Chapter: 04
Breaking Off the Engagement
Husin had Sangjin, the chief secretary, investigate Yuri’s background because he had become curious about her past.
He had more or less guessed what had happened, but he confirmed that after Yuri had been left at an orphanage without her parents, her sponsor, Joo Sang-hee, had taken her in and molded her into a shield for her own daughter, Seol-ah.
So that was why she had looked so sorrowful when he first saw her, as though she had some kind of story behind her.
She looked like someone who would be assertive and strong-willed, but when it came to those mother and daughter, she was completely different.
Her academic record was also outstanding. He had heard that she had never once lost her scholarship during all four years of university. Her work ability was also far superior to that of the other secretaries.
With qualifications like that, she could easily have moved to a company offering much better conditions. Only now did his suspicion that there might be something lacking in her, judging by her unwavering loyalty to Seol-ah alone, finally disappear.
He now knew why Yuri could not easily leave the mother and daughter behind, as well as the wounds she carried because of them. Ridiculously enough, he even found himself wanting to pull her out of that situation.
In any case, Husin had no choice but admit that he desired Yuri and was emotionally drawn to her as well.
The only thing that concerned him was the trouble that could arise because she was officially the personal secretary of his fiancée, Baek Seol-ah, and because she had another man she was supposed to marry.
If not for that, he might have brought Yuri to his side long ago.
With Yuri already occupying such a large place in his thoughts, he had been struggling over what to do. So the fact that she had come looking for him of her own accord made his chest ache. However, he tried hard to maintain his composure so that he would not show it.
Once his thoughts were organized, Husin slowly opened his lips.
“I’m curious why you suddenly changed your mind. If I remember correctly, you were rather cold toward me, as though there was no chance of that happening.”
“That’s…. I’m planning to quit being Director Baek’s secretary. I suddenly need a job, and then I remembered the offer you gave me, Vice President, so I came here.”
Because it was also a matter that exposed her own humiliation, Yuri could only give him a superficial answer.
In her heart, she wanted to shout at him.
‘The woman who cheated with my fiancé is your fiancée! I can’t stand being under her anymore because it makes me sick. I’m going to seduce you, even if it’s only to make them pay for this humiliation!’
Those were her honest feelings, but they were words she could never bring herself to say to Husin.
“Okay. But can you tell me why you’re quitting?”
Husin already knew Yuri’s circumstances, but he wanted to hear the reason directly from her own mouth. He found it interesting that she had been so desperate, unaware that she was walking straight into the trap he had set, that she had come looking for him early in the morning in such a fluster.
“…I’m very tired. After working there for so long, some things happened that became difficult to endure….”
Yuri almost brought up the affair between the two of them. So she quickly shut her mouth.
Seeing that Yuri was actually quite good at lying, Husin almost let out a chuckle.
“Well, if it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to tell me. However, if you start working as my secretary, there will be many days when you’ll have to work late into the night, not to mention weekends…. Can you at least tell me when you’re planning to get married?”
Husin knew who Yuri’s prospective husband was, but he did not know that her wedding was supposed to take place this week. Perhaps it was selfish of him, but he intended to make sure she could not get married while she was working as his secretary. Honestly, he would be even happier if she broke off the engagement entirely.
Yuri’s fiancé, Jang Hyun-woo, did not have a particularly good reputation among men. Through acquaintances at private gatherings, Husin had already heard rumors several times that Hyun-woo’s private life was far from clean.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m going to break off the engagement.”
“What did you just say?”
Even though he had heard it with his own ears, Husin could not believe it. Breaking off the engagement already? The news was so surprising—and so welcome—that he almost wondered whether she had somehow entered his thoughts and come back out again.
“I… I’m not getting married. There won’t be any problem with me working as your secretary from now on, so don’t worry.”
The way she casually blurted out something so enormous somehow made her look uneasy. But despite himself, Husin felt a strange sense of relief at her words.
“That’s unfortunate.”
“It’s all right. It’s my personal matter.”
“Well, putting that aside, there are a few things we’ll need to discuss if you’re going to work with me. I’ll send you the contract, so review it today and give me your answer. And if there’s anything you want, ask for whatever you need.”
Now that Yuri had made up her mind, Husin no longer had any reason to hesitate. If possible, he wanted to bring her to his side as quickly as possible.
“…I’ll tell you what I want after I sign the contract.”
“Suit yourself. Review it, and feel free to contact me if you want anything changed.”
“Yes. Then I’ll be going.”
Yuri did not even finish the coffee he had given her, nor did she take the blanket he had offered to warm her up. She simply rose from the sofa and said goodbye.
Her shoulders were slumped as she trudged toward the front door, and that bothered him again.
“Can you drive? You look tired….”
Yuri turned her head slightly and looked at Husin before answering.
“Of course. I’ll contact you as soon as I finish reviewing the contract.”
“All right, then.”
Husin wanted to keep her there a little longer, at least until she had warmed herself up after being chilled by the cold outside air and finished the remaining coffee. He wanted to drive her home himself, but he did not stop her.
There was no need to frighten away the wounded bird that had flown straight into his arms.
January 2.
The first day of work in the new year—and the day that turned out to be her last.
Yuri immediately went to the HR department and submitted her resignation. She merely gave the bewildered head of HR a polite greeting before leaving.
When she returned to her desk, Yuri put all her personal belongings into the box she had prepared and closed the lid.
She had worked as Seol-ah’s secretary for seven years. Yet all she was taking with her was a single box barely large enough to cover her chest.
“I could have carried everything out this easily. I don’t know why I lived like this all those years… Whew!”
Yuri muttered to herself in the empty office.
For the past two days, she had kept her phone turned off and had not gone outside. The doorbell had rung constantly, but she deliberately made no sound to indicate that anyone was home.
Perhaps she had been gaslighted without realizing it for twenty-three years. Every time she told herself she had to break free, she had been unable to act according to her own will.
The fact that Joo Sang-hee had become her sponsor had truly been a miracle. Because of that, Yuri had wanted to do everything she was told well. She thought that if she did, Sang-hee would never abandon her.
‘Yuri. All you have to do is listen to me and do exactly as I tell you. Then you’ll never have to go back to the orphanage. How does that sound? Easy, right?’
For a seven-year-old girl who had suddenly lost her mother, the prospect of returning to an orphanage was horrifying.
Yuri could not even properly remember her mother’s love, yet those words Joo Sang-hee had given her remained vivid in her mind even now.
It seemed that she had lived all this time carrying an anxiety in her heart, as though something terrible would happen if she disobeyed, as if Sang-hee’s words were an order she could never refuse.
As long as she obeyed.
Believing Joo Sang-hee’s promise that she could enjoy a good home, pretty clothes, delicious food, and as much education as she wanted, Yuri had effectively mortgaged her entire life to her.
“I need to get out of here before I run into Director Baek—no, Baek Seol-ah.”
Before the opening ceremony, there was a breakfast meeting for the executives of the Royal Hotel. Normally, Yuri would have been there with Seol-ah, but now that she had even submitted her resignation, there was no reason for her to attend.
Yuri had worked solely as Seol-ah’s personal secretary, so she did not have any colleagues she was particularly close to. There was no one who would feel especially sad about her leaving. They might be curious about why she had suddenly quit, though.
Having followed only Baek Seol-ah like her shadow, Yuri might have been like an invisible person in this company from the very beginning.
After loading her belongings into the trunk of her small car, Yuri took out the phone she had kept in her coat pocket and called someone.
“It’s me. When the opening ceremony is over, meet me at the café across from the hotel.”
—Yuri, don’t do this…. Just come up to my office for a moment.
“No. I don’t want to go back into the Royal Hotel. So, Mr. Jang Hyun-woo, you come out.”
—Hey, Jin Yuri….
Yuri hung up without listening to the rest of Hyun-woo’s words. She briefly considered notifying him of the broken engagement by text, but there were still a few things that needed to be dealt with, so she decided to meet him.
She had not even read the messages he had sent over the past two days. She had already decided to end things, and reading whatever excuses he had to offer would only make her stomach turn.
Yuri found it strange to be sitting leisurely in a café drinking tea at the time she should have been arriving at work.
When she caught sight of her faint reflection in the sunlit window, she unconsciously smiled.
“What was so important about this place, anyway…? I couldn’t even play hooky once. It feels so good just sitting here doing nothing….”
She murmured as though asking another version of herself—the one who had been unable to live according to her own will all this time—to listen.
“Yuri!”
Hyun-woo hurriedly called her name as he stood in front of her, breathing heavily in and out. Perhaps he had run there, because his normally neatly combed bangs were disheveled.
“You came earlier than I expected.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Sit down and have some water.”
Yuri pushed the glass of water in front of her toward him. In her heart, she wanted to splash it straight into his face.
Hyun-woo sat across from her and drained the water she had offered in a single gulp.
