Sunjae

I sat back down on my desk and loosened my tie as Taeho walked behind me. He had a huge grin on his face, "That caught me off guard. Ms. Kim has a delicate face but a vicious personality."

While he went on and on about her, I leaned back into my seat, pondering.

He continued, "I knew from the moment I met her that she was different. It's rare to find someone as smart as they are pretty. Her being Blasian is even more thrilling. I think she'll draw a lot of attention to this branch. Don't you think, Sunjae?"

I scoffed, the sound dying in the back of my throat, "What are you going on about? Are you infatuated with her?"

A sharp line appeared between his eyes, "What are you talking about? I was just complimenting her professionalism."

A dark smile broke across my face. I held his gaze, lowering my voice to a dangerous purr. "And being pretty adds to her professionalism?"

His expression tightened as he diverted his gaze, "Well, when you phrase it like that, you make me sound like a pervert," he said, and I scoffed, "Maybe you are. Who knows?"

The room went silent as he glared at me. I expected him to shoot back at me, but he burst out into a laugh instead.

I blinked.

"What are you laughing about?"

He stopped but still had a huge, annoying grin plastered on his face, "I was just worried about you. You were so distant this whole week and dodged all my questions about what happened at the dinner. I'm relieved to see you back to your usual self."

His face grew serious as he took a step forward and tilted his head, "Come to think of it. You never explained what you meant by that. I didn't know you at all. Was it because you're not interested in marrying Choi Chaewon?"

A sigh escaped my lips; it wasn't that I didn't want to tell him. I was just calculating something. And I just found something that might work.

"I'm not going to marry Choi Chaewon."

His smile vanished instantly, "You're joking, right?" he paused and studied my face before furrowing his brows upon realizing how serious I was, "Your grandfather will immediately revoke your title as successor. It's just a simple marriage. Why are you being so stubborn?"

I interlocked my hands, calculating the trajectory of my next move. "I'm not--"

"Then why are you rejecting such a good deal? This is the only way to get your stepmother off your back."

I sighed, "I found a better partner. I'm going to marry someone else."

His features hardened. "Someone else? Who could possibly be better than Chaewon?"

My gaze flicked to the sidelights as a confident smirk crossed my lips. Right on cue, Juri's silhouette glided past the window. A soft knock echoed from the door.

"Her."

Taeho raised his brows and turned to the door as Juri opened it and stepped in.

"My apologies for the tardiness. There was something I had to deal with," she said as she pushed up her glasses.

Taeho's eyes widened as he darted his head between the two of us. "Have you lost your mind?!" he mouthed as he narrowed his gaze, and I leaned back into my seat as Juri glanced at us in confusion.

"Did I come at a bad time?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No. Actually, Mr. Park and I were just discussing your future." I said, and Taeho glared at me with an expression like a dulled weapon of disapproval.

Her eyes stretched wide, a frantic contrast to the polite smile she tried to keep on her face, "Am I getting fired?"

Taeho interjected, "Of course not. That won't happen on my watch." Juri gave him a soft smile. The dimple in her left cheek lent a youthful, disarming charm to her otherwise serious face.

My eyes scrutinized the two of them as they stared at each other for an annoyingly long time, and I cocked my head, "Mr. Park." I called out, breaking their moment, "Juri and I have a meeting. Do you mind waiting outside?"

He snapped his head at me, and at that point, I was confident that he'd throw a stapler at me if it weren't for Juri's presence. He didn't move immediately either; he stood frozen next to her, his wide, liquid eyes drilling into me with a heavy, uncharacteristic scowl.

I'd never seen him act like that for someone before.

Juri cleared her throat and walked up to my desk before handing me her list. As I reached out for it, Taeho gave me one last burning look of warning before leaving.

She stepped back and pushed her hair behind her ears. My eyes locked onto her face, scanning the shift in her complexion. The golden undertone of her cheek was gone, replaced by a raw, dark russet welt that made my own chest tighten with a sudden, vicious anger.

"May I start, sir?" she asked, making me realize I was staring a little too intensely.

I nodded, and she took in a deep breath before doing her two-minute pitch. Despite trying to keep an unreadable expression, my brows arched after noticing that she didn't need to look at the papers. She used her two minutes to rattle off the exact names, personal tastes, and buying habits of our top branch clients entirely from memory.

This woman never failed to impress me.

She paused to read my face, and a confident smile crossed her lips, "The VVIPs the headquarters invited are ghost clients. They will only be there for free champagne and press photos. I don't believe they will buy anything. Unlike--"

"Madam Kang?" I interjected, and she pressed her lips together and nodded with a determined expression.

A chuckle almost escaped my lips as I kept scanning the list. She mentioned most of the people I was planning to invite. Including the actor.

However, I had to play the devil's advocate to see if she thought as a strategist, not just a manager.

"If we replace headquarters' list with your local VIPs, how do we maintain the national press coverage that Elyvion needs?"

She paused and pondered for a few seconds as I picked up my pen and started twirling it.

"How about hosting an exclusive, tiered preview instead of a massive, generic gala? That way, we can give the true buyers the intimate, white-glove experience first, and then let the flashy influences come later for the hype."

At that moment, the icy tension in the room seemed to melt as she stepped forward and took a seat in front of my desk. She then leaned over my desk as she pointed out the other names in the list.

As she explained, I stared at her. A lock of her coily hair drifted over her glasses, preventing me from getting a good look at her, and a restless part of me ached to brush it away.

She glanced at me, and we locked eyes momentarily. I diverted my gaze and pulled out my own rough drafts of a revised list.

Her eyes widened, "These are..."

"Almost exactly the same," I said, and she picked up the list with widened eyes. After discussing more, she started packing her files and bowed.

"I'll get going now," she said as she got up and turned to leave, but I spoke up.

"Sit down, Manager Kim. We aren't done yet."

In all my experience as a CMO, I knew right then that it was the perfect time to strike a deal.