Chapter : 9
“Enough. That’s far enough.”
Jihoon raised his right hand.
At that, Ieum looked wronged.
“Why? Why won’t you let me finish?”
“Because everything you say with such a serious expression is completely ridiculous.”
“That’s not true.”
Even while grumbling that he was being too harsh, Ieum eventually said what she wanted to ask.
“Why did you wait for me today?”
When Jihoon fell silent, silence descended between them.
In the dim interior of the car, the atmosphere was so tense that their breathing could almost be heard. Ieum parted her lips again.
“Could it be that you were going to take me ho—”
Tap.
However, Ieum had to stop speaking when she felt a stinging sensation on her forehead. It didn’t really hurt, but feeling hurt by his action, Ieum pouted and protested.
“Why did you hit me!”
“To make you come to your senses.”
“But I’m right. You didn’t even leave work until this late, and you came all the way to the study room.”
“That’s because I was there in place of the supervisor.”
But Ieum’s question had struck at the truth, and Jihoon could not continue.
Come to think of it, why had I gone looking for you?
Even if he had been worried about a female student staying at school until late, there had been no need for him to go looking for her personally.
His mind somewhat confused, he arrived in front of her house.
“Go inside.”
“Okaaay.”
Seeing Ieum looking somewhat dejected, Jihoon felt a little uncomfortable.
“Oh!”
But Ieum had only just begun unfastening her seat belt when she turned back to him as if she had forgotten something.
Her round, black eyes, resembling those of a chick, were fixed on him. Jihoon felt uncomfortable under those utterly innocent eyes and slightly frowned as he spoke.
“What? Don’t just stare at me. Say it.”
“Thank you for taking me home.”
Yet what she had to say was unexpectedly nothing more than a polite expression of gratitude.
Jihoon simply bowed his head slightly and remained there until Ieum got out of the car and entered the building.
What is this feeling?
It was as though the scent of the lotion Ieum used still lingered inside the car.
Feeling bewildered by that sensation, Jihoon belatedly turned the steering wheel sharply.
Chief Secretary Joo Minjae had recently found himself completely unable to get used to his boss, Seong Jihoon.
Lately, he had become strangely different.
Jihoon had always been a man with clear likes and dislikes, and that sometimes caused trouble, but it had never gone so far that his actions couldn’t be glossed over by his charisma or decisiveness.
But these days…
“I’m not going on any more blind dates.”
Perhaps he was tired of enjoying popularity at school rivaling that of an idol, because he suddenly canceled all of his weekend blind dates, leaving Minjae in a difficult position.
“Go home. I have something to do.”
During the day, he wandered around the school like an unemployed man with nothing to do, only to suddenly announce in the evening that he would be working overtime and send Minjae home first.
Something had clearly changed in him.
Minjae believed his suspicions had enough basis that he even considered secretly following him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Just as my own privacy is precious, so is my boss’s privacy.
“Find out what that bastard is thinking.”
But when he was summoned to the headquarters and given that order, he honestly wanted to resign.
“Me?”
“Isn’t Chief Secretary Joo the person he feels most comfortable with?”
“Well… I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s—”
However, Minjae had to quietly shut his mouth under the unwavering gaze of Vice Chairman Seong Giljun.
If he was told to do it, he had to do it.
That was the fate assigned to Minjae.
“Lately, I’ve been quite troubled because of my one and only son.”
“I understand, Vice Chairman.”
“If I’d known this would happen, I should have had two children. I stopped because I was worried my wife’s health might suffer.”
Instead of answering, Minjae could only give an awkward smile.
He knew that Seong Giljun’s marriage had caused quite a stir in society at the time. After all, he had married a woman who was only eighteen years old.
Considering that his wife still wasn’t even fifty, Minjae could imagine just how shocking it must have been at the time, even in an era when women’s rights were relatively limited.
“Since Jihoon is acting like this, I think the Chairman is going to make a move.”
“By ‘make a move’…”
“The Chairman hasn’t been able to let go of Riwon.”
As the expected, yet most worrying, subject came up, Minjae remained silent for a moment.
“If that bastard doesn’t choose a bride himself, I think the Chairman will force him to marry Riwon. That’s probably why he met Riwon separately yesterday as well.”
“Will Executive Director stay still?”
“He won’t. But at this rate, it wouldn’t even be surprising if the Chairman cut off one of that bastard’s fingers and stamped the marriage registration form with it. You know the Chairman’s personality too, Chief Secretary Joo.”
Minjae lowered his head solemnly.
Chairman Seong Hyeon.
As far as he was concerned, he was the original version of Seong Jihoon.
No, he was several levels above Seong Jihoon.
It was true that he had especially favored Jihoon, who had shown remarkable intelligence and promise since childhood, and had openly favored him over his other grandchildren.
The fact that he had given Jihoon the opportunity to choose his own bride was proof of that.
Yet, for some reason, Jihoon, who had seemed to follow his grandfather’s orders well until now, had suddenly changed his mind and declared that he wouldn’t even do that anymore.
It was understandable that the Chairman’s patience was running thin.
Minjae’s own heart was burning away like dry leaves set ablaze.
With such a heavy heart, he headed toward the school. Just as he was almost there, his phone rang.
[The Root of All Illnesses]
It was Jihoon.
Minjae swallowed a sigh and answered the phone.
“Yes, Executive Director.”
Meanwhile, Jihoon was standing crookedly, one hand on his waist and the other holding nothing.
“Chief Secretary Joo Minjae.”
He was on his way back after discussing something with the principal. The eerie atmosphere around the study room at night had been bothering him, so he had gone to figure out some measures.
“What is this?”
But Jihoon’s eyes suddenly sharpened.
“Was there a visitor scheduled for today?”
—Pardon? No. There wasn’t—
“How long are you going to make me stand here?”
The woman standing before him smiled, her eyes curving gently.
Jihoon frowned.
After confirming with Minjae that this visit had not been scheduled, he hung up and turned toward the woman.
“How did you get in here?”
“I heard you were kicked out of the headquarters, so I came because I was curious to see how you were doing. But you’re doing better than I expected.”
It was Kang Riwon.
Behind her, as though standing guard over her, were two employees holding an unidentified object covered by a cloth.
“Were you so busy enjoying this easy life that you couldn’t even show up to our appointment?”
“I have nothing to say to you. Leave.”
“The Chairman sent me.”
Riwon crossed her arms and arrogantly raised her chin.
Instead of responding to her, Jihoon quietly shifted his gaze to her elaborately decorated fingernails.
The short, clean fingernails he had seen at the study room not long ago overlapped in his mind.
“So what?”
“You have to open the door. We’re not going to take measurements in this hallway, are we?”
“What is that?”
Jihoon asked the employee standing behind Riwon.
The employee looked startled for a moment and glanced at Riwon before carefully opening his mouth.
“Samples of formal wedding attire.”
Just as I thought.
Jihoon moved his cold gaze toward Riwon.
“Hey. Kang Riwon.”
His voice was so cold that Riwon’s previously confident demeanor faltered for a moment.
“I knew you had a thick face, but even this is too much.”
“Oppa.”
“Oppa, my ass.”
At the sudden profanity, Riwon’s eyes widened in disbelief.
She had known Jihoon for a long time. Not long ago, he had even caused a huge incident in front of both families’ grandparents and parents.
“I’m a human being, so I can’t marry trash.”
But even then, he hadn’t uttered a single curse word.
“You. If you pull something like this one more time, I won’t let it slide.”
As Riwon clenched her molars at the warning that clearly carried genuine intent, Jihoon pulled his phone from his jacket and called someone.
“We have an unauthorized visitor here. Remove her immediately. Since this concerns the safety of the students, I will make sure those responsible are held accountable for this.”
After ending the call, Jihoon simply opened the chairman’s office door and went inside.
“Hey! Seong Jihoon!”
Riwon screamed in fury, but the door slammed shut as if ignoring her.
There were eyes quietly watching Riwon stamping her feet in frustration from the end of the hallway.
