Chapter 2
When Seo-ah arrived on the 14th floor, where the Design Center was located, she glanced around the office, which was packed with employees who had already clocked in.
Then she crouched down, took off her cardigan, hid her handbag behind it, and picked up a supply box that had been left in the hallway.
Once she stuffed her handbag inside the box, no one would mistake her for someone who had just arrived late.
Carrying the box with a perfectly composed expression, she headed toward her desk.
But something felt strange.
By now, someone should have greeted her, yet the Design Team was unusually chaotic today.
She quietly set the box down and looked toward Manager Oh’s desk.
Fortunately, Director Oh Ji-ran wasn’t there. Judging from his usual morning bouts of irritable bowel syndrome, he had probably rushed off to the restroom.
Phew…
She let out a sigh of relief before spotting Manager Choi, who was buried beneath a mountain of paperwork.
Pulling out a chair, she sat beside him.
“Manager, I’m here.”
Dressed far more stylishly than usual, Manager Choi grabbed her hand as though he had just found his savior.
“Seo-ah! Hurry and take care of these! The higher-ups suddenly ordered us to submit the performance reports before the meeting!”
“R-Right now? When’s the meeting?”
“In thirty minutes!”
Seo-ah let out a horrified shriek.
So that’s why the office is in this state…
Never before had an executive demanded critical documents right before a meeting.
The reason was simple.
Everyone in this company possessed enough common sense to distinguish between what was possible and what wasn’t.
Which meant that making such an absurd demand was practically a declaration of war against the entire Design Center on the 14th floor.
Seo-ah tried to recall what she’d heard about the newly appointed division director.
Unfortunately, all she remembered were rumors about him being born with a silver spoon—or perhaps even a diamond spoon.
Nothing else.
“Why isn’t the Planning Team handling this?”
“You really don’t know? He used to be the Executive Director of Corporate Planning at headquarters before being transferred overseas. Now he’s back and has taken over the New Business Division.”
Manager Choi sighed.
“And apparently he’s always been like this. Even back when he was in Corporate Planning.”
People jokingly called it not a glorious homecoming, but a glorious nightmare.
It wasn’t an actual dictionary term.
It was simply the sarcastic way ordinary employees referred to privileged heirs who returned from overseas and immediately claimed executive positions.
Born with golden spoons in their mouths…
…only to drive everyone else insane.
The two women soon disappeared beneath piles of paperwork.
After wrestling with the documents for quite some time, Seo-ah finally dusted off her hands and opened her laptop.
She clicked a folder labeled BI and opened a file titled 2018 Fourth Quarter BI Data.
After sending it to Manager Choi, she watched his eyes widen in disbelief.
“S-Seo-ah…”
“Yes, Manager?”
“This is incredible… When did you organize all of this?”
“Our beloved Director Oh forced us into endless overtime, so I figured… someday it might come in handy.”
She scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“Actually… I’d completely forgotten I’d even done it.”
“Bae Seo-ah!”
Manager Choi practically threw his arms around her.
Finally able to breathe again, he stuffed the towering stack of documents into a box.
Not long after the office survived that whirlwind of chaos, Director Oh returned from the restroom.
At his signal, everyone with solemn expressions headed toward the conference room.
Only managers and above—key personnel—had been summoned by the new division director.
Only then did the office finally calm down.
Seo-ah leaned back in her chair and looked around.
The Taeha Trading Design Center occupied the entire 14th floor.
There were Design Team 1, Design Team 2, and the elite Creative Team.
Unlike ordinary design departments, however, Team C—where Seo-ah worked—handled the company’s BI projects and even took on work for the holding company.
There were about 120 employees in the Design Center.
Team C had barely twenty.
“Back to work.”
Stretching her arms, Seo-ah focused on preparations for the TH Cup Golf Tournament scheduled for the following month.
As one of the world’s premier golf tournaments, the promotional materials coming from the Marketing Department were extensive, and the scale of the project was enormous.
After briefly speaking with Ji-hyun, who had safely arrived at the airport, Seo-ah began debating booth color schemes.
Just then, the employees who had attended the meeting started returning one by one.
Seo-ah stood up.
“Everyone… are you okay? The meeting ended really quickly. It didn’t even last thirty minutes.”
Unlike the confident expressions they had worn when entering, they now shuffled back looking utterly drained, as though their souls had been wrung dry.
“Don’t even ask,” someone groaned.
“Less than thirty minutes? I swear it felt like five hundred years passed.”
“What happened?”
Seo-ah quickly placed the coffee she’d bought for herself onto Manager Choi’s desk.
After making sure Director Oh had stepped outside for a cigarette, she lowered her voice.
“Director Min Seung-hyun is no joke.”
“Why? Is he a complete jerk?”
“No.”
Manager Choi shook her head.
“I mean his face.”
“What?”
“His looks are unbelievable. Seriously… that face does all the work. How does someone get better-looking as they age?”
“…Excuse me?”
“If only I were two years younger…”
Seo-ah stared at her in bewilderment.
Manager Choi pulled her closer and whispered even more quietly.
“Anyway, Director Oh got completely roasted.”
“What?”
“He asked to join Team C, and Director Min immediately shot him down. Said something like, ‘Wasn’t your transfer into Team C just the result of connections and favoritism?’ Then he started digging up the mistake we made last year.”
“That was our mistake, but headquarters didn’t properly coordinate the project…”
“He knew that.”
Manager Choi nodded.
“He just chose to use it against him.”
“What a psycho…”
“Putting that aside…”
She leaned in.
“He’s forming a TF—a Task Force.”
“He sure works fast.”
“Our team gets to nominate two people. I heard it’ll focus on a men’s suit line. Looks like they’re planning to launch an in-house brand.”
“Men’s suits?”
“Yeah.”
Manager Choi smiled.
“Interested? Want me to recommend you?”
Seo-ah swallowed nervously.
A men’s tailoring project…
Wasn’t that exactly what she’d always dreamed of?
But…
Why did the name Min Seung-hyun sound so strangely familiar?
“I thought your dream was to become a tailor.”
Manager Choi smiled knowingly.
“Director Oh is out of the running. The moment he mentioned wanting in, Director Min brought up last year’s incident.”
She grinned.
“If you joined instead, I think it’d be perfect. It’d be great experience.”
Just as their meaningful conversation reached its climax—
Director Oh returned.
The atmosphere in the office instantly froze.
Everyone coughed awkwardly and buried their faces in their tablets.
Scanning the room with an icy expression, Director Oh suddenly pointed directly at Seo-ah.
“Assistant Manager Bae.”
“Yes, sir?”
“You’ll arrange tonight’s company dinner.”
He continued matter-of-factly.
“One hundred twenty-five people, including Director Min. Find a place that can accommodate everyone at once.”
“Got it?”
The elevator doors opened on the thirty-fifth floor.
The moment the tall man stepped out, every employee in the executive secretary’s office immediately stood and bowed.
“Good afternoon, Director.”
Seung-hyun acknowledged them with a slight nod.
His mood was beyond unpleasant.
He looked ready to explode if anyone provoked him.
The deep crease between his brows made that perfectly clear.
“Is the Chairman in?”
“The Chairman and Vice Chairman are both inside.”
“Open the door.”
At Seung-hyun’s command, the heavy mahogany doors swung open.
The two men seated across from one another at the conference table turned their heads.
One was Chairman Min Jung-hwan, head of the Taeha Group—and Seung-hyun’s father.
The other was Vice Chairman Min Tae-hyun, Seung-hyun’s older brother.
With a grim expression, Seung-hyun strode over, snatched the photographs they had been examining, and dropped heavily into a chair.
“These aren’t true.”
“Whether they’re true or not…”
Chairman Min clicked his tongue.
“They certainly make for great pictures. He’s my son, but honestly, that face of yours is just too believable.”
“I thought you always said I was your spitting image.”
“You brat!”
The Chairman glared.
“With a face like that photographed alongside a famous actress, don’t you think every media outlet in Korea will feast on it? Why did you suddenly end up in a scandal?”
Vice Chairman Tae-hyun chuckled and pointed at one of the photos.
“This one’s taken outside your mansion.”
He smirked.
“What were you doing there with Park Gyu-jin? Didn’t you know she’s married?”
Seung-hyun crumpled the photograph in his hand.
His firm denial caused the Chairman to hesitate before rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“This wasn’t just one or two days of surveillance.”
He sighed.
“If it had involved some random celebrity, the story would’ve already been published. But because you’re my son, they came to us first.”
He glared.
“Do you know how much money I had to spend to suppress this?”
“You didn’t need to spend anything.”
Seung-hyun remained calm.
“We were college classmates.”
“We met in America. We had dinner.”
“She visited my mansion several times.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“The problem?”
Chairman Min nearly shouted.
“She’s a top actress—and a married woman! There are already rumors that her marriage is falling apart.”
“And now one of Taeha’s executives is involved?”
He scoffed.
“If you were a reporter, wouldn’t you publish that story no matter what?”
“So?”
Seung-hyun replied evenly.
“You solved it, didn’t you?”
“You said you paid them.”
“I did!”
The Chairman snapped.
“We trust you because we know what kind of person you are.”
Then he narrowed his eyes.
“But…”
“Can you handle the consequences?”
“I’ll handle them.”
“Oh?”
The Chairman leaned forward.
“So you’re really going to—”
Before he could finish, Seung-hyun’s expression stiffened.
Only then did he seem to remember something.
His attention shifted toward the office entrance.
The elevator bell.
Secretaries pulling out chairs.
A chorus of greetings.
Then—
The office door burst open.
“You little rascal! Min Seung-hyun!”
An elderly man with snow-white hair stormed inside, leaning on a cane.
Chairman Min and Vice Chairman Tae-hyun instantly jumped to their feet.
“Dad, I told you not to come.”
“I heard Seung-hyun returned to Korea! Where is he?”
“Huh? He’s right—”
The Chairman pointed toward Seung-hyun’s seat.
But all that remained there were several crumpled photographs.
Seung-hyun himself had vanished.
Looking around in confusion, Chairman Min finally spotted him standing beside the office door.
“Please… take care of him, Father.”
That brat…!
Before anyone could stop him, Seung-hyun silently mouthed the words to his father—
—and escaped.
If fleeing every time his grandfather appeared was a talent, then Seung-hyun had perfected it.
Chairman Min couldn’t help laughing in disbelief.
“Please calm down, Father.”
He tried to reassure the old man.
“Seung-hyun says the rumors aren’t true.”
“You know what he’s like.”
“He would never lie.”
“Even so!”
The old man slammed his cane against the floor.
“What’s a married woman with children doing mixed up with him?”
“They’re just friends.”
“They were classmates.”
“Hmph!”
The old man snorted.
“Since when have men and women ever been ‘just friends’?”
He waved dismissively.
“Enough!”
“Catch that grandson of mine and arrange blind dates for him one after another!”
“What’s the use of being handsome if he won’t even touch women?”
“…That’s a mystery to me as well.”
Chairman Min sighed.
“They say he doesn’t like men either…”
“What?”
“N-Nothing.”
He coughed awkwardly.
“I misspoke. I’ll talk to him.”
The old man still looked unconvinced.
But after receiving his son’s promise, he finally sat down.
“Tae-hyun’s divorced.”
“Ji-hyun ran overseas the moment I mentioned marriage.”
“This won’t do.”
“At this rate, I’ll die before I ever see a great-grandchild.”
His eyes flashed with determination.
“This time, I won’t let it slide.”
“Now that Seung-hyun has returned…”
“Gather every unmarried grandchild in this family!”
