The fallout from the gala was a cold war. Jin-woo was impeccable, professional, and utterly remote. He answered emails with chilling efficiency, delivered reports of flawless depth, and attended meetings with the detached focus of a highly paid consultant. He had erected a glass wall between them, stronger and more impenetrable than any office partition.
Ha-ru was drowning in the silence. He tried to bridge it, leaving a cup of the tea Jin-woo liked on his desk, sending a tentative message about a new marine policy paper. The tea grew cold. The message was answered with a single, polite sentence about its relevance to LX's offshore operations.
