Chapter 78
78. Will That Day Come? 2022.01.26.
Jeong-o and Ji-heon had dinner at Guk-soon's restaurant. Yena, who had already eaten, sat next to Jeong-o and kept talking to her. The reason was simple: to prevent Jeong-o and Ji-heon from talking to each other. Thanks to his merciless daughter, Ji-heon had no choice but to have a lonely meal, steadfastly eating his rice. When it was time to clean up the restaurant and go home, Yena stubbornly refused to ride in Ji-heon's car, insisting on walking. In the end, Ji-heon said goodbye to everyone in front of the restaurant. It was a day without any progress. However, Ji-heon couldn't leave easily and drove his car to Jeong-o's house. He thought it would be better to look for a room nearby, since he would be going back and forth every morning and evening anyway.
‘Or should I wait a little longer?’
Someday they would get married, so it would be better to find a house where they could all live together.
‘Should I buy a building and renovate it?’
He started by wondering whether to get a room, but before he knew it, Ji-heon was thinking about buying a house and commissioning interior construction. His mind raced ahead, and his heart naturally followed. He felt excited and warm at the thought of living in a new house with his beautiful wife, caring mother, and cute daughter. Cute daughter... Yena, who had been consistently ignoring him, led him back into the forest of despair. Would the day ever come when they would live in the same house, laughing and talking together? Would it really come someday?
‘Maybe it’s because she takes after her mom, but she really makes her dad’s heart ache.’
Just like Jeong-o, Ji-heon thought that Jeong-o and Yena looked alike. Jeong-o contacted him after 10 p.m.
[Are you home?]
“No. I’m in front of your villa.”
[What? Oh, I can’t live with you.]
Saying she couldn't live with him, Jeong-o immediately ran out. As soon as Ji-heon reunited with Jeong-o, he asked about Yena first.
“Is Yena asleep?”
“Yes. That’s why I came out.”
Hoo. Ji-heon let out a heavy sigh and looked at Jeong-o. Her gaze seemed to pity him, so Jeong-o asked.
“Why?”
“No, just because.”
“……”
“Because I’m jealous.”
Jeong-o chuckled.
“Because Yena only likes me?”
“Yes.”
“Someday, Oppa and Yena will be partners. You two have similar tastes.”
Jeong-o encouraged him with kind words, as if understanding Ji-heon's feelings. Ji-heon smiled bitterly. Would that day come? Would it really come?
“I’ve never felt jealous of anyone in the world. But you have everything I could be jealous of. Lee Jeong-o, Lee Yena, and your mother.”
“You’re jealous of my mom too?”
“A good family, I mean.”
At Ji-heon's answer, Jeong-o felt so affectionate towards him. I want to become your family soon. I want to love this man who seems so sad at times, as if he has nothing despite having so much.
* The next day. Jeong-o went to work with Ji-heon as usual. Seeing Ji-heon, who had come to see Yena from the morning and became gloomy because of Yena's coldness, Jeong-o felt so sorry for him. She thought that if her daughter was cold, her mother should be warm to balance things out, so she agreed to his request to go to work together. She felt like he was deliberately acting more pathetic to lure her into the car.
“Here, here! Drop me off here.”
Still, she had to be careful. Jeong-o desperately stopped the car near the company.
“This will look even weirder. Let’s just say we met nearby…”
“Thank you. See you at the office later.”
Jeong-o didn't even think about listening to Ji-heon's persuasion and immediately got out of the car and walked diligently. The car, which had been slowly guarding Jeong-o's side like a bodyguard, eventually left first at her fierce glare. Jeong-o sighed and looked around, front, back, and sides, wondering if there were any colleagues from the company. And sure enough, she saw Assistant Manager Go Eun-ju in the back. She felt the hairs on her body stand on end.
‘Did she see me? What if she did?’
Assistant Manager Go Eun-ju had almost no change in expression. Even after discovering Jeong-o, she only raised her hand as if she was too lazy to run over and walked gracefully. Her every step exuded a haughty elegance. While waiting for Eun-ju, Jeong-o's back was covered in cold sweat.
“Assistant Manager Go, good morning.”
“Not really.”
“Why, why?”
“I don’t want to go to work.”
She didn't see me! Jeong-o was so grateful for Eun-ju's cynical answer, which was no different from usual. She felt like scattering flower petals in Eun-ju's path, but she couldn't show it too much, so Jeong-o nodded appropriately and sighed in relief inwardly.
“Haha. That’s right. But it’s a relief that today is Friday. We can rest comfortably this week.”
“I wonder. Really.”
“……”
“I have a feeling I’ll be working this weekend.”
But Eun-ju's reaction was cold until the end. And an hour later, Jeong-o realized that Assistant Manager Go Eun-ju's intuition was excellent. The AE in charge of Tawon Liquor came running.
“Team Leader, have you seen this?”
The AE, who came running with a tablet PC, showed the screen to Mi-ran. Chief Park Young-gwang and Jeong-o also stood up and stood next to Mi-ran. It was an advertisement for a new beer product. But the package design was very similar to the new product that Tawon Liquor was preparing. The trademark image was different, but the design surrounding the trademark was similar, so it was easy to mistake it at first glance. The advertiser had not trademarked the package design. It could not be protected by law.
“It’s a product that will be released today and will be spread out in stores nationwide. The advertisement will air on all media at 10 p.m. tonight.”
Mi-ran covered her forehead with a blank expression. The advertising shoot had been delayed because the advertiser couldn't decide on the package design, but as soon as the design was decided, this happened.
“It’s even more of a problem because it’s a new product. Does the advertiser know?”
“Of course they know. They’re probably in a meeting right now.”
The AE answered Jeong-o's question.
“Does Director Ji-heon know?”
The AE shook his head at Mi-ran's question.
“Let’s go report it together.”
Mi-ran took the lead, and the AE followed. The remaining team members looked at each other gloomily. They had revised the package design more than ten times and barely passed the advertising proposal, but this unfortunate event happened right before the shoot on Tuesday. After 30 minutes, Team Leader Seong Mi-ran and the AE returned with Ji-heon.
“We’ve decided to change the package. They said we can remove everything except the trademark. However, they will send a reference color to the designer, so please refer to that color. We need to send the first draft by 6 p.m. tonight. Let’s try our best to get it approved in one go.”
Ji-heon said decisively. Sighs were heard from here and there. The weekend was gone like this. Jeong-o was also disappointed. She wouldn't be able to keep her promise to go to Gunsan with Yena. Recognizing this, Ji-heon quietly spoke to Jeong-o, who was heading to the conference room.
“You go.”
“Yes? Where to?”
“Don’t work this weekend and go to Gunsan. A copywriter isn’t really necessary for this task.”
“Oh, Director Ji-heon. Let’s keep work and personal matters separate!”
The advertiser was picky, so they would want to revise the TV commercial every time they changed the package, so it wasn't unnecessary. Jeong-o entered the meeting, fed up with Ji-heon's favoritism. Production Team 1, which had stepped down from the project after the campaign concept and advertising production proposal were finalized, also attended the meeting.
“It’s easier said than done. How can we change it in just a few hours?”
Team Leader An Chan-seop complained. It wasn't a complaint to the team members, but to the client. He was so frustrated. The other team members felt the same way. They had already gone through countless production meetings, and their ideas were exhausted. Silence continued for a long time, and Mi-ran spoke first.
“We have no choice but to add colors or patterns around the trademark. This is really difficult. If we make it too noticeable, they’ll say it damages the identity, and if we don’t make it noticeable, they’ll say what did we even do.”
“Ah. Fake art!”
Jeong-o, who got an idea from Mi-ran's opinion, said.
“How about fake art that looks like a brand logo from afar and a message or another picture up close? I think it would go well with our advertisement.”
“Hmm, it could be good if we do it well.”
Chief Park Young-gwang supported Jeong-o's opinion. Eun-ju and Gi-hoon also nodded as if it wasn't bad.
“I’ll try to make one.”
“Okay. Let’s do it first, and then talk again. I’ll report to Director Ji-heon.”
Mi-ran instructed. The meeting ended quickly thanks to Mi-ran and Jeong-o. The designers were just starting, though. After the meeting, Gi-hoon approached Jeong-o as she was about to organize the foam boards with the previous product package drafts.
“Give them to me. I’ll organize them.”
“No, hurry up and go work. Gi-hoon, you need to take care of yourself.”
“Oh, this is nothing.”
Gi-hoon easily took the stack of foam boards that Jeong-o was holding.
“Honestly, I was stunned when I first saw that advertisement, but thanks to you, Assistant Manager, a spark of light came in. I really respect you, Assistant Manager.”
He said "respect," but his eyes were filled with affection and admiration rather than respect.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Jeong-o answered awkwardly. Eun-ju silently watched the two of them. She felt a little sorry for Gi-hoon. Every time he saw Lee Jung-o, his mouth hung open and his eyes sparkled. What to do? That’s love. Song Gi-hun. You’re going to get hurt.
“Ms. Go, is there something you want to say?”
Gi-hoon, suspicious of Eun-ju’s gaze, asked. Eun-ju shook her head.
“No. Nothing.”
That’s it. It’s not my business anyway. She didn’t want to be the kind of person who added another word to someone else’s complicated love life. At the company, she should just work, but she almost made the mistake of thinking of her team members as family, caught in Lee Jung-o’s strange clutches. Ugh. I’m being too nosy these days. Individualism is comfortable. Eun-ju shrugged and left first. The feedback for the draft she sent at 6 PM came relatively quickly. But it wasn’t approved in one go. The client said they would look at the second draft tomorrow morning. The designers were stuck working overtime. The other team members created the justification for inserting fake art and discussed the advertising production revisions due to the package change. It was after 10 PM when Jeong-o was finally able to leave work. Ji-heon, who had disappeared for a while, was waiting for Jeong-o in front of the company with his car parked. Jeong-o quickly ran and got into the car, afraid someone would see her.
“Hurry, hurry, let’s go. Quickly!”
Jeong-o shouted as soon as she got into the car, lowering the seat back. Ji-heon chuckled softly at Jeong-o’s actions and started the car. It was only after they were far away from the company that Jeong-o raised the seat back up.
“I got a message that Yena is asleep. Why were you waiting when you can’t even see her?”
“I still have to take you home. And…”
Ji-heon, who answered Jeong-o’s question naturally, cleared his throat. Jeong-o sensed that Ji-heon was about to bring up something sensitive.
“Could I go in for a bit?”
“Huh? To my house?”
“Could I just see Yena sleeping for a moment?”
The director, who had always shown a strict and reliable image at the company, had become a soft, malleable animal, his eyes shining as he waited for her permission.
