Sponsorship Stigma
Chapter 46
A Period of Denial
The morning sunlight tickled her eyes, making her neatly curled eyelashes flutter.
As the bright light filtered through her eyelids, Yeonjae frowned.
Only after shielding her eyes with her hand did she look around.
A small space of barely thirteen square meters.
The single bed she lay in. And the clock on the bedside table beside it came into view.
[6:00 am]
In truth, Yeonjae had only closed her eyes after watching the morning sun rise.
So it was practically waking up from a brief doze.
Perhaps because of what had happened last night, she had tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep easily.
All night long, Yeonjae had muttered to herself.
That she didn't have feelings for Jeheon.
“I worked so hard to empty him out… If I still like him, that just makes me too pathetic.”
After enduring all those harsh years, there was no way any love could remain.
Desperately trying to deny it, Yeonjae slowly pushed herself up.
Her body felt unusually heavy today, like a waterlogged sponge.
Dragging her heavy limbs, Yeonjae stepped into the living room and headed straight for the kitchen.
She had no confidence she could fall back asleep even if she closed her eyes.
Rather than wasting time like that, she figured it would be far more productive to prepare breakfast for Jiwoo.
She took out two slices of white bread, greased a pan with butter, and toasted them until crisp.
The golden slices of bread coated with the aroma of butter looked appetizing.
Yeonjae beat an egg and cooked it with finely chopped ham and scallions.
On top of the neatly cut egg that matched the bread, she placed shredded cabbage and a thin slice of ham.
With a little strawberry jam and a drizzle of ketchup, it was done.
Only when she saw it cut neatly in half and arranged on a plate did a faint smile finally touch Yeonjae's lips.
It was the toast her mother used to make for her before school.
Back then, she had complained about how anyone could stomach something so greasy in the morning.
‘Instead of making this kind of toast, why didn't you just send me to Lala High School!’
She had been such a terrible daughter, shouting and spitting harsh words at her mother.
Yet sweet Jiwoo loved the toast Yeonjae made for him.
He always said Mommy's toast was the most delicious.
At the thought of her mother's face after so long, Yeonjae shook her head.
Whenever she thought of her mother, it was hard to hold back her tears. It had always been her emotional weak spot.
She couldn't very well start crying in front of Jiwoo first thing in the morning.
Yeonjae brought over Jiwoo's Kindergarten bag, which was sitting in a corner of the living room.
She packed the supplies she had prepared the night before and zipped the bag shut.
Just as she was about to set it on the sofa,
she turned around at the sound of something clinking against the bag.
It was the sound of metal colliding.
“What's there?”
She lifted the bag. And when Yeonjae lifted the sofa cushion, something glittering caught her eye.
What she picked up was a heavy metal watch.
“Haah.”
Yeonjae let out a sigh.
Even Yeonjae, who knew nothing about watches, knew how expensive the brand name engraved in the center was.
And she also knew who the watch belonged to.
Who else would walk around wearing a watch worth hundreds of thousands of dollars besides that man?
Recalling Jeheon's face, Yeonjae pressed a hand to her forehead.
On top of that, an image of the man eating ramyeon last night flashed in her mind.
The watch that had been wrapped around his wrist as he held his chopsticks.
Though she hadn't looked closely, it felt like it was this very one.
Why on earth did he take off his watch just to eat a meal?
Don't tell me he's going to ask me to bring it to him.
“I really… don't want to do that.”
The problem was that, knowing Jeheon's personality, he was more than capable of doing just that.
As she swallowed a silent scream, the sound of a door opening echoed through the space.
It was the bedroom where Jiwoo slept.
Rubbing his half-open eyes, Jiwoo walked over to Yeonjae.
“Mommy, did you make toast?”
“How did you know, sweetheart?”
At the sight, Yeonjae slipped the watch deep inside her handbag.
“I can tell Mommy's toast just by the smell. I really wanted to eat it, yay!”
Delighted, Jiwoo headed to the dining table, sat in a chair, and began munching away.
Taking big bites with his little mouth, the boy emptied the plate in no time.
After he neatly finished breakfast, she headed straight to the bathroom with him.
As the routine of bathing and getting ready for Kindergarten continued, the existence of the watch naturally slipped her mind.
The moment she was reminded of it again was on her way to the Cafe after dropping him off.
[My watch is there, right? Bring it to me.]
A message popped up on the screen.
“Is this a request, or an order?”
Jeheon acted as bold and shameless as if he had deliberately left the watch in her safekeeping.
So much so that her night-long agonizing felt entirely pointless.
* * *
Having finished parking, Jeheon stepped out of his car.
Nodding casually in response to the greetings from employees who recognized him, he headed toward the inner elevator.
The area with the private elevator was quiet.
Jeheon pressed the up button and took out his phone when he felt it vibrate.
It seemed a reply to the message he had sent before leaving for work had finally arrived.
The elevator arrived, and Jeheon stepped inside.
He pressed the single floor button.
And upon unlocking the screen to check the message, a hollow laugh escaped Jeheon's lips.
[I will call Secretary Oh.]
“Is Seongjae your secretary?”
As if he would come and go at Jeong Yeonjae's beck and call.
The short message felt beyond bold—it was downright cheeky.
How on earth had Jeong Yeonjae, who couldn't even meet his eyes when she was younger, changed like this?
[Seongjae is busy today. You come. Around lunchtime should be fine.]
Thinking they could just have lunch nearby, Jeheon slipped his phone into his jacket pocket.
Right on cue, the elevator arrived, and the doors opened.
Stepping inside, Jeheon pressed the button.
As he watched the floor numbers climb, Jeheon's gaze gradually grew distant.
Staring into empty space, a face naturally surfaced in his mind, bringing a wry smile to his lips.
Why was this happening at every turn?
Just then, reaching his floor, Jeheon shook his head to clear his thoughts.
Walking swiftly to the end of the corridor, Jeheon pushed open the glass door.
The secretarial team stationed outside his office.
The secretaries, who had been bustling about, all froze in place upon seeing Jeheon.
“Good morning, CEO.”
“Good morning.”
Normally, Jeheon would simply raise a hand in acknowledgment and walk right in.
Yet at his warm greeting, everyone blinked in disbelief.
“Ah, yes. Good morning, yes. Good morning to you too.”
“……”
“The phones have been ringing off the hook since this morning, but if you say it's a good morning, CEO, then it must be.”
Jeheon chuckled softly at Seongjae's rambling, dazed reply.
Looking around, it wasn't just Seongjae who seemed out of his wits.
He could roughly guess the reason.
“Everyone, get back to work. Secretary Oh, follow me in.”
Jeheon stepped inside his office.
Unlike the noisy secretarial floor outside, the office was peaceful once the door clicked shut.
Taking off his jacket, Jeheon hung it on the rack near the entrance.
When he walked over and sat at his executive desk, the door opened, and Secretary Oh entered.
“CEO, why was your phone turned off?”
“I never turned it off.”
Jeheon picked up the phone lying next to his desk. The screen lit up brightly as he lifted it.
“Not that personal one… your business phone.”
“Ah. It kept ringing so loudly that I shut it off.”
As if suddenly remembering, Jeheon leaned back deeply into his chair.
If it was his business phone, he had powered it down shortly after leaving the restaurant last night.
“You know my personal number.”
“Of course I do.”
That's not what I'm talking about right now, Secretary Oh swallowed his words with an effort.
Then he forced the corners of his mouth upward into a smile.
An awkward smile formed where his eyes and lips were completely out of sync.
“Manager Ju Minyeong and Director Pyo Myeonghee have been taking turns calling.”
“……”
“Saying you weren't at the Samseong-dong place and that your phone was unreachable, they've been grilling me to… no, they've been calling non-stop. Even right now.”
Secretary Oh held up the incessantly ringing phone toward Jeheon.
Watching this, Jeheon stood up from his seat and approached him.
Then, snatching the still-ringing phone, he pressed the call button before Secretary Oh could even attempt to stop him.
“Mother, it's me. Stop harassing Seongjae. I'll call you once my work is done.”
Jeheon plainly stated his business and hit the end call button. The loud screech coming from the other end of the line was cut off in an instant.
Then, he held out the phone to the dazed Secretary Oh.
“Satisfied?”
With those words, Jeheon turned back and sat at his desk.
Secretary Oh, taking the phone back with a bewildered expression, followed right after him.
“Just what did you do to make the director act like this? Where did you sleep last night?”
“At a hotel. How could I go home after dropping a bomb?”
It was obvious Manager Ju Minyoung would be camping out in front of the Samseong-dong Apartment entrance.
Last night, Jeheon had told Yoeun that he was calling off the engagement.
Naturally, she would have relayed that fact to Myeonghee upon returning to the table.
He had lingered in the restaurant parking lot for a long while.
Whenever he tried to use his phone, calls kept pouring in. Myeonghee and Manager Joo took friendly turns blowing it up.
Only after finally switching off the power did the phone fall silent.
Having sat with his eyes closed in the parking lot for quite some time, Jeheon had operated the navigation system.
At first, he had intended to head straight for a hotel.
Then, his gaze had lingered on the Residence listed in his recent destinations.
There was a place even quieter than a hotel.
So he had driven to the Residence on impulse, fully aware that Jeong Yeonjae wouldn't welcome him.
Tacking on the ridiculous excuse that he was hungry.
As the memories of last night surfaced, the corner of Jeheon's mouth twitched.
Had he developed some strange fetish after waking up from his accident?
He absolutely despised it when women cried, yet strangely enough, he hadn't hated it.
And since it was Jeheon who had pushed a protesting Yeonjae into the bedroom,
he was partly responsible for those tears.
‘Ah, is it because of that?’
Because the tears shed by the usually unyielding Jeong Yeonjae were grating on his nerves.
Collecting his thoughts for a moment, Jeheon looked up at the sound of a voice.
“A bomb?”
“Something like that. Reject all calls coming from my mother's side as you see fit.”
The trace of doubt that had briefly crossed Jeheon's face was long gone.
“By the way, book a restaurant for lunch. Somewhere quiet.”
He could just ask her the reason directly.
Since they would be seeing each other soon anyway.
