CH 34

Sangsu let out a loud chuckle. “Well, that just means you have a lot of people who care about you. It’s a good thing, it means you have lived your life well.”

His words reminded her of Muyeol, the one person who cared enough to support her when things got rough. The only reason Sangsu was in her life was because of Muyeol, so every time she met Sangsu, she could not help but think of him. Without his help, she would not have an uncle like Sangsu, who helped her when her father passed away. Her uncle, her father, and Muyeol… they were all somehow connected to each other, and each person reminded her of the others.

‘Does that mean Muyeol cared about me? But why? He wasn’t related to me like my dad, and he wasn’t an adult who took pity on a child like Sangsu. Why would he care about me?’ From time to time, Yiyoung would be overcome with sudden curiosity and the urge to ask Muyeol why he had helped her. Since he was the president of the hospital she worked at, she could still ask him if she really wanted to…

Yiyoung was pulled out of her daze when Sangsu quietly asked, “Do you want to shop for an outfit?”

“What’s wrong with you?” Yiyoung asked while laughing, “That’s so old-school!”

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to wear a medical gown to the date?”

“I’ll take care of it!”

Honghee’s voice was heard from behind, “Oh my, Sangsu, you really can’t stop, huh? If you keep at it, she’ll get sick of you. Why don’t you leave her alone and come here.”

His wife’s coaxing finally brought peace to the house. 

* * * 

Muyeol stared down at the paper for a long time. His behavior was completely off today. He seemed to have forgotten that he was in a meeting and sitting across several people eyeing him. He idly dragged his pen across the paper.

Freaked out by his odd behavior, the attendees looked at each other in confusion. 

‘What’s going on?’

‘What did we miss?’

‘Did we make a mistake here?’

Such thoughts plagued everyone in the room. The business project leader stopped presenting, but Muyeol continued to scribble on his paper without a care. He carelessly scritched a line and turned it into a face, then he drew a lion’s mane around it. And all the while, the room remained awkwardly silent.

“Is there a reason why we stopped?” Muyeol asked. 

The project leader stuttered, “If there’s something wrong with the presentation, I’ll correct it.”

Muyeol did not even bother to look up. “I haven’t even heard the whole thing yet, how will I tell you if there’s something wrong with the presentation? I might tell you once I hear everything.”

“I’m sorry. Then, we’ll continue.” The project leader carried on with his presentation on a business plan to build a new airport in a city in Europe. The city was becoming popular, so this was the perfect time to invest in developing it. “So about the request we made for the direct flights and duty free shops…”

For the past five years, Muyeol had focused on a city in Istanbul, and had decided to invest in building his business. Time was of essence to succeed in this business, and Muyeol had already made the initial investment. Now all he had to do was wait.

The return on this investment was going to be huge, but Muyeol still needed to be careful. Until things were finalized, there was always a chance for it to fall apart. He couldn’t relax until the airport’s construction was complete for the S airlines to expand.

To ensure that everything was carried out perfectly, people from different departments joined hands. Plans had to be revised, important deadlines had to be set, and each department had to commit their all until everything was finalized. This meeting was one of the ways the departments coordinated with each other and discussed crucial matters.

“Hold on.” Muyeol put a pause to the presentation with just one word.

“Yes, Director Cha,” the project leader said.

“It seems like the travel package development team hasn’t agreed to your plan yet, correct?”

“As of now, we still have time. So—”

“Don’t you think it’s early to think that?” Muyeol added more lines to the mane as he spoke to the project leader with an indifferent tone.

Beads of sweat rolled down the poor project leader’s face.

“Are you concerned that our plan won’t be successful? Because it seems like you’re building your idea based on that,” Muyeol continued, “If you’re even 1% doubtful of the plan, then you shouldn’t be a part of this. We’ll find a replacement for you.” 

The man started sweating bullets. “No, that’s not…”

“What is it then? What made you think we have time for a revision?” Muyeol did not raise his voice, yet everyone at the meeting could feel the heat of his words.

Cha Muyeol never raised his voice, but that did not mean he was an amiable person. He did not speak in a roundabout way only to let people figure out the meaning. Instead, so that people won’t be confused, he kept his words direct and unfiltered. And although he was willing to forgive first mistakes, he did not believe in the concept of second chances.

He imposed this strict rule on himself, too. Any slip-ups meant getting his sword knocked out of his hand in his fight against Mr. Cha. He simply could not afford to allow himself to make a mistake.

Muyeol continued to fill in the lion’s mane. “We won’t have the chance to come up with a new idea once the direct flights are established. We need to fulfil their requests before they even make them. Do you understand?”

“I’m sorry,” the project leader muttered.

“You have the ability to make it work, so I don’t want to see you acting like a coward anymore.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”

Muyeol stopped talking, and a deadly silence filled the air. The person who was the most terrified, and justifiably so, was the project leader, Mr. Kang; his face had lost all color.