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After having lunch with Kim Tae-Jin and Seok Kang-Ho, Kang Chan immediately went home.
He already had dinner and was watching TV when he got a text message from Kim Mi-Young.
[Are you home?]
Ah, shoot! Kang Chan had told her that he was coming home in about three days.
He called her soon after, then met with her at the apartment’s bench. She seemed pale, enough for Kang Chan to be worried.
“Why do you look so pale?” Kang Chan asked.
“I have to study. I’m going to study abroad in France no matter what.”
Kang Chan stared at Kim Mi-Young. She had been quietly putting her heart into her classes so she could study abroad with him.
“Mi-Young, should we just go to a university in Seoul? If you’re fine with it, let’s prepare for that instead.”
“A university in Seoul?”
“Yes. I actually got accepted to a university in Seoul as well. I got a special admission or something, so I’ll probably get notified in the second semester,” Kang Chan said.
“Really?”
“Yes, so take it easy. You told me you’re going to finish one semester in a Seoul university anyway while preparing to study abroad in France. You should study French after we’ve seen how everything turns out.”
She appeared to be disappointed at first, but she soon looked thankful for his consideration.
She suddenly grew up. It felt as if the tough times had brought out the maturity in Kim Mi-Young’s face.
Kang Chan hugged Kim Mi-Young, who was coming toward him.
He smiled quietly. Unlike how she had gone into his arms awkwardly and was stiff at first, she was now hugging him back so tightly it seemed as if she was embracing him with all her strength.
Kang Chan and Kim Mi-Young sighed.
“What are you going to do if someone sees us?” Kang Chan asked.
They were in front of the apartment building. The older ladies in their neighborhood were so good and fast at gossiping it was as if they could spread new rumors via telepathy.
Kim Mi-Young raised her head to see Kang Chan, the look in her eyes passing on her desperate wish.
Smooch.
Kang Chan kissed Kim Mi-Young’s forehead.
Kim Mi-Young smiled brightly as her snow-white face blushed.
“Let’s go on a trip again once I get accepted to a Seoul university,” Kim Mi-Young suggested.
“Sure.”
Kang Chan felt as if he could hear Kim Mi-Young’s heartbeat. A strange excitement engulfed him as her body temperature and breathing were passed onto him.
A moment later, Kim Mi-Young, who had been snuggling her head on Kang Chan’s chest, took a step back while looking disappointed.
“Go home and cheer up. Okay?”
“Okay! Don’t forget that we decided to go on a trip,” Kim Mi-Young replied.
“Alright.”
“Bye!”
Sunday passed with Kang Chan leaving behind strange excitement and disappointment.
***
On Monday, two female employees joined Kang-Yoo Foundation as requested by the Prime Minister’s office. According to the request, one of them was going to manage the Foundation, while the other was going to work for just three months as a form of commissioned education.
Six of the salespeople at Kang Yoo Motors were agents.
One of them was tasked to guard the office with their life, while those that worked outside stood by within the area. Another agent commuted to and from work with Kang Dae-Kyung with the excuse that they lived nearby, so Kang Chan worried less, to some degree.
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Yoo Hye-Sook seemed surprised that there was more work in the Kang-Yoo Foundation than she expected, but she still looked happy. Although she felt sorry for not being able to take care of Kang Chan properly, she at least seemed satisfied with having something to do.
After positioning the agents, Kang Chan spent the day searching for information about Yang Jin-Woo.
He then had dinner, then sat on the sofa.
“Is work really that difficult?” Kang Chan asked Yoo Hye-Sook. He held onto her shoulders and carefully massaged them.
“Ah! Ah!”
She twisted her shoulders whenever Kang Chan put strength in his hands, but she seemed to like it.
“What should we do? I can’t take care of you while I’m working,” Yoo Hye-Sook asked.
“You’re doing work that helps those who are in more difficult situations than us, so don’t worry. However, don’t strain yourself, okay?”
“Thanks, Channy,” Yoo Hye-Sook said, then turned her arms and stroked Kang Chan’s hand. “Fortunately, the new employees are doing great.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“It’s all thanks to you. Thank you, Channy.”
Kang Chan thought that there could be a cool response in situations like this, but he just ended up smiling.
Kang Dae-Kyung soon returned home. Kang Chan went into his room after they talked for about an hour.
When he sat at his desk, his phone flashed a blue light. He didn’t notice he received a call, perhaps because the vibration was overwhelmed by the sound of the TV.
It was Lanok.
Kang Chan quickly pressed the talk button.
- Mr. Kang Chan, it’s Lanok.
“Mr. Ambassador. I apologize for not being able to answer your call right away.”
- It’s alright. It happens. Can we meet tomorrow for a moment if it’s okay with you?
Lanok probably didn’t want to meet just to see him.
“Understood. Where should I go?”
- The Namsan Hotel would be good.
Is this gentleman thinking of devoting his life to the Namsan Hotel?
Kang Chan couldn’t say anything about the location, though.
- Would 11 am be okay? Let’s have lunch together.
“Yes. I’ll be there.”
Lanok had to have something he wanted to say, but it was difficult to figure out what he was thinking since he was such a sly person.
Then again, why should Kang Chan annoyingly guess, when he was going to find out tomorrow at lunch anyway?
***
Tuesday morning.
Kang Chan sent off Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook, who were going to work together. This was to be expected, as the Kang-Yoo Foundation was right next to Kang-Yoo Motors.
“Channy, what will you have for lunch?” Yoo Hye-Sook asked Kang Chan.
“I’ll be eating with the Ambassador of France this afternoon.”
“Alright. Enjoy lunch.”
Kang Chan joyously stroked her back, finding it great to see her happy.
“Drive safely,” Kang Chan said.
His parents went to work.
Kang Chan found it dumbfounding for a high schooler to have a lunch appointment with the Ambassador of France and for his parents to be surrounded by around twenty National Intelligence Service agents at work.
The people concerned were completely unaware of all of those happening, too.
Kang Chan decided to have a cup of coffee and then change clothes since Joo Chul-Bum would likely somehow find out that he came to the hotel and meet him.
Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—. Buzz— Buzz—Buzz—.
Just as Kang Chan took off his clothes, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
- Channy, we got to export our drama!
Michelle sounded excited.
“That’s good to hear. Where is it being exported to?”
- All over Europe. This is the first time a South Korean drama is being sold to all of Europe! If it does well, we might just earn back our investments before the drama is even finished. Articles are going to be published soon! Eun So-Yeon could become a world-famous star. No—I’m going to make that happen no matter what, Channy!
It was a relief she wasn’t near him right now. Whenever she got this excited, she would get turned on and throw herself at him.
- Aren’t you happy?
“Why won’t I be? You’ve done and gone through so much, Michelle.”
- While I have you on a call, drop by sometime to cheer our employees on. Everyone is down because you couldn’t come to the last company dinner.
“Is everyone at the broadcasting station today?”
- We’ll have everything done by 4 pm since we don’t have an outdoor shoot today. The trainees are staying at the company. They keep practicing even though we’ve told them to go back to their dorm. Since So-Yeon is persistently practicing the script as well, everyone is going to be at the office.
Kang Chan remembered the trainees and how they jumped up and down with happiness.
“I’ll call you and let you know if I can come over after my lunch appointment.”
- I didn’t expect to ever get this far when I started working at this job. Thank you, Channy. Thank you so much.
“Why are you thanking me when you did all the work? I’ll call you later after I see how things go.”
After he hung up the phone, Kang Chan changed into a shirt and a suit.
He was going to get through today safely and without getting into any fights!
Kang Chan was wearing a luxury suit, but it was already difficult to count how many times he had washed it. He hoped to return home with it still wearable at least for today.
***
Kang Chan arrived at the hotel at around 10:20 am.
He couldn’t help but laugh for having actually gotten used to it now.
Kang Chan ordered coffee after sitting down in the lobby, but Joo Chul-Bum got to him faster than they could even serve it.
How can this fucker do this?
“Welcome, hyung-nim.”
“Hey! Greet me normally. Don’t refer to me as hyung-nim.”
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I at least want to serve you as my hyung-nim until the end.”
He’s full of shit.
“Reserve a suite for me,” Kang Chan said.
“Understood, hyung-nim. If you’re going to smoke, then I’ll accompany you to my room—I can tell the employees to bring the coffee there.”
“That’s troublesome.”
“I’ll be back after I’ve taken care of your order.”
Joo Chul-Bum went to the front desk, and an employee brought over coffee.
Drrrr.
The coffee cup noisily shook because the hands of the female employee, whom he hadn’t seen before, were trembling profusely.
Clatter.
The cup almost fell.
“I’m sorry!”
The female employee had leaned downward to place the cup on the table, allowing Kang Chan to read the name tag on her chest.
‘Probationary employee Lee Ji-Yeon.’
Looking startled, the female manager ran toward Kang Chan. “I apologize, Mr. Kang Chan. There was an event yesterday, so we only have two probationary employees this morning. It seems she made a mistake while I was looking elsewhere. I’ll prepare a new coffee.”
The female manager gestured with her eyes to Lee Ji-Yeon. Her reaction was excessive, considering that the employee had only spilled some coffee on the saucer.
“It’s okay—please just leave it. I won’t be able to come here anymore if you keep acting like that since it makes me uncomfortable.”
While Kang Chan was refusing the female manager’s offer with a faint smile, Joo Chul-Bum approached them. “Is something wrong, hyung-nim?”
“I spilled some of the coffee while accepting the cup. Sit down. Do you want coffee?”
“Do you have time?”
“I came here a little earlier to have a cup of tea or coffee with you.”
“Thank you, hyung-nim,” Joo Chul-Bum bowed while looking touched. He then sat down.
“Please give us some coffee,” Kang Chan said.
The female manager went back with Lee Ji-Yeon with a thankful expression.
“I prepared room 1701 for you, hyung-nim.” Joo Chul-Bum politely handed over the card key.
That room was where Kang Chan had cut open Sharlan’s side, but it didn’t really matter.
“How is Gwang-Taek nowadays?” Kang Chan asked.
“He’s sharp, hyung-nim. So much so that even nearby gangster organizations are keeping an eye on him.”
As Joo Chul-Bum lowered his head with a dismal expression, the female manager brought over the coffee herself.
“And how’s Do-Seok?” Kang Chan asked again.
“He still hasn’t regained consciousness, hyung-nim.”
There was nothing that he could say about this.