Chapter 405. For the End (3) (1/2)
Yun Seohui signed the contract and passed the pile of papers to the left.
The middle-aged man, neatly dressed in a suit, bit his lower lip.
But he couldn’t possibly resist as his boss had already signed before him.
Finally, the man took the pen out of his pocket and signed the contract papers.
The same thing repeated. The next recipient signed the documents and handed them over to the person next to him.
As the pile of contracts moved from left to right, Seol Jihu and Kim Hannah stared at Yun Seohui.
They pretended to be calm, but the truth was that they were confused.
They had spent days without any sleep preparing for this meeting, so it felt strange that Yun Seohui accepted their terms without a single objection.
‘Could it be that….’
With a light frown, Kim Hannah carefully went over Yun Seohui’s words in her head.
[Sinyoung made a tentative conclusion concerning this case a few days ago.]
This meant that Sinyoung had already reached a decision, even before this meeting.
This was proven by the fact that Sinyoung’s executives were signing the contracts without any resistance, although their faces did look grim.
‘But why?’
But this logical conclusion confused her even more.
The Yun Seohui is surrendering without putting up even a token resistance? Really?
As new questions arose, the pile of contracts reached the far right, and when the last person finished signing, it was delivered back to Yun Seohui.
Yun Seohui checked the documents one by one and handed the pile over to her assistant.
Seol Jihu looked down at the pile of contracts that Yun Seohui’s assistant had carefully placed before him.
Flip, flip! He quickly flipped through the papers, his eyes scanning the signatures, before raising his head again to look at Yun Seohui.
“There’s something I want to tell you if you don’t mind.”
Their eyes met and Yun Seohui gave a weak smile.
“It might be a little, no, a lot childish, but… Can I?”
Seol Jihu tossed her a little nod.
“We—I don’t hate Valhalla.”
She doesn’t hate Valhalla?
One of Seol Jihu’s eyebrows slowly lifted.
She was right. It did sound childish.
“I’ve never felt envy or hatred towards Valhalla, nor have I ever considered you my rival. Because the achievements Valhalla has made in recent years are not something that Sinyoung can match.”
Yun Seohui spoke in a low but articulate voice.
“Of course, I understand this is sudden and that it may be hard for you to believe me. I have no excuse for that. However….”
She let out a sigh and cleared her throat.
“If I really thought badly of you… I would have done something about it a long time ago. Not only in Paradise but also….”
Seol Jihu’s eyes sharpened.
Yun Seohui didn’t finish her sentence, but he heard the words she didn't say loud and clear.
‘But also on Earth.’
“People who have earned grudges in Paradise often face threats on Earth. It’s a very common occurrence.”
The atmosphere grew stifling, but Yun Seohui continued without a flinch.
“You wouldn’t know what happened or how many attempts have been made since the last banquet was held a few years ago, and since you started making a name for yourself in Paradise….”
Seol Jihu didn’t visit Earth often, but when he did, he never received any threat from anyone.
Yun Seohui was saying that Sinyoung had been protecting him all along.
“I’m not saying this to impress you or to convince you to go easy on me. I’m merely stating the fact that I had many chances to betray you, but I chose not to.”
A faint smile spread across Yun Seohui’s face.
“Because the thought has never once crossed my mind. I admired you, Representative of Valhalla, for all the incredible achievements you made for the sake of Paradise. I wanted to become your friend and help you in any way I could.”
She slowly lowered her gaze and continued.
“Of course, my opinion is mine alone…. There were a few people in Sinyoung who disagreed with me. I saw these people every day, but failed to notice what was going on inside their heads.”
Yun Seohui closed her eyes.
“In regards to that… I have no excuse to offer.”
“So I made my decision before this meeting to let you know my feelings and set the record straight.”
“Even if it means I have to accept every term that Valhalla offers.”
With that Yun Seohui slowly rose from her chair.
And she spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
She straightened her shoulders…
“I apologize for the distress and the hurt caused by the recent series of incidents.”
Clasped her hands in front of her waist…
“From now on, Sinyoung will do its best to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”
And starting at her head…
“And I promise in the name of God Invidia to faithfully fulfill the conditions set by Valhalla until your misunderstanding is resolved.”
She bowed 90 degrees, in a polite and humble manner.
*
Their meeting ended much earlier than they had expected.
Seol Jihu tried his best to stay alert until the end, but Yun Seohui’s subsequent remarks made him feel like he was overreacting.
Yun Seohui promised to get signatures from each of Sinyoung’s employees, and with several executives, she took the time to apologize to each member of Valhalla.
In the end, she shook hands with Seol Jihu, and, with a shy smile, asked if they could finally be friends.
Before leaving, Seol Jihu observed Yun Seohui with his Innate Ability.
She was still shining in five colors, like the last time he saw her.
But more importantly….
[5. Level of Cognition]—Enterprising (Takes the initiative in achieving one’s goal)—Given up—Chaotic (Many things are jumbled up and is impossible to unravel)
The second slot of her Level of Cognition, which represented the emotion she was currently experiencing, stated ‘given up’.
What exactly had Yun Seohui given up during this meeting?
Seol Jihu couldn’t find the answer to that question even after the meeting was over.
On their way back, the members of Valhalla were all in high spirits.
The Sinyoung had given in to their demands. How could they not be glad that it was over?
“Hey, did you see that? Did you? Sinyoung’s executive director just bowed to us!”
“Bastards. That’ll teach them not to mess with us.”
Chohong and Hugo cackled merrily.
“I don’t know. Something did feel a little off…. When I was in White Rose, I never imagined something like this could happen.”
Phi Sora seemed skeptical and a little worried.
Hugo tilted his head in question.
“What’s wrong? She apologized. And she’s super pretty.”
“Look, if a pretty face could automatically earn forgiveness, I’d be making a living as a notorious criminal by now.”
“But she signed the agreement. Which means she can’t mess with us now, right? Because of the consequences.”
“Well, yes….”
Even Phi Sora couldn’t find any fault with that.
“I mean, she did swear on her god as a priest…. And our representative basically backed her into a corner…. Makes me think she’s smart, though I’m still not sure if her apology was sincere.”
She shrugged, concluding that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep an eye on Yun Seohui for a while.
“…”
Oh Rahee stood staring at the Scheherazade Palace with cold eyes.
One of her eyebrows raised slightly to reveal her annoyance.
She stared and stared until their carriages arrived, then felt Seol Jihu’s gaze and turned towards him.
“What?”
“What are you thinking about?”
“…Nothing.”
Oh Rahee ran a hand through her hair with a sigh.