Chapter 31 - Escalators, Splashdowns.

The bright morning sun cast a brilliant glare over the Gangnam apartment block as Kim Seo-ah and Ma Ha-rin stood frozen before their wide-open bedroom wardrobes, their faces contorted in total, absolute panic [Ch. 41, 46]. The immense weight of tonight's high-stakes grand engagement dinner with the terrifying 'Grand Guy' grandfather and strict father hit their chests like a physical blow, throwing their thoughts into a chaotic frenzy [Ch. 44, 46]."Ugh, this is an absolute, unmitigated fashion crisis, Rin!" Seo-ah groaned through her teeth, frantically yanking down silk blouses and formal skirts, tossing them onto the bed sheets until her entire cupboard was completely, utterly empty. "Nothing inside this wardrobe holds the exact right elite family charts or proper dignity parameters to meet his billionaire grandfather today [Ch. 44]!""My brain is completely fried too, Kim!" Ha-rin yelled out in a high, squeaky frequency of total stress, kicking a stray shoe aside [Ch. 41, 45]. "Everything I own looks entirely too casual or too plain for a luxury penthouse ! Come on, leave this mess behind, our boots are mandatory heading straight down to the grand luxury mall plaza to shop for fresh outfits right now [Ch. 45]!"They flagged down a public taxi, sprinting toward the sprawling, high-end commercial shopping center downtown [Ch. 43]. For an entire hour, the two girls restlessly scoured row after row of premium designer boutiques, their eyes scanning countless rows of luxury gowns and tailored dresses under the bright gallery lights. Yet, despite searching the entire catalog floor, their sharp manager minds completely failed to find a single piece that perfectly matched their tastes or sat comfortably with their anxious hearts."This is completely useless," Seo-ah sighed heavily, massaging her throbbing temples in defeat [Ch. 39]. "We have absolutely zero time left to waste. Our fingers need to pick up our smartphones and dial our partners' mobile lines immediately! Let's drag Sun-woo and Hyun-woo down to this mall floor to choose the exact dresses their family elders expect [Ch. 41, 46]!"Within twenty minutes, Mr. Choi Sun-woo and Dr. Choi Hyun-woo arrived at the luxury shopping plaza floor, their long strides moving rapidly across the marble tiles as they greeted their partners with warm, adoring glances [Ch. 41, 45]. The twin brothers didn't waste a single microsecond; they stepped smoothly inside the elite dress racks, utilizing their sharp visual criteria to select two breathtaking, jaw-dropping formal dresses that perfectly emphasized their partners' elegance.As the girls happily accepted the selected wardrobes and headed toward the fitting rooms, the CEO and the senior surgeon gracefully took over the manual labor, hoisting a massive stack of shopping bags, luxury boxes, and purse handles into their own hands, following behind their women like absolute, lovestruck helpers [Ch. 41, 46].[INT. LUXURY MALL PLAZA – CONTINUOUS – DAY]While the group was walking smoothly past the central atrium corridor toward the exit gates, Ma Ha-rin's sharp vision casually, idly darted straight toward the massive silver escalator bank rising right in front of their path.Her jaw completely dropped straight to the marble floorboards, her dark eyes popping out in a wave of total, paralyzing corporate terror.Descending slowly down the moving escalator stairs, chatting loudly about the standard office reports, was a large group of their exact same creative department office colleagues from Hanseong Architecture Company [Ch. 23, Ch. 39]!"OH MY GOD!!! STOP THE TIMELINE!!!" Ha-rin lost her mind in a massive, catastrophic panic, whispering frantically through her teeth as her survival instincts violently kicked in [Ch. 41, Ch. 44]. "THE CREATIVE OFFICE STAFF IS RIGHT THERE ON THE ESCALATOR!!! THEY ARE LOOKING STRAIGHT AT OUR COORDINATES!!!"Before Kim Seo-ah's manager brain could even process the data, Ha-rin reached out her hands aggressively, grabbing the lapels of Mr. Sun-woo's expensive tailored suit and forcing his broad frame to duck low behind a large decorative marble pillar layout with her, while Seo-ah frantically grabbed Dr. Hyun-woo's arm to pull his tall body into the tight shadow of a nearby clothing rack display to stay completely hidden from view [Ch. 41, Ch. 44]."Why on earth are our bodies crouching flat inside these clothes racks like guilty thieves, Sun-woo?!" Dr. Hyun-woo hissed back harshly through his teeth, his face burning bright pink as he tried to adjust his grip on the heavy shopping bags [Ch. 44, Ch. 46]. "What exactly is going on with this sudden hiding strategy?!""Please shut your vocal cords down for a single second, Doctor!" Seo-ah whispered back furiously, her face completely flustered as her eyes tracked the office colleagues moving past the glass storefront layout [Ch. 44]. "If those gossipy coworkers from our design floor spot our builds shopping together while our big billionaire corporate boss Director and my elite surgeon doctor are submissively carrying our shopping bags like fools, a massive, unstoppable wave of corporate rumors will explode across the entire headquarters building tomorrow morning [Ch. 33, Ch. 41]! It will completely ruin our office privacy!""She is completely right, bro, stay low," Sun-woo murmured softly, his executive mask neat as he pulled Ha-rin closer into his personal space behind the pillar, his heart racing with intense, protective affection [Ch. 41, Ch. 45].The four of them held their breath in absolute, suffocating silence inside the shadows until the laughter of the architectural staff members completely faded away down the long exit corridor lanes. Once the field coordinates were fully cleared of target employees, Ma Ha-rin let out a massive, breathing-heavy sigh of pure relief, adjusting her dress [Ch. 44]."Alright, the office target lines have successfully passed," Ha-rin laughed softly through her teeth, a wide grin breaking across her face as she looked at Sun-woo's flustered executive profile [Ch. 41]. "Don't worry about the secrecy for too long, guys. The absolute milestone second this intense family dinner concludes and our blessings are fully locked down tonight, our lips will personally, comfortably reveal the entire relationship database to all of our office friends together AFTER TIME [Ch. 46]! Let's hit the highway road now."