MR 07

Chapter 07

They Say It Was Love at First Sight.

I touched the article as if possessed. After a short loading time, a banner for D Magazine appeared. It was a webzine run by a media company affiliated with Moyeon Group. The upload date was about a year ago.

As I scrolled down, the photo showed him leaning against a desk with a nameplate reading “Executive Director Han Je-ha” placed on it—what appeared to be his office—looking toward the camera.

It was a dignity befitting someone who could without exaggeration be called Moyeon’s successor.

[Q. The Business Support TF you currently belong to is called the “control tower” of Moyeon, a brain trust packed with core talent. As the leader of one of its teams, what sense of responsibility do you hold?

A. At Moyeon, each department has independence in decision-making. That’s why, regardless of which team it is, every member is a key player—a brain trust member—regardless of department or rank. In the case of Strategy Team 2, which I belong to, our main task is building businesses that will lead the company’s future, but fundamentally, we exist to take responsibility when a business fails to achieve the results planned. To step forward and recover from unforeseen risks and losses, to review processes and establish preventive measures so the same mistakes aren’t repeated. That is the team’s role and my responsibility as its leader.]

A clear and impressive answer. Not authoritarian, yet it makes the listener keenly aware of their own position.

He’s a smart person—in quite a lot of ways.

[Q. Let me try a slightly more personal question this time. Around this time a year ago, you held a private wedding ceremony. You must be in the midst of a honeymoon phase with love overflowing—but since you’ve been extremely reluctant to appear in the media, almost nothing about the two of you is known to the public. Could you perhaps tell us the story of how you first met your wife?]

“Huh.”

It was a baffling question. Everyone and their mother knew this was a loveless marriage.

And “love overflowing”? If I had been the interviewee, I would have rambled incoherently and ended up as gossip the next day—[Moyeon Electronics Executive Director Han Je-ha and Wife, Discord Rumors Surface] or some such—getting dragged through the mud.

But since it was him and not me, I scrolled down with a light heart. He must have handled it smoothly.

[A. I first met my wife during my study abroad days. There were a few Korean students in the same class, and among them, my wife was an outstanding student who ranked at the top throughout the semester. I felt drawn to her intelligence and confidence. No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say I fell in love at first sight.]

“……”

I flipped my phone face down right there. I pressed my forehead against the table and just blinked.

Is this a well-crafted lie, or the truth? I couldn’t tell what was what, and it was confusing.

Well, unless he was deliberately trying to frame me for academic credential forgery, the fact that I attended a prestigious university was probably true.

“I was pretty smart, huh?”

I pressed down the pride threatening to surge up and followed the thread of thought.

Then what about all that “felt drawn” and “first sight” business……

‘After barely surviving death, is this the kind of nonsense you pull?’

‘My patience for playing along with this absurd farce ends here.’

‘You should get that looked at. It looks like a deep cut.’

The cold, piercing gaze and biting words from the very first moment we met. Those emotionless eyes that didn’t even carry enough weight to be called contempt.

“Ha.”

I woke my phone again and glared at the man on the screen. He wore his public face, but the sharpness in his eyes that couldn’t be hidden was vivid even through the photo.

And yet he played the role of a smitten newlywed husband so well.

What blade was he sharpening behind that deliberately gentle expression? Having been stabbed by that blade multiple times, I wasn’t exactly pleased.

“Liar.”

It was probably to suppress the annoying rumors that follow arranged marriages, but it still rankled. He could have deflected with something vague—but no, he had to say “fell in love at first sight”?

There’s a limit to deceiving people—how could he make that kind of face and pretend to be a lovesick fool……!

I was huffing and glaring at the smooth features on the screen with all my might when the sudden ring of the doorbell made me jump and drop my phone.

“What? Who is it?”

Could the bed have arrived already?

Peering into the intercom full of anxiety, a neatly dressed unfamiliar man was standing there.

“Who are you……?”

– Madam, hello. I’m Secretary Yun, who serves the Executive Director.

Why would his secretary come here? Did he somehow hear me badmouthing him?

I wondered if there was a wiretap somewhere and glanced around, but there was no way such a thing existed.

It was such an unexpected visit that I opened the door cautiously with a dubious feeling.

“…Hello.”

“You must have been surprised by my sudden visit. I formally greeted you at the previous founding anniversary ceremony—I’m Yun Do-yun from the Moyeon Secretary’s Office.”

A man with a clever impression bowed politely with a good-natured smile. His composed demeanor lowered my guard somewhat, but his face was still unfamiliar, which put me in an awkward spot.

And for good reason—nowhere among the hundreds of articles that had poured out was there any mention of post-accident aftereffects. Whether it was dismissed as my absurd lie or for some other reason, I couldn’t tell, but in any case, my current condition was confidential.

Seeing him mention our previous meeting, it seemed even his closest aide didn’t know the situation—so now I really had to act, didn’t I?

Whatever the man interpreted from my troubled expression, he smoothly changed the subject on his own.

“I heard you were discharged a few days ago. I’m truly glad you’ve recovered.”

Setting aside how we’d somehow moved past that, what he said next was so kind that it warmed my heart.

Such gentle goodwill. It was the first hospitality I’d received since leaving the hospital.

“Thank you for your concern.”

But Secretary Yun’s expression as he smiled back at my words was somehow awkward.

I thought about what I was missing, then remembered. I was not a human being who behaved according to normal common sense.

The memory surfaced of how my past self—armed with “kind and affectionate behavior,” the most basic of basics in human relationships—had made my twin extremely uncomfortable. There had been more than a few times I cried internally at the way she tensed up and watched me warily whenever I smiled and tried to talk to her.

This man now was probably anxious too, wondering if there was some scheme behind my changed attitude from the hellion I used to be.

“So… what brings you here?”

“Ah, the Executive Director sent me. He said you injured your ankle and asked me to accompany you to the hospital.”

For a moment I forgot his secretary was standing right there and let out a small scoff.

His indifferent tone from this morning was still fresh in my mind—and he’d made such a request?

Combined with the interview from earlier, the complete contradiction between his words and actions made anger slowly bubble up.

“If it’s alright with you, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

But I couldn’t just leave my still-throbbing ankle as it was.

I reluctantly nodded at Secretary Yun, who was still wearing his kind smile.

* * *

In the end, I got five stitches.

The doctor said the wound would have festered if I’d waited any longer, and added that with an injury like this the pain must have been considerable—how had I endured it?

There had been some heat at night, but it wasn’t painful enough to bother me. I’d thought I was the sensitive type, but maybe I had an unexpectedly dull side.

When asked how I’d gotten hurt, I started to brush it off but then decided it might invite unnecessary suspicion, so I made up something about breaking a flower vase. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie, so my conscience was clear.

As I looked down at my ankle, now firmly wrapped in bandages, Secretary Yun spoke to me.

“Madam, was there anything uncomfortable about the treatment?”

“Madam” this, “madam” that, everywhere I went. The doctor had called me madam right off the bat too—turns out this was a hospital under Moyeon Group.

It was an embarrassing title, but I’d decided to adapt quickly, so I answered without complaint.

“Not at all.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t a serious wound.”

The eyes I met through the rearview mirror curved neatly. His clean, gentle smile had a kind power that made even the beholder feel good.

But if this secretary handled even personal matters like this, then the odds were overwhelmingly high that he hadn’t escaped my past rampages—which had spared no one regardless of age, gender, or status.

“Um, Secretary Yun.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“How long have you been working here?”

Despite the sudden question, a kind answer came back without a hint of puzzlement.

“I’ve served him since he was promoted to Executive Director, so a little over two years now.”

“Then in that time, did I… ever make any mistakes toward you, Secretary Yun?”