Chapter : 03
“Was the meal all right?”
“Huh? Y-yes… It was delicious.”
In truth, she could barely remember how it had tasted.
She had been so nervous that she couldn’t even tell whether the food was going into her mouth or her nose, and even the conversations she had shared with him were hazy.
All that remained was the sensation of his touch against her fingertips.
“I think we’re here. Is this the right place?”
A familiar building came into view behind Je-eon’s voice.
“Yes, it is. Thank you for dr—”
Se-ah tilted her head.
Had she ever told the department head her home address?
Her memory was hazy.
“Hey, Han Se-ah. What the hell?”
The moment she got out of the car, she heard a gruff voice. It was Jun-hee, Hye-mi’s second son.
Reeking of alcohol, he sauntered over and looked the foreign car up and down. Its high body and luxurious emblem were impossible to miss.
Even at a glance, it was clearly a brand whose cars easily cost over 500 million won.
“Oh, oppa. You’re home already?”
Se-ah hadn’t expected to run into Jun-hee at a time like this, so she stammered awkwardly.
“Wow… You kept coming home late, saying you had overtime and all that. So this whole time, you were out dating some guy?”
“Dating? What are you talking about…?”
“You got out of a man’s car and you’re saying it isn’t a date?”
Jun-hee kept craning his neck, trying to look inside. It was obviously rude, so Se-ah stepped in front of the passenger door.
She was also worried that if this somehow reached her aunt’s ears, things would become unnecessarily complicated.
“He’s the head of my division at work, so just go inside.”
“The head of your division?”
That made it even stranger.
Why would the head of a major corporation have nothing better to do than see a six-month intern safely home?
“I already saw his face while I was walking over. Come on, let me see him.”
Jun-hee casually pushed Se-ah aside and peered into the car.
Whoosh.
The passenger-side window rolled down.
“Hello?”
“Yes.”
Je-eon gave him an indifferent nod.
“This may be rude since we’re meeting for the first time, but are you really the head of her division?”
When Jun-hee asked suspiciously, Je-eon took out his business card and held it near the passenger window.
There was nothing more convincing than a business card.
Jun-hee reached his arm inside, took it, and stared at the writing.
[Taesang Estella, Strategic Planning Division, Division Head, Yoon Je-eon.]
Unless he was impersonating someone, he really was the head of the division…
“Ahem! My little sister may have plenty of shortcomings, but I’d appreciate it if you looked after her.”
Although he wasn’t completely certain, Jun-hee immediately switched into survival mode.
He might not have any real work experience, but the years he’d spent in the military and his honorable discharge had taught him a thing or two about dealing with people.
“She is already doing well.”
“Then perhaps you could have a positive influence on her chances of becoming a permanent employee…”
“Oppa!”
Se-ah glared at Jun-hee.
Because of the frozen job market, even graduates of universities in Seoul often had to start as interns, and Se-ah was no different.
Taesang Estella offered interns a chance to be converted into permanent employees, but the evaluation standards were strict, making the odds slim.
So Se-ah hadn’t expected much from the beginning.
Even if she failed to secure a permanent position, she would still have experience as an intern at a major corporation, so she didn’t consider it a loss.
“I’m sorry, sir. Please drive safely.”
Her face burning with embarrassment, Se-ah grabbed Jun-hee by the shoulder and pulled him away as she said goodbye to Je-eon.
As Je-eon stepped on the accelerator, he glanced at the two of them through the rearview mirror.
His eyes darkened for a moment before he soon turned his gaze away.
“What’s wrong with you, oppa? How could you ask the department head something like that?”
“Did I ask something I wasn’t allowed to? Those people need to have some sense of responsibility, too. I looked into it a little, and the rate of interns being converted to permanent employees is practically half what it used to be. If they’re making you work overtime like that, shouldn’t they have a conscience and hire you?”
“Even so, you shouldn’t say that to his face… Sigh.”
There was no point in saying anything more, so Se-ah swallowed the rest of her words.
“By the way, how old is that guy? He looks about the same age as our older brother.”
“Don’t call him ‘that guy.’ He’s older than you.”
“I’m asking how old he is. Don’t you know?”
From what she’d heard the employees say, he was around thirty-three.
Apparently, before Se-ah joined the company, he had suddenly arrived out of nowhere, and for a while there had been rumors that he was a parachute hire.
But he had studied overseas and was exceptionally capable at his job, so everyone had eventually been forced to acknowledge his abilities.
“About thirty-three…”
“Wow, but he’s a division head at that age? He’s definitely a fucking silver-spoon kid. Hey, I’m telling you, one hundred percent. He’s making a move on you because he wants to hook up with some innocent girl like you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“A man knows another man. If that’s not what he’s after, why would a guy that impressive drive you all the way home? Does that make any sense to you?”
“We ran into each other while I was working overtime, and he happened to be passing this way, so he gave me a ride. It’s not what you’re thinking.”
Jun-hee kept clicking his tongue, apparently unable to accept that explanation.
“That isn’t all. Something smells fishy. I can smell it.”
“The alcohol on you smells worse.”
“You’re getting bolder and bolder. You couldn’t even look me in the eye back then, and now you’ve grown a little and think you’re something, huh?”
“Sigh.”
There wasn’t even that much of an age difference between Je-eon and Jun-hee, yet Jun-hee’s childish behavior made Se-ah sigh involuntarily.
“Did you just sigh? Do you think your oppa is pathetic? Huh?”
You are.
A man nearing thirty who had never held a proper part-time job and had spent years studying for the civil service exam.
He called it studying, but he spent more days meeting friends than actually studying. He was basically an unemployed freeloader.
“Hey, I’m asking if you think I’m pathetic.”
“Yeah.”
Until now, Se-ah had always carried a sense of guilt toward her older brothers.
When a cousin they had never known suddenly came to live with them, they probably hadn’t been thrilled about it.
Having a younger sister of the opposite sex meant they had to make sure to put on a shirt every time they came out after showering, so there must have been plenty of everyday inconveniences as well.
Because she was grateful and sorry for all that, she’d deliberately kept her distance.
But being meddled with like this was extremely unpleasant.
“You’re almost thirty, oppa. How long are you going to do nothing but study?”
“What?”
“Where do you go every single day? Do you even intend to become a civil servant? If you do, shouldn’t you stay away from alcohol?”
Words she’d never been able to say before came pouring out.
She had truly gone off the rails.
She couldn’t help feeling jealous of Jun-hee, who had been cared for by his parents until nearly thirty while she had been struggling on her own after becoming an orphan at an early age.
But after she’d spat everything out, regret came rushing in.
“Wow, you really don’t hold anything back.”
“Oppa, what I just said was… I mean…”
“I’m about to be turned into boneless meat, so stop hitting me where it hurts.”
“……?”
She had been trying desperately to take back her words, but there was no need.
Jun-hee’s unexpected acceptance left Se-ah even more flustered.
The end of the week, Friday.
A company dinner was suddenly arranged without any warning.
“The department head is paying for it because everyone worked so hard on the last project, so feel free to come without feeling pressured.”
Since theirs was an exceptionally busy department, company dinners were held less frequently than in other departments. Perhaps for that reason, everyone seemed generally pleased about it.
“Se-ah, you know you’re attending too, right?”
When her name was called, Se-ah raised her head over the partition.
“Company dinners don’t distinguish between permanent employees and interns. Oh! And I absolutely will not ask you to pour drinks for anyone, okay?”
Team Leader Park Hyun-soo went out of his way to make that unnecessary remark.
He had been constantly picking on Se-ah, displaying an obsessive attitude that was childish to the point of absurdity.
It wasn’t difficult for Se-ah to guess why.
It was because of that incident at the intern welcome party three months ago.
<How about Se-ah goes around the table and fills everyone’s glasses to celebrate her joining the company? For team spirit! Hahaha!>
At Team Leader Park’s suggestion—despite the fact that he seemed more excited about the party than the person being welcomed—Se-ah hadn’t been able to react at all.
Not only was she unfamiliar with such a situation, she couldn’t understand it logically either.
She couldn’t for the life of her figure out what pouring alcohol had to do with teamwork.
<Se-ah? Why are you just standing there?>
Even with Team Leader Park urging her on, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
She had been at a loss for words, and the silence had dragged on.
That response clearly irritated Team Leader Park.
<You’re new to the working world, so I guess you’re not used to this kind of atmosphere. Hmm! Assistant Manager Lee is your mentor, so why don’t you do it instead?>
In the end, Hyeong-seok had gone around the table, filling everyone’s glasses.
That was when it started.
Judging by the occasional subtly dismissive remarks Park made afterward, it was obvious that he had kept that incident in the back of his mind.
