Chapter 3

Ihan looked at her with his usual expressionless face.

At a glance, the woman he saw was undeniably beautiful.

That alone wasn’t enough to stir any interest in him.

“Oh, President. You’re here.”

“An unfamiliar face.”

“Yes, she’s in the middle of an interview.”

If Chief Cho was the one conducting the interview, it definitely had to do with his older brother Jin Seonghan.

A striking face, tall height, a slender figure, and a subtle, unique aura.

She had a look that fit Jin Seonghan’s tastes rather well.

‘There’s something different in her eyes.’

A quiet laugh slipped from Ihan’s lips.

He had seen more than a few people fall into ruin because they relied on their looks to get close to his brother.

It looked like she was about to become one more added to that list.

“What kind of interview is this…!”

His crooked thoughts disappeared the moment he looked straight into her eyes.

The instant their gazes met, Ihan’s expression stiffened.

Her light brown eyes with a faint hint of red at the center gave him a sense of déjà vu.

It was a rare eye color. Subtle enough that most people wouldn’t notice unless they looked closely.

The exact same eyes as the one from his memories where heaven and hell had coexisted.

Without thinking, Ihan reached out his hand.

He didn’t even realize he was doing it.

It was instinct. Or maybe the faint hope he still hadn’t let go pushed him to act.

“Who are you.”

“Ah…!”

The sound of her voice as he grabbed her wrist was reminiscent of someone from eight years ago.

Not exactly the same, but that didn’t matter to Ihan, who was already shaken.

Chief Cho quickly tried to intervene, startled.

“P-president!”

“I asked who she is.”

But Ihan didn’t let go of her hand.

As the strong scent of perfume reached him, his brow furrowed sharply.

‘She put on perfume?’

The rose-based fragrance was overwhelming to Ihan’s sensitive nose.

“Please let go, President.”

Her appearance and scent were completely different from that person.

Only the color of her eyes was similar, and yet he couldn’t understand why he was so unsettled.

Even so, Ihan didn’t release her.

* * *

Haruka’s expression remained calm.

But inside, alarms were blaring.

She had run countless simulations in her head, but facing the real thing was entirely different.

Her heart reacted much more intensely to recognizing Ihan than she had imagined.

She had been sure he wouldn’t recognize her. His unexpected behavior threw her off more than she cared to admit.

“Please let go, President.”

Haruka deliberately spoke with a firm tone.

Finally, he frowned and stepped back.

“She’s the new aromatherapist who will be assigned to the Vice Chairman.”

Chief Cho introduced her smoothly, regaining her composure.

A pounding rhythm of hatred and unease thudded throughout Haruka’s body, but she straightened her posture and controlled her breathing.

Half a step. Another half step.

At last, she met his gaze head on.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Eight years since they last saw each other.

The man who had betrayed her, her former fiancé Jin Ihan, was right in front of her.

“I’m Haruka Suzuki.”

The man in front of her felt colder and sharper than the Jin Ihan in her memories.

Eight years had changed him. There was something dangerous about him now.

“Haruka Suzuki?”

Despite that, dressed in a dark brown casual suit, he looked good enough to make anyone’s heart skip.

His jawline was sharper, his body more solid than before.

His tall height and broad shoulders gave off an intimidating presence.

The chill in his sharp eyes added to his threatening aura.

“Are you Japanese?”

Ihan stared at her and asked with a crooked tone.

His obvious displeasure showed he wasn’t happy with the situation.

As Haruka opened her mouth to answer, he let out a mocking laugh between his teeth.

“So my brother still believes stuff like scent therapy works, huh?”

Loosening the tie around his neck, Ihan glanced at Chief Cho.

Despite the prickly tone, Cho didn’t react at all. She seemed used to this.

She held her hands politely in front of her and replied.

“This was the chairman’s order.”

“Oh, the chairman.”

“Yes.”

“He’s still as obsessed with his eldest son as ever.”

His cold and biting tone carried an undercurrent of resentment toward his father.

The rumors that Jin Youngman and his second son Jin Ihan didn’t get along seemed to be true.

Chief Cho neither refuted nor defended, which suggested she was familiar with the dynamic.

“When people change, it usually means they’re about to die, doesn’t it?”

“…”

“He’ll live long then. Unfortunately.”

His eyes were filled with contempt.

“You’ll be cleaning up after the old man for another twenty years, Chief Cho?”

“…”

He didn’t ask expecting an answer. Ihan soon began to walk.

He came closer.

Only a few steps, but with every step, Haruka felt her heartbeat slam against her consciousness.

He had been her first love at twenty-one.

They had believed they would be each other’s last love.

Of course, the only one who truly believed that was Yoo Haru, that pitiful and foolish girl.

“What, you. You’re not dead?”

Yeah, I’m not dead.

I survived, painfully, to return everything to you and your family.

‘So I’m happy, Ihan. I’m happy I can face you again.’

Now I can give you back the pain I received.

She told herself that her racing heart was simply reacting to her target of revenge.

There was nothing else. There couldn’t be.

Her clasped hands tightened, the veins on her pale skin turning a deeper blue.

As Ihan walked past her, he suddenly turned his head.

“Haruka, was it? Do your best.”

The distance between them was closer than she expected. Haruka held her breath without realizing it.

Her instincts had reacted on their own.

“Be careful not to get bitten by my brother.”

He looked down at her blank white face for another moment.

Sensing her completely stilled chest, he slowly raised his gaze.

“Can I give you some advice?”

His eyes shimmered oddly as they filled with the image of Haruka.

The sharp energy radiating from him was laced with hostility.

“Even if you have a clear goal, maybe go easy on the perfume.”

“…”

“It makes you look cheap.”

Ihan smirked at her frozen reaction.

He probably thought he had hit a nerve.

Passing her by, he climbed the central staircase.

There was no trace of the fleeting moment of agitation he had shown earlier.

Each step was unhurried, almost bored.

He didn’t look back at her once.

Haruka’s gaze lingered on his retreating back.

As she followed his fading footsteps with her eyes, his old words resurfaced in her mind one by one.

“So I can find you no matter where you are or what you look like. As long as your scent doesn’t disappear, I’ll find you.”

He hadn’t recognized her.

Given that she’d had multiple surgeries, that was expected. But his words still echoed in her mind.

His sense of smell had been exceptional, enough to draw attention from the medical community.

That sense of smell was why the Jinseong Beauty perfume line under his leadership had become the world’s best.

His independent company, separate from Jinseong, was just as successful.

That was why she had deliberately worn perfume she normally didn’t when coming here.

‘I’m sure he won’t recognize me.’

Even repeating that to herself, Haruka couldn’t shake her unease.

Some leftover feeling made her uneasy.

Even now, at the moment his promise to her ended in betrayal.

‘Still, it’s a relief.’

Once the unease passed, a delayed sense of relief washed over her.

Yet at the same time, there was a faint hint of disappointment.

It wasn’t Haruka’s feeling. It was Yoo Haru’s.

The foolish twenty-one-year-old who had loved Jin Ihan.

You’re insane, Haruka.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek, scolding herself for her weakness.

For feeling anything toward the man who had helped massacre her family and had spat those cruel words at her.

‘Disappointment, really?’

That was unacceptable.

The thought itself was a sin.

It was a disgrace to her family, who had been slaughtered in a staged car accident, and to the name Yoo Haru, which she had buried seven years ago.

Feel nothing, Haruka Suzuki.

She covered the remnants of Yoo Haru’s heart with dirt again, sealing it deep within.

This was the one feeling she had to guard against above all else for this mission.

She hoped it would never rise again.