Chapter 11 (Part 1)

On the day Lee Seong-jun officially became the CEO of Lysian.

He addressed the staff with significant words, replacing a formal inauguration speech.

“From now on, Lysian will be cleaner than any other company.”

Everyone, including In-ah, listened attentively to his words.  

“Privileges or unfair practices will not be tolerated. There will be no warnings. You’ll be out of Lysian immediately.”  

Applause erupted from the staff. Hye-yoon, clapping until her palms turned red, whispered to In-ah.  

“I knew he was cool, but he’s really cool, our Director. No, our CEO.”  

In-ah smiled awkwardly at Hye-yoon’s pleased expression.  

“Right… though he seems a bit lax at times.”  

“Lax? What do you mean?”  

Hye-yoon looked at In-ah curiously.  

“Well, I just thought he might be.”  

In-ah couldn’t pinpoint why Seong-jun’s declaration felt intimidating.  

Outside the office, In-ah was sharing ice cream with the cleaning ladies. 

“Director Lee Seong-jun? He’s dignified.”  

“It’s good to have someone like that as the CEO.”  

Among the cleaning ladies, his reputation was excellent.  

But suddenly, one of them mentioned Jinwon.  

“If it’s someone like Team Leader Lee, it would be tough. Right?”  

“Right.”  

Hearing this, In-ah turned to the cleaning ladies and asked,  

“Team Leader Lee Jinwon? Why?”  

“He’s… difficult to approach, I guess.”  

Answered one lady vaguely, while another chimed in,  

“He doesn’t talk much. You can’t tell if he’s dissatisfied or happy because he doesn’t say anything.”

“Huh?”  

“He doesn’t need us. The office is too clean.”  

In-ah was puzzled by their response. It seemed both good and bad.  

“We always get treats from you, In-ah, what should we do?”  

“Oh, you’re not getting treats. You’re sharing with me. Hehe.”  

Her bright smile made the ladies laugh along.  

“But what happened with that incident? When you almost got blamed for something you didn’t do.”

In-ah shook her head.  

“We couldn’t catch the culprit.”

Her answer sparked a small debate among the ladies.  

“They said there was no intruder, right?”  

“There weren’t many working overtime that day, right?”

One lady asked another.  

In-ah perked up her ears.  

“There were two in marketing, I think. And one in design.”

“Wasn’t there one more?”  

With bright eyes, In-ah couldn’t hold back and asked,  

“Do you know who they were?”  

“Go Sang-wook and Choi Kang-cheol, right?”  

“Probably. Assistant Manager Jeong and Vice Department Head Cha. Oh my~ who would’ve thought!”  

The ladies frowned and gossiped.  

In-ah pondered seriously.  

Sang-wook and Team Leader Choi? Neither could be the culprit. So was there an outside intruder?  

***  

“Seeing Jinwon oppa at dinner, he seems nicer now.”

Haejeong, with a sly expression, subtly commented to In-ah.  

“Really?”  

Feigning nonchalance, she sipped her drink through a straw.  

Haejeong, recalling Jinwon, looked into the air and said,  

“He felt mature. Like he had the scent of a grown man.”  

In-ah almost spat out her drink laughing.  

“The scent of a grown man? What’s that?”  

“How can I describe it? It’s literally a scent!”  

She winked, finding Haejeong’s reaction amusing.  

“What’s with you, Kang Haejeong? Getting all emotional?”  

“How can you not be emotional? Jinwon oppa was your first love!”

Haejeong excitedly retorted. She smiled gently.  

“That was surprising a bit to me too.”  

“A bit? Just a bit? How can you call such a shocking event just a bit?”  

“When did you become so emotional?”  

Trying to calm down, Haejeong took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then, opening them, she fired more questions.  

“Did you tell oppa? That he was your first love?”

“No. Why mention it when he didn’t ask…”  

“What, are you playing hard to get?”  

She laughed awkwardly. Haejeong pressed on.  

“You’ve done everything together since college, are you shy? Or are you starting fresh?”

“I think we should.”  

Sighing softly, her words made Haejeong’s jaw drop.  

“What are you saying?”  

She told Haejeong about the charming Jinwon from that day and how she had stopped him.

Haejeong gave up trying to close her mouth.  

“What did you do? Why did you stop?”

She mumbled, watching Haejeong’s reaction.  

“My underwear wasn’t great that day. And I failed my diet…”  

Haejeong shook her head incredulously.  

“Jinwon oppa must be a saint. Or some transcendent being.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“Do you really not know? What have you been doing all these years?”

She quickly bit her lip and shut her mouth. Arguing with Haejeong only seemed to put her on the defensive.  

Looking like she was concluding, Haejeong stood up decisively.  

“Get up, now.”  

“Why?”  

“We’re buying underwear.”  

“Now?”  

Haejeong grabbed her arm, pulling her up.  

“Are you going to use underwear as an excuse next time? Hand over the macarons. You’re on a diet now.”  

She looked upset as the macaron she was about to eat was taken away.  

***  

Called to the CEO’s office, In-ah and Hye-yoon sat side by side, waiting for the CEO.  

Hye-yoon glanced nervously at the door and whispered to In-ah.  

“Why did he call us?”  

“Don’t worry. He probably has something to instruct us on.”  

Then, Seong-jun entered. His secretary followed with teacups.  

“You haven’t been waiting long, have you?”

The secretary set the teacups in front of them and left.  

Seong-jun gestured for them to drink, holding his cup.  

“Try it. It’s tea from South America, quite good.”  

Cautiously, they sipped the tea.  

“It’s nothing much, but the Chairwoman of Jinseong Group wants to change the kitchen furniture at her house…”

In-ah almost dropped the teacup she was holding. 

Why is he telling us this now?  

“She wants to entrust it to Lysian.”  

In-ah and Hye-yoon exchanged surprised glances.  

She was flustered, but she composed herself professionally to handle the situation.  

“To us? We already have the resort project in progress…”  

However, Seong-jun cut her off.  

“The Chairwoman specifically requested it, so please take charge and do your best.”  

He smiled at the speechless In-ah and Hye-yoon.  

If he was going to do whatever he wanted, why did he call us? He could’ve just given the order.  

In-ah swallowed the words that were about to burst out.  

“You may leave now. Oh, Seo In-ah, please stay for a moment.”  

Before Hye-yoon, who was already shifting her seat, could speak, In-ah did.  

“I’ll listen too. Please go ahead.”  

Seong-jun glanced at Hye-yoon, then nodded.  

“Alright. About the Corners Hotel error, I feel apologetic to Seo In-ah. We haven’t found the culprit yet.”

“That’s right. If we hadn’t raised an objection, I would’ve taken the blame.”  

Hye-yoon couldn’t hide her surprise at In-ah’s straightforward words.  

Seong-jun, seemingly unsurprised by her reaction, smiled.  

He handed her an envelope.  

“It’s a stay voucher for Jinseong Hotel in Jeju. It won’t completely make up for it, but I hope it helps you understand the company’s position a bit.”  

In-ah thought for a moment before accepting the envelope.  

“Thank you. I trust you’ll catch the culprit.”  

With Hye-yoon, she bowed to Seong-jun and left the CEO’s office.  

“Yes~!”  

In-ah’s cheer could be heard outside the office. Though she tried to keep her voice down, it was loud enough for Seong-jun to hear on the other side.  

A smile crept up the corners of his mouth.  

***  

Lunchtime.  

In-ah approached Assistant Manager Jeong, who was eating alone.  

“May I sit here?”  

She asked as she pulled out the chair across from him.  

“No, you can’t.”  

Without looking at her, she spoke firmly. But she sat down anyway, ignoring her response.  

“What are you doing? I said you can’t.”  

She looked at her with irritation. She picked up her chopsticks and smiled calmly.  

“I was just asking out of courtesy. This is the company, I’m an employee here. I can sit wherever I want, right? Please eat, Assistant Manager Jeong.”  

She turned her head away, avoiding In-ha’s gaze.  

In-ha picked up a salad from her tray and looked at her.  

“I’ve been wanting to ask, how do you manage your figure, Assistant Manager Jeong?”  

Assistant Manager Jeong ignored her completely, as if she hadn’t heard.  

Yet, In-ha continued, sounding amazed.  

“You have a daughter and a son, right? How do you maintain such a figure?”  

She slammed her spoon down.  

“Are you mocking me, Seo In-ah?”  

In-ha quickly raised both hands, shaking them.  

“Of course not.”  

Assistant Manager Jeong got up and left.  

“Why don’t you finish your meal…”  

In-ha tried to stop her, but she was already gone.  

In-ha watched her back with a complicated expression.  

***  

Just after work hours. Her phone chimed.  

[Aren’t you leaving?]  

It was a message from Jinwon.  

[Go ahead. I have work left.]  

He immediately questioned her reply.  

[What work do you have that I don’t know about?]  

[There’s something.]  

At that moment, she saw Kang Cheol entering Jinwon’s office.  

Kang Cheol’s voice could be heard persuading Jinwon to join him for a drink.  

As he was dragged out, Jinwon kept mumbling.  

“I, I have someone to meet today…”  

“Come on! Do you want to do this to a colleague? Do you know how desperate I am to ask you like this?”  

Jinwon glanced at her, eventually being dragged out by Kang Cheol.  

After confirming this, she closed her eyes and began counting on her fingers.  

After counting to ten, she jumped up, quickly grabbed her bag, and left.  

Just as she opened the office door to leave.  

“Are you leaving?”  

“Oh, you scared me!”  

She didn’t expect Jinwon to be sitting by the door! In-ha quickly asked him, trying to hide her surprise.  

“What are you doing here?”  

“Kang Cheol said he left something behind, so I’m waiting.”  

“Oh. Have a good time then.”  

She forced a smile and turned away.  

“Seo In-ah!”  

Startled, she put her finger to her lips.  

“Shh! What if someone hears?”  

“Why are you acting like this?”  

He looked at her suspiciously.  

“What do you mean?”  

She avoided his eyes.  

“Why are you avoiding me?”  

“When did I avoid you? I never did.”  

Just then, Kang Cheol came out, and she quickly ran off.  

Watching her, he couldn’t help but laugh. He had a feeling he knew why she was avoiding him.