Next day, Song Ji Hun and Kiaraa headed to the start-up event.

They were respectfully received by the event managers.

Kiaraa started her own start-up at the young age of twenty years and within five years, her company reached a very high position.

Her business is currently stable and is one of the top start-ups in the country.

Although Song Ji Hun is in charge of the Song Business world, in the last few years, he invested in many potential start-ups that are doing extremely well.

He is known to have an eye to identify the growing companies and to perfectly judge which start-up indeed has a future in this market and which does not.

That's how Song Ji Hun and Kiaraa ended up being the esteemed judges in this event.

This event was divided into two days.

Today, they'll judge sixteen teams and the next day, they'll judge sixteen other teams.

It was a well planned, busy event.

The whole day passed by with all the judges keenly listening to the presentations and ideas of the young talent, who came up with different business ideas.

Some teams even presented prototypes of their ideas.

The judges totally grilled these teams to get the best out of them and it was late night by the time the sixteen teams were done.

Kiaraa and Song Ji Hun headed straight to their room as they both were exhausted.

"Can we order room delivery?" Kiaraa asked him, looking tired.

"Yeah"

Song Ji Hun and Kiaraa placed their order and they both went to their respective washrooms to have a bath.

By the time they came out, their dinner was delivered and they ate together discussing the teams they judged today.

Kiaraa shared which ideas she liked and so did Song Ji Hun. He even expressed his interest in investing in one or two start-ups.

After their dinner, Kiaraa and Song Ji Hun headed to the gallery and continued their conversation.

Song Ji Hun took out a cigarette to smoke and he noticed Kiaraa longingly looking at it.

"You smoke?" He offered her a fresh cigarette.

"Occasionally, when I am stressed" Kiaraa accepted the cigarette.

They both looked over at the beautiful city, while silently smoking.

After they were done, they bid adieu and went to their rooms to sleep.

Next day was the same, as they judged the other sixteen teams and it was late night by the time it was over.

All the judges were supposed to leave in the evening but since things didn't go as planned, the event planners extended their stay for one more night and postponed their flights to early morning the next day.

After dinner, Kiaraa and Song Ji Hun sat on the couch, having some casual business talk while sipping on some champagne, which they got as a complement from the hotel.

"I always knew you would do something amazing in life but didn't expect you to reach such great heights so early," Kiaraa stated.

"I still didn't reach great heights. There is still a lot to do" Song Ji Hun calmly replied.

"So ambitious" Kiaraa teased him.

"Aren't you the same?" He countered her.

"I am" Kiaraa didn't deny.

"When are you planning to take over the Lee Conglomerate?" Song Ji Hun casually asked her.

"By the end of this year"

"I am surprised it didn't happen sooner" Song Ji Hun expected her to take over Lee Conglomerate just like how he took over his business.

"That was initially the plan but then I felt online shopping is an emerging marketing and not many people tapped into it yet. There was a huge potential in this area. Lee Conglomerate isn't running away anywhere but if I don't build something out of what I thought of, somebody else will. Therefore, I focused on first building my own business" Kiaraa impressed Song Ji Hun with her explanation.

"And you managed to do so well. Cheers to that" Song Ji Hun raised his glass as a toast.

Kiaraa smiled at him, "Honestly the first few years were tough. I was dipped in losses. Eventually, I started gaining profits."

"That's how it is whenever you start a new business. It is stable now, that's what matters" Song Ji Hun assured her.

"Seems like Mr Song follows news on my business" Kiaraa naughtily smiled at him.

"Hmm, after all it is the business started by the girl, I mentored at one point" Song Ji Hun came up with a safe reasoning.

"Hey, you do remember it?" Kiaraa was very happy that Song Ji Hun remembered it.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"I thought it was something not so important for you" Kiaraa stated as a matter of fact.

"If it wasn't something important then I wouldn't have invested so much time"

"Oh really? Why was it important for you? I mean, you got no benefit out of it" Kiaraa was confused by his choice of words.

Song Ji Hun didn't answer her immediately, he calmly took a sip from his champagne glass before looking at Kiaraa.

"I saw a strong potential in you. If I could help you improve and be a better businesswoman, then why not?"

What he truly wished to say was, he was in love with her and therefore he wants to provide her with everything she wants but he didn't dare do so.

Kiaraa smiled hearing his response and she replied, "You know what, Mr Song?"

"Hmm"

"Over the years, I met with so many people and dealt with them that I know when a person is telling the truth and when they are lying."

"Is that so?" Song Ji Hun calmly asked unaffected by what she was implying.

"Yeah, and right now I know what you said is a lie. It is not the truth." Kiaraa confidently said.

Song Ji Hun chuckled, "Then you tell me what the truth is"

"That is exactly what I am not able to figure out" Kiaraa tried to see through this man, but she wasn't able to.

"Fine, take your time and figure it out by yourself" Song Ji Hun replied.

"So, you do accept you lied earlier?" Kiaraa caught him.

Song Ji Hun nodded his head and didn't deny the truth, "Yeah, I lied"

"Then what's the truth? Why did you help me so selflessly?" Kiaraa didn't expect Song Ji Hun would actually accept the truth.

"Why don't you figure it out by yourself? You can come up with all possible reasons and I'll confirm which one's the truth" Song Ji Hun was having fun.

"What if you lie?" Kiaraa doubtfully raised her eyebrows.

"You are experienced enough to caught on a person's lie, so what are you worried about?" This time Song Ji Hun teased her making Kiaraa laugh.

"What if I am never able to figure it out?" Kiaraa asked him.

"Try to figure out by your next birthday. If you are not able to figure out by then, I'll answer you myself" Song Ji Hun suggested and Kiaraa loved his idea.

"That's a nice assurance"

"But you need to try sincerely" Song Ji Hun warned her and she agreed to it.

After they were done completing the champagne bottle.

Kiaraa and Song Ji Hun realised they were borderline drunk.

"I think I'll take leave tomorrow, I am slightly drunk" Kiaraa said.

"I am postponing my flight to evening, you want to do the same?" Song Ji Hun asked her as he too was a bit drunk and he was sure he won't make it to the early morning flight.

The event planners gave them the option to reschedule their flight as per their convenience.

"Wow, it is a good suggestion. Yes please postpone my flight too" Kiaraa handed her flight details to Ji Hun as she was a bit too drunk to reschedule her flight.

Since they were flying in the same flight, Song Ji Hun easily rescheduled it.

"Done"

"Thank you so much" Kiaraa stood up to leave for her room, but she lost her balance and almost fell down but Song Ji Hun caught her on time, wrapping his hands around her waist and she ended up falling on his lap.

Kiaraa was sitting on his lap and in reflex she held on his shoulders to balance herself.

Currently, her face was exactly in front of his and they both looked at each other in daze.

Song Ji Hun never saw Kiaraa this closely except for the time, when he almost kissed her during a treasure hunt game.

It has been years to that, and Kiaraa right now looked more matured and more beautiful.

He could clearly see every feature of hers. Her big, beautiful eyes. The perfectly carved eyebrows, her small tiny nose and when his eyes travelled down, it stuck on her plump pink lips.

Kiaraa barely puts on any make up, and seeing this natural beauty in front of him, whom he had been in love with for past sixteen years, Song Ji Hun felt like he was losing control over himself.