Chapter 16
by Gideonundo smiled inwardly, Hyewan’s self-reproach written all over her face.
So cute.
“So, why did you do that?” he teased gently.
Hyewan had been protected from outside threats, only to be attacked by an enemy from within. When Yundo had been reported that she was in the Chairwoman’s office, he’d lost his mind.
She asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry.”
Hyewan’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? I should be apologizing. You got into trouble because of me.”
“To be precise, it’s my fault for interfering without permission.”
“You sure love being precise,” she grumbled softly.
Yundo chuckled. “Have you eaten? I haven’t had lunch yet. If you’re hungry, let’s eat together.”
“Sure.”
They headed to a nearby restaurant.
“Don’t force yourself to eat if you’re full,” he said. “I know you can’t eat much.”
Hyewan stared at him in surprise.
“How did you know?”
“How could I not? It’s written all over your face. You’re going to judge a trial with that expression?”
“I’ve never heard anything like that before. I’ve always been a poker face.”
“I’m not trying to mock you, but do you even know what ‘poker face’ means?”
When Hyewan glared at him, he burst out laughing.
“Why do you keep laughing?”
“I know, right? I’m not usually someone who laughs much, but I’m like this whenever I’m with you.”
If I say something mean to his smiling face, I’ll just be a bitch, won’t I?
Hyewan averted her gaze and changed the subject.
“The Chairwoman wants me to marry you, Cha Yundo.”
He shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not worry when this is such a big deal? I have a conscience, and I can’t help but feel responsible.”
“Then do you want to marry me?”
Hyewan stared at him, her lips pressed firmly together.
“Why are you looking at me so grimly? Are you off to war?”
“I feel like I’m heading to a battlefield. Like General Gyebaek, who had to slaughter his own family before going to war.”
Yundo raised an eyebrow. “That dramatic? Then don’t think about anything at all.”
“Cha Yundo.”
“Yeah?”
“My first impression of you was that you were incredibly prickly. The second was that you were scary. And the third was that you were scathing.”
“Was I?”
He stared into the air, searching his memory. I think so. He’d always been prickly and scathing, and people always asked if he was angry when his face was blank.
“But now, you’re being incredibly kind. Why is that?”
“Because I like you?”
“You’re good at saying cheesy things now.”
“Because I like you.”
Yundo repeated the same words over and over, like a broken record. Hyewan couldn’t find any words to answer his sincerity.
Min-suk’s voice was bright when she finally called after three days.
“Hyewan.”
Just as Hyewan had hoped, Min-suk knew nothing about the incident. It had all happened in a single night, and the malicious posts had been deleted so quickly that many of the market vendors didn’t even know about it.
“Mom, how was your trip?”
“It was great. I just got home. Where are you?”
“I’m at home, too.”
Hyewan felt a wave of relief hearing her mother’s cheerful voice.
“How was the trip?”
“What more can I say? It was wonderful. A man named Cha Yundo—was that his name?—took such good care of us. We had a truly comfortable stay thanks to him.”
“Cha Yundo took care of you?”
“Didn’t you know? He said you knew him.”
“Oh, yeah. I know him. But he…”
“He said you told him we were going on a trip. Is that not true?”
Hyewan quickly reassured her mother, who sounded puzzled.
“Yes, I did tell him.”
“I thought so.”
Min-suk’s voice returned to its usual, warm tone.
“He personally made arrangements with the hotel we stayed at,” Min-suk said. “They kept bringing us fruit and local specialties to eat, and they even called a car for us every time we needed to go somewhere. They said it was a special service arranged by Mr. Cha Yundo. We were truly pampered thanks to him.”
Hyewan hadn’t realized Yundo would go to such lengths.
“I haven’t seen the ocean since I was a child,” Min-suk continued. “It’s been nearly twenty years. It was wonderful.”
Hyewan felt a pang of heartache for her mother, who had spent her life working tirelessly to raise her child alone, never once taking a proper vacation.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ll send you on your next trip.”
“No, no. Once is enough. You should visit sometime. I’ll have side dishes ready for you to take home.”
“Alright. Get some rest.”
As she hung up, an unfamiliar emotion surged within her. Yundo was the first person to care for her and her mother so unconditionally.
Will you marry me?
Because I like you.
Hyewan’s heart kept leaning toward him.
The Kim Jin-myeong incident remained a hot-button issue at Sewon Group. Talk of Yundo’s dismissal continued to circulate not just among the board members, but also among the executives.
For Yundo, however, the real struggle wasn’t the threat of dismissal. It was trying to prevent Chairwoman Kang from pressuring Hyewan. He knew her composure was a shield, concealing her fear and wariness. That was why he hadn’t tried to explain that his marriage proposal wasn’t a joke, nor had he pushed her for an answer. They had only just met, and he didn’t want it to seem like he was demanding payment for getting rid of Kim Jin-myeong.
He just wanted to keep seeing Hyewan as if nothing had happened. To date her normally, like everyone else.
“Sunbae, aren’t you being too optimistic?”
Dong-yeong, his college junior and Chief of Staff, raised his voice.
“An extraordinary general meeting is about to be called. This time, it’s really serious.”
“Who called it?”
“Director Kwon did. We need to find a solution before it happens.”
Director Kwon was a key figure in the faction opposing Chairwoman Kang.
“Do you think there’s a solution to this?”
“Stop being so complacent!”
Dong-yeong beat his chest in frustration.
“In this situation, you need to enter a contract marriage with Ko Hyewan! They’re going to tear your private life apart!”
Yundo knew that all too well. It had been the exact same story when he broke off his engagement with Min Sena. The biggest blow had been watching Chairwoman Kang’s nephew, Kang Deok-ho, be appointed as CEO.
“Sunbae, seriously, ask Ko Hyewan. You’re going to get kicked out if you don’t!”
“I’m going to die of a headache before I get kicked out. Get out. Go do your job.”
“This is my job. If I get you into the late President Cha Nam-gyun’s seat, I’ll benefit too!”
“Get out.”
Yundo shoved Dong-yeong out the door, the man still nagging him to the very end. His ears were ringing from the constant lecturing.
Yundo stared out the window, his gaze now sharp and cold—a stark contrast to the look he’d given Dong-yeong.
Did President Kang Deok-ho egg on Director Kwon?
Yundo didn’t trust Kang Deok-ho, Chairwoman Kang’s maternal nephew and his own father’s maternal cousin. He’d disliked the man from the moment they first met.
In contrast, Chairwoman Kang cherished President Kang Deok-ho. She showed him such special affection that one might think she intended to adopt him as her son in place of her deceased one. Yet, President Kang Deok-ho was incompetent. If not for the executive assistants who trailed him like shadows, he would have been forced to step down long ago.
“A solution, huh…”
Yundo sighed. Just then, his phone buzzed with a notification.
It’s Hyewan. Do you have a moment?
He tapped the call button instantly. Even in the midst of this headache, Hyewan’s message was a welcome relief.
“I’m always free for you.”
—Uh… you could have just texted back.
Hyewan sounded a little flustered.
“I just wanted to hear your voice. I’ve been listening to nothing but bullshit all day.”
Hyewan fell silent.
“Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s my fault for being so bad at my job.”
She didn’t seem to buy his lie.
—What time do you get off? I’ll head to your office to meet you.
“No. I’ll be at your place by seven. Bye.”
Knowing she’d only refuse, he hung up before she could even respond. Yundo’s mood, which had been sunk to rock bottom, began to lift.
The sun was setting, and the surroundings were already dim. The alley, where no streetlights had yet flickered on, was even darker.
Yundo arrived five minutes early, but Hyewan was already there. She didn’t wait for him to get out and open the door for her; she simply climbed into the passenger seat.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No. I just got here myself.”
“Where should we go? We should probably eat dinner first, right?”
Hyewan fastened her seatbelt and smiled at him.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because you always ask to go eat whenever you see me. Are you trying to fatten me up before you devour me?”
“How did you know?”
Yundo smiled back, and Hyewan tried to shake off her tension.
How should I bring it up?
What will I say if he asks why I suddenly made this decision? If I tell him it’s because he’s been so good to me and my mom, will I sound like a gold-digger? What if he asks if I love him?
Ah, I don’t know. Imagining and guessing all this on my own is even harder.
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