Young-jae slept very late the previous night and when he woke up he was already late for work and he hurried to get ready. While getting ready he got a call from Mi-soo and he picked it up as he rushed to brush his teeth while on the call.
'Are you still at home?' Mi-soo asked puzzled
'Yes' Young-jae replied, wrapping up and going to dress up.
'I thought you would be in the office by now and I called to apologize for sleeping on you last night.' Mi-soo said laughing, ' I guess I am not the only one who over slept.
'Are you also just waking up now?' Young-jae asked her while he dressed up
'Not really, Young-han came back late last night and we had breakfast together this morning, he just stepped out now.
The thought of her spending time and eating breakfast with his brother left a sour taste in his mouth and for a while he did not say anything.
'Are you there?' Mi-soo called out to him when he did not say anything
'Yes, I am' he replied
'What were you thinking about?' she asked him
'Nothing'
'Come on tell me' she pressured him.
'I just don't' he started then stopped himself
'You just don't what?, please just say it, I really want to hear it' she said smiling and rolling her hair like a high school girl.
'It's nothing serious just that I don't like you spending time with him, it upsets me' he felt embarrassed as soon as the words left his mouth and he covered his face in shame.
'Are you jealous' she said laughing profusely. 'Nooo' he replied, 'just that I don't like it. 'You're really jealous' she said 'just admit it.
'Okay, fine, I am, are you happy?'
'Yes, very'
'Well good for you but I have a meeting that will be coming up soon in the office and I need to go. Do you want to meet up for lunch later?'
'Yes', she replied enthusiastically as though they did not spend the previous day together.
'Okay, then pick a place and send me the address'
'Okay, I will. Now hurry up before you go late. Bye.
'Bye' he said and ended the call rushing to his car.
.................
He got to the company just in time for the meeting and snuck into his office to meet an apprehensive secretary. 'What is going on?' he asked her. 'Your father is in your office, why are you so late?' she whispered. 'How long has he been there?' he said reducing his voice to almost a whisper.
'He has been there for almost three hours, this is the second coffee I'm bringing to him' she said pointing to the coffee in her hands
'Then you should have called me'
'He said I shouldn't, and you did not return my previous calls so...
Young-jae sighed and followed his secretary into his office. 'Good morning father' he said bowing in respect to his father.
'What is good about the morning? Did I make you a C.E.O so that you can lazy about? I made you a C.E.O so that I can rest comfortable in my old age but how can I when you come to work by this time?'
'Chairman, he is not usually late, this is a first' his secretary said trying to defend him but his father just glared at her and she retreated into her shell whispering sorry into Young-jae's ear as she snuck out. She paused by the door and turned, 'Should I bring another coffee for you Sir?' she asked Young-jae and he nodded in affirmation and then she hurried out.
'Take a sit' Young-jae's father said to him pointing to the sofa opposite him and Young-jae hurried to sit down. His father sipped his coffee and dropped it down then stared hard into Young-jae's face. After a moment of silence he asked 'who is she?'
'Who is who? Young-jae asked fanning ignorance.
'The young lady with you at the beach you rascal, acting like you don't know what I am talking about.
'Oh that, how are you sure it was me in the picture? It could actually be someone who looked like me, more so it could even be edited. Father you can do a lot with technology these days.
'You know that was you so stop bearing around the bush.' His father said ' we are still recovering from the blow your divorce dealt on the company, so I'm here to warn you to refrain from scandal and if you must do anything you have to be very careful.'
Young-jae did not say anything but just nodded his head as though he was pondering on what his father said then he just stood 'I have a meeting I need to attend to right now and if I don't go then the company will really be in trouble.' and saying this he bowed to his father and started heading out.
'You rascal' his father called out to him and he stopped in his steps. 'Is she at least from a good family?' his father asked him. 'Yes, he said smiling and walked out of his office meeting his secretary at the door bringing him his coffee. He took it from her and thanked her telling her his father would soon be leaving. And then he headed out to his meeting.
....................
Mi-soo spent the rest of her morning searching for restaurants that were hidden and private for lunch with Young-jae. She did not have much to do in the office that morning as they hardly assigned her any task because she was the daughter in-law of the chairman so she just lounges around but she still liked it as it gave her an opportunity to be in a different environment and most importantly she gets to see or run into Young-jae from time to time and that was usually the highlight of her day. She had seen him hurrying off to a meeting and he must have really been in a hurry as he did not notice her.
She was still searching for restaurants on her laptop when one of her colleagues popped her head on her table looking into her laptop and then she looked back at Mi-soo. The name of the colleague was Chan Ye-ri. Ye-ri had the typical beauty and body that could pass for and idol or actress. 'Are you having lunch with your husband? is that why you are searching for nice restaurants?' Ye-ri asked her but she did not wait for her to answer as she pulled up at sit and sat next to Mi-soo.
'Unni, can I ask you something?' Ye-ri said.
'Sure, go ahead, Mi-soo responded and then under her breath she said 'You'll still ask anyway but she just smiled at Ye-ri.
'Is the C.E.O Kim Young-jae really dating anyone?
'What?' Mi-soo asked
'It's all over the news that he has a mystery woman, you're his sister in-law, do you know anything about him seeing anyone?'
'I am honestly not that close to him so I wouldn't know because he had not made any announcement to the family' Mi-soo said
'Really, he hasn't said anything to the family?' Ye-ri said in excitement. 'Then that means I have a chance.'
'What chance?' Mi-soo asked her
'I've had a crush on the C.E.O ever since and when the news of his divorce being finalized was made public I was really excited because I felt my time had come.'
'Your time?' Mi-soo asked faking a smile
'Yes, my time' Ye-ri continued unable to take a hint. 'But when the news of his mystery woman came out I was really sad that I could not eat anything but thanks to you I now feel better, she might just be a friend or someone he is using to pass time for now.' Ye-ri said and Mi-soo looked annoyed but Ye-ri did not noticed and just thanked her and went back to her table smiling leaving Mi-soo burning with rage.
Mi-soo finally located the restaurant that she thought was perfect and sent the address to Young- jae but she did not get any response from him and she felt he was probably busy. unlike her that was just a staff in name only, he was the C.E.O. of the company.
Soon it was lunch time and she picked up her bag and announced to her colleagues that she was going to lunch. They all just acknowledged her quietly but only Ye-ri smiled and waved at her enthusiastically. 'She's having a lunch date with her husband' Ye-ri whispered to the colleague next to her and that one just nodded.
...........................
She got into her car and headed for the restaurant, she wanted to leave early so they can both arrive at really different time so as not to spark any rumors. As she left the parking lot, another car followed her but she was unaware and the car followed her until she got to the restaurant and it drove away.
............................
Young-jae got into his car to leave for lunch then he opened his phone and saw the message from Mi-soo and he smiled when he saw what restaurant it was. 'How did she find this place?' he said laughing and as he was about to reply the message a call came in and he answered the call saying he was on his way and then he drove away forgetting to reply the message.
........................
Mi-soo sat down in the restaurant sipping a drink, it was a modern traditional styled restaurants that guest had separate rooms to themselves and it was sound proof and could only be opened from the inside and from the outside by the workers with a special key. She checked her phone again and saw that he had read the message but still no reply. She was feeling a bit down when she heard a knock at the door and her face just lit up. 'Come in' she said opening the door as she prepared to welcome him, her face beaming in smiles as she expected to see Young-jae but instead it was her husband Young-han and the instant switch in her expression was so obvious not to miss. It was as though the earth should open and swallow her as he stood there smiling at her and fear dripped down her spine.