Runaway Secretary - Chapter 47

CHAPTER 47

The passenger door opened and Yeonseo got in the car. Taeheon, who had gone around the bonnet and taken the wheel himself, wordlessly wound the wheel. Gaining momentum, the car rolled swiftly.

“Are you angry?”

“I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut.”

“Why are you getting angry with me? It’s not like I have any power. Besides, why didn’t you just tell me not to meet your mom when…?”

Screech.

The car came to a stop on the side of the road. Yeonseo opened her eyes wide and looked at Taeheon.

Taeheon, who had ruffled his hair roughly, had an angry face that was hard to look at. It seemed like just a moment ago he was calm…

It was a change in his expression that she hadn’t seen before, except in bed. It was rare, and it made Yeonseo’s heart beat harder.

“What did that woman say?”

“Huh?”

“What did she say to you?”

“She was just… worried about you.”

Seonye said she was worried about her, but she’s guessing that she was worried that something would happen to Taeheon.

“Why are you protecting her? Have you already formed a bond with that woman?”

“Really. I felt like she was worried about you, and it’s not strange for a mother to worry about her son…”

Yeonseo trailed off and looked at Taeheon. He looked more bewildered than angry.

Pulling down his tie slightly, Taeheon reached into the back seat. It took a few large movements of his strong chest beneath the pleated suit before he straightened up.

In Taeheon’s hand was a file. He handed it to Yeonseo, a thick-covered document in a format she hadn’t seen before.

“It’s from her. Do you think she’s worried about me?”

“What is this?”

Taeheon waited as if to say, “Take a look.” Yeonseo opened the file.

When it opened, the contents that had been hidden were revealed.

[Ji-hee Yoon. 26 years old. Granddaughter of the CEO of Seoguk Heavy Industries.]

There were several photos of a graceful beauty attached below. Below were detailed records of her personal information, background, and wealth level.

“It’s her candidates as my potential marriage partners.”

On the next page were profiles of other women. They were all people who were in a high position to make one’s mouth drop. After flipping through the files, Yeonseo closed the papers with cold fingertips.

She realized that the situation had turned into a situation where Taeheon was avoiding a conflict with his mother by not looking at the matchmaking candidates.

He grabbed the steering wheel again and started the car. Yeonseo held the edge of the document silently and cautiously opened her mouth.

“If your mother doesn’t change her mind, you have no choice but to see the matchmaking candidates, right?”

When he’d spoken to his father before, Taeheon had clearly said that he’d be willing to go through with it.

It’s not like they’re actually getting married, but if they can appease Seonye, then Taeheon have no choice. Yeonseo’s thoughts were organized.

“By meeting you along, she testing me. It’s a clear threat.”

“…Is that why you’re so angry?”

“I don’t like people messing with what’s mine.”

The word “mine” sounded strange. It sounded like she was dependent on him, but not in the way she wanted.

“In situations like this, it’s more efficient to go along with the flow and avoid clashes.”

Taeheon remained calm even in such moments. He didn’t change his decision to accept Seonye’s request to some extent, even though he had no positive feelings toward her.

That issue was the matchmaking.

“You sort it out. Figure out who’s a suitable match for me.”

“….”

“Select three, and set up the first matchmaking for this weekend. Having a meal and a drink would be a good idea.”

“Why do I have to do this…?”

“It’s a job for a secretary, you should be able to handle it.”

At that moment, Yeonseo’s phone rang. Her personal phone was inside the car parked in the department store parking lot, so what she retrieved was the work phone Taeheon had given her.

The unsaved number belonged to Hyeonho.

What’s wrong with Hyeoho?

She had contacted him using this number urgently before, so it seemed like Hyeonho was hoping to reach her by calling this number again. Taeheon noticed it, but she couldn’t refuse the call in case something had happened to him like last time.

“Hello, Hyeonho?”

It didn’t take long for Yeonseo to answer the call, but Taeheon was even quicker to snatch the phone and throw it to the back seat.

Yeonseo stared at her empty hand in disbelief.

“What did you do?”

“You’re not supposed to take another call while we’re talking, right?”

“It’s Hyeonho, and it could be something urgent.”

When Yeonseo tried to reach for her phone and turn her body to do so, he caught her hand.

“You’re driving dangerously…….”

Taeheon was driving with one hand, but contrary to Yeonseo’s concern, the car was moving steadily.

“Then sit properly.”

“I have to find the phone.”

“Then I’ll stop the car, and I’ll probably throw that stupid phone even farther away.”

Yeonseo glared at him with slightly reddened eyes.

“That’s mean.”

“I know.”

“No matter how important you are, you shouldn’t just hang up on my calls.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to make personal calls on that phone?”

“You can’t stand up to me and will be going to matchmaking dates and I can’t even make calls as I please?”

She could see Taeheon’s jaw tighten as he let out a low, sullen voice.

“Shouldn’t you be doing what I want?”

“….”

“Is that wrong?”

He asked coldly.

It was.

She had to do what he wanted

The debt Taeheon had paid off had made her owe him and burdened her with it. Thanks to it, even during the brief time they had to be lovers, she had to bend her back diligently to him, as his employer.

It was a bitter reality to accept, but she was a person who had been given help and had to repay it, even if it meant swallowing her pride.

But as much as she hated Taeheon, she found herself drawn to him from time to time.

Someone said that loving someone makes you weak.

She didn’t want to call this feeling as true love, but it wasn’t an emotion she could simply put away. Loving him moderately and keeping it at bay was something she couldn’t do.

Yeonseo ran a calming hand through her hair.

“In that case, I’ll narrow down the matchmaking candidates as you wish, Sir.”

Yeonseo wrinkled her nose and suppressed her emotions. Otherwise, she felt like she might burst into tears.

“Why would I do it for you?”

“Because it’s irritating.”

“You’re really frustrating.”

“Be polite.”

“I don’t think it’s something you should say.”

Just because it was unavoidable didn’t mean it was really okay.

All the women in the file as his potential matches were exceptional in appearance and had top-notch qualifications. It was a world apart from the resume Yeonseo had brought to Taeheon before. It was rubbish compared to theirs.

And while sorting through the candidates, she wasn’t confident that her heart wouldn’t get hurt. But she knew it was better to take the job than to fret. Taeheon must have known that too.

Not that he would be concerned anyway.

“Like I said, it’s just a courtesy gesture, and I’m sure it’ll make things easier for you as well as me.”

“Will your mother come looking for me again?”

“I wouldn’t let her.”

“Okay.”

Taeheon sighed at her reluctant response.

She couldn’t stop thinking that it wasn’t the rope that started from Taeheon that was pulling her up, but a shortcut to the bottom.

Yeonseo tightened her grip on the file.

“You should apologize for throwing the phone.”

“I don’t think that was my fault.”

“…Why?”

“You should know why.”

Taeheon never apologised. He remained silent until Yeonseo got out of the car in the officetel parking lot and retrieved her phone from the back seat.

Taeheon never returned with Yeonseo to the officetel that day. And she wasn’t even able to visit his residence today.

*

She had lost count of how many times she had visited the same store all day. Taeheon was unexpectedly picky, or at least as stubborn as she thought.

Because of one cufflink, Yeonseo was running around, busy as a bee, going back and forth.

Finally, she decided to visit Taeheon’s company, thinking of it as her last visit. She arrived at his office, located on the same floor as the executive office, and heard the sound of bustling conversations in the break room.

“Is he going to make her his personal secretary for real?”

“Well, what are we then?”

It was the voices of the secretarial staff she had seen after passing by them for several times.

“We’re obviously his secretaries. Didn’t you notice that he only calls Han Yeonseo when it’s something personal? It’s a bit disappointing when he treats us differently.”

Yeonseo stopped in her tracks, surprised by the clear mention of her name.

“It’s not like that. Can’t you tell? His just picking on her for nothing.”

“Is that what it is, taming her?”

“Yeah. Why try to change someone with a bad personality, and make them behave, right?”

“Why on earth? Didn’t you know about it in Yongin? Does he have any ill feelings or something?”

“What are you all gathering here for?”

Suddenly, the room was as quiet as a mouse at the sound of her entry. Yeonseo clutched the paper bag tightly in her hand and continued on her way.

No wonder they looked so strange as Yeonseo walked in and out of Taeheon’s office. She had half expected that the employees would be like this, but as she thought about it, what they said wasn’t entirely untrue. Taeheon did acted like he was tormenting her for no reason.

Taeheon bossed her around like, and Yeonseo, who was indebted to him, couldn’t say anything and did as she was told, almost as if she was receiving punishment from him.

Yeonseo knocked on the office door and waited for it to open. It was her fourth visit to Taeheon’s office today.

When she stepped inside, Taeheon was washing his hands. He had wet hands as he glanced at her. There was no emotion in his eyes as he looked at her. Whenever this happened, she felt like her heart was suddenly stifled.

During s*x, he was so passionate, but in everyday life, he was as cold as a desert. Every time she saw evidence that their relationship was only driven by lust, her heart sank.

“I’ve changed it: black in colour, rounded but with the tiniest of gemstones around the edges, cufflinks the size of a fingernail, not too tacky, luxurious but not too heavy.”

Yeonseo smiled at Taeheon’s complicated order.

“If you still don’t like it, I suggest you start your own design team or company.”