Chapter : 06
“No!”
Honestly, this man was unbelievable…!
Yoon Seol, who was thoroughly fed up, let out a sigh.
“Executive Director, please, can’t you go take care of your own work?”
After a beat of silence, Do-gun readily nodded.
“Fine. Let’s each mind our own business.”
“Yes, great.”
She even bowed politely, and as if he had been waiting for that, he turned around without hesitation.
Only then did the breath she had been holding escape.
It felt like she had been backed into a corner and had only just managed to get away.
Before he could change his mind, Yoon Seol hurried toward the bus stop.
On the bus home.
Yoon Seol rested her head against the window while listening to music.
The scenery outside, transitioning from autumn into winter, looked lonely.
Perhaps it felt even more so because the songs she had chosen today were unusually calm and quiet.
‘What’s the point of letting myself get depressed?’
Yoon Seol let out a shallow sigh and reached for her phone to change the playlist.
Bzz.
A short vibration accompanied the appearance of a pop-up message.
〈Right.〉
It was a message from an unsaved number.
‘Right?’
Without thinking, Yoon Seol turned toward the window on her right.
At that moment, the roof of the convertible stopped in the lane beside the bus, and then opened.
“……!”
Do-gun, sitting in the driver’s seat, crooked up the corner of his mouth.
Then, when the traffic light turned green, he began driving alongside the bus.
It wasn’t simply a coincidence that their routes overlapped.
He changed lanes and adjusted his speed, staying right beside the bus.
“Whoa. Why is that car driving around with the roof down in winter?”
“The owner is insanely handsome. I guess he opened it to show off his face.”
He was so conspicuous that even the people on the bus were whispering about him.
Yoon Seol felt prickly all over, as if she were sitting on a bed of thorns instead of a bus seat.
‘How far is he planning to follow me?’
At this rate, it looked like he intended to go all the way to her house with her.
This was no ordinary level of obsession.
Yoon Seol whipped her head around and stubbornly stared straight ahead.
“…….”
Every time the bus stopped, she could feel his intense gaze far too clearly.
Perhaps that was why heat rushed to her face.
She unnecessarily tucked the hair beside her face behind her ear, lowered her eyes demurely, and adjusted her posture.
‘It looks like we’re going home together.’
Even though they were clearly in separate spaces.
It felt as though he were escorting her home…
The feeling was strangely complicated.
The next day, in the conference room at Hyunsin Construction.
“—T-that concludes the report I prepared.”
The presenter forced up the corners of his trembling lips as he looked toward the head of the table.
“…….”
Tap. Tap.
Do-gun, seated at the head of the table, remained silent as he rhythmically tapped his fingertips against the desk.
A chilly silence filled the conference room.
Han Do-gun, the executive director who appeared at official functions only once or twice a year at most, had suddenly called a meeting of the finance team and had been in an especially foul mood throughout.
Everyone was frozen in front of Do-gun, a demanding perfectionist whose gaze alone was enough to make their hearts pound.
“E-Executive Director… Shall we end the meeting here? Is there perhaps anything else you would like us to do?”
The managing director in charge of the finance team bravely stepped forward.
They say it’s better to get it over with quickly.
He would rather get chewed out now and escape this conference room that felt like the Siberian wilderness.
Tap, tap.
The sound of Do-gun tapping the desk abruptly stopped.
He stood up and walked toward the window.
Everyone grew anxious, unable to understand the reason for his sudden movement.
Then—
“You may leave.”
He finally opened his mouth.
“Th-thank you!”
Everyone inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and began gathering their things.
However—
“Oh. Assistant Manager Kwak, stay behind for a moment.”
At those additional words, the short, stocky man visibly turned pale.
“Pardon? Ah, y-yes…! Executive Director.”
Everyone cast Assistant Manager Kwak a sympathetic glance before leaving.
Click.
The door closed, leaving only the two of them in the conference room.
“Is there… something you wish to instruct me to do?”
Do-gun stood with one hand resting on the windowsill, gazing outside, an icy aura surrounding him.
His eyes were fixed on the site of the silent protest across from the main entrance.
“Is the Assistant Manager Kwak OO from the finance team, whose name appears on the placards that protest group is holding, you?”
Ah.
Oh no.
Only then did Assistant Manager Kwak realize why he had been asked to stay.
Apparently, the fact that his ex-girlfriend had come to protest in front of the company was bothering the executive director.
“Yes, th-that’s me. I-I’m sorry! I already reported her for stalking, but the case was dismissed for lack of evidence, so I couldn’t stop her… I-I’m really sorry for causing a disturbance, Executive Director.”
I’m screwed.
Am I going to get fired now?
He’s not going to hit me with those bulging forearm muscles and veins, is he…?
There were rumors that, as the CEO’s son, he had merely been given the title of executive director and lived recklessly, treating everyone else with contempt.
As all sorts of crazy thoughts raced through his mind, a dry, low voice fell upon him.
“Forget it. You’re going on a business trip to the Jeju resort site right now.”
“……Pardon?”
“No one must know that Assistant Manager Kwak is absent from the company. Quietly move to the executive parking lot.”
You want me to go to Jeju right now?
You’re not firing me or beating me up?
“The important thing is that you must not be seen by those protesters.”
Unable to discern his intentions, Do-gun continued looking at the protesters below.
The cold, rigid line of his mouth suddenly curved upward elegantly.
Why is he smiling while looking at the protesters?
That was even more frightening.
Assistant Manager Kwak immediately flattened himself before his superior.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble for the company, Executive Director! I’ll settle things with the protesters as quickly as possible—”
“Don’t. Settle.”
He abruptly turned around and drove the point home with a face devoid of any trace of amusement.
“I’m telling you to make sure that protest continues without interruption.”
He had no intention of missing the opportunity to keep Seo Yoon Seol sitting obediently in his own front yard.
“They seem to be waiting for Assistant Manager Kwak to contact them. Until I give you permission, you are also forbidden from contacting them.”
Assistant Manager Kwak blinked and stupidly asked,
“Then, may I ask… how long you intend to keep watching that protest?”
“Do I have to report every little thing like that to you?”
Gulp.
Assistant Manager Kwak instantly came to his senses and bowed so deeply that his head nearly touched the floor.
“N-no, sir! I was being presumptuous…!”
“But.”
Do-gun suddenly asked,
“Did you really disappear without a word when you broke up?”
At the sudden fact-checking question, Assistant Manager Kwak nodded almost instinctively.
A crease formed between Do-gun’s brows.
“Being ghosted like that… I tried it myself, and it felt damn awful.”
“Ah, th-that’s—”
It’s not like I ghosted you, Executive Director.
Assistant Manager Kwak felt terribly wronged, but in front of the deadly serious Do-gun, he couldn’t make a sound.
“Let’s not live like that. Hmm?”
“I’m sorry…”
“You have nothing to apologize to me for. When the time comes, I’ll set the stage for you. Make sure you properly apologize to the person you owe an apology to.”
Do-gun stopped Kwak with a hand as he tried to make some excuse, then gestured toward the door.
It was clearly a command to get lost.
Left alone in the conference room, Do-gun sat on the windowsill and freely watched Yoon Seol outside.
“I even gave you a chair so you could sit comfortably.”
She was sitting, technically, but Yoon Seol held the placard with her back perfectly straight, looking anything but comfortable.
Like a herbivore nervously keeping watch in every direction.
After admiring Yoon Seol for quite some time, Do-gun rose with a satisfied expression.
“I’ll be coming to the office every day this week. Change my schedule.”
After giving his secretary the instruction over the phone, he leisurely left the conference room.
That audacious Seo Yoon Seol would be sitting obediently somewhere within his line of sight for the time being.
There was no need to hurry.
The workday had ended.
Once again, there was not even a shadow of Assistant Manager Kwak to be seen.
Yoon Seol expertly folded the parasol and moved the camping chair to one side.
It was the fourth day of continuing the silent protest alone, without the client who had been bedridden.
“He really hasn’t shown up at the company all this time? He couldn’t have quit. Did he go on a business trip?”
She would probably have to find another way.
Yoon Seol mentally went over the points she needed to discuss with her client as she cleaned up her spot.
Just as she was about to take down the placard she had set up, she suddenly felt a little empty.
“But why isn’t he showing up today?”
Whenever it was time to pack up, Do-gun would inevitably appear and casually throw out some provocative comment or another.
He had appeared in front of Yoon Seol for three days straight.
They would have pointless conversations, and they always ended with:
“Want to go together?”
and
“No.”
She had been relieved yesterday when he hadn’t followed the bus.
But the moment she got off the bus, his car, which had been waiting in advance, followed her all the way into the alley near her home as though escorting her.
A man who had behaved like that hadn’t shown up even once today.
Of course she was curious.
“……Is he busy?”
Maybe he’ll come straight to the bus stop like yesterday.
“No, wait. Why do I have to see him?”
Something was strange.
At this rate, it looked as though she were waiting for him!
Yoon Seol lightly slapped her cheeks and shook her head.
This is why habits are so frightening.
“I should hurry home and contact the client. I wonder if he’s feeling any better.”
After gathering all her belongings, Yoon Seol lowered her mask slightly.
She inhaled the fresh air, then blew warm breath onto her cold hands.
“Ah. The executive director told me never to lower my mask.”
Feeling guilty, she quickly pulled it back up.
Yet she felt uneasy.
She had been surprisingly obedient to him.
That was when it happened.
“Seol-ah.”
“Ah! Yes?”
Do-gun must be here.
Worried that she might look like she had been waiting for him, Yoon Seol immediately lowered her eyes demurely and turned her body slightly.
But the moment she saw who it was, her face suddenly hardened.
