Hospital director Gi-cheol Do and center director No-nam Yun stood side by side with Chang-mu Kim, head of neurosurgery, and addressed Gyeong-eun Lee.

“Ma’am. How are you feeling? Is there anything at all making you uncomfortable?”

“If there’s anything that troubles you, call for us anytime. I’ll see to it personally.”

Gyeong-eun, recovered now to the point where she could push herself upright and sit, leaned against the bed and answered with a smile.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, Director, and to you, Center Director, I feel much better. Especially Doctor Chang-mu Kim here—he mended me so well that I can sit up like this and talk with you.”

At Gyeong-eun’s thanks, Chang-mu Kim, the head of neurosurgery, shook his head.

“Thanks to me? Not at all. I only did my job.”

Hospital director Gi-cheol Do threw a pointed glance at Chang-mu Kim, who had said it was nothing and clamped his mouth shut.

It was a signal—now that the subject had come up, bring up the matter of the hospital’s support funding.

But in answer to Director Do’s glance, Chang-mu Kim said something else entirely.

“Your recovery is proving every bit as positive as the surgery itself. Starting tomorrow, it would be good for you to get up once every two hours and take a short walk, to work at moving about.”

“Then when will I be able to be discharged?”

“It’s a touch early to be talking about discharge already… but it won’t take long.”

To Chang-mu Kim, who was hedging, Gyeong-eun pressed for an exact date.

“Can I be discharged next week?”

“Next week will be difficult.”

“Then the week after? Can I be discharged the week after that?”

“That too…”

Wearing a troubled expression, Chang-mu Kim glanced over at Seong-ho Kim and shot him a look begging for help.

Seong-ho, who had been standing by the bed simply listening, smiled at Chang-mu Kim’s look and gently soothed the impatient-seeming Gyeong-eun.

“Gyeong-eun. Let’s take it step by step. You’ve only just started walking—it really is too early to be talking about discharge already.”

At Seong-ho’s words that it was too soon to speak of leaving, Gyeong-eun’s face fell into a sulk.

Seeing her like that, Gi-cheol Do sensed there was no way to raise the matter of the support funding.

Because there was no talk more unwelcome to a person in a foul mood than talk of money.

Gi-cheol Do swallowed his disappointment, gathered up Center Director Yun and Doctor Kim, and left the room.

Since he couldn’t so much as broach the funding, he felt there was no point lingering in the room.

Gyeong-eun looked at the door the hospital director and the others had left through and pursed her lips.

“I don’t want to lie here too long.”

“Is there something urgent, that you feel that way?”

Seong-ho smoothed out a folded corner of the blanket covering her as he asked.

Gyeong-eun looked at him with a serious expression and answered.

“Yes. There’s something urgent.”

“Is there? And what would this urgent thing be?”

“That coffee franchise. We decided to open it early next month.”

“You mean the star-logo coffee franchise?”

Seong-ho asked with a slightly startled look.

It seemed like hardly any time had passed since he’d given Gyeong-eun the hint, and the fact that she was already preparing to open startled him.

Gyeong-eun, still sulking, nodded and said,

“Yes. That one. I was going to give you a nice surprise when it opened… and now it’s all ruined.”

“I’m quite surprised even now.”

Seong-ho pulled up a chair and sat beside her.

“You’ve already looked into it and pushed all the way to opening?”

“When I looked into it, I found I’d already put down the deposit. As long as we launch within the year the contract carries over, so we were able to activate it without any trouble and open the first store. First I want to watch how store number one does, then think about how many more to open.”

“Where did you decide to open the first store?”

Seong-ho asked, watching her with interested eyes.

He found himself curious whether Gyeong-eun could follow the very same road to success the star-logo coffee franchise had walked in the former life.

Whether it was that the talk of business had chased off her sullen mood, Gyeong-eun spoke in a lively voice.

“Since it’s a foreign brand that got famous through overseas media, I thought it would be best to go after the young crowd first. So for the early launch I’m planning to open stores around the university districts.”

“University districts? Which one—”

“My own alma mater—the women’s university. I’m going to put it there.”

Gyeong-eun said in an excited voice.

As if talking about it made her more and more excited, she shifted to sit up straighter and went on.

“Young women are more sensitive to trends. Because of that they’re often exposed to American dramas and films, so they already know the coffee brand we’re launching. That’s why I mean to focus my push on the women’s university. It’s easier to go after people who already know it and look up to it than to go after people who know nothing at all.”

Gyeong-eun, wanting Seong-ho to confirm what he thought of her idea, finished speaking and studied his face.

Seong-ho, who had only listened without a word, broke into a wide smile.

“Impressive.”

He held up his thumb.

“A very good idea.”

“Really?”

“Yes. An excellent judgment.”

He said it with a smiling face to Gyeong-eun, who had spoken and then worn a briefly tense expression.

“Your analysis is very sound. And your drive to actually carry it out is good too. When did you say it opens?”

“Next month.”

“Next month…”

Seong-ho nodded.

“The height of the heat.”

“That’s right.”

Gyeong-eun said happily to Seong-ho, who had grasped—though she hadn’t told him—why she’d set the opening for August.

“It’s the hot season, so iced coffee will sell better, and I think it’s the best moment for word of mouth to catch, so even though it’s when school’s on break I set the opening for then. What do you think, Seong-ho?”

When they were setting the opening date, all sorts of opinions had come up internally.

From the view that it should be early August, the hottest time, to the view that June, when the heat begins, was best, to talk of December, so that people could carry warm coffee around the way they do in America.

And of all these various opinions, the one that gained the most weight was that, since it was a university district, it would be better to open during the semester after all.

The reason being that August is during break, and during break foot traffic in university districts thins out too.

But Gyeong-eun had shaken her head at June, at December, and at opening mid-semester.

“The truth is, a lot of opinions did come up. But I objected that June left too little time to prepare the opening, and December was too late. Of the options raised, the best times were August and September, and I picked August. I argued that even during break, the front of my alma mater is famous for its fashion street, so foot traffic stays heavy even in break. And September is when the heat lets up a notch, so we couldn’t count on much help from the weather.”

“A good choice.”

At Seong-ho’s words Gyeong-eun broke into a wide smile.

If this weren’t a hospital, and if it weren’t so soon after her surgery, she looked as though she’d have flung herself straight into his arms with joy.

Seong-ho watched her with a soft smile and thought.

‘Gyeong-eun’s ability really is better than I imagined.’

Without any prompting from Seong-ho, Gyeong-eun had brought back the very marketing that had succeeded in the former life.

This was the same Gyeong-eun who had shown no strain running Ilhyeon Hotel and Ilhyeon Department Store at the same time.

That she could make judgments this excellent on top of it all filled Seong-ho with both gladness and astonishment.

And to that same Seong-ho, Gyeong-eun offered something even more astonishing.

“After I open the coffee franchise next month, I was thinking I might focus more on duty-free.”

“Duty-free?”

Seong-ho looked at her with startled eyes.

Because he hadn’t imagined the words “duty-free” would come out of Gyeong-eun’s mouth.

“The opening of Incheon International Airport is only three years off now. So right now the bidding for duty-free operating rights is well underway. I’m thinking we might bring that in and take a run at it.”

‘Right. That’s true.’

It wasn’t as though Seong-ho hadn’t known.

And he’d filed it away as something he absolutely had to get his hands on.

But amid the events crashing down on him without pause, he’d clean forgotten this thing he absolutely had to seize.

And Gyeong-eun was the one who’d brought it up.

“The country’s reeling as if it’s about to collapse and the exchange rate has climbed all the way to 2,000 won, and yet the number of travelers hasn’t fallen—it’s actually risen. In a situation like this, once Incheon International Airport opens on top of it, won’t there be more of both—people traveling abroad and people traveling here to our country?”

“That’s right.”

When Seong-ho chimed in, Gyeong-eun went on with a pleased expression.

“So I mean to go into the duty-free business in earnest. And I think weaving the duty-free business together with the hotel would give us even better synergy. What do you think, Seong-ho?”

“That’s a very good idea too, I think.”

At Seong-ho’s word that it was good, Gyeong-eun spoke as if delighted.

“I get the feeling that maybe now is the opportunity. That in the middle of a chaotic market, opportunities well up, and only the one who seizes them can advance to the next stage.”

Gyeong-eun raised a hand and closed it around the empty air as she spoke.

“I want to seize this opportunity. Only then do I feel I’ll be living up to the faith of the man who backed me like this—you, Seong-ho.”

Her hand still clenched around the air, Gyeong-eun looked at Seong-ho, who only gazed steadily back at her.

And seeing Seong-ho say nothing, she asked with quietly worried eyes.

“Is it because what I’m thinking… is wrong, that you’re saying nothing?”

“No.”

Seong-ho quickly shook his head and said,

“It’s because your eye for the market is so remarkable… I was so astonished I couldn’t speak.”

“Really? Does what I’m thinking seem all right to you?”

“It’s more than all right.”

Seong-ho looked at her with fresh eyes and said,

“It’s outstanding. More than anyone I know. More than even me.”

“Oh my. Ho ho ho ho. When you put it like that, my whole face goes hot. How could I ever be better than you, Seong-ho? I’m satisfied so long as I don’t look lacking in other people’s eyes—that’s enough for me.”

Hearing her, Seong-ho gazed steadily at Gyeong-eun.

‘I see. So it was because she’s the youngest daughter.’

Seong-ho thought that the way Gyeong-eun always made herself small came from her station as the youngest.

By the time Gyeong-eun first set foot in society, her older brothers had already each claimed a seat at Ilhyeon.

However much Gyeong-eun tried to show what she could do, she could only look shabby beside her brothers, and for the mere reason that she was the youngest daughter, even the chance was never given to her.

That was why no one had known she had ability like this.

It was a side of her that even Seong-ho hadn’t known—enough that he felt astonishment at it.

“I’ll back you.”

Seong-ho was curious how far Gyeong-eun’s ability reached.

“I’ll have Ilhyeon Hotel and Ilhyeon Department Store support you from behind. So whatever you want to try, Gyeong-eun, go ahead and try it. Trust me.”

“Seong-ho…”

Gyeong-eun looked at him with moved eyes.

It would have been enough just to be grateful for his praise of what she was setting out to do, but when he went so far as to say he trusted her and would back her, Gyeong-eun’s heart welled over.

Recalling that not one person—not her father, not her mother, not anyone in the family—had ever believed in her this much, Gyeong-eun’s eyes reddened.

“I really do think I married well.”

Gyeong-eun sniffled and said with a smile,

“Because I’ve made myself the most dependable ally there is. Seong-ho. Thank you.”

“Thank me? If anything, I’m the more grateful one.”

Seong-ho took her hand.

“From now on I’ll make it so you can use your abilities to your heart’s content, so put on wings and soar.”

“Seong-ho.”

Just as Gyeong-eun’s eyes reddened and tears were about to spill at any moment, there came a knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

Gyeong-eun hurriedly wiped her eyes, and Seong-ho turned around.

“Come in.”

Slide.

At Seong-ho’s word to come in, the door opened slowly.

And a person who was the complete opposite of Gyeong-eun stepped inside.

“All healed up, I see.”

As though she had some complaint, Jeong-eun Lee spoke toward Gyeong-eun.

“Guess there’s no need to come anymore.”

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t have to come again.”

“Anyway, you’ve got some luck. How did you happen to be right there in the hospital at just that moment?”

“You said it. My luck’s been pretty good.”

Even at Jeong-eun’s words, which sounded almost like a sneer, Gyeong-eun chimed in with a smiling face.

Jeong-eun, apparently finding it no fun that Gyeong-eun kept agreeing that she was right, rose from her seat.

“I’ll be going.”

“Mm. I can’t see you far out.”

Jeong-eun nodded and threw a subtle signal toward Yeong-su Cha, who rose to follow her.

Then she said to Seong-ho,

“No need to see me out.”

“Still, I ought to walk you to the door.”

Seong-ho, who had risen to see off Jeong-eun and Yeong-su Cha as they made to leave, said to Gyeong-eun lying in the bed,

“You can wait even without me here, right?”

“What am I, a child? Go on and walk my sister and brother-in-law out, and come back.”

Gyeong-eun waved him off, saying she was fine.

Seong-ho smiled lightly at her, then said to Jeong-eun,

“Shall we?”

“No. I’ll go on my own, so have a word with this man.”

“Sorry?”

Jeong-eun said she’d go alone and told Seong-ho to talk with Yeong-su Cha.

Seong-ho looked at Yeong-su Cha with a puzzled expression, and Yeong-su Cha, wearing an awkward look, couldn’t meet Seong-ho’s eyes straight on.

(End of Chapter 148)