Chapter 14

Although she knew there was no ulterior motive in bringing her here, the fact that it was someone else’s home still made her conscious.

Without even glancing at Leeyeon, who was still standing idly, Dokyeom muttered softly.  

“My secretary will bring your clothes soon.”  

Turning his body slowly, Dokyeom fixed his gaze on Leeyeon, who remained standing in the entrance.  

“Or what? Should we talk while you stand there?”  

Though he was clearly asking for her opinion, no one would dare voice theirs under the icy glare of Dokyeom’s eyes.  

Leeyeon had no choice but to move her feet toward the spacious living room.  

“If you want to wash up, you can use the bathroom at the end over there.”

“No, I’m fine.”  

It was just bottled water that had been thrown on her, so it would dry with time.  

“Alright, then.”  

Dokyeom took the lead and headed toward the living room sofa.  

As Leeyeon approached, Dokyeom gestured with his chin toward the wide sofa, signaling her to sit.  

Crossing his long legs, Dokyeom asked Leeyeon,  

“The last time, I think I saw you covered in food.”  

He had an impressively sharp memory.  

“I’m very curious why you continue to endure by Cha Heeyoung’s side despite going through such things.”  

It was a piercing question.  

Cha Heeyoung was not only someone who insulted others’ dignity but also treated her personal secretary as if they were her property.  

Because of this, none of Cha Heeyoung’s personal secretaries lasted more than three days before resigning.  

Unlike her predecessors, Leeyeon had stubbornly endured for three months, so the question was understandable.  

Whether or not it was because she was staying by Cha Heeyoung’s side out of pure intentions, Leeyeon felt a sudden tension.  

However, she subtly lifted the corners of her mouth and put on a faint smile.  

“She pays a much higher salary than other places.”  

“Hah.”  

Perhaps it was an unexpected answer, as Dokyeom let out a short exhale.  

“So, it’s just for the money?”  

As if wanting to confirm again, Dokyeom fixed his deep gaze on Leeyeon.  

“Yes. My mother is very ill.”  

This wasn’t a lie.

In reality, though Cha Heeyoung had a violent temper, she was a boss who paid generously.  

With the salary she earned by enduring at her side, Leeyeon was paying for her mother Soon-ok’s hospital bills and repaying the debt inherited in her name.  

Unless it was an urgent matter, there was no overtime work, which gave her plenty of time to spend with Soon-ok. Objectively speaking, it wasn’t a bad job.  

Of course, there was also a personal reason that made her endure even more steadfastly.  

“So, I like my current job because it pays well.”  

At Leeyeon’s short and firm answer, Dokyeom’s lips curved upward slightly in a faint smile.  

“Even so, it’s not like they’d pay you so much that you’d endure all that.”  

It felt as though he was suggesting she had some other ulterior motive, which made Leeyeon extremely tense.  

To change the oppressive atmosphere even slightly, Leeyeon opened her mouth to speak.  

“Is this an interview, by any chance?”  

Pfft—

Instead of a reply, only a short laugh came in response.  

“At the very least, since you’ve become my girlfriend, I think I’m allowed to ask such questions, don’t you?”  

It was also a question stemming from their business partnership.  

“What did you do before becoming Cha Heeyoung’s personal secretary?”  

Though he said it wasn’t an interview, it was clear that this meeting was meant to dig into her background.  

She didn’t want to arouse unnecessary suspicion.  

And even if she avoided answering, Dokyeom was the type of person who could easily assign someone to investigate her thoroughly.  

If he did, he might even uncover her past entanglements with Cha Heeyoung and her father, which made her feel anxious.  

That was the one thing she wanted to prevent.  

“I worked at a small company for about five years.”  

“That must have been more comfortable. Why would you go out of your way to take on the role of Cha Heeyoung’s personal secretary?”  

Dokyeom’s sharp gaze landed on Leeyeon’s face.  

“It must be a tough position to hold.”  

Dokyeom carefully scanned Leeyeon’s petite frame.  

This fragile-looking woman, who seemed as though she might be swept away by the wind at any moment, was enduring by the side of the notoriously ill-tempered Cha Heeyoung—how on earth was she managing it?  

“What was the name of the small company?”  

“I worked for President Jin of Chashin Dairy.”  

Ah— A short sigh escaped as Dokyeom’s eyebrows flicked upward.  

If she had worked under the infamous President Jin of Chashin Dairy, the story changed a bit.  

To think she endured five years by the side of President Jin, who was notoriously difficult and known for having a terrible personality.  

Only then did everything begin to make sense and become understandable.  

Was she simply someone inherently stubborn and dogged?  

With a gaze less suspicious than before, Dokyeom continued with his next question.  

“But with that kind of career, wouldn’t it have been better to apply to the secretary’s office at Jiseok Group rather than becoming Cha Heeyoung’s personal secretary?”  

Of course, Leeyeon also knew well that it would have been better for her future.  

But she had to be Cha Heeyoung’s personal secretary.  

She had to.  

Because there was no way this man could know her reason.  

Leeyeon uttered words she didn’t mean instead of the truth.  

“Working confined in an office building turned out to be more boring than I thought.”  

Cha Heeyoung’s personal secretary mainly handled menial tasks—delivering lunch boxes, assisting with her shopping, and running personal errands.  

Fortunately, Dokyeom seemed to believe her claim that she stayed by Cha Heeyoung’s side because she didn’t want to work in an office.  

Just when Leeyeon was feeling relieved.  

Dokyeom’s sharp gaze briefly touched Leeyeon’s face, and he suddenly leaned his upper body forward.  

The distance between the two of them closed in an instant.  

“From the moment you decided to join hands with me, you shouldn’t hide anything.”  

Leeyeon laughed awkwardly, still tense.  

“Yes.”  

“Make sure to report everything, including incidents like today when Cha Heeyoung physically strikes you.”  

At that question, Leeyeon looked slightly puzzled.  

“But isn’t something like this unrelated to Cha Heeyoung embezzling money behind the scenes?”  

“Even if you say it’s fine and that you can endure it, I don’t know when you might decide to quit. I don’t want to take on that kind of risk, Han Leeyeon.”  

“Ah, I understand.”  

It seemed like Dokyeom was trying to prevent a situation where Leeyeon would endure and then suddenly quit.  

“Wasn’t it because of me that it ended at this level today?”  

“Yes, that’s correct.”  

If Dokyeom hadn’t entered the director’s office at just the right time, the lunchbox containing food might have been spilled entirely onto Leeyeon.  

“I don’t want to see Han Leeyeon go through something like that anymore.”  

It was clearly just him taking care of his business partner in detail, but perhaps because of the intensity of his gaze, her heart felt as if it was wavering unnecessarily.  

It was only because if she quit in a fit of anger after enduring such humiliation, he would have to start over by finding someone new and investigating Cha Heeyoung again.  

That’s what she decided to think.  

Dokyeom leaned deeply into the sofa, staring intently at Leeyeon’s face.  

Surprisingly, that blatant gaze didn’t feel burdensome.  

However, she couldn’t meet his eyes.  

She hadn’t adjusted at all to this sudden fake relationship, but Dokyeom seemed far too comfortable with it.  

Even if the physical contact in the director’s office today was just for show, he had been incredibly skilled.  

‘The rumors about him having a lot of women must be true.’  

That was one of the rumors whispered by others every time he visited Jicheol Gallery.  

That he was constantly swapping out women he invited to his bed, and that he was endlessly linked to famous models and celebrities in dating scandals.  

‘Now that I think about it, wouldn’t going public with dating me restrict that kind of private life?’  

As Leeyeon was lost in her own thoughts, Dokyeom asked her.  

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”  

“I was just wondering out of concern.”  

“Tell me.”  

“I was just wondering if you really needed to go as far as dating me, Director.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“What I mean is, this isn’t a real relationship between us.”  

Dokyeom fixed his gaze on Leeyeon as if he couldn’t understand her at all.  

“I just thought it might be better for you to enjoy yourself freely as you usually do……”  

“Are you talking about my relationships with women when you say ‘enjoy freely’?”  

“Yes, that’s right.”  

A short sigh escaped from Dokyeom’s lips.  

Then, as if finding it amusing, his lips curved into an arc.  

“It seems you have also heard the rumors about me, Han Leeyeon.”