SAGW 10

Chapter : 10

“Executive Director! W-wait for me!”

I shouted toward his retreating back.

But whether he heard me or not, he slipped into the elevator without even looking back.

No!

I caught a glimpse of his indifferent face through the gap in the closing doors. I summoned every last ounce of strength I had and ran down the hallway.

“Wait a moment… Hah, hah!”

When I finally reached the elevator, struggling to catch my breath, I saw that the doors—which should have already closed—were wide open.

He had one hand casually tucked into his trouser pocket while pressing the open-door button with the other.

“Get in.”

Seo-jun gestured with his chin.

He had been waiting for me instead of leaving.

“Ah… Thank you.”

Ding―.

The elevator began descending smoothly.

The only sounds in the silence were my ragged breathing and the faint hum of the machinery.

The expensive perfume filling the cramped elevator mingled strangely with the cheap sandwich I was holding, almost like a reflection of the circumstances of the two of us.

“Is that good?”

He casually spoke while staring straight ahead.

“Pardon?”

“The sandwich.”

I reflexively looked down at the sandwich in my hand.

“Oh, this? Yes. It’s the soul food of people who work overtime. The combination of the sauce and vegetables is incredible.”

I looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Have you… never tried it before?”

Come to think of it, that made sense.

There was no way a third-generation chaebol would have eaten a cheap franchise sandwich like this.

I carefully opened the wrapper a little and held it out toward his mouth.

“Would you like… a bite? It’s really good.”

His gaze fell on the sandwich before moving away.

The obvious bite mark on it suddenly felt embarrassing.

He shook his head and calmly replied,

“No, thank you. I ate not long ago.”

“Oh, okay….”

I was about to withdraw my hand in embarrassment when he carefully added,

“I was simply asking for market research purposes.”

“What? Market research?”

“If employee satisfaction is that high, I was thinking about placing a group order for afternoon snacks later. As part of employee welfare.”

His face was so shamelessly calm, as though his question just now had been nothing more than data collection for management efficiency and employee welfare.

Wow… He really is thorough.

I was impressed.

Employees like me simply hurriedly ate whatever we could because we were hungry, but Executive Director Kang even thought about employee satisfaction and welfare when looking at something as simple as a sandwich.

“As expected… You really are a businessman to the bone.”

His eyebrow twitched ever so slightly at my admiration.

He cleared his throat and turned his gaze toward the elevator panel.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it’s delicious.”

Maybe it was just my imagination, but the tips of his ears seemed slightly red.

He had bought it for me but was pretending someone else had bought it.

And he was even making it sound as though it were for the sake of company welfare.

His way of talking was annoying, but strangely, I couldn’t bring myself to dislike him.

Ding―.

We arrived at the first-floor lobby.

He strode out first.

I adjusted the heavy laptop bag on my shoulder and followed behind him.

My body was exhausted from working overtime, and with the laptop and a stack of documents added to the burden, every step felt like I was carrying a thousand pounds.

My shoulders throbbed as though they were about to break.

Perhaps he noticed me struggling to adjust my belongings, because Seo-jun, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped.

“Executive Director?”

His gaze fell on the heavy strap digging into my shoulder.

“Give it to me.”

“Pardon?”

Instead of answering, he reached out and snatched the bag from me.

My body instantly felt lighter.

“Ah, no! I’ll carry it. If you carry something like this….”

If the employees saw this, they would probably faint.

The heir to Daeyoung Group acting as an ordinary assistant manager’s porter?

But he was firm.

“I can’t stand watching you walk like a tortoise.”

“No, but still….”

“Getting home quickly and getting some rest will help your work efficiency tomorrow, so let’s just go like this.”

He completely shut down my excuses and headed toward the revolving door.

His steps were as light as if he were carrying an empty paper bag.

I stared blankly at his broad back.

I had always thought he was cold and irritating.

But he’s more dependable than I thought.

It was a strange feeling.

How long had it been since someone had carried my burden for me?

I had always taken it for granted that I had to carry everything alone and endure everything alone.

I suppressed the sudden sting at the tip of my nose and hurried after him.

The inside of the car was quiet.

Seo-jun, sitting in the driver’s seat, said nothing.

As soon as I relaxed, fatigue washed over me like a tidal wave, and I began nodding off in the passenger seat.

“…Team Leader, that’s not it….”

A sleepy mumble escaped me, and I jolted awake.

“Gasp!”

Embarrassment washed over me.

When I looked to the side, Seo-jun was tapping the steering wheel and looking at me.

“Do you work even in your dreams?”

“I-I’m sorry. I was just so sleepy….”

“Team Leader Park?”

His voice was low, and I nodded while watching his reaction for some reason.

“Yes. Even though I sent the report… I still feel like he’s chasing me.”

“……”

“Thanks to you, it was resolved, but I guess he was still holding onto me in my dream. Haha.”

I tried to laugh it off awkwardly, but his expression didn’t soften.

The traffic light changed, and the car began moving smoothly again, but the atmosphere was much colder than before.

“Assistant Manager Lee.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know how our company’s personnel system works?”

It was a completely unexpected question.

“Well… Isn’t it performance-based?”

A sardonic smile touched his lips as he muttered,

“If you call something created by an incompetent superior grinding his subordinate into the ground ‘performance,’ then the system is rotten.”

I could see his grip tightening.

His hand pressed against the leather steering wheel so hard that it seemed as though it might buckle.

Seeing him like that, I trailed off, saying that everyone did things like that and that since I was the person actually handling the project, perhaps it couldn’t be helped.

The truth was, I felt wronged.

But I had long since resigned myself to the idea that being an assistant manager meant being caught between those above and those below.

“There is no such thing as something being ‘just the way things are.’”

He said it firmly.

“The subordinate does all the work, the superior takes all the credit, and then he harasses the subordinate so badly that he even appears in their dreams after work.”

His eyes grew increasingly sharp.

“I find it unpleasant that my employee—someone who is, in name, my wife—is being treated that way.”

My employee.

And…

My wife.

Those words struck something strangely deep inside my heart.

Maybe he was simply saying that because we were contractually bound, because he disliked seeing his partner on paper being mistreated.

But at this very moment, his prickly words sounded warmer than any comfort could have.

“Thank you… for saying that.”

I murmured softly and opened and closed my eyes again.

For some strange reason, the inside of this man’s car felt like the safest fortress in the world.

Slowly, my heavy eyelids lowered again.

This time, I couldn’t resist.

Kang Seo-jun glanced at Da-eun, who had fallen asleep.

Her head was resting against the window, and dark circles hung heavily beneath her eyes.

It was the clear evidence of how she had been worked to the bone until 11 p.m., surviving on barely half a sandwich.

What an idiot. She can’t even refuse.

Anger surged inside him.

But the arrow of his anger wasn’t aimed at the woman sleeping beside him.

It was aimed at the person responsible for creating this situation.

Team Leader Park Cheol-su.

Not only had he stolen someone else’s proposal, but he had shamelessly made her clean up the aftermath as well?

Seo-jun’s eyes turned cold.

With one hand on the steering wheel, he pulled out his phone with the other.

This wasn’t a personal emotion.

It was nothing more than the proper execution of his duties as a business executive—purging a parasite from the company.

Without hesitation, he sent messages simultaneously to the heads of the Human Resources Team and the Audit Team.

[As soon as you arrive at work tomorrow, conduct a full investigation into Team Leader Park Cheol-su of Marketing Team 1’s corporate card expenditures and attendance records and report to me.]

Press.

His fingertip pressed down on the send button without mercy.

But that wasn’t enough.

As if driving a final nail into the coffin, he added one more line.

[Pay particular attention to expenses listed as ‘entertainment expenses.’ Prepare supporting documents down to the last won. No exceptions.]

The phone screen went dark, and darkness descended over the car once again.

But the corners of Seo-jun’s lips curled upward ever so slightly.

Look forward to it, Team Leader Park.

The price for daring to lay a hand on my person.

By tomorrow morning, you’ll know it painfully well.

Careful not to wake the sleeping Da-eun, he gently reduced the car’s speed.

The streetlights swept across the faces of the two people before disappearing into the darkness.