Chapter 3: Kang Yoon-kyung

At that moment, the icy wind swept across Yoon-kyung’s face.

Unable to withstand the sharp chill, tears welled up in her fragile eyes and rolled silently down her cheeks.

“…No.”

Avoiding Do-heon’s gaze, she answered quietly.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t even know what kind of tree it is, so why were you staring at it like that?”

The wind lifted her hair, exposing the face it had hidden.

Along with the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“And here I thought you knew it well.”

After avoiding his eyes moments ago, Yoon-kyung finally looked up at him.

This wasn’t like him.

He wasn’t someone who started conversations with strangers.

Especially not over something this trivial.

“I heard this road is famous for its cherry blossoms.”

“…Then I guess it’s a cherry tree.”

“It’s an apricot tree.”

Yoon-kyung couldn’t understand what he was trying to say.

“They say it doesn’t bear fruit.”

“I’ve never heard of a tree like that.”

Do-heon looked away from the apricot tree, as though withdrawing the brief interest he’d shown.

“The security manager on the first floor told me. You looked like you didn’t know.”

“…Ah… thank you.”

She’d already known.

Even so, Yoon-kyung thanked him while carefully watching his expression.

“…?”

She glanced at him.

Did I just hear him laugh?

No… I must’ve imagined it.

As soon as Do-heon’s eyes returned to her, she hurriedly looked away.

What’s there to laugh about in a situation like this?

While she silently scolded herself for the foolish thought, Do-heon’s gaze shifted past her.

A black sedan was pulling out of the parking lot.

The car came to a stop in front of them.

Or rather—

In front of Do-heon.

So that’s why he was standing here alone.

Realizing the reason, Yoon-kyung adjusted the strap of her bag and instinctively stepped farther away from him.

Watching her retreat in small, hesitant steps, Do-heon opened the rear door of the sedan.

“A company that doesn’t even pay overtime…”

Yoon-kyung’s shoulders twitched.

“…has no right to expect people to stay this late.”

His eyes settled on her.

“Don’t foolishly stay until night every day. Go home once your work is done.”

A beat passed.

“You work better when you’re in good condition.”

Her wide eyes, clouded with confusion, couldn’t quite process what she’d heard.

“…”

“…Yes.”

When Do-heon continued looking at her instead of getting into the car, Yoon-kyung assumed he was waiting for a response.

She answered a moment late.

“…Thank you.”

She couldn’t understand his behavior.

Still, she awkwardly lowered her head.

The motion was stiff—

Like a rusty machine.

She didn’t even realize it herself.

“See you next time.”

Startled, Yoon-kyung looked up.

But he had already climbed into the car.

The black sedan drove away, shrinking into a tiny dot before disappearing entirely.

Even after it vanished from sight…

Yoon-kyung remained frozen where she stood.

“Ms. Kang Yoon-kyung.”

The closing car door swallowed most of his words.

But she knew.

She knew he had said her name.

“How…?”

Her voice trembled helplessly.

***

“Thank you for the meal, Executive Director.”

Kyung-min bowed politely as Do-heon finished paying the bill.

The two men had just eaten dinner at the Korean restaurant in the company’s basement.

Telling Kyung-min to head down to the parking garage first, Do-heon took the stairs to the first floor alone.

“A warm-up assignment? My ass.”

The moment he returned from the United States, the first responsibility placed on Do-heon’s shoulders had been KD Health.

More accurately—

The biggest headache among all the work he’d inherited.

He seriously doubted whether the sales target his father, Chairman Kwon Bong-jin of Kwonseong Group, had demanded was even achievable within six months.

“Putting someone with no ability in the CEO’s seat… This company was doomed from the start.”

Irritably pushing open the stairwell door, Do-heon suddenly found himself craving the cigarettes he’d quit before leaving America.

“You’re leaving late again today.”

As he stepped onto the first floor, his gaze shifted toward the voice.

The security manager at the entrance was cheerfully talking to someone.

Do-heon looked away after only a glance.

Then…

He noticed a woman’s back.

I’ve seen her somewhere before.

He thought for a moment.

Then his eyes landed on the tumbler in her hand.

And he remembered.

“Do you know Secretary Kim?”

“Yes. She’s my university junior.”

The woman who had studied under Kyung-min at university.

“Korea University Business School?”

“Yes. That technically makes her your junior too, Executive Director.”

People always said academic background wasn’t everything.

Even so…

She’d graduated from the country’s top university.

Why was someone like her working at a company like this?

It made no sense.

Earlier, despite it not even being late, the office had been eerily silent.

The employees’ attendance records had been appalling.

He’d been speechless.

So naturally…

One employee still working overtime alone stood out.

“May I ask you something?”

Watching Yoon-kyung leave the building, Do-heon approached the security manager.

“Of course.”

“Does that employee often work overtime?”

“May I ask who you are?”

The manager narrowed his eyes with curiosity and caution.

“Someone responsible.”

Not that I want responsibility for a company like this.

Do-heon kept that part to himself.

The security manager looked him over.

His tailored suit.

His polished shoes.

His expensive watch.

Nothing about the man looked ordinary.

Knowing which company Yoon-kyung belonged to, the manager quickly concluded that Do-heon must be one of KD Health’s newly appointed managers.

“Oh, she works overtime all the time. Honestly, this is early for her.”

Relaxing his guard, the manager smiled warmly.

Working the night shift after dinner, he’d been struggling to stay awake.

Now he had someone to talk to.

He happily went on and on.

Yoon-kyung had never once been late.

She worked harder than anyone else.

She often brought snacks for the security team.

“She really is one of a kind.”

Kang Yoon-kyung.

Hearing her full name, Do-heon slowly nodded.

So it really was her.

Three years earlier, when Kwonseong Group had signed the acquisition agreement for KD Health…

One clause had been added.

If annual sales ever fell below a certain level, the company would officially be considered in crisis.

In that case, all management authority—including control of KD Health—would automatically transfer to Kwonseong Group.

Whether that clause had been written because someone anticipated this outcome…

Or simply as a precaution…

Didn’t matter anymore.

The result was that Kwon Do-heon, personally, had inherited an incredibly troublesome job.

A month ago, he’d confiscated every employee’s laptop.

It wasn’t random.

He was investigating why sales had declined year after year.

He knew employees had been furious.

He didn’t care.

If anything…

He wanted to know exactly who had protested the loudest.

That alone helped identify who could be discarded.

At first, he’d expected to spend weeks reading three years’ worth of emails.

Instead…

It had taken only a handful.

The company’s atmosphere.

Its workflow.

Everything had become obvious almost immediately.

It was a complete disaster.

Frankly, the impressive part wasn’t how badly the company performed—

It was that it had somehow survived three years in that condition.

That was exactly why one particular name had stayed in his memory.

Kang Yoon-kyung.

Among an entire mountain of garbage…

Her name stood out.

Emails.

Research.

Information gathering.

File organization.

Business proposals.

Whenever he found something exceptionally clean, organized, and effortless to read…

Her name was always attached to it.

What puzzled him most…

Was that every single one of her proposals had been rejected.

Most of her emails had either gone unanswered…

Or straight into the trash.

Ironically, some of the ideas buried in that trash bin had been genuinely excellent.

Had the company followed them…

He was convinced its sales would never have collapsed this far.

Several proposals had been valuable enough to pursue immediately.

More surprising still…

The philosophy behind her proposals closely matched Kwonseong’s own business direction.

Almost as though she’d worked there for years.

“But now that I think about it, aside from Kang Yoon-kyung and a few others, everyone else leaves work really early.”

The security manager chuckled.

“Maybe because the CEO’s still young? Everyone comes and goes whenever they want, and nobody ever works overtime. Guess the CEO really trusts his employees.”

Trust?

It wasn’t trust.

It was neglect.

“Oh, look at that. She’s standing there staring at it again.”

Following the manager’s gaze…

Do-heon looked through the revolving doors.

Yoon-kyung stood alone.

“She likes that apricot tree.”

The security manager smiled.

“This whole street is lined with cherry blossoms, but that’s the only apricot tree. Since it never bears fruit, most people don’t realize it’s an apricot tree.”

He tilted his head.

“I wonder how Kang Yoon-kyung recognized it immediately.”

Leaving the endlessly chatty security manager behind…

Do-heon stepped outside