Chapter 10: After That Night

“I’ll drive you.”

“No need. You should head home for the day, Chief Seo.”

Before Junhwan could offer another response, Joyoon had already disappeared down the stairs.

Feeling dejected, Junhwan turned his gaze back to the table.

His eyes fell upon the solitary file folder left behind.

“Whether it’s you or me…”

Are we both just abandoned by our master?

Junhwan let out a faint sigh and picked up the documents.

There was nothing particularly unusual in the files he had reviewed before reporting.

It contained personal information for a total of five people.

Two of them had caught Ki Joyoon’s radar.

What on earth was the problem?

He felt he needed to confirm what had provoked the CEO’s ire.

The corners of the two pages Joyoon had flipped through repeatedly were notably crumpled.

Next to a handsome man’s identification photo, brief personal details were written.

[Kang Hae-jun, 29 years old.
Worked at the New York branch of Seojeon Trading.
Appointed as the Team Leader of the Strategic Planning Team at Seojeon Department Store.]

There was nothing special about it.

At most, the only notable point was his experience at an overseas branch.

While it was a rapid promotion for his age, it wasn’t entirely strange given the company’s policy of prioritizing merit.

Turning the page, he saw an identification photo of a woman with large eyes.

“Did he keep looking because she’s pretty?”

Junhwan muttered as he scanned her profile.

[Yoon Jiheum, 29 years old.
Worked in the Public Relations Team at Seojeon Department Store Headquarters.
Promoted and moved to the Strategic Planning Team as Assistant Manager.]

Junhwan scrutinized the two pages alternately, just as Joyoon had done.

No matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see what the problem was.

To Junhwan’s eyes, they looked like nothing more than ordinary personnel records.

****

Seungji accounted for the largest portion of the voices filling the restaurant suite.

After the initial greetings, she spent her time excitedly tearing into her “damned team leader.”

Her grievances were so deep that her venting continued until the main course, Hanwoo steak, was served.

As soon as the server left, Seungji’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the meat.

Even her resentment for her team leader faded in the presence of the premium beef.

“By the way, Jiheum, how’s your team leader? Do the team members seem okay?”

Seung-ji poured out questions while clutching her cutlery.

Jiheum was the one being asked, but for some reason, Haejun’s fingertips twitched minutely as he reached for his water glass.

“My team leader? I don’t know.”

Jiheum shrugged as she cut into her steak.

She was exhausted from keeping up with Seungji’s chatter and could only focus on the meat in front of her.

“Why? What are they like?”

Seung-ji leaned toward Jiheum and asked again.

Having spent so much time chewing out her own boss, she was suddenly curious about someone else’s.

She wondered if the position of “Team Leader” was inherently cursed.

“I haven’t met them yet, so I don’t know. They haven’t started yet. They’re joining next month.”

At the start of the new year, Jiheum had been transferred to the newly formed Strategic Planning Team.

While she was happy about the promotion, she felt a bit burdened because it was the CEO’s direct team.

“Does that team have some kind of ‘free attendance’ policy? Didn’t you say you haven’t seen the CEO either?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t come into the office, so I haven’t seen him.”

Jiheum smiled as she sliced her steak.

The Hanwoo beef, which was tangible and delicious, was far more important than a CEO she had never met.

“Really? Then you haven’t been able to confirm the rumors yet?”

“Rumors? What rumors?”

Jiheum looked up as if hearing this for the first time.

“You know, that… right, him! That young and handsome third-generation chaebol who was a hot topic on the internet a while ago!”

“Ah—that person…”

Jiheum responded as if it were a story from a different world.

The photo circulating on the internet was one taken by chance four years ago.

It was a famous anecdote where a reporter had snapped a photo of him at the airport departure gate, mistaking him for a rookie actor.

Although the group had rushed to take the photo down, rumors circulated that they had left a few versions out there for promotional purposes.

“You have to tell me what he’s like once he starts coming in, okay? Promise, Yoon Jiheum?”

“Tell you what?”

“About your CEO.”

“I don’t know when I’ll even see him. I heard he only comes in about twice a month. No one knows exactly when. Maybe it depends on his mood swings.”

Jiheum muttered as if it had nothing to do with her.

Seung-ji looked at her with an expectant gaze while cutting her steak.

“Aren’t you curious if the rumors are true or just nonsense?”

“Rumors are usually more lies than truth.”

Haejun, who had been listening in silence, threw cold water on the conversation.

“Hey, Kang Haejun! Protect my fantasies! I want to believe that a handsome third-generation chaebol actually exists!”

At his blunt conclusion, Seung-ji bowed her head and wailed.

“Regardless, I choose to believe that photo is the truth.”

“I’ll be sure to tell you if the CEO ever shows up.”

“Really?”

“Of course. So just hurry up and eat your meat.”

Jiheum chuckled and was about to look down when her eyes met Haejun’s.

His gaze had been fixed on her steadily for who knows how long.

“Yoon Jiheum, which department did you say you were in?”

“Me?”

“Didn’t you tell Haejun?”

“No.”

While she hesitated under Haejun’s unreadable gaze, Seungji cut in.

“Honestly. Jiheum got promoted and moved departments this time. It’s the CEO’s direct team. Wait, Haejun, didn’t you say you were going to the headquarters this time too? Which department were you assigned to?”

“It’s undecided.”

A lie slipped out of his mouth.

He wasn’t due to start until next month.

He hadn’t expected to be in the same department as Yoon Jiheum.

He had thought they might just run into each other around the office.

Just as he was starting to feel a strange sense of excitement at this unexpected fact, Seung-ji interjected.

“Huh? It’s undecided, but you were suddenly assigned to headquarters and came all the way here?”

Seungji’s eyes widened as she looked at Haejun.

New York and Seoul weren’t exactly neighboring towns.

There was no way they would have called him back without a department description or salary negotiations.

Her look suggested she suspected he was up to something.

“I’ll find out soon enough.”

Haejun brushed her off lightly.

He was simply curious about Jiheum’s reaction.

If I told you I was in the same department as you, what kind of expression would you make?

“It would be fun if you two were in the same department.”

Seung-ji shrugged and observed the atmosphere between the two.

Jiheum was focusing entirely on her steak as if it were someone else’s problem.

“What do you think?”

“Huh? About what?”

Jiheum looked up.

Why are you both looking at me like that? Jiheum looked back and forth between the two of them.

“What do you think it would be like if we were in the same department?”

At his serious tone, Jiheum gave a light shrug.

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it.”

“Then think about it starting now.”

“Pardon?”

She swallowed the words, Do I have to?

She felt as though she shouldn’t joke around in the face of Hae-jun’s intense gaze.

***8

The study door swung open the moment the knocking stopped.

Chairman Ki, who had been slowly clearing his desk to leave, turned toward the door.

In his clouded eyes, he saw Joyoon charging in like an angry bull.

“What brings you here? I don’t recall calling for you.”

Chairman Ki sat back down and muttered, pretending to be distracted.

Joyoon smirked, watching the Chairman try to slip away like an old fox.

Joyoon was the only person allowed to enter Seoanjae, specifically the main house where the Chairman resided—without permission.

Joyoon knew this well, which was why he had come unannounced.

“Is that so? If you missed me, you should have just said you missed me.”

“Get to the point. Don’t go in circles and make an old man dizzy.”

“You should know well enough. This is about the task you personally ordered.”

Chairman Ki fell silent for a moment, observing his grandson’s face.

He wondered what could be important enough to make a man, who usually didn’t bat an eye at anything, come to see him without being summoned.

“If you don’t know, then you should step down from your position.”

Joyoon’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

“Wouldn’t it be a problem if the company ran into trouble because of your failing memory?”

“I wondered why things were so quiet. It seems you’ve checked the members of your dedicated team.”

A hollow laugh escaped Chairman Ki as he realized the reason.

“Why did you lie to me?”

“What lie are you talking about?”

“You said you were giving me wings. Why are you stabbing me in the back instead?”

Joyoon began to mock him, his cold smile suggesting he couldn’t believe the Chairman was playing dumb.

“Me? Ho ho. Did I not assign you only the most talented employees? What is the problem?”

“You’ve certainly grown shameless. Do you want to hand my position over to that bastard?”

Joyoon shrugged and sat down on the sofa.

He leaned back languidly and crossed his legs.

“And is there a reason why I shouldn’t?”

“Well, my second uncle will throw a fit if he finds out.”

“Jong-ha is a man who knows his own limits. He won’t be greedy.”

The Chairman’s second son knew his own abilities better than anyone.

Therefore, he never overstepped; he stayed in his place, quickly gauging the Chairman’s intentions and making sure not to be a nuisance.

“Is that really so?”

Joyoon tilted his head back against the sofa and muttered toward the ceiling.

Then, his head slowly rolled to the side, his eyes meeting the Chairman’s.

“You haven’t forgotten that my second uncle has a son, have you?”

“……”

“To think that because his capacity is small, his desire must also be small… isn’t that far too naive?”

The corners of Joyoon’s lips curved up smoothly.