Chapter: 02
Solim’s appearance had clearly caught the woman completely off guard. Her eyes widened, darting between the man and Solim in astonishment.
Amidst the chaos, the only person who remained calm was the man.
“…!”
Ah.
Why hadn’t she remembered him right away?
Solim bit her lip, realizing a moment too late who he was.
Yoon San Group’s Song Tae-ha.
A man who was practically the heir to Yoon San Group, a leading force in the global automotive market.
A vague memory of meeting him at the last charity party surfaced in her mind, but instead of staring blankly, Solim quickly lowered her gaze.
She wasn’t a hall server, but she knew well enough that staring fixedly at a guest was impolite.
“….”
Song Tae-ha, who had been quietly observing Solim with his chin resting on his hand, finally spoke.
“This is the person.”
He gestured toward Solim.
“This person?” What on earth did he mean?
A question naturally arose in Solim’s mind as she glanced at the table situation out of the corner of her eye.
“Excuse me? What exactly are you saying right now…”
The woman before her, perfectly coiffed and clad in a neatly tailored tweed two-piece, watched her face crumple in sheer confusion.
“The person I mentioned earlier is this one.”
Meanwhile, Song Tae-ha’s expression remained completely calm.
Unable to grasp the context of his words, Solim could only stand there, clasping her hands tightly.
She couldn’t even bring herself to ask what he was talking about…
And just as she struggled to hide her awkwardness, the woman blurted out.
“So… you’re saying that this woman who just came out from the kitchen is Mr. Tae-ha’s first love?”
First love?
“Because she happened to run into him here, she can’t possibly marry me?”
“You’ve summarized that well.”
Whether it was a sneer or praise, Song Tae-ha merely nodded.
Then he raised a glass, took a sip of water, and the slight bulge of his Adam’s apple moved up and down.
“Mr. Tae-ha, are you joking with me right now…”
“No, I’m serious.”
Even before she had finished speaking, he nodded firmly.
The woman, her fists clenched and trembling, quickly snatched up the glass of water in front of her.
“…!”
Before anyone could stop her, the cold water from the cup splashed directly onto Song Tae-ha’s face.
“Do you think that makes any sense?! You just happened to meet the person you had a crush on on your introduction day? If you’re going to make excuses, at least do it with some sincerity!”
Solim alternated her gaze between the angry woman shouting and Song Tae-ha, utterly bewildered.
To be dragged into a private room only to witness this chaos… what on earth was going on?
Despite water streaming down his smooth forehead and nose, the man showed no signs of surprise.
If anything, his face looked bored, as if he were tired of this entire situation.
“And first love… what kind of nonsense is this?”
Solim had been called here to play the role of Song Tae-ha’s “first love.”
It was an utterly ridiculous excuse that no one would ever believe.
She stared at Tae-ha, her expression one of disbelief.
He casually wiped the droplets from his eyelashes with his fingers and met the furious woman’s gaze without a hint of concern.
“Sorry to waste your time.”
Even as he apologized, it wasn’t genuine in the slightest.
He resembled a textbook example of the arrogant fourth-generation chaebol often mocked in the media.
Hearing such hollow excuses and meaningless apologies, the woman huffed and stood up.
Gathering her handbag and coat with aggressive movements, she shot him a sharp glare.
“I’m telling my father everything.”
“Sure.”
As if it were no big deal, Song Tae-ha nodded leisurely.
The woman, her face red and trembling, spun around and stormed out of the room.
Bang!
After the door slammed, a suffocating silence filled the private room.
“….”
Solim, still silent and staring at the floor, finally heard the man speak.
“You may leave now.”
It was a calm statement, as if issuing commands here was his prerogative, and following them was her responsibility.
It was so absurd that she couldn’t even scoff. At least it was over without further incident.
Just as she took a deep breath and turned to leave…
“Ah, wait.”
The man raised a hand, stopping her.
He pulled a wallet from the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
Inside were several hundred-dollar bills.
He placed the bills on the table with a leisurely gesture, then set the glass of water on top.
In other words, this was a consolation tip for Yoon Solim.
“Then.”
Without saying a word of thanks or apology, he stood up.
He lightly wiped his face with a napkin and left the room as if nothing had happened.
Thud.
No one touched the food in the room.
Left alone, Solim stared at the stack of bills and finally let out a bitter laugh.
“…What a completely insane man.”
“Crazy” wasn’t even enough to describe how infuriatingly obnoxious he was.
If he didn’t want to attend, he shouldn’t have come. Or if he did, he should have at least refused politely.
Standing there, letting out a few empty laughs, Solim reached for the money.
She carefully gathered the bills he had left as if in pity and put them in her pocket.
She wasn’t foolish enough to leave money behind just because her pride had been hurt.
She knew her harsh reality better than anyone.
“Was something wrong?”
As soon as Solim returned to the kitchen, Head Chef Nam Tae-young approached her.
Explaining the entire situation would take too long, so she shook her head.
“Nothing important.”
“But you said it was Song Tae-ha. The one who called you here?”
Song Tae-ha? Yoon San Group’s Song Tae-ha? The Song Tae-ha I know?
Kitchen staff who had been listening perked up in shock.
As Solim slowly nodded, Tae-young furrowed his brows and asked again.
“What did he say? Do you know each other?”
“No, nothing like that…”
Solim quickly shook her head.
“I just ran into him when I was taking out the trash. He was smoking, so I told him to put it out since it’s non-smoking…”
“Was that why he called you to the private room? Seriously…”
Solim stayed silent, not adding further explanation. She hated dragging conversations out.
She bowed slightly to the still frowning Tae-young and returned to her station.
Squatting in a dim corner of the kitchen, she let out a faint sigh.
“What are you all doing, just standing there? Move!”
Tae-young raised his voice at the staff giving her sidelong glances.
Solim, letting the noisy kitchen fade into the background, mechanically began peeling onions.
“You may leave now.”
She could have brushed it off as just an encounter with a strange man, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Moving her hands like a machine, she suddenly stopped.
“….”
How could someone remain completely unchanged, just like the last time they met?
She shook her head slightly at his unbearably unchanged presence.
His arrogant, piercing eyes, as if born to mock and look down on others, flashed through her mind.
