Chapter 13: Calculated Moves

Lee Woojin, in high school, was of a timid nature, finding it difficult to even speak a single word to the person he liked.

However, after graduating, he hits a turning point.

He finds his long-lost father, who turns out to be the chairman of a leading conglomerate.

After that, Lee Woojin transforms into Cha Seoljun, a completely different person.

He takes off his thick glasses, revealing a handsome face, suddenly grows 15 cm taller, becoming dashing, and rigorously disciplines himself to overcome his timid personality.

Cha Seoljun, who has achieved tremendous success at an overseas branch with his father’s full support, returns to Korea and encounters his first love at the company.

His first love from high school, the only one who understood and approached the timid him, someone he had never forgotten for 10 years.

Cha Seoljun struggles to win her heart.

All the while hiding the fact that he is the old, timid, and plain Lee Woojin.

“Oppa, you’re playing that kind of role?”

“Yeah. Don’t you think I’ll be good at it?”

Taekyung casually replied to Seokyung, who had asked with a bewildered expression, and took a sip of water.

It seemed that even for Seokyung, who adored him, it was difficult to give a positive answer to his question, as she remained silent.

If even his family was like this, he could already picture the public’s reaction after the article was released.

But a lack of expectations could lead to a bigger impact.

If he could just do well, he could easily turn the public’s reaction around.

Taekyung was, as always, confident.

“Taekyung.”

It was Chairman Han who broke the silence that had fallen over the dining room after Seokyung had quieted down.

He quietly put down his chopsticks and looked at Taekyung.

Taekyung, puzzled by his father’s sudden call, tilted his head slightly.

Everyone else’s eyes were also on Chairman Han, as if they were thinking the same thing.

“How about you try meeting Hanna properly once.”

A wrinkle formed between Taekyung’s brows as an unexpected person was brought up.

It had been so long since he had heard the name that he could barely remember who she was.

After some thought, Taekyung asked with a slight frown.

“Are you talking about Jung Hanna, by any chance?”

“Yes.”

Chairman Han quickly affirmed.

Before Taekyung, who had let out a disbelieving laugh, could say anything, Chairman Han spoke first.

“I’m not asking you to get married, so just try dating her seriously for a while.”

“…”

“Coincidentally, the role you’ve taken on is like that too, so take this opportunity to meet her for a long time so there are no more rumors about your private life. Wouldn’t that be better than meeting this person and that person because of the suppressants?”

“Aah…”

Only then could Taekyung understand his father’s words.

‘So he’s been this worried to even think of something like that.’

A laugh he couldn’t hold back was about to escape, and he had to cover his mouth.

Chairman Han’s disapproving gaze was so intense it felt like it would pierce through him, but Taekyung couldn’t easily wipe the smirk from his face.

Jung Hanna was a high school classmate of Taekyung’s, and a few years ago, their parents had briefly discussed an engagement.

Her father was the CEO of a famous law firm, and her maternal family had deep ties to politics, so Chairman Han had wanted to form a connection with them somehow.

The parents seemed to have gotten along well, but the children had no intention of moving according to their parents’ wishes.

When the engagement was first discussed at the age of twenty-four, Jung Hanna already had a boyfriend.

She had wanted to marry him, but she was dating him in secret, as it was obvious her parents would disapprove.

‘I wonder if she’s still dating that guy. Or if they broke up. If they had gotten married, my father wouldn’t have brought up meeting her.’

Taekyung thought he should contact Hanna for the first time in a while to see how she was doing.

It had been six years since they had last been in touch, so her number might have changed.

“I like the way things are now. I’m not really interested in a serious relationship… What should I do, Father?”

Taekyung, who spoke with a smooth smile, picked up his chopsticks to continue his meal.

The moment he glanced up, his eyes met Taewook’s, who was sitting next to his mother.

Taewook tried to act composed and slowly lowered his gaze, but Taekyung had already noticed.

From the moment his father had mentioned Jung Hanna, Taewook’s nerves had been on edge.

‘Her in-laws’ family isn’t powerless either, so why is he like this?’

Taekyung clicked his tongue inwardly.

He still didn’t know the source of the inferiority complex Taewook felt toward him.

Perhaps when they were young, his father or mother had hurt Taewook’s pride by comparing the brothers, or perhaps Taewook had been hurt by something he had said without thinking, but since he had never had a proper conversation with his brother, there was no way to know.

It was obvious that Taewook disliked him, and he didn’t want to swallow his pride and bow down to him.

But Taekyung remembered Taewook protecting him when he was being scolded by their father as a child.

It might have been an action with the impure motive of being praised by their father for being a good older brother who took care of his younger sibling, but if his brother wanted their father’s approval that badly, he thought it was right for him to step aside.

So Taekyung had willingly played the role of the family’s troublemaker.

“Now that you’ve said that, I feel like being even more rebellious.”

“Taekyung.”

At Taekyung’s words, Chairman Han’s face filled with displeasure.

Taekyung fell silent at his mother’s quiet, warning voice.

One more word, and the atmosphere at the dinner table would be ruined.

Taekyung knew that much.

He gave his mother a bright smile and then drained the remaining water in his cup.

Chairman Han clicked his tongue in disapproval and started eating again.

Knowing that his father had reluctantly given in to him, Taekyung also kept his mouth shut.

However, the subtle discomfort bothered him for longer than he had expected.

Yoonseo, who had gone on a shoot over the weekend, returned home on Sunday night and collapsed without even washing up.

The filming location this time was in Gyeonggi Province, so it wasn’t far, but it had been a grueling schedule, and he was physically exhausted.

He slept for a full 12 hours without waking up once, and when he woke up, he felt refreshed, his fatigue completely gone.

He got up without the help of an alarm, washed up, tidied his slightly messy apartment, and then quickly got ready for work.

He was scheduled to meet Chaewon for a meeting at 2, but he hurried, wanting to get to the office a little earlier.

He planned to quickly submit his expense report and, while he was at it, have lunch with anyone who was in the office.

Yoonseo slung the black backpack he had been using since his assistant director days over his shoulder and left the house.

The weather had been warm over the weekend, but today, the wind was quite biting, piercing through to his bones.

But he couldn’t slow down.

He hunched his shoulders and walked diligently toward UBS.

Standing in front of the crosswalk, which was also the final hurdle, he waited for the signal to change and checked his phone.

Since he didn’t check his phone often during filming, there were a lot of messages piled up.

He was about to delete the spam messages first and checked his message box, only to find the traces of Han Taekyung still lingering there.

[Thank you]

Since he hadn’t replied, their short conversation from that day had stopped there.

Yoonseo’s eyes flickered between the still-unfamiliar number and the two words, and he bit his lip hard.

The memory of Han Taekyung’s voice and face as he asked about Kim Injun made his heart pound with anxiety.

After a moment of hesitation, Yoonseo checked the signal, which still hadn’t changed, and then long-pressed the message and deleted it.

It was because he didn’t want to leave any trace of Han Taekyung on his phone.

It wasn’t that he felt relieved, but his pounding heart seemed to have calmed down a little.

Just as he put his phone in his coat pocket, the pedestrian signal turned green.

He crossed the crosswalk and was about to enter the annex through the quiet street when,

He spotted a familiar face not too far away, buying coffee with someone and walking toward the annex.

Yoonseo froze on the spot.

The familiar face was none other than PD Kim Injun.

Unfortunately, it seemed Kim Injun had also spotted him, and their eyes met.

Kim Injun, who had been talking with his colleague, looked directly at Yoonseo, widened his stride, and quickly closed the distance.

It was already too late to pretend he hadn’t seen him.

Kim Injun was already close.

The only fortunate thing was that Kim Injun was with someone.

He probably wouldn’t be able to harm him or say anything strange, being conscious of the other person.

“…Hello, Seonbaenim.”

He pushed aside his anxiety and greeted him with a smiling face.

Kim Injun, putting on the facade of a kind senior, accepted Yoonseo’s greeting.

However, Yoonseo had to tighten his guard.

It was because Kim Injun was scanning him from head to toe with a creepy gaze.