The rebrand launch hadn’t started just yet. However, the team was already in the presentation room, busy carrying out their final checks and last-minute setups. So Hyun-woo sat alone on a bench against the corridor wall, dressed in a simple, sharp suit. He was calm, but distant, staring at the floor a few yards in front of him.

The door at the far end opened and Do-yeon entered briskly, her face serious. She walked straight up to him and leaned in, her voice too low to be heard by people close by.

He listened, still as a statue. Then, with a single nod, he stood. They walked off together.

In the presentation room, the rest of the team were readying themselves. They stood in a small gathering area, shielded from the presentation table by a thick curtain. Min-su stood close to the door, looking visibly anxious. The door opened, and Do-yeon stepped in, followed by Hyun-woo, who immediately looked for Min-su.

"Is he okay?" Hyun-woo asked, his voice low with concern.

"He’ll be fine," Min-su replied, a frustrated edge to his voice. "But we needed this like a hole in the head."

"I know most of it, but if you’ve wildly deviated, I need to know now," Hyun-woo pressed, already getting into a professional mindset.

"Seo-jin can fill you in on that," Min-su said, gesturing toward the team. 

Hyun-woo looked down at his clothes. "I’m not dressed to..." 

Min-su cut him off. "Shush. You’re always well-dressed. Go."

He gestured over to the team, who all turned to look at Hyun-woo. Hyun-woo walked over, and Seo-jin met his look of concern.

"You weren’t in any of the dry runs," Seo-jin stated, her tone neutral.

Hyun-woo remained calm. "But I built the foundation. I’ll improvise the bridge. Have you fundamentally changed anything? If so, I need to know now."

"Nothing so wild you’ll be thrown off," Sang-wook assured him.

Min-su exhaled, visibly easing. He looked to Seo-jin, seeking her final buy-in.

Seo-jin looked at Hyun-woo, then at the mic in her hand. "You’ll need one of these," she said, passing it to him.

Do-yeon moved, handing Hyun-woo an earpiece. Their eyes met, a brief and knowing glance passing between them. Hyun-woo fitted the earpiece behind his ear.

"Don’t wait on me," he said.

Min-su clasped his hands together. "Alright. Let’s keep this clean. No tangents. No pride. Just finish well." He stepped through the curtain and into the main presentation hall.

Hyun-soo and Seo-jin stepped forward to stand behind the curtain. From the other side, they heard Min-su announce their entrance. They stepped forward and parted the curtains to step before their audience.

The audience quieted as Seo-jin stepped forward first. Her voice was steady, precise.

"Thank you for joining us today. What you’ll see isn’t just a redesign, it’s a recalibration. Of purpose. Of clarity. Of how identity meets behaviour."

Click. The first slide rolled in. She continued for several slides. Confident and composed. Then, she glanced back, just enough to signal Hyun-woo to step forward.

"When we began our research, our team faced one question: what does continuity look like in motion?" A beat. "This wasn’t about rebranding for attention. It was about alignment."

He spoke cleanly, with no hesitation. Click. Slide change. They moved seamlessly, her slide, his data, her insight, his phrasing. 

A hand went up in the front row. An executive.

"Did you explore alternate identity paths before landing on this?"

Seo-jin opened her mouth to answer, then stopped. She glanced sideways. Hyun-woo already stepped slightly forward.

"We did. Three rounds, actually," he said, his voice calm and direct. "But what we realized is we didn’t want novelty. We wanted coherence." He looked at the exec. "I’ll be happy to show iterations post-talk."

A few nods followed.

After almost an hour of presentation, the final slide appeared: a pared-down logo. Simple. Confident. Seo-jin took the last line.

"This is where we landed. Not because it was safest, but because it felt inevitable."

A pause. Then a light applause began. Hyun-woo passed her the mic receiver. No smile, but a look—brief, measured, and familiar. They gently bowed to the audience, and as the executives stood to leave the room, they too retreated back behind the curtain.

The executives had left the room. The adrenaline had settled, replaced by half-sipped waters and loosened ties. The team gathered. Hyun-woo stood near a side table. He’d removed his jacket and was unbuttoning his sleeves. He was calm again, still unreadable.

Min-su entered, wiping his hands with a napkin, just in time to catch the tail end of the sound of praise.

"That was clean," a junior said. "Like... no one would have noticed."

"Are you sure you didn’t show up to the rehearsals?" Sang-wook asked Hyun-woo, grinning.

"Don't push it," Do-yeon said with a dry smirk. "He’s already halfway out the side door emotionally."

Hyun-woo lifted a brow but said nothing. Min-su gestured for the team’s attention.

"I don’t usually do speeches," Min-su began. "But thank you all for this. Especially you two. Putting that together at the last possible moment." He glanced between Hyun-woo and Seo-jin. "That’s not luck. That’s muscle memory."

Seo-jin gave the faintest smile. Hyun-woo met her glance just for a second, then looked down.

"Thank goodness you came early," Do-yeon said to Hyun-woo.

"I hate to be late," he replied.

"Still, we notice," Sang-wook said.

Min-su picked up his phone. "Alright. Go change, breathe, vanish, whatever. Just don’t crash your bike! We don’t have a backup for you."

Laughter rippled through the room. The tension was gone, but something else lingered. A sense that the connection held between Hyun-woo and Seo-jin hadn’t been dropped. Just... deferred.

Min-su left the room, leaving the team together.

"How can we not have a team dinner after that?" Sang-wook asked.

"You guys should go celebrate," Hyun-woo said. "All your hard work has finally been recognized." He looked to Seo-jin, indicating where he felt the real effort came from.

"You won't come with us?" Do-yeon asked.

"I was merely the mouthpiece for you," Hyun-woo said. "I haven’t been the real force behind this. You have."

"Not even one drink?" Sang-wook pressed.

"You’re exhausting when you’re noble," Do-yeon said with a smirk, but gently.

"That’s why I leave early," Hyun-woo replied. He turned to Seo-jin, smiled and nodded once to her. "Enjoy your drinks. They’re well deserved."