LIGHTNOVELSTORY c2
“Please order before coming. If you don’t do it now, people will soon crowd in and you’ll have to wait a long time.”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Director Kang was the same age as Ihyeok and had been with him since the days when they were called the “Taesung Gang” instead of “Taesung Corporation”. If Hyeseong was known as Ihyeok’s right-hand man, he was like the left-hand man.
“Director Kang.”
“Hmm?”
“If you eat that much high-sugar whipped cream, you’ll get diabetes.”
“…Hyeseong. This is my only joy in life. Could you not stop me?”
Director Kang looked at the strawberry latte topped with a lot of whipped cream very preciously, in a way that didn’t suit his stature. It was always hard to get used to the sight of a man with a large scar on his face sipping a strawberry latte.
“By the way, Hyeseong…”
“If you have a favor to ask, please do it quickly.”
“Huh…? How did you know?”
Seongjin was startled and covered his mouth.
“We’ve known each other for several years, so it would be strange if I didn’t know. What is it?”
“I think I need some proper stress relief these days due to frequent work and overtime. I’m wondering if it would be good to enjoy some appropriate sports while experiencing a different environment.”
Seongjin stirred his strawberry latte with a serious look on his face.
“In other words, you mean it’s time to take a vacation, so you want to watch the Premier League soccer games in person in Europe, right?”
“…You’re like a ghost.”
Seongjin stared at Hyeseong, who had guessed his thoughts without batting an eye, with a look that said he had goosebumps.
“Why don’t you talk to the representative?”
“Hey, you think that jerk who’s full of himself will listen to me? Why do you think I’m asking you? He listens to what you say.”
Seongjin always said this whenever he came to Hyeseong with a request, but in fact, it was hard for Hyeseong to empathize. It wasn’t just Seongjin. Other employees and executives also asked Hyeseong about things they were hesitant to tell Ihyeok. The words they said along with the request were almost the same.
〈He listens to what Secretary Cheon says.〉
Even though Hyeseong was just speaking logically based on appropriate grounds.
“Alright. I’ll try talking to him.”
“Hyeseong, you look even more handsome today.”
“Well, you need to rest when you can. There won’t be anyone to make these requests to in the future.”
Even if Hyeseong quits and a successor comes, it will take time for them to fully settle into the position.
“Huh? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Didn’t you hear from the representative? I’m working until the end of this month.”
“Oh, really? This month… What?!”
Seongjin suddenly shouted and roughly put the glass down on the table. Out of habit, Hyeseong checked to see if the glass and table were damaged.
“Hey… Hey… What are you saying…? Huh?”
As the already rough-looking man approached Hyeseong with a loud voice as if he was going to devour him, people’s eyes naturally turned to them.
“Calm down.”
Hyeseong held out his hands like a zookeeper soothing an excited beast.
“Do I look like I can calm down?! No one said anything to me! You’re saying even that jerk Kwon Ihyeok didn’t say anything!”
Of course. That was a bit unexpected. Since he said he would process the resignation letter without any issue yesterday, Hyeseong thought he would inform Seongjin right away.
“Well, it’s a long explanation…”
Just then, his cell phone rang loudly. The caller was Han Seohee from the secretarial office.
“Yes. Secretary Han.”
– Team Leader Cheon, where are you now? I think you need to come quickly.
“I’m at the café on the 1st floor right now. I’ll be right there. But what’s going on?”
– A scandal broke out. Regarding the representative…
“…I’ll be right there.”
Hyeseong got up from his seat without changing his expression.
“Director Kang.”
“Huh…?”
Director Kang blankly stared at him getting up, still unable to grasp the situation.
“Even so, you should cut back on the whipped cream. See you later then.”
“Hey! Hyeseong!”
Hyeseong climbed the stairs as is. There was no time to wait for the elevator. Panting after running up a few floors, Hyeseong pushed open the door to the secretarial office.
“Team Leader Cheon…!”
Han Seohee’s eyebrows drooped as she looked at Hyeseong as if he were some kind of savior.
“Please explain.”
“Ah, yes. This is the article that just came out. The person involved in the scandal is the daughter of a city council member.”
Hyeseong took the tablet handed to him by Secretary Han and quickly scanned the article content. Along with the typical content of a common scandal, there was a photo of Ihyeok and a beautiful omega woman linking arms at a private party. The article concluded by saying that Taesung becoming the likely redevelopment construction company was all due to seducing the city council member’s daughter for gain.
“This is Daehyun’s doing.”
The company that had competed until the end of the construction contract. A scandal broke out at this precise time. The culprit was easy to deduce.
“I think so too. But since they got photographed… And of all photos, it had to be that one…”
“A photo of them linking arms affectionately.”
“…Is it true?”
“Well, let’s ask him directly.”
Secretary Han’s eyes widened as if to ask, ‘You’re going to ask him directly?’, but Hyeseong didn’t hesitate and knocked on the door to the representative’s office. A brief “Come in” was heard from inside.
“It wasn’t me.”
As soon as the door opened, Ihyeok answered while sitting crookedly with his chin resting on his hand.
“I didn’t say anything yet.”
“It’s because of the scandal, right? That’s not true.”
“Tell me clearly. The response will be different depending on whether it’s true or not.”
“Secretary Cheon.”
The way Kwon Ihyeok addressed Cheon Hyeseong varied quite a bit. Things like Hyeseong-ah, or Secretary Cheon, or Team Leader Cheon. Or even Cheon Hyeseong. The usual ‘Hyeseong-ie’ meant he was relaxed enough to make jokes, but when he called him Secretary Cheon, it meant he was somewhat serious.
“It seems it really isn’t true. Then what about this photo? Looking at it roughly, it seems to be from the after-party of actress Lee Hyeseo’s wedding last time, is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you remember the situation when the photo was taken?”
“I don’t remember well. I was annoyed at having to cater to others, so I was alone, and then that woman suddenly approached me giving off pheromones. I tried to avoid her, but with her precious status, I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
“It’s unlikely the city council member’s daughter would do this on purpose just at Daehyun’s request…”
“That woman was also stupidly used.”
Although the woman’s face mentioned in the article was blurred and her identity was only revealed as the daughter of a certain city council member, it was only a matter of time before it was revealed who she was.
“If she was stupidly used, she must be very angry too.”
“What should we do?”
Hyeseong thought for a moment. It definitely wasn’t good that a scandal broke out in this situation, but at least it was fortunate that the target of the scandal was the daughter of a high-ranking official. They could use it in reverse.
“Let’s contact the city council member. Tell them it seems their daughter was nicely used in a fight between companies.”
If they could find circumstantial evidence that Daehyun maliciously released this article and pass it along, the rest would be handled by their side.
“Representative, don’t worry, and just focus on today’s work.”
“As expected of Hyeseong.”
The way he addressed him had already returned to Hyeseong.
“But be more careful in the future. I don’t know who will succeed me, but it will take quite some time for them to settle into the position enough to handle scandals like this skillfully.”
It was similar to what he had said to Seongjin. But strangely, Ihyeok was quiet. He thought he would get a casual response like yesterday when he said he would process the resignation letter, but that wasn’t the case.
“Cheon Hyeseong.”
Ihyeok’s low voice. It was rare for Ihyeok to call him by his full name.
“Yes?”
“Were you serious about that?”
“About what?”
He had called him like that in urgent situations before, and also…
“About quitting, were you serious?”
…when he was angry, like now. Ihyeok’s neat brows were slightly furrowed. But rather, what was not understandable was on this side.
“I was serious.”
Hyeseong tilted his head and answered with an expressionless face.
Now he understood. Why Kwon Ihyeok didn’t tell Director Kang that he was quitting? And why that person was furrowing his brows like that with an expression as if he had been betrayed?
“Representative.”
“Yes.”
Hyeseong turned off the tablet he had been looking at and called Ihyeok with a somewhat serious face. He still had a look of dissatisfaction.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t believe what I said yesterday until now?”
“That’s right.”
A dry answer. But a voice filled with conviction, not even doubt.
“Why on earth?”
“Because I didn’t think you were serious.”
“I remember that I even submitted my resignation letter to you.”
“Ah, that? I threw it away without even opening it. It wasn’t genuine anyway.”
Somehow, the conversation seemed to be going around in circles. Hyeseong felt like he couldn’t grasp the conversation with Kwon Ihyeok for the first time in a very long time. There was only one premise that he was thinking of right now.
There’s no way Cheon Hyeseong would quit his job.