[The Empty Check]
"I'm going to marry her." Yoon-gi answered immediately, without a moment's hesitation. At the same time, a smile spread across Guster's lips.
"The reason?"
"Because I love Merrill. Even though I'm still young, the moment I become an adult, I will propose to Merrill."
"Do you like Merrill that much?"
"She’s the one who took my first kiss, isn't she?"
At Yoon-gi’s slightly playful answer, Guster chuckled and nodded. "That's right, Merrill stole the lips of a ten-year-old boy."
"In the past, I might have had some thoughts of using Merrill. But now, whether you are here or not, Guster, I will marry Merrill. Of course, that is if she accepts my proposal."
"There is no way Merrill would refuse."
"Actually, if you would only give me your permission, I would like to promise our marriage right now."
"Good. I give you my permission. Get engaged to Merrill."
"Are you serious?"
Guster’s smile deepened at the sight of Yoon-gi’s joyful expression. "Of course. I, too, worried about how much I should trust you at first, but watching you all this time, I realized you aren't the type to crumble easily. I can trust Merrill to you."
At Guster’s words, which were filled with conviction, Yoon-gi bowed his head and waist in a rare display of respect. "Thank you. No matter what happens, I will never betray Merrill."
"I will call Merrill here, so get engaged in front of me. Then I will consider you my family and support you fully in this matter."
"I intended to get engaged even if you didn't help me."
Having confirmed each other's sincerity, a sense of family bond finally bloomed between them. It started as give-and-take, then turned into camaraderie, and now, it had become a familial love. It was clear that the level of support Guster would provide to Yoon-gi, now that he felt like family, would be far greater than before.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Yoon-gi let out an exclamation as if he had forgotten something.
"W-what? Is there a problem?"
"I don't have a ring. I need a ring to get engaged, but I don't even know Merrill's finger size, and above all, at my age, I have no dating experience other than with Merrill, so..."
At Yoon-gi’s flustered appearance, Guster gave a sheepish smile and pulled a piece of string from his back pocket. It was a string tied into a small circle.
"That is...?"
"This circle is the thickness of Merrill's left ring finger."
"How do you know that?"
At Yoon-gi’s innocent question, Guster’s sheepish expression deepened.
"I snuck in while Merrill was sleeping and measured it."
"Why? Oh...!"
As Yoon-gi realized the truth, he let out a gasp, and Guster cleared his throat to change the subject. "Go buy the ring quickly! That’s an order!"
"Yes, sir!"
In a situation where they were now even cracking jokes with each other, Yoon-gi began to run toward a nearby department store with a happy smile.
"What’s going on? Why did you call me so urgently? Even Grandfather?"
Merrill began asking questions as soon as she arrived at the suite, but she was smiling at the fact that Yoon-gi had looked for her.
"How did you manage your classes and come here right away? It’s a weekday today."
"Grandfather called me too!"
Guster, who had been joking while looking at Merrill, who was glaring at him, grinned. "Well, this old man will be tactful and step out for a moment."
"Oh, come on, Grandfather..."
Merrill, feeling both happy and shy, tapped her grandfather’s shoulder with her palm and saw him off as he left the suite. A moment later, when they were truly alone, Merrill immediately rushed to Yoon-gi and wrapped both arms around his neck.
"Yoon! I missed you!"
At the closeness of Merrill, who was exuding more maturity with every passing day, Yoon-gi felt his face flush slightly, and his breathing grew a bit ragged.
"Merrill, w-wait a second."
"Uh...? Why...?"
As Yoon-gi pulled her away somewhat forcefully, Merrill wore a disappointed expression. It was because Yoon-gi hadn't acted like this when they met last time.
"No, that’s not it..."
"Are you already tired of me...?"
"N-no! Absolutely not!"
At Yoon-gi’s strong denial, Merrill’s expression became even more puzzled.
"Then why? Does Yoon hate it when I hug you?"
"It’s not that..."
"Then, why on earth..."
If it were any other woman, Yoon-gi would have no reason to be this flustered. He could maintain his composure and lead anyone else. But Merrill, whom he could have led in the past, had become an incredibly precious existence to him, and because this was a more important situation than ever, Yoon-gi couldn't easily regain his composure.
'To hell with it.'
Yoon-gi knelt on one knee in front of Merrill and pulled a ring box from his pocket.
"Merrill!"
The moment she saw the ring box, Merrill stopped moving as if her thoughts had frozen.
"Merrill! With me!"
Yoon-gi opened the ring box vigorously. But the ring inside suddenly popped out and began to roll across the floor.
"Oops!"
Flustered, Yoon-gi scrambled to pick it up, but the ring was so fast that he had to crawl on the floor to finally grab it.
"Found it!"
Yoon-gi looked disheveled, with dust from the hotel carpet clinging to his clothes. Seeing this, Merrill, who had been frozen, burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
At the sight of Merrill holding her sides and laughing, Yoon-gi, who had initially looked embarrassed, soon felt satisfied by her joy and smiled softly, kneeling on one knee before her again.
"Merrill."
This time, Merrill didn't stop moving. She simply stopped laughing out loud and looked at Yoon-gi with tears welling up in her eyes.
"The day I become an adult, will you marry me?"
No other expression was needed. Just the ring held out with a serious gaze. Merrill held out her left hand toward Yoon-gi’s ring with teary eyes.
"It’s the best gift of my life."
Yoon-gi slipped the ring onto Merrill’s left ring finger, and he held out his own ring to her as well. A moment later, they both wore rings set with rubies on their left ring fingers.
"Actually, I thought about getting a diamond ring, but when I looked up the meaning of rubies, I liked this better. Is that okay...?"
To Yoon-gi’s cautious question as they sat on the bed, Merrill smiled and nodded.
"It doesn't matter at all. We’re people who could buy pockets full of diamonds if we wanted to, right? I would have been happy even if you gave me a candy ring."
Merrill’s words were largely true. Diamonds themselves were quite a familiar gemstone to her.
"The meaning of the ruby is 'a ray of strength that illuminates the difficult times of life.' There are other meanings like burning love or wisdom, but the one I like is the former."
"That meaning... I like it too."
If she hadn't met Yoon-gi, Merrill wouldn't have worked hard at modeling, and that would have made it difficult for her to overcome her social phobia. The incident at Hermès. That event had turned her into a passionate model, and as a result, her social phobia was now largely overcome. In addition, Yoon-gi also considered Merrill the light of his life. In his previous 43 years of life, which had no connection to women, and in his current life born into a rich family, there was only one woman who supported him blindly. Only Merrill. He had experienced many female students showing interest, but no one had helped him as sincerely as Merrill.
"I will live my whole life thinking of you as my light. And I will become your light and your strength."
Yoon-gi held Merrill’s hand, and Merrill placed her hand over his. And then, their lips met. A moment later, Yoon-gi and Merrill pulled away with flushed faces, and once the heat subsided, they laughed and stood up together.
"Then, shall we go get Grandfather?"
"Shall we?"
The two stood up and headed toward the hotel lobby where they thought Guster would be. Guster, who was drinking coffee and reading a newspaper there, lowered it when he saw Yoon-gi and Merrill, and wore a puzzled expression.
"Wait, why, already...?"
At Guster’s flustered appearance, both Yoon-gi and Merrill looked confused.
"Did something go wrong?"
"Grandfather, why?"
At their response, which showed they had no idea, Guster clicked his tongue.
"No, I was hoping you would make it a 'done deal' today."
For a moment, the two didn't understand what 'done deal' meant, but as they thought about it, they realized the implication and their faces turned bright red.
"Grandfather!"
"No, well, isn't that possible? I don't know when I’ll die now, so if I could get a grandchild out of this opportunity..."
This time, Yoon-gi stepped in. "I’m still a minor. In some US states, Merrill would go to prison just for me having relations with her!"
"Ah, the state Merrill lives in is legal up to age 13."
Although the legal age for marriage in the US would be adjusted from 16 to 18 by the 2010s, it was possible to marry at 13 during this period, so Guster’s behavior wasn't 'greatly' strange in the context of the era. Of course, it was flustering for the parties involved. But suddenly, Yoon-gi’s behavior became a bit strange. He crossed his arms, propped his chin with one hand, and began to think seriously.
"Yoon?"
At Merrill’s words, Yoon-gi answered with a serious expression. "Now that I think about it, it sounds like a pretty good idea, what do you think? While we're at it..."
"Yoon!"
As Merrill pounded her fists against Yoon-gi’s back and shoulders, Yoon-gi feigned a scream. "Argh! Aaaargh!"
Because he was screaming while laughing, Merrill hit him even harder, but a smile was spreading across her face as well. And a moment later, when Merrill calmed down, Yoon-gi smiled at Guster.
"You have to live a long time. I’ll make sure you get to enjoy the benefits you used to get when you were on active duty."
"Just thinking about it makes me feel good. It would be even better if our whole family could enjoy that."
"You will enjoy benefits beyond your imagination. By the way, shall we go back to the suite?"
"Let's."
Since it was late, the lobby, which had been quiet from the start, exuded a deserted atmosphere once the three disappeared. Except for one desk clerk who was dozing off.
It was finally time for Ryu Geun-tae to move. He could have followed to Japan from the beginning, but because Ryu Geun-tae’s schedule was so tight, he had processed as much work related to YK Department Store as possible during the waiting time, and thanks to that, he was able to make time to go to Japan now.
His destination was Park Ki-soo, the eldest son of Seth. Ryu Geun-tae had called Seth Holdings before departing to make an appointment, and perhaps thanks to his status as the president of YK Department Store, he succeeded in securing a meeting. From the other side’s perspective, they couldn't help but be interested since the owner of the department store that was currently taking Korea by storm was coming to visit.
"Welcome. I am Jung Dong-yoon, the executive director of Seth Holdings."
His face looked like he was in his early 50s, but he was a man with quite thick hair. His skin had a brownish tint, but judging by his fluent Korean, he was definitely Korean.
"Thank you for coming all the way to pick me up."
"Not at all. It is only my duty."
The executive director had come to the airport with a placard to pick him up. This alone was enough to show how desperate Park Ki-soo was.
"Then, shall we go?"
A limousine was waiting at the airport. Ryu Geun-tae headed to Seth Holdings with two bodyguards he had brought from Korea.
"Welcome."
Watching him try to hide his urgency, which was inevitably showing, Ryu Geun-tae was able to confirm the information he possessed.
'Just as the Chairman said, Park Ki-soo is indeed desperate right now.'
While Ryu Geun-tae was organizing his thoughts, Park Ki-soo first brought up the topic of the weather, and starting with that, the two began to share everything from light daily conversation to recent topics like the Korean economy. A kind of probe was unfolding, where they never asked or spoke about why he had come. And when the atmosphere had matured, Ryu Geun-tae drew his sword first.
"By the way, Seth’s position in Korea these days is truly remarkable."