[ 6:40 PM - The Shilla Hotel, Service Entrance ]
The West Wing service entrance was where the kitchen staff took their smoke breaks. It smelled of expensive steak grease and exhaust fumes.
Kang Jin-woo stepped out of his taxi. He had changed in the backseat. Gone was the school blazer. He now wore a simple black vest over a white shirt, with a plain black tie. He looked like a waiter, or a low-level secretary. Invisible.
He leaned against the brick wall, checking his watch.
A black sedan pulled up. The rear door opened, and Lee Ji-eun stepped out.
She looked... lethal.
The midnight blue suit was sharp enough to cut glass. Her hair was pulled back so tight it emphasized the cold, aristocratic lines of her face. She didn't look like a daughter coming to beg; she looked like an assassin arriving for a job.
She walked over to him, her heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete. She looked nervous, but she held her chin high.
"You're late," she whispered, her hand instinctively touching her left ear where the earpiece was hidden.
"I'm right on time," Jin-woo said. He handed her a thin leather folder. "Here. Don't open it until I give the signal."
"What's inside?"
"The bomb," Jin-woo said calmly. "Remember the rules. You are the CEO. I am the furniture. Do not look at me for approval. If you get stuck, I will tap my watch twice. That means 'Stop talking and drink water'."
Ji-eun took a deep breath, clutching the folder. "My father is already upstairs. He texted me. He said Chairman Choi is in a 'mood'."
"Good," Jin-woo said, opening the heavy metal door for her. "Angry men make mistakes. Let's go."
[ 6:55 PM - Private Dining Room 'Rose' ]
The room was oppressive.
The walls were paneled in dark mahogany, the curtains were heavy velvet, and the air conditioner was set too warm. It felt like a coffin lined in gold.
At the head of the table sat Chairman Choi of Myung-il Construction. He was a bull of a man with a red face and a neck that spilled over his collar. He was picking his teeth with a gold toothpick.
Beside him sat Choi Min-seok, the fiancé. He was twenty-five, wearing a suit that cost more than a car, and he was already drunk. His eyes were glassy, and he slouched in his chair like a bored prince.
Opposite them sat Ji-eun's parents.
Chairman Lee looked shrunken, his shoulders hunched. Madame Kim was smiling a frozen, terrified smile, nodding at everything Chairman Choi said.
The heavy oak doors opened.
"Miss Lee Ji-eun has arrived," the maître d' announced.
Ji-eun walked in.
She didn't shuffle. She didn't bow deeply. She walked with the precision of a metronome.
Jin-woo followed three steps behind her, head bowed, holding a spare notebook. He blended perfectly into the background.
The room went silent.
Chairman Choi stopped picking his teeth. He stared at her suit. "What is this? Since when do women wear pants to a formal dinner?"
Madame Kim looked horrified. "Ji-eun! Where is the dress I—"
"Good evening, Chairman," Ji-eun interrupted, her voice cool and amplified by the silence. She pulled out her own chair. Jin-woo stepped forward instantly to push it in, invisible and efficient.
"I came straight from a board meeting," Ji-eun lied smoothly. "I didn't have time to change into costumes."
Min-seok laughed—a wet, ugly sound. "A board meeting? You? What do you decide, which color of thread to buy?"
He reached out and grabbed her hand as it rested on the table. His palm was sweaty.
"You look spicy today, Ji-eun-ah. I like it. Maybe after the wedding, I'll let you wear the pants in the bedroom."
Ji-eun stiffened. Every instinct in her body screamed to pull her hand away.
Don't move, Jin-woo's voice echoed in her ear. It was calm, grounding. Let him touch you. Let him think he owns you. It makes the fall harder.
Ji-eun didn't pull away. She stared at Min-seok with dead eyes. "Can we order? I have a busy schedule tomorrow."
Chairman Choi slammed his hand on the table, making the silverware jump.
"Busy schedule? Your father's company is bleeding cash! You don't have a schedule; you have a countdown!"
He threw a document onto the lazy susan and spun it toward Chairman Lee.
"Sign it, Lee. It's the acquisition agreement. We pay off your 4.2 billion won debt. In exchange, Myung-il Construction takes 51% ownership of Hansung Textiles, and your daughter marries Min-seok next month."
Chairman Lee's hands shook as he picked up the pen. "Chairman Choi... we agreed on 30% ownership..."
"That was yesterday," Choi sneered. "Today, looking at your daughter's attitude, the price has gone up. 51%. Or we walk, and the bank seizes your factory on Monday."
It was an ambush. Total surrender.
Madame Kim grabbed her husband's arm. "Yeobo, just sign it. Please. We can't lose the house."
The room felt suffocating. The air was thick with the smell of expensive food and fear.
Min-seok squeezed Ji-eun's hand tighter, his fingernails digging into her skin. "Better tell daddy to sign, Ji-eun. Or you'll be working in a bar to pay off his debts."
Ji-eun looked at her father—a broken man about to sign away his legacy. She looked at her mother—terrified and submissive.
She felt a tap on her shoulder.
Jin-woo, the silent assistant, poured water into her glass. Tap. Tap.
Two taps.
Stop talking. Drink water.
Ji-eun picked up the glass. She took a slow sip. The cool water washed away the fear.
Now, Jin-woo's voice whispered in her ear. Open the folder.
Ji-eun set the glass down. The sound was sharp against the table.
"Father," she said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it stopped Chairman Lee's pen inches from the paper.
"Don't sign that."
Chairman Choi's face turned purple. "What did you say, you little—"
Ji-eun pulled her hand away from Min-seok's grip as if he were made of slime. She opened the leather folder Jin-woo had given her.
"I said, don't sign it."
She pulled out a single piece of paper. It wasn't a contract. It was a bank draft. A cashier's check.
"We don't need your charity, Chairman Choi," she said, sliding the check across the table. "And I certainly don't need your son."
Chairman Choi looked at the paper. He blinked.
[ Pay to the Order of: Hanbit Bank ][ Amount: 4,200,000,000 KRW ]
The silence in the room wasn't just quiet. It was the silence of a bomb that had just stopped ticking.
"Where..." Chairman Choi choked, his eyes bulging. "Where did you get this?"
Jin-woo, standing in the shadows behind Ji-eun, allowed himself a microscopic smile.
Boom.