The Woman Who Stole My Flower
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
#10.
As everyone flushed red, flustered by the bombshell remark, Jooheon spoke up again.
“I’m joking.”
Who on earth tells a joke with such a deadpan face? Naturally, not even a trace of a smile touched his lips as he claimed it was a joke, but the esteemed athlete had made a joke nonetheless. Everyone had no choice but to laugh awkwardly.
“Ahahaha…….”
“Now, now. Let’s refrain from personal questions.”
With the Head of Public Relations following up with a warning, the topic came to an end there.
“By the way, Director, what kind of work will you be handling in the PR Office?”
Manager Sung Hye-eun asked. Though several team leaders were present, despite not even belonging to the PR department, she was naturally seated directly opposite the Head of PR—meaning the seat closest to Kang Joo-heon. Well, she did style herself as the CEO’s proxy.
It was glaringly obvious that everyone was secretly hoping Kang Joo-heon would join their team. Regardless of how long it would last, wasn’t this a chance to get close to a superstar?
“I haven’t decided yet. What areas of work do you have?”
The Head of PR rattled them off as if he had been waiting for the question.
“We have several teams within our PR Office. Communications, Marketing, Media Team, Press PR Team…….”
Because the CSR Team was completely left out of that list, a bitter taste lingered in Yeon-seo’s mouth. It wasn’t enough that they were treated like Cinderella; now they were being treated as if they didn’t even exist.
“Then what about the CSR Team?”
Yeon-seo started in surprise when the mention unexpectedly came from Jooheon’s lips.
“Ah, right, there is the CSR Team. You can think of it as corporate social responsibility work. In other words, using Bellator’s resources to exert a positive influence on society…….”
When the explanation showed signs of dragging on, a female team leader from another team cut in.
“To put it simply, you can just think of it as work that doesn’t make any money.”
Laughter erupted at her playful tone. Even the Head of PR, cut off mid-sentence, chuckled along. The only ones not laughing were the three members of the CSR Team—and Kang Joo-heon.
Eun-jin, the senior from her team sitting right next to Yeon-seo, silently raised her glass. How could Yeon-seo not understand how she felt? Yeon-seo quickly lifted her glass, clinked it against Eun-jin’s, and brought it to her lips. Let’s drink together, sunbae-nim.
Far from laughing, Jooheon leaned in closer instead.
“I’d like to hear more about that in detail.”
“Team Leader Lee, explain it to the Director.”
At the Head of PR’s prompt, the CSR Team Leader spoke up.
“Our CSR Team supports the local community in various ways. We provide supplies to underprivileged groups and organize events such as charity marathons and community sports days.”
Yeon-seo’s Team Leader, in his early forties, was a soft-hearted man. His tone was stiff as a private’s in boot camp, and his voice trembled noticeably. Sensing how nervous he was delivering an unscheduled briefing directly to Kang Joo-heon, Yeon-seo felt pained just listening.
“As a comprehensive sports brand, we cover a wide range of sports. In particular, regarding soccer, we have undertaken projects to improve the facilities of futsal and soccer fields across Seoul, recently surpassing ten locations, and we conduct soccer clinics in connection with local elementary schools. We also sponsor children’s soccer teams run by local child care centers, and have recently signed an agreement with a K3 League team to support them with goods, including uniforms.”
Just as the Team Leader barely managed to finish speaking, Hye-eun chimed in abruptly.
“You have no idea how much of a strain it is on the Management Support Office to cover all those finances and supplies.”
At Hye-eun’s words, the table burst into laughter once again.
“…….”
Yeon-seo could see the Team Leader’s face turning beet red.
A surge of indignation welled up in Yeon-seo. Her Team Leader was a good man. Even if they were a tiny team of three, he was still a proper team leader—how could they humiliate him like this right in front of Kang Joo-heon?
Her heart hammered fiercely. Yeon-seo poured more soju into her emptied glass, struggling desperately to swallow down her anger. Don’t do it, Jung Yeon-seo. This is a gathering packed with higher-ups. If a low-ranking employee oversteps her bounds…….
“Does this company belong to you, Manager Sung?”
Draining her glass in one gulp, Yeon-seo stared straight at her. Hye-eun flinched, turning her gaze toward Yeon-seo.
“What?”
“That isn’t your money, Manager Sung; it’s company money. So why are you the one acting like you’re doing everyone a favor?”
A chilling silence fell over the room as if cold water had been dumped over it, everyone staring in sheer shock. It was the moment the youngest employee, sitting in the lowest seat, directly charged at a manager from another department.
Having been openly confronted, Hye-eun wore an utterly dumbfounded expression.
“Are you talking to me right now?”
“Yes.”
Yeon-seo gave a firm nod and continued.
“It’s not as if our CSR Team is taking that money and those supplies for personal gain. We’re doing work that contributes to the company’s public image. So shouldn’t you refrain from acting as if you’re handing out charity to beggars?”
In truth, this wasn’t purely out of indignation over her Team Leader being publicly humiliated. If they acted like that openly toward a team leader, one could only imagine how they had treated Yeon-seo and Eun-jin.
Every time they launched a new project, they naturally requested resources only after receiving formal approval from the CEO, yet the Management Support Office constantly found ways to throw wrenches into the works. Delaying promised release dates indefinitely, handing out the lowest-quality items, and glaring at them begrudgingly while doing so.
It’s not even for my own personal use, so why do I have to be so subservient? She had often felt such disillusionment. In short, everything she had bottled up had finally exploded.
Hye-eun’s pretty face flushed crimson. The sheer shock she felt was written all over her face.
‘How dare you talk to me like that?’
Even if her father was a hired CEO rather than the company owner, she was still the CEO’s cherished only daughter. With flawless credentials and beauty to match, everyone was constantly busy catering to her whims. A manager at merely twenty-eight, who knew how high she would climb in the future? Yet a mere rank-and-file employee from the CSR Team—relegated to the back corner of PR—had dared to defy her.
Gritting her teeth, Hye-eun forced a stiff smile onto her hardened face.
“Manager Jung Yeon-seo, it’s been a while since you attended a company dinner, so you must be drunk.”
It was a clear warning: I’ll let this pass as drunken rambling, so shut your mouth. But Yeon-seo had no intention of backing down. The other woman had crossed the line first, so why should she?
“I’m not drunk in the slightest. I am completely…….”
“Manager Jung Yeon-seo!”
The Head of PR darkened his expression and scolded Yeon-seo in a hushed, stern voice.
“What kind of reckless nonsense are you spouting at a joyous occasion welcoming Director Kang Joo-heon? Won’t you shut your mouth this instant?”
It was miserable how openly he took the other side. When our Team Leader was being humiliated earlier, you didn’t say a single word!
“No, I don’t mind.”
Jooheon cut in firmly, then directed his gaze toward Yeon-seo.
“Please continue what you were saying.”
“I apologize, Director Kang Joo-heon. For showing you such an unsightly scene…….”
Without sparing a single glance for the PR Head trying to smooth things over, he spoke to Yeon-seo once more.
“I believe I told you to continue.”
His tone carried an implicit warning that he would not stand for anyone interrupting again. Sure enough, not even the Head of PR dared to intervene further.
“You keep calling it ‘work that doesn’t make money,’ but even if a company exists to pursue profit, I don’t believe money is everything. Bellator isn’t that kind of company, is it?”
The female manager who had previously quipped, ‘To put it simply, you can just think of it as work that doesn’t make any money,’ flinched and averted her eyes.
“We are equally members of the PR Office, and we work hard with the same pride in the Bellator name. So I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t look down on us so coldly.”
She had spoken from the heart, but no one answered. Naturally, Hye-eun offered no apology either. Instead, a frosty silence hung heavily in the air.
‘She’s really lost her mind.’
Unable to endure those judgmental stares, Yeon-seo picked up her bag and stood up as if fleeing.
“I’ll take my leave first.”
After Yeon-seo left, a prolonged silence settled over the gathering. Everyone was inwardly stunned by this unexpected rebellion.
Judging purely by appearance, Jung Yeon-seo was undeniably a classic, pure-type beauty. Her skin was porcelain white, her glossy black hair free of dye or curls, and her large, monolid eyes shone with clear brilliance. Her delicate, harmonious features had nothing excessive about them; with naturally tinted rosy lips that needed no lipstick and white, neatly aligned teeth, she was the textbook image of everyone’s first love.
Yet her personality was the exact opposite of her looks. While she looked impeccably innocent and gentle, an inexplicable grit permeated her expressions, tone, and every action. Whenever there was dirty or difficult work, she rolled up her sleeves before any of the men, and when she laughed, she did so heartily without restraint—Ahahaha! She looked like someone who would shy away in the background, covering her mouth with a demure giggle. To put it another way, she acted with complete oblivion toward her own beauty.
In this day and age, even tasking a new hire with work carried the fear of backlash. But because she never tried to spare herself and remained easygoing without holding grudges, everyone treated Jung Yeon-seo like a junior member of their own team, ordering her around with ease. No matter what was asked, she would step up without complaint, answering, “Yes, sunbae-nim,” or “Yes, Assistant Manager.”
So everyone had assumed she was just an easy pushover, only to discover otherwise today. Right in front of Kang Joo-heon, of all people, and directly confronting none other than the company princess!
‘Jung Yeon-seo really lives like there’s no tomorrow.’
Just as people were thinking they ought to be careful around her from now on, Kang Joo-heon broke the silence.
“Going forward, I will work with the CSR Team.”
