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Episode 6
Sihyeon pointed at herself with her finger. Professor Kim nodded.
She really didn’t want to be alone with him.
‘Unless you die and come back to life, your dissolute and promiscuous personal life won’t change.’
There was no guarantee that the trouble that happened in the representative’s office wouldn’t happen here at home.
“What are you just sitting there for? Get going!”
At Bae Geun-ho’s stern command, Sihyeon had no choice but to rise from her seat.
“You injure an important guest and then plan to keep your mouth shut without a single apology?”
“…No, sir.”
Sihyeon quickly moved.
Her steps as she climbed the stairs were heavier than ever.
After the way he had acted like a crazy bastard in the representative’s office, she felt he might do something even worse to her.
Soon standing before the door, Sihyeon took a deep breath and knocked.
Knock, knock.
“It’s Bae Sihyeon—”
“Come in quickly.”
Before Sihyeon’s words could even finish, a gentle voice came from beyond the door.
What is this?
The stark difference in his tone made Sihyeon almost wonder if she had heard wrong.
She turned the handle and entered.
She saw Pyeon Ji-wook, stripped to the waist, leaning against the bed’s headboard. Her surprised eyes widened.
Ah.
“What’s with the surprise? I hurt my back, so I had no choice but to take it off.”
The man’s dark, peculiar eyes stared directly at Sihyeon.
“Don’t worry and sit down. I won’t eat you.”
“…Yes?”
“I’m not that bad of a guy. So, make yourself comfortable.”
She had vividly witnessed the disgusting behavior he showed Bae Hyo-joo.
So then, what was it that she saw?
He gently patted the bed with his large hand.
“Come a little closer. Bae Sihyeon”
Sihyeon was almost curious.
Why on earth was this man acting this way?
Because she was Bae Hyo-joo sister? If so, he should have treated her better, not Sihyeon.
He showed a trash-like side to Hyo-joo, yet put on an act of pretense with Sihyeon.
Huh, let’s just apologize quickly and leave.
Staying alone with him felt like it would choke her breath.
Even though she had seen plenty of men’s bodies in the rooms [referring to the entertainment establishments her father sent her to], the sight of this man’s uncovered torso was still unfamiliar.
His clearly defined abs were visible, as if he worked out separately.
They were deeply etched, as if the muscles were alive and moving. Unlike the men she’d seen in those rooms, Pyeon Ji-wook had a much larger upper body and particularly prominent deltoids.
“In times like this, you really are just like Bae Hyo-joo.”
At the sudden remark, Sihyeon was so startled she slightly lifted her hips off the bed, but only for a moment.
He grabbed her wrist and made her sit back down.
It was a light tug, using almost no force. In the representative’s office, he had forcibly grabbed her wrist and pressured her with strength, but with Sihyeon, he was treating her as if infinitely precious.
The stark contrast in attitudes made her doubt which one was the real him.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“Yes?”
“If not, please stay a while longer.”
She slowly nodded.
“Is your back okay? I’m so sorry about earlier. I was just so startled and all.”
When he had tumbled down two steps, Sihyeon had been very flustered. She hadn’t pushed him that hard.
“I’m fine.”
But how long was he going to keep holding her wrist?
She slowly lowered her gaze, silently looking at the hand gripping her wrist. Only then did he release his hold.
“I thought to myself that I really wanted to see you again.”
“Why? Me…”
“Well, because I missed the bouquets Bae Sihyeon made for me so much.”
Silence fell again.
Sitting there without any conversation was a bit of an ordeal. Sihyeon broke the awkward silence.
“Well then, I’ll head back down now. I’m really tired.”
“It should be about time for you to wake up, shouldn’t it? Why, going to sleep again?”
Sihyeon’s eyes widened.
“How… did you know? That I wake up at this time?”
“Just, a feeling.”
Come to think of it, this man seemed to know everything about her.
Perhaps. This might be the perfect opportunity.
A chance to find out definitively about the relationship between her sister and this man.
“Can I ask you one thing?”
“You can ask anything.”
“By any chance, what’s your ideal type?”
Without any sign of fluster, he answered her question.
“I like someone with a warm heart.”
It was unexpected.
Someone with a warm heart.
“Then can I ask one more?”
“Of course, as many as you like.”
She wanted to ask, ‘Why are you so kind to me?’, but she couldn’t waste this opportunity like that.
“What kind of relationship do you have with my sister?”
“Just, friends.”
But did you sleep together even though you’re just friends? She suppressed the question that rose to the tip of her throat. She couldn’t go any further.
“Then, can I also ask Bae Sihyeon one question?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever thought about things like dating?”
At the completely unexpected question, Sihyeon’s lips tightened firmly.
He stared intently at her, who offered no answer.
Dating was a luxury for Sihyeon right now. And she didn’t believe in things like love anyway.
Even if you loved, love was something that could turn its back on you in an instant if you became useless.
She had decided that when her father abandoned her mother, who was at death’s door, and shook off her hand.
That the male species was not to be trusted.
Perhaps her sister’s wandering also stemmed from a kind of revenge against their father.
So, in a way, she felt sorry for her sister
Whenever scandals made her rise and fall in the media, Hyo-joo always apologized to Sihyeon.
Sorry for being so promiscuous.
Sorry that she wasn’t someone worthy of being a role model for her, sorry to the point of wanting to die…
Thinking of her dead sister and her mother lying in a coma, a surge of emotion welled up inside her again.
Sihyeon bit her lower lip.
“…”
It didn’t seem like it was supposed to be such a serious topic, but talking with this man made her feel like the emotions she had been suppressing were about to burst.
“I don’t… do things like love.”
He nodded.
As if her expression had never darkened, Sihyeon smiled faintly. Pyeon Ji-wook spoke in a languid, low voice.
“Well then, if things get hard, call me anytime.”
“Yes?”
He took out a business card and placed it on Sihyeon’s palm.
What was this man’s true self?
This side of him now? Or the actions he showed her sister?
“I’ll wait. Anytime.”
“…”
“Why… go this far…”
“Because you’re Bae Hyo-joo’s sister. So, I’ll specially be a good older brother to Bae Sihyeon. How about it? How does it feel to have an older brother?”
She should say, ‘I don’t need one.’ But strangely, the words wouldn’t come out.
“Well then, to commemorate becoming my brother, and sister would you allow me just one hug?”
“…Ex, excuse me?”
He reached out and gently wrapped his arms around Sihyeon’s shoulders. It was an action so different from the coercive way he had been in the representative’s office.
The hand stroking her back was incredibly warm. It was almost surprising that Pyeon Ji-wook had this side to him.
He stared blankly at the bed where Bae Sihyeon had been sitting just moments ago.
He raised his hand and ran it down his own face.
A good brother? Like hell.
More like an brother filled with impure desires, right?
Where did he get off using such shitty words to toy with Bae Sihyeon?
He let out a snort of derision and lowered his head. The front of his body was visibly aroused.
The scent of soap from her body drove him even crazier. Maybe it was because he saw her after so long, his body was out of control.
He roughly tore off the pain patch on his back and threw it into the trash can.
He was perfectly fine without a single injured spot, but he had deliberately put on a one-man show, tumbling down the stairs.
Because he wanted to create an opportunity to be alone with her.
Even if just for a moment, he wanted to talk with her.
His true purpose in approaching Bae Hyo-joo was also because of Bae Sihyeon.
The real reason he returned to Korea was only her.
“Still so pretty. Bae Sihyeon.”
Maddeningly so.
“What? What are you saying right now, Chairman?”
“Exactly what you heard. Go to New York right now.”
At Bae Geun-ho’s words, Si-hyeon’s head throbbed.
The man who had proposed a sudden collaboration two weeks ago had abruptly changed his mind this morning and left for New York.
With media play touting the collaboration between the two companies, Taesan’s stock price had been rising daily, and Taesan Electronics products had sold out completely, enough to make other companies envious.
But then suddenly, Pyeon Ji-wook postponed the collaboration and ran off.
His attitude perplexed Bae Geun-ho, who had called Si-hyeon to the chairman’s office early in the morning.
“Go to the US urgently now and change Vice President Pyeon Ji-wook’s mind. Nothing is more urgent than this. We absolutely must finalize the partnership with K J Group within this month.”
“Chairman. Then send Director Yoon Ji-na instead of me. She’s exceptionally good at handling matters like this.”
“No. You have to go yourself.”
Sihyeon bit her lower lip.
These days, besides the card collaboration, she was also grappling with merger issues scheduled for next month. Even with ten bodies, it wouldn’t be enough, and now he was piling this on top of everything else.
‘Come up here [to my office], so we can stick together after a long time.’
Pyeon Ji-wook, who had unhesitatingly acted like a madman in the representative’s office, came to mind.
“There’s something I haven’t told you yet, Chairman.”
Sihyeon chose to confess honestly.
