Chapter 4

***

Taemoo looked out the window on his way to his blind date.

He thought about how many times Chairman Kang has bothered him throughout his time at work. There were countless examples, and he realized they were all related to his marital status. What was so important about it that Chairman Kang did not seem to stop? Taemoo already had enough on his hands dealing with his business, and he couldn’t understand why he needed to waste time on something he didn’t even care about.

He knew, however, that Chairman Kang’s nagging was only going to get worse from now and interfere more with his work. Taemoo believed that being married was too time-consuming, but he now realized that not being married was going to take away more of his time. With an important contract with a Japanese company on the line, Taemoo knew that Chairman Kang’s constant theft of his time could ruin his plans for the business if he did not put in effort on this date.

Thankfully, it was the weekend, but there was no guarantee that Chairman Kang was not going to bother Taemoo during the busy weekdays, as well. It had been the old man’s hobby to bother his grandson ever since Taemoo was little. Taemoo’s resistance only made Chairman Kang more amused.

Though he was enraged inside, Taemoo kept it to himself so that no one could tell how he really felt. He had an excellent poker face. People would have thought that he was just peacefully staring out the window.

Pondering what he could do about the situation as he stared at the open road in front of him, Taemoo was struck with an idea. “Alright,” he said out loud.

“Sorry, sir?”

Sunghoon glanced at Taemoo through the rear-view mirror. “Do you need something?”

“Sunghoon.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m getting married to this woman.”

“What?” Sunghoon opened his eyes wide in shock. Taemoo was the type of guy who meant what he said. How could he say such a thing?

“No matter what, whoever she is, I’m getting married to this woman.”

Taemoo’s eyes glistened with certainty. Sunghoon held on to the wheel tightly. He had a bad feeling about this.

***

Hari walked to the designated spot uncomfortably, trying to keep her bra paddings in place. She arrived at the hotel café, took a couple of deep breaths, and looked around to find a guy sitting down alone. He was an attractive man with a slender body who looked especially good with his suit and tie.

Could it be him?

Much to Hari’s surprise, he was young.

I expected him to be a typical, rich, middle-aged man. I can’t make a fool out of myself if that’s him. No way. I can’t.

Money, after all, didn’t grow on trees. She was already indirectly dumped by Minwoo, and still had to make the money to help her family. As she changed her mind about fleeing and took a step towards the guy, she felt as if everyone was staring at her. She was wearing a very revealing dress and had a pound of makeup on her face. It was no wonder she was drawing attention.

If I was him, I would run away.

Hari caught her reflection in the window and felt embarrassed. She knew even without a conversation that the guy was going to be uninterested in her. She questioned whether or not she really needed to make herself more of a fool by making stupid small talk.

I hope this goes well.

Click-clack, Click-clack. Hari walked toward the guy, making noise with her heels. When she reached him, she introduced herself in the most seductive voice possible.

“I’m Youngseo Jin.”

The guy looked up. As soon as they made eye contact, Hari felt electrocuted. It happened so quickly that she immediately felt like she was drowning, and could not figure out what was happening to her.

What is this feeling? Why do I feel like this?

As Hari hesitated, the guy offered her to sit. Hari reassured herself that no one was going to recognize her, even her parents, and that she was practically wearing a mask. She took a seat.

“Sorry I’m late.”

She tried her best to look relaxed as she crossed her arms and legs. The guy scanned her from head to toe, so Hari sat straight and did the same to him. His hair was perfectly gelled, and he had a clear complexion and an exceptional nose. He looked too perfect to be true. Hari felt as if she was sitting in front of a celebrity, and her heart skipped a beat. But something was off. He looked very familiar.

As soon as he was done scanning Hari, he began to speak.

Good. If you want to walk away, walk away now. Say you have other plans. Come on!

“You are very late.”

“Yes, I’m so…”

Hari felt intimidated because of his stare, and almost apologized. Was it his eyes? That gaze also seemed familiar.

Don’t get sidetracked. Where could you have seen someone so perfect like that? Just think about the money Youngseo promised.

Hari gave the guy a smile.

“Well, to have a chance with a girl like me, you’ll have to understand me. As you can tell, I’m a very busy person. Men just can’t get off me.”

Gosh! This is so embarrassing!

Hari wanted to run away. The guy just kept staring at her without a change of expression, and she couldn’t help but feel ashamed of herself. She decided that she needed to hurry up so he could walk away from the date as soon as possible.

“Even just now, I was on my way from a date. I don’t want to come off rude on our first date, but this is the real me. It’s better than being fake, don’t you think?”

Hari stretched her shoulders to show off her breasts and gave a smile. The guy, however, kept his straight face.

What is he, a log?

Hari wondered if he was bored. How could he be bored? Hari hadn’t even begun yet. She was offended. She was not going to let him be bored.

Trying once again to show off her breasts and smiling with confidence, she asked, “Are you not into party girls? If that’s not the case, should we keep the boring conversions to the side and have some fun? A marriage is like giving a part of my life to someone else. We don’t want to give ourselves to someone random, don’t you think? In fact, there’s nothing romantic about marrying someone for their money, without any actual spark between us. To be honest, this blind date thing, it’s not my cup of tea.”

Hari reminded herself that she was wearing a mask, and even gave the guy a wink. “If you’d like, I’m down for group play, too. One or two more…doesn’t matter.”

Was that too much? One or two more? What are you thinking?

Though Hari knew she was being risky, people often enjoy the thrill that comes with risk. She found herself enjoying the situation, and continued on.

“You won’t be disappointed. I’m quite the expert. You in?”

Hari tried her best to sound seductive. The guy continued to stare. Hari knew she had succeeded.

Who’s going to like a girl who talks like this on their blind date arranged by parents? Maybe for a one-night stand, but definitely not for marriage.

“If you’re down, we can go up. This is a hotel, after all. I’ll promise you a good time. Men go crazy over me. Let’s keep the conversation short. You seem like you’ve got some energy, too. I have, like, an hour.”

Hari smiled, but the guy’s silence continued. Hari wanted to disappear, but she did not lose her smile and continued to look at him. The only thing that followed was silence, and as Hari began to feel uncomfortable, the guy finally spoke.

“I’m Taemoo Kang.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t think you know my name.”

Taemoo only seemed to be interested in the conversation when Hari mentioned him. Hari was disappointed, but kept her easy-going smile.

“Ah, I see. Taemoo Kang. Your name is Taemoo Kang.”

Taemoo Kang, Taemoo Kang, Taemoo Kang…

Hari recited the name over and over in her head. It seemed awfully familiar. She put her uneasy feeling aside and gave Taemoo a smile as he kept looking at her.

“Sorry. I’ve been on so many of these dates that it’s hard for me to remember who’s who.”

As Hari continued to talk, she realized how rude she sounded, but there was no turning back, and no need to, anyway. She was not Hari Shin, but Youngseo Jin. Youngseo promised her that it was okay to be rude, and Hari was only going to try harder.

“I’m Youngseo Jin.”

“I know.”

He replied as if uninterested. Hari began to feel nervous and intimidated. It felt as if Taemoo was telling her that while he could be bored, she couldn’t.

“I have no job.” She only said that as a joke, but he still didn’t care. “I’m just kidding. I work for a company. How about you?”

“I work for Sung-oon Group.”

“Ah, yes, I know Sung-oon Group. That’s…”

That’s my company! That’s where I work!

“Is something wrong?”

Taemoo seemed confused as Hari sat there in shock.

Taemoo Kang from work? Who can he be? Who is he? No way. It can’t be.

“You’re the boss!”

Hari burst out of her chair. Taemoo looked at her, confused, and she realized that her skirt had rolled up her thighs. She quickly put herself together and sat down. Taemoo pretended like nothing happened and continued talking.

“Yes, I am the CEO of Sung-oon Group.”

My boss. I’m on a blind date with my boss!

Sweat trickled down Hari’s forehead. All along, she’d been right. He was a familiar face because he was her boss. She’d seen him at work from time to time as he passed by. She would talk with her coworkers about how he was such a perfect person, possessed of both money and looks. She had never held a conversation with him before, but she definitely remembered him. It was just hard to make the connection that the guy sitting in front of her was him.

I’ve only heard rumors about him, but he is really cute!

Hari found that he was too much for her to handle. Unfortunately, there was no time to waste. She needed to calm down. She thought about what kind of person her boss was. He was the type who meant everything, and did everything, he said. The employees talked amongst themselves about how crazy his OCD was. Taemoo was very against employees hanging out with each other outside of work, and banned dating within the company. He was very conservative and hated lying, firing many workers who lied about their reasons for being late. He was, overall, very cold-hearted.

With a sinking feeling, Hari realized that she’s already done a couple of things that he hated the most.

I really can’t get fired.

Her hands were sweating. If she had known it was going to be her boss who was going to be the guy for this blind date, she wouldn’t have mentioned some of the things she had, such as group play. She just wouldn’t have been on this date to begin with. But it was too late to regret her actions.

Calm down, Hari. You are just one of the many employees. No; you aren’t even an employee right now. There’s no way he’s going to recognize you with all this makeup. Even at work, he’s not going to know. You’ve never even made contact with him at work before.

There was only one thing that Hari could do: End the date.

“Did I mention why I was late?”

“Yes. You said you were on another date.”

Does he really not care that much, to mention it so bluntly?

“I guess you aren’t offended? Even when I said I was with another guy.”

“If it’s about you being with another guy, yes. I’m not offended.”

What kind of person is he?

Hari pondered this to herself as Taemoo raised his eyebrows.

“Is there a problem?”