Chapter 07
Sahyeon tried to compose her expression.
No. How could she possibly dislike a man like him? There had to be a reason for such a long unrequited love. She had admired him so much that she would have believed him even if he said red was blue.
But her unrequited love and this matter were two entirely different things.
She wasn’t shameless enough to continue doing something so reckless with a superior who was far above her in rank, nor did she have the confidence to deal with the aftermath of such a relationship.
If they met privately a few times and then it ended, Yoo Hajoon might be able to move on without a care, but Sahyeon knew she would have a hard time.
Besides, if she wanted to stay at the company she had worked so hard to get into, accepting Hajoon’s proposal was simply too risky.
Concealing her true feelings, Sahyeon spoke politely.
“I…”
“……”
“I respect you, Executive Director.”
“……”
“As my superior, I respect you for your precise analyses and rational judgment.”
A long silence followed.
Sahyeon carefully raised her eyes to meet his, but her knees were trembling beneath her.
“Then… I’ll be going.”
Having finally delivered her last words, Sahyeon bowed politely and turned to leave the executive office.
Her body continued to tremble until the very moment she opened the door and stepped outside, but she somehow managed to endure it.
All she could hope for was that he understood what she meant.
It was close to midnight when a black sedan slowly came to a stop in front of a mansion surrounded by high walls.
“Executive Director, we’ve arrived.”
When the chauffeur opened the door, Hajoon stepped out, adjusting his jacket.
A massive mansion stood before him.
It was Unamjae, the main residence of Daehong Group’s royal family.
Following the line of sedans that had arrived early for the ancestral rites that night, Hajoon turned his gaze toward the estate.
The vast grounds, reminiscent of a sprawling university campus, and the magnificent mansion at their center made him feel suffocated just thinking about the people gathered inside.
He loosened his tie.
“I’ll have a cigarette before I go in.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
Once the chauffeur discreetly disappeared, Hajoon lit a cigarette with the crisp click of a Dupont lighter.
He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with smoke, then slowly exhaled.
“Whew.”
As the nicotine spread through his mind, an image surfaced, and his brows narrowed.
“I didn’t want to do it enough times to want more.”
Kim Sahyeon’s voice had been echoing in his ears all this time.
Compared to her calm tone, the message she had delivered was unbelievably audacious.
And that wasn’t all.
“I respect you, Executive Director.”
Really?
Wasn’t she practically playing with him—giving him the disease and then offering the cure?
It was a feeling he’d never experienced before.
As if he’d become a deranged superior who had made an absurd attempt at flirting with a young subordinate, only to be thoroughly rejected.
She had suddenly touched him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and willingly enjoyed the kiss, only to turn around and act bewildered as though asking, Why are you suddenly doing this?
Was this woman making a fool of him?
“Hah…”
Another long stream of smoke escaped Hajoon’s lips, followed by a hollow laugh.
What is Kim Sahyeon to me, anyway…?
Even he couldn’t understand why he was reacting this strongly to what had happened with her.
He’d been through far worse in his life.
Countless women had openly and blatantly tried to seduce him.
That was why, for several days, he’d tried to pretend nothing had happened.
But absurdly enough, that humiliating incident seemed permanently etched into his mind. He couldn’t forget it, and it kept resurfacing at the most unexpected moments.
He’d even found himself wanting to find some fault with Kim Sahyeon.
This is ridiculous.
What irritated him even more was Sahyeon’s behavior over the past few days.
He had expected her to come to him first, before he summoned her, and say something—anything.
After all, as she herself had said, she’d done something outrageous to a superior far above her. He’d thought she’d at least show some willingness to clean up the mess.
But Kim Sahyeon hadn’t shown her face.
No.
It had been painfully obvious that she was deliberately avoiding him.
Whenever they happened to cross paths in the elevator or lobby, she would scurry away as quickly as possible, as though desperately trying not to catch his eye.
Hajoon exhaled another cigarette-laced sigh, a hint of laughter mixed into it.
“The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets.”
He’d assumed she was avoiding him because she was embarrassed about what had happened that night.
He’d thought that if he called her in and gave her an opening, she’d reluctantly follow along.
But she rejected him?
Immediately?
Even after he’d given her a week to think?
Hajoon’s eyes narrowed.
Where exactly did I get it wrong?
Looking back, perhaps the problem had started when Kim Sahyeon spilled alcohol on his trousers.
“Executive Director… Wh-what should I do? I’m so sorry.”
When she’d leaned down to wipe his trousers with a tissue, the neckline of her blouse had fallen open.
As she’d said, her vision had been impaired, so she probably hadn’t been able to pay much attention to how she looked.
The moment she’d leaned over him like that, the soft curves of her body had come into view.
It was quite different from Kim Sahyeon’s usual image, and his gaze had lingered despite himself.
Her pale skin had looked strangely alluring, and the way she had awkwardly exposed herself had only stimulated him further.
“Executive Director…”
What had kissing Kim Sahyeon been like?
The tremor he’d felt when her tightly pursed lips hesitantly opened for him.
The electrifying sounds that escaped her when his tongue brushed against the sensitive inner surfaces of her mouth.
The shivers that ran through her as her hands wrapped around the back of his neck.
Everything was vivid.
Just recalling it made his desire surge so intensely that it irritated him.
And after all that…
“I respect you for your precise analyses and rational judgment as my superior.”
That was what she had said.
If he were to interpret her words, didn’t they basically mean:
Get a grip, you bastard. We were both drunk that night and got carried away for a moment. Don’t make a fool of yourself and cling to me.
“Hah.”
A bitter laugh escaped Hajoon.
Until then, Kim Sahyeon had been nothing more than one employee among many—not someone worthy of his personal attention.
He’d heard it drilled into him countless times that the relationship between employer and employee was supposed to be exactly that.
As far as he was concerned, Kim Sahyeon had been Employee No. 354.
Even when he’d been working as a director in the Strategic Planning Division, they hadn’t had any particular connection.
Whenever Kim Sahyeon, wearing thick glasses and hunching her shoulders, greeted him with a timid, “Good morning, Director,” he’d merely thought she looked unusually intimidated and felt a little sorry for her.
Thinking back, he vaguely remembered that whenever their eyes happened to meet, the tips of her ears would instantly turn red, and she could never hide her embarrassment.
He’d found that strangely amusing.
Perhaps he had also been tired of seeing the same commonplace reactions from women toward him.
“I’ll give you a week. Bring me your answer within that time.”
He’d given Kim Sahyeon that proposal simply to gauge the extent of the sudden curiosity that had come over him.
And she rejects me immediately? She says my kiss wasn’t good enough to do again?
“That can’t be right.”
He wasn’t just anyone.
He was Yoo Hajoon.
The ideal type, the fantasy, the dream man of countless women.
After a lifetime of becoming accustomed to admiration and reverent gazes, he simply couldn’t understand Kim Sahyeon’s firm rejection.
At the same time, however, it became a catalyst that stimulated his competitive instincts.
Hajoon crushed out the cigarette that still had plenty of life left in it and turned around without hesitation.
It was time to return to that dull position he’d been born into—the obedient heir of Daehong Group.
“Have a good one.”
Sahyeon’s steps slowed as she carried a box filled with documents.
Inside were the original proposal for the Southeast Asian mixed-use development project currently being handled by the Overseas Sales Division, financial simulation materials, and a due diligence report on the local partner company.
Since the project was being handled in collaboration with the headquarters’ Strategic Planning Division, these were approval documents Sahyeon had to deliver there herself.
Her mind, which had felt foggy as though she’d been walking through mist on Monday and Tuesday, was gradually beginning to clear.
Her answer to Yoo Hajoon’s proposal remained the same even as time passed:
No.
All Sahyeon wanted was to continue working quietly and steadily at the company for a long time.
Besides, she had another goal of her own.
Independence.
It wasn’t that she disliked living with her aunt Mijeong.
But Mijeong often used her son Seunggi’s overseas tuition as an excuse to accumulate a large sum of money, taking not only Sahyeon’s salary but even her bonuses.
A few times, Sahyeon had gone along with it because she felt she owed her aunt for everything she’d done for her.
Other times, she desperately wanted to refuse but couldn’t bring herself to.
If she did, she’d have to endure the cold treatment and constant disapproval at home, leaving her with no choice.
But if she continued living that way, financial independence would remain a distant dream.
I’m sorry, but I have to live my own life, too.
Sahyeon had scrimped and saved relentlessly, slowly building up enough for a rental deposit.
In a few months, she’d have enough to pay the deposit on the officetel she’d had her eye on.
The room was small, but it came fully furnished, and the monthly rent would be manageable with her salary.
It was the perfect place to become independent without spending a fortune.
In other words, if she wanted to achieve her goal of independence, she had to continue her peaceful working life just as she had until now.
I clearly rejected him… so the Executive Director will accept it.
The Yoo Hajoon she knew wasn’t the kind of man who would make unreasonable demands of a female employee far below him.
Anyone could make an irrational choice once in a while.
And wasn’t reason what allowed a person to control such impulses?
He won’t use this as an excuse to harass me or anything. Besides, what could Executive Director Yoo possibly be lacking? He wouldn’t do something like that, right?
Ding.
But when the elevator doors finally opened, Sahyeon’s shoulders jerked.
Yoo Hajoon was inside.
Sahyeon stepped into the elevator and greeted him.
She tried to hide her embarrassment, but her stiff expression refused to cooperate.
