Ghosts of Eternity

Tucked away in a quiet alley of Cheongdam-dong, its entrance concealed behind a dense bamboo grove, the ultra-luxury Chinese restaurant Rin stood insulated from the noise of the outside world.

The smoky, resinous aroma of burning agarwood filled the private dining room, while the faint, distant melody of classical string instruments added an air of gravity to the space. This was no ordinary restaurant. It was a backroom where trillions of won changed hands, and where the rise and fall of empires was decided.

At the center of this room sat Lee Seo-han.

Today, he wore a flawlessly tailored, dark navy three-piece suit. The sharp, geometric silhouette of his attire mirrored the unyielding nature of his logic.

A moment later, the heavy rosewood door swung open, and S Group Vice Chairman Jung Hyun-jin stepped inside. He wore a flamboyant royal blue bespoke suit paired with a premium silk scarf, making him look younger than his late fifties. Yet, beneath his extravagant exterior, a faint trace of anxiety lingered.

Following closely behind him was Jung Se-ah.

The moment she stepped across the threshold and closed the door behind her, she effortlessly dominated the room. Her red silk dress swayed sharply with every step, and the click of her high heels against the marble floor echoed like an irregular pulse in the quiet room.

Smoky eye makeup. Matte red lips. Her presence was destructive and brilliant.

"Have you been waiting long, Dr. Lee?"

Jung Hyun-jin let out a boisterous laugh as he took the seat at the head of the table.

Se-ah sat cross-legged on the sofa directly opposite Seo-han. The high slit of her red dress shifted with each movement, every detail too deliberate to be accidental. Toying with the slender silver choker around her neck, she dissected Seo-han, scanning his shirt collar and the knot of his tie like a predator deciding exactly where to strike its prey's throat.

Jung Hyun-jin observed the current flowing between the two and smoothly lifted his teacup.

"Let me introduce you properly. This is President Jung Se-ah, the head of Lysis, who will be leading S Group's next-generation beauty and bio-life division. She also happens to be my niece."

As the introduction finished, Se-ah brushed her ink-black hair over her shoulder and spoke.

"I've heard a great deal about you, CEO Lee Seo-han."

Her voice broke the silence, surprisingly low and cold for her age.

"My uncle has spun a rather grand conspiracy theory about you." Se-ah set her teacup down. "He says you’ve met the nation's most elite women and never gave a single one a chance. He thinks you're a monstrous designer who treats dating like candidate filtering and suitability assessments."

A faint smile played on the corners of her lips.

"I see it differently. You just haven't found a partner who can perfectly complement your science."

Se-ah leaned forward slightly across the table. With her movement, a rich scent of roses drifted through the chilly air of the room, cutting straight into Seo-han's breathing space.

She smiled brightly.

"Women measured by primitive metrics like family background, pedigree, or looks could never meet your impossibly high standards. They only see the surface of data; they don't understand the true value of the world you’ve built."

Though a smile remained on her face, her eyes zeroed in on Seo-han's, sharp enough to swallow him whole.

"Once you see our Lysis supply pricing and distribution plan, you will change your mind. I'm already looking forward to seeing just how far we can satisfy your sky-high standards in a business sense."

Jung Hyun-jin nodded slightly, satisfied with his niece's elegant yet venomous pressure.

His calculation was simple. If they could co-opt Lee Seo-han’s impenetrable domain under the guise of business and seize even a fraction of the leverage, S Group would hold the upper hand in this war.

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Meanwhile, across the table, Lee Seo-han’s cognitive circuits were in full system overload.

He hadn't even fully processed the fact that Jung Hyun-jin and his cohort were spinning an absurdly elaborate conspiracy theory about him—painting him as an arrogant master architect screening elite women for a flawless match. He was completely failing to interpret the pressure Jung Se-ah was applying.

The moment her intense face filled his field of vision, his pulse blew past safe limits, completely spinning out of control. Seo-han pressed his brow firmly, swallowing hard out of sheer frustration.

The real problem was that Jung Hyun-jin's conspiracy theory was entirely wrong.

Seo-han had never classified upper-class women into a pool of candidates, nor had he ever engineered human relationships to find a flawless partner. He had simply tried to date like a normal person—and miserably failed.

He had gone into those meetings hoping for a love that struck like a sudden immune response, only to ruin the conversation by rambling about 'data' and 'variables.' The very next day, he would invariably get ghosted, never receiving a single text.

Yet, what on earth had Jung Hyun-jin misinterpreted to bring his niece along and spout bizarre nonsense about 'standards touching the sky' and 'seeking a faultless partner'?

To conceal this unfamiliar panic and his racing heart, Seo-han deployed his dry, analytical defense mechanism once more.

"I believe Vice Chairman Jung and President Jung have misread my intentions," Seo-han said clearly, adjusting his glasses. "I normally deal with predictable numbers and clear logic. When faced with an unquantifiable variable at close range, my system experiences a temporary lag."

In reality, his words were practically a confession of panic.

But to Jung Hyun-jin and Jung Se-ah, it sounded entirely different. An unquantifiable variable. A lag at close range. To them, it translated as a clear signal that their proposal had successfully cracked Lee Seo-han's calculation circuit.

Maintaining an unblinking gaze, Seo-han met Se-ah's piercing stare head-on and lifted his teacup.

"There was no ulterior motive. The results simply weren't favorable."

He shifted his weight, leaning back slightly. He wasn't trying to act aloof; he was merely creating physical distance because his brain capacity was about to melt from the overwhelming presence of the woman in front of him.

Letting out a self-deprecating breath, Seo-han turned his gaze toward the city nightscape outside the window. Beyond the lenses of his rimless glasses, a cold sense of resignation settled.

Jung Hyun-jin let out a boisterous laugh, smoothly breaking the taut tension between the two. He glanced briefly out the window at the darkening city, then savored the remaining tea in his cup, looking back and forth between Seo-han and Se-ah.

"Dr. Lee, don't draw such a rigid line around business. As President Jung said, Lysis and Eterno are partners now, moving together to shake up the global market. Since you'll be doing business together from now on, use this opportunity to become more familiar with each other."

In Jung Hyun-jin's eyes, this meeting was far more than a simple dinner. It was the process of driving their sharpest wedge—Jung Se-ah—into Lee Seo-han’s impenetrable system. The moment Seo-han showed even a crack of personal attachment, those sky-high standards of his would fall under the control of capital.

Jung Se-ah did not miss her uncle's polished assist.

Slightly shifting the cross of her legs, she extended her slender, smooth fingers toward Seo-han’s teacup on the table. Her touch remained flawless as she smoothly refilled his cup with warm jasmine tea.

Then, Se-ah looked at his fingertips.

Unlike his perfectly controlled expression, his fingers gripping the teacup handle were tensed just a fraction too tight. Anyone else would have missed it. But Se-ah thrived on these exact cracks—the half-second delay in moving eyes during a contract read, the half-beat hesitation in drawing a breath after hearing a figure at a negotiation table. She had always read human weaknesses through these minor disruptions.

Lee Seo-han was no exception.

His expressionless face, dry tone, and calculated distance were perfect on the surface. But right now, his rhythm was just a fraction slow. Recognizing the micro-delay, Se-ah smiled, pretending not to notice.

"My uncle is right, CEO Lee. We are partners now. It would be a shame to be so rigid during our very first meeting."

As she poured the tea, Se-ah locked her gaze onto his through his rimless glasses.

"Lysis's process data is excellent. But nurturing that technology into something spectacular and cruel in the open market—that ultimately falls to the human domain. We have plenty of time to get to know each other. Let's gradually mix in stories beyond business. You might find I understand your boring, precise world surprisingly well."

A faint, predatory smile curved her matte red lips once more. As she leaned slightly closer, the rich scent of roses pressed harder against his nervous system.

Lee Seo-han froze completely.

Her words were strictly the language of business, but her proximity, her scent, and her gaze were striking a completely different circuit. Suppressing his racing heart, Seo-han brought the teacup to his lips. As the hot tea slid down his throat, his rationality barely managed to reboot.

Maintaining his emotionless facade, he dryly guarded his gaze behind his glasses.

"Exchanging views with you will certainly benefit the distribution stability of Lysis," he replied coldly, masking his panic. "I see no reason to decline further discussions in private settings. However, I will control the pace."

Setting down his tea, he leaned back once more. It was a strictly calculated physical retreat to escape the scent of roses.

Jung Se-ah did not miss that micro-retreat.

She couldn't tell if it was the reflex of a panicked man or a calculated adjustment to hide deeper calculations. But one thing was absolutely certain.

For the very first time, Lee Seo-han had completely lost his rhythm.

A thin smile settled on Se-ah's lips.