Chapter 24
24. Mine, Don't Touch 2021.07.21.
When Jeong-o couldn't answer, Team Leader Seong Mi-ran awkwardly swept back her hair.
“No. You don't have to tell me. I'm sure you have your reasons.”
“……”
“I kind of felt it from the beginning. Assistant Manager Lee's expression changed a little whenever Jeong Ji-heon was mentioned.”
Last Tuesday. After the meeting, Mi-ran overheard Eun-bi and Si-nae talking in the restroom. It was about Jeong-o. After nearly a decade of working in a company, you hear all sorts of bizarre rumors. So, Mi-ran doesn't usually pay much attention to restroom gossip. However, she was a little concerned that the speaker was Manager Chae Eun-bi. Mi-ran also didn't know that Jeong-o and Eun-bi knew each other. Neither of them had shown it. Mi-ran recalled everything that had happened since Jeong-o joined the company. Lee Jung-oh was definitely strange the day she first met Ji-heon. Even Director Jeong Ji-heon noticed Jeong-o's unusual reaction and called her back to his office. After that, it was strange that her wrist was grabbed in front of the elevator, and it was especially strange that Jeong-o asked about Ji-heon's accident seven years ago. And yesterday, when Jeong-o went out to entertain the client, Director Jeong Ji-heon followed. It seemed like there was something between them. It felt like they had become close so quickly, as if they had known each other for a long time. However, she wasn't sure if she should ask about it, so she had to be careful with her words. Still, still... she was afraid she would regret it if Jeong-o's company life was ruined because of Director Jeong Ji-heon, so she brought it up.
“...I'm just worried. The director is getting married soon, and you two work at the same company.”
Jeong-o hung her head. It was half an affirmation. Mi-ran felt sorry for bringing it up.
“...Have you thought about talking to the director seriously?”
“I'm not sure yet.”
“Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh. If you want to drink, let me know. I can't solve your problems, but I can listen to your troubles.”
Jeong-o's eyes welled up. She was grateful that Mi-ran didn't pry or criticize her. Mi-ran would probably not show any reaction.
“And.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“You can't quit. Got it?”
In fact, that was Mi-ran's main point. Losing a team member is critical for a team leader. Mi-ran burned with the will to protect her team members. Jeong-o smiled and nodded.
* Ji-heon went with the members of Production Team 1 to check on Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae's work from the previous night. Jo Si-nae took out a file from the PC recycle bin with trembling hands.
“Is this it?”
“Yes. But the client didn't like it this morning, so I had to redo it.”
“So, the work you did yesterday is useless.”
Jo Si-nae's face turned red. The atmosphere in the office became chilly, like a storm was brewing. Everyone swallowed hard, watching Ji-heon's expressionless face.
“That's disappointing. You worked so hard, but there's no result.”
“……”
“You should have just gone to a company dinner.”
Si-nae couldn't even lift her head at the calm, almost mocking remark.
“Anyway, I understand. It can't be helped. It's hard to please clients.”
After a moment, Ji-heon stepped back as if it couldn't be helped. It was fortunate that it ended like this. Si-nae secretly sighed in relief. But before Ji-heon left the team, he added one more thing.
“From now on, Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae will report her work every day at 6 PM.”
“...Yes?”
“You don't have to come to me directly. Just send it to me by email.”
She thought she could finally breathe! Even after Ji-heon left, the members of Team 1 looked at Si-nae with pity. She had done it to help Eun-bi, but she had completely incurred the wrath of Director Jeong Ji-heon. Si-nae desperately grabbed Eun-bi's sleeve.
“Manager... what should I do...”
“Oh, I was on the verge of getting in trouble yesterday too. It's okay. It's okay. I'll talk to Oppa about it.”
Eun-bi comforted Si-nae and left for Ji-heon's office. Si-nae clenched her fists at her desk. She couldn't forgive Lee Jeong-o for snitching on her. After Ji-heon entered his office, Eun-bi followed.
“Oppa.”
Ji-heon didn't answer and sat down, flipping through the documents in front of him.
“Did something bad happen?”
“……”
“Jo Si-nae was just trying hard, and if you scold her for something like that, the employees will get scared.”
Since Ji-heon didn't answer again, Eun-bi changed the question.
“Why couldn't I reach you yesterday?”
“……”
“Eun-yeop Oppa came too, and we were going to meet up. Did you contact my brother?”
After a long time, he answered.
“Yeah.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing much.”
Eun-bi was upset by Ji-heon's lukewarm response. She was even more so because she had been scolded by Eun-yeop yesterday. Marriage. She had been running towards a clear goal, and she thought she could see the finish line now. She thought that Jeong Ji-heon would naturally accept the marriage, but now she felt anxious. A spasm occurred in her mouth, making it difficult for Eun-bi to smile. She barely opened her mouth and spoke.
“My mother talked about the wedding. What should I do?”
“You can handle it, right?”
It was a difficult topic to bring up, but his answer seemed as insincere as the fingers flipping through the documents.
“How can I handle it?”
“Doesn't your mother know you better than me?”
It wasn't that she was used to his cold attitude. Eun-bi was just holding back. For the sake of the marriage she would eventually seize, she was suppressing her pride and enduring. That's why she had to be firm about the marriage.
“Okay. I'll tell my mother roughly. Then what about you, Oppa?”
“……”
“What do you want to do, Oppa?”
“I'm not shameless enough to ask you for marriage.”
“...What if I want to? What if I say let's do it?”
At her question, he slowly stopped what he was doing and looked at her. He just looked at her. Yet, she couldn't open her mouth again. You? Someone like you? It felt like words he had never uttered were being hammered into her head by an unknown force. His expression contained both contempt and a lack of contempt, a smile and a lack of a smile. The arrogant and cold gaze that looked down from above made Eun-bi shudder. He stared at her intently before slowly opening his mouth.
“Then we should break up.”
“……”
“Of course, we never dated, but.”
Without changing his expression, he lowered his gaze and resumed his work as if nothing had happened.
“Since there's no history, one word is all it takes, right? Tell your mother we broke up.”
Eun-bi couldn't speak and shook her head stubbornly. She couldn't do as Ji-heon said. It wasn't something that could be ended with a single word anymore. There were many things Ji-heon didn't know. Eun-bi had spread the word about her relationship with Ji-heon to many people in the company, and about 95% of it was lies. If it wasn't for the marriage, she wouldn't be able to save face or show her face at the company. It would shock her whole family.
“How can you say that so easily, Oppa?”
“I don't understand why you're having such a hard time with it.”
“……”
“I'm busy. Can you leave now?”
His consistently emotionless voice tightened Eun-bi's chest. She knew that if she bothered him any more, she would lose even the freedom to barge into his office like this. Eun-bi gritted her teeth and left the office. On the way out, she met Seung-gyu. Eun-bi frowned at Seung-gyu, who appeared with an annoying hum, as if something good had happened.
“Oppa is busy right now.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Even though Ji-heon warned him that he was busy, Seung-gyu didn't turn away. Eun-bi's brow furrowed.
“Are you going in?”
“I'm just checking how hard my friend is working.”
“Ha!”
Eun-bi scoffed again and left, making a sharp sound with her heels. Seung-gyu stared blankly at Eun-bi before turning his head. Seung-gyu and Eun-bi had consistently disliked each other since seven years ago. Seung-gyu hated Eun-yeop, who was his high school classmate, and he didn't like his younger sister, Eun-bi, either. He hated Eun-yeop's cunningness and disapproved of Eun-bi's pretense. He just didn't force his standards on Ji-heon. Seung-gyu opened the office door and hesitated at Ji-heon's murderous gaze. Ji-heon's gaze, which had been glaring at him because he had assumed it was Chae Eun-bi again, softened when he recognized his friend.
“Chae Eun-bi looked really angry. Did you guys fight?”
“No.”
“Well, you probably wouldn’t fight anyway.”
Seung-gyu plopped down on the sofa and said.
“You’re especially polite to Chae Eun-bi.”
“I can’t treat her lightly.”
Jeong Ji-heon propped his chin up and flipped through the documents as he answered. He had no choice but to be polite to Eun-bi. Seven years ago, Eun-bi reported Ji-heon's accident and helped catch the hit-and-run driver. When Ji-heon was in a coma, she took great care of his mother, Ms. Jang Young-mi, so that she wouldn't be discouraged. It seemed that they had been getting along well ever since. Moreover, their families knew each other, and she was the younger sister of his friend, Chae Eun-yeop. There were many things intertwined, so he couldn't simply ignore her. Seung-gyu knew about these circumstances as well.
“Still, you need to sort things out. If there’s someone you really want to date.”
“There isn’t.”
Ji-heon denied Seung-gyu's advice without hesitation.
“Okay. It’s not that you want to date right now, but you want to share an umbrella, don’t you?”
“……”
“No, not an umbrella, a coat. You were using your coat.”
“……”
“I saw everything yesterday, Jeong Ji-heon. You were practically filming a movie out in the open.”
As Seung-gyu teased him repeatedly, Ji-heon became quite pensive.
“Do you want to deny it? That’s all romantic feelings.”
Even so, it was difficult to accept the cheesy phrase "romantic feelings." The emotions Ji-heon felt were quite clear. His reaction to Lee Jung-oh's appearance. That was an emotion that was bound to arise because she was a woman and he was a man. A sexual desire like appetite. He was about to nail it down that it wasn't romantic feelings when Seung-gyu playfully pressed him first.
“You’re worried about her getting rained on, but you don’t like her?”
“Yes.”
“You want to be by her side, but you don’t like her?”
“Yes.”
“You’re concerned about her being sick, but you don’t like her?”
“……”
“Department Head Lee Jung-oh was wearing the cardigan I bought you, a men’s cardigan, but you still don’t have those feelings.”
“……That was yours?”
“You heartless bastard.”
Emotions that were not easily defined, a person who was not easily defined, but when a clear reason was attached, he felt strange.
“……She’s just exactly my type.”
“……”
“I’ve never been like this before. Not once in 33 years. That’s why it’s annoying.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what they call pure love.”
A heartless friend had fallen in pure love. Seung-gyu's lips stretched as far as they could go. Ji-heon still found it hard to accept. How could it be pure love when he had only met her ten days ago?
“Anyway, good luck. I’m not going to help you.”
“Who said I needed help?”
“Still, someday you’ll be asking me for a favor.”
Seung-gyu, who had made a bold statement, strolled around the office with a leisurely gait and stopped abruptly in a corner. A yellow umbrella was leaning against the wall.
“What’s with this umbrella?”
It was what Ji-heon had left behind when he briefly returned to the office after parting with Jeong-o last night.
“You don’t seem to need something like this? Should I take it? I’ll give it to my daughter.”
“No.”
“……”
“It’s mine, don’t touch it.”
Seung-gyu flared his nostrils at Ji-heon's serious expression. This guy, he's become interested in women and now he's even materialistic. Anyway, human greed was a good sign. Seung-gyu chuckled and left the office.
*
Friday evening. The team members, freed from their overtime work, left their seats one by one. They were guaranteed freedom this weekend. There would be no more peaceful weekends while they were going through the war-like Competitive Presentation. So, they had to rest properly this weekend. And play a lot with Yena. Jeong-o, having finished her work, packed her bag, thinking about how to spend the weekend. Her hand went to the cardigan she had taken off. She had readily accepted it from Ji-heon in the morning when her muscle pain was severe, but she regretted it after taking the medicine and regaining her senses. She even resented Ji-heon for putting his coat on her shoulders when her body and mind were weakened.
‘Still, I should wash it and return it.’
Jeong-o put the cardigan in her bag. As she left the office and headed to the central hallway, she met Ji-heon again. He seemed to be leaving work now as well. Meeting him made her feel feverish again.
‘Don’t be intimidated.’
Jeong-o stepped forward bravely. Of course, with the lingering cold, her body wasn't as brave as her mind. The elevator wasn't coming. The two of them stood side by side in front of it. She could feel him looking down at her. Jeong-o stubbornly stared straight ahead and said.
“I’ll wash the cardigan and return it.”
“Just keep it.”
He held out his large hand, which looked like it could easily lift a basketball with one hand.
“It’s a precious thing my friend bought me, so I have to get it professionally cleaned myself.”
“Okay.”
Why did he lend out something so precious? She couldn't understand his intentions, but Jeong-o silently took the cardigan out of her bag and handed it to him.
“I wore it well. Thank you.”
“Department Head!”
After handing over the cardigan, Gi-hoon called out to Jeong-o from the office and rushed over.
“Director, are you leaving work?”
Gi-hoon, seeing Jeong-o and Ji-heon standing side by side, bowed politely and then spoke to Jeong-o again.
“Department Head. I brought my car today. Should I give you a ride?”
“It’s Friday night, don’t you have plans?”
“I’m going to Hwayang-dong. Would you like to come along?”
“Then, should I?”
Jeong-o gladly accepted Gi-hoon's offer. Gi-hoon was the most comfortable colleague at work. But then Ji-heon called out to Gi-hoon.
“Song Gi-hoon. I think the phone is ringing in the office, but no one is answering.”
Indeed, the sound of a phone ringing could be heard from somewhere.
“Oh? Department Head, just a moment.”
Gi-hoon ran back into the office. Once again, only the two of them were left in front of the elevator. Ji-heon put the cardigan he was holding back on Jeong-o's shoulders.
“Just wear it.”
It happened so quickly that Jeong-o didn't have time to stop him. While Jeong-o was frozen in embarrassment, Gi-hoon, who had run out of the office, said.
“Department Head, you’ll have to go first. Something urgent came up and I need to send an email.”
“Okay. I understand. Good work.”
“Yes.”
After Gi-hoon left, he continued.
“It’s a precious thing my friend bought me, so be sure to return it on Monday.”
“……”
“Or you can give it to me on the weekend.”
Was he joking? Was he serious? The smile on his lips seemed somehow wicked. Jeong-o couldn't say anything, fearing that he might tell her to come in on the weekend.
