When he saw Hoseon take a step back and fidget with her fingers with an awkward smile on her face, he realized that the power balance had shifted. Giwoo was about to say something else before he stopped. Lee Miyoon might be someone she couldn’t go against. He couldn’t exactly tell her that Lee Miyoon was a tiger without fangs, so he had to finish their conversation here.
“Also, Giwoo, I’m telling this because I’m worried about you, but you should be careful when talking bad about others. I know who you are, so I believe that there must be some kind of circumstances, but other people might not think the same. You know what I’m saying, right?”
Things were going in a weird direction. The wenches that seemed like they would undress in front of him if he took them to bed had all changed their expressions and even reprimanded him. Seeing the women changing their attitudes in a mere hour, he realized that his grandfather’s words were right: women were to be controlled, not trusted. He truly felt that right now.
When he thought about how the good image he had maintained until now might fall apart, he felt frustrated. He was angry at Lee Miyoon, who butted in and ruined everything, but Han Gaeul was the source of the problem. Isn’t it a woman’s duty to respond in kind to a man’s wooing? They should obediently follow if a man was polite, yet she kept her head held up high and continued pushing him away.
Giwoo looked at the back of Han Gaeul’s figure as she went up to her room. She was a really good product, an item that he wanted to have even at the cost of some humiliation. Hundreds of millions of won wouldn’t be wasted if he could see those proud eyes being subservient in front of him. It would be great if they were in the feudal era where women were treated like assets. Sometimes, he hated the fact that he had to treat them like a person just because the era had changed when he could’ve easily got his hands on them. He wanted to bed her and rip apart her clothes immediately before looking at every nook and cranny.
Giwoo scratched the back of his lower teeth as he stopped his imagination. He had too many things to be doing that. He couldn’t taint the name of the YM Group just to get his hands on some woman. His pride didn’t allow that either. Perhaps he should change his methods? It seemed like he wasn’t getting through to her because he was only using words. Perhaps trying to treat Han Gaeul like a special person was the wrong approach. Maybe she would easily open up her heart if he gave her lots of gifts like he did with normal women.
Creatures known as women were simple in the end and were bound to be won over as long as he could create an environment where he could raise their pride and they received respect. There were rarely any women on whom that formula didn’t work. She may be acting coy right now, but she would usually fall for him anyway. After all, she fell for that pathetic Han Maru, did she not? Objectively speaking, he and Han Maru were worlds apart.
He laughed. He didn’t think about this. Han Gaeul just found him too burdensome. Only now did things fall into place. Gaeul must be aware that the reason Han Maru said goodbye to her was for Kim Suyeon. She had experienced the ultimate shame she could experience as a woman. She was approached by such a perfect man in such a situation, so it was no wonder that she was feeling wary.
Giwoo energetically stepped on the stairs. He saw Gaeul in front of her door. Wait – he shouted and she stopped after opening the door halfway.
“If you’re here to pick a fight, then you got the wrong door. Senior Lee did that of her own accord. Done?”
“I don’t care about that.”
“Then I see we have no business. I need to pack up, so I’m a little busy. Can you do it over text unless it’s something urgent?”
“Han Gaeul, go out with me.”
Gaeul opened the door and went inside as though she hadn’t heard anything. Giwoo put his fingers behind the door and pulled it open. Gaeul looked behind once before going to her bed and starting to pack up. She didn’t seem the least interested in what he was up to.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’m sure you must have had a hard time after you were kicked away by Han Maru. But you have no fault in that. You were just next to a lacking man for a brief moment. That doesn’t degrade your value as a woman. I don’t plan to find fault with it either.”
Gaeul took large strides towards him. Did she finally have something to talk about? Standing right in front of him, Gaeul crouched down. When he looked down, he saw a sock.
“If you’re done, then can you get out of the way? As you can see, my room is a mess, so I think I won’t make the morning plane if I don’t clean up quickly.”
Seeing her eyes without a speck of emotion, Giwoo subconsciously took a step back. Gaeul stuffed her sock into her carrier. He thought that he had to regain the upper hand in the conversation. Just as he thought about bringing up Kim Suyeon, there was someone who walked across the corridor to the room. It was Han Gaeul’s stylist, Mijoo. After seeing Giwoo from afar, Mijoo quickly walked over.
“Unni, I’m here. You aren’t done packing up yet, are you?”
Giwoo watched as Mijoo pushed her way into the room. Did she not have eyes? Or was she simply dumb? It seemed that he needed to spell out that they were in the middle of an important conversation.
“Mijoo, can you give us some room? I’m in the middle of an important conversation right now with Gaeul.”
“I need to quickly pack up. Just think I don’t exist and talk to her.”
“How can I think that you don’t exist when you’re here? I’m not playing around.”
His grip on the door tightened. Mijoo, who was standing boldly, started flinching and let go of the one-piece dress. Now that was a reaction he liked. There was no need to shout at a dog that obediently curled up its tail. He was waiting for Mijoo to leave when Gaeul, who was folding her clothes, approached him. Her hands slowly approached his. Just then, he remembered that his fingers were snapped backwards back on the beach. When he reflexively pulled his hand away, she smiled.
“Coward.”
Being pushed on the chest, Giwoo took several steps back. Gaeul put away her smile and closed the door. He tried to grab the door again, but he was startled by her pulling close the door without hesitation, so he let go. Had he continued grabbing onto it, his hand might have been squashed. A loud boom hit his ears. Forget squashed, he might have been crushed instead.
“Han Gaeul!”
He hit the door several times as he called out to her, but there was no reply. He saw a foreigner couple peeking their heads out from another door. Giwoo covered his face with his left hand and kept knocking on the door.
“I’m different from Han Maru. I’m different from the bastard who abandoned you for Kim Suyeon. I’m sure you’re scared right now. Maybe you’re disgusted at men. I understand that you are pushing me away. But if you talk to me just a little, you’ll find out that I’m different.”
She might feel embarrassed since Mijoo was next to her. She should have no choice but to open the door. He leaned against the wall and looked at the door. He had the conviction that she would soon open the door. However, there was no response even after five minutes.
“What are you doing?”
A voice that ticked him off hit his ears. Lee Miyoon told her manager, who was holding a carrier, to go down first. Giwoo simply ignored her. This was no time to be facing off against the old hag. Contrary to his expectations that she would go down, Lee Miyoon approached him instead.
“Are you actually waiting to meet the owner of this room? For what, to do a serenade or something?”
“Senior Lee, you won’t get any benefits by clashing with me so often.”
“I find it fun, so why not? Anyway, did you call the chairman? You should check if he has any intention of making you inherit the company.”
“I have no intention of inheriting the company. Of course, if I say that I will succeed him, grandfather will immediately start making me take business classes. Once that’s done, I’ll climb up the hierarchy step by step and receive the title of president. I jumped into this industry because I didn’t want to live a boring life like that. I wanted to show that I could be successful without the help of YM, and I succeeded to an extent.”
“This is why the thought process of young masters is interesting. Do you really think that you became successful through your own efforts? Then what was the endless amount of lobbying that I saw then?”
“That’s because those people sucked up to grandfather to look good in front of him. It’s not related to me.”
“Little boy, that’s what we call related. You are standing on a starting line prepared for you by those above you, yet you don’t even seem to realize that. I can now see how much the chairman doted on you when he raised you. Thanks to that, I’m convinced. To the chairman, you must be just a cute and precious grandson. And that’s about it. Gaeul? There’s a pitiful dog who wants attention over here, so why don’t you come out for a bit?” Lee Miyoon shouted at the door.
Just as he was about to grab Lee Miyoon, who mocked him before turning around, the door opened. It was Gaeul and Mijoo, who walked out with two carriers. There seemed to be no fluctuations in her emotions. Mijoo heard the story between Han Maru and Kim Suyeon, but she did not even frown. Did that mean that Mijoo knew that as well? Giwoo looked at Mijoo’s expression more than Gaeul’s. Yesterday, he had mixed in a lie while talking to Gaeul. He said that Mijoo told him everything. If Gaeul reprimanded Mijoo, Mijoo would’ve naturally said that it wasn’t her. In that process, the relationship between the two might worsen.
“Now you’re interested in my little sister?”
Gaeul grabbed Mijoo’s hand and walked away. They didn’t look like they fought. In fact, they looked even closer than before from the way they looked out for each other. Did she not scold Mijoo for exposing her relationship? Giwoo couldn’t understand with his head.
“Gaeul,” he hurriedly called out to her.
He was filled with hastiness. Why did nothing go the way he expected it to when it came to Han Gaeul? Something like this had never happened before. Gaeul sent Mijoo down first. After seeing that they were the only ones in the corridor, Giwoo slowly walked over to her. When he took about three to four steps, he heard a voice. It was a voice that didn’t just fill the entire corridor; it was a voice that also pushed him away.
“Seeing as how you’re obsessed, you look quite pitiful. You should visit a psychotherapist. I visited quite often when I had it hard. It’s quite helpful.”
“I’m obsessed?”
“You aren’t then?”
After throwing that question, Gaeul went downstairs. Giwoo tried to chase her, but he couldn’t lift his foot. Obsessed? He was? He felt like a mosquito was flying right above his head. It felt terrible. He couldn’t admit that. He was obsessed with a woman? The almighty Kang Giwoo was?
He consciously blinked. Whenever his eyelids closed and opened again, the world was cut off before continuing again. He stood in a daze like that before looking at his palm. They were drenched in sweat like he had just dipped them in water. He rubbed his hands several times. By the time the water on his hands disappeared, Giwoo uttered the words that suddenly came to his mind,
“When was my first love again?”
