Chapter 31
- Who Do I Look Like? 2021.08.14.
Ji-heon hurriedly closed the door to his office. His body moved before his mind could calculate. He ended up grabbing Jeong-o's hand, which was clutching the doorknob. After the door closed, Jeong-o immediately pulled her hand away from Ji-heon's grip. She glared at him, and Ji-heon was speechless with disbelief. He had never encountered a woman like her before. Well, almost everything was a first with her. He had only called her in to give her cookies, but somehow he had been cornered. She was staring him down with a determined look, demanding an apology with her eyes and expression. There was no wavering in her gaze, which made Ji-heon nervous. It really seemed like she would throw everything away and leave the company. Jeong-o truly had no regrets. Quitting the company was her last resort. Now that she had once again accurately confirmed what kind of person Jeong Ji-heon was, she thought it couldn't be helped. For Yena's sake, she decided it would be wise to give up on him now. So, she was a little surprised when Ji-heon urgently grabbed her. Thus, she was giving him a real last chance. She had a glimmer of hope again. My existence may not mean much to you since you lost your memory, but still, I am a member of your headquarters. He stared intently at her. He seemed angry. He also seemed to be dumbfounded, thinking, 'What's with this girl?' Although she spoke harshly, Jeong-o couldn't help but feel intimidated by his gaze. Still, she didn't back down. An uncomfortable silence. And then.
“I'm sorry.”
Finally, the words fell from his lips. His expression was still awful, and his attitude was terrible, but for some reason, Jeong-o's eyes welled up with tears.
“...What are you sorry for?”
She could have just accepted the apology, but for some reason, she felt greedy. It was a bold question, but she couldn't make her voice as bold, fearing he would explode. After a moment, he replied again.
“I'm sorry for teasing Lee Jung-o.”
“And?”
“...I'm also sorry for making you work overtime excessively.”
His expression was sullen, and his pronunciation was precise. The corners of her lips threatened to rise on their own. Her eyelids were getting hotter. She didn't want to cry or laugh, but she was about to show a strange expression of crying and laughing at the same time. Jeong-o desperately tightened her lips.
“What are you going to do in the future?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want? How do you know what I want?”
Ji-heon sighed and turned his head slightly to the side. As if he didn't want to make eye contact. It was clear that he didn't like this situation. Nevertheless, he was being quite compliant. The power of a resignation notice is this great! Jeong-o was thrilled, feeling like she had discovered his weakness. She had been feeling hopeless just a moment ago, but now she was energized. Since the tables had unexpectedly turned, she had to seize this opportunity.
“Please properly investigate the truth of the incident last Thursday. It's really not my fault. Someone must have entered the conference room when I left my laptop there to take a call. I'd like you to find out who that was.”
“Okay.”
“And I definitely uploaded the file to the company cloud. Someone must have deleted that file. I'd like you to find that out too.”
Ji-heon nodded silently. As he listened to her so well, her appetite, which had disappeared, returned.
“I'll take the cookies. I'll enjoy them with my team members.”
“You're going to share them?”
“Yes. Is that not allowed?”
She asked back, finding it strange that his expression changed at the mention of sharing.
“You didn't put anything weird in the cookies, did you?”
“Do I look like the kind of guy who would do that?”
His question was sharp. So, it didn't seem like he had done anything suspicious to the cookies.
“Please only put cookies in the cookie box.”
Don't put your heart in it. Don't put any emotions in the cookies. Don't try to sway me with food. Because it reminds me of a time seven years ago. She gave him a light piece of advice and hugged the cookie box.
“Thank you. I'll be going now.”
Jeong-o was able to leave the office with a light heart, even while holding the heavy cookie box. Click. The door closed again. Ji-heon, left alone in the office, frowned and plopped down in his seat. Lee Jung-o. Her skill in manipulating people is extraordinary. In the midst of all this, he felt like her words kept echoing in his ears.
“I wouldn't trade my everything for everything you have, Director.”
Her everything. My everything. She drew a clear line, as if to say you and I are completely different. She mentioned his everything, which he had never even counted, and made it seem insignificant. Ji-heon couldn't say anything, even though he resented it. He had a feeling it might be true. It seemed like even if he gave her everything he had, she wouldn't enter his world. That's why he blurted out an apology. It wasn't a sincere apology. It was just a means to keep her from leaving. Nevertheless, the moment he uttered the apology, he did feel a slight sense of guilt. All of this phenomenon, the existence of Lee Jeong-o, who was manipulating his heart, was hateful and annoying. But the faint smile on her face as she took the cookies also covered everything up. Ji-heon chuckled absurdly, also feeling embarrassed by the fact that he thought it didn't matter as long as the result was good. Jeong-o met Gi-hoon and Eun-ju in the hallway. The two of them hadn't returned to their desks and were waiting for Jeong-o to come out of the office.
“Were you waiting here?”
“Assistant Manager!”
Gi-hoon shouted as if he had found a comrade he had lost in war. Eun-ju's eyes widened as she saw the large box Jeong-o was carrying.
“What is this?”
“Cookies and stuff. The director gave them to me because he felt sorry for making me work overtime last Thursday.”
“He gave you cookies because he felt sorry for making you work overtime?”
“Oh, he was going to throw them away.”
“He gave you something he was going to throw away as a gift?”
“If that's what he said, then I guess so?”
“Ah, Director Jeong is really annoying as always. Reaaally.”
As expected, the aloof Go Eun-ju didn't look kindly on Ji-heon's gift. Jeong-o shrugged. Jeong Ji-heon, you need to manage your reputation a little better.
* The cookies and chocolates that Ji-heon gifted were an enormous amount. Even after sharing them evenly with the team members, there was still quite a bit left, so she brought them home. When Jeong-o took the cookies and chocolates out of her bag, Yena's mouth widened.
“Mommy, is this a present for Yena?”
“Yes.”
It's a present from your dad.
“Yena, you can only eat one a day. Okay?”
“Can't I eat two?”
“Okay. Two.”
Yena, having reached a compromise with her mother, tore open the cookie wrapper. The cookie was so big that Yena's hands and face looked small. Yena opened her small mouth wide and took a bite of the cookie. Crumbs got all over her mouth and dripped onto the floor. Yena wiped her mouth and smiled brightly.
“Delicious!”
“Eat a lot.”
“Mommy said I could only eat two.”
“Two is a lot. How much more of this huge thing are you going to eat?”
Ehehe. Yena smiled happily and took another dainty bite. Her daughter is eating something her dad gave her. Jeong-o felt strange as she watched Yena. It was as if someone was gently pressing down on her heart. Yena, who met her gaze, asked.
“Mommy, who gave this to you?”
“The director at Mommy's company gave it to me.”
“Only Mommy?”
“Yes. Only Mommy.”
“Does the director like Mommy?”
“No. Mommy got it because she worked a lot of overtime.”
Jeong-o answered, wiping Yena's mouth.
“I wish he did.”
“Why?”
“Then he'd give us more cookies.”
“Mommy can buy you cookies too. The ones Mommy buys are more delicious.”
Seeing her daughter develop a liking for Ji-heon just because she received cookies, without even knowing what kind of person he was, Jeong-o thought, 'Kids will be kids.' Jeong-o stared endlessly at Yena, who was happy with just one cookie. When you're looking at your child, you don't even realize your axe handle is rotting. Yena, who met her gaze, asked.
“Mommy, who do I look like?”
It was a sudden question. Jeong-o, who had been thinking about Jeong Ji-heon for a moment, was slightly flustered and stammered.
“Can't, can't you tell just by looking? You look like Mommy.”
“But Mommy is good at drawing.”
“Mommy couldn't draw well when she was your age either. And how well are you trying to draw? You're doing well for a seven-year-old. You look like Mommy.”
Jeong-o said, pointing to the zoo frame that Yena had made at daycare. Nevertheless, Yena retorted.
“Mommy doesn't have a salmon class.”
“That's because you're a baby. It'll disappear when you grow up too. Mommy doesn't have it because she's an adult.”
“Mommy can't play Go.”
“Mom can do anything if she studies!”
Jeong-o’s voice inevitably rose at her daughter’s bone-chilling remark. She was just trying to encourage her, but she was making fun of her. Yena, pouting, tattled to Guk-soon.
“Grandma, Mom yelled at Yena.”
“It’s because Mom feels guilty. Mom can’t play Go as well as our Yena.”
Yena burst into laughter at whatever comedic element was in her grandmother’s response. Mom can’t play Go, hahaha, hahaha. The child’s laughter filled the house. Jeong-o ended up laughing along with her daughter’s laughter. She sometimes brings worries from outside the house into the house. Bringing work home is quite common. In moments when she’s racking her brain because she can’t come up with a line of copy that perfectly pleases the client, and she wants to get angry at everything in the world, Jeong-o pricks up her ears at the sound of laughter coming from the living room. The clear laughter of the child, giggling about something so funny, makes her put aside her work and chase after it. When she goes, she sees that she’s laughing at a TV show that’s nothing special. The laughter code, as different as the eye level of a child and an adult, makes it difficult to laugh along right away. But Jeong-o eventually laughs along with the child’s tireless laughter. The fact that she had become a part of that laughter made her forget all her worries. It was her everything. The entirety of my life. My child’s laughter. My child’s happiness.
The next day, Ji-heon called Jeong-o to his office. Ji-heon had diligently carried out the task Jeong-o had given him. Ji-heon showed Jeong-o the security camera location data he had obtained from the security management office.
“As you can see, there are no cameras in the conference room where Assistant Manager Lee was.”
“There aren’t many cameras installed in the company.”
“It’s best to install only enough to identify a thief if one breaks in. A surveillance atmosphere isn’t good.”
It was a valid point. The only security cameras were a few installed in the hallway. There were cameras in the conference room hallway as well, but they didn’t show the entrance to the conference room Jeong-o had used.
“It seems like we should install one so we can at least see the conference room entrance.”
Jeong-o gave her opinion, but Ji-heon didn’t answer. This man doesn’t answer when he feels like he’s losing.
‘Sly.’
For some reason, that point seemed similar to Yena.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Huh? Was I smiling? I wasn’t. Ahem.”
She had unconsciously chuckled while thinking about Yena, but she had been caught. Jeong-o cleared her throat at Ji-heon’s remark. Ji-heon gave her a bit of a look and then showed her the CCTV footage.
“Since there are no cameras near the conference room entrance, it’s difficult to determine who the culprit is, or even if there is one, but there is one significant piece of data.”
Jeong-o’s gaze moved to the CCTV screen that Ji-heon was pointing to. The people from Production Team 1 were gathered and talking. And before long, the people scattered. Soon, Ji-heon showed her the CCTV from another hallway.
“If the person caught on Camera 3 went this way, they should be caught on Camera 4.”
“Ah… they’re not visible.”
Jeong-o also carefully watched the employee Ji-heon pointed out. It was a long time before the employee Ji-heon pointed out was caught on Camera 4. Between Cameras 3 and 4 was the conference room where Jeong-o had stayed on Thursday. She had some friction with the colleague Ji-heon pointed out, so Jeong-o guessed that it could be possible. But it was just a suspicion, and she couldn’t push it without accurate evidence.
“Can we check the cloud records?”
At Jeong-o’s request, Ji-heon typed on the laptop keyboard. And he showed her a screen with various symbols and numbers.
“Assistant Manager Lee has a record of uploading a file titled ‘Tawon Liquor First Proposal’ to the cloud. And there’s also a record of deleting it. However, we can’t know who deleted it.”
“Ah… there’s no information on who deleted the data. They used a shared computer instead of a personal one.”
“They used the shared computer in Printing Room C.”
The equipment in Printing Room C is old, so employees don’t use it often. Someone who logged in with a shared ID deleted the data using the shared computer, so the culprit couldn’t be identified. Of course, there were no security cameras in Printing Room C either. Ji-heon, who had been silent for a while, stood up.
“Let’s just ask the person we suspect directly.”
“That’s reckless! They’ll never admit it without evidence.”
If he rashly questioned them, Ji-heon’s wickedness might just become more widely known. Jeong-o stopped Ji-heon and smiled.
“I’ll take care of it from now on.”
