CTL 10

“I’ll decide after seeing how well you hold up after this incident breaks.”

Wisely, Park Jinhoon did not do the stupid thing of asking if that was really true. Having already gotten on Yoongeon’s bad side once, he was being particularly cautious. It seemed he wasn’t completely clueless.

Before getting back into the car, Yoongeon pulled out the visible piece of porcelain from his palm. A rather sharp pain rose up, and Yoongeon frowned. He had ended up hurting himself again because he couldn’t control his own temper, but that was all. If he hadn’t torn his hand, he might not have been able to hold back his anger and might have grabbed that reporter’s throat. The world had changed. He had to know how to endure.

“Let’s go back to the company.”

“Yes.”

At Yoongeon’s words after getting into the car, Secretary Im answered obediently. He wondered for a moment why he was being so compliant, thinking that perhaps he had been scared by his violent display earlier, but it wasn’t long before that thought of Yoongeon’s was completely shattered.

“Why did we come here again.”

Yoongeon looked at Secretary Im with cold eyes. It was because the place where he had stopped the car was a hospital.

“You need to get it treated.”

Of course. Secretary Im hadn’t even blinked an eye even after seeing that display.

“Huh? Don’t tell me you were planning to go just like that? Dripping blood like that?”

“I can handle it once I get inside the office.”

“Do you think that’s possible without anyone noticing? Logically?”

“……”

The words ‘logically’ sounded incredibly insulting.

“Or maybe, you want to purposely show it to the team members? So you can be like, everyone, please look at me—! Something like that? Is that how you feel?”

“If that’s the case, I’ll turn the car around and go to the company right now,” at those words, Yoongeon furrowed his brow in annoyance.

“Haa….”

“If you want everyone to look at you, we can’t miss such a great opportunity, I can’t stand it. I’ll turn the car around right now.”

“Shut up.”

“Yep.”

He was an idiot for keeping a guy who taunts him like this as a secretary. Yoongeon truly thought that if he could just wring that guy’s neck, he would feel so refreshed, as he picked up his phone. And from his contacts, he found [Go Jibin] and made a call.

[What?]

The person who answered the phone asked for his business without any sort of greeting.

“Treat this for me.”

[Can’t you do it yourself?]

The way he asked, for someone who was a doctor by name, was a sight to behold. At the words spoken without even asking where he was hurt, Yoongeon’s head throbbed.

“I’m in front of the hospital emergency room.”

[How wild did you get this time for it to be like this.]

“……”

[Go inside the ER and wait. I’ll be there soon. 10 minutes. Don’t register.]

Jibin, who was well aware of Yoongeon’s bad self-harming habits, said only what was necessary and hung up.

“What’s this now? You’ve made a real mess, haven’t you?”

As soon as Go Jibin saw Yoongeon’s hand, he let out a dry laugh.

“If you’re going to do this, just cut it with a knife, huh? At least that would be straight.”

“It’s not like I’m training a stray dog!” Jibin yelled, and though he was grinding his teeth, he began to treat the wound.

“One minute you’re telling me not to self-harm. Now you’re telling me to cut myself with a knife?”

“Even if I say it, oppa, you’re just going to do whatever the fuck you want anyway.”

“……”

Jibin’s way of speaking was always something else…. Yoongeon let out a small sigh.

“Talk a little nicer.”

“Oppa, I talk really fucking nicely.”

“……”

“If you knew, huh? How I talk to my patients, oppa, you’d be really surprised.”

Even while saying that, he finished the treatment with neat skill.

“Well, I don’t need to tell you, right? Be careful not to get your hand wet for about a week.”

“I will.”

“Just be careful about that. You’re not going to listen to anything else anyway.”

“Yeah.”

Yoongeon readily admitted it and stood up. Jibin was firmly on his side, so he could receive treatment with a peaceful mind, but his mouth was so foul that he didn’t want to face him for long.

“Ah, Executive Director. Did you receive your treatment well?”

As he came out of the treatment room, Secretary Im, who had been waiting, trotted over and asked. Yoongeon glared at him once and got back into the car. Come to think of it, it seemed he had received a scolding he wouldn’t have had to, all because of this bastard. But when he was about to curse him out, he felt uneasy because of his face, which was smiling brightly and saying it was a real relief he got treated in time. In the end, Yoongeon just let out an annoyed sigh.

✧ ✧ ✧

“……What kind of day is it today.”

A little later, Yoongeon, who had come out not from the executive office but from the chairman’s office, muttered. At that, Secretary Im, standing next to him, made a fuss, saying it was already past 7 o’clock.

“You should have just said you understood. You would have been able to come out sooner then.”

He had planned to start working as soon as he got back, but upon arriving at the company, a secretary came to find him, saying the chairman had called. Since the man rarely sought him out, he went up wondering what was going on, but out of the blue, what Chairman Ko said was, ‘Come home for the year-end.’

It went without saying, but Yoongeon didn’t bother to visit his family home unless his mother wanted him to, and even if he did, he would often leave without even having a proper meal. It was because Yoongeon didn’t particularly like Chairman Ko.

“I said I would. But he kept nagging anyway, that’s why.”

He said, getting into the elevator that Secretary Im had held for him.

“Do you dislike it that much?”

“I do.”

At the comment that he was his father nonetheless, Yoongeon just snorted without a single change in his expression.

“Father, my ass.”

There were many, many reasons why he disliked Chairman Ko. He was fundamentally vile, had no eye for people, and was greedy despite not having the ability to handle it. The only reason he even exchanged words with him was entirely thanks to his mother.

Governing people and governing a nation is something one must be born with the capacity for. But Chairman Ko did not have the capacity to lead Shinhyun Motors. He was lucky to become the chairman of Shinhyun Motors, but that was all; he couldn’t do it properly. And Yoongeon was a person who despised the kind of people who were greedy without having any ability.

The elevator arrived on the 32nd floor. When he got off, the office was deserted. Yoongeon was about to enter the executive office but took out a card and gave it to Secretary Im, saying.

“It’s the company dinner tonight, so go and pay with this. You can hang out there and then go home.”

“Huh? Aren’t you going, Executive Director?”

“Why would I go there.”

Yoongeon, adding that he had a lot of work to do, pointed to his desk, which was piled high with work. Secretary Im hesitated for a moment, then made a call and said he would go to the dinner venue alone. Someone’s voice could be heard faintly over the phone. After hearing that, Yoongeon closed the executive office door and went inside. He took off his coat and jacket, and even his vest. Then, suddenly feeling that his tie was constricting, he undid that as well.

“Haa….”

During the day when all the employees were present, he would be fully dressed, but sometimes when he was left alone to work, he would dress lightly like this. It was because it was often so overly stuffy that he couldn’t bear it.

“Um… Executive Director?”

But it was just as he was about to start working. Secretary Im opened the door, peeked his head in, and spoke.

“They’re saying they won’t go home until you come, Executive Director.”

“…Are they all that drunk already?”

“No. They said they haven’t had a single drop of alcohol yet. Just a little beer.”

He wanted to retort that beer was also alcohol, but Yoongeon held it in.

“They’re all antsy because they want to drink with you, Executive Director.”

A boisterous noise was bursting out from the phone in his hand. Yoongeon smoothed out his furrowed brow with his fingers and asked for the phone. At that, Secretary Im approached and handed over the phone. The number belonged to Yebin.

“Go Yebin.”

[Executive Director! This is Head Designer Ha!]

“Why is Head Designer Ha answering Manager Go’s phone?”

[Yebin-ssi just says yes, yes, and lets it slide no matter what you say, Executive Director.]

“I have a lot of work today. My outside work took longer than usual today.”

[We’ll all divide that up and do it tomorrow.]

“……”

They were diligently spouting nonsense about dividing up work that an executive-level person should be handling. Head Designer Ha was not someone who wouldn’t know that, so for her to be this stubborn meant, forget all that and let’s hang out together.

[We really have to succeed in this project, Executive Director. To do that, shouldn’t we have a drink comfortably like this at least once, and have a chat?]

That’s right! A chorus was heard from over the phone. Everyone sounded quite excited.

[Don’t just give us the card and leave every time, let’s hang out together today. Please?]

“…I’m not trying to get out of it, but I really have a lot of work today—”

[You’re coming, right?]

“……”

[We won’t be a nuisance—! Really!]

So they were pestering him to hang out just once. Yoongeon, who was about to say he would attend next time, couldn’t win against Head Designer Ha’s pleading and let out a small sigh.

“I can’t stay for long.”

[We’ll finish the dinner within two hours! Hahaha!]

Two hours…. Yoongeon looked at the clock. Knowing that there was no promise easier to break than the one about the time a dinner party would end, Yoongeon thought he would have to come back in two hours to finish his work and stood up from his seat. And a little later, when he arrived at the place Head Designer Ha had told him, everyone was in the middle of their meal.

“Ah, Executive Director! Here! This way!”

As expected, this time too, the one who called him was Head Designer Ha, the most affable person on the team who treated Yoongeon without reservation. As Yoongeon sat down next to him and was wiping his hands with a wet towel, he asked with wide eyes.

“Executive Director, what happened to your hand?”

“I got hurt a bit by mistake.”

“Oh wow, it looks like you got hurt really badly.”

“They said water shouldn’t touch it, so it’s wrapped up like this, it’s nothing serious.”

“The Executive Director gets hurt surprisingly often….”

Along with the nagging to be careful, utensils, a water cup, and a soju cup were neatly prepared in front of him.

“……”

But then, Yoongeon, who was looking at the things being placed in front of him, inadvertently looked up and froze. He hadn’t realized, but Seohwi was sitting in front of him.

“…Hello.”

“Yes.”

“Haha, Seohwi-ssi. You saw him earlier, but you’re greeting him again? You don’t have to. Our Executive Director isn’t that difficult of a person.”

That was something said without knowing how Yoongeon acted towards people outside his boundary, but Head Designer Ha, whatever he was thinking, nodded to himself and said, “Yes, that’s right.”

“Executive Director, right?”

“Yes.”

At Head Designer Ha’s words, Yoongeon just said, sure. There was no need to embarrass someone who was complimenting him.

“How was your first day of work?”

The attention quickly shifted to Seohwi. As he was the star of the day, it seemed they had decided to hype him up.

“So far, I’m just a bit overwhelmed.”

“Haha, right. Company work is a bit like that. It seems like there’s a system, but strangely there isn’t…. But you end up doing it all when it comes down to it, so don’t worry too much. If there’s anything you don’t know, Seohwi-ssi, you can just ask your mentor.”

“Yes, just trust me. Am I not the only administrative staff on this team?”

Chief Jung Seunghun thumped his chest with his fist, thak thak, and boasted loudly to just trust him.

“What do you mean, the only administrative staff. The Manager and the Executive Director aren’t from design backgrounds either.”

“Hey, but I’m a bit different, you know!”

“What’s different?”

“The Executive Director and the Manager are, what, if you think about it, they’re royalty, aren’t they!”

At Seunghun’s words, Yebin, who was about to pick up a piece of sashimi, let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“What royalty in this day and age? Seunghun-ssi, have you been drawing a line like that with us all this time?”

“Ah, a little? No matter what, I’m just a humble commoner, so there’s a wall I can’t help but feel….”

“Oh my. That’s hilarious, really.”

When Yebin laughed, everyone else followed suit. It was a topic that could have been offensive, talking about royalty and whatnot, but neither Yebin nor Yoongeon seemed to mind. Besides, for Yoongeon, it was also true.

“Anyway, you can learn the work from me. If you have any difficulties while doing it, just ask anything. When you’re new, you have to learn everything starting from how to use the copy machine.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Seohwi gave a slight nod to Seunghun. Seunghun smiled brightly and offered him a drink, and Seohwi accepted and drank it all without refusal.

“……”

And Yoongeon watched that scene blankly. He was a bit anxious watching him drink without refusing, even though he probably didn’t like alcohol very much. Was it difficult for him to refuse here and there because he was a new employee? Yoongeon, who had been momentarily debating whether to step in, decided to wait and see for now.

As Seohwi didn’t hold back, the atmosphere quickly livened up. Befitting a welcome party for a new employee, a period that was essentially self-introductions continued, and everyone was grinning and laughing.

“But, Seohwi-ssi, do you have a lover?”

It was when they were in the middle of introducing each other. Section Chief Kim Jia asked with a slightly flushed face.

“Oh my, look at Jia-ssi…?”

Head Designer Ha chuckled and muttered, then turned his head towards Yoongeon and whispered.

“Executive Director, our Jia-ssi’s eyes were actually sparkling like this as soon as Mr. Yoon Seohwi came in. Did you see?”

“……”

Yoongeon couldn’t bring himself to answer. His heart sank at the words that there was someone interested in Seohwi.

“No, I don’t.”

To Jia’s question, Seohwi answered nonchalantly. At that, Section Chief Kim Jia smiled as if she was extremely happy.

“They look good together, right? If you put them side by side, they’re a perfect handsome man and beautiful woman.”

At Head Designer Ha’s words, Yoongeon silently poured a drink into his glass and drank it. The alcohol tasted excessively bitter.

“Please take good care of me, Seohwi-ssi.”

“Yes, I look forward to working with you too, Section Chief.”

As the two exchanged friendly words, Yoongeon just kept pouring and drinking one glass after another. His stomach burned.

‘They look good together.’

He meant it. Seohwi and Section Chief Kim Jia looked very good together.

Section Chief Kim Jia had a friendly and gentle personality. Moreover, she was deeply understanding. Her personality, unlike his, wasn’t hasty, so she would probably be able to understand the unhurried Seohwi well.

“Ah, what… look at Jia-ssi getting shy. So cute.”

When Head Designer Ha started it off, Jia denied it, but her face turned red and she just sipped her drink for no reason. Seohwi, sitting next to her, just sat there blankly with an unreadable expression.

Thinking this was their chance, the team members conspired and started teasing Section Chief Kim. As they made childish jokes that even students wouldn’t make, saying they looked good together, Section Chief Kim, her face bright red, shouted.

“Don’t do this. It’s rude to someone who just started here!”

“Ah…!”

She glared at everyone, saying how uncomfortable Mr. Seohwi must be, then bowed her head.

“Seohwi-ssi, I’m sorry…. It’s true that I’m interested, but I didn’t mean to create a situation like this. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done this in front of so many people. I was inconsiderate.”

“Ah….”

As Section Chief Kim apologized, the team members who had been teasing the two of them also apologized with awkward faces, saying they were sorry. Seohwi still looked around with an unreadable expression.

“It’s okay. I don’t really mind things like that.”

“Uh…?”

“Doesn’t not minding mean it’s a green light?” Jung Seunghun whispered to Deputy Manager Park, and Deputy Manager Park also chuckled and laughed.

“No, but we really said it because you look good together. Jia-ssi is also very popular at our company. But since Seohwi-ssi is also handsome, we just momentarily thought you two looked so good together. I’ll apologize too.”

“Yes.”

Head Designer Ha apologized as he poured Seohwi a drink. This time too, Seohwi just answered nonchalantly.

“I’m sorry. We all had the same thought and didn’t realize we were being rude with our teasing…. Right, Executive Director?”

“Well…”

Yoongeon, who was drinking, put down his glass at the question directed at him and spoke. His gaze was on the glass, not Seohwi.

“You two look good together.”

“Oh my….”

The team members, who hadn’t expected him to give such an answer, looked at Yoongeon with dumbfounded faces. Yoongeon, with a bitter heart, downed his drink in one go, and as he filled his glass again, he said.

“Section Chief Kim is a good person. She has many strengths besides her looks…. So if it’s not a bad idea, I think it would be fine to try dating her once.”

“Heok…! Executive Director, what is this? I’m so touched—”