Geomancy couple

Chapter 93: Chapter 93

“Hey, do you know who has given me all this trouble?” asked Jina jokingly, lifting her gaze. “If I didn’t go to the Green Villa that day, I don’t think I would have been associated with this project.”

“I think you’re right,” Arum chimed in.

Looking back, they felt spent breathless days wrestling with this project. There were so many near-disasters leading up to Sola House’s completion. It was natural that they felt the project was special now that it was done.

The accessories that filled every nook and corner of the Sola House had various stories, too. The moments Arum spent selecting them with Hojoon came to her mind quickly.

“I would love to live in this house.”

She didn’t add that she meant she wanted to live there with Hojoon.

“What are you worried about? You told me your mother gave you a bankbook. I envy you, Arum.” Emptying the stone-cold mixed coffee, Jina looked at Arum with envy. “200 million won? That’s a huge amount. What about tax? Except for the tax?”

“I found a lawyer’s business card in the bankbook.”

“Wow, your mother seems to be thorough in what she is doing. That’s the power of love. If you sell your current villa and add that money, you can move into a big house.”

Arum asked, “Do you know how much an average apartment unit in Seoul costs these days?”

“No idea. How about using the 200 million won to buy one?”

“Well, I can only rent an apartment unit, or buy an old apartment unit built 50 years ago with that money. It would cost more to remodel such a house.”

Arum’s realistic answer broke Jina’s illusion, “Hey, Arum, just enjoy the money. How long does it take to make 200 million won?”

“Thank God. I don’t want to touch the money. I’m going to give it back to her when she comes to Seoul. I don’t think she’s going to settle in Japan.”

“She said she was getting married, didn’t she?”

“Well, they could get divorced.”

“Oh my goodness! How can you curse your mother like that? Do you really want your mother to get divorced?”

“No, that’s not what I mean, but that can happen realistically.”

Hojoon came in with the staff of his company after lunch.

“Did you hear from the headquarters of Sola Electronics?” Hojoon asked Jina.

“It’s about time for them to arrive. It looks like our team manager and the chief of the strategic planning team will come…”

As soon as Jina said that, the working-level team arrived. Stopping her work, Jina went out to greet them. She really moved fast.

“Wow, she is really serious about greeting her supervisors!”

Arum cracked a joke to Hojoon, but he had a stiff expression.

“It depends on who is her supervisor, I think,” Hojoon replied.

He answered with a heavy heart, watching carefully who was her supervisor today.

Arum also cast a glance toward the door of Sola House. Soran Cho was coming in.

Mixed between the male executive members, she was coming toward them, dressed in a black suit and wearing stilettos.

She was a totally different figure from when she came here at the start of the project. In the past, she was more womanly and elegant. After she survived her suicide attempt, Soran gained a vicious expression on her face.

Maybe that was an expression of her strong sense of betrayal towards Hojoon who forgot her completely.

As a woman, Arum could read the expressions on Soran’s face that others failed to notice.

Arum was worried. She got nervous that an unexpected situation could unfold.

With a worried look, she cast a glance at Hojoon.

“What? Are you worried about me?” he asked Arum first.

“Nope, why should I be?” she spoke vaguely, adding, “I’m not an employee here. I’m not worried.”

Though she made a smile with difficulty, she couldn’t hide her trembling fingers.

Though a guy called her boyfriend was standing beside her, Arum trembled all the more.

She looked up at Hojoon.

She could find no trace of longing for Soran or any other feelings in his face, but Soran was different. There was a strong sense of betrayal in her intense stare. At the same time, she had feelings of wariness about Arum.

Pushing aside the executive members, Soran came forward quickly and offered her hand to Arum.

“How are you, Reporter Yang?” She smiled, but Arum was embarrassed. Soran squeezed her hand tightly. Arum was surprised by her strength as well as her icy cold hand. “Hope I’m in good hands when you write about Sola House.”

Exchanging greetings with Arum, she shook Hojoon’s hand, “Representative Lee of the Famed House of Geomancy, I hear you are quite a capable businessman. Now, can you call this Sola House myongdang?”

Though she smiled, her voice burned like acid.

“Are you comfortable?” Hojoon asked.

“Well…”

“Myongdang depends on how you think about it. It looks like this place is not myongdang in your mind, Executive Director Cho,” said Hojoon calmly.

When the atmosphere became strange, Jina came forward and said, “I didn’t know you would come here in person.”

“Why didn’t you know?” While answering Jina’s question, Soran, known for a short fuse, looked at Hojoon. “I staked everything on this project. I’m going to take care of it in person. Now, let’s start.”

“Yes, madam.”

Jina escorted Soran and the working level members into the Sola House.

As expected, Soran was picky.

Arum could see Jina sweating while answering Soran’s detailed questions.

“This bed has no attractive points. It’s plain.”

Soran spoke, and her entourage members wrote down her instructions like children.

“Who is going to use these kinds of curtain these days?”

“Is this the only color?”

“It’s small. Is it because this model house is for newlyweds?”

“Geomancy, I don’t see it.”

To these kinds of questions, Jina offered only two answers.

“I’ll correct it.”

“Let me find it out.”

Following them, Arum noticed that Soran was finding fault with Jina on purpose.

Then Soran stopped at the veranda on the front of the living area. There were small flower pots there.

Folding her arms, she sneered and said, “Are newlyweds these days growing plants? Indoors? I’m afraid mayflies and ticks will be flying all over the house.”

Writing down her point in her notebook, Jina said that she would check it out.

Arum couldn’t help but laugh at Soran’s sarcastic comment.

She couldn’t understand what she wanted Jina to look into. They could grow plants indoors anytime when they felt like they wanted to.

This time Soran walked up to Arum with a sharp look.

“Sorry,” Arum said, who realized the tense atmosphere, but Sora was not satisfied with that.

“It looks like you’re making fun of my comment on the pots indoors. Oh, I know you have a fine sense of the interior, Reporter Yang.”

“No, no. Don’t misunderstand me. I just laughed while I was thinking about other things.”

Arum tried her best to cope with the situation, but Jina’s face already hardened.

“Misunderstood? No way. I’ve got a question, so I was going to ask for your advice,” Soran said, with an icy smile.

Arum responded with an awkward smile, too.

“Yes, as long as I can reply.”

Cutting off her remarks, Soran asked, “It seems the new products of Sola Electronics are overwhelmed by these flower pots here, so I wonder if it’s really necessary to put them over here. What do you think, Reporter Yang?”

Arum was put on the spot at the moment.

What should I do?

Her question was like Soran’s personal attack.

In fact, she purchased these pots with Hojoon when they stopped by a flower shop because its owner recommended that the plants were proper for growing indoors and had the effect of blocking fine dust and electric waves.

In fact, the combined size of the pot and plant was similar to a soccer ball, and plants were nothing harmful to the human body, to say the least.

Hojoon cut in, “I don’t think that’s her specialty. Let me explain.”

When Hojoon began to speak, Soran tried to cut off his word but he continued with his explanation.

“The concept of Sola House is geomancy for newlyweds. These days most newlyweds spend lots of time with machines. Their offices, their houses, cafes, and bars are all filled with machines. If you have access to plants in your house, your mind becomes purified and your romantic relationship with your partner improves, but there is one thing that is avoided in geomancy. You should never put a fully bloomed real flower beside your bed.”

That was a new tip.

“Flowers shine beautifully, absorbing the energy around them. In the couple’s bedroom, the main character is not a flower, but the newlyweds. If a flower takes away its energy, that is a problem. Instead, you should grow plants in the veranda that can play a buffering role between nature and their house.”