.  The question she was looking for came out at last. Flaunting a refreshing grin, Kwon Hye Young leaned her arm on the sofa and continued in a relaxed manner.

  “First, the young lady seems to have no feelings involved. How can that happen to this handsome client of mine?”


  As she giggled with the remark, Eun Jiho responded with a fierce smile.

  “No, she isn’t. It’s not enough to describe her feelings for me. I’d say she often goes blank looking at me.”


  “Well, that’s because your appearance is such a natural disaster…”


  “There will be no one else but you who can describe me as a natural disaster rather than something like a God-gifted look.”


  Eun Jiho replied, revealing how dumbfounded he was. The malicious look he had on his face was now all gone. Kwon Hye Young kept on her words with a giggle.

  “And secondly, what I found out just now is that Jiho, you have a lot of feelings for Donnie. May I put it like that?”


  “…”


  “And that has been around for a long time.”


  “Ah….”


  Kwon Hye Young stole a look at his face. As if her assumption struck him in an unexpected moment, Eun Jiho’s face turned pale and stiff. When a low moan slipped out of his slightly opened mouth, he soon covered his face with his hands.

  Now it looked as though he could hardly hide his feelings on him. Kwon Hye Young watched Eun Jiho dropping his jaw, closing his mouth, covering his face with both hands, sweeping his hair back, then disheveling it again. What he just showed one after another seldom happened that she fastened her gaze at Eun Jiho with a look of satisfaction.

  ‘When will I get to tease this young gentleman?’ she thought, ‘After a few years from now, this boy won’t lay himself open to even this trivial attack, so I’ll never dream of it unless it’s now.’


  Eun Jiho then asked her, who rambled those thoughts in mind, finally with a look of abandonment.

  “Was it that obvious?”


  “Yes,” she replied, showing a face full of rich smile.

  “I mean, how? Where? Argh…”


  He then covered his face again, groaning in a low voice and began to murmur to himself.

  “The party… Yoo Gun will also be there… As for me, if he catches the truth, I’m dead…”


  Yoo Gun? Considering how familiar the name sounded to her, Kwon Hye Young soon emitted a whoop as she came up with the latest rumor about the first heir of Balhae Group.

  ‘That reminds me of the news that the group’s first and second heirs, who were abroad for a long time, have recently returned to Korea,’ she thought.

  The 15th-anniversary party of Hanwool Group would be their first event after coming back home.

  Anyway, Eun Jiho and Yoo Gun knew each other?

  She scanned Eun Jiho with a renewed gaze out of surprise. Then, all of sudden, she concluded that it would be more difficult for them to be unaware of each other when thinking about the scale of both conglomerate families. Still, it was striking her dumb that Eun Jiho spat out Yoo Gun’s name without an honorific title. The two had a considerable age gap; Yoo Gun was way older than Eun Jiho. Thus, they would be either very close or be at odds.

  That was when she heard Eun Jiho’s question suddenly cutting through her thoughts.

  “Where did you find it so obvious?”


  “Pardon?”


  “So, I can fix it as soon as possible. Which was so apparent? My gesture? The look in my eyes?”


  Uttering those words, Eun Jiho browsed himself reflected on the mirror far in the distance.

  He then mumbled, “It doesn’t seem that different than usual… I get distracted like today when I’m with other kids, which may look indistinguishable.”


  “…”


  “Oh, what is it?! How can you…”


  “Excuse me, Jiho.”


  After calling his name, she remained silent. Eun Jiho turned his head to her and asked, ‘Please, I need to know. Where did you find it so obvious?’ His questions echoed around her ears; however, she couldn’t respond. Forgetting about herself inferring the connection between Yoo Gun and Eun Jiho until just now, she was lost in thought.

  ‘Does he think he can fix those things?’ she murmured to herself.

  “Noona? Ms. Hye Young?”


  “Oh, yes.”


  “Please, I need your answer. This is… um… something important to me.”


  He then rubbed his neck with a look of his blood running cold. Kwon Hye Young clearly saw Eun Jiho enunciating the name ‘Yoo Gun’ by reading his lips, which convinced her that they had an ill-fated relationship. Blinking her eyes at a slow pace, she then switched her gaze to the yet quiet fitting room.

  The advice she would give was not for Eun Jiho but for Ham Donnie, the young lady over there, who didn’t seem to be that relevant to this kind of world. She detached her lips with caution.

  “Jiho.”


  “Yes.”


  “It won’t be something you can fix.”


  “…?”


  “However, I can give you a piece of my advice if you don’t mind.”


  Getting a look of wonder from Eun Jiho, she carefully spread out her index finger and continued.

  “For now, avoid people you haven’t seen in a long time. That’s it.”


  The response she dropped without contemplation made Eun Jiho frown for a second.

  “… Is that all you’re giving me as advice?” he tossed the question.

  Kwon Hye Young couldn’t help but say yes. Eun Jiho asked back again with a look of perplexity.

  “I mean, from where did you find it so obvious in the first place?”


  “Haha, what would that be?”


  “You know, I’m serious right now.”


  Kwon Hye Young stared at Eun Jiho tossing those words. She could tell how serious he was by his unusually stiffened face; however, there wasn’t much for her to tell him anyway.

  Turning her head, Kwon Hye Young just added a few more.

  “It may still be useless. It also isn’t something briefly explainable in this short time.”


  “What on earth is it?”


  “I do not know. If someone better in explanation gets aware of your feelings, then the person can clarify it to you. Don’t you think so?”


  Eun Jiho didn’t question her closely anymore. Instead, he furrowed his brows and spoke to himself.

  “Hope that’s not Yoo Gun at all.”


  Kwon Hye Young burst into giggle involuntarily. She then finally brought out what she had in mind for the whole time to Eun Jiho who turned his head back to this side.

  “Looks nice.”


  “Huh?”


  Kwon Hye Young replied with a smile, “The way you right now look nice, Jiho.”


  Eun Jiho blinked his eyes then soon closed his mouth into a tight line.

  “Jiho, you look like your age for the first time. I don’t know how long it has been.”


  “…”


  “If possible, I wish Miss Ham Donnie continues to stay with you now and forever, so you can be like that–”


  She raised her eyes to look at Eun Jiho, who was dropping his gaze at the floor quietly, then found out that his face suddenly had changed.

  The na?ve look that he had earlier disappeared as if he wiped it out. So were his busy hand movements. Leaning his back on the sofa and placing his clasped hands on his stomach, Eun Jiho was just looking down at the floor.

  “Jiho?”


  Feeling a little disconcerted, Kwon Hye Young called his name.

  “Ham Donnie… Forget that name.”


  “Excuse me?”


  “We’re never gonna be here together again.”


  Kwon Hye Young was confused. The moment she was about to ask him what he meant, suddenly, there was a sound of someone opening the curtain.

  It was her duty as a style director to check if the selected outfit went along with her client. When she turned around, she found out herself, indeed, having good eyes and smiled faintly in satisfaction.

  Twisting her waist to each side, Ham Donnie was checking herself in the mirror.

  She was wearing a simply-designed summer dress swaying with double-layered see-through fabric made of chiffon in front and stiff white cloth on the back. It was a little short, slightly covering her thighs, but had short underpants attached inside that had the same white color as the hemlines. The dress was, therefore, comfortable to move and not overwhelming at all for a student to wear.

  She then put on the silver strappy shoes prepared ahead and turned back to look at Kwon Hye Young. With a face full of rich smile, Kwon Hye Young gave an honest response.

  “Truly marvelous! You look so lovely with the white color.”


  It was a word of compliment from the bottom of her heart; however, Ham Donnie didn’t look delighted at all. Instead, she just checked every facet of herself in the mirror for quite a while, rolling her eyes in anxiety.

  ‘How would Eun Jiho react to her then?’ thinking, Kwon Hye Young turned back to glance at him.

  Throwing off his lonesome face earlier, Eun Jiho was now boasting a heart-melting sweet smile at her. He then turned his head to look at Kwon Hye Young and added a few words.

  “It sure is. Pretty, Ham Donnie.”


  “Yikes.”


  Resting his chin on his palm, Eun Jiho, cast a relaxed glance at Ham Donnie. He looked as fabulous as he had just popped out of the movie screen in his white suit. Ham Donnie, however, didn’t look pleased or reddened but just slightly knitted her forehead.

  Staring at their conflicting reactions, Kwon Hye Young could see through all the troubles Eun Jiho would encounter. She thought, ‘If Donnie responds to his compliment with that look, she will definitely not accept his love confession toward her. She might consider it as a tease.’


  Kwon Hye Young kept her smile inside her. She has never imagined that Eun Jiho’s crush wouldn’t like him back.