Chapter 23

Woojung abruptly handed her coffee to Ju-shin, then pulled out her wallet and rummaged through it.

Ju-shin, who had been watching the exchange, pressed his lips to the opening in the plastic lid and took a sip as though the drink were his. He smacked his lips at the artificial sweetness, then brought the cup to his mouth again, apparently deciding it wasn’t bad.

“Manager.”

A firm voice addressed the man in front of her. Kwon Seon-o’s gaze settled on the business card being politely offered to him.

“Next time you visit, please ask for Jung Woojung from the PR Team.”

With a line that sounded like something a nightclub waiter would say, the fair-faced woman flashed a broad grin, revealing her even white teeth. She was practically promising to serve him an Americano with plenty of ice if he came looking for her.

Why you? Seon-o’s eyes seemed to ask.

Woojung composed her smile and met his gaze. Her brown eyes were like sunflowers in full bloom.

What truly took the cake, though, was Kim Ju-shin’s audacious little gesture. He raised an eyebrow at Seon-o as if to ask why he was staring so intently. As if the woman belonged to him.

Oblivious to the silent exchange between the two men looming over her, Jung Woojung got to the point.

“As you may already know…”

She needed to make her position clear without offending someone senior to her.

“The intern work manual doesn’t include running coffee errands for one’s superiors.”

And she delivered it in a suitably firm tone.

One corner of Kwon Seon-o’s mouth lifted ever so slightly. It was a rare expression for him.

“So, what you’re saying is, ‘Don’t make my kid do things like that’?”

Seon-o helpfully spelled out the point she hadn’t quite dared to say aloud. Woojung neither confirmed nor denied it. She simply flashed him a grin.

“The manual applies company-wide, doesn’t it? I doubt Assistant Manager Jung Woojung is an exception.”

“Manager, you completed your military service, didn’t you?”

“……”

The inner end of Seon-o’s eyebrow twitched.

In Korean social convention, asking a man, “Have you even served in the military?” could carry a very different implication. It could be a way of putting down an adult man who was immature or struggling to fit into society.

Of course, that probably wasn’t what Woojung had meant. Still, the two men standing face-to-face, both having completed their military service, took it that way.

Heh heh. Ju-shin eventually couldn’t hold it in, and laughter escaped through his teeth. He belatedly raised a hand to rub his lips, but it was no use.

Ah, can life really be this entertaining?

He shook his head in disbelief, but the corners of his mouth refused to come down.

Meanwhile, the resolute Jung Woojung clenched both fists.

“When a trainee does it, it’s an errand. When a private first class does it, it’s sucking up, isn’t it?”

“……”

If the order from above was carried out by trainee Kim Ju-shin, it was an errand. If private first class Jung Woojung did it, it was bootlicking out of eager loyalty. In other words, she was arguing that making her do it fell outside the scope of the work manual.

Having thoroughly thrown him off balance, Private First Class Jung Woojung took a step back and bowed, saying she would be on her way.

The trainee who trotted after her turned his head over his shoulder. Pointing at the sergeant standing frozen in place, he silently snickered. His lips formed the words, Got owned?

Only after the two disappeared into the elevator did Kwon Seon-o turn to leave.

He looked down at the business card he’d accepted almost without thinking.

Jung Woojung, PR Team, Jaeyang Food.

Whether it came from a sense of justice, responsibility, or some other feeling, she was acting quite a lot like Ju-shin’s guardian for now. But Seon-o didn’t believe it would last.

She would find out soon enough.

Kim Ju-shin wasn’t a kid who needed protection. He was a dog who desperately needed to be kept under control.

The small meeting room inside the PR Team office.

The meeting about suitable candidates for the new business TF team was drawing to a close.

The team members, seated in a circle with their laptops in front of them, all turned toward the team leader at the head of the table. Even the clatter of keyboards abruptly stopped.

“This is insane… Even if the rumors were true, I never thought he’d be part of our division.”

Assistant Manager Choi Sookyeong muttered blankly. She’d been writing up the meeting report the entire time, but ever since the team leader let slip the confidential information—with a warning to keep it among themselves—she’d been in a daze.

Not only was the chairman’s secret son, a figure who had existed only in rumors, actually real, but that precious young man was working at this humble little company, Jaeyang Food. And to top it all off, he was scheduled to be appointed TF team leader as early as next week.

“This TF team is going to be a bloodbath. That’s a 24-karat golden lifeline right there.”

“Haah… But what can we do? There’s no way to beat Ha Yun-sang, the leading candidate.”

Kang Jin-sung and Choi Sookyeong exchanged a few words, then shot an envious glance in one direction. No one disputed that he deserved to be selected. They were simply green with envy.

Ha Yun-sang, the leading candidate himself, gave an awkward smile and waved his hands in refusal.

“Haha. I’ll pass. I’m already struggling to keep up with the work I have now.”

“Wow… Look at Ha Yun-sang, with zero ambition. Assistant Manager Ha, you know that’s even more annoying, right?”

“Manager Kang and I are really on the same wavelength today. I agree.”

Amid the lively chatter, Woojung, who had been quiet until then, suddenly let out a snort of laughter. Hearing someone accuse Yun-sang of having no ambition reminded her of something Kim Ju-shin had once said at a tteokbokki restaurant.

The audacity—or perhaps the adorable bravado—of a one-month intern who’d sneered as though promotions and special bonuses were beneath him. Back when he’d said he’d make her his wife, depending on how she behaved, he’d smiled so prettily, too.

Woojung glanced at the empty seat beside her. The intern had not attended the meeting because he had nothing to do with the TF team.

Ridiculously enough, she felt a little disappointed.

At some point, Kim Ju-shin had become a constant presence by her side, as though it were only natural. It was enough to make Woojung look back and wonder whether she’d been just as fiercely devoted to Ha Yun-sang’s side when she’d been an intern herself.

Yun-sang watched Woojung quietly as she picked at her nails, deep in thought, then casually asked, “Aren’t you tempted, Assistant Manager? This is a really great opportunity.”

“Ah, haha. Well… I’m not sure.”

Woojung rubbed her round forehead and gave an ambiguous smile.

Of course she wanted it. She simply couldn’t bring herself to aim that high.

It was an important time, with a promotion coming up, and the position would be a huge boost to her career. It was an opportunity she couldn’t have asked for anything better. More than anything, she wanted to experience the satisfaction of becoming part of a group made up of people who’d been specially selected.

But there were more than enough formidable candidates, and as a third-year PR officer, she was still a long way from being next in line. It was better not to entertain pointless expectations or hopes. Rather than waste time getting her hopes up only to be disappointed, she should focus on doing her current job perfectly. Another opportunity would come along.

Soon, a brief round of applause rang through the meeting room. The team leader clapped to draw everyone’s attention, calling for order before reminding them to keep their mouths shut.

“Keep this to yourselves until the personnel announcement comes out. Don’t go making a fuss about it on the company community board ahead of time. It’s on the intranet, so they can trace it all back to you, you know?”

Jaeyang’s very own bamboo grove, where rumors took root: the company’s anonymous online community.

When the team leader mentioned the community board, Woojung caught Assistant Manager Choi glancing in her direction. Their eyes met. It was hard to dismiss it as a chance encounter when there was something strangely unsettling about Sookyeong’s expression. Perhaps Woojung had imagined it. Sookyeong soon perked up again, packed away her laptop, and joked breezily.

“That’s just an urban legend made up by the executives. They spread it to scare junior employees into keeping their mouths shut. Nobody actually believes that, right~?”

The others seated around the table agreed with Choi Sookyeong.

After finishing his warning to watch what they said, the team leader left. One by one, the team members gathered their things and filed out of the meeting room.

Silence settled over the room.

“Jung…”

“Assistant Manager Jung.”

Ha Yun-sang stepped ahead of Assistant Manager Choi, who had been waiting for Woojung by the doorway.

Woojung looked up from packing away the projector. Sookyeong pursed her lips and left the meeting room.

“Woojung.”

The two of them were alone in the empty meeting room.

Yun-sang approached Woojung as she responded to his call, then smiled gently.

The slippers racing down the quiet hallway toward the break room came to an abrupt halt. Woojung stumbled forward from the momentum, caught herself, then hopped excitedly in place.

“Intern Kim Ju-shin!”

Ju-shin, who sat with his long legs crossed and his gaze fixed on his phone, looked up to find the source of the voice.

Jung Woojung was beaming at him, her face flushed with excitement. He’d seen that face just before the meeting, so what was there to be so happy about? Why was she grinning like an idiot?

Even as Ju-shin wondered about it, a similar smile crept onto his own lips.

Woojung hurried over and plopped down in the seat beside him. Then she glanced left and right before rapidly fluttering her palm.

Ju-shin understood that she wanted to whisper something in his ear, so he lowered his head toward her. Woojung cupped both hands around her mouth and leaned close to his ear.

“We’re having dinner together.”

Puh-hehe. Her innocent laughter sent a shiver straight into his ear. Ju-shin clenched his molars and his eyes crinkled slightly. He couldn’t concentrate on a single word she was saying.

Not until she got to the last part.

“Assistant Manager Ha asked me on a date!”

“……”

His tilted shoulder slowly returned to its original position. Even then, her excited voice continued chattering away.

He’d assumed they were simply going to have dinner because that’s what Yun-sang had said. But telling her to keep it a secret from the people in their department was obviously a date invitation, wasn’t it? Apparently, her insubordination strategy had actually worked, she giggled, giving Ju-shin a thumbs-up.

Two thumbs, in fact.

Kim Ju-shin tilted his head and gazed out the window into the distance, letting out a low laugh. At that very moment, a tremendous crash of thunder shook the sky! Lightning flashed, illuminating the heavens before a vicious bolt shot down through the air.

The towering cumulonimbus clouds that had been looming heavily since morning seemed to have finally found a place to let loose, and the rain began to pour in torrents.

It was fierce.