Pay With Your Heart

Chapter 487: ShareHolders Meeting (3)

Some omens ought to be prayed against at the start of each new day, and Eun-sun thought Ji-Tae was one of such omen.

Seeing his ghastly face, wrongly shaped head, and gut-wrenching smile wasn’t the best way to start a day, especially one when she needed to stay calm and confident.

He was one of the reasons behind today’s event and why they were convening there.

She sternly held his gaze as she pondered if it was the right choice to ride with him in the same elevator, especially when they were both headed to the same place.

Ji-Tae was that unwanted being that irked every soul he encountered and crawled under their skin.

His annoying tease and smiles were not something she could tolerate today.

“Aren’t you coming in?” He cocked a brow and asked. “I’m not gonna bite.” He smiled at her, gesturing to the man standing behind her as if informing her he was the reason why he wasn’t going to sink his teeth into her.

.....

Ki-Jun glanced at the young man in the elevator and then at Eun-Sun, who had a ferocious glint in her eyes as she maintained a stern look at the man.

He glimpsed back at Ji-Tae, and he recognized him, not as someone he had seen before, but as a Lee. The Lee household wasn’t a large one, and they looked the same.

They shared the same facial mold and height except for Dan-Han, who was unusually tall. From all indications, he was Jun-Sun’s nephew, the little punk they always complained about, and the one Jun-Sun was currently using to unsettle Dan-Han.

“We can wait for another,” Ki-Jun whispered to Eun-sun, who shook her head.

“There’s no need.” She said before stepping into the elevator, and Ki-Jun followed behind. Ji-Tae bowed to him, and he responded with an acknowledging nod.

He couldn’t tell if something had transpired between Eun-sun and the boy, but it seemed Eun-sun was cautious yet irate and abhorred the man, and he guessed it had to do with his involvement with Dan-Han.

The ride to the conference was silent, at least it did for the first few seconds that passed, till Ji-Tae broke through it with his annoying voice.

“I see you’re fine and well now. How was your little vacation?” He inquired while taking a step toward Eun-Sun, who ignored him. He chuckled amusedly when she acted like she hadn’t heard him.

Ki-Jun stared at him but also chose to ignore him. Ji-Tae had not missed how Ki-Jun looked at him, and he wondered why.

Looking at the middle-aged man, Ji-Tae furrowed his brows as he thought the man looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place when and where he might have seen him. Or maybe he had one of those faces that always struck a semblance, unlike his feisty little queen, who always leaves an impression.

“Did you hear what’s happening to your that boyfriend of yours today?” He questioned, which elicited a response from Eun-sun, who turned to him with a hardened glare.

“Nothing’s happening to him. Just you.” She said, and as if the universe had heard her prayers, the elevator chimed at arriving at their destination, but just as Eun-sun got off after Ki-Jun, Ji-Tae cornered her.

Eun-sun raised her gaze to him with a glare burning in her eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?” She scowled at him, but that irking smile of his hung on his face like an irritable permanent landmark.

He asked. “I know you don’t like me, but don’t you think it’s about time that changed, especially after helping you?”

“Helping me?” Eun-sun’s brows furrowed confusedly as she wondered what he had helped her with.

Ji-Tae nodded as if that would provide the answer he was supposed to be rapping out to her. His hand inched towards her face, but he stopped halfway when she shifted a lethal glare to his hand.

He amusedly chuckled and slipped his hand back into his pants pocket.

“I believe you owe me a thank you for saving your life. If it hadn’t been for me, you’d have been screaming in the underworld by now.” He said with a meaningful smile which had Eun-sun’s scowl burrowing deeper as she wondered what he meant.

Clearly, he couldn’t mean anything, as he was always ranting out his usual nonsense. Hadn’t he told her Dan-Han was sterile? He was a pathological liar, and there was nothing he could say from his mouth that she would believe.

“I don’t know what I am to thank you for, but whatever you think it is, I don’t care. Get yourself out of my way.” She snarled at him with a ferocious look in her eyes.

“You’re still as interesting as ever, feisty girl. I’ve almost forgotten how you made me feel.” He bit his nether lips in what Eun-sun thought was supposed to be a seductive way but had seemed disgustingly annoying.

“I don’t know what you have in that head of yours, but I’d advise you have it checked. And whatever you think you’re doing against Dan-Han, it isn’t going to work, you hear me.” She drawled at him, and he chuckled, finding her words amusing.

“Doing against Dan-Han?” He scoffed, and Eun-sun challenged him with a glare. “What can I do against him? Maybe there’s something I can do.” He paused for effect, but all he got was the angry look in her eyes.

He sighed and shook his head. “I’ll save it for later, but for now, why don’t you go and kiss your boyfriend good luck, because he’ll be needing it. I, on the other hand, will he getting something more interesting from you.”

He reached for the tip of her hair, but Eun-sun smacked his hand off as the look in her eyes grew intense, and Ki-Jun, who had impatiently been standing a few feet away, couldn’t stay still any longer.

He had tried to give her her space to handle whatever it was with the boy because he believed she could; after all, she was Sena’s child, and it was clear she had her mother’s spirit and temper, but he couldn’t stand there and let someone upset his child this much.

“Young Man, I’d advise you to leave her alone.” He warned, making Ji-Tae turn his head to him.

Ji-Tae wondered why he was still there and was eager to ask him who he was and what he was doing there, especially on that floor, but he stopped himself.

Looking at the man, he didn’t seem like an ordinary person and could be one of the shareholders, but which one was he?

He had practically met with almost all members of the board except a few which he knew were Dan-Han’s dire supporters, and among those was Dan-Han’s god-father who was said to be his uncle’s friend and the old man had said he wasn’t going to in his favor even if he begged.

He hadn’t seen the so-called godfather before because he was barely a year old when he was said to leave the country and had gone into early retirement.

And there was one other member of the board he didn’t know who had been quite mysterious, and if the information he got was right, he was the board’s newest member.

Was he the one? He tilted his brows as he observed Ki-Jun. He didn’t look like it. The familiar feeling came to his mind again, but he sighed and stared at Eun-sun one more time before stepping aside.

“I’ll see you around, princess.” He winked at her and walked away, only after paying a polite bow to Ki-Jun.

“Are you okay?” Ki-Jun asked, and Eun-sun nodded affirmatively.

“I’m fine.” She said and sighed when she saw the worried look on his face.

“That’s the cousin?” Ki-Jun knowingly asked, and Eun-sun confirmed with a nod.

“That’s difficult to miss. I think he’s troublesome. You should stay away from him.” He told her, and Eun-sun readily nodded. That was something she had long known about him.

“Come on, let’s go,” Ki-Jun told her before ushering them ahead. They both walked towards the conference room, and Ki-Jun held the door for Eun-sun after telling her to take a deep breath to calm herself.

Eun-sun could barely get a grip on herself. She felt her heart skip, and she took another breath to shake off the anxiety before stepping into the room.

But the moment she did, she lost whatever calm she had garnered when all eyes shifted towards her, especially Jun-Sun, who scowled at her.

“What is she doing here? Who let her in?” He demanded with a roar.

“I did.” Someone replied from behind, and Jun-Sun froze when Ki-Jun stepped into the room after her, matching his eyes glare for glare.