Chapter 32
32. Yes. You're pretty. Really.
2023.06.01.
Yulkyu Law Firm Conference Room.
After the partner meeting ended, Hyun-ji didn't get up from her seat for some reason, so Hee-wook quietly sat and waited.
The more Hee-wook knew Hyun-ji, the more he realized she was a huge blessing. In fact, Hee-wook only had information he'd heard from others and didn't know much about Hyun-ji. He knew she graduated from a prestigious university in the United States, returned to Korea, went to law school, and became a lawyer. He also knew her father was a businessman and that she lived alone in a luxury villa in Cheongdam-dong.
He was about to ask her about marriage preparations, but his mother, unable to contain her curiosity, beat him to it. Hyun-ji visited Hee-wook's house on Saturday and told his parents about herself and the scale of her family.
Hee-wook didn't know that Hyun-ji's father was doing business in Dubai. Hyun-ji assured him that her father's work had nothing to do with her and that she would never help him with his business, but Hee-wook felt differently. He thought that if he could just get on his future father-in-law's good side, he might be able to look forward to a law firm with their names on it someday.
After all the colleagues left the conference room, leaving him alone with Hyun-ji, Hee-wook moved closer to her.
"What are you doing?"
He asked Hyun-ji, who was only looking at her phone screen without giving him a glance.
"Honey, are you preparing the proposal well?"
Actually, the proposal was the problem. Hyun-ji had made it clear that she definitely wanted to receive a proposal, so he had to meet her expectations, but he couldn't come up with any ideas.
Han So-eun would have been happy with just a simple ring.
Hee-wook, who briefly thought of So-eun, hid his bitter feelings and replied.
"Why are you asking that? I'll take care of everything. You just have to look forward to it."
"Okay. I'll look forward to it. And, this is it for me."
Hyun-ji showed him her phone screen. It was a picture of a ring from a luxury brand that Hee-wook didn't recognize.
"What is this?"
"Get me this for the proposal ring. Got it?"
"Oh, you want to get the wedding ring in advance?"
"No. The proposal ring and the wedding ring are different. You have no sense."
It was a flashy ring that looked incredibly expensive at first glance. Hee-wook's brow furrowed as he looked at the screen.
It's not like she ordered the ring; she's just telling me to get it for her? He was speechless.
Hyun-ji kindly sent the ring picture to Hee-wook's phone.
"It's been my dream to receive this for the proposal for a long time. You'll grant my wish, right, honey?"
Hee-wook was able to check the information about the ring more thoroughly on his phone screen.
Hee-wook's eyes widened when he checked the price of the ring.
There's a fifty million won ring in the world?
It was more expensive than his used imported car.
His hands trembled at the price of the ring, which he had never seen before. He also felt resentful toward Hyun-ji.
She knows exactly how much my salary is.
Hee-wook was dismayed by Hyun-ji's request, but he forced a smile, thinking about the future rewards.
\
A few hours earlier, on his way out of the company for an external appointment, Tae-joon habitually checked So-eun's seat and saw her wiping sweat with a tired look. He turned around, went up to the support team, and asked them to give ice cream to all employees, handing over his personal card. He remembered So-eun mentioning the name of an ice cream when she was drunk, so he asked them to order a specific brand.
Around 3 p.m., he received a report from the support team that the ice cream had arrived. He was unable to confirm this directly because he was out. Throughout the meeting, Tae-joon thought of So-eun's face as she ate the ice cream. She ate udon and seolleongtang so deliciously, so what would she look like eating ice cream?
Is it because of the hot weather, the boiling temperature? Or is it the aftereffects of tossing and turning all night? It felt like he had caught a disease that made his vision blurry whenever he thought of Han So-eun.
After finishing his external appointment and returning to the company, Tae-joon went straight to the Mobile Service Team. It was after reception hours, so So-eun wasn't at her seat, and he looked around for a long time.
While Tae-joon was looking around, the team leader of the Mobile Service Team approached him.
"Director, hello."
"Yes, Team Leader."
Tae-joon stopped walking and greeted him.
"The weather is hot, so it must have been difficult to work."
"No, it wasn't. Thank you for the ice cream today. Thanks to it, I was able to finish my work well. All the employees liked it."
"It's nothing. Anyway, I'm glad it helped you feel better, even a little."
Tae-joon continued to look around while talking to the team leader. And he learned that So-eun was in the repair workshop with her colleagues. He moved closer to the repair workshop during the conversation and heard Park Bo-bae talking to So-eun.
"Huh? Chief Han, didn't you wear glasses today?"
"Yeah. I was busy this morning, so I came out right away. I put in lenses a little while ago. But do I look better in glasses?"
"No, no! Lenses look much better. You look much prettier with lenses."
"Really? Lenses look better?"
"Yes. A lot. Why haven't you worn lenses and worn glasses all this time?"
"It's cheaper to wear glasses."
"Ah, the economic aspect. Can't miss that. Still, you look so pretty with lenses, it's a waste of your beauty."
Bobae, who had been chattering excitedly for a while, turned her head. It seemed like she was trying to get an opinion from the dark-skinned man with glasses who was loitering next to her.
"Right, Chief Jang! Chief Han is pretty, right!"
He could immediately recognize who she was talking to. It was Chief Jang Eun-pyo, the employee Tae-joon had searched for in the employee list this morning.
Eun-pyo answered Bobae's question.
"Yes."
A quiet answer that wasn't excited at all.
"You're pretty. Really."
Yes. You're pretty. Really.
The silence between those words was unpleasantly nerve-wracking.
Tae-joon continued his conversation with the team leader and naturally moved his steps to stare at the face of the man named Jang Eun-pyo. The gaze beyond the glasses, which was constantly aware of Han So-eun's movements, made him feel a surge of inexplicable anger. Come to think of it, he was the guy who stubbornly insisted that the Mobile Service Team was short of staff when Tae-joon tried to take So-eun to the 7th floor private room.
That guy didn't volunteer for the TF Team with a pure heart. Tae-joon was sure of it.
It was very annoying that a pretty woman to me was equally pretty to others.
\
After finishing her regular work, So-eun went up to the 7th floor as usual. As always, Manager Song Mun-gyeong welcomed So-eun.
"Chief Han, you're here?"
"Yes. Manager, how have you been?"
"How's your health? Do you know how surprised I was on Friday?"
"I'm really sorry. Thank you for taking care of me. I won't worry you in the future."
"Okay. But the director must have been more worried than me."
Mun-gyeong said kindly to So-eun's greeting.
That's right. The director was very worried. And suffered.
Her face flushed as she recalled the events of last Friday and Saturday. So-eun secretly took a deep breath to get rid of the feeling of heat rising on her face.
An hour ago. She learned that Tae-joon had made a surprise visit to the Mobile Service Team. It wasn't like he came to see her, but So-eun hurriedly went to the bathroom, took off her glasses, and put on lenses.
After putting on lenses and going to the repair workshop to talk to her colleagues while touching the devices, Tae-joon left.
After Tae-joon disappeared, So-eun became ridiculous to herself. What was she trying to show that man, getting so nervous and quickly changing to lenses?
Even after bitterly realizing the reality, she became nervous again when she came up to the 7th floor.
"Would you like to go in with the director?"
In the meantime, Manager Song Mun-gyeong got up from her seat and led So-eun.
She was excited again at the thought that he was in his office.
This is a big problem, Han So-eun. What are you going to do?
So-eun followed Mun-gyeong with a feeling of wanting to cry. Mun-gyeong knocked on Tae-joon's office.
Knock knock.
"Yes. Come in."
Tae-joon's voice was heard behind the solid door. Mun-gyeong opened the door and went inside.
"Director, Chief Han So-eun has come up, and I'll be leaving now."
"Yes. Thank you for your hard work."
Tae-joon, who was working, greeted Mun-gyeong.
After Mun-gyeong left, leaving only So-eun alone, Tae-joon stopped working and stared at So-eun.
So-eun's legs trembled slightly as she took one step at a time.
"Director, hello."
"How's your health?"
Without answering her greeting, Tae-joon asked about So-eun's health first.
So-eun answered sincerely.
"I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern."
"That's a relief."
Really, do you think it's a relief that I'm okay?
She was ridiculous for giving meaning to his every word, but recognizing that didn't mean she could stop thinking.
Still, she couldn't take up too much of his precious time, so So-eun didn't forget the reason and reported on today's work.
"Director, I asked Manager Song Mun-gyeong to deliver the recommendation letter this morning."
"I saw it. I'll review it."
"Yes. Then, when will I start if I start?"
"I'll contact you separately."
"Yes... Then, can I leave work today?"
She was about to say goodbye and turn around because it seemed like there was nothing more to say, but suddenly Tae-joon got up from his seat.
"Today, rather than that, there's something I need to apologize for."
"Yes?"
"This."
Tae-joon, who had come closer, held out his hand. In Tae-joon's hand was a familiar pair of glasses.
"These are Chief Han So-eun's glasses, right?"
The glasses that Hee-wook gave her. The glasses she lost after drinking alcohol a while ago. The lenses of those glasses were broken and held in Tae-joon's hand.
No, why does the director have this. You said you didn't see it back then.
As she looked back and forth between the glasses and Tae-joon with surprised eyes, Tae-joon said solemnly.
"Actually, I didn't see it lying under the bench that day and stepped on it."
"……."
"I couldn't bring myself to tell you because you said it was precious. I'm sorry."
She was annoyed that he didn't return the glasses in time, but she didn't blame him. Thanks to losing the glasses back then, she was able to shake off a piece of lingering attachment earlier.
"……No. It's not precious at all now. It's okay."
So-eun shook her head. There was no need to get the glasses back now. It was also uncomfortable to talk about Tae-joon and her ex-boyfriend.
She was about to say that she could just throw the glasses away, but Tae-joon spoke as if it were nothing.
"It's a relief that it's not precious, and anyway, I did something wrong, so I have to compensate you."
"……."
"Let's go get new glasses. Come on out."
Tae-joon took the first step.
So-eun's face froze. She didn't know what to do.
Half wanting to refuse. Half wanting to follow.
It was right to follow the director's orders, but she thought that getting glasses was a very personal matter. If she felt uncomfortable, it would be better to compensate with money.
Tae-joon, who had moved first, opened the office door and urged her.
"Aren't you coming out?"
So-eun's eyes stung while looking at Tae-joon. Seeing that cold and indifferent expression again, So-eun felt somehow sad but good. It felt like her vision was getting blurrier with each blink. Just looking at him made her chest feel tight and painful.
Her heart itself was full of contradictions.
A scary and nervous but also exciting feeling. A feeling of liking him even though she shouldn't.
What should I do in the future? She kept worrying, but even so, she wanted to just go with the flow at this moment.
The starting point of this contradiction was not herself. She thinks the start is this man.
After sneering at her, calling her a woman without pride, he bought her food the next day as if nothing had happened. After throwing so much work at her that she had to come to the company even on the weekend, he carried her around all night when she collapsed while working. She thought he was a cold and indifferent man, but on the contrary, he was warm and kind.
So she hated him. But she also liked him.
She was scared of her heart, which she couldn't grasp. She felt like she couldn't know herself because she couldn't know this man. What are you thinking? What are you trying to do to me? And how far will my heart go?
With a fearful heart because she didn't know how far it would go, So-eun took a step.
