The sleek, tinted car slid to a stop in front of Yoon E&C' headquarters, the largest building in the district. A monument of glass and steel, it reflected the morning sun with the same sharpness Ha-eun carried in her gaze.
As she stepped out, employees lined the entrance, bowing respectfully. "Good morning, CEO Yoon."
Not illegitimate. Not unwanted. Here, her name carried weight.
She gave them a curt nod, her heels striking the marble floor with steady precision as she entered the building.
Waiting by the elevator was her secretary, Oh Se-mi, clutching a tablet and two coffees. She looked relieved the instant Ha-eun appeared.
"You're late," Se-mi said lightly, passing her a cup. "Let me guess, family breakfast?"
Ha-eun's lips pressed into a thin line as she accepted the drink. "You already know."
"Then I'll save myself the secondhand stress." Se-mi tapped her screen and followed her inside the elevator. "But let me guess again: they brought up a suitor."
Ha-eun said nothing. She didn't have to.
Se-mi sighed dramatically. "Do they think you're running some kind of bridal agency instead of a company? Honestly, if they spent half as much time working as they do matchmaking, we'd have three more subsidiaries by now."
A small breath escaped Ha-eun, half amusement, half exhaustion. "You shouldn't talk like that."
"Someone has to," Se-mi muttered, scrolling quickly through her schedule. Then her tone shifted into professional cadence: "You have a board meeting at nine, followed by a press briefing about the new expansion. Lunch with the city mayor at one. And at seven, you're expected at the charity ball."
Ha-eun's brows tightened slightly. The ball. Her grandfather's request. Her family's stage. Her cage.
"Cancel my lunch," she said, eyes fixed on the elevator doors.
"You can't cancel on the mayor," Se-mi said flatly. "Unless you're planning on making him your suitor."
That earned the secretary a sharp side glance. Se-mi only smiled innocently, shrugging.
The elevator opened to the executive floor, where another wave of respectful bows greeted them. Ha-eun walked through the glass doors of her office, her kingdom. A wide, commanding space with city views stretching endlessly below.
Here, she was respected and looked up to. Not the pitied child. Not the unwanted.
Here, she was power.
But as she set her coffee down and Se-mi began rattling off notes for the board meeting, Ha-eun's thoughts flickered, unbidden, back to her grandfather's words…
"Go for me. You are the only one I trust with this family's name."
And her father's at the table…
"We've arranged for you to meet another potential suitor."
Her chest tightened, a clash of pride and suffocation. She had spent years proving herself. Yet to them, she would always be something to barter.
She straightened, pushing the thoughts down, her voice crisp. "Let's begin."
Armor in place. The day had started.
---------------------
Lee Jun-ho leaned back in his chair, spinning his pen between his fingers as the lecture hall slowly filled with chatter. His battered notebook sat open, its edges dog-eared from months of use. A faint smell of coffee clung to him, the only thing keeping him awake after pulling a late shift at the convenience store.
"Hyung, you won't believe this!"
Geum Se-jeong burst through the door, hair disheveled from running, his grin wide enough to split his face. He dropped into the seat beside Jun-ho, his bag sliding halfway to the floor.
Jun-ho raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "You missed the first class. What's the excuse this time?"
"No excuses! Good news," Se-jeong announced, panting. "I landed us a gig for tonight. Not just any gig, a corporate one. Yoon Engineering and Construction."
Jun-ho's pen froze mid-spin. He looked up at his friend properly this time. "Wait. The Yoon Engineering? The one handling half the city's skyline?"
Se-jeong grinned, nodding. "The very one. Their foundation's hosting a gala tonight. I pulled some strings ,we'll be there working, but still! Free food, fancy suits, and...." he wiggled his brows, "a chance to rub shoulders with the big shots."
Jun-ho gave a small, disbelieving laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. Yoon Engineering had been a distant dream since his first year. To think he'd be stepping into their world, even as a server, felt surreal. But the thought of his night shift nagged at him.
"My shift starts at eleven. You know my manager, he'll kill me if I don't show."
Se-jeong waved a dismissive hand. "Relax. The event starts at five and ends by ten. You'll make it in time. Think about it, hyung, this could be the closest you'll get to Yoon Engineering until graduation. Who knows, you might even meet someone important."
Jun-ho leaned forward, arms resting on the desk, weighing the temptation. The truth was, he wanted to go. No, he needed to. His mother always told him opportunities never came twice.
Before he could answer, loud laughter echoed at the back of the hall. A group of students entered, carrying the kind of confidence that came with money. At the center of it all was Yoon Jae-han, sharp suit jacket draped carelessly over his chair as he sat down, his friends still chuckling at whatever joke he'd cracked.
Se-jeong followed Jun-ho's gaze and leaned in, lowering his voice. "That's him. Yoon Jae-han. The grandson of the Yoon Foundation itself. Rich, spoiled, and apparently untouchable. People say he's next in line to inherit Yoon Engineering. I heard he caused some troubles at his last university and had to transfer. Don't you sometimes wish you had a rich family to clean up your mess."
Jun-ho barely glanced at him again, unimpressed. "Doesn't matter to me. I just need to graduate and work. His world's different from ours."
"Still," Se-jeong grinned knowingly, "wouldn't hurt to dream a little."
Before Jun-ho could reply, a soft voice cut through their conversation.
"Mind if I join you two?"
They turned to see Jung Min-ah, a classmate with a playful smile, sliding into the seat beside Jun-ho. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and greeted them both warmly.
Se-jeong's eyes lit up. "Of course, Min-ah. The more the merrier."
Their trio quickly fell into easy banter, joking about their professor's eternal lateness, about Se-jeong's reckless spending habits, and about Jun-ho's constant yawning in class. For a few moments, the worries of bills, shifts, and ambitions felt lighter.
That is, until the door creaked open and the professor finally entered, silencing the room with a single clearing of his throat.
Jun-ho straightened in his chair, but a thought lingered at the back of his mind: Tonight, Yoon Engineering. Tonight, a glimpse into the world he'd been chasing.