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❝ A woman written in mystery is worth a curiosity trip. ❞

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KIM NAYOUNG SLOWLY PUSHED THE GLASS DOOR and was greeted by a beautiful restaurant. She looked around the empty restaurant.

“Kim hwejang-nim (chairman) booked the entire restaurant, special for this private dinner.” A voice spoke behind her. Nayoung glanced at a man in a black suit on her right and back to the empty restaurant.

“Am I late, Minho-ssi?” Nayoung asked.

“No, agassi (miss). They’ve just arrived.” Minho said and Nayoung nodded.

Minho looked at the side view of the woman in front of him. She looked calm but she seems fatigued. 

“Kim-yang (young miss), are you okay?” Minho asked worriedly. Nayoung turned towards him and smiled.

“I’m fine,” Nayoung said softly with a smile. 

“Thank you for asking.” Nayoung smiled at Minho.

“Has the dinner already end, Kim-yang (young miss)?” Another man in a black suit asked confusedly as he stood next to Minho.

“No, they’ve just arrived about 3 minutes ago. They’re waiting for Kim-yang (young miss) and a friend of theirs.” Minho answered as his eyes on his watch. Nayoung glanced behind her and turned back to face her bodyguards.

“Sohyuk-ssi, go find something to eat. Then, eat your medicine.” Nayoung said to a man next to Minho. His eyes locked with Nayoung’s eyes before he looked down to his feet.

“Thank you, Kim-yang (young miss) but I’ll stay here until the dinner ends.” Sohyuk declined politely.

“Get yourself something to eat. No worries, the bill is on me.” Nayoung said softly.

“This is an order.” She added before Minho or Sohyuk could refuse.

Nayoung turned around and walked away but Sohyuk stopped her. She looked at him confusedly.

“Agassi (miss), you forgot your coat. May I?” Sohyuk said, gesturing to her shoulder.

Nayoung nodded and let her long black coat taken from her shoulder, revealing her long baby blue dress that covered her skin. She had a simple make-up on her face and her hair was styled into a messy bun.

“Thank you.” Nayoung thanked them with a smile. Both of her bodyguards bowed to her and she bowed back. She walked past hundreds of tables to the booked table that was hidden.

Nayoung saw her mother and smile widely as she heard her mother’s small laughs. She walked faster to her mother with a big smile on her face.

Mrs. Kim immediately stood up as she saw Nayoung walking towards the table. Mrs. Kim hugged her daughter tightly as her daughter reached their table. Nayoung chuckled and gently patted her mother’s back.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Nayoung pouted.

“No worries, my dear. I understood. You come straight to this dinner from work. You must be very tired. Plus, we just arrived.” Her mother said.

Nayoung turned to face a woman stood in front of her. She remembered her. The woman is Mrs. Min, her mother’s best friend since middle school. Nayoung did a small bow as her greeting.

“It’s been a long time. I’m happy to finally meet you again, Mrs. Min. How are you?” Nayoung asked politely.

“I’m fine. I’m happy to meet you too, Nayoung-ah.” Mrs. Min said with a sweet smile on her face.

“This is my adeul (son), Yoongi.” Mrs. Min introduced the gentleman next to her. He wore a black shirt matched with an ocean blue tie and stood tall with his firm body.

Nayoung greeted him with a small bow. When she looked up at him, he already stared at her with his cold stares.

He didn’t bow back. He just stared straight to her eyes. They locked eyes for a second before she looked away.

After they sat down, she was having a conversation with her mother and Mrs. Min while Yoongi chooses to remain silent throughout the conversation. He only speaks when he was asked and he’ll answer it with just as short as he can.

The only eye contact she makes with Yoongi was when she greeted him. After that, she doesn’t even glance at him.

Unlike Nayoung, Yoongi will at least glance at her when his mother or Mrs. Kim asked him anything. But Nayoung just kept her eyes either to his mother or her mother, none to him.

She never avoids eye contact with anyone before but his presence makes her feel weak and intimidating without a reason. She felt like he read her like an open book on their first eye contact.

While in his case, he never spares a glance at other people. He was too focused on his works. This dinner is a start for him to enter her mysterious world that is invisible to others.

He knows behind those clear eyes of her, there is something that she wished she could hide and lock deep in herself.

“Sorry, we’re late.”

They turned their head and saw a woman smiled sweetly to them. Next to the woman is a man around Nayoung’s age. The man smirked as his eyes landed on Yoongi but that didn’t last long. The man’s eyes widened when he saw Nayoung. He was shocked.

All of them stood up to greet them. Nayoung looked at the woman to remember her name but failed. Seeing Nayoung’s confused look, her mother leaned close to her daughter’s ear.

“She is one of my friends during college, Choi Minjung.” Her mother whispered. Nayoung nodded slightly and smiled at Mrs. Choi.

“Nice to meet you here, Kim Nayoung-ssi.” Mrs. Choi smiled sweetly to Nayoung.

“Just call me Nayoung. Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Choi.” Nayoung beamed. Mrs. Choi sat next to Mrs. Min and the man sat next to Nayoung.

“This must be your adeul (son), Choi Jiseok.” Her mother said to Mrs. Choi.

“Yes, this is Jiseok. I had to force him to come along since my ttal (daughter) is having an interview tonight.” Mrs. Choi pouted.

A few seconds later, meals were served to them. During the dinner, Jiseok joined the conversation and looked so comfortable. He blends in so well with them.

“What I have heard is true, Kim Nayoung-ssi. You are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.” Jiseok purred to Nayoung’s ear. Nayoung turned to the smirking Jiseok. He looked down at her lips before back to her eyes.

“Thank you.” Nayoung faked a smile before she averted her eyes, un-amused by his games. She felt very uncomfortable sitting next to him.

“I’m so happy to see Nayoungie here. I want to meet her since I read her article in a fashion magazine.” Mrs. Choi beamed with pleasure.

“I’m also glad that you came, Nayoung-ah. I miss you a lot. The truth is, I kind of forget how you look like.” Mrs. Min chuckled.

“I didn’t expect her to come. It’s very hard to convince her to walk out of her house.” Her mother said as she gently patted Nayoung’s shoulder.

“But Kim Nayoung-ssi is indeed beautiful. Just like you Mrs. Kim.” Jiseok said and her mother laughed. Nayoung mentally rolled her eyes.

“You’re so sweet, Jiseok-ah. Your wife is so lucky to have a sweet husband like you.” Her mother praised.

“I might have to wait for my second son to get married first, instead of waiting for him.” Mrs. Choi sighed.

“He’s the same age as Nayoungie, right?” Her mother frowned at Mrs. Choi in confused. 

“How old is your ttal (daughter), Sooyoung-ah?” Mrs. Choi asked with her head cocked slightly to one side.

“She’s 27 this year,” Mrs. Kim smiled.

“She just turned 27 last month.” Mrs. Kim as she held her daughter’s hand.

“Well, my adeul (son) is not that young. He’s already 30 but he still doesn’t have a girlfriend yet.” Mrs. Choi glared at her son.

“Minjung-ah, relax. Look at my adeul (son), he already 37 but he didn’t spare a glance to a woman. It feels like his work is his wife.” Mrs. Min joked.

“Minjung-ah, Yura-yah… I’m sure they want to focus on their work first before they think about marriage.” Her mother spoke with a small smile.

Jiseok joined the conversation by joking about how his mother kept on plastering him about marriage. Nayoung and Yoongi listened silently to the conversation.

Even though Nayoung wasn’t interested in joining the conversation, she has been trained to keep a smile, listen to the conversation and answer when she was asked.

Since she was 5, she had been trained hard until she felt like she is being someone who isn’t her. Nayoung mentally sighed.

Suddenly her left shoulder was tapped gently. She looked up and saw one of her bodyguards. Her bodyguard leaned closer to her ear with his palm covering his mouth.

“She’s working here, Kim-yang (young miss). Do you want to meet her?” Sohyuk whispered to her ear and Nayoung smile slowly fades.

“Yes, I do. Find her.” Nayoung said in a whisper before he walked away. Nayoung looked down at her clutch bag on her lap and closed her eyes for a second to calm herself.

“Darling, is everything okay?” Her mother whispered to her ear. Her mother looked at her worriedly. Nayoung faked a sweet smile like she always did and nodded.

“Nayoung-ah, I heard that your new design has been plagiarized and launched by another designer. Is that true?” Mrs. Choi asked. Nayoung turned to Mrs. Choi and nodded with a smile.
 
“My team is still investigating this case. For now, I have to wait for the result.” Nayoung said calmly.

From the reflection of the window in front of her, she saw Sohyuk entered the restaurant and stood a few tables away behind her.

“Eomma (mother), I have to make an urgent call. I’ll come back, okay?” She whispered to her mother. Her mother nodded with a questioning look on her face.

Then Nayoung turned to Mrs. Choi and Mrs. Min as she grabbed her clutch bag on her lap.

“Excuse me.” She said politely. She stood up and walked to her bodyguard.

Seeing Nayoung walked to him, Sohyuk walked near to her and put her long black coat over her shoulder, covering her baby blue dress.

“She’s at the 3rd-floor, Kim-yang (young miss).” He said after they walked out of the restaurant. They walked to the elevator in silence.

“Where’s Minho-ssi?” Nayoung asked.

“He’s still there. She avoiding us and her manager is hiding her from us. So Minho is trying to ask her manager-”

“Tell him that I’ll do the talk. Tell him to just stay there and keep an eye on her. I’ll talk to her manager.” Nayoung said as she pressed the down button.

The elevator’s door opened and they entered the elevator. She pressed the 3rd-floor button and stood in the middle of the elevator while Sohyuk stood on her left.

Sohyuk sent a message to Minho through his watch that was specially designed by Nayoung for both Minho and him for easy communication. After he has sent the message, he let his hand fall to his side and stood straight. He watched his boss glanced at her watch.

“Kim-yang (young miss), we can handle this by ourselves if you’re in a rush. Just give us the order.” Sohyuk spoke politely.

“Sohyuk-ssi, you know me for 11 years now. I won’t let anyone do the dirty work for me.” Nayoung said softly.

Sohyuk smiled sadly to her as he watched her calm face. He has been working with her for 5 years but he still can’t understand her. It was hard for him for the first 2 years because she always does things on her own.

She kept missing from his sight. After 2 years and a half, he was shocked to watch something that he never thought he could see it coming from her. Seeing those sides of her, he decided to stay with her forever even he was told he can resign whenever he wants.

He even told her to order him around but she never asks him to do anything. Even when someone hurts her, she won’t let him or Minho gets involved. She never asks them to kill or beat someone. Never once has she told them to do anything related to violence.

Sohyuk and Minho never had a chance to use their skills to protect Nayoung. The only thing they ever do to protect her was standing around her protectively so the enemy won’t come near her. Why? Because she’ll always be the one who will beat her enemy by herself.

“On your left, agassi (miss). She’s in the third kitchen, Diamond Section.” Sohyuk said after the elevator door opened.

Nayoung calmly walked to the Diamond Section but she stopped in front of the second kitchen, Aurora Section.

“Stay here.” She said to Sohyuk and she continued walking to the third kitchen.

She entered the kitchen and saw Minho with his usual poker face, stood in front of a woman in a black apron. Nayoung assumed that the woman in her mid-40 is the manager. The woman stared at Minho with arm crossed.

Seeing Nayoung walked to him, Minho turned to face his boss and bowed to her as his respect. Nayoung bowed back to him and stood next to him.

She is the only higher-ranked person who will bow back to the lower-ranked. Even someone in middle-ranked won’t bow back to Minho or Sohyuk who they called ‘the lower-ranked’.

Nayoung faced the woman with a small smile. Nayoung glanced at her name tag and looked back at her eyes. A sweet smile never leaves her face.

“Sorry for interrupting your work, Jung Jiwon-ssi. I just want to meet Park Naeun-ssi if she happened to be here.” Nayoung spoke politely.

“Go! Don’t waste your time. She’s not here.” The woman growled and Minho glared at her.

“Can I have her address or maybe her number? So I contact her directly. Job offers.” Nayoung said softly. She looked at the woman with a smile but she was holding her anger behind her smile.

Nayoung mentally smirked. She doesn’t need her address or her number. She already had that. She did that to give time for the person she had been looking for years, to surrender. She knew that the person was standing on the other side of this kitchen.

“No.” The woman smirked. Nayoung glanced at the green door behind the woman before Nayoung leaned to her ear.

“Listen here, Jung Jiwon-ssi. If you refused to cooperate with me, I’ll bring you to court for hiding a criminal. Bring me to her or I’ll burn this place down. You choose.” Nayoung whispered.

Nayoung moved back and stared at the woman as her face turned pale. Jiwon was stunned with Nayoung’s calmed voice that sounds so dangerous to her. It took her seconds to speak.

“Follow me, agassi (miss). T-This way please.” Jiwon stuttered. Jiwon turned around and opened the green door behind her. Nayoung and Minho followed behind her who kept glancing at Nayoung in fear.

They walked across hundreds of empty counter until they stood in front of a white door. Jiwon opened the door with her shaking hands.

Nayoung’s eyes glued to a woman stood behind a counter placed in the middle of the kitchen. Naeun’s back was facing Nayoung while she bites her nail in anxious.

“Minho-ssi, unlock this kitchen’s main door and let Sohyuk-ssi in. He’s outside the kitchen.” Nayoung said softly.

Minho walked to the door on their right and unlocked it. At the same time he opened the door, Naeun turned around to Nayoung in shock. Sohyuk frowned seeing Minho by the door.

Sohyuk glanced over Minho’s shoulder and saw Nayoung. He looked at the Diamond Section’s door at the end of the corridor and then back to the door in front of him.

Sohyuk and Minho entered the kitchen and closed the door behind them. They stood behind their boss and looked at Naeun. She looked at Nayoung in terrified. Her lips were tumbling and her eyes were shaking.

“W-What do y-you want?!” Naeun hollered, breathing heavily. Nayoung was smiling to her but Naeun knew, it was not a sweet smile like everyone thought. Nayoung glanced at Sohyuk and Minho over her shoulder.

“Both of you stay here.” She commanded before walking slowly to Naeun. Nayoung’s eyes locked with Naeun.

“You know what I want, Park Naeun-ssi. Don’t act innocent with me.” Nayoung said while her finger grazed the counter on her way. Her calm eyes still locked with Naeun’s tremble eyes.

“You’re funny. Do you think I’ll do what you told me to? I’m not afraid of you!” Naeun yelled in anger.

Nayoung stopped right in front of her. Nayoung’s cold gaze makes Naeun want to run and hide.

“You’ll leave with no choice.” Nayoung smiled. She stared deep into Naeun’s eyes.

Nayoung smirked before she walked to Aurora Section’s main door with Minho and Sohyuk followed behind her.

As Nayoung’s hand reached the door handle, she stopped as she heard Naeun’s harsh words. Her jaw clenched in anger.

Sohyuk and Minho looked at each other then back to Nayoung. They pray that Aria will ignore Naeun’s words and walk away.

Their breath hitched when Nayoung suddenly turned around. Minho and Sohyuk immediately blocked her from Naeun who snickered at the back. Nayoung glared at them and they shook their head to say no.

“Move away.” She clenched her teeth, fighting waves of anger.

“Kim-yang (young miss), please don’t. Mrs. Kim is still here.” Minho pleaded. He and Sohyuk furrowed their brow as they looked at Nayoung concernedly.

“Are you insane?!” Jiwon hissed as she tried to pull Naeun away from the kitchen but she was ignored by Naeun.

“Is our nation angel angry? Aw...” Naeun mocked her without any fear.

“Naeun-ssi, shut up!” Jiwon growled.

“I said move.” Nayoung glared at her bodyguards but they show no sign to move.

“Can’t you just accept the fact that you’re a hypocrite? Using nicknames to masked your dirty side! How many people have your father killed to shut their mouth?!” Naeun shouted.

Nayoung placed her clutch bag on the counter next to her and pushed the men’s firm bodies aside without hurting them.

Nayoung’s coat fell to the floor as she marched to Naeun angrily filled her dark heart. Nayoung stood in front of Naeun with anger trapped inside her.

“Watch your mouth, Park Naeun-ssi. I’m not joking.” Nayoung growled.

“They’re the one who called me with those nicknames. Those are given to me. Not given by me. I’m not the one who asked for those nicknames.” She added. Her eyes were red from anger that already reached her limit.

“It’s my pleasure for you to reveal everything I did until they replace those nicknames with ‘witch’ or ‘devil’. I don’t care.” She arched her eyebrow as a challenge to Naeun. She stepped closer to Naeun’s trembling body.

“But things will become much easier for me to throw you down, Park Naeun. Please do.” Nayoung smirked and stepped away.

Suddenly Nayoung’s hair was pulled back harshly. Sohyuk and Minho want to step forward but stopped when Nayoung lifted her hand as a sign for them to stop.

“You think it will be easy to push me down?! High-level people like you would never understand people like us! We had no choice given in surviving. Your life will be the one who will turn to hell!” Naeun yelled as she tightened her grip on Nayoung’s hair.

“Once I reveal your dirty secret, I’ll make sure your life will be the one who turns to hell!” She added. Naeun pushed Nayoung’s head down to the cold counter.

“Your father will rot in the prison and your mother will become a e for the rest of her life! You know nothing about struggling to find the money for a living! You’re just a piece of trash! You’re just-”

A loud boom sound echoed the empty kitchen. Sohyuk and Minho froze and their eyes were wide in shock. Jiwon gasped in horror at the sight of her. Naeun yelped with the sudden pain.

Naeun’s body was pushed to an empty counter with a terrific thud. Naeun’s hands were pinned behind her back with her head was pushed hard to the cold counter, the same way she did to Nayoung.

“Let me go, you !” Naeun groaned.

“Never talk bad about my parents ever again or you’ll pay for every single word with your life. Think before you talk.” Nayoung growled. She leaned forward to Naeun’s ear.

“Never step on my dress when you can’t afford to pay for the damage, Park Naeun-ssi. I warned you.” Nayoung warned her. She pulled away and pushed Naeun away from her in disgust. Naeun looked at Nayoung in horror with her fists clenched.

Nayoung glared at Naeun one last time before walked away. Sohyuk placed her coat over her shoulder as she took her clutch bag from the counter. 

Minho pushed open the door and Nayoung walked out of the kitchen with clenched jaws. Sohyuk ran to the elevator pressing the up button and the elevator door immediately opened.

Sohyuk pressed the 30th-floor button and then he pressed a button to hold the door. Seconds later Nayoung walked inside, followed by Minho.

Sohyuk stood on her left and Minho on her right. She pulled her hair tie and inserted it in her clutch bag. She pulled her waist-length hair to her right before her hand fell to her side.

The men watched her in silence. From the reflection of the elevator’s door, they saw Nayoung’s eyes closed. That’s the only thing she did to control her anger.

They are not afraid of her because of her temper but Minho and Sohyuk hate it when she always kept her anger hidden. They never saw her crying or yelling. They just want her to let her anger go and be free.

If she was angry, she will always smile to hide her anger, a smile with no trace of anger. Nobody had ever seen her angry. This is because whenever she felt like her anger was taking over; she will remember what the world saw her as - an angel.

After they reached the 30th-floor, Nayoung turned to her left, opposite direction of the restaurant they were supposed to go.

“Kim-yang (young miss)?” Sohyuk called her name and she turned around in confusion. She chuckled seeing their confused looks.

“You guys go in first. Let my mother know that I’m not leaving yet. She might think I went back already since I took a lot of time than expected.” She said calmly. She turned back around and walked down the corridor.

“Then, I’ll go with you. It’s my job to keep you safe.” Minho said behind her.

Nayoung stopped walking and turned to Minho. She looked over his shoulder and saw Sohyuk already entered the restaurant. She looked back at Minho and shook her head.

“I’m not a child anymore. I’ll just go to ladies’ real quick, okay?” Nayoung spoke softly.

“It’s my job to make sure that you’re safe. So I’ll wait for you outside.” Minho sighed and Nayoung laughed.

“People might see you as a ert if you wait outside the ladies’ room. So don’t worry. I’ll be fine, I promise.” Nayoung convinced him but Minho just stared at her with no sign to walk away.

“Minho-ssi, go back inside and wait for me there. It’s an order.” Nayoung said.

“Yes, agassi (miss).” Minho sighed but he didn’t turn around. Nayoung tilted her head in confusion.

“You go in first, Kim-yang (young miss). Once you entered the ladies’ room, I’ll go back to the restaurant.” Minho said.

Nayoung chuckled as she turned around. She walked to the ladies’ room, near the end of the corridor. She took 3 steps in and stopped. Nayoung popped her head out to the corridor and looked at Minho. She watched Minho walked back into the restaurant.

She shook her head with a smile on her face. She walked inside the ladies’ room and stood in front of the large mirror. She stared blankly at her reflection with heavy breath.

Her hair stayed perfectly over the right shoulder down to her waist. Nothing is wrong with her hair or her make-up but in her eyes, everything seems wrong. She looked like a mess, an ugly mess.

Nayoung placed her clutch bag next to the sink after pulling out her hair tie. She tied her hair into a messy bun, just like the hairstyle she had when she arrived here. She washed her hands and dried them afterward.

She looked down at her shaking hand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she let out a big sighed. She faked a smile on her face and opened eyes. She looked at her reflection before looking down at her hand again.

She grabbed her clutch bag and walked out. As soon as she stepped outside the ladies’, her phone rang and she quickly pulled out her phone from her clutch bag. She looked at the ID and frowned.

“Nayoung-ssi, I’m so sorry for disturbing you at this hour. About the plagiarism, Samantha Collection denied that they plagiarized your design even when we have provided them with enough proof. Their lawyer said that they’re fine if you want to bring this case to the court.” The caller informed in panic.

“Jongin-ssi, relax. You can just inform me about this tomorrow. No rush.” Nayoung chuckled.

“I try to wait but I can’t. After I was informed about this, I can’t stay calm. They’re too much. You worked hard for that design. You treasure that design a lot.” Jongin exclaimed.

“Oh, come on. If they think they can win, let them keep thinking that way. Remember, we have not revealed our big weapon yet.” Nayoung said calmly.

“I’m sorry, Nayoung-ssi. It’s my fault. If I do as you say and not let my guard down, things won’t be this way.” Jongin said guiltily. After the design was launched by another brand, he was ashamed to face Nayoung.

“Listen to me. This is no one’s fault. Plagiarizing other people’s work is bad. But claiming it as their work is even worse. Don’t lose hope, okay?” Nayoung said nicely.

“Okay, Nayoung-ssi. See you tomorrow, goodnight.” Jongin said.

“Okay, see you. Goodnight.” Nayoung said. After they both hung up, she inserted her phone inside her clutch bag and walked to the restaurant.

She stopped and turned around. She saw a shadow in the corner at the end of the corridor. She was about to walk there but she turned back around when she heard footsteps coming from the restaurant direction.

“I thought that I ordered you to wait for me inside the restaurant?” Nayoung raised her eyebrows as she saw Minho walking to her.

“Sorry. It took you so long. And I was w- I’m sorry, Kim-yang (young miss).” Minho muttered as his eyes glued to the floor.

“Let’s go.” She patted his shoulder as she walked past him. Minho nodded and followed her but stopped after taking 2 steps. He turned around and looked at the end of the corridor.

He is 100% certain that someone was there, watching his boss. He jogged towards Nayoung and walked behind her.

As they entered the restaurant, a figure walked out from the corner and looked at the restaurant’s door.

The person walked to the restaurant but stopped in front of the ladies’ room when he stepped on something. He took the paper under his feet.

He looked down at the small paper and a name was typed at the corner right of the paper. He flipped the paper and frowned when he saw the other side of the paper. He looked at the corner left of the paper and his eyes narrowed.

“Genesis Pregnancy Medical Care.” He said quietly.

He took out his phone from inside his suit and pressed a number. After a ring, his call was answered immediately.

“Give me the full information of Kim Namhyuk hwejang-nim (chairman)’s ttal (daughter). Also, I want you to find who is Park Naeun. I want it now.” He commanded and without waiting for an answer, he hung up the call.

He inserted his phone along with the paper inside his suit and walked to the restaurant. He walked to a table where his mother sat with Nayoung in one table. He looked at Nayoung’s back with his jaw clenched.

‘What are you hiding Kim Nayoung-ssi.’ The man thought.