Chapter 131

Chapter 131

However, a leopard couldn’t change its spots . In the end, Sungyoon added another sentence .

“Of course, there is a chance that she is secretly harboring some secret design against us . ”

Sungyoon’s distrust of others was still up and running . The Ross siblings were able to gain his trust on the basis of their first meeting . But they had put their lives on the line and fight alongside him, and only then they had taken the first step in gaining his trust . But even then, they were barely able to break through his distrust .

He thought about Jimin as his benefactor, and she raised s.h.i.+nhae like a mother . However, even she was stalled in front of his wall of distrust .

The man personally felt thankful toward Jimin for taking care of his daughter, and he would trust her more than others . However, it wasn’t enough to destroy the wall of distrust .

“Is that so?”

Jimin was well aware of his personality quirks . But the fact that Sungyoon went that far in his praise meant he trusted Jiyoon to a certain extent .

‘I’ll take her under my wings, and if she shows talent, maybe I’ll ask her to join as a permanent employee . ’

Jiyoon wanted to become a public servant, so the possibility that she wouldn’t want to join the company existed . However, Jimin had nothing to lose by trying .

‘Of course, this is a.s.suming she proves to be talented . ’

The interviews for the day had come to an end .

“I’ll be heading out first . ”

When he realized his work was done, Sungyoon stood up . Jimin didn’t hold him back either .

“Goodbye, and take care . ”

She said her farewell as she looked at Sungyoon . However, her attention remained on him for a very brief moment, and then she immediately went back to looking at the resumes, mulling over the candidates .

Just as Sungyoon exited the building, he heard a voice full of delight .

“Ah . You are out . ”

Jiyoon was leaning against the entrance of the building, displaying a smile . She moved away from the wall and quickly approached him .

“I was going to leave if you didn’t come out in another 10 minutes . I was lucky . ”

“You waited for me?”

“Yes . ”

“You had no idea when I’ll be coming out . ”

“I didn’t wait long . It would be great if you came out, but if you didn’t, it wouldn’t much of a loss . That was my mindset . ”

Her eyes crinkled a little bit .

“Were you surprised”

What was she asking about? Was she asking about her suddenly showing up at his company for a job? Or was it her spontaneous decision to wait for him coming out?

He had no idea what her intent was in asking that question, but the answer was easy .

“I was surprised . ”

The answer would be the same no matter what the question was .

“What is this regarding? Did something happen to s.h.i.+nhae?”

The only point they had in common was s.h.i.+nhae . Naturally, he thought that she wanted to talk to him about the little girl . So there was a bit of urgency in his voice .

“No, it’s nothing like that . ”

Jiyoon quickly shook her head from side to side so as to not spook the man any further . She felt a little bit bitter .

‘As expected, he has no interest in me . ’

However, she quickly got rid of such emotions . In truth, Jiyoon knew she was being unreasonable . She was the one who had developed feelings of love toward him . That was it .

“If Mr . Sungyoon decided to go home early, I wanted to tag along . We’ll be traveling the same way on the subway . ”

She already knew he didn’t have a car . However, she was a bit nervous to hear his answer .

Sungyoon might not use the subway to go to his destination . He might ride the bus, or he might take a taxi .

It would be a bit expensive to ride a taxi home from here, but it was a minuscule amount when one considered that Sungyoon was a Connector .

‘I’ll just stay with him until he gets in a taxi . ’

She dug deep and tried to be brave for this newly developed feeling that she had never felt before in her life .

And her bravery was rewarded .

“You are right . We can travel together until we have to part ways . ”

She sometimes took care of s.h.i.+nhae, and the little girl liked her . Therefore he didn’t directly turn her down .

“Yes!”

Although Jiyoon wanted to jump in joy, she barely held herself back . The two of them then embarked toward the nearest subway station . A handsome man and a beautiful woman were walking down the sidewalk together, so everyone’s gazes were focused on them . However, both paid no attention to others . This was especially true for Jiyoon . She was making sure this walk lasted as long as possible, so she walked slower than usual . Moreover, she was entirely focused on conversing with Sungyoon and was completely oblivious to her surroundings . This experience was new to her .

She kept talking to Sungyoon . If she could have it her way, she wanted to tell him everything about herself and ask everything about him .

However, she desperately firmed her resolve and avoided her desires . She mainly spoke about s.h.i.+nhae and how the little girl entertained herself when he was absent .

Jiyoon’s plan worked exactly as she expected it to be . Sungyoon was unbelievably attentive to her words .

Then he started to join in on the conversation . Of course, the person speaking would have more fun if the listener responded in a positive manner .

‘I’ll approach him slowly . ’

Jiyoon treasured and embraced the pink-colored emotions that rose out of her heart . She continued to speak in an upbeat manner

***

Countless planes arrived and departed the Incheon airport . Sungyoon and Jimin stood next to each other as they watched people pour out the gate .

It was clear that they were waiting for someone . Incheon airport was Korea’s best international airport, and also one of the world’s famous hubs for air travel . Therefore the airport was bustling, and a lot of people were coming out of the gates . It was so busy that one might miss the person one was waiting for .

However, Sungyoon and Jimin didn’t have to worry about that . The people whom they were waiting for were very unique and eye-catching .

Sure enough, Sungyoon caught sight of two people exiting the gate .

“They are here . ”

Jimin’s gaze followed Sungyoon’s finger . The first person she saw was a very large and tall man with a height of over 190 cms . He was a head taller than everyone around them . But he wasn’t just tall . He was large . Everyone would shy away from fighting him if one went by his outer appearance .

A blonde woman was walking beside him . She also was tall for a woman, and her golden hair swayed back and forth .

Her legs were long, and her body was proportioned in a mouthwatering fas.h.i.+on . It gave her the appearance of a cla.s.sy model .

Both had worn sungla.s.ses, and each had a suit carrier rolling behind them . Their style of dressing was highly individual, clearly setting them apart from the crowd .

These people were the Ross siblings, who were visiting Korea .

“Over here!”

Sungyoon waved his hand and raised his voice a little bit as he spoke in English .

When the siblings caught sight of him, their faces brightened . They quickly walked toward Sungyoon and Jimin .

“Welcome to Korea . ”

Sungyoon spoke as if he was their tourist guide . The Ross siblings let out a small laugh .

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing well . Thank you for asking . ”

Tim answered Sungyoon’s question as he shook his hand .

Sungyoon’s gaze headed towards Emily next . The confident woman, who had stood up to Cohen, was nowhere to be seen, and a shy woman stood in her place .

“I am glad you are here too, Ms . Emily . ”

“Yes… Yes . ”

After they greeted each other, Sungyoon took a step back . He planned on turning their attention toward Jimin, who was standing next to him .

As if she realized what he was doing, Jimin took a step forward .

“I would like to welcome the two of you . ”

Unlike her normal self, a small smile appeared on her lips as she spoke .

“Yes . It is nice to meet you again . ”

The Ross siblings were a bit stiff as they greeted her . She would be their boss from now on, so, of course, they felt a bit awkward .

It seemed the two of them had studied up on Korean culture, and instead of asking for a handshake, they awkwardly bowed towards Jimin .

“You don’t have to be so formal . You can treat me the same as before . ”

It seemed the two of them preferred the option Jimin spoke, and they let out an awkward laugh as they straightened their back .

Then they inquired after each other’s tidings as they exchanged some small talk .

“Shall we go to the company?”

Jimin pointed outside and became the first one to move . The rest of the party followed her .

She got in the car and drove them out of the Incheon International airport, heading toward the company .

“This is Jungb.u.m . ”

As she opened the door, she introduced the siblings to their new company . Tim and Emily entered the office and looked at their surroundings .

‘It is small . ’

The thought appeared in their heads at the same time . It was very small compared to their previous company, which had used an entire large office building as its headquarters .

However, they weren’t disappointed . They had already expected this .

Above all else, this company would allow them to attempt the Great Labyrinth . The merits outnumbered the demerits .

‘Isn’t it a bit messy?’

No, it was beyond messy .

Papers and plastic sheets were all over the place . The furniture hadn’t been organized either .

It was like looking at a company that had packed up and left in the middle of the night .

As if Jimin could guess what they were thinking right now, she sidled up next to them and spoke .

“It is a mess, right? We had to hire more employees when it became certain that you two will be joining . This is why we rented this new place . It will look like a proper company in three days . ”

They were no longer in their old company building . This place was much larger, and there were more rooms .

‘The company had been smaller than this?’

Tim became surprised, but he soon accepted the statement . This company had consisted of two people in Sungyoon and the president . There had been no need for a larger s.p.a.ce .

‘The size of the office building doesn’t matter to me’

In the end, they would mostly operate on the labyrinths . He really didn’t care about the size of the office building .

After Jimin finished introducing the company, she once again drove the party to a different location .

Their destination was the outer edge of Seoul .

Almost ten million people lived in Seoul . It was one of the largest proper cities in the developed world . But this didn’t mean Seoul was only filled with large buildings and fancy houses .

If one crossed into the Gyeonggi-do Province, one could still see a lot of fields and paddies .

The four of them arrived at a location where the cold and ruthless power of the city held no influence . Jimin parked on top of a small hill .

The hill had an open s.p.a.ce atop looking over a memorable scenery . This open s.p.a.ce was surrounded by steel fences, and the top of the hill was cut to make the surface flat . One could see gra.s.s starting to grow in this open lot .

The s.p.a.ce spanned a total of 264 . 46 m2 . It was a location cleared so that a building could be built there . It was one of the sites where the Ross siblings would potentially build a house for themselves .

If they were going to live in a foreign country, they wanted a house to their taste .

Therefore, they had asked Sungyoon to look for sites to build a house . And Jimin had taken on the task instead of Sungyoon .

“We tried our best to fulfill your preferences . If something isn’t to your liking, please immediately tell us . ”

After hearing her words, the siblings started to make close observations of their surroundings .

“This will be fine . We’ll have to immediately start construction . ”

Tim looked satisfied . But Sungyoon looked a bit worried .

“We have other sites ready . Why don’t you check them all out? You might like the other locations more . ”

“Then we’ll build a summer house here, and we can still purchase the other sites we like . ”

Sungyoon became temporarily speechless at Tim"s nonchalant statement .

However, the only one to be shocked was Sungyoon . Jimin and Emily looked like they agreed with Tim"s words .

As expected of children born to Connectors, they viewed money so differently than him .

The Ross siblings started talking in front of the empty lot . They talked about what kind of house they wanted to build, the overall design of the house, and the floor plans .

‘A house… . ’

Sungyoon looked at the land in front of him . He was currently living in an apartment loaned out to him by Jimin .

He had paid off all his debt, yet Jimin didn’t ask for rent . If he compiled what he knew about Jimin, she would never ask either .

The arrangement had been very good when he didn"t have money . But he had money now . Did he really need to live in Jimin’s apartment?

‘Should I buy one?’

Sungyoon quietly started to mull over this problem .