Translator: Nox

Chapter 44

44. Pretty Girl 2021.09.29.

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Guk-soon received the call and rushed to Do-bin's house. When she rang the doorbell, a strange man came out and greeted her politely.

“Hello.”

“You're not the kid's dad?”

“No. The two of them went to the hospital together.”

“Ah, right, right.”

Guk-soon clapped her hands and nodded. Yena ran out of the house and hugged Guk-soon.

“Grandma!”

Yena introduced Guk-soon to Ji-heon as well.

“Mister, this is my grandma.”

“Hello. I'm Jeong Ji-heon, a friend of Do-bin's dad. I just came over to hang out and ended up looking after the kids. I'm sorry.”

“Oh, no, it's alright. How's Do-bin's mom doing? I heard she collapsed. Is she okay?”

“Yes. I think she's feeling better now.”

“Oh, that's a relief, a relief. But your friend must really like kids. Coming over to play like this.”

It's not like that... Ji-heon glanced at Yena, then closed his mouth. The child's grandmother didn't seem to know that Yena and he had planned to meet today. There was no need to say anything the child hadn't, but he thought the child had a rather cunning side. Well, kids are all like that. I was too. Guk-soon looked at Ji-heon with a motherly smile.

Oh, he's so handsome. I wanted to get a son-in-law like that. Now I have a happy life without a son-in-law, so there's nothing to regret, but I can't help but be drawn to handsome men.

“Thank you so much for today. Please tell Do-bin's mom I said thank you, and ask her to recover quickly.”

“Yes. I will.”

“Mister. Goodbye.”

“Okay, goodby…….”

“Yena, bye! Come play again!”

Ji-heon was about to say goodbye to Yena, but Do-bin ran over and shouted. Ji-heon's greeting was buried.

“Then goodbye.”

Ji-heon said goodbye to only Guk-soon separately. On the way home, Yena told Guk-soon everything that had happened today. The gist was that she was playing Go with the mister when Do-bin's mom collapsed and she was surprised, but she felt good because the mister hugged her.

“The mister is super tall, so he goes super high!”

“You had fun playing with the mister, my puppy.”

“Yeah. And I won at Go too! But I know. The mister let me win.”

Guk-soon smiled contentedly, finding Yena, who showed various expressions, excited and then drooping, to be cute. There was a slightly poignant side to it. She thought, it would have been nice if my granddaughter had a dad too.

“Oh? Mister!”

As they were almost home, Yena glanced at the building next door and shouted. Guk-soon also turned her head in the direction Yena was looking. A tall, handsome man in a police uniform was standing near the entrance of the next building. Under the streetlight, the man's white face looked even whiter. Another mister. The man, recognizing Yena, approached.

“Yena, who is…….”

“He's a police officer. The police officer who took me to the Go academy when I got lost.”

While Guk-soon was bewildered, Yena introduced Bae-il smartly.

“Hello. I'm Kwon Bae-il from Hwayang Police Station.”

Bae-il also bowed politely. Only then did Guk-soon smile back happily.

“Oh. Is that so. Police officer!”

“You're Yena's grandmother, right? I've heard about you from Yena's mother.”

“You know my daughter too?”

“Yes. I've seen her around a few times. This is my house.”

“Oh. I see. It's very reassuring to have a police officer living nearby! It's really nice to meet you.”

Oh, he's so handsome. Guk-soon's expression brightened, having met two handsome men in one day. Bae-il smiled secretly, thinking that Guk-soon was showing a similar reaction to Jeong-o. \ The fact that she had to go to work tomorrow was weighing down Eun-bi. She had taken a sick day, but she couldn't extend it any further. Eun-bi hated Lee Jung-o so much.

‘If I could just separate Lee Jung-o from Oppa.’

She couldn't just sit still like this. Eun-bi decided to dig into Jeong-o's weaknesses.

‘If I grill Lee Jung-o's former coworkers, something might come out?’

Everyone has something to hide, so there must be at least one weakness. Since it's an advertising company, she might have caused an accident, or there might be money problems, or man problems. However, Eun-bi didn't know anyone at Jeong-o's previous company. As Eun-bi pondered, she remembered receiving a business card from a headhunter once.

[Yes. This is Lee Dong-eun.]

“Are you the headhunter? Hello! This is Chae Eun-bi, a copywriter at Max Planning. Do you remember me?”

[Ah, yes! Hello!]

As expected, the headhunter greeted her happily. Eun-bi, who couldn't delay for even a moment, immediately got to the point.

“Actually, I'm interested in Two H Communications. Is there any way I could meet someone who works there?”

After throwing in a few more words as if she were interested in changing jobs, the headhunter immediately released the information.

[There's an AE I've been close to for a long time there. Should we all meet up sometime?]

“Yes! As soon as possible!”

\ Jeong-o summarized the results of today's meeting. Additional overtime due to changes in the Competitive Presentation planning direction. In any case, the revisions were being made step by step. Jeong-o and Mi-ran decided to do the final touches, and the others scattered.

“Team Leader, you haven't rested either, have you? I'll do everything and send it to you by email, so please go home first.”

“No. I have to see it before I leave.”

“You have to stay up all night again tomorrow, right? Please go home.”

Mi-ran looked so tired that Jeong-o sent Mi-ran home first and took over the finishing touches. Her body was tired from working on the weekend and then working overtime, but it was still manageable. It seemed that it was relatively easier to express her opinions since Chae Eun-bi wasn't there.

“Ughhh. I'm doneeeeee.”

Around midnight, Jeong-o yawned lazily and stretched.

“You've worked hard.”

“Ughhh, oh my god!”

And she almost fell backward at the voice coming from nearby. While still sitting in the chair. Ji-heon grabbed the swaying chair. This time, he was really just holding her, but her heart, startled by a turtle, couldn't calm down. As his hand approached, Jeong-o waved her hands frantically, thinking he was going to pounce on her as he pleased again.

“N-No, why are you here, Director?”

Jeong-o, who had regained her balance and stood up, asked. Her heart was still shaking as if it couldn't find its center.

“I came to see if you were still working.”

“At this hour? No, I thought you had something to do today.”

“I finished it and came back. Because of someone.”

“Because of someone?”

His smile was somehow meaningful. She remembered what had happened in his office during the day. He had apologized several times as if he were seducing her. The way he used his power gently was similar to how he was 7 years ago. She felt so foolish for constantly having strange expectations from those actions. After Seung-gyu and Jin-seo returned from the hospital, Ji-heon immediately went back to the company. He wanted to see Lee Jung-o. Because the child he met today resembled this woman. He somehow felt that this woman's younger self would have been like that too. So he became more lenient with the child. The child, who didn't have a father, strangely overlapped with Lee Jung-o. The feeling he had felt briefly when he heard about Lee Jung-o's high school days from Eun-bi resurfaced and warmed his heart. Endearment.

“Because I saw a pretty girl.”

Because he thought of a pretty girl again.

“Pardon?”

Jeong-o tilted her head and asked as if she hadn't heard correctly. There was no chance to say it again. The planning team leader, who was also focused on revising the proposal, discovered Ji-heon and rushed over.

“Director, I thought you said you had something to do today, but you stayed behind?”

“I finished my work and came back. Is there something you want to say?”

“There's a problem I'd like you to look at now.”

Ji-heon looked back and forth between Jeong-o and the planning team leader, then left with the team leader. Jeong-o felt strange, as if regret was clinging to his departing steps. She felt that today's gaze, which seemed to have a spoonful of sugar added to it, would trouble her heart for a long time. * Jeong-o, who left work at midnight, heard the news that Jin-seo had collapsed in the morning.

“It was lucky that the baby's dad's friend came to visit, or it would have been a disaster. It's hard to take the kids to the hospital all by yourself.”

Guk-soon told Jeong-o about yesterday, clicking her tongue as if she felt sorry for Jin-seo.

“I should call Do-bin's house later. To see how she's feeling.”

Jeong-o was also worried about Jin-seo.

“By the way, Yena really likes Do-bin’s dad’s friend. She keeps talking about him, calling him ‘Uncle.’”

“Yena likes him?”

“Of course, she does. He’s quite handsome. Seeing that, I think my granddaughter takes after me.”

“Ugh. Seriously, Mom, you’re such a snob.”

“Don’t act like you don’t look at a man’s appearance?”

“I don’t look at appearances. Not at all.”

“Don’t lie, you. Your daughter is so pretty.”

“Mom. I’m the one who created my daughter’s beauty.”

Yena groggily woke up to the morning banter. As soon as she woke up, Yena whined, looking for Jeong-o.

“Mommy, why did you come home so late yesterday…”

“Awww. Did my baby wake up?”

Jeong-o stopped talking to Guk-soon and rushed to Yena.

*

Jeong-o diligently prepared and went to work early, immediately starting to prepare for the meeting. Jeong-o, along with Go Eun-ju, the assistant manager from the same team, and the AE from the planning team, organized the updated information in the conference room. If the materials prepared by the planning team conflicted with the production drafts, they had to be revised. Eun-bi finally came to work too. She hadn't shown her face from Saturday to Monday, so Jeong-o assumed that the emotional wound she received from Ji-heon was significant. As expected, she seemed to have lost a little weight in the meantime. When Eun-bi entered the conference room, the AE from the planning team asked worriedly.

“Manager Chae, are you okay? I heard you were sick.”

“No, it’s just that I’m too worried about the PT. Ugh, this sense of responsibility.”

Assistant Manager Go Eun-ju, disliking the sight, flared her nostrils. Jeong-o found Eun-ju amusing and quietly laughed. Noticing this, Eun-bi glared at Jeong-o before cautiously speaking to the AE again.

“By the way, can I also give my opinion?”

“Of course, of course.”

Jeong-o sighed first, wondering how much Eun-bi was going to interfere with the already completed proposal.

“First of all, I think the main copy, ‘I miss you,’ is too cliché. What does the planning team think?”

Eun-bi’s opinion was, as expected, a rebuttal of the copy. Still, to raise complaints about the production to the planning team's AE, not the production team leader, on the day the production direction was being finalized… Was she trying to interfere with the copy by borrowing the influence of the planning team? That’s not right, Chae Eun-bi. And I didn’t write that copy. It was Assistant Manager Go Eun-ju’s suggestion. You’ve got the wrong person. Jeong-o felt bitter, but Go Eun-ju didn’t say anything, so she remained silent. There was no way Eun-bi’s opinion would be accepted anyway.

“I thought this kind of uninspired and unconsidered copy was a bit much. If I were in better condition, I would have come up with a better idea, and I’m sorry about that. And I also felt it was a bit disappointing to focus on a mother and daughter as the main characters. Since the primary target is 2030, I think a couple in a long-distance relationship would be better than a mother and daughter.”

This time, Jeong-o immediately retorted.

“We definitely considered long-distance couples as well. But we thought 15 seconds of advertising was too short to explain the background of a long-distance couple. With a mother and daughter, it can resonate with consumers immediately. We judged that a mother’s love is much more effective than a couple’s long-distance relationship in terms of being accepted in a short amount of time.”

Eun-bi replied sourly.

“Well, I don’t really find this ad relatable even when I imagine it?”

“Do you lack imagination…”

Unable to listen any longer, Eun-ju muttered in a very small voice. Eun-ju was also annoyed that Chae Eun-bi, who hadn't even attended the meetings, was trying to overturn the results of the hard work they had put in so far. It was a soliloquy, but because it was quiet around them, Eun-bi heard Go Eun-ju’s voice. Chae Eun-bi wasn’t one to let that go.

“Assistant Manager Go Eun-ju. Since Go Eun-ju is participating as a substitute for Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae, shouldn’t she be in charge of the work that Jo Si-nae was doing? Have you organized this week’s trend issues?”

Eun-ju crossed her arms instead of answering.

“Manager, will the director be joining the meeting today?”

“Yes. Of course. Why do you ask?”

“No, I was just worried that the director might feel uncomfortable.”

Saying that with a face that showed no concern at all, Eun-bi tilted her head as if puzzled.

“I heard you broke up with Director Jeong Ji-heon. I heard that news while receiving the handover from Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae.”

Eun-ju, who had no blood or tears, unhesitatingly revealed the information she had. Chae Eun-bi didn’t yet know that if the dignified princess’s pride was hurt, she would turn into fire.

“You must be heartbroken. You can’t even have the wedding you’ve been so eagerly anticipating.”

The planning team AE’s mouth dropped open at the new information. Chae Eun-bi’s face turned red, almost black. Jeong-o wondered who Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae had heard that from.

‘Could it be Jeong Ji-heon?’

Was it last Friday? She had seen Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae walking towards Ji-heon’s office. It was the day after Jeong-o had confronted Ji-heon about the wedding.

‘Huh.’

She felt a little creeped out. He had given Chae Eun-bi a week, but he had no intention of quietly waiting from the start.

‘He’s a bit of a scary person.’

She felt sorry for Eun-bi’s situation, but it was something she couldn’t get involved in. Serves her right. Chae Eun-bi, why did you mess with Go Eun-ju instead of me?