Chapter 11: It Wasn’t Over After All

Chairman Ki’s expression crumpled as much as the corners of Joyoon’s mouth curled upward.

He was the only person who refused to be manipulated, and it made the Chairman’s blood boil.

Yet, despite the way Joyoon constantly upturned his peace, he was the grandson the Chairman cherished most—the one who occupied his thoughts with a painful kind of affection.

Joyoon was well aware of this and used it to his full advantage.

“So, what is it you want to say?”

“Withdraw it. The Team Leader position.”

“I cannot do that.”

At the Chairman’s firm refusal, Joyoon brushed himself off and stood up.

He thrust both hands into his trouser pockets and turned toward Chairman Ki.

His languid movements, though relaxed, forced a sense of tension onto his opponent.

“So you’re determined to put a knife to my throat after all?”

“If he were ever to put a knife to your throat, I would be the one to strike him down first.”

Joyoon lowered his head and let out a soft, airy laugh.

His gaze, directed at the floor, flashed fiercely.

But when he raised his eyes again, every trace of malice had vanished.

“Right. I’m sure you would.”

“You’ll see for yourself if you just watch.”

“Forget it. Since you’re going to be this way, I have no choice but to do things my way as well.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see for yourself if you just watch, Chairman. Exactly what I intend to do my way.”

Joyoon gave a formal nod and turned composedly to leave the study.

Chairman Ki stared blankly at the closed door, his expression looking as dazed as if he had been struck out of the blue.

****

Life always seemed to be waiting for the perfect moment to stab one in the back.

If not, how else could her head feel this dizzyingly numb?

Jiheum stood in the CEO’s office, staring at the man sitting on the sofa, completely dumbfounded.

Why are you here?

Jiheum swallowed the question she couldn’t ask, focusing every nerve on simply remaining upright.

The moment the office door had opened and her eyes met those of the man on the sofa, her heart had plummeted.

Before she could even process why, a chill swept through her entire body.

As she drew closer to him, the identity of the anxiety clinging to her skin became clear.

It was him.

The man from that night of rebellion—the man who had made her lose her reason and awakened her to pleasure.

It would have been stranger if she hadn’t recognized him.

A man who could dominate the atmosphere while leaning languidly on a sofa was not a common sight.

With every step she took toward the sofa, Jiheum felt the urge to take two steps back.

If she could turn back time, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

If she had known, she would have taken the day off.

She felt a surge of resentment at the situation—a sudden, unavoidable downpour in the middle of a clear day.

“Master. This is Assistant Manager Yoon Jiheum,” Chief Seo said.

The man lowered the documents containing her personal information onto the table and tilted his head up.

For a split second, a smile seemed to flicker across his lips before vanishing.

Please let it be a misunderstanding.

Please let that smile not mean he recognizes me.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

Junhwan, having finished his report, turned to leave.

Jiheum’s gaze followed Junhwan as he walked away, then reluctantly drifted back to Joyoon.

She knew she had to greet him, but for some reason, the breath caught in her throat.

“……”

“……”

Silence piled up between them, layer by layer.

Trapped in a tower of silence, she hallucinated the sound of the ticking second hand on the man’s wristwatch.

She was about to part her lips to escape this stifling quiet when the man beat her to it.

“Is there something on my face?”

The corners of the man’s mouth curved up.

‘Is there something on my face?’

The question overlapped perfectly with the one she had heard at the lounge bar.

An ominous premonition that he might remember her swept through her entire body.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“Are you going to keep standing there? Or should I be the one to stand up?”

The man spoke with a face that had absolutely no intention of moving.

It was a form of pressure laced with playfulness.

“No, sir.”

Jiheum sat on the sofa.

Her long hair flowed calmly over her chest.

Naturally, the man’s gaze followed the movement.

Jiheum lowered her eyes slightly and clasped her hands neatly.

She didn’t have the confidence to face him head-on.

It hadn’t even been ten days since they had explored each other’s bodies without even knowing each other’s names.

There was every chance he remembered.

Please let him be a man with a poor memory.

Please let him have had so many one-night stands that he couldn’t possibly remember someone like me.

Jiheum offered up these futile prayers as she lifted her gaze.

Her only shred of hope was that the Yoon Jiheum who had rebelled that night had been wearing heavy makeup and a wig.

Therefore, the short-haired Yoon Jiheum from that night was not here.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Yoon Jiheum, Assistant Manager of the Strategic Planning Team.”

Jiheum maintained a pleasant tone and curved her lips into a soft smile.

She applied as much strength as possible to keep the corners of her mouth from trembling.

“Meeting for the first time? ‘The first time,’ you say…”

Every word he spoke felt like it was stepping firmly on Jiheum’s heart.

His ambiguous attitude only confused her further.

Does he remember, or doesn’t he?

Sweat began to pool in her clenched palms.

“Right. It’s our first time meeting.”

At least here, in this office.

“I am Ki Joyoon.”

Joyoon smiled broadly.

He saw the wariness in the woman’s eyes begin to soften.

A storm was likely brewing inside that small head of hers.

She was probably agonizing over whether he remembered her or not.

While he understood why she was pretending not to know him, a part of him found it quite impertinent.

“So, how is it? Is the work manageable?”

“Yes.”

Is he calling team members in one by one for interviews just to ask such mundane questions?

Jiheum couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a waste of time.

“It seems we’ll be seeing a lot of each other from now on.”

“……A lot, sir?”

Jiheum’s eyes rounded as they wavered with uncertainty.

Didn’t they say he only comes in twice a month? So why would we see a lot of each other? Why?

“Why? Is there a reason we shouldn’t?”

His beaming face was infuriating.

If he weren’t the CEO, she would have stormed out of the office… wait, no.

For a salaried worker, “storming out” was something that only ever happened in one’s imagination.

“Between meetings and reports, we’ll be crossing paths quite often, don’t you think?”

Joyoon leaned back against the sofa and crossed his legs.

He shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ah…… Yes, sir.”

“I look forward to working with you, Ms. Yoon Jiheum.”

“I will do my best, sir.”

“You may go now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jiheum stood up and gave a polite, shallow bow.

Her long hair swayed with the movement.

Joyoon’s lips curved into a slanted smile.

“Ms. Yoon Jiheum, your hair has grown long.”

“……!”

Jiheum flinched and froze.

She looked back at Joyoon with a face of pure innocence, as if asking what he meant.

Since she had decided to put on a brave face, she had to play it through to the end.

“Pardon? I’ve had long hair for years.”

“Is that so?”

A subtle smile followed—one that was unreadable.

It was the kind of smile that forced the observer to make all sorts of guesses.

“I just thought you’d look quite good with short hair, too.”

****

The last words the man spoke sent massive ripples through Jiheum.

Her office was only twenty steps away from the CEO’s suite.

During those twenty steps, Jiheum’s face cycled through heat and cold.

Does he know? Or doesn’t he?

Jiheum entered her office, her mind still a chaotic mess.

She sat down almost by instinct when a colleague spoke to her.

“Assistant Manager. How was it? Isn’t he incredible?”

Jeong Eunjae, a team member who seemed to have been waiting for her return, struck up a conversation.

“Pardon? What is?”

“The CEO! Didn’t you just come from his office?”

“Yes. But I’m not sure what you mean by ‘incredible’…”

Eunjae seemed slightly taken aback by Jiheum’s lukewarm reaction.

“His build, of course! Actually, as soon as the Manager left, Heeseung and I were talking about him.”

The interviews had proceeded from the lowest-ranking staff up through Assistant Manager and finally the Manager.

With the superiors out of the room, the two remaining staff had clearly been gossiping excitedly.

“Right, Heeseung? The CEO is seriously good-looking, isn’t he?”

Unsatisfied with Jiheum’s lack of response, Eunjae pulled Choi Heeseung, who sat next to Jiheum, into the conversation.

Heeseung looked up over the partition to side with Eunjae.

“Yeah. Even as another man, I found his aura intimidatingly impressive.”

“Was it? Well, I suppose so.”

“Assistant Manager. Did you get scolded by him or something?”

Eunjae asked, staring intently at Jiheum’s face.

“No. It was our first meeting, so why would I be scolded?”

Right. It was our first meeting. As CEO and subordinate, it was a perfectly legitimate first meeting.

Jiheum repeated the nonsensical, pun-like phrase to herself.

If she didn’t, she felt like her head would spin until she collapsed.

“It’s just that you look a bit dejected, like someone who got in trouble. Heeseung and I were so excited because the atmosphere was great and he’s so cool. We were saying how happy we are to work for such a cool boss.”

“Ah, no. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

Jiheum waved her hands hurriedly.

She didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings, so she quickly corrected the impression.

“I see. Anyway, I hope the CEO comes into the office every day.”

“Every day?”

“That way, we can at least see him passing by every day.”

“Ah……”

Jiheum suddenly felt a serious urge to look up the company’s procedure for submitting a resignation.