“Next Studio?”
Ha-neul accepted the tablet.
[From: Next Studio Marketing Team To: Blooming Entertainment Subject: Request for Meeting Regarding New Game Advertising Model]
“I was going to tell you over the phone, but I thought it’d be better to talk face-to-face. This is huge! Do you know what Next Studio is? They’re the best in the game industry these days!”
She could hear Ji-yeon’s voice, but Ha-neul’s entire attention had been seized by one thing written in the email.
‘Next Studio. CEO Kang Ho-su.’
The name wasn’t unfamiliar to Ha-neul. No, it wasn’t merely not unfamiliar.
The moment she saw the name, her heart began to pound.
Ten years ago, he had been her senior in college. And he had been her first and last man.
“Could it be…” “Hmm? Why?” “No, it’s nothing. So when is the meeting?” “Tomorrow at four in the afternoon. It’s a little short notice, but that’s okay, right?” “Huh? Oh. Okay.”
Ha-neul was flustered, but on the surface, she had no reason to refuse. Next Studio was offering terms more than good enough for her at this point in her career.
“But what’s with your face?” “My face?”
Ji-yeon stepped closer to Ha-neul and whispered so no one else could hear.
“Did you drink too much at the club last night? Are you okay?” “Yes. I’m fine. I guess I just didn’t sleep well.”
Ji-yeon felt guilty that she had sent Ha-neul alone while she stayed home because of her son. She asked in a worried voice,
“The brand people didn’t get fresh with you or anything, did they?” “No, it wasn’t like that. But, sis, I have something to tell you.” “Yeah?” “Do you want to have a drink with me?”
“What’s going on?”
Ji-yeon came into a small bar in her neighborhood with Ha-neul and took a seat. Unlike when she had first debuted, more and more people recognized Ha-neul now, making it difficult for them to have a casual drink together.
Fortunately, the bar was tucked deep inside a neighborhood alley, and there were hardly any customers besides the regulars. Ji-yeon felt bad for the owner, but there was nowhere more comfortable for her and Ha-neul to have a drink.
“Sis.” “Yeah. Is something wrong? I heard you left the club event early last night, too.” “It’s just…”
Ha-neul lifted a shot glass of soju and tossed it back. Ji-yeon frowned and tilted her head at the sight.
It was obvious Ha-neul had something to say. What could it be that made her hesitate so much before speaking?
Just as Ji-yeon’s worry was deepening, Ha-neul finally opened her mouth.
“…I slept with a man last night.” “What? You got a boyfriend? When did you meet him? Who is he?”
‘That’s all it is?’
As Ji-yeon tried to brush it off as nothing serious, Ha-neul said,
“No, it’s not that.” “Then?” “A man I didn’t know.” “What?!”
‘Oh, this is driving me crazy. Seriously.’
After Ha-neul’s bombshell, Ji-yeon downed a shot of her own. Normally, the bitter taste would have made her grimace, but the words she had just heard were so much more shocking than the taste of the soju that she barely registered the bitterness.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” “No.” “Then that’s a relief.”
In a rough world like this one, something could have happened to her. Getting hurt wasn’t even the worst of it. She could have ended up in life-threatening danger.
“Do you remember what he looked like? Where did you meet him?” “I don’t remember. I think I saw him at the club.” “What about his face?”
Ha-neul shook her head.
Then Ji-yeon considered another possibility.
“Did you get any personal messages or anything? Was he someone you knew?” “What about the company? I didn’t get anything separately.”
As far as Ji-yeon knew, the company hadn’t received any contact related to Ha-neul.
“Let’s wait a few more days. And if he contacts you, we’ll report him to the police.” “…It might not be that kind of situation.” “What do you mean?” “I mean, he might not be trying to threaten me or anything.” “You know something, don’t you?”
Ha-neul told Ji-yeon what she remembered from that night, including the fact that she had grabbed the man who took her to the hotel room and remembered his voice, but couldn’t remember his face at all.
“You’re insane. Absolutely insane!”
Smack. Smack.
Ji-yeon slapped Ha-neul on the back several times.
“Sis, that hurts.” “You seriously weren’t in your right mind. You could’ve gotten into real trouble. Do you understand?” “I know.” “You’ve never done anything like this before.” “I know.” “Was he someone from our side of the industry?” “I don’t know.” “What about an ex? Wasn’t there some guy you dated before you started working?”
During the four years she had attended college, Ha-neul had worked part-time without ever taking a break because she didn’t want to ask Dad for money. She hadn’t had time to date a man in the first place.
“It already happened, so worrying won’t change anything, right? Let’s just wait for now.” “Okay.” “And you. No drinking for the time being. Oh, this is seriously making me crazy.” “I can’t even drink now?”
Ha-neul looked at Ji-yeon with her large, round eyes.
‘Oh, that look. Seriously.’
Even Ji-yeon, a woman, was shaken by it. What man could possibly resist?
“…Just for today. Got it?” “Yes. I’ll finish this and go home to rest.” “Today, I’m taking you all the way home.” “Thank you. Really.”
Just then, the owner approached their table and set down a plate.
“Here’s the extra chicken feet.” “Thank you.” “Yoonseul, you get prettier every time I see you. What’s your secret? I want to learn, too.”
The owner joked around as he looked at Ha-neul. Ji-yeon lightly tapped his arm and said,
“You and I are both out of luck. We’re moms, remember?” “That’s true, too. Don’t get married, Yoonseul. Just stay beautiful like this.”
The owner patted Ha-neul’s shoulder once before heading back into the kitchen.
“Ha-neul.” “Yes, sis.” “Don’t think about anything else. Let’s just focus on doing well at tomorrow’s meeting.” “Yes. I understand.”
The two of them raised their glasses.
The following afternoon, Ha-neul and Ji-yeon arrived in the lobby of Next Studio’s headquarters at the appointed time.
“Wow, this place is huge.”
Ji-yeon looked around in amazement, but Ha-neul was biting her lip with a tense expression.
“Why are you so nervous? Are you okay?” “Of course. I’m fine.”
Ha-neul gave Ji-yeon a small smile. But despite her claim that she was fine, her heart was pounding like crazy.
A staff member guided them into an elevator and took them up to the twelfth floor. After they passed through the hallway and arrived in front of a conference room, a secretary opened the door for them.
“Hello. Ms. Yoonseul, Manager Kim Ji-yeon. We’ve been waiting for you.”
After returning the secretary’s greeting, Ha-neul took a deep breath and entered the conference room.
“Hello.” “Hello. Thank you for coming all this way.”
Ji-yeon greeted them first as soon as they entered. Several Next Studio employees were seated inside.
Ha-neul gave the employees a slight bow as she made her way to her seat, then sat down beside Ji-yeon.
A moment later, the conference room door opened again.
Click. Click. Click.
The sound of dress shoes drew closer and closer.
Long legs clad in black slacks strode toward where Ha-neul was sitting.
“Ha-neul, I think the CEO is here.” “Yes.”
Ha-neul lifted her head and looked at the man. At that moment, it felt as if everything, herself included, had come to a stop.
“Hello. I’m Kang Ho-su, CEO of Next Studio.”
He was tall enough that Ha-neul, who was just over 160 centimeters, had to lift her head to look up at him, and he had a solid build. His jawline was sharp enough to cut, his eyes long and sleek, and his calm, alluring voice had a rich, low timbre.
He was exactly the same as he had been ten years ago. More precisely, he looked more mature and stronger than he had back then.
‘It really was my senior.’
At the sight of Ho-su looking at her, Ha-neul’s heart felt as though it might stop.
He was the one who had paid special attention to her at the freshman welcome party. He was the one she had first made love with on the night of the end-of-semester party.
And he was the man who had made her spend night after night in tears.
“Ah… yes. Hello.”
Ha-neul’s voice trembled. Ho-su gave her a friendly smile and sat in the seat at the very center.
Until everyone in the conference room had taken their seats, Ha-neul remained standing as if her body had frozen in place.
Ji-yeon shot her a sidelong glance.
“What’s wrong? Sit down.”
Even when she finally sat, Ha-neul couldn’t come to her senses.
“Ms. Yoonseul, you’re much prettier in person.”
Ho-su’s voice rang out through the conference room.
In that moment, the pieces of the puzzle in Ha-neul’s mind began to fall into place.
That voice…
“Are you okay?” In the club hallway.
“I’ll stay with you.” At the bus stop.
And in the hotel room. “Ten years. It took me ten years. Don’t run away this time.”
Ha-neul stared at Ho-su in shock.
Ho-su was looking back at her with an equally certain gaze.
‘That night… It was my senior?’
“Haha, thank you for the compliment. I hear that pretty often.”
After seeing Ha-neul’s face turn pale, Ji-yeon answered in her place.
“Shall we begin the meeting?”
Ho-su opened the documents.
Ha-neul felt as if her chest were about to burst.
The man who had been her first love ten years ago and the man she had spent the night with a few days ago were the same person.
‘This is really… bad…’
But even worse was the slight lift at the corner of Ho-su’s mouth. It was a smile that seemed to say he knew everything.
“I’ll explain the contract for the advertising model.”
Ho-su’s calm voice echoed through the conference room. But Ha-neul heard something else.
‘Don’t run away this time.’
Ha-neul lowered her head and clenched her fists.
Across the table, Ho-su turned a page of the contract without looking at it. His gaze never left her. It traveled, slow and unhurried, from her trembling fingers to the pulse beating at the base of her throat—exactly where, a few nights ago, his mouth had left a mark she had hidden this morning under a silk scarf and two layers of concealer.
Ha-neul felt the heat climb from her collarbone to her ears. She tugged the scarf higher. The corner of Ho-su’s mouth moved, barely, as if he knew precisely what was under it.
The room smelled of coffee and new paper, and beneath that, faint as a memory, something green and fresh. Grass after rain. The same scent that had been on the pillow in that hotel room.
Her body remembered before her mind gave it permission to. Her knees pressed together under the table. Her breath went shallow.
‘Stop looking at me like that,’ she wanted to say. ‘Like you already know what I sound like when I can’t breathe.’
But he did know. That was the problem.
Ten years ago and a few days ago, Ha-neul had been the one to want Ho-su first, and she had been the one to run away first.
But this time, a premonition flashed through her mind that she would never be able to run away.