The Woman Who Stole My Flower
Chapter 15
Chapter 15
15.
[I’m a big fan of Kang Joo-heon, you see.]
That was what she had told Yeon-seo, but in truth, Hye-eun did not care about soccer in the slightest. She had never watched any of Kang Joo-heon’s club matches, let alone a single national team game. When everyone made a massive fuss over the Korea-Japan matches, she had only found it laughable. She truly could not understand the bizarre patriotism of Koreans. What did it have to do with her whether Korea won or lost? Why get so worked up over it?
She had no interest in soccer, but she was very interested in a man who pulled in five hundred million won a week. And, of course, in a man who was gorgeous and sexy.
He was just as famous for his looks as his athletic prowess, but seeing him up close proved he truly lived up to the hype. It was no wonder every brand clamored and bent over backward just to sign him. In all her life, Kang Joo-heon was the very first man to make her heart race at first sight.
Coincidentally, her father, who was currently abroad on a business trip, had also stressed the matter over an international call.
—Headquarters explicitly ordered that we must not lose Kang Joo-heon under any circumstances. Grant him whatever he wants. There must not be the slightest mistake.
Kang Joo-heon was not just the face of Bellator Korea; he was the global brand ambassador. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that Asian sales rested entirely on his shoulders. Bellator surpassing its competitors to clinch the top sales spot across Asia was owed wholly to Kang Joo-heon.
—I’ll be returning to Korea soon, so try to get close to him until then.
Even without her father’s prompting, she had already intended to do just that. And she had every confidence she could pull it off.
Brimming with self-assurance, Hye-eun knocked on his office door.
“Director Kang Joo-heon. It’s your new secretary.”
“Come in.”
Startled by the blunt drop to casual speech, Hye-eun stepped inside. She flinched when Joo-heon glared at her with undisguised displeasure right off the bat.
“You really…!”
Wondering why he was glaring like that, she watched as the man belatedly registered who she was. He clamped his mouth shut, the look in his eyes shifting in an instant.
It was a look of sharp wariness.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Manager Sung Hye-eun from the Management Support Office, whom you met at the team dinner yesterday. Moving forward, I will be serving as your secretary, Director.”
Hye-eun offered a sweet smile and bowed her head slightly.
“This is my first time working as a secretary, but I will dedicate myself to assisting you wholeheartedly.”
It was her ultimate, meticulously practiced smile. Any ordinary man would have blushed instantly and struggled to meet her eyes, but Kang Joo-heon’s expression remained so starkly deadpan that it bordered on humiliating.
“What happened to Jeong Yeon-seo-ssi? Why are you here?”
Having never experienced such a reaction in her life, Hye-eun felt flustered as heat flared across her face.
“Oh, well… that is… the person in question declined, so out of necessity, I stepped in to take her place.”
Declined. At that word, the look in Joo-heon’s eyes turned instantly fierce.
“By whose authority?”
His gaze was so brutally cold that Hye-eun felt as though the breath were being crushed from her lungs.
“Pardon?”
“Go tell them. Send up the person who was originally supposed to come.”
He averted his eyes, clearly signaling that he had said his piece and she was dismissed.
Hye-eun gritted her teeth silently.
“…”
Educational background, career history, professional competence—there was not a single area where she fell behind Jeong Yeon-seo. As a natural result, despite being of a similar age, Hye-eun was already a manager, whereas Jeong Yeon-seo was still a rank-and-file employee. Even in terms of looks, she had the clear advantage. No matter how she thought about it, she could not fathom why it couldn’t be her and absolutely had to be Jeong Yeon-seo. What on earth did Jeong Yeon-seo have that she lacked?
Her pride refused to let her back down like this.
“I can do a good job as well, Director.”
Instead of leaving, Hye-eun looked straight into Joo-heon’s eyes.
“I will work hard, so please give me a chance too.”
She clenched her fists as if nervous, let a soft blush rise to her cheeks, and made her voice tremble ever so slightly on purpose. Because she knew that would make her appear far more charming.
Never before in her life had she swallowed her pride to plead with a man like this. Though her ego stung a little, she believed he was a man worth the effort.
Joo-heon stared intently into Hye-eun’s eyes. The next moment, a dry scoff slipped past his lips, his expression remaining devoid of any warmth.
“I suppose everyone’s caved whenever you pulled that act until now.”
Hye-eun froze. Did he just… sneer at me?
“Well, it doesn’t work on me, so take it somewhere else.”
“…”
“And make sure you deliver my message properly.”
*
Thanks to Hye-eun stepping up in her place, she had managed to dodge the disaster for now. As long as she did her best to avoid running into Kang Joo-heon in the office from now on…
Just as Yeon-seo was thinking that, heavy footsteps came thumping toward her. It was Hye-eun.
“Go up.”
Cutting out all context and blurting that out, Yeon-seo could only ask back in confusion.
“Excuse me?”
“I said go up! Are you deaf?”
After snapping venomously, Hye-eun stormed off. Yeon-seo was left entirely bewildered. Why was she acting like this all of a sudden, when she had been holding her hand and saying they should get along earlier?
While she stood there dumbfounded, the head of the Public Relations Office rushed over this time, his face strangely pale as he pressed Yeon-seo with urgency.
“Manager Jeong Yeon-seo, pack your things quickly and head up to Director Kang Joo-heon’s office.”
“Didn’t Manager Sung Hye-eun go in my place?”
“She did, but… anyway, just get up there quickly, please?”
Gone was his usual wicked-stepmother demeanor. Seeing the look on his face, practically begging her to save his life, Yeon-seo packed her things despite not having a clue what was going on.
“Must be nice, Manager Jeong Yeon-seo. Getting to see Kang Joo-heon up close every day!”
Eun-jin seemed thoroughly envious of Yeon-seo.
“Make sure you do well! And read the room to snag an autograph or something, got it?”
Yeon-seo could not bring herself to agree. Yesterday, he had gone so far as to call her trash. Asking an autograph from a man like that?
After moving her meager belongings—including her laptop—to the secretary’s desk located right outside his office door, Yeon-seo took a deep breath and knocked.
“Um, Director Kang Joo-heon. It’s Jeong Yeon-seo.”
He was clearly inside, yet no answer came. Hesitating for a moment, Yeon-seo squeezed her eyes shut, opened the door slightly, and stepped inside. The man who had been standing still, gazing out through the expansive glass wall, turned to face her.
“Just what makes you think you can always act so entitled?”
His tone was brimming with rage from the very start. It was glaringly obvious that he had been waiting to lay into her.
Assuming it was because of yesterday’s incident, Yeon-seo bowed deeply at the waist.
“I am truly sorry about yesterday. I don’t even know how to begin apologizing…”
“Looks like you haven’t lost your memory this time.”
“Yes. I realized that my drinking habits are terrible.”
Yeon-seo bowed her head even lower in apology.
“I am truly sorry. I will be careful never to make the same mistake again.”
What returned in response to her heartfelt apology was ruthless sarcasm.
“No need to apologize over something so trivial. You’ve done far worse before.”
Honestly, she was terrified, but hearing him speak like that made her feel like she had to know. Trembling with dread inside, Yeon-seo asked,
“Um, could you perhaps tell me what I did that day?”
He glared straight at her and retorted,
“If I tell you, will you even believe it?”
Yeon-seo flinched. Had she committed something so unbelievable? Still, rather than being treated like a nuisance without knowing why, it felt better to hear what she had done wrong.
“Please tell me first.”
Yet he did not open his mouth. He merely pressed his lips tightly together, staring at her with eyes filled with endless resentment.
“…”
It was the kind of look an innocent maiden might direct at the scoundrel who had stolen her virtue.
“If you tell me what happened, I will apologize with all my heart.”
“Who said I wanted an apology from you?”
“Then what do you want from me?”
She truly had no idea. If it wasn’t an apology, what could he possibly want?
Joo-heon stared at Yeon-seo’s face for a long time with complicated eyes before finally waving his hand dismissively.
“Let’s do this tomorrow.”
“Pardon?”
“Just drop it and let’s talk tomorrow.”
He looked utterly exhausted, as if he didn’t even have the energy to speak any further.
“Then I will take my leave. I’ll be waiting outside, so please call for me if you need anything.”
Giving a bow that was fairly secretary-like, she stepped back and excused herself, but strangely, the words she had just heard kept echoing in her ears.
[Let’s do this tomorrow.]
She was struck by an intense sense of deja vu. It felt as if she had heard those exact words in that exact voice before… No, she had definitely heard them.
Yeon-seo sat at her desk and clutched her head.
‘Where on earth did I hear that? When was it?’
As she desperately sifted through her memories, a dam broke in her mind, and Kang Joo-heon’s voice came vividly alive in her head.
[Let’s do this tomorrow, you and I.]
And like the next track playing naturally on a playlist, a woman’s voice immediately followed.
[Why did you bring me here if we’re not going to do anything?]
[You’re drunk right now. So sober up, and let’s do this tomorrow. Okay?]
[No! I want to do it right now!]
The moment she realized whose voice that was—recklessly whining and demanding—Yeon-seo clamped a hand over her mouth, barely swallowing the scream that threatened to burst out.
“…!”
It was Yeon-seo’s own voice.
