Chapter 10: “Just Say You Can’t Do It”
When Yoon-kyung returned to her desk, she ignored the increased number of people and the stares directed at her as she picked up her headphones.
She understood that this was simply how companies worked, but she had been blindsided just like everyone else. As far as understanding the situation went, she was no different from the people staring at her.
She slipped on her headphones.
If she couldn’t escape their eyes, then at least she wanted to escape the noise.
“If you can’t understand it anyway, don’t force yourself to. Just let it be.”
She hadn’t understood what he meant when she’d first heard those words.
But he had been right.
“…You’re teaching me another lesson.”
That was so like Kwon Do-heon.
Yoon-kyung let out a weak smile.
As she reached for her mouse, she paused, picked up her phone instead, and opened her call history. At the very top was an unsaved eleven-digit number.
Do-heon’s.
Silently, she memorized the number.
So Do-heon was the person in charge of this project.
She had expected him to oversee it from above, but never imagined he’d take the lead personally.
Even more unimaginable was the fact that they would be working together here instead of at Kwonseong.
When I wanted to see you, you never came.
Now it almost felt like God was playing a cruel joke—
“Here’s the face you’ve longed to see. Since you missed him so much, look at him all you want.”
Otherwise, how could such unbelievable coincidences happen one after another?
Forcing herself to cut off those wandering thoughts, she clicked open a file.
Just then, her phone rang.
The caller was Sung-hee.
She could practically picture Ji-hyun carrying out the threat she’d made in the conference room and running straight to Sung-hee.
Yoon-kyung pressed the decline button and tried to continue working, but Sung-hee called again.
And again.
Finally, she switched her phone to silent mode, flipped it face down, and ignored it.
After renaming the saved file, Yoon-kyung stood up.
Stuffing her phone into her back pocket, she left the office.
The chaotic morning had caused her to completely miss the usual time for collecting the mail.
Standing in front of the elevator, waiting for it to arrive, she absentmindedly turned her head when the doors opened.
She regretted it immediately.
Standing inside was Ji-hyun’s older brother—
Ji-cheol, the CEO of KD Health.
Seriously… this day just keeps getting worse.
Bowing politely, Yoon-kyung swallowed her exhaustion with a sigh.
Silence settled between them.
Neither had anything to say.
Nor were they close enough to pretend otherwise.
“Ji-hyun cried in front of me.”
Apparently, there was something to talk about after all.
“Because of you.”
“What could a powerless employee like me possibly have done to make her cry?”
“I heard you met Kwon Do-heon.”
“…”
“No answer?”
“I was wondering which of the two times you were asking about.”
Ji-cheol slowly turned to face her.
So…
They had met more than once.
“I saw the email. You’re the only one who got selected. Did you beg for it?”
“This isn’t the kind of place that gives someone a position because an employee begs.”
“You seem to know that well.”
“Better than you do, President.”
One of Ji-cheol’s eyebrows twitched.
“As you know, I used to work at Kwonseong.”
“Tell them you can’t do it.”
“If I say I can’t, do you think they’ll actually accept that?”
“Then quit.”
Yoon-kyung chuckled.
The siblings really were alike.
Their words sounded almost identical.
When Do-heon had been in America, they’d shackled her down in fear she might do something.
Now that he had returned to Korea, they wanted to remove her from his sight entirely.
Of course…
That was exactly why she’d signed that contract with their father back then.
“I think it’d be faster for Ms. Kwak Ji-hyun to join the TF Team than for me to quit this company.”
“You could just use your influence as CEO to get her in.”
“…”
“Oh.”
“Even as CEO, you can’t do that?”
No matter how much authority Ji-cheol appeared to have as KD Health’s CEO, the company’s management rights had already fallen into Kwonseong’s hands because of his own incompetence.
The title of CEO had become little more than decoration.
Wasn’t it obvious from the way he blindly followed every proposal Kwonseong made?
At present…
Kwonseong—
Or more precisely, Do-heon at its center—
Was the absolute and only true authority.
“Then how about asking him as a favor? If a CEO asks, maybe he’ll agree.”
“You’re getting awfully arrogant.”
“I only suggested it because you seem to care deeply about your little sister.”
“If you’re expecting Kwon Do-heon to regain his memories, you’d better wake up.”
“If they’re memories he truly needs…”
“He’ll remember them somehow.”
“And if they aren’t, then just as you all hope…”
“He never will.”
Ignoring Ji-cheol’s stare, Yoon-kyung took out her phone.
Dozens of missed calls and unread messages filled the screen.
She let out a silent laugh.
“You spent three years by his side.”
“So what exactly were you doing if you couldn’t even win his heart?”
Ji-hyun had taken Yoon-kyung’s place beside Do-heon only because he had lost his memories.
Yet despite spending three years with him, she had failed to earn not only his love—
But even his interest.
Unlike Ji-hyun…
Yoon-kyung kept crossing paths with Do-heon again and again.
To the point where it almost felt unnatural.
And every encounter drew his attention.
That was what irritated them.
What made Ji-hyun—
And everyone around her—
So anxious.
“I didn’t use any underhanded meth—”
“That’s rich.”
Ji-cheol cut her off.
“Coming from someone whose very existence is illegitimate.”
Yoon-kyung raised her head and looked at him.
His eyes still regarded her as though she were something filthy.
There had once been a time when she believed she truly was.
But not anymore.
“You’re strong… and brighter than anyone else.”
The woman she had become after meeting Do-heon—
Kang Yoon-kyung—
Wasn’t that person anymore.
Even if the whole world thought otherwise…
She wouldn’t waver.
The love Do-heon had given her wasn’t so shallow that a single hateful look could shake it.
Everything he had given her still remained in her heart.
Heavy.
Solid.
Unmovable.
“The elevator’s here.”
“Aren’t you getting on?”
Unlike Yoon-kyung, who smiled calmly, Ji-cheol’s expression darkened.
He looked her up and down with obvious disgust before stepping into the elevator.
“Ha…”
Only after the doors closed did Yoon-kyung finally release the breath she’d been holding.
Just remembering the way his gaze had crawled over her skin made her stomach churn.
“…Who’s the filthy one here?”
Wrapping one arm around her opposite shoulder, she unconsciously shrank into herself.
It was a completely different 모습 from the confidence she’d shown moments earlier.
After taking several deep breaths, her shoulders slowly slumped.
She had expected this to happen…
But having both siblings attack her one after the other was honestly exhausting.
“So… what’s going to happen to Kang Yoon-kyung now?”
“Judging by your reaction, you didn’t know! Don’t tell me you actually knew and still deliberately—”
A female employee coming out of the office abruptly fell silent after meeting Yoon-kyung’s reflection in the elevator doors.
First Kwak Ji-hyun.
Then Kwak Ji-cheol.
And now Kwak Ji-hyun again.
If this had all been planned…
She almost wanted to applaud them.
“Looks like the workaholic is finally going to lunch.”
Ji-hyun approached with her arms crossed.
She and two other female employees had just come out to eat.
“So the moment you got into the TF Team, your attitude changed.”
There was no point explaining that she was simply going to collect the mail she’d missed.
Yoon-kyung ignored the mocking remarks and fixed her eyes on the rapidly changing floor numbers above the elevator.
She wanted to avoid sharing the same space with Ji-hyun for even a second.
Maybe I should just take the emergency stairs…
“Are you ignoring me?”
Angered by the lack of response, Ji-hyun grabbed Yoon-kyung by the shoulder.
“I thought you were talking to yourself.”
Yoon-kyung brushed her hand away.
The nearby employees stared in surprise.
“Did you just hit me?”
“You grabbed me without permission.”
Yoon-kyung looked directly at Ji-hyun.
Just as Ji-cheol had said, the skin beneath her eyes was still red.
She really had been crying.
“…Are you smiling?”
Already furious, Ji-hyun saw the corner of Yoon-kyung’s lips curl upward.
Her expression hardened.
Then she shoved Yoon-kyung hard.
Yoon-kyung’s back slammed against the elevator doors.
She stared at Ji-hyun in disbelief.
“Move.”
“Why should I listen to you?”
“You could crash into the people inside when the doors open—”
The elevator chimed.
Yoon-kyung stopped mid-sentence.
“Hurry and move—”
Ji-hyun wanted to see her fall.
Wanted to see her collapse right there.
Only then would she feel satisfied.
She hated Yoon-kyung so intensely that, the instant the doors began to slide open, she shoved her with all her strength.
The solid surface supporting Yoon-kyung’s back suddenly disappeared.
Her upper body pitched backward.
She lost her balance.
“…Ah.”
The elevator doors she thought had vanished…
Were suddenly supporting her back again.
Looking down instinctively, she saw the hem of a man’s tailored trousers.
Then a pair of polished dress shoes.
The force behind her shifted.
Instead of the doors, two strong arms wrapped around her.
Realizing someone was holding her, Yoon-kyung hurriedly turned her head.
“I-I’m sorr—”
Her words died in her throat.
Her eyes met Do-heon’s.
Her lips parted in stunned silence.
