When Your Pain Becomes Mine

***

In the president's office.

The head of the strategic planning team was reporting the presentation to Gyeonhui seriously.

"The Lars department store is expanding its online business aggressively, and it's taking a toll on us. I think we need a long-term plan to expand our business rather than a short-term plan through the merger and acquisition of other companies or expanding the offline business."

"Hmm."

Upon listening to the report, Gyeonhui winced due to his sudden c.h.e.s.t pain.

"... Are you okay?"

The team leader asked cautiously as he observed Gyeonhui.

"Let's stop for today. You're dismissed."

His grumpy tone persuaded the head of the strategic planning team and the staff to quickly exit the office.

A slight groan erupted from his mouth once he heard the sound of the door closing.

"Hah…"

He pressed his c.h.e.s.t with his hands to check the application on his tablet, but her heart rate was regular.

"Is it my pain..."

He began to become accustomed to her pain, so now, it was hard for him to distinguish whose pain it was.

He slowly raised his head, enduring the c.h.e.s.t pains.

The business reports that he had reviewed more than a dozen times had piled up high on his desk.

"I can't believe they have brought all of these alternatives for nothing. Hah..."

The result from hours of meetings with the strategic planning team ends up as 'No alternative.'

"Such incompetents."

He was annoyed at the moment.

An alternative that came from the head of the strategic planning team was the same idea that Gyeonhui had made in the last quarter.

They were elite employees from the most famous universities all over the world, but for three months, they had found no alternative.

He wanted to dismantle the team, but he remained patient.

He could blame the team's incompetence; however, the situation he was struggling with was also dire for the business.

If he couldn't resolve this trouble, then everything would become the way Mrs. Shin expected.

'Prove that you are worthy of being in this position, or this opportunity will be the last one for you.'

With his eyes closed, he took a deep breath and tried to calm his mood down.

'Bzzzz.'

A text message arrived on his cell phone that he had put on the table.

'Let's eat dinner together. I'm almost there.'

The sender of the text was Chaekyeong.

He clutched his pencil tightly and smiled like this was outrageous.

'Snap.'

The pencil that failed to withstand his power broke in two pieces with a loud sound.

After pausing for a moment, he stood up silently and wore his coat.

"... I will use you gladly when you are worthy of doing so."

He exited the office with a firm expression.

***

In the restaurant on the first floor of the Consencio building.

"Why does it have to be here…"

Sun, having arrived at the meeting place a little early, sighed and mumbled to herself.

Having a blind date itself was a burden for her, but she was more concerned with the fact that the place for the meeting was in the Consencio building.

"He must have considered choosing a dinner place that was close to you.'

Eunyoung said it like it was nothing, but Sun was not relieved from her anxieties.

"I should have said no to this…"

"You can do it, Cheonsun. You can do it."

She repeated the same words, like a spell while rubbing the stone inscribed with 'Go. You can.' Then she accidentally dropped the stone.

"No!"

The stone rolled around and stopped when it hit someone's shoes.

"Where did it go?"

However, the direction of the stone eluded her, so she bent down under the table to look for it.

Then someone slowly approached her and put the stone on the table.

"Huh? Thank you very much."

When Sun saw the stone, she smiled brightly and tried to say thank you.

"Sun?"

She slowly raised her head after hearing the familiar voice.

A tall man who was wearing a nice suit with a gentle smile on his face caught her eye.

"Dr. Park?!"

When she recognized him, she became astonished.

Eunwoo's warm eyes were looking at her with a gentle smile.

62. Jealousy of the Ex-Boyfriend

"Oh, what br... brings you here, Dr. Park?"

She had done nothing wrong, but she stuttered.

Surprised by the unexpected situation, she hurriedly asked him.

"I have an appointment here. How about you?"

His demeanor was normal and natural.

"Oh, that's... I have an appointment too..."

However, her answer was absolutely unnatural.

"Meeting your friends here?"

"Oh... it's not a friend..."

Sun couldn't find the right answer as if the inside of her head became utterly blank.

Eunwoo looked at her and started speaking with a mischievous smile.

"No way, are you on a blind date?"

"What?" She blinked quickly.

She tried to find the right answer, but there was nothing in her head, for it had already become blank.

"That's... Hah..." She nodded slowly, for she had given up lying to him. "... Yes, Ari had arranged it for me..."

Sun lowered her head with a sullen expression as if she had been caught stealing.

"But why do you have a long face?"

"It just looks pathetic. I was swayed by my ex-boyfriend until recently, but now, I'm here to meet a new man..."

Sun could not make eye contact with Eunwoo like she felt ashamed of herself.

"No, you don't look pathetic at all."

To his tender voice, Sun slowly raised her head.

"It's great that you continue walking forward without giving up on yourself."

His heartfelt words came to her softly.

She felt warmth in every corner of her heart.

"... Don't kid me." She smiled and quickly changed the subject to Eunwoo. "But what brought you here?" She asked curiously.

He mischievously furrowed his brow and slowly started speaking,

"Well, I actually have a blind date here too."

"What? A blind date? You, Dr. Park?" Sun asked him again as if none of this made sense.

"It doesn't seem like me, does it?"

"I thought you never needed this kind of thing because you're so… no. Never mind."

Sun acted like she didn't understand him, but she did so because she didn't want to be rude to him.

Eunwoo slowly started speaking with a smile,

"The person that I'm interested in isn't interested in me."

Eunwoo said, frowning and wrinkling his nose.

"No way, that's impossible..." Sun mumbled the end of her response as if it didn't make sense to her.

"When is your appointment?"

"At seven o'clock."

"Where?"

"Here."

"Really? Wow, what a jackpot. It is the same as mine, but don't you have to find your date?"

To her question, Eunwoo smiled and drank a sip of water.

"I've already found her."

"Really?"

Sun looked at him in doubt.

Looking at her, Eunwoo slowly started speaking,

"Are you, Miss Cheonsun? Nice to meet you."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Sun blinked as if she didn't understand the situation.

Eunwoo looked at her silently while thinking about how cute she was.

"... No way..."

A chilly feeling was slowly creeping upon Sun as she carefully looked at Eunwoo.

Eunwoo nodded slowly with a light smile.

"That's right. The man you're supposed to meet today is me."

"What!?"

Sun couldn't close her mouth like she had not expected this at all.

On the contrary, Eunwoo was continually looking at her with earnest eyes.