Chapter Five – The CEO's Thoughts
ceo Jun-ho was not a man easily distracted.He had built his life, his company, his reputation on control. Control over numbers. Control over markets. Control over himself.
But lately… his control was slipping.
It started with a late interview, a girl crouched on the marble floor, scattering papers like a storm. A nuisance, he had thought at first. Ordinary. Forgettable.
And yet, when she lifted her head — flushed cheeks, wide determined eyes — something about her lodged in his memory.
Now, as he sat in his penthouse office, the city glittering beneath him, Jun-ho found his mind wandering. To her clumsy mistakes. To her boldness in the interview. To the way she had looked tonight at the dinner table, clearly lost among the elite, yet holding her head high anyway.
Most people bowed, scraped, or begged for his approval.Han Seo-jin… argued with him. Challenged him. Looked him straight in the eye as if he were just a man, not the CEO of J&K Group.
And that laugh — unintentional, ridiculous — when she bumped her head into his hand earlier that day. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to laugh like that.
Jun-ho leaned back in his chair, frowning at the memory.This is dangerous.
His phone buzzed. A message from his secretary: Your father wants to confirm your attendance at the shareholder's gala next week. Shall I reply yes?
Jun-ho's lips tightened. The gala. Another circus of false smiles and business alliances. His father would expect him to arrive with a suitable partner — elegant, pedigreed, a statement of power.
But for some reason, the first image that came to his mind wasn't of any chaebol heiress.It was of Han Seo-jin, sitting nervously in that simple black dress, chewing the inside of her cheek as she tried to figure out which fork to use.
He shook his head sharply. Absurd. Completely absurd.
And yet, as he looked out over the city, a faint smile tugged at his lips before he could stop it.