chapter 20
Kyungjun’s day started a little earlier than most people’s—at four in the morning.
He finished his workout and shower, then opened the front door to find the breakfast delivered every morning along with newspapers from various publishers piled up.
He chewed on a sandwich halfheartedly while flipping through the newspapers, checking the day’s major articles. After getting dressed and fixing his hair, he went to pick up Lee Seung-oh, and they went to work together.
On that commute, Kyungjun’s frown deepened when he ran into a woman who shouldn’t have been there, right in front of the CEO’s office.
“Ah, hello, CEO.”
Jo Seo-ha bowed as soon as she saw the two of them.
“And what brings you here—”
“I was told to come. I have something to receive.”
Lee Seung-oh cut Kyungjun off with a gesture.
“Come in. I want to hear how the company’s going, too.”
“Oh, yes!”
Seo-ha quickly followed Lee Seung-oh inside and closed the door.
It was a familiar scene: the cityscape stretching beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the old walnut desk as aged as the company itself, and the bookshelf packed from floor to ceiling.
There was something else too, like the nameplate on the desk:
[CEO Lee Seung-oh, Kang Yoon Company]
That nameplate belonged to my mother. You could never have it.
The handkerchief she had carefully ironed was crumpled in Seo-ha’s hand.
“Did you have breakfast?”
Lee Seung-oh sat on the edge of the sofa, pointing to the seat across from him. Seo-ha quickly erased the hatred from her eyes and carefully perched herself on the edge of the sofa.
“Yes, I had scorched rice porridge.”
“Haha. That must have been delicious.”
His smile, as if he found it amusing or interesting, was exactly the same as the day he first met Lee Ji-soo.
“Do you like scorched rice porridge too, CEO?”
“Of course. It’s easy on the stomach and has a rich flavor.”
“Wow.”
Seo-ha whispered in small admiration, acting amazed.
“Why? Have you never seen anyone who likes scorched rice porridge?”
“No, it’s just… I didn’t think you’d eat that kind of thing, CEO. Actually, I was a bit surprised yesterday when you said you were having fish cakes too.”
“I’m someone who really likes simple things.”
Lee Seung-oh leaned slightly forward from his reclined position, reducing the space between them.
“Could I have that scorched rice porridge next time?”
Look at that expression. I almost want to crack the lid off his head and make seafood scorched rice soup.
Seo-ha hid her curse behind a flustered expression.
“That’s… I’m sorry.”
“You think it’s too precious to give to me?”
“No, it’s not that. I heard you’re married… I could give it to you, but your wife might be upset.”
“Oh. Married.”
Lee Seung-oh laughed lightly, as if it didn’t matter.
“That doesn’t matter. I’m married, but it’s basically like I don’t have a wife.”
“Has she been away?”
“She’s hospitalized. For years.”
You said that.
Lee Seung-oh got up and poured two cups of freshly brewed coffee.
“We weren’t especially close. My wife… how should I put it… she was like a Venus sculpture. No humanity, couldn’t even do a small favor for her husband.”
The more Seo-ha listened, the more her resentment deepened.
Who fed me, clothed me, and even sent me abroad for college? And I’m her daughter. Ungrateful little brat.
“But you married for love, right?”
“Not at all.”
Lee Seung-oh waved his hands dismissively.
“There’s no man in the world who would love her. She’s beautiful and rich, so at first, wow. But after seeing her pretentiousness three times, even the most patient man would flee in the middle of the night.”
Seo-ha imagined briefly pressing the corner of the nameplate into the top of his head.
“I see…”
“I told you, I like simple things.”
His smile, which once made her heart race, now felt reptilian. Comparing it even this way felt almost cruel to the snakes.
Seo-ha placed the handkerchief she’d been holding on the table.
“I’ll be going now. Work hours are about to start.”
“Already?”
“An intern can’t be late.”
“True.”
Lee Seung-oh picked up the handkerchief and sniffed it.
“Nice scent. Thank you.”
“No, thank you for lending it!”
Today, that’s enough. Sitting through gossip about the wife I wanted to crush, and worse, listening to it in front of her, while being unable to hit her with a nameplate, would be unbearable.
Seo-ha opened the door slightly and stepped out, leaning against a cold wall with eyes closed to calm her dizzying rage and disgust.
“Seeing you again, intern Jo Seo-ha.”
A voice equally infuriating as Lee Seung-oh’s came from right in front of her.
Ryu Kyungjun. Damn spy.
Opening her eyes slowly, she saw Kyungjun standing with a clearly displeased expression. He was feeling very uneasy. That suspicious intern had come all the way to the CEO’s office and spent some time there before leaving.
“Ah, hello.”
“What brings an intern to the CEO’s office first thing in the morning?”
“I had something to give to CEO Lee Seung-oh… he said it would be fine to come yesterday… he said he’d let you know…”
“Let me know?”
Kyungjun recalled now. Yesterday, Lee Seung-oh had said if anyone came to the CEO’s office tomorrow morning, just let them in.
He thought it was Lee Ji-soo. Was it Jo Seo-ha instead?
Kyungjun looked down at Seo-ha, clearly displeased. She was still a country girl with worn sneakers and an unidentifiable fashion sense. But how much darker was her intent behind that innocent look?
“You’re quite capable, Jo Seo-ha.”
“Yes…?”
Seo-ha looked up at him with a blank expression.
“Unqualified, yet after a few words you get in. Day one at the office, you’re in the CEO’s office. What’s next?”
“Uh—”
“Should I guess?”
Kyungjun leaned slightly, his low voice whispering near her ear.
“You’ll pretend it’s coincidence and bump into him a few more times. Maybe have a drink together naturally. One day, you wake up as Lee Seung-oh’s second mistress, commuting in a luxury car.”
Straightening up, Kyungjun smiled faintly.
“Exactly.”
Seo-ha had imagined it roughly. She wouldn’t do something that horrific, but borrowing someone else’s body to do what she wouldn’t do with her own? That was too conscienceless.
“You have quite the imagination, Secretary Ryu. But it’s a fairly plausible scenario.”
“…?”
Seo-ha tilted her right hand toward his face. Compelled by the gesture, Kyungjun leaned down, bringing his ear close to her mouth.
“Lee Ji-soo’s designs are really shitty.”
Kyungjun’s brows furrowed slightly. Seo-ha added more clearly in a lower voice:
“As long as Lee Ji-soo remains the main designer, Kang Yoon will fail.”
Kyungjun lifted his head, looking at Seo-ha as if he’d seen a ghost.
Seo-ha raised the corner of her mouth in a faint smile. Over that ordinary face, the image of Yoon Seo-ha briefly overlapped before vanishing.
“…You’re confident.”
“That’s the answer you wanted, Secretary Ryu. You wouldn’t believe me no matter what I said.”
Seo-ha walked past him, squeezing between the wall and Kyungjun.
“I’ll go now. Have a good day.”
Kyungjun didn’t take his eyes off her back until she disappeared into the elevator hall. She was a strange, suspicious woman—far more than he’d imagined.
The design office, fresh off the first half of the year, was a battlefield. Thick winter fabrics shed dust like shedding cats, and designers repeated meetings and work expressionlessly. New designers busied themselves with the assigned chores.
Among the bustle, Seo-ha, seated alone at a desk, seemed like she belonged to another world.
“Are you busy, So-yeon? Is there anything I can do?”
Seo-ha spoke to designer Jung So-yeon, who had joined at the same time. So-yeon, with a round forehead and kind-looking eyes, looked up and happily replied:
“Could you iron these clothes? Jeong Eun asked me, but I also need to sew buttons here—.”
“What are you doing there?”
Lee Ji-soo approached. Startled, So-yeon shrank her shoulders like a frightened rabbit.
“I wanted to ask Seo-ha to iron… since she’s free.”
“Wasn’t ironing already assigned by Seo Jeong-eun?”
Lee Ji-soo smiled, snatched the ironing from Seo-ha, and tossed it next to So-yeon’s desk. So-yeon, punished for no reason, shrank further.
Being excluded so obviously and childishly—this would never have happened when Seo-ha ran the design office.
“Then what should I do?”
Blinking innocently, Seo-ha asked.
“Just sit, Seo-ha. There’s nothing for you to do.”
“So, no tasks for me?”
“As you can see, it’s busy. If you meddle and make a mistake, it only adds more work. Right? I’m uneasy about it too.”
“Yes, thank you!”
Seo-ha bowed and sat down, opening her design book. Her sharpened pencils and colored pencils were neatly arranged.
“…What are you doing, Seo-ha?”
“Designing.”
“Aren’t you an intern?”
From before, Lee Ji-soo never stuttered in front of someone weaker.
“Are interns not supposed to design?”
“Design is for designers.”
“But I was recognized for my design and got in for that.”
She asked as if she genuinely didn’t know. Lee Ji-soo clenched her teeth, smiling in a friendly way.
“Then try. I like how passionate you are, Seo-ha.”
“Thank you for the compliment, hehe.”
Seo-ha smiled brightly and picked up her pencil.
Alone in the office after everyone had left, she drew hundreds, thousands of sketches, then discarded them. Even in her dreams, she designed. Before the dream fully ended, she would wake up, sketch in a daze, then collapse and sleep again.
Among all those sketches, the best were still in this office, under the desk now occupied by Lee Ji-soo, in a small safe that no one knew the combination to.
What did it look like…?
Recalling the last sketch she had put in the safe, Seo-ha unconsciously moved her hand. The final design she had drawn for the brand under the name Yoon Seo-ha slowly came back to life on the paper.
