Chapter : 02
Hyunjoon entered the conference room with a tablet in one hand.
Employees from the PR team, business planning team, and software development team were seated side by side around a long rectangular table.
Hyunjoon took his seat at the front of the conference room after receiving greetings from the employees. When he glanced up, Team Leader Park Jaechul of the PR team turned off the lights as if he had been waiting for him and began the meeting.
“This software quality-assurance contract with HBC in the United States gives us an urgent opportunity to promote ourselves to overseas companies. With foreign media paying close attention to us right now…”
Team Leader Park emphasized how many reporters were expected to attend the press conference today, confidently declaring that it would be the largest event they had ever held.
“Therefore, the booth we’ll be operating at today’s press conference will feature not only the new software scheduled for release in the second half of the year…”
Hyunjoon opened the thick stack of meeting materials placed on the table. The freshly printed pages still held a faint warmth.
He flipped through them one by one with his finger before setting them down and raising his head.
Lee Seoyoon, seated somewhere in the middle of the long table, appeared just at the edge of his field of vision.
“The booth will be staffed in shifts by Manager Oh Chohui and Assistant Manager Lee Seoyoon from the PR team, along with employees from the software development team. Assistant Manager Lee.”
“Yes.”
Seoyoon answered in a calm voice before beginning her presentation on the booth operation plan.
Hyunjoon had wondered why the most junior member of the PR team was taking the lead when Manager Oh Chohui was sitting right beside her.
Then he remembered it was because of the foreign reporters.
‘Choose someone fluent in English as Manager Kang Jihyun’s replacement in the PR team. Someone capable of interpreting.’
Among the several candidates considered to replace Manager Kang Jihyun, who had suddenly resigned four months ago, Lee Seoyoon had been hired because she possessed the strongest English skills.
He vaguely remembered Team Leader Park praising her endlessly, saying she was an exceptionally capable employee who had been handling overseas-related work ever since she joined the company.
Hyunjoon had wondered whether that was excessive praise for someone with only four years of experience.
He listened to Seoyoon’s presentation with an expressionless face.
She carefully explained the new English pamphlets she had prepared for the foreign reporters, as well as the version of the software demonstration video with English subtitles added.
Her voice was clear and composed.
There was no trace of the woman from the previous night, trembling and fighting back tears.
As expected, the press conference ended successfully.
With major domestic media outlets and foreign reporters from various countries filling the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, Dowonsoft’s Executive Director Doh Hyunjoon, head of the Strategic Planning Division, thoroughly promoted everything from the massive contract he had secured to the new software scheduled for release in the first half of next year.
The response was even more enthusiastic than expected, and the major news stories occupied the front pages of major online portals.
Because of Hyunjoon’s striking 188-centimeter height and handsome appearance that naturally drew attention, camera flashes continuously went off around him.
Hyunjoon drew a crowd of cameras as he headed toward the booth set up outside the press conference hall.
Click, click.
He walked near the booth as the sound of camera shutters continued to ring out.
Among the people there, the one who caught Hyunjoon’s attention was Lee Seoyoon, who was explaining the new software to foreign reporters by herself.
He watched her for a moment as she fluently explained the new software in English before naturally looking away.
Hyunjoon briefly discussed the new software with Team Leader Park Jaechul.
He personally demonstrated it for the foreign reporters and answered their questions as well.
Once he decided that enough photographs had been taken, Hyunjoon headed with Team Leader Park to the lounge café on the top floor of the hotel.
They sat at a nearby table, ordered a cup of coffee each, and took a moment to catch their breath.
“Executive Director, you must be exhausted after being on your feet all day…”
“She speaks English well.”
Hyunjoon’s words overlapped Team Leader Park’s.
Park smiled awkwardly before answering.
“Ah, Assistant Manager Lee Seoyoon? You told us to hire someone fluent in English…”
“I know.”
Their words overlapped again.
Team Leader Park’s eyes widened before he slowly narrowed them.
He scratched his head, wondering if he had unnecessarily answered a remark that Hyunjoon had merely made to himself.
A brief silence followed.
During that time, two iced Americanos arrived.
Team Leader Park quietly drank his coffee, watching Hyunjoon’s expression before cautiously speaking.
“Executive Director, about tonight’s company dinner…”
Hyunjoon smiled as Park began to speak.
Why is he smiling?
Without realizing it, Park smiled along with him. Then, following Hyunjoon’s gaze, he slowly turned his head.
At the end of Hyunjoon’s line of sight stood a middle-aged man dressed in a neat suit.
The man strode over and stopped in front of their table.
“I watched the press conference. It went very well, Executive Director.”
It was Bae Inchan, head of the secretary’s office and Chairman Dowon Seok’s closest aide.
Team Leader Park immediately stood and bowed.
Bae smiled kindly before taking a seat.
“The response is very enthusiastic. Especially the reaction to your appearance, Executive Director.”
Bae smiled as he met Hyunjoon’s eyes.
His pitch-black pupils gleamed with seasoned sharpness between his gently curved eyes.
“We received a request from the KBC 9 O’Clock News to have you appear as a guest. It’s a good opportunity.”
“Was that the chairman’s decision?”
“Yes. He also wants us to accelerate the establishment of the Overseas Business Division.”
Hyunjoon gave a low chuckle.
The moment the press conference ended, Chairman Dowon Seok had sent his secretary’s office chief to make his intentions perfectly clear.
Move quickly into overseas business.
Chairman Dowon Seok’s drive was extraordinary because he believed timing was the most important factor in every business venture.
His fiery temperament made him relentlessly pursue anything he started until the very end, but he also possessed an almost animalistic instinct for business.
“Understood.”
Hyunjoon answered briefly and raised his wrist to check the time.
“I seem to have taken up too much of your time, Executive Director.”
The experienced Bae smiled faintly as he rose from his seat.
He told Team Leader Park, who had been sitting quietly beside them, to keep up the good work, then turned and walked away.
“The employees are really happy that you’re attending the company dinner, Executive Director.”
As they headed to the dinner venue, Team Leader Park Jaechul kept a careful eye on Hyunjoon.
The atmosphere was strangely more subdued than usual, but it wasn’t exactly bad either.
It was an ambiguous state.
At times like this, the best thing to do is stay quiet.
Park followed behind Hyunjoon as quietly as possible, trying to make himself almost invisible.
The company dinner was held at an upscale Korean restaurant near the hotel.
When Hyunjoon, who rarely attended company dinners, appeared, cheers immediately erupted.
“Executive Director! Executive Director!”
The employees of the Strategic Planning Division welcomed Hyunjoon with voices as spirited as soldiers shouting a military cheer.
Laughter and whistles filled the room, along with the clicking sounds of cameras taking pictures.
“Executive Director, thank you. We’ll enjoy the meal.”
“We’ll eat until we’re stuffed and work even harder starting tomorrow!”
Hyunjoon gave them a brief response thanking them for their hard work today, then sat down with a smooth smile.
Every table was laden with fresh Korean beef and dishes prepared with organic ingredients.
The lavish company dinner, complete with expensive French wine, sent the employees’ spirits soaring.
Well, there has to be a day like this once in a while.
Show your face at a company dinner. Encourage them for doing a good job. Listen to their complaints.
If he considered those things part of the job as well, there was nothing he couldn’t do.
The employees sitting at Hyunjoon’s table eagerly began explaining just how hard they had worked.
They talked about how exhausting and demanding the workload had been, but how proud they were because the results had turned out so well.
Hyunjoon listened to their flattering words and nodded.
“You all worked hard. It’s all thanks to everyone here.”
After the employees had consumed a fair amount of alcohol, they began wandering from table to table with their glasses.
Hyunjoon slowly swirled his wineglass before bringing it to his lips.
His gaze naturally drifted toward the table across from him, where the PR team employees were seated.
He took a sip of wine as he looked at Lee Seoyoon, who was wearing a black dress with her hair tied back in a single ponytail.
Seoyoon was talking with Manager Oh Chohui.
Her eyes curved into crescent moons as she burst into laughter as though something amusing had happened.
Watching her, Hyunjoon let out a faint chuckle.
She must be quite a woman.
She could laugh and casually converse with the woman who had cheated with her boyfriend.
Perhaps she was broad-minded.
Or perhaps she was simply an excellent actress.
If her relationship with her direct superior, Manager Oh Chohui, deteriorated, Seoyoon would be the one who suffered the most.
So it was probably more accurate to assume she was acting.
She seemed like a calculating woman who knew how to conceal her emotions for the sake of maintaining a smooth working relationship.
Last night, she had begged him to pretend he hadn’t seen anything, her eyes brimming with tears as her body trembled.
Yet this morning, she had greeted him politely and even offered an appropriate smile.
As though nothing had happened.
Hyunjoon gave a crooked smile and reached for the wine bottle.
That was when—
“Executive Directooor.”
The voice was slightly slurred.
Team Leader Park Jaechul, his face flushed from alcohol, staggered toward him.
He abruptly grabbed the wine bottle Hyunjoon had been reaching for and gave a silly grin.
“I’ll! Pour you a glass!”
Hyunjoon stared at Park before extending his empty glass.
“Go ahead.”
Park poured the wine into the glass Hyunjoon was holding.
The wine rapidly filled the glass, dangerously sloshing from side to side.
Once the glass was full, wine spilled over the rim, ran across the back of Hyunjoon’s hand, and soaked into his pristine white cuff.
“Oh! I’m—I’m sorry, Executive Directooor.”
Park bowed his wobbling head repeatedly.
The wine bottle in his hand tilted along with him, sending a stream of dark red liquid cascading onto the floor.
Wine pooled across the floor, splashing onto Hyunjoon’s trouser leg and soaking his shoes.
The employees were horrified.
Those sitting at the same table as Hyunjoon openly displayed their displeasure and irritably stood up.
“Oh, seriously. What the hell are you doing?”
“I-I think Team Leader Park has had too much to drink.”
Assistant Manager Ko Hyeongseok from the PR team hurried over and supported Park as though escorting him away.
Park shouted that he wasn’t drunk, so Ko clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him out.
The atmosphere instantly turned cold.
Hyunjoon calmly pulled out tissues one after another and wiped the wine from his hand.
Then he stood up with a faint smile on his face.
“I’ll be leaving first.”
Leaving the murmuring employees behind, Hyunjoon entered the restroom.
He stood in front of the sink and exhaled a hot breath.
His head felt heated as he looked at his wine-stained cuff and trouser leg and his damp shoes.
This must be why people shouldn’t do things they normally wouldn’t.
He should have simply skipped the company dinner as usual instead of attending just to encourage the employees and all that nonsense.
When Park Jaechul had slurred out, “Executive Directooor,” he should have grabbed him by the collar and told him to get lost.
He was so irritated that he couldn’t help laughing in disbelief.
Hyunjoon laughed briefly, then his smile faded.
With a cold expression, he washed his hands.
After drying them, he took off his jacket and draped it over his arm, then rolled up the wine-stained sleeve.
Heat rose throughout his body, making even his eyes feel hot.
To cool his head, he took out a cigarette, put it between his lips, and walked outside.
He lit the end of the cigarette and took a drag.
That was when he saw the familiar backs of a man and woman walking toward the parking lot beside the entrance.
