"And there goes the first half of day one of this conference. Lunch will be served at the Four Seasons restaurant in this hotel. We have our hotel staff to guide you to the place. We will resume in two hours," the emcee announced. Taeyeon took that as her cue to approach Jessica.

As she walked towards the latter's table, several people have approached her and so was Jessica. Their eyes met again and shared a bit of an awkward smile. It seems they have to deal with this first.

This is one of the things Taeyeon hates the most on event gatherings. Socializing. It is indeed an integral part of maneuvering oneself in pursuing a business career. Yet, unfortunately, this aspect is not her forte. She hated being around people. She hated attention. She'd rather be alone and focus on her job. Yet, she had no choice. She has to do it for the sake of the business. Taeyeon is introverted. Yet, impressively, she knows how to turn that off. It is like she can transform herself into a different person, especially in such situations.

Jessica is quite the opposite. She loves social gatherings and she is fully aware this is important to grow the business. Connections equate to more investors and a better reputation. And being an extrovert, she knew this is her forte. 'Her time to shine,' she thought. But that didn't seem to matter for her at this moment. All she wanted now is to approach Taeyeon.

The situation got Taeyeon a bit frustrated, however. Thus, she decided to quickly end the conversation with the other businessmen. She smiled gently at them and excused herself, gave a bow, handed them business cards, and shook their hands. 

She doubled her pace to where Jessica was. She gathered all her courage to dive into the conversation circle. "Hello there," she greeted Jessica and did the same for the rest of the circle. She flashed a smile to her and asked, "If I'm not mistaken, aren't you  Jessica Jung? The new CEO of Eclare?"

"Yes, I am," Jessica answered and smiled back, "And, you are Miss Kim Taeyeon of ZT Group, right?"

"Yes. It is very nice to finally meet you," Taeyeon extended her hand for a shake. "Congratulations on your new appointment, by the way."

"Thank you."

Taeyeon thought she has to steal Jessica away from the rest of the circle. Thus, she tried to blend in with the conversation first and then opened a topic related to the forum earlier. Then, luckily she found a familiar businesswoman having a conversation in another circle. "Choi Sooyoung," she called.

Sooyoung excused herself from her group and went to approach Taeyeon. "Well, well, what do we have here? The King Taeyeon," she teased. 'The King' was her infamous nickname since her early teen years. It was intended as a pun given that it rhymes with her surname. Sooyoung pretty much picked up the calling since she was a close high school friend of hers.

"Please, Sooyoung. Not with that nickname," she said.

"Why? Aren't you the King?" the woman teased back. "Don't you want the rest of the business world to know you are King?"

Taeyeon ignored her retort and redirected, "Anyway, Sooyoung, have you met the new CEO of Eclare?"

"Jessica, right?" Sooyoung smiled and extended her hand to Jessica for a shake, "What a pleasant surprise? I am now totally feeling the female domination in this business conference. Oh. And I love your insights about innovation, by the way."

Jessica returned a smile, "Thank you."

Taeyeon then butted and introduced her friend to the rest of the circle. Yet, before her friend's attention will be brought back either to her or Jessica, she opened another topic, "Sooyoung, Changmin right here is interested in extending his food chain stores in Jeonju. Didn't you tell me before you're about to expand your real estate business there too?"

"This sure is a nice coincidence. I was just talking to those guys and they were also eager to expand there. It seems we're all going South." Sooyoung said and drew chuckles from the rest of the group. Taeyeon knows Sooyoung so well. Thus, she has already anticipated her friend's next move and that is to gather up the other businessmen who she was previously talking to. Now, the conversation has completely been steered away from her and Jessica.

'Mission accomplished,' she thought. Childish. A goofy grin formed on her lips. Jessica noticed the cute smile from Taeyeon and couldn't help but smile too. 'Such a dork.'

Before the conversation redirects, Taeyeon quickly butted to the group, "Excuse me but, I'll be going ahead to the restaurant. Shall we all catch up later?" Same old, she gave them a bow, handed them business cards, and shook their hands. 

Afterward, she glanced at Jessica. The latter felt as if Taeyeon's suggesting her to take the opportunity as well. And so she did. "Please excuse me as well. I need to leave. I have to make some phone calls. Thank you and nice to meet you, everyone," she said and did the same as how Taeyeon did to bid her goodbye.

They both walked away from the crowd together. Jessica uttered softly to the shorter woman, "Thank you."

"For what?" Taeyeon asked back.

"For getting me out?"

She chuckled, "I figured you needed a hand. You're welcome."

"That was very clever, by the way. Extending the conversation with more and more people around. Great distraction."

"Thank you. I guess with my many years of experience in this career, I have already mastered the art of getting out of social gatherings."

Jessica giggled in return which made Taeyeon smile back sheepishly. 'Her giggle sounds so cute.'

"I didn't know there is such art for that," the former responded.

"There are many unknowns in this world. But not that one, though. I just made that up," Taeyeon said and made the former giggle again. She quickly added, "But to be honest, I am not really fond of networking. For as much as possible, I prefer to keep the conversations small and simple."

"Yeah, I know."
 
'She knows?' she asked herself. Taeyeon couldn't help but shot the other woman a confused look.

Jessica realized she shouldn't have blurted that out. The slip of the tongue had her eyes widen up a bit which Taeyeon seemed to have found rather amusing. Jessica quickly rebutted, a little bit in a stutter, "I-- I mean, I know because I went to the same school as you, London Business School. We were in the same year."

"Oh," it is all Taeyeon could respond. Same school? Same year? How could she not notice such a beautiful human being?

Jessica chuckled, "I figured you don't remember me. No need to stress yourself on that. It's okay."

"Sorry," she said and smiled apologetically, "How did you know me, by the way?" 

"Have you forgotten you're the Summa Laude of our batch?"

Yes, she knew it was such a silly question to ask. "Oh. Right. I never really thought someone would remember that."

"And you