The Second Parachute (1)
Perhaps it was how comfortable the seat was, but the moment we touched down, sleep crashed over me. To be honest, I had barely slept at all the night before. We had spent the hours endlessly craving each other, devouring each other's bodies — as if some beast-like instinct had finally opened its eyes. My newly muscled frame refused to tire, and her skin was as sweet as honey. The night of greed stretched on until dawn.
Exhausted, Amy delivered her final verdict in a hoarse voice.
"Please, stop!"
It had been a perfect day, start to finish — both of us thoroughly satisfied.
I woke from that sweet sleep an hour before we landed at Incheon Airport. After deplaning, I waited in the airport lounge for Choi Yoonseo to get in touch.
"I'm so sorry. You've been waiting a long time, haven't you?"
"Not at all. The lounge is so nice I lost track of time. Shall we?"
Our second meeting. Just dropping her off at home felt like it would leave things unfinished, so I suggested we grab a drink at a wine bar near her place before calling it a night.
"I'd like that."
Her apartment was in Jamsil. I hadn't drunk much wine in my life, but I knew exactly where to find a wine bar with atmosphere in that neighborhood. There was one that showed up constantly on the credit card statements Fire Fox had run up on my account. Vino Vino. She had gone there at least once a week and dropped over seven hundred dollars a visit, so I had looked it up out of sheer curiosity — what kind of place burned through that kind of money?
It was a wine bar near Jamsil's Iljin Tower, and according to the search results, a famous one that celebrities frequented. I had been planning to check it out anyway — next week I would need somewhere to entertain the architects after their Iljin Tower tour. Going alone had felt awkward. Having company made it better.
Vino Vino was even more luxurious than the photos had suggested. A massive chandelier, atmospheric brick finishes, and a soaring ceiling that made the space feel wide open. The unique interior, where old-world grandeur and modern sophistication coexisted, was very much to my taste.
"This place looks awfully expensive..."
"It's fine. I may not have time, but I do have money."
"Haha. I see."
Yoonseo seemed amused by my bluster; her eyes curved into crescents as she laughed. She must have been exhausted from smiling and serving passengers all flight long, and yet her smile was still perfectly composed — not a single crack in it.
"Doesn't a long-haul flight wear you out?"
"It does. But it's the job. They're paying me, so I have to do it right."
"That's some serious professionalism."
A waiter brought over the wine list. I had heard from my sister that first-class flight attendants received basic wine training, so I invited Yoonseo to choose.
"Pick whatever you'd like. I don't know much about wine."
"Hmm~ Then how about this one? It's made from a Burgundy grape variety — France is famous for it. Smooth on the palate, rich in flavor. They say it's a popular recommendation for people just getting into wine."
The wine she chose was a Chardonnay in the five-hundred-dollar range. Looking at the prices on the list, it sat somewhere in the mid-tier.
"You can go more expensive if you want. It's not like I drink this every day — might as well get something that actually tastes good."
Yoonseo gave a small smile, studied the list more carefully, and picked something pricier.
"Then~ how about this? Château Lafite Rothschild. It's from a winery run by the Rothschild family — you know, the world-famous financiers."
She covered her mouth and added in a whisper,
"Honestly, it's so expensive I've never even tried it."
Château Lafite Rothschild. That was the wine I had drunk with Amy yesterday, wasn't it? Had that bottle really cost eleven hundred dollars? Amy had paid the hotel bill, so I hadn't noticed. Even to my untrained palate it had tasted pretty good, so I agreed without hesitation.
"Let's go with that."
A short while later, the wine and small plates were set on the table. The sommelier poured a taste into my glass. Behind a cherry-like fruit aroma, the bitter tannins came through smooth. Somehow it tasted a little different from yesterday. Yesterday the bouquet had been dizzyingly intense; today it approached more gently. The same wine, and yet the flavor changed depending on who you drank it with. Was it the atmosphere?
Yoonseo took a sip and marveled.
"Wow~ It's really delicious!"
"Glad you like it."
Seeing the person across from me enjoy herself made the time enjoyable for me as well. Maybe it was the "little sister's junior" label, but I didn't feel any romantic spark — more like a neighborhood kid I happened to know. We weren't meeting for work, so there was no pressure. It was comfortable. Nice.
For over two hours we traded easy, everyday conversation, and just as the atmosphere was growing comfortably intimate, an unexpected uninvited guest appeared.
Fire Fox. Han Se-ah.
I had considered the possibility of running into her here. I just hadn't expected it to be today. She came often enough that you could almost believe she commuted here.
Han Se-ah flicked a glance at Choi Yoonseo sitting across from me, then sneered in my direction.
"What's this? A different woman today? Already done with the one from the hotel?"
"I don't believe who I see is any of your concern, Manager."
My blunt tone cracked the smile on Han Se-ah's face. She added, her voice turning cold.
"I'm just worried one of our company's employees might get mistaken for a con artist. Coming to a place like this on a measly Associate's salary? That doesn't add up."
"Funny. Someone used to come here every week on that same measly salary. Didn't even blink, since it wasn't her own money she was spending."
"......"
I decided there was nothing more worth saying and stood up. Picking a fight in a place like this would have been rude to the person I had brought with me.
"Yoonseo, shall we go?"
"Ah... yes."
As I left, Fire Fox shouted after me, her voice thick with fury.
"If that project of yours doesn't pass tomorrow, all of Team 1 is getting fired!"
"If you can fire us, you're welcome to try!"
I already held a trump card that could put that crazy bitch's mania in check — Heo Ji-hye — so there was nothing left to fear. On top of that, I had a solid building that would generate enormous returns the moment it was finished.
Given Han Se-ah's inability to stand losing, the normal follow-up would have been something like, "You think I can't do it if I say I will?!" Instead she just trembled, unable to get another word out.
Has she already figured out that I met with Chairwoman Heo Ji-hye?
That didn't seem possible. I had given Song Jiho the slip, and nobody had been tailing me when I visited the Iljin Foundation. Han Se-ah hadn't been part of Iljin Group long enough to have planted anyone at the foundation.
Something must have changed at the company while I was gone. Whatever it was, I would have to look into it starting tomorrow.
"I'm sorry about that. That woman is my superior at work. She made a pass at me not long ago, I turned her down, and now she has a hysterical fit every time she sees me."
"Ah... that explains it."
Choi Yoonseo nodded as if she understood.
"You must be pretty popular at the office."
"Haha. Not at all."
"Doesn't seem that way."
It was the truth, though. Female colleagues had only recently started approaching me first. Before I married Fire Fox, I had been one of those people with zero presence at the company. I hated standing out, and I embarrassed easily besides. But explaining all that in detail would have made me look like a loser, so I glossed over it.
"I'd say you're the popular one, Yoonseo. Min-kyung told me you're the prettiest at Korean Air."
"Hahaha. Unnie said that? Honestly, Min-kyung unnie was way more popular than me. She's so cool. And tall."
"Haha. Is that right?"
"I relied on her a lot. I was so disappointed when she suddenly left."
"I see."
"But then... she suddenly contacted me saying she wanted to introduce a guy. Haha. You two have really different personalities, though."
"Haha. Do we?"
From there until we reached Choi Yoonseo's apartment, she talked about nothing but Min-kyung. She seemed more interested in my little sister than in me. By the time I parked in front of her building, I must have said "Yeah" and "Is that so?" several dozen times.
Maybe after what she had heard from Fire Fox, she thought I was some pretentious con artist. Asking her to her face whether she just didn't like me would have been mortifying. I decided to pretend I hadn't noticed and send her on her way.
"Thanks to you, Yoonseo, I had a great time today."
"Me too. Get home safely."
Instead of suggesting we meet again, I texted my sister.
When I got home, my sister contacted me. She had messaged Yoonseo to ask, and Yoonseo had said she didn't think she could see me anymore. An Associate at a conglomerate flying expensive first class, casually ordering wine that cost well over seven hundred dollars — she thought the pretension was way too much. She had talked about Min-kyung the whole time because she was afraid I might ask when we could meet again.
"Oppa, sorry. I was worried she might come after you for the money and want to get married, so I only told her you work at a big company."
"You did the right thing. I don't want a woman who comes after me for money either."
I had nothing to feel disappointed about. I hadn't met her with any intention of dating her anyway. It had been for the mission.
She was a smart woman, though. Fall for a man with no real ability who just piled on the pretension, and you would end up suffering the way I had. Still, she could have asked just once. What kind of office worker has the money to fly first class? Then I would have told her the job was a hobby, and that the real money-making business was in the States.
Hmm... would that have made me sound even more like a con artist?
Yeah. Better to leave things here.
"Want me to tell her it was a misunderstanding?"
"If it's meant to be, we'll run into each other again. No need to force it. I'll be too busy with work for a while anyway. Just leave it."
"Got it."
Had I slept too deeply on the plane? I wasn't tired at all. Thinking I might as well get a little work done, I pulled a can of beer from the fridge and sat down at my desk.
Then a text arrived from Amy.
She was going to work on December 24th too? She really didn't let up.
I had said it because the eco-friendly plastic container initiative would be in full swing around then, and I expected to be run off my feet. Year-end holidays would make flights hard to book besides.
I was in the middle of typing, Just send it over by email, when her reply arrived.
Coming all the way to Korea on Christmas Eve?
So she knew how to say she wanted to see me without actually saying it.
A smile crept onto my face before I could stop it.
"Cute."
I arrived at the office to find someone's belongings sitting at the empty desk beside mine. None of the other employees were in yet, so there was no one to ask. I sat down and started checking the materials for today's briefing when someone approached and bowed in greeting.
"Hello, Associate Kang Minhyuk."
"And you are...?"
"Staff Han Ha-jin. I was assigned to New Business Development Team 1 yesterday."
"Oh~ A new hire?"
"Yes!"
Strange. This wasn't the timing for a new employee to join. A man with the surname Han. Among Han Chung-won's grandsons, there was one around exactly that age — Chairwoman Heo Ji-hye's youngest son, just old enough to be starting his working life. Now that I looked, even the sheen of his complexion screamed rich-family young master.
I heard he was studying in Europe. He's already back?
Chairwoman Heo Ji-hye had probably sent him to help our team. Or rather than help — to keep an eye on us? I had asked her to move the entire team over to her company, so she may have told him to evaluate firsthand whether we were worth that much.
Whatever Chairwoman Heo Ji-hye's intentions, right now he looked like a very useful shield. A broad grin spread across my face as I held out my hand.
"Welcome to New Business Development Team 1. Let's do good work together."
"Yes, Associate!"
Han Ha-jin's booming reply was more reassuring than I could have imagined.