Chapter XI is here ! This is getting intense. Hum... well... I leave you to it...

Sunggyu was in a middle of a meeting with his collaborators. The American investor was coming in a month, and everything must be prepared meticulously. Millennium couldn’t have any faults.

“Soojung-ah, do we have the feedback of the logistic department ?” he asked, reviewing some papers.

“Yes depyonim. We received their confirmation by fax.” She said, handing him the document.

He took it and reviewed it briefly.

“Perfect, that’s one thing done. Mr. Lee, what about the rooms given to our guests ?”

“All of them will stay on the VIP floor, as you instructed. I already selected the personnel attending their rooms. All of them have worked with us at least three years and are speaking English perfectly.”

“Good. I will check the rooms myself before the guests’ arrival.” he said. “What about the restaurant ? Are the kitchen staff aware of the preferences of our guests ?”

“I already communicate the preferences of our guests to the restaurant depyonim.” Miss Kang said.

“That’s good. Is there anything else we need to discuss ?” he asked his collaborators.

“We should review in detail the schedule of our guests. Plan the activities of the day.” Soojung pointed out.

“Mr. Smith likes to golf. I will introduce him to our golf course.” Sunggyu proposed.

“We will have to occupy Mrs. Smith as well.” Soojung said. “Maybe a visit to Millennium’s department store for some shopping would be appropriate.”

“That’s an idea.” Sunggyu nodded. “She won’t be attending the business meeting. We need someone to keep her company. I could ask my sister to do so.”

“Depyonim, why not ask Millennium’s samonim ?” Miss Kang asked. “She knows how to deal with these kind of people, and she is a wise diplomat when it comes to a business deal.”

“We won’t make any request to my mother.” Sunggyu said, fiercer than he intended. “I want those people to take me seriously. What kind of businessman would I be if I needed the backup of my family ? My parents are not part of this deal, and I forbid any contact to them about it. Am I clear ?” he asked.

“Yes depyonim.” The collaborators present nodded.

“This settled, let’s meet tomorrow to review in detail the guests’ schedule.” He said.

The three of them took their leave, leaving him alone in the meeting room. He sighed deeply, running his hands on his face. He was tired and stressed out recently. First, the possibility of a business deal with the States consumed all his time. He needed it to prove his father he was worthy of having Millennium, worthy of taking his succession. He was told from an early age that he won’t have Millennium just because he was his father’s son. He was told to work hard and prove himself worthy of it. Sunggyu worked all his life for his father’s approbation. He won’t lessen his efforts now that he was so close to get it.

But another thing kept him from sleeping at night. Sunggyu didn’t know why his mother felt the urge to marry him off. Thankfully, Sunggyu met with Lee Haeri and she seemed like a pretty decent person. He thought the poor girl might have been dragged into this against her will as well. At least no ambiguity remained between them. Sunggyu stated clearly that he didn’t wanted to marry her, and she didn’t seemed to be interested in marriage either.

They parted as friends, and Sunggyu had thought that would be it. He was dreaming. His mother was tenacious, and the fact he had one forced blind date wasn’t enough. When Sunggyu foolishly admitted that Lee Haeri seemed like a good person and that they had a lot in common –only because his mother told him that if he didn’t liked her, she will set up another blind date– his mother was already imagining him pronouncing vows. They got into an argument, the second in barely two week, and Sunggyu had hung up on her. He was now filtering his calls and refused those from his mother.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He grabbed the nearest paper and said to enter. Soojung appeared in the doorway.

“Yes Soojung-ah ?”

“Someone is requesting you at the reception. A friend of yours, apparently. It seems important.” She said.

Sunggyu immediately thought of Dongwoo and his body went in automatic mode. He was up instantly and passed in font of Soojung to leave the room so quickly the woman blinked at him, surprised. He pressed the button of the elevator, taping his beating the time with his foot, impatient.

“Depyonim, wait !” Soojung said, coming after him.

Too engrossed in his thoughts, Sunggyu didn’t heard her. Seeing the elevator took too much time, he opened the nearby door and went down by the stairs. He was running, his heart beating fast and brain completely short circuited. Dongwoo was not a capricious person. He would never show up unexpectedly at the hotel when Sunggyu told him not to. If he came all the way here, it only meant something was wrong. And that agonized Sunggyu more than the contract with the Americans and his mother combined.

He eventually reached the ground floor, hair dishevelled by the run and a little bit out of breath. He was walking fast looking around to catch the sight of Dongwoo but he didn’t saw him anywhere. He went to the reception desk, making the employee look at him with wide eyes, due to his current state.

“Someone asked for me.” Sunggyu said urgently, still catching his breath.

The young woman nodded, extending her hand to point to the said person. Sunggyu turned around to follow her indication and got a shock himself. The woman let out a light chuckle at his expression and walked to him.

“Omo, look in what state did you put yourself.” She placed her hands on his shoulders and smoothed the fabric of his blazer, looking in his eyes. “You didn’t have to run here. I would have waited you know ?” she smiled.

“Haeri-shi… What are you doing here ?” Sunggyu asked, not clearly understanding what was happening.

“You agreed to let me repay you, and since I got some time this afternoon, I thought we could have lunch together.” She said, softly rearranging his hair, putting it in place.

“Haeri-shi…” he said, catching her hands on his to keep them away from him, “you cannot come to my workplace unannounced. I have work to do.”

“So you don’t have lunch ?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, sign she didn’t believe him.

“I do. I usually have someone bring me something from the hotel’s restaurant and I eat in my office.”

“Then I much needed to come !” she replied playfully. “You can’t behave like a hermit. Representing Millennium is not only working hard for it, but also giving others the best image of yourself, because your image reflects on all of this.” she casted a look around.

Sunggyu thought of what she said and nodded slowly. She was right, he couldn’t argue with her argument.

“I need to be back in two hours, absolute maximum.” He agreed reluctantly.

“Amazing !” she said, beaming at him. “We’re definitely going to that Italian restaurant I told you about.”

“If you want to.” He nodded.

“Depyonim ?” someone called, making Sunggyu turn his head.

Soojung was staring at him, visibly troubled. Sunggyu then noticed he was in front of the hotel’s reception, with a woman, whose hands he was holding. He dropped her hands as soon as he noticed, uneasy in front of Soojung’s eyes. He had ran there, which was completely out of character for him, and she found him in that position. Sunggyu could easily imagine what she was thinking.

“Soojung-ah… ahem…” he cleared his throat, embarrassed. “Sorry about earlier. Hum… Let me introduce you to Lee Haeri-shi, huh, a friend. Haeri-shi, this is Jung Soojung, my secretary and most valuable collaborator.”

“Nice to meet you. Lee Haeri himnida.” The woman said, bowing her head and handing her hand in a respectful manner.

“Nice to meet you too.” Soojung shook her hand politely.

“I will borrow Sunggyu-shi from work.” Haeri said jokingly, wrapping an arm around Sunggyu’s arm. “We planned to have lunch outside.”

“Let’s go to the underground parking. My car is there.” Sunggyu said.

“You should take your coat. It’s cold outside.” She looked