The wind on the 40th floor of the Helios Hotel was biting, but Kang Si-woo didn't feel the cold. He was ice itself. Dressed in a bespoke suit that cost more than a mid-range car, he watched the lights of Seoul with boredom. To him, those lights were just numbers, profits, and expansion. He hated parties. He hated the scent of expensive perfumes and the fake laughter echoing from the main ballroom below.
He walked to the darkest edge of the terrace, seeking silence. But the place wasn't empty.
Sitting on the marble floor, tucked away near a low wall, was a girl. She wore a light blue dress that seemed too large for her delicate frame. She wasn't wearing shoes. Beside her, a professional telescope was set up, pointing into the dark void above the buildings. She was rocking her body back and forth in a steady rhythm, her fingers tapping lightly on her knees.
Si-woo stopped. He expected her to jump, scream, or ask for an autograph like all the others. But Han Byeol-ha didn't even notice his presence. She was in another solar system.
"The floor is dirty," Si-woo said, his voice coming out raspy and cold as winter.
Byeol-ha didn't flinch. She just stopped rocking for a second. Her eyes remained fixed on the telescope lens.
"The dust here doesn't matter," she whispered, her voice so low it almost got lost in the wind. "Up there, everything is made of dust. We are too. If you stand there, you’ll block the angle of Refraction."
Si-woo frowned. No one had ever told him to get out of the way. "Do you know who I am?"
"An obstacle," she replied calmly, without looking at his face. "You are large, and you are standing in front of the light."
For the first time in years, the "Ice CEO" was speechless.
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