The playlist for this chapter:

I will go to you like the first snow – Ailee You, Who? – Eric Nam, Somi Love Story – Lyn Truly Madly Deeply – Savage Garden

“Sohye, is the presentation ready?” She asked her assistant as she walked to her room.

“Yes, Miss Kim.” The assistant rose from her seat and follow her suit. She stood near her boss’ desk and waited until she sat down. She gave an USB after the chairman her laptop.

“Did you manage to talk to the owner?” She inserted the USB into the port.

Hearing no response from the other person, she looked up and saw a fidgety assistant. “Sohye?”

“Ngg…” She smiled nervously. “I’m sorry, Miss Kim. We tried to call her but she still refused the call.”

“And you think she will accept our presence tomorrow?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “I talk to her friends who fortunately are also the managers of that lodge. They said they will try to convince the owner.”

“Good. Follow them up.”

“Yes, Miss. Anything else I can help you with?”

“Make sure it’s just you and Chaeyeon who will come with me tomorrow. I don’t want to create commotion by bringing too many people.”

“Got it. I’ll tell Miss Jung after this,” she wrote something on her notes.

“Thanks, Sohye. You can leave,” she smiled as her assistant slightly bowed and left the room.

She opened the document in her laptop. She scanned the slides carefully while taking some notes here and there. Fifteen minutes had passed when she heard a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she continued to study the slides and didn’t realize someone was sitting in front of her. Chaeyeon knocked the table to gain her attention.

“Chaeyeon?” She lifted an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

“Why only three of us?”

“It’ll be a proposal presentation. Why would you need more people? I trust you, Chaeyeon. I know you and Sohye are able to persuade the owner.”

“Fine. But Sejeong, you need to consider that lodge is the only legacy of her parents. If she ignores out offer right from the first presentation, we better back out.”

“You kidding. No way, Chaeyeon. That lodge has everything that we need. We’re not going to rebuild that lodge and disturb its operation, after all.”

She sighed. No one dared to speak back to the chairman. And the fact that Sejeong spent two days with no sleep only to prepare the presentation showed how big and important this resort project for the chairman. This is Sejeong’s first project since she replaced her late father. That was why as General Manager, Chaeyeon would assist her as best as she could.

“Okay,” she stood up. “See you tomorrow then.” She walked to the door and stopped and turned around.

“Sejeong?”

“Hmm,” she looked away from her laptop and stared at Chaeyeon.

“Go home early. You deserve some sleep. Sent those slides and notes to me and Sohye. We’ll revise it.”

Sejeong gave her a small smile. “Will do. Thank you, Chaeyeon.”

###

“Som, they called. They’re on their way.” She rushed towards the woman who had just arrived from the farm.

“I left some corns there. I think the potatoes are also ready to be harvested.” She ignored her friend and walked her horse to the barn.

“Somi…” She sadly followed her friend. “I hate to admit this, but you know their money may save this lodge. We need them, including money and skill.”

She kept silence until she put her horse into the stall safely. After she gave hay to her horse, she finally turned to her friend.

“Fine. I’ll try to consider their effort. But I won’t forgive you if we lose this place, Doyeon.”

“We won’t, Somi. Maybe someday we can buy it back from them,” Doyeon put her hand on Somi’s shoulder, telling her that everything would be okay.

The brunette exhaled. “I hope so.”

Doyeon gave her a genuine smile. “Go change your clothes. I’ll take care of Russel and the rest. You may want to look more presentable, right?”

Somi rolled her eyes but still walked away from the barn. Her heart still felt heavy at the thought of losing her control over her lodge. But, her findings after doing some background checks on Sejeong made her felt slightly assure. Sejeong was one of the most eligible CEO in hotel industry. She was way too qualified for her own age. Although she just became a CEO for one year, her work, skill, and competence were already well-known since she was a General Manager.

After changing her clothes, she walked to the front desk and found a sleeping figure. She grinned and tiptoed around, trying to surprise that person.

“YOOJUNG FIRE!!!” Somi shouted in the sleeping girl’s ear, waking her up and making her jumped from her seat. “Where? Where is the fire???” The sleeping girl was looking around with a concern look.

Yoojung realized she was being teased when she saw Somi was laughing out loud, hugging her stomach.

“Yah! Why did you do that?” Yoojung pouted.

“Your fault,” Somi took a deep breath and tried to stop her laughter. “Who allow you to sleep at work?”

Yoojung glared at her and got back to her seat. When Somi was about to take a seat beside Yoojung, Doyeon appeared at the door.

“They’re here,” she gestured to the big van that arrived seconds after. Somi and Yoojung rushed beside Doyeon and waited until the passengers got out of the car.

Sohye was the first one to greet them and they recognized her right away. Sohye shook everyone’s hands. Chaeyeon was the second to get out of the car, followed by Sejeong.

“Hello, my name’s Jung Chaeyeon. It’s very nice to finally meet you,” she bowed and smiled to Somi, Yoojung, and Doyeon who bowed back. Then, she introduced the person who was standing quietly beside her.

“This is Miss Kim, our CEO at the hotel.” Chaeyeon let Sejeong to introduce herself.

Sejeong cleared and bowed her head slightly, showing some respect. “As you already know, my name is Kim Sejeong. I hope we can be a compatible partner in the future.” She said in businesslike tone without any smile on her face.

“Miss Kim, I’m Jeon Somi. These are my friends as well as my co-partners Choi Yoojung and Kim Doyeon. Welcome to our lodge.” She couldn’t help but think this Kim Sejeong as rude and mysterious rich woman because of the missing smile and cold aura around her.

She led the guests to her office at the back of the lodge to let them rest after a long ride. It took them four hours to get to the lodge since it was located at the countryside, quite far from the city. Somi invited them into one of the room while Doyoen went straight to the kitchen to made drink.

“Is this your house?” Asked Chaeyeon shortly after took a seat at the couch beside Sejeong.

“Yes,” Somi answered without looking at her as she was busy preparing the computer for the presentation. “I asked Yoojung and Doyeon to sleep here so we can take care of the lodge easily.” Chaeyeon just nodded.

Somi stood up as she was done with the computer. Doyeon also came, carrying a tray full of drinks for them and the guests. Somi told Chaeyeon that the computer was ready and they could do the presentation now. Chaeyeon stood up and walked to the desk followed by Sejeong.

It turned out that Sejeong was the one who presenting the proposal. She presented it for about thirty minutes with her typical serious tone. Chaeyeon often smiled apologetically to Somi, Doyeon, and Yoojung if she thought Sejeong’s tone was too cold and stern.  After finished talking, Sejeong asked if anyone wanted to ask something.

“So, you won’t be renovating our lodge?”

“Correct, Miss Jeon. You can do your activities and business freely since we’re going to build the resort next to your land.”

“I see,” she scrunched up her face, contemplating something.

Seeing that, Sejeong added something she thought could convince Somi. “We also won’t interrupt your farm and barn, Miss Jeon. When the resort is ready, I’ll put Chaeyeon here to help you manage the resort better.”

Somi looked up and her face slightly lit up. Sejeong was aware of the expression and gained confidence. “Yes, Miss Jeon. You, Miss Choi, and Miss Kim will manage the resort, farm, and the barn. It’s all yours anyway. We’ll become a partner, right? You’re the active one and I’m a passive one. We’re going to split the profit fairly, Miss Jeon.”

Somi nodded. Yoojung wrote everything that Sejeong said on her notes.

“Anymore question?” Sejeong looked around but no one saying anything because of her detailed explanation. “Alright. That’s it from me. I’ll give you time to think about it. But, I hope I’ll hear a positive response from you.”

“No need,” Somi raised from her seat.

“Miss Jeon?” Everyone stared at her with confused face.

“We’ll sign the contract right now. No need to wait,” that shocked everyone.

“Yah! Are you serious?” Yoojung couldn’t believe her ears but her expression turned bright, the same with everyone including Sejeong. A smile finally appeared on her face.

“I think I can trust you, Miss Kim.”

“We’ll do our best for this lodge, Miss Jeon.” Sejeong turned her head towards Chaeyeon. “Prepare the contract.”

They signed the contract witnessed by Sohye and Chaeyeon. And they excused themselves to go back to the city because apparently Sejeong had another schedule to attend.

“We’ll be back in a week with our team,” Sejeong said before get into the car.

“Thank you, Miss Kim.”

Sejeong plastered a smile on her face. “My pleasure, Miss Jeon.”

###

“Choi Yoojung! Hurry up! They’re here!” Doyeon shouted.

Yoojung hissed. “I know,” she tidied her clothes. “Where’s Somi anyway?”

Before Doyeon could answer, Sejeong and her team got out of the car. Yoojung and Doyeon greeted them with a sincere smile. The team consisted of experts needed to build the resort. Sejeong realized someone was missing.

“Where is Miss Jeon?”

“She is at the stable, Miss Kim. Feeding her horse, I think.”

“Oh? Where is it?”

Doyeon pointed at the barn. “Inside the barn, Miss.”

“I see.”

Doyeon guided the team to the office, accompanied by Sejeong. Because Sejeong had briefed them before, the team headed straight to the land led by Chaeyeon. Sejeong asked Doyeon to continue her activity as usual.

She excused herself to go to the barn. On her way, she just realized that this lodge was extremely beautiful. A breezy air and the sound of birds were something you always got everyday with mountain and hills surrounded it.

A while later, she saw something more gorgeous than the scenery. Somi was giving her chestnut horse fresh grass and filling up the water supply. Her hair was tied into a messy ponytail.

Sejeong never took her eyes off of the brunette, observing her side figure as she was patting and her four-legged friend. Somi wasn’t aware of Sejeong presence, giving Sejeong more time to study her actions. Sejeong noticed how gentle Somi treated her horse, how her eyes twinkled, and how her expression brightened as she talked to the horse.

“How long have you had her, Miss Jeon?” Sejeong suddenly asked. Somi was completely surprised because she immediately turned around and her face turned horrified. “Sorry,” Sejeong walked closer and gave her a small smile.

“What are you doing, Miss Kim?”

“Looking around the lodge,” she followed Somi who walked out of the barn. “About my question?”

“Right. Since he was born. I was in middle school back then.”

Sejeong just nodded, learning the horse was a he. “What’s his name?”

“Russel.”

“Nice name,” Sejeong remembered something. “I’ll spend the night here.”

Somi stopped and faced her. “Oh? I should tell Yoojung about this. She’ll prepare the room.”

“I told her already.”

“Oh,” she continued walking. But, something crossed her mind. “Do you want to take a tour around the lodge?”

“Sure.”

“Come on then.” Somi led her to her jeep.

They went to the farm near the lodge and got out of the jeep. The farm was quite large. There were many plots and each plot planted diff