Still the Same

The heavy mahogany door closed behind him, and the world fell silent as if submerged underwater. Perhaps because Chairman Baek had dismissed everyone, not a soul could be found in the hallway.

The moment he realized this, the smile lingering at the corners of Kang-hyun’s mouth vanished without a trace. His expressionless, arid face quietly swept over the empty corridor.

Then, at last, he began to move. In the opposite direction from the exit.

His steps advanced without the slightest hesitation and stopped before a room at the end of the hallway. Just like the corridor, no particular presence could be felt inside.

“…….”

Kang-hyun grasped the doorknob. A familiar sensation wrapped around his palm. It was also a thoroughly detestable one.

When he flung open the closed door, a musty air mixed with the scent of long-aged paper and dry wood rushed against his face.

The space, consisting only of an old desk, chair, and cabinet, was more reminiscent of an office than a study. Dust had piled white atop the furniture, and the date on the desk calendar had long since stopped.

Having reconfirmed that it was an unoccupied vacant room, his gaze immediately fixed on the window.

The rooms in the main building of Cheongbaekwon had windows facing the door so one could see the rear garden. However, the four rooms located at both ends of the building had windows on the side, allowing a slightly different view from the others.

Kang-hyun strode purposefully to the window and quickly surveyed the outside. Then, just as he discovered something and his brow furrowed—

“Who’s there?”

At the sudden voice that flew in, Kang-hyun’s nape stiffened rigidly. The nerves that had been tautly stretched toward the window outside instantly redirected to his back.

But the bewilderment lasted only a moment. The fact that the thin-lined voice was not particularly unfamiliar also played a part in quickly recovering his composure.

Having erased the agitation in an instant, he slowly turned around. And faced the owner of the voice with an unperturbed expression.

A pale, slender female form wrapped in a calm beige dress first captured his gaze.

Next were the pitch-black, glass-like pupils deeply set between her prim eyes. The ones that had once relentlessly chased after him without tiring.

Chairman Baek’s second daughter. The sensitive and picky troublemaker of Cheongbaekwon. Baek Yeo-eun.

“Ah…”

While a faint sound leaked from between her peach-soft colored lips, Kang-hyun rapidly spun his thoughts, contemplating how to brush off this unwelcome coincidence as vaguely as possible.

But what first put an end to his briefly fierce deliberation was, unexpectedly, Baek Yeo-eun’s side.

“Tak Kang-hyun…”

The moment her even fainter tone slowly pronounced his name, all the noise in the world ceased.

It wasn’t a half-believing tone either. The woman was certain of his identity. For the first time among the various faces of Cheongbaekwon he had encountered so far.

“…It’s been a long time, Miss.”

The outdated form of address popped out reflexively. This time, even Kang-hyun couldn’t help but be flustered.

Fortunately, the woman’s demeanor seemed no less flustered than his.

“You… how are you here…”

How shocked she was, the woman couldn’t properly continue her words. Facing her pupils that shook violently as if she had witnessed a ghost, Kang-hyun conversely recovered his composure quickly—enough to fabricate a completely nonchalant voice.

“By a chance opportunity, I received a commission from Chairman Baek and came to work with him.”

“…Work with Father?”

“Yes. I was summoned to Cheongbaekwon for a business discussion, and coming here after so long, I found myself filled with new emotions. So I was just wandering around wherever my feet took me.”

Having roughly covered up the situation of loitering in an odd place, Kang-hyun carefully observed the woman’s reaction.

“I see…”

Even at the clumsy excuse, she nodded slowly as if convinced.

Kang-hyun opened his mouth intending to change the subject before she dug deeper.

“Miss is…”

But his words stuck again. No matter how much he racked his brains, no suitable words to attach came to mind.

Come to think of it, though Chairman Baek often boasted about his first daughter Baek Chae-young, he had never seen him mention Baek Yeo-eun.

Of course, compared to her older sister the actress who easily landed supporting roles in terrestrial dramas, there wasn’t much to boast about.

Looking only at appearance, it was rather mysterious that Baek Chae-young became the celebrity instead of Baek Yeo-eun. But considering personality as well, it was rather fortunate.

Unlike her older sister who was highly praised even among the servants, Baek Yeo-eun was enough to make everyone click their tongues.

However, that Baek Yeo-eun had strangely shown interest only in Kang-hyun, and there had been more than a few times when she made unreasonable demands at every opportunity, putting him in a difficult spot.

“Don’t go. Stay by my side instead of Unnie…!”

Presumably, the reason Baek Yeo-eun was particularly obsessed only with him was due to her inferiority complex toward her older sister. Especially whenever she saw Kang-hyun together with Baek Chae-young, she would scream like having a fit.

It was a case of her nasty jealousy even toward her own sister, and only the innocent Kang-hyun getting tossed around.

“Take your dirty hands off and get lost already.”

Thinking of the end when she capriciously changed her face as if nothing had happened made it even more so.

“You haven’t changed.”

As even the unpleasant memories surfaced, Kang-hyun finished the words half-heartedly with eyes that had grown even colder.

Of course, saying she was the same had some stretch. When he last saw her, she was still a green middle schooler reeking of immaturity, but now she had become a proper woman.

Her face, from which the chubby baby fat had fallen away to reveal slender lines, combined with her glamorous features to create an alluring atmosphere. Even back then no one could deny she was pretty, but now she had been reborn as a beauty so stunning one couldn’t help but look back.

But to Tak Kang-hyun, Baek Yeo-eun was still nothing more than an annoying child.

There was no need to have any other impressions about a woman who still lived as part of Cheongbaekwon.

“You too.”

Then, Baek Yeo-eun returned a short answer.

When Kang-hyun silently stared at her, she repeated as if guessing he hadn’t heard.

“You’re the same too.”

Just as Baek Yeo-eun had changed from then, so had Kang-hyun. The fact that the people of Cheongbaekwon hadn’t recognized him at all was partly because their connection had been severed long ago, but also proof that he had grown so much he didn’t overlap with the past.

But Baek Yeo-eun said that. Since she was actually the only one who recognized him, it wasn’t wrong, but somehow it twisted his mood.

“Then, if the opportunity arises, let’s meet again.”

But Kang-hyun skillfully tucked away his true feelings and wrapped up the conversation with a breezy lie. And turned around without lingering.

He did not stop his steps until the slender shadow stretched on the corridor completely disappeared from his view.

A short alarm sound shattered the deepened stillness of the night.

Kang-hyun lowered his gaze, which had been fixed on the monitor, to his smartphone. English text suddenly floated up onto the screen.

Kang-hyun checked the time stamped with the message.

11:46 p.m., just before midnight. New York was in the middle of its busiest hours.

He lifted the phone intending to reply. But before he could even input any text, a sharp vibration transmitted through his palm.

Looking down at the incoming call screen, Kang-hyun let out a dry, empty laugh and pressed the answer button. Immediately, English thick with impatience burst out like rapid-fire.

“I was just about to write one, William.”

In contrast to the short-tempered voice on the other end of the line, Kang-hyun’s tone was languid enough to sound almost drowsy.

“I told you. You’re just too impatient.”

William countered Kang-hyun’s words with a familiar joke and burst into cheerful laughter.

William Harrington was a university classmate two years his senior. He had casually entered a mock investment competition held at the university, and after Kang-hyun won, William had taken an interest in him and they had become friends.

“Being a company representative must be a pretty idle position. Doing other things in the middle of your busiest hours.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better in many ways to work instead of chatting with a friend?”

William put an accent on “special” for emphasis. It was not a statement based solely on friendship.