GCOW 09

Chapter 9

Cha Ji-hyuk, sitting in the seat of honor, did not seem to have any intention of hiding his ambition. How could Do-geon, who knew nothing about Korea or the company, possibly be compared to him, who had risen from an ordinary employee to an executive director?

‘With Uncle dead, it’s only a matter of time before I take over the company.’

His gaze turned toward Shin-young, who was wearing an exaggerated suit with padded shoulders that made them look unnaturally broad.

“Big Aunt, you finally got a title that suits you.”

‘You’re a stupid fool who doesn’t even realize you were used by Chairman Cha Woo-man your entire life. Dealing with a woman like you is so easy. You’re the type to wag your tail until it falls off if I just give you what you want.’

Shin-young touched her flushed cheek with her embroidered-glove-covered hand.

“I know you put a lot of effort into this, Ji-hyuk. My younger brothers promised that they would be absolutely loyal to you.”

Shin-young gave a coquettish laugh, and Ji-hyuk spoke to her gently.

“Big Aunt, now please stop worrying about morning dramas and focus on the cultural foundation’s business.”

“Of course. The movie directors and producers are all in my hands. I’ll take care of it.”

Shin-young’s younger brothers, Seung-min and Jae-hyun, who had just been promoted to executive director and managing director, respectively, also bowed and scraped before the young Ji-hyuk as if they had no necks.

‘I’ve put up my puppets. Now this is my world.’

“Big Aunt, after you have lunch—”

Just then, there was a commotion outside, and the door burst open as if it were about to break.

Two female employees entered first, followed by Do-geon, who was waving his hand as if herding cattle.

Shin-young’s eyes widened, and her expression became one of disbelief.

“Do-geon, what’s going on?”

The female employees, whose eyes were red, were trembling as they tightly clutched tissues in their hands.

Do-geon abruptly opened his jacket.

“You’re all here. The main characters who are going to lead RS!”

Ji-hwan’s eyes flashed coldly with displeasure.

“Do-geon, what are you doing? We’re in the middle of a meeting. An ordinary person like you can’t come in here.”

Do-geon let out a short laugh and glared at the female employees.

“Departments!”

“I-I work in Executive Director Cha Ji-hwan’s secretary’s office—”

“I work in the Public Relations Department.”

Do-geon approached Ji-hwan and exaggeratedly bent at the waist.

“Uncle, I heard what these female employees were saying, and I was so angry.”

Do-geon lowered his voice slightly as he looked at Ji-hwan, whose complexion had changed.

“Uncle, are you having an affair?”

Ji-hwan’s hand tightened around the armrest of the chair.

“What?”

“The female employees said you were having an affair.”

Everyone in the room turned their eyes toward Ji-hwan at once. His ears turned bright red, and he was so furious that he could not even speak.

“Uncle, you really surprised me. You should have been more careful not to get caught. Imagine how upset your wife would be if she heard about this after finally becoming pregnant after twenty rounds of IVF.”

Unable to suppress his anger, Ji-hwan tapped the armrest of the sofa repeatedly.

“You little bastard! Do you want to die? This never happened! Don’t you know how serious it is to spread lies?”

Do-geon straightened his back, his expression turning fierce.

“I know. Spreading lies is a serious crime. Defamation under Article 307 of the Criminal Act, insult under Article 311, and workplace harassment under Article 76-2 of the Labor Standards Act.”

The female employees’ sobs became louder than the wailing at Chairman Cha’s funeral.

“You little bastard!”

“That female employee is my uncle’s secretary. Ask her directly. Who did you say he slept with?”

“Secretary Kang! What is all this about?”

“Executive Director, it’s…”

She fell to her knees on the cold floor and clasped her hands.

“A post appeared on the company’s female employees’ community. It said that Executive Director and Secretary Lee Seo-yeon slept together.”

‘Those foolish people bit their own feet.’

They must have used Lee Seo-yeon to spread nasty rumors about Chairman Cha Woo-man.

But they had never expected the backlash to come like this.

They had succeeded in completely portraying Lee Seo-yeon as an office vixen who slept with higher-ups.

But the rumor had spread uncontrollably, going around and around until they themselves had become its targets.

What a ridiculous situation.

Do-geon brushed Ji-hwan’s shoulder with his hand.

“Even if our relationship is like this, how dare they mess with my uncle, Executive Director Cha Ji-hwan? How could I just sit back and do nothing?”

Ji-hwan desperately tried to suppress his anger, putting his hand on his waist and then lowering it again. Do-geon was the only relaxed person in the office.

“At this point, the rumor has already spread throughout the company community, so we should send it to the Ethics Committee, right? To protect Executive Director Cha Ji-hwan’s reputation?”

The female employees shed tears that looked completely fake.

“The Ethics Committee?”

“I heard with my own ears that you were slandering my uncle. And I have a recording of the conversation. Well, with things like this, you’re pretty much caught red-handed.”

Brushing his hair back, Do-geon stepped in front of Ji-hwan.

“Uncle. Praise me.”

‘You’ve fallen into the trap you made yourself. You have to fix what you started. You’ll have to publicly praise Lee Seo-yeon, saying that she was innocent and an excellent secretary who did her job perfectly. Otherwise, you’ll never escape that muddy pit you’re in.’

“This ordinary nobody will disappear now. Ah! You people!”

Do-geon glared at the female employees.

“I have the recording of your conversation! Fix this by the end of today.”

In truth, Do-geon knew very well that the people sitting there were the ones whose hearts had skipped a beat when they heard those words.

After leaving the office, Do-geon buttoned his jacket.

“Ha… What did I just do? Was that me interfering in someone else’s business? I’m crazy. Cha Do-geon, you’re crazy.”

He absolutely hated getting involved in other people’s affairs because it was annoying.

And yet, for the first time, he had crossed the line so far into someone else’s business.

“I’m crazy. I really am.”

Seo-yeon wondered what on earth was going on.

Late that afternoon, more than twenty unfamiliar female employees visited the old records management office in the basement.

They all bowed their heads with pale faces, and some even burst into tears.

Most of them were saying things like, “I’m sorry for misunderstanding you. I didn’t mean to do it.”

“Lee Seo-yeon. What’s going on? Why is everyone acting like this?”

Perhaps she had never seen anything like this before. Eun-mi, who had been sorting mail, even stopped what she was doing.

“I don’t know either.”

“It’s a day of apologies.”

Why had this suddenly happened?

These were people who had condemned her for three years.

What was even more unbelievable was that the youngest secretary in the chairman’s office was among them.

“Secretary Yoo.”

“I’m sorry, Senior.”

“But what happened today?”

That was how Seo-yeon learned the truth.

That man, Cha Do-geon, had swung a sharp blade in a fierce display.

On the surface, it seemed as if he was punishing those who had slandered his uncle.

But Seo-yeon knew.

In truth, every swing of Cha Do-geon’s sharp blade had been for her alone.

Seo-yeon’s hands slowly became still as she organized her desk.

She took her phone out of her bag and sent a text.

Morris Moore’s Korean branch officially opened in the middle of Gangnam.

The news that the world-famous investment company had opened its doors attracted a steady stream of wealthy and influential people.

After passing through the crowded lobby, Do-geon entered the president’s office, received a brief report from Hee-chul, and immediately began a video conference.

The CFO he had put in charge was handling things intelligently and efficiently, so the company was already running solidly without requiring much of his attention.

The meeting lasted longer than expected.

There was a clear difference of opinion among the executives regarding the purchase of a building owned by the British royal family.

The sharp and fierce Do-geon who had appeared at RS now seemed like a completely different person, as if he had another personality.

His genius, which allowed him to see through every single number, was impossible for anyone else to match.

He flipped through the documents with his long fingers, checking numbers with a highlighter. Every movement of his sharp hands was precise.

As he picked up a pencil and carefully wrote down new figures, the executives could not help but be impressed.

After the hour-and-a-half-long meeting, Do-geon leaned his head back against the chair.

Only then did Seo-yeon come to his mind.

“What was Lee Seo-yeon doing this afternoon?”

He took out his phone to check the CCTV.

“Huh!”

Seo-yeon’s text, sent exactly one hour and twenty minutes earlier, was waiting neatly for him, just like her.

“Damn it!”

His relaxed body suddenly sprang up like a spring.

“Ah, shit.”

Hee-chul entered with a knock.

“President, considering these results just three days after the opening of the Korean branch—”

“Secretary Jung, how long will it take to get to Yeonhwa-dong?”

“Normally, it takes about twenty minutes, but it’s rush hour now, so probably fifty minutes?”

“What? No! I have to get there within fifteen minutes!”

“That’s impossible.”

“Think of something. Hurry! Hurry. Should I parachute down? Or use a helicopter?”

“It would take a whole day just to arrange one.”

Do-geon snapped his fingers.

“A quick service. A quick service! Call one. Right now!”

“There’s usually one waiting in front of the building.”

Do-geon ran outside so quickly that the hallway became noisy.

A quick-service driver wearing a black helmet was apparently on the phone after just receiving a call.

“Yes, customer. I’ll come immediately—!”

Do-geon grabbed his arm and breathed heavily.

“Twenty times!”

“Huh?”

The driver continued saying, “Hello? Hello?” into the phone.

“I’ll pay you twenty times your usual fee. Yeonhwa-dong 18, can you get there in ten minutes?”

“Twenty times? Of course I can. Give me the delivery.”

Do-geon pointed at himself.

“Deliver me. Right now.”

“What?”

“Me! Within ten minutes!”

Wearing the helmet, Do-geon climbed onto the quick-service motorcycle.

Seo-yeon’s text had said:

—Would you like to come over for a home-cooked meal? At 7:30.