much larger.
Inside the grounds surrounded by forest, neat and restrained buildings were arranged in an oval.
It did not feel showy.
Instead, it was a space that made one want to take a deep breath.
She could feel Inbae in this place.
One security guard approached.
“I’ll escort you.”
Kwon Jua got onto a cart like the kind one might see at a golf course.
On the slowly moving cart, she looked around.
A well-maintained garden.
A quiet atmosphere.
A stillness with almost no people.
It felt like a world separated from everyday life.
Then, suddenly, Kwon Jua noticed something strange.
It had been so natural that she had not realized it, but Kwon Jua had not told the man where she was going.
She had not told this man her destination,
yet he was naturally taking Kwon Jua somewhere.
“I didn’t tell you the unit number.”
“This is all space used by the boss. So a unit number isn’t necessary.”
“Pardon?”
“The boss uses this entire townhouse complex.”
Hearing those words, Kwon Jua was flustered.
Even one house here was enormous, but he used the whole townhouse complex?
She couldn’t believe it.
After passing through the beautifully arranged garden and heading to the house located at the center, she saw a familiar face.
It was the man who always stood behind Inbae.
Was his name Scott?
“Welcome.”
“Yes. Nice to see you.”
“The boss is waiting. Please come this way.”
Kwon Jua followed the man into the building.
When the door opened, Inbae was standing there looking the same as always.
“You’re here?”
Whether he was in a luxury townhouse,
or in a shabby unauthorized building,
Inbae was always the same.
It was the face and expression Kwon Jua knew.
“Yeah...”
Kwon Jua answered.
Once she stepped inside, the house was even bigger than it looked from the outside.
No, it was enormous.
After passing through the hallway, she reached a spacious living room with a view of the Han River.
The Han River view from the living room was spectacular.
“Wow...”
Seeing the picture-like scenery spread out beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass, Kwon Jua let out a small exclamation without realizing it.
In the living room were appliances and furniture that looked as though they had only just been installed.
They suited the space well.
The design and colors.
Even the objects placed here and there left nothing to criticize.
Whoever had chosen them clearly had excellent taste.
“The sofa is pretty. The table too. Who picked them?”
“Who was it again? I don’t know. They said it was some famous stylist. What was the name? I can’t remember.”
“Really?”
For some reason, Kwon Jua felt relieved at the fact that at least it had not been another woman.
She liked that he was attentive to her while being indifferent to other things.
Kwon Jua looked around the house a little more.
Kwon Jua’s own family was well-off too.
They lived in a large apartment, but it could not compare to this place.
It was on a completely different level.
It was a house anyone would want to boast about.
But Inbae did not seem to have that thought at all.
“The big things are all done for now. But could you help me clean a little?”
“S-sure.”
Inbae held out a pair of rubber gloves and a rag.
“You can wipe here.”
As soon as he spoke, Inbae began wiping with a rag.
Beside him, Kwon Jua also started wiping.
For some reason, Kwon Jua liked it.
She found herself smiling.
It felt like they had become newlyweds.
It made her heart flutter, as if they were decorating their newlywed home together.
After wiping a few times, the cleaning was finished.
“Now it’s all done.”
“Already? I haven’t even started yet.”
Come to think of it, the house had already been clean and organized from the moment she entered.
It felt as though he had left just a little for Kwon Jua’s sake.
“This is enough. Now we should eat.”
“Eat?”
“They say you order Chinese food on moving day, right? Is jajangmyeon okay?”
“Yeah. I like it.”
A short while later, the jajangmyeon was delivered.
There was a large solid wood dining table, but Inbae spread out newspapers and ate on the floor.
Inbae said it was his first time moving too.
That until now, he had not had a home.
He had simply lived in hotels.
The more she heard, the more curious Kwon Jua became about Inbae’s life.
Just what kind of life was he living?
“Are you done eating?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go. On our trip.”
“Trip?”
“Yeah. You said you wanted to go to Jeju Island.”
Inbae looked at Kwon Jua with a mischievous expression.
That expression was simply lovable.
“Now?”
Kwon Jua was flustered, but she truly wanted to go.
“Will there be tickets?”
Kwon Jua hurriedly picked up her phone to check for tickets.
“There are tickets. Let’s go.”
Kwon Jua got into the Maybach with Inbae and headed to Gimpo.
“Gimpo Airport is over there, though?”
Kwon Jua called out to Inbae as they passed Gimpo Airport.
But a short while later, when Kwon Jua arrived at the Gimpo Business Aviation Center and saw the private jet before her eyes, her mouth fell open.
A person who rode around in a Maybach.
Who had bodyguards,
used an entire townhouse complex,
and traveled by private jet.
But a man who, himself, paid no attention to any of that at all.
A man who lived as though none of it was particularly important.
She had tried not to ask, but she could not help asking.
“What on earth do you do?”