Chapter 2

“And the bathroom ventilator… wait a moment. Sorry, I need to take this call.”

The woman stopped speaking when her phone started ringing somewhere nearby. She picked it up and walked off to answer.

Jae-won looked over the areas she had pointed out earlier.

Once Sun-ho arrived, he would ask for the tenant’s permission to inspect everything more thoroughly.

Sun-ho still hadn’t shown up, clearly on purpose, probably stalling as long as he could.

Leaning one shoulder against the wall, Jae-won glanced around the apartment aimlessly.

His gaze lingered on the woman.

It was an oddly stylish and comfortable space, which didn’t suit the messy, ghost-like woman standing in it.

A hint of curiosity stirred in him.

“…Yeah… that’s right… I’ll come to Daegwallyeong myself. You know how good I am at skiing. Alright, alright, talk later.”

Even though he had no intention of eavesdropping, her conversation carried straight to his ears.

From the sound of it, she was planning a trip with her friends.

“Sorry about that. Where was I? Oh right, the bathroom ventilator!”

Tap tap tap.

The woman hurried back on her short legs and flung the bathroom door wide open.

A faint fragrance that had been teasing Jae-won’s senses suddenly wafted out stronger, brushing past him.

He swallowed, caught off guard by the strange scent.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

That scent didn’t match her ghostly, disheveled look at all.

Her complaints kept coming, one after another.

His ears were ringing.

Now he understood why Sun-ho had dragged him here.

Just as he was regretting coming up alone, Sun-ho finally appeared.

His face peeked in through the open front door.

The woman, still rambling inside the bathroom, froze when she saw him and yelled.

“Who are you?”

“He’s from the same company,” Jae-won answered for him.

“Oh.”

“Haha, hello, I’m Director Park Sun-ho. We spoke on the phone earlier.”

Sun-ho greeted her with his usual friendly grin.

The entryway was far too narrow for two men with broad shoulders to stand comfortably.

As Sun-ho tried to hand over his business card, he stepped forward and accidentally tripped on something, losing his balance.

He stumbled awkwardly, flailing to steady himself, and ended up shoving the woman with his full weight.

“Ah, oh!”

“Ahhh!”

There was no way the petite woman could withstand that kind of force.

She stumbled backward, and just as she was about to fall, Jae-won reached out and caught her.

Thud!

Thankfully, her head didn’t hit the floor, but Jae-won’s foot slipped too, and both of them went down together.

Damn it.

In the middle of the chaos, the only one left standing was Sun-ho, who quickly rushed over and helped the woman up.

“Can’t you be more careful?”

“My foot got caught. Are you… are you alright?”

Jae-won pushed away Sun-ho’s hand and stood on his own.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

When Sun-ho asked the woman, she bowed her head, biting her lip, then shot a glare at Jae-won.

Wait a second, wasn’t she glaring at the wrong person?

Why me and not Sun-ho?

Even if it was just a dirty look, it still annoyed him.

He had caught her before she cracked her head open.

“…You kissed me.”

What?

“Pardon?”

As Sun-ho blinked in confusion, the woman clenched her jaw and yelled.

“It was my first kiss!”

What the…

Jae-won was too stunned to even laugh.

The woman rubbed her lips furiously, her face red with anger.

“Hurry up and fix everything already!”

“Yes, yes, of course,” said Sun-ho quickly, bowing slightly and motioning for Jae-won to leave.

“Hey. When did I ever kiss you? I said, if your mouth is crooked, your words should still come out straight…”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Sun-ho pushed Jae-won toward the door.

“Let me go. I need to set the record straight.”

“Just move!”

Bang.

Once outside, Jae-won put a hand on his waist and exhaled sharply.

Unbelievable.

Was that woman insane?

“Hey, did your lips really touch?”

Sun-ho stared at him like he was examining evidence.

“…”

He was too speechless to respond.

“You idiot. Even if you were in a hurry, you went too far. Come on, let’s go.”

Sun-ho was clearly enjoying this, his grin wide and teasing.

Jae-won tugged his tie loose and raked a hand through his hair.

“Damn it, no wonder the previous owner sold the place so cheap…”

It was a reasonable suspicion that the last owner had wanted to sell the building quickly because of that woman.

He suddenly felt like scrapping the entire remodeling plan altogether.

* * *

After the landlord left, I-young hurried to get ready and step out.

Her hair appointment time was almost up.

But the more she thought about that man, the angrier she became.

He had bumped lips with her and still had the nerve to deny it so calmly.

Sure, it was an accident, but to her, it had been practically her first kiss.

“Hey. When did I ever kiss you? I said, if your mouth is crooked, your words should still come out straight…”

Even his words echoed in her head.

A crooked mouth but straight words?

It was only a brief moment, but she could still feel it clearly.

His firm, masculine lips had brushed against her soft, trembling ones before pulling away.

No way. Absolutely not.

She had been willing to let the maintenance issues slide, but now she was going to make sure every last thing got fixed.

As she stepped out of the officetel, the biting winter wind cut against her face.

Ah, cold. So cold.

She pulled her hat down tightly over her head and walked briskly.

There was a lot to do today.

Get a haircut, drop by her dad’s office, get some allowance, and ask permission for the trip.

At her age, she was probably the only person who still needed permission to travel.

She had moved out to live independently, but it didn’t feel much different from living at home.

The beauty salon wasn’t far from the officetel.

It was her first time visiting this place.

“Welcome.”

“I have a haircut appointment.”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

I-young sat in the waiting area and picked up a magazine from the table.

It was a lifestyle magazine that sometimes featured seasonal interior trends and remodeling stories.

“Ah, found it.”

She turned to the section called “Makeover My Home.”

There were before-and-after photos and introductions of the remodeling companies behind them.

“It was done by Won Interior. No wonder. Looks amazing.”

Won Interior was one of the top companies in the remodeling industry.

This month’s issue even featured an exclusive interview with its CEO.

A story of a man who had founded a company in his twenties and achieved great success.

A real-life success story.

It almost felt too unreal to envy.

He must have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

You could tell just from the photo. That aura of refinement was unmistakable.

I-young stared at the picture and came to her conclusion.

The man in the black suit exuded elegance and charisma, even from behind.

Even if it was only a rear view, she could tell.

Was President Jung Jae-won purposely hiding his face for mystery?

Even on the company’s website, there wasn’t a single photo of him.

Now that she thought about it, the landlord’s name had been Jung Jae-won too.

She was pretty sure that’s what it said on his business card.

Probably just someone with the same name, but still, what a coincidence.

“Miss, you can come over now.”

“Ah, yes.”

I-young set down the magazine and stood up.

“Please cut my hair short.”

* * *

“Dad!”

I-young’s voice shot out before she could stop herself.

“Good grief, do you want to give your old man a heart attack with that loud voice?”

“Dad, tell me you’re kidding.”

A blind date?

And today of all days?

I-young ran both hands through her freshly cut short hair, staring at her father in disbelief.