CHAPTER 24 – Grilled Eel (Part 1)

Just before the alarm rang, Dojun opened his eyes.

Thin rays of morning sunlight were seeping through the cracks in the curtains. He turned off the belatedly ringing alarm and rested his arm on his forehead, gazing at the ceiling. The memories of last night flickered between his slowly rising and falling eyelids.

Seoyeon, half-conscious after their second round, drank water when offered and nodded when asked if she wanted to eat something. He went to the living room to get more water and brought back the tangerine-flavored snack, only to find her asleep, lying face-down. 

The last thing he remembered was lying down next to the sleeping Seoyeon past midnight, after working a little more in the study for about two hours. He didn’t even notice when she had left.

Dojun got up from the bed, running his hand through his hair. Squinting his eyes against the sunlight filtering in through the opened curtains, he took a quick shower and came out to the living room. On the island, a yellow sticky note caught his eye.

[I ate one because I was hungry. It was delicious. I hope you have a wonderful day today.]

The words at the end made him chuckle in disbelief. Writing a greeting that she must have repeated hundreds of times a day, just to stick it. The unevenly sloped handwriting was unexpected.

“She can’t even write well.”

Muttering, he peeled off the note and stuck it on the refrigerator. As Dojun brewed the coffee, he took out the tangerine-flavored snack that Secretary Kang’s wife and the ones Seoyeon said were delicious, and tore open the plastic.

Sitting on the sofa, he sipped the hot coffee while chewing on the snack. He grabbed his phone and opened the calendar app. Amidst the packed schedule noted by the secretary, he saw a gap of a half-day on Saturday morning.

If it wasn’t a shared schedule, he would have circled it in red and written ‘Yoon Seoyeon’.

* * *

There was a knock on the door from outside. Then, Secretary Kang’s voice came in.

“CEO, I’ve brought you a sandwich.”

“Come in.”

Dojun said without taking his eyes off the large monitor. Secretary Kang placed the sandwich on the sofa table across from Dojun’s desk. Glancing at Secretary Kang neatly arranging the coffee, sandwich, and napkin, Dojun spoke.

“I’ll eat it alone. Have your meal as well, Secretary Kang.”

“Yes, please enjoy your meal.”

When he had a lot of work to be done, Dojun would have a simple sandwich or lunch box instead of eating outside. Secretary Kang was used to this, so he readily responded.

“What time did you say the concert is?”

Dojun asked without looking up as Secretary Kang turned to leave. There was a concert by the Royal Danish Orchestra and pianist Baek Seung-jin, sponsored by the Hanseong Palace Hotel, on the weekend.

“Sunday 8 pm, at the Seoul Arts Center.”

Dojun gave a slight nod. Even after Secretary Kang left, Dojun didn’t take his eyes off the documents. 

As he leaned his aching neck back after closing the last file, he noticed the sandwich and coffee on the table.

Only then did Dojun get up from his seat and sit down deeply on the sofa, picking up the sandwich. After eating half of it, he took out his phone.

Friday, 2 pm.

According to his memory, Seoyeon would be going to his house to set up his outfits. He thought he should send her a message before she leaves.

[Let’s meet at home. No need to come twice, just do it after work.]

He added a practical reason about efficiency, but the truth was he wanted to have dinner together. 

What on earth did she have for dinner that she collapsed after two rounds?

He’ll take her out and make sure she eats properly. Thinking about that, he chuckled.

This woman with her perfunctory well-wishes seems to have him thoroughly captivated. He thought about feeding her well like an evil employer who feeds his workers well to get more work out of them. But since he was thinking of feeding her until she was full, maybe he wasn’t so evil after all.

As he finished the remaining half of the sandwich, his phone vibrated briefly.

[Okay.]

Her short reply, which didn’t even make him smile, was something he was used to by now. Even though he was used to it, it didn’t mean he was satisfied with it.

Tap, tap.

Dojun lightly tapped the hard part of the sofa’s armrest with his index finger where he had rested his arm. He tapped it twice more as he thought, then picked up the cold coffee. And then, he poured it all over his dress shirt.

* * *

At that time, Seoyeon was sitting in her office, busy writing invitations.  She was compiling a list of clients to be invited to the Women’s Resort Wear Fashion Show at the City Art Museum next week, tailoring the content for each guest on the list.

Knock, knock.

There was a knock, and Chae Sohee, the assistant manager, called out to Seoyeon.

“Manager.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a call from the CEO’s office.”

“The CEO’s office?”

“Yes, I thought you should take the call.”

“Okay.”

Seoyeon picked up the receiver on the desk phone and pressed the transfer button. The voice of Ko Jin-cheol, the assistant from the CEO’s office, whom she had spoken to a few times before, came through.

• Manager, I think we’ll need about four shirts for the CEO right now.

“Shirts?”

• Yes. He accidentally spilled coffee on them, and they’re pretty stained. He wants you to bring a few more to keep as spares in his office. He’ll see for himself.

Normally, the secretary’s office would come and get the items directly. It’s always been customary for the secretary to call her first to arrange it, and then the staff would come down and pick it up.

But she’s not a hotel employee, and she can’t summon the cooperation company’s staff to come and go. It’s the first time in years that Hwang Dojun would check the outfits.

That means…

“Yes, Sir. I’ll be right up.”

Interpreting it as a chance to see her briefly, Seoyeon replied politely to the receiver.

The office building was located just past the forest behind the main building. Carrying the four shirts, Seoyeon slowly walked the path that circled the main building. Following the path upwards, she could see the outdoor pool and the spacious courtyard.

Reaching the building with the “Hanseong Hotel” sign in English, Seoyeon looked at the old-fashioned structure. The office building used to be a two-story annex, with a quiet, forest-facing wing.

It was a quiet annex with a view of the forest, but the facilities were so dilapidated that few guests stayed there, she had heard that it had once been used as a residence for short-term rentals, but had been transformed into a business building when Dojun arrived.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, the first thing that appeared was the lounge area. There were comfortable chairs and sofas scattered around, and a large bookshelf filled with books, giving it the feel of a book cafe.

“Ah, Manager Yoon. This way.”

Just as Seoyeon arrived, Assistant Ko, who had just stepped out of the elevator, cheerfully called out to her. Seoyeon approached the elevator where he was standing.

“Please take the elevator. The CEO’s office is on the second floor.”