There was no time to run, no time to hide. In a split second, Hana's mind calculated the only scenario that could save them. With a desperate, quick-witted move, she rammed her lips onto So Hee's in a forceful kiss, and with her other hand, she tore open the neatly worn staff uniform at the collar almost revealing her ivory bosoms.
The door swung open to reveal security personnel.
He froze, eyes wide, taking in the scene: two women in a compromising, passionate embrace with one being a staff member, her uniform in disarray and eyes wide. The other was a guest, an imposing figure with disheveled hair in a crimson gown, her arms possessively pulling the server close. Hana and So Hee gave an embarrassed smile at the security personnel.. The guard, recovering his professional composure, cleared his throat. His tone was now polite but unequivocally stern, a man reasserting order.
"Miss, this room is strictly off-limits to all guests and staff," he stated, his voice firm. "I must ask you both to please come out immediately." They both apologized and came out of the room.
After being spotted by the head server, So Hee was swiftly pulled back into the whirlwind of the event, forced to serve a few more rounds of drinks to maintain her cover. The tray in her hands felt unbearably light compared to the weight of the tape hidden in her clothes.
Shortly after she exited through the staff entrance, her posture deliberately relaxed, her pace normal—a perfect performance of a weary employee heading home. She gave no one a reason to glance twice. Every step towards the parked car was a measured act of control.
A few minutes later, Hana emerged from the main gates, a vision of effortless elegance, offering polite nods to lingering guests before seamlessly disappearing into the shadows near the car.
The moment the car doors closed, the atmosphere cracked with the guys' palpable anxiety. "How did you not get caught?" Ji Woo blurted out, while Joo Won's eyes, wide with disbelief, searched theirs for an answer. "The motion sensor... someone was right there."
The two women exchanged a glance. A slow, mysterious, and utterly triumphant smile spread across both their faces. They had faced down the danger and emerged victorious in a way these two brilliant men could never have engineered.
"We have our methods," Hana said, her voice laced with a knowing laugh.
So Hee simply nodded. "You really, really don't want to know."
Since it might be dangerous for Joo Won and Ji Woo to be seen together, Ji Woo and So Hee drove off in Ji Woo's car and Joo Won and Hana called for a cab.
Earlier that day
So Hana and So Hee arranged a place where the two men can meet. The shopping mall. Hana gave Joo Won a bag earlier full of items he needed to wear as his disguise. So he pulls on a loose, grey hoodie, A pair of black trousers, a black baseball cap, and a pair of non-prescription glasses. He swaps his designer shoes for common sneakers. He puts on a black KF94 mask. He now looks like thousands of other young men in Korea. He can take the subway or a bus without drawing a second glance, something the real "Bae Hoon" would never do. With Mr Baek busy doing his secretary job on New Year for Chairman Hwang, no one is there to keep an eye on him, although, at various occasions, Joo Won noticed other suspicious looking men keeping watch on him, hence the disguise. Once he is out of his luxurious penthouse apartment, he blended with other normal people in Korea.
The cab pulled up to the sprawling, modern entrance of the Miro Mall. Inside, it was a labyrinth of light and sound, a perfect place to get lost.
Joo Won, a baseball cap pulled low over his brow, moved through the crowd with Hana a few steps behind him, her eyes constantly scanning for tails. Their destination was the men's clothing section on the third floor.
There, Ji Woo and So Hee were already waiting, pretending to browse through racks of shirts. The buzz of Ji Woo's phone was barely audible. A single word lit up the screen:"Reached."
"It's time," he murmured to So Hee.
With a silent nod, they began their part of the performance. Ji Woo grabbed a few t-shirts from a rack, his movements casual. "I'm just going to try these on," he announced to no one in particular, and slipped into one of the vacant trial rooms, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Seconds later, Hana and Joo Won rounded the corner. Their eyes met So Hee's. No words were exchanged. A flick of Hana's gaze towards the trial room where she now stood guard was all it took. The message was clear: He's in. The coast is clear.
In one fluid motion, Joo Won ducked past Hana and through the slightly open door, disappearing into the trial room with Ji Woo. The door clicked shut, leaving the two women outside as the silent sentinels of their secret.
Old habits die hard. In a move perfected in childhood alleyways, he lunged forward with a playful, hushed "Boo!"
Joo Won jolted backward, his shoulders hitting the door with a soft thud. A genuine, unfiltered yelp escaped his lips before he could stop it. "Ahh! Yah! What's wrong with you?!" he whispered, a laugh caught in his throat, the formal cadence of "Bae Hoon" vanishing entirely.
The shared, childish grin lasted only a second before it faded into something far deeper. The air shifted. The joke was over. In the stark light, they finally stopped.
They just... looked at each other.
Ji Woo's eyes traced the lines of a face he'd only seen on news screens and in newspapers for years. It was his friend in there, behind the expensive haircut and the weary posture.
Joo Won saw the boy he'd shared everything with, now a man with the same earnest eyes, filled with a pain and loyalty he never should have had to bear.
The silence was heavy, profound. The glistening at the corners of their eyes could no longer be held back.
Wordlessly, as if pulled by a single string, they moved into the hug. It was not a gentle embrace, but a fierce, desperate clutch, the kind that speaks of years of absence and fear. Joo Won's face buried into the woolen sweater of Ji Woo's shoulder, while Ji Woo held on as if he could physically anchor his friend back to himself.
And there, in the cramped, impersonal space, surrounded by the faint smell of new clothes, they finally let the tears fall—silent, shaking tears for two stolen decades and a friendship that, against all odds, had survived.
With a soft, choked sound that was half laugh, half sob, Joo Won closed the small distance between them. His height advantage, always a point of their childhood rivalry, now served a different purpose. He didn't just hug Ji Woo; he enveloped him. His long arms wrapped around his friend's shoulders, and in one powerful, effortless motion, he lifted Ji Woo clear off the ground.
Ahh Ahh..A loud, involuntary moan escaped Ji Woo's lips—soft but unmistakable—as Joo Won lifted him effortlessly off the ground. The sound, muffled but emotionally raw, slipped under the fitting room door.
Outside, a shopper paused mid-step, eyebrows raised. Another glanced toward the door, then toward Hana and So Hee with a look of thinly veiled judgment. The two women—already tense—exchanged wide-eyed glances before simultaneously looking back at the fitting room door.
Inside, Joo Won immediately dropped Ji Woo back onto his feet, his face flushing with a mix of emotion and sudden self-consciousness due to Ji Woo's loud moan. "Yah! What was that?" he whispered, half-annoyed, half-embarrassed.
Ji Woo clutched his chest in mock offense. "Ya! How could you just drop me? After all these years... is this how you treat your soulmate?" He pouted dramatically, though his eyes still glistened. "Don't you love me? Didn't you miss me? Come here—let me hug you properly!"
These double meaning words made the two girls' imagination run wild. They tried to pat their ears in order to not hear what was being said—or done—behind that door.
Hana mouthed to So Hee, "Are they... crying or flirting?"
So Hee could only shake her head with secondhand embarrassment.
"Joo Won, look at me," he said, his tone firm yet gentle. "I grew up well. The Chairman... he can't hurt me doesn't matter what tricks he pulls. You don't have to carry that weight anymore. You don't always have to be the strong one. It's my turn to protect you."
Joo Won's eyes, still glistening, held his friend's gaze. A soft, almost imperceptible sound of acknowledgment escaped him. "Hmm, Ji Woo."
"So you have to try and live your life a little, okay?" Ji Woo continued, a warm sincerity in his whisper. "Eat good food. Go see nice places. Meet good people. Make memories... real ones. For you because it's a new year, you need to start fresh."
The words echoed in Joo Won's mind, so similar to what Hana had told him before. A slow, genuine smile touched his lips—the first real one in what felt like a lifetime. It was a smile of realization. Ji Woo was always with him, through Hana.
Noticing the smile, Ji Woo's own expression brightened with playful insight. "Oh... you're dating Hana, aren't you?" he whispered, a happy, knowing look on his face. "That's good. Really good. She's a good person. I can see how much she cares about you."
In that moment, Joo Won blushed.
Unable to hold onto the fitting room anymore, Hana and So Hee knocked on the door saying..."are you two guys done? People are queuing up to use the fitting room, we cannot hold it for you guys. Come out fast."
Ji Woo swung the door open, putting on a breezy, apologetic smile for the small crowd. "Sorry, sorry! Just, uh... really passionate about these t-shirts," he announced, holding up the garments as flimsy evidence.
Hana and So Hee didn't even try to hide their knowing smirks. They herded the two men away from the judging stares, the four of them melting back into the safety of the mall's crowded labyrinth.
The couples separated. Hana and Joo Won got into a cab, The cab pulled away from the glittering chaos of the Miro Mall, carrying them into a quiet, intimate world which existed between the backseats.
The adrenaline from the meeting and the narrow escape slowly faded, replaced by a warm, buzzing awareness. Joo Won's hand found Hana's, their fingers intertwining naturally, as if they were made to fit together. Neither spoke. They didn't need to. A soft, comfortable silence settled over them, both staring out their respective windows, unable to hide the faint blushes coloring their cheeks.
Then, Joo Won slowly lifted Hana's hand. His eyes, soft and full of a tenderness he so rarely showed, stayed on hers. He bowed his head and pressed his lips gently to the back of her hand. It was a kiss that was both old-fashioned and electrifying—a secret promise, a thank you, a confession all in one, hidden from the view of the cab driver ahead.
Hana's breath hitched. A fresh wave of heat rushed to her cheeks, her heart fluttering wildly against her ribs. She looked down at their joined hands, a shy, utterly happy smile touching her lips.
All too soon, the cab slowed. "We're here," the driver announced.
Joo Won gave her hand one final, reassuring squeeze before letting go. He stepped out onto the curb, then leaned back into the open door, his voice a low, warm murmur meant only for her.
"Get home safely," he said, his gaze holding hers. The unspoken my love hung in the air between them.
He closed the door. The cab pulled away, and Hana watched his figure grow smaller through the rear window, her hand still tingling from his kiss, her heart full of a hope she hadn't dared feel in years.