Stunned to hear Hyunwoo’s sudden cancellation of the appointments for the next 15 days’, his chief secretary dissuaded him.

But Hyunwoo cut off his words and said, “No.”

He was determined to cancel every appointment including the one with the President. Nobody was more important than Yu Zuung.

And the President was Wonju Ha, who was the chief of the ruling party until recently. Hyunwoo used to keep good relations with him as they joined hands to expel corrupt politicians until recently.

“Let me call the President tomorrow. Is there any other appointment that you can’t cancel at your level? You won’t be able to contact me starting tomorrow.”

“Oh, really? Wait a minute. Let me double-check now.”

“Just text me after you confirm it.”

Hyunwoo hung off the phone.

Yu Zuung stopped sobbing, and looked at her, with tears welled in her eyes.

“Don’t do that, please. I’m sorry. I’ll never sob again.”

Hyunwoo felt all the sorrier when she said that.

“No, I should have done this much earlier. I should have spent more time with you. My decision is too late. Anyway, let’s go on a trip.”

“But you have a lot of responsibility in your position. What about your ongoing projects?

“There are other people who can take care of the work on my behalf.”

That was true. Hyunwoo wanted to delegate to his trusted subordinates much of his authority.

That’s why he tried to install a CEO at each of his companies. Kyungsu Han and Sanggyu Maeng and James Lee were installed as co-presidents of Ani & Funny, and Songjong Kim, Juhwan Moon, and Sungrak Sohn took charge of KOVE DREAM.

Hyunwoo also had someone in the CEO position at Haenim School, Samryong Motors and Sinsung University.

In some respects, Hyunwoo’s 15-day travel would provide an opportunity for them to show their management skills.

Stroking her face, Hyunwoo said, “You’re the most precious one to me.”

But she still seemed nervous.

“I don’t feel comfortable, though. Please turn on your cell phone. You might have a really important call from someone. I think I can feel a little more comfortable if you do so.”

“If you want it, I will turn it on.”

While he was turning it on, Hyunwoo had a text message from his secretary.

According to the message, Hyunwoo set up dozens of appointments for the next 15 days. Among them were appointments that he should not cancel.

But Hyunwoo didn’t think such appointments were too important to cancel. He already canceled the appointment with the President.

But Yu Zuung pleaded, “Why don’t we have a trip next time? Please keep the appointments you already have made. You don’t have to make any more after that.”

He smiled at her and then called the chief secretary.

“Tell manager Kyungsu to take care of all my appointments for Ani & Funny. And the matter of production of the new car models…”

He asked the heads of each factory to manage the production line while he was absent.

Though the chief secretary asked him to think twice, Hyunwoo was adamant. Instead, he gave in when it came to his cell phone.

“Let me turn my cell phone on. If you have important business to report to me, send me a text. But don’t send me more than ten texts. If you do, I’ll turn off the cell phone.”

“Got it. How many bodyguards do you need?’

“None. I’ll go on a trip with my wife alone.”

“No, you can’t, sir. Never.” The chief secretary was very stubborn this time, “Why did you hire me if you don’t want to listen to me? Please fire me first if you want to ignore my advice. You should have bodyguards come with you under any circumstances.”

Yu Zuung took side with him, whispering to Hyunwoo to agree.

“Okay, then. Send only four including one lady bodyguard for my wife. As I don’t want my trip disturbed, please make sure they will not be noticed by us.”

“Got it.”

After the call, Hyunwoo smiled at Yu Zuung with a lovely look.

“Where shall we go?”

“Any place is fine.”

“How about traveling around the country without any particular schedule? We can go to any mountain, river, or island randomly.”

“That might be interesting!” said Yu Zuung with excitement.

Hyunwoo felt he needed some preparation to make the trip more enjoyable. As Yu Zuung was in her mid-30s, she might prefer a pleasant trip, given the choice.

Hyunwoo felt it a bit burdensome to prepare for the trip.

So, he called the chief secretary to secure some preparation items for the trip.

“Can you prepare a camping car for us? And fishing rods, too.”

“Sure. Let me have the car ready tomorrow morning.”

“I’m afraid the media will chase me then. I would rather have it on Anmyon Island.”

Hyunwoo gave him several instructions.

The next day, he went out of the house. It seemed nobody paid any attention to Hyunwoo’s secret trip with her.

But many people began to ask about Hyunwoo’s whereabouts.

The gossip started to come out of those who were supposed to see him at the appointments. It spread quickly when Hyunwoo didn’t appear at all the events he originally planned to attend.

“Why did he cancel the schedule suddenly?”

“Is he sick? He was as fit as a fiddle yesterday.”

“Does he have a hidden agenda?”

As the strange rumors about him began to spread, the chief secretary stepped in.

“He went on a trip with his wife, saying he needed to take a break.”

But nobody took it at face value. It was just nonsensical that such an important businessman like Hyunwoo went on a trip without any notice.

And he has never done it before.

Many people naturally began to suspect that the chief secretary was lying.

And their wild imagination about his whereabouts was endless. Someone even said he had been attacked by a terrorist.

Though such a rumor was groundless, it spread as if it was true.

“How could somebody dare terrorize him? He is liked not only in this country but also around the world, as you know.”

“You don’t know anything. Don’t you know that the oil prices around the world are falling deeply because of Hyunwoo’s Paekdu Project?”

In fact, that was true. As it was forecast that the car fuel such as gasoline, diesel, and Bunker C oil would be unnecessary in the near future, the oil producers in the Middle East increased their oil production drastically, apparently to make more money now.

On the other hand, the oil dealers wanted to purchase oil as late as possible, anticipating that the oil prices would keep dropping.

As a result, oil prices dropped every day. The economies of the oil-producing countries were shaken by the success of the Paekdu Project.

In that situation, it was plausible to think that Hyunwoo might be terrorized by someone.

“Oh, that makes sense. He might be in big trouble.”

“What is the government doing to protect him? What if he loses his life in a terrorist attack?”

However, Hyunwoo was enjoying a wonderful vacation with Yu Zuung on Anmyon Island. During the day, he enjoyed riding bikes with her, and in the evening both enjoyed the fantastic atmosphere of the island over wine.

He didn’t watch TV intentionally. He even put his cellphone and laptop away.

Then he noticed a shocking text message from his secretary.

Hyunwoo was dumbfounded.

With a perplexed look, Yu Zuung asked, “What the heck is this? Why don’t you turn on the TV?”

“Sure.”

Late in the evening, they watched TV.

Only then did they get to watch the coverage of the ludicrous terrorism rumor about him.

National broadcasting networks prudently dealt with the wild rumors about him. They just briefly mentioned it but didn’t elaborate as it was speculative without any specific evidence.

But cable TV networks went too far in their reports. Some even invited terror experts to analyze how Hyunwoo was terrorized by whom and for what.

Yu Zuung just giggled at that, brushing it off as speculative stories.

But Hyunwoo took it seriously.

Though he didn’t reveal his genuine feelings to her because she might be worried, his heart sank when he saw that news about him on TV.

‘That kind of wild rumor about me can spread, of course.’