Chapter 179. Will You Marry Me? (5)

‘Am I hallucinating? Maybe I should have worn my glasses. I think my vision is blurry.’

She blinked. The man at table 19 looked familiar to her.

‘No way. Up close, he’ll definitely be someone else.’

Her heart was racing, and she mentally warned it to calm down.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. If it’s not him, you’ll just embarrass yourself.’

To steady herself, she quickly thought of random numbers and started multiplying them in her head. That helped, at least enough to get her feet moving.

But even when she finally stood in front of the table, the man in sunglasses simply looked up at her without saying a word.

Her heart was pounding furiously, yet his expression was unreadable—so much so that she almost wanted to convince herself he was just someone who looked like ‘him’.

She clenched her jaw.

‘Why are you here?’

She wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t come out.

She wished she could become just as expressionless. Or maybe, just maybe, this was all a delusion—an illusion conjured up because she had missed him too much.

She pulled out her order slip, her hand gripping the pen trembling.

“What would you like to order?”

“The set menu is for two or three people, huh?”

Minkyung bit her lip.

She had dreamed of him before, but in those dreams, she had never heard his voice. She hadn’t realized how much she had longed to hear it.

“We also have single portions.”

“I’ll take this.”

She marked the order. Then, Lee-Seob reached out, tapping the slip lightly with his index finger.

As their eyes met, he took off his sunglasses.

“Didn’t even realize I was still wearing these. Guess I was too nervous… No wonder.”

Minkyung averted her gaze again.

“Look at me.”

“Director.”

“I took them off so you could see your favorite pretty eyes.”

From a short distance away, Minha, who had been pretending to rearrange side dishes at a nearby table, stealthily moved closer.

“Take a seat?”

“I’m busy. I need to put in the order and—”

“Minha.”

Startled, Minha turned to look at Lee-Seob.

“You’re Minkyung’s younger sister, right?”

“Y-yes. Yes. Yes.”

She repeated herself three times, gripping an empty tray tightly.

‘Who is this guy?’

She darted her wide eyes between her sister and the man.

But the moment their gazes met—his slightly sheepish, lopsided smile—she nearly dropped the tray.

‘The W Magazine photoshoot. That guy…’

Her jaw dropped, then snapped shut, leaving her gaping like a goldfish.

“I’m Tae Lee-Seob. Nice to meet you.”

He stood and extended a hand. Minha wiped her palm against her apron twice before shaking it.

“I’d like to talk to your sister for a bit, but she seems really busy. Could I borrow her for just ten minutes?”

“One hundred minutes, if you want.”

Minha declared, swiftly snatching the order slip from Minkyung’s hand. Then she gave her sister a nudge, causing Minkyung to stumble and end up seated across from Lee-Seob.

Minkyung stared at the floor and let out a small sigh.

“I can tell you don’t want to look at me. And I take it you have nothing to say?”

“Is this about the report?”

“Oh, the report. Yeah, that too.”

“I apologize. I was going to address it after discussing it with Assistant Lee once I returned on Monday.”

A brief silence settled between them. Lee-Seob poured her a glass of water before filling his own. They both took sips, neither speaking.

“Here’s your buckwheat noodles and dumplings. The mung bean pancake will be out shortly.”

Minha set the food down with an exaggerated grin.

“Thanks, Minha.”

“Enjoy your meal.”

She shot Minkyung a playful look before scurrying away.

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