IFBS 07

Chapter : 07

“Wait… that man from back then was the department head?”

Se-A’s eyes widened. There was no way the world could be that small. How could the man from that day possibly be Je-Eon?

“Yes. It was me.”

Je-Eon’s lips curved upward.

“…Gasp.”

Unable to hide her surprise, Se-A covered her mouth with her hand.

As if by magic, the face of the man from that day overlapped with Je-Eon’s face.

“You said it was okay to take me as your role model.”

“……”

“You said you’d never forget me, but you forgot everything, didn’t you?”

“……”

Now she understood why she had felt a sense of déjà vu when she first saw Je-Eon at the company.

That man’s face had been stored somewhere in her subconscious.

And that was how she had known his home address from the address saved in the taxi app.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m telling you now. But won’t you forget again tomorrow?”

“No, I absolutely won’t forget this time!”

How could she forget after he had helped her not just once, but twice?

And even aside from that, the connection between the two of them felt like something out of a dream, leaving her dazed.

“How could something like this happen?”

“Even if what happened back then was just a coincidence, I came today because I was concerned too.”

He was concerned…?

Se-A couldn’t let that one remark pass unnoticed.

“We can’t have anything unpleasant happening to one of our employees.”

“Ah…”

So that was what he meant.

Somehow, she felt a little deflated.

“Thank you so much for what you did back then. And… for today, too.”

Without once seeking praise or making a big deal out of it, he silently kept his hands on the steering wheel as though nothing had happened.

As expected, Je-Eon’s car stopped in front of Se-A’s house.

“Um…”

Before getting out of the car, Se-A carefully parted her lips.

“You’ve helped me so many times, and I haven’t been able to do anything for you in return. Instead of the coffee I said I’d buy you last time, I’d like to treat you to dinner… How would you feel about that?”

“Don’t feel obligated. I didn’t do any of this expecting something in return.”

“It’s not just that. I also told you that day that I absolutely wanted to repay you. If I just let it go, I think I’d feel uncomfortable about it for a long… long time.”

Even as she said it, Se-A’s heart gave a guilty thump.

Her discomfort was merely an excuse. The real reason was that she selfishly wanted another chance to spend time with him outside of work.

“Then let’s do that.”

Only after receiving his definite answer did Se-A finally get out of the car.

Even after Je-Eon’s car disappeared into the distance, Se-A couldn’t bring herself to turn around and go inside.

An unfamiliar emotion passed through one corner of her heart.

It was a strange sense of connection.

Monday morning was hectic from the start, with one meeting after another to prepare for.

Se-A distributed the printed materials according to the number of attendees, and as soon as each meeting ended, she hurriedly cleared the tables in preparation for the next one.

Before she knew it, they were already preparing for the final meeting.

“Se-A, wait a second! You haven’t printed the business proposal yet, have you?”

Assistant Manager Lee Hyeong-Seok called out to her urgently.

“No, I’m about to do it.”

“Thank goodness. I’ll send you the file again, so could you translate just the example on page fourteen into English? There are some technical terms mixed in, but other than those, it’s only high-school-level English, so it shouldn’t be difficult. If you really can’t figure something out, use an AI chatbot. Just make sure it doesn’t look too obvious. Got it?”

“R-Right now?”

Se-A glanced at the wall clock. There were only about fifteen minutes left until the meeting.

“It’s only a few lines. I don’t have time to explain, so hurry, hurry.”

Hyeong-Seok dumped the translation task on her and returned to his desk.

When Se-A opened the file she had received, she found quite a few technical terms.

But they were words she had become familiar with through her work at the company, so she didn’t need help from AI.

After finishing the translation, the only thing she did was run it through a translation tool once to double-check it.

“Assistant Manager, I finished the transla—”

“I don’t have time to check it right now, okay? Just print it out and distribute it!”

Leaving those words behind, Hyeong-Seok disappeared into the conference room.

Now feeling rushed herself, Se-A gathered the meeting materials she had printed for everyone and hurried toward the conference room.

“Why are you so slow? The department head is already here. What are we supposed to do if the preparations are late?”

“Se-A is making all sorts of mistakes she never used to make. Still, I guess those are mistakes you can only make when you’re an intern, right?”

At Team Leader Park’s scolding, another employee chimed in jokingly.

Since this was a meeting to review potential overseas partners and cooperation plans, practical representatives from each department were seated around the table.

At the center of them all was Je-Eon.

Se-A hurriedly handed out the printed materials.

Normally, she wouldn’t have cared, but because she was conscious of Je-Eon, her ears burned.

After hurriedly distributing the papers, she looked toward Hyeong-Seok, only to see him turning his head away as though he had nothing to do with any of this.

Only after Se-A left the conference room did the meeting begin under Je-Eon’s direction.

“Since the moisturizing and soothing skincare line is currently receiving tremendous interest in Southeast Asia, all three countries responded positively. However, in terms of cost structure…”

The briefing continued, focusing on the possibility of joint development with local Southeast Asian companies.

The companies Taesang had reached out to were located in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

They weren’t particularly large yet, but they were promising companies with solid distribution networks and frightening growth potential.

They had deliberately chosen companies that would be easier to deal with than conglomerates and that had no choice but to desperately need Taesang’s unrivaled technology.

“I have only one thing I want to emphasize to all of you. Can we use these partners while maintaining the upper hand?”

After the report was finished, Je-Eon spoke.

“The cost structure they proposed is currently about five to seven percent higher than our standard. How much profit margin do you think we can expect from that? I’m not satisfied with that level.”

The fingertips of Je-Eon, closing the report, were decisive.

“Just because we reached out to them first doesn’t mean we have to take a submissive position. We simply threw them an attractive piece of bait. All they have to do is bite.”

His gaze swept around the conference room.

“Send them a revised proposal aimed at reducing the cost ratio by at least five percent.”

The conference room fell silent as everyone anticipated a fierce tug-of-war with the potential partners.

Then Je-Eon added the final word.

“If they refuse even that, discard them without hesitation. But…”

His sharp eyes moved from one employee to another.

“They won’t be able to refuse outright. It will be difficult for them to find another partner with this level of technology among the skincare products currently distributed in Southeast Asia. So they’ll show a willingness to negotiate somehow. That’s a businessman’s mindset.”

The employees, who knew all too well the source of his confidence, gradually found themselves persuaded.

“Even so, if they’re still hesitant until the very end? Then put them through to me. I’ll handle it personally.”

The employees couldn’t simply feel relieved at the declaration that the final decision-maker himself would step in.

It sounded more like an unspoken warning: Finish the matter at the working level so that I never have to get involved personally.

“Department Head, what happens if even the renegotiation falls through…?”

At the cautious question, Je-Eon’s gaze settled on the employee who had asked.

Instead of an answer, the employee received a cold stare. He swallowed nervously.

After a long silence, Je-Eon spoke in a low voice.

“Well, I don’t have an option called ‘failure to renegotiate.’”

The corners of Je-Eon’s lips lifted slightly.

His attitude was relaxed, but his voice carried an unshakable confidence.

In terms of global recognition, there was still no domestic cosmetics company capable of matching Taesang Estella.

The Southeast Asian companies had deliberately started with a hardline position because they anticipated Taesang’s demand for renegotiation.

They were simply leaving room for negotiation.

“So run the simulations with the goal of cutting costs as much as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

There had never been a single renegotiation handled by Je-Eon that ended in failure.

The results he had accumulated over the years proved it, and the atmosphere in the conference room gradually shifted toward acceptance.

“Assistant Manager Lee Hyeong-Seok.”

Hearing his name called suddenly, Hyeong-Seok flinched and looked at Je-Eon.

“Yes, Department Head.”

“About your report. Did you translate the example on page fourteen yourself?”

“Pardon? That…”

Hyeong-Seok swallowed hard and carefully watched Je-Eon’s expression, trying to quickly determine the intention behind the question.

But Je-Eon was a man whose expression barely changed even when he raised his voice, making it difficult to read what he was thinking.

He sounds like he’s probably going to point something out…

After calculating his options, Hyeong-Seok quickly bowed his head.

“I’m sorry! Because we were short on time, I asked Han Se-A to do it for me. From now on, I’ll make sure to handle things within my own scope.”

Hyeong-Seok immediately shifted the blame in the direction that would get him scolded the least.

“Send Han Se-A in here right now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hyeong-Seok felt a little sorry for Se-A, but that was how companies worked.

Only the strong survived.

Even though he knew Se-A would be the one getting reprimanded in his place, Hyeong-Seok pretended he knew nothing and went looking for her.

“Se-A, come in for a moment. The department head wants to see you.”

“Me?”

Why did he want to see her? Had she made some kind of mistake?

With an anxious heart, Se-A followed Hyeong-Seok into the conference room.

“Han Se-A. Come over here.”

Je-Eon gestured to the spot beside him.

Without knowing why, Se-A walked toward him. As she approached, her eyes fell on the table in front of him.

The page she had translated came into view.

Could there be a problem with the translation…?

She had done her best, but it was obvious that her work hadn’t met Je-Eon’s standards.

Still, she thought it was a little cruel to point that out in front of everyone.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, Je-Eon’s deep voice dropped into the room.

“You must study English regularly.”

Perhaps because she already felt guilty, his words sounded sarcastic to her.

It seemed as though there was an implied meaning behind them:

How good are you at English to have produced something like this?

“I do study whenever I have time, but I’ll work harder.”

Even though Hyeong-Seok had asked her to do it, the result was still technically her work, so Se-A gave the best answer she could.

“Hmm. Whenever you have time.”

Je-Eon repeated her words quietly.

“The reason I called Han Se-A here is…”

As he continued, Hyeong-Seok’s expression, which had been pretending not to know anything, instantly crumpled.