The Woman Who Stole My Flower
Chapter 26
Chapter 26
26.
“Tell them I’ll attend.”
Skipping training over something like an in-house sports day? Yeon-seo was the one caught off guard.
“Then what about your training?”
“I’ll just train longer tomorrow.”
They returned to the office together. The moment they stepped inside, Yeon-seo whipped out her phone and thrust it in front of Joo-heon’s face.
“Um, Director. Could you take a look at this?”
“What’s this?”
Looking down at the phone, he furrowed his brow.
“Did you pick that up from a recycling bin?”
“Don’t look at the phone, look at the photo!”
What Yeon-seo was showing him was none other than a picture of Ryu Chae-young.
“Do you recognize her by any chance?”
Her heart pounded as she asked, but he turned his eyes away without giving it a second thought.
“I’ve seen enough, put it away.”
“No, just look at her face for a second. Just once, please?”
She practically begged until he finally looked at the screen, but Joo-heon merely spared it a begrudging 0.1-second glance before immediately looking away.
“Satisfied?”
That was not a reaction someone could possibly give if she resembled his first love even in the slightest.
‘So she’s not the one?’
Yeon-seo felt a wave of disappointment, but she quickly changed her train of thought.
Faces could change completely with time. Even Seo Hyun-woo hadn’t recognized Yeon-seo in the slightest. In fact, Yeon-seo had only recognized Hyun-woo after seeing his name and alma mater; by face alone, she probably wouldn’t have known he was the same boy she used to cheer for. He was an entirely different height now, too.
The photo she had just shown him was a magazine pictorial with full makeup. The face in his memories would be bare-faced. And since Ryu Chae-young was an actress, there was a strong chance she had undergone some kind of surgery or cosmetic procedures. Even with the most gorgeous actresses, weren’t there plenty of past photos that left people wondering who on earth they were looking at?
Just as she was resolving to track down an old photo of Ryu Chae-young for next time, he asked:
“So, who is that anyway?”
“The actress Ryu Chae-young-ssi. She’s the most popular actress these days—you don’t know her?”
Kang Joo-heon shrugged, as if to say, Why should I care?
“I heard Ryu Chae-young-ssi is a huge fan of yours. Have you never heard about that either?”
“As if there are only one or two women like that.”
It sounded a little obnoxious, but he wasn’t simply boasting. In truth, finding a woman who wasn’t a fan of Kang Joo-heon would have been the harder task.
“Still, Ryu Chae-young-ssi seems different. When asked, ‘If Kang Joo-heon proposed marriage right this second, yes or no?’ she shouted ‘Yes!’ without hesitating for a single second.”
When an actress that gorgeous showed such fervent devotion, most men would at least look secretly pleased. But all that came from Kang Joo-heon was a snort.
“Who says I’d want to?”
Yeon-seo marveled at him. To react like that even after seeing Ryu Chae-young’s photo—this man truly had no room in his eyes for anyone other than his first love.
What actually caught his interest wasn’t the photo of Ryu Chae-young on the screen, but Yeon-seo’s phone itself.
“By the way, why does your phone look like that?”
He pointed at her phone with a disapproving scowl. The screen wasn’t cracked or anything, but it had been around for so long that its age was glaringly obvious at a glance.
Concealing the warmth creeping up her cheeks from embarrassment, Yeon-seo answered nonchalantly.
“It’s just old.”
“Why don’t you get a new one?”
If she really wanted to, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t afford one, but Yeon-seo had far too many priorities ahead of upgrading her phone. The savings account she was putting aside for Dad, living expenses, rent for the shop… Putting it off day after day, nearly five years had slipped by since she bought it.
“This one still works fine. As long as calls go through and the Wi-Fi connects, that’s enough.”
Haa. Letting out an exhale, he suddenly asked after a moment:
“What color do you like?”
“Pardon? Ryu Chae-young-ssi’s favorite?”
With her head still filled with Ryu Chae-young, Yeon-seo blurted out without thinking.
“Well, I’m not really sure about that… Should I look it up?”
Kang Joo-heon wore an exasperated expression.
“You, I mean you!”
“Me?”
Baffled, Yeon-seo replied nonetheless.
“I… like pink.”
Wondering why he was suddenly asking such a thing, she watched him continue.
“I have to train all day tomorrow, so I won’t be coming to the office.”
Really? She almost rejoiced out loud before quickly schooling her expression. Inside, of course, she was cheering. A whole day of freedom tomorrow!
“Yes, understood.”
Just as Yeon-seo answered while struggling to suppress her delight, an unexpected directive landed.
“Instead, pack a lunch the day after tomorrow.”
“Pardon? What kind of lunch?”
“You said it’s sports day. I need to eat lunch too, don’t I?”
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. The company provides boxed lunches for everyone on sports day anyway.”
He cut her off flatly, however.
“I’m telling you to pack gimbap.”
Yeon-seo was at a complete loss.
“No, but they’re already providing lunches, so why go out of the way to…”
“Your family sells gimbap anyway, so it’s not like it’s hard.”
“How did you know that?”
Her eyes went round as she asked, only to quickly shut her mouth. Ah, he drove me home the night of the company dinner. She remembered blabbing about it with her own mouth.
[Yes, my house. Matna Snack Bar. The gimbap is super delicious.]
Did he want to try it because she ran her mouth for no reason? Well, just as he said, it wasn’t a difficult task.
“Understood.”
She bowed her head and was about to leave when he called her back.
“Tell that person to come up.”
“Who do you mean?”
“You know. The one from the dinner.”
He spoke only that much, as if loath to even let her name cross his lips.
“Do you mean Manager Sung Hye-eun?”
“Yeah.”
Yeon-seo almost asked why, but kept her lips sealed. If a superior called for someone, you called them; it would look ridiculous for a secretary to ask why.
*
Having received the summons, Hye-eun checked her reflection in the mirror before heading up to Kang Joo-heon’s office with a racing heart. Yeon-seo, who had been sitting outside the office door, stood up and bowed upon seeing Hye-eun.
“You’re here, Manager.”
Hye-eun gave Yeon-seo another displeased glare.
“Why are you here? Are all those boxes moved already?”
“I haven’t finished yet, but Director Kang Joo-heon said he had other instructions and told me to come up. I apologize.”
Since it was Kang Joo-heon’s orders, she couldn’t very well tell her to go back down. Instead, Hye-eun let out a mocking smirk, as if pitying her.
“You really are short-sighted. It’s not like Kang Joo-heon will stay at our company forever.”
“I’m not planning on staying at this company forever either.”
“What?”
Say that again. Hye-eun glared daggers, but Yeon-seo played completely dumb as if she hadn’t said a thing, gesturing inside with her eyes.
“He is waiting.”
Just you wait. Fuming inwardly, Hye-eun knocked and entered.
“Did you call for me, Director?”
Before she could even lift her bowed head, a fastball came flying straight at her.
“Are you interested in me by any chance?”
Hye-eun flinched. When she raised her head, she met his gaze staring straight at her.
“I’ve been… a fan for a long time.”
Though she spoke in a trembling voice as if confessing her feelings, what returned was a sharp rebuke.
“Then you should have come to me and said you liked me. Isn’t it pathetic that you couldn’t even say that and instead resorted to harassing someone around me?”
His icy voice made Hye-eun suspicious. Never once in her life had she been treated like this by a man. Could this guy be gay?
Regardless, she hadn’t expected him to summon her personally and scold her just because she’d assigned a bit of work.
‘Jung Yeon-seo. You ran and tattled on me that fast?’
Hye-eun secretly bit the inside of her cheek. Either way, all she could do right now was feign ignorance.
“I think there has been some misunderstanding. I haven’t harassed anyone.”
“Making my secretary carry all those boxes by herself, and you haven’t harassed anyone?”
“It was merely routine work instruction.”
Joo-heon gave a flick of his chin.
“Then you go carry them.”
“Me?”
“Right now I’m your superior. Is there any law saying I can’t give you a work instruction?”
Hye-eun was the CEO’s only daughter. Even the company executives didn’t dare treat her carelessly. And yet a mere commercial model dared to treat her like this?
Toward Hye-eun, who was trembling with humiliation, Joo-heon held up a single finger.
“That’s one warning.”
“……!”
“Accumulate enough warnings and you’re sent off.”
Hye-eun seethed. Who does he think he is, giving me warnings? Sending me off?
“What are you going to do about it?”
People called him Director this and that, but when all was said and done, wasn’t he just an advertising model? It was true that Bellator couldn’t afford to lose him, which gave him the upper hand, but that didn’t give him personnel authority. Personnel decisions rested entirely with the CEO, and the CEO was her father.
“Are you going to fire me or something?”
What can you even do? In response to her loaded question, Joo-heon replied without batting an eye.
“If you’re curious, why don’t you try me?”