The first thing he saw was a black suit jacket. The next thing he noticed was that the person was incredibly tall, and the last place his gaze landed was on short, neatly styled blond hair.
“…….”
I’ve never seen someone this big in my life…… A black suit, and on top of that, blond hair…… He stared blankly at the person moving away from him after finishing their order.
“Customer, is there anything else you’d like to add?”
At the voice that felt crisp and clear, Hyedam quickly turned his head and saw the counter employee who sighed softly at him, and he muttered vacantly.
“One iced Americano with a double shot.”
After finishing his order and payment, Hyedam’s gaze fell on the spacious hall. The cafe was filled with office workers wearing similar-colored suits. It wasn’t difficult to encounter a well-built foreigner in the heart of the city, in a place packed with corporations—not somewhere else.
Black suits, large builds, and blond hair were all common sights, yet Hyedam’s heart couldn’t find stability and was pounding like crazy.
“This is all because of that damn dream.”
It was something he should just ignore and move past, but last night’s dream made everything feel as vivid as if it had just happened. The smell of the bread he used to eat like a staple, the coffee aroma that filled the cafe that he loved—everything felt unfamiliar.
Looking around for a well-built blond-haired man, Hyedam heard his order number called and picked up his drinks and bread from the pickup desk.
Then he looked at the three drinks on the tray. The team leader’s, the team member’s, and next to them, the iced Americano with a double shot. Before useless thoughts could fill his head, Hyedam hurried to move.
He needed to quickly go back, distribute the drinks, receive any important information about what happened during his vacation, and work hard through today. He’d been desperately saving money all this while, and he’d made plans to move to a more comfortable place in time for this jeonse lease expiration.
The thoughts that kept turning toward one person seemed to completely disappear the moment he thought about money. As expected, when things are hard and difficult, you should think about money……
Hyedam’s steps came to a halt as he left the cafe. Black cars lined up in a row. As time had passed, the cars had also been replaced with the latest models. Hyedam deliberately turned his head away and his steps quickened, and only when he entered the office and saw Stella welcoming the drinks and bread instead of him did Hyedam realize that he hadn’t been breathing properly all this time.
“It’s a blessing that there’s a place nearby that sells delicious drinks and bread.”
“Team Leader-nim. Stop beating around the bush and say what you absolutely need to tell Hyedam-ssi.”
Hyedam, who had drunk cold water from the pantry refrigerator instead of the coffee he’d bought, looked at the team leader at Stella’s words.
“There’s no rush.”
“What do you mean there’s no rush? You need to give Hyedam-ssi time to pack, don’t you?”
The moment he heard the words “pack” in their casually exchanged conversation, the color drained completely from Hyedam’s face. Pack? Was he fired? He hadn’t done anything wrong, just took all of this year’s vacation days at once and rested for two weeks. And it wasn’t even the first time this year—he’d been doing it every year.
Strangely, around mid-November when Grandmother left, he couldn’t concentrate and felt confused. He’d take vacation days before and after Grandmother’s memorial day, visit the arboretum, and spend time alone quietly. This year was no different from usual, so why, what could have happened……
“Hyedam-ssi, congratulations.”
Following the conversation with neither beginning nor end, when congratulations followed, Hyedam’s expression changed strangely. At least it seemed he wasn’t fired.
“You know the Marketing Team is getting a new team leader, right?”
“Yes, I heard it’s the company owner’s son.”
Looking at the team leader who was suddenly bringing up the Marketing Team while he worked in the Director’s secretarial office, Hyedam recalled what he knew.
“Right. Then you probably also know that the owner’s son isn’t Korean.”
“I know the Lewis family isn’t a family rooted in Korea.”
“Then the owner’s son probably doesn’t know anything about Korea, right?”
“I have no way of knowing that.”
“So our secretarial team needs to send one person as the Marketing Team Leader’s personal secretary?”
“Why us?”
“Because we’re the most free?”
“Were we?”
“I don’t need to tell you the backstory, do I?”
At the end of the riddle-like conversation with the team leader, Hyedam pointed at himself with his fingertip. So one person from our team is being recruited to become the company owner’s son’s personal secretary. But why me?
Still pointing at himself with his fingertip, looking at the team leader and team member, the corners of Hyedam’s mouth drooped downward.
The team leader who had been with the Director for a long time? The team member who was about to go on maternity leave the day after tomorrow? And himself.
“If he’s the owner’s son, he’d be young, right?”
“He’s around your age, Hyedam-ssi. So check this out.”
Hyedam took the file the team leader handed him. And with a dazed feeling, he opened the file.
The first thing that came in was the name. Then he confirmed that he was three years younger than himself. After that, looking at the names of the incredible schools he attended, he even gained certainty that he knew nothing about Korea.
“Looking at his academic background, he’s like a cheat character. How can someone have credentials like this?”
“And on top of that, he’s incredibly. Really incredibly. Incredibly. Insanely handsome.”
Although there was no photo so he couldn’t confirm right away, seeing Stella say the word “incredibly” three times about his appearance, Hyedam made an awkward expression. It was because a person he knew who was incredibly. Really incredibly. Incredibly insanely handsome suddenly came to mind.
“But a personal secretary?”
“We can’t set up a whole secretarial team for the Marketing Team Leader. He’s the Marketing Team Leader in name, but he’s someone who’ll quickly rise up after a short while, and if you accept that position now, you won’t have to worry about your future, Hyedam-ssi. Within one or two years, a secretarial team will be formed for him.”
It wasn’t particularly a bad condition, and it wasn’t something he, working in an organizational society, could say anything about.
“Accounting will contact you personally. Your salary will go up too, you’re similar in age, and they’re looking for a beta who has experience working in the secretarial team, and among the company employees, you’re the only one who meets those conditions, Hyedam-ssi. If you refuse, they’ll find someone else, but is there any need to do that? Plus, you said you wanted to move, Hyedam-ssi.”
I want to move. I’m dying to move.
Hyedam, who had been hesitating because one person kept coming to mind, suddenly raised his head at the word “move” that came from her mouth.
And it’s not just anything, they’re even raising my salary. Hyedam’s mouth closed tightly as he recalled the 15-pyeong studio apartment with brilliant sunlight that he’d seen while resting. Above all, Leo Lewis. He couldn’t find any trace of him having lived in Korea in the academic background of his future boss.
Plus, there was no way someone born into a British noble family would have lived in Korea, and even if that were the case, what did it have to do with him?
“So when is he… this person coming?”
Though he was clearly younger than himself, since he was his superior and on top of that from an incredible family, Hyedam carefully selected his words and found the honorific “this person.”
“Today.”
At Stella’s words, not the team leader’s, Hyedam put one hand to his head. His life had been truly calm, like a still lake. There were no particularly exciting things or difficult things, and after becoming a regular employee, Hyedam’s life had found stability.
But it felt like a large stone had suddenly been thrown in. Regardless of his thoughts and decisions, everything was flowing as if it had already been decided.
“What if I refuse?”
“I told you. It’ll go to another team. Management wants you to do it, and for now it’s on hold since you were on vacation, but it’s better to see it as already decided.”
Unable to say anything and just standing there in a daze, when the internal phone rang, Hyedam immediately left the pantry and answered the phone.
“Is the person meeting with the Director-nim at 10 o’clock today the Marketing Team Leader-nim? He’s coming now?”
After ending the short call, Hyedam asked the team leader coming out of the pantry.
“Yeah. Hyedam-ssi, you can greet him now. You can report to the Marketing Team starting tomorrow. You can move your things today, right?”
Though he hadn’t exactly said he would do it, Hyedam looked at his desk with many various items placed on it. Moving this stuff should come first this afternoon, right? And I need to prepare for that meeting too.
Without time to hesitate, Hyedam’s body moved first.
Hearing the sound of people gathering from the far corridor, Hyedam raised his head, and the first thing that entered his eyes was a group in suits. Next, well-groomed yellow hair came into view, and brown hair appeared beside it.
“Hello.”
The team leader, who had already gone out to the secretarial desk, exchanged greetings with them, and Hyedam was still standing inside the secretarial office looking at them. What hit him before the tall height and build of the brown-haired man was a heavy, rich coffee scent.
Not the scent from the coffee left in the pantry, but a scent he already knew well. And one person who had such a scent. Hyedam, who was inside the desk where he wouldn’t be visible unless someone deliberately tried to look, stopped breathing the moment he met green eyes.
