Become A Star

Chapter 19

As he scrolled, Cha Hyun-Seung found a familiar name under the economic column and subconsciously clicked on it.

<XX Group's Planning Director Park Ji-Hyuk returns to Korea with his wife after 8 years. Is this the beginning of a full-fledged succession battle?>

The article started off with how Park Ji-Hyuk and his wife left to study abroad after their marriage and the numerous achievements he had accumulated at the New York branch. Due to these successful achievements under his belt, he was now transferred back to XX Group's headquarters. Back during college days, he had not been interested in the management of a financial group, but now, he had the look of an ambitious businessman. If the article did not have a photo of Park Ji-Hyuk, Cha Hyun-Seung would never have known that the ambitious looking Park Ji-Hyuk was the Park Ji-Hyuk he knew. On top of that, the unfamiliar woman standing next to Park Ji-Hyuk was the granddaughter of a media conglomerate.

All the articles that wrote favorably about Park Ji-Hyuk were from said conglomerate. It was strange since 10 years ago, Park Ji-Hyuk and Na Mi-Yeon were certainly dating each other. Faced with strong opposition from his family, they had suddenly disappeared from school one day. After hearing the rumors about them eloping, he had not heard any other news about them. Nobody had talked about 'so what happened to them after?', and he had never asked about their whereabouts, but he now knew what had become of their elopement. Perhaps, their dream-like "romantic" escape had ended in failure.

However, Cha Hyun-Seung's thoughts were cut short by his phone ringing. As he took the call, the voice of his teaching assistant forcefully shoved him back into reality.

- Professor, the food here is really bad!

Upon hearing his assistant whine about the food, the corners of Cha Hyun-Seung's mouth upturned slightly. His assistant had gone down to the university where his seminar was to be held in advance to make some preparations.

- When you're here, don't go straight to the school and have your lunch somewhere else. There are so many good restaurants in Busan. How can the food in this school taste so bad?

His teaching assistant, who had a reputation as a gourmet, began to recite every single famous food in Busan. He had even urged Cha Hyun-Seung to fill their three-day-two-night seminar schedule with a food tour. As he was amazed by the teaching assistant's speech and behavior, which he could have never imagined himself doing back when he was a teaching assistant, he hung up the phone and pondered about whether or not he was too easygoing. As he put his phone in his pocket, light reflected from the wedding ring on Cha Hyun-Seung's left hand.

When he got off the train, he took a taxi to the university. After he had arrived, he suddenly remembered what his teaching assistant had said earlier and decided to have lunch at a restaurant nearby. He was not craving any specific food, so he looked around and saw a dwaejigukbap [1] restaurant. Remembering that it was one of the must-eat foods in Busan according to his teaching assistant, he went into the restaurant without hesitation.

"Welcome."

It was after lunch time, so the restaurant was rather peaceful and empty. A woman, who was either the owner of the restaurant or just someone who worked there, walked him to his seat carrying a child on her back.

"Table for one? Just one serving of pork bone rice soup?"

Not thinking much, Cha Hyun-Seung simply nodded his head until he realized the voice sounded familiar. Lifting his head, he made eye contact with Na Mi-Yeon, who had a cheap perm. For a moment, he was not sure if she was Na Mi-Yeon herself, or just someone who looked like her. In his unsureness, he heard her voice again.

"Do you want boiled pork slices too?"

It was definitely Na Mi-Yeon. As Cha Hyun-Seung nodded slowly, she smiled brightly, and yelled towards the kitchen.