Chapter 13 : Human resource power

Perhaps it was thanks to his success in persuading Miley. David, with a slightly more relaxed expression, bantered.

“What would you like for dinner?”

“I don’t care.”

“Hmm, okay. How about sushi?”

At David’s suggestion, Miley replied with an annoyed tone.

“I don’t care what I eat as long as it’s a quiet place. I’ll have to take digestive medicine no matter what I eat anyway.”

It was a blatant, nasty remark, implying she would get indigestion eating with him.

But David simply shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

“Then let’s go with sushi.”

Miley raised her eyes at the simple decision.

“Why?”

“Well, because I like it.”

“It does look like CEO Kim would enjoy eating raw food.”

David ignored Miley’s sarcasm and took out his smartphone. Then he made a reservation for two at a famous sushi restaurant he had recently discovered.

Soon, a reservation notification popped up on the screen.

Seeing it, David suddenly felt a slight pang of heartache.

These kinds of delicious restaurants should be enjoyed leisurely on days when something good happens, but with a companion like this, he really might have to buy some digestive medicine himself.

‘Ugh. This is really a shame.’

David Kim, a gourmet who never revisits a restaurant within at least a month, was truly saddened by the fact that he had to use up such a place on a day like this.

But right now, he was the one in need. It couldn’t be helped. And besides, if he didn’t use such a good restaurant on a day like today, when would he ever use it?

‘I’ll just think of it as business entertainment and make a little sacrifice.’

With that conclusion in mind, David looked at Miley, who still seemed displeased.

“I’ve made a reservation. Let’s go in my car.”

“Hearing that makes me want to call a taxi. Can’t we just take separate cars and go separately?”

“Don’t be unnecessarily stubborn.”

Having said that, David Kim took the sullen-looking Miley down to the apartment’s underground parking lot.

Instead of calling his driver, who would be enjoying a happy leisure time at home after work, and making him work overtime, David Kim took the wheel himself and drove smoothly.

As they exited the parking lot and crossed the Seongsu Bridge, the bright and dazzling night view of Seoul passed by.

David Kim kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, then glanced at the rearview mirror. He saw Miley, sitting with her long legs crossed like a model, looking out the window.

“……I know it’s a bit late to say this after we’ve already left, but why on earth are you sitting in the back?”

“Is there a problem?”

“I’m not your subordinate.”

Despite making a perfectly reasonable point, Miley simply scoffed.

“There’s no reason why I shouldn’t sit here, either.”

What the hell is she talking about?

Normally, David would have gotten angry or ignored Miley the moment she started picking a fight with that kind of attitude.

But now, David was dimly aware of the existence of a cheat code that could tame the haughty butler.

David murmured in a subtle voice.

“Hmm, is that so? But, honestly, I think the only one qualified to sit in that seat is our ‘Chairman’. It seems the butler has a different opinion than I do?”

Miley’s composure cracked.

“……Pull over to the side of the road, right now.”

Good, it works.

David smiled at the fact that his strategy had worked. Could he use this method to tame that out-of-control butler in the future? He saw some hope.

-Screech

As soon as David pulled over to the side of the road, Miley hurriedly got out of the back seat. Then she yanked open the passenger door and hastily sat in the passenger seat.

As the car started, Miley’s face crumpled.

“Goodness. This seat smells even worse.”

“I apologize for that. I vape, so there might be some smell.”

Having answered that, David suddenly tilted his head.

“But the smell would have been in the back seat too.”

“I wasn’t talking about the smell of e-cigarettes.”

Only then did David remember what she called him. Just in case, he sniffed his suit, but it didn’t seem to smell particularly bad.

“Please refrain, because you’re like an orc, and it makes me want to vomit.”

That’s really harsh. But an orc?

“……Um, you mean that monster from The Lord of the Rings?”

It’s a pretty old book, but you know about it.

Miley then said something cryptic.

“Well, the color is a bit different, though.”

With that, Miley looked out the window again. David focused on driving and glanced at her.

‘It’s fascinating, really.’

Honestly, Miley was a truly perfect person.

She had the looks to jump into the modeling world right away, and the intelligence to graduate from a Grande École. Her own assets weren’t small, and her family was also well-off.

So why, despite having such overwhelming qualifications, did she insist on being a mere butler?

It wasn’t that he looked down on the profession of being a butler, but in the end, it was still a job that involved taking care of someone else.

Even though Seongwon offered a considerable salary for a butler, someone with her abilities had no reason to work under someone else and clean up after them.

And she wasn’t just playing the role of a butler, was she? She was practically taking care of Seongwon’s entire life. Because Seongwon was so utterly incapable of taking care of herself.

It couldn’t be a relationship based on them having a good rapport.

‘They’re not just compatible.’

That kind of expression couldn’t explain it.

‘They know each other, too well.’

It was as if they had built trust over a very long time.

Of course, that was impossible.

Their meeting at the interview was the first time they had met. As far as he knew, there was no connection between them. Well, unless something like a connection from a past life actually existed.

But the way Miley treated Seongwon, her tone, the strange actions she sometimes showed, etc. It all didn’t feel like a normal employer-employee relationship.

‘It’s like…… the relationship between a lord and a vassal.’

The way she behaved had already surpassed the level of loyalty.

It was practically the appearance of devoting herself wholeheartedly, risking her life.

Why would she go that far?

David Kim himself had a reason.

He was living a second life by entering under Seongwon. He was wielding an overwhelming amount of money at will, incomparably more than when he was a hedge fund manager or managing private banking.

But what did Miley Mackie receive?

Did she receive something that great?

After thinking for a long time, David carefully opened his mouth.

“Ms. Mackie.”

“What is it? Suddenly calling me by my last name is a bit……”

“Can I ask you a question?”

Perhaps sensing the seriousness in his voice, Miley, who was about to start another argument, slowly closed her mouth.

David carefully chose the words to say. Originally, the story David wanted to bring up with Miley today was not in this form at all.

But why?

He felt like he had to ask this now.

“Why are you so devoted?”

“……”

At that question, Miley remained silent for a long time.

David Kim slowly revealed his inner thoughts.

“Actually. The Chairman scolded me today. I committed an act so presumptuous that I couldn’t even make an excuse.”

Saying it out loud made him feel a bit bitter.

Thinking about it, if he had understood Seongwon’s way of thinking, he would never have said what he did.

‘Well, maybe I’m not in a position to talk about others either.’

David Kim laughed self-deprecatingly.

“To put it in a way that’s easy to understand, I crossed the center line and drove in the wrong direction. I didn’t hit anyone, but I broke the established line, the rules.”

“Hmm.”

“Probably any other super-rich person would have fired me on the spot. Maybe they would have tried to destroy my career and bury me in the industry out of spite.”

Miley’s eyes widened slightly at those words.

“Is that so?”

“Of course. They have a lot of money, and their pride is even greater than the money they have.”

It wasn’t just an exaggeration.

David Kim had clearly seen how ugly, disgusting, and sometimes cruel monsters with unmanageable wealth could be.

Even more so to people like him.

“But, the Chairman gave me a chance.”

Just like she had given to Deputy Manager Cha.

No, it couldn’t be said that Deputy Manager Cha had done anything seriously wrong to Seongwon, so the weight of mercy bestowed upon David was surely heavier than that given to Deputy Manager Cha.

“Honestly, I still don’t understand the Chairman’s way of thinking. I still don’t understand why she gave me a second chance.”

Of course, it’s not something I should say, having received the chance.

With that, silence fell in the car.

After a while.

In the quiet car, Miley’s voice rang out.

“The advice I can give you is…… that the Master is like the sun. Actually, I’m not sure if this can be called proper advice.”

“……A metaphor? Shining brilliantly, something like that?”

“That’s obvious.”

Miley narrowed her eyes and then shook her head.

“What I’m talking about is gravity. Just as the sun holds the stars and makes them orbit around it, the Master has a certain charm, or power, to attract and hold people……”

“The metaphor is certainly a bit unusual. Attracting like gravity, huh……”

“You haven’t understood my words properly yet. I’m not just saying that she only attracts.”

Miley murmured in a slow but powerful voice.

“Do you think the stars held by the sun and endlessly orbiting around it will ever be able to escape its embrace?”

“……”

“That’s what I mean.”

The traffic light turned on, and the car that had been running for a while slowly came to a stop.

In the dark car. In a place where the only light came from the faint glow of the night view emanating from the forest of buildings.

David Kim slowly turned his head.

He murmured with a mixed expression that could be called absurd or smiling, it was hard to tell which.

“Well, it seems I’ve been caught too.”

Seongwon had proven herself.

That she was someone David Kim could devote his loyalty to.

Therefore, he was going to bet everything.

But, then.

“But, then why are you devoted?”

To that question, Miley answered simply.

“I think you already know the answer. Don’t you?”

Only then did David burst into laughter.

“That’s right.”

The traffic light changed, and the car moved forward.

More, more vigorously than before.