“I like you, Hyedam-ssi. You don’t seem like the type to work while reading the room and flattering others. You just made various proposals, but you don’t seem to be particularly swayed by material things, and you seem like you’d clearly say no when it’s no. Literally, what I need right now is a personal secretary. There are plenty of people who can just manage work schedules and things like that.”
But that’s not true? I really love money. I can’t spend it because I don’t have it. In reality, even if there was a salary increase or no change from current conditions, if it wasn’t for you, I would have happily done it without any problem no matter who I served as a superior.
And right now I have bad feelings toward you so I can’t see anything, and if I work with you, I don’t even know what I might do to you.
“Since helping with work-related matters was my job, that wouldn’t be a big problem, but I’ve never been a personal secretary before. There could be mistakes or problems.”
“Personal secretary or regular secretary, what’s the difference? If there’s a difference, maybe morning wake-up calls?”
He really spouts bullshit so earnestly. Hyedam stared at him for a while. The green eyes that met his gaze didn’t waver, and filled with composure, they received his gaze as it was. Without avoiding or pushing, they simply contained the gaze he sent.
Anyway, it’s clear he doesn’t remember meeting him and doesn’t seem like he will in the future. Even if he remembers, nothing will change. If he remembers, Hyedam can just pretend he lost his memory. Or he could just insist that never happened to him.
When he recalled what he’d continuously proposed earlier, there was no better workplace than this. Not the 15-pyeong studio he’d been looking at, but maybe he could even aim for a two-room apartment? As long as he doesn’t get fired within 5 years.
Rapidly tapping a calculator in his head, Hyedam pressed his lips tightly shut before slowly parting them.
“…Double the salary. Annual leave of 45 days or more. Vacation when I want it. Car provided. I’ll submit a report on the car I want within a few days. 9 to 6. For additional work, convert it to time and…”
If you want me to, I’ll work for you. If you give me a lot of money and improve my work-life balance, there’s no reason to refuse, right? Let’s just take what we need from each other.
Having reunited like this, there was no chance of getting entangled with him in other ways. Whether looking at education, background, or ability, the situation wasn’t one where he and himself could stand shoulder to shoulder.
When he checked the watch on his left wrist and flicked his fingertips, Hyedam stopped talking. Even to him, these were unreasonable conditions.
Right, we’re both wasting each other’s time, aren’t we? Can you just put me back where I was? If you just give up here, I need to go back to the office, have a serious conversation with our beautiful Seoyun-ssi, and express my will to continue working in the director’s secretarial team.
Earlier he’d been too emotional and impulsive, so he needed to clean up starting from bringing up resignation-related talk right away.
“Discuss those parts with Robert, and move your stuff to my office by the end of today. Work starts tomorrow. I’ll expect to meet Hyedam-ssi at my house at 7 AM tomorrow morning.”
As Leo, who cut off his words, headed toward the door, Hyedam walked a few steps ahead of him out of habit from serving superiors and placed his hand on the doorknob.
When a superior leaves, you should open the door for them…
The moment a large hand overlapped his hand gripping the doorknob, Hyedam bit down hard on his molars. The scent, body heat, and presence of another person felt from behind his back had penetrated the gap when he’d let his guard down.
Just as he was about to shrink back and remove his hand from the doorknob, Leo opened the closed door while still holding his hand.
“Robert, since Hyedam-ssi has agreed to work together, accommodate his requirements as much as possible when drafting the contract.”
“Yes, I’ve prepared the car, so you can go down right away.”
In an instant, everything that had been enveloping him disappeared and a chill lingered behind his back.
Like that moment when he suddenly appeared, shook him up, and disappeared in an instant, he shook him up and disappeared in exactly the same way. The difference from that time when he disappeared without any trace was that there was one well-built blonde man.
Negotiating with someone who told him to say whatever he wanted wasn’t such an easy thing. In his heart, he wanted to shout for no work and high wages, but he couldn’t do that either.
In front of the new experience of salary negotiation in a situation with not only Robert but also the company’s legal counsel, Hyedam, completely intimidated, straightened his posture.
“First, I want to know exactly what a personal secretary’s job specifies. As a member of the company’s secretarial team, the parts I handled were company reports and internal schedule management. Since other people were exclusively in charge of the superior’s personal matters, I’ll be inexperienced in many areas.”
“The young mas… What did the team leader say?”
“He didn’t particularly mention anything, but morning calls?”
At Robert’s question, Hyedam, recalling the conversation he’d just had with him, thought there was no answer even after saying it himself. Well, it wasn’t a proper conversation.
To be honest, that situation was like a battle of wills. With no winner or loser, and currently negotiating salary like this, it seemed like he had won.
“It doesn’t seem like it will be very different from what you’ve been doing. Although it’s the position of marketing team leader, there will be a lot of external work, and many occasions to attend gatherings and conferences. Depending on need, you may commute to the team leader’s home rather than the company, and there may be cases where you accompany him to gatherings and conferences.”
Only after confirming through Robert’s words that these were things that could be done within reasonable limits could Hyedam swallow the saliva that had pooled in his mouth.
After a short exchange, at the gesture of briefly raising his hand to ask for understanding, Hyedam turned his gaze to look only at the table.
“Double the current salary. Personal car provided, you can use vacation when convenient, but report at least a week in advance. We also need to prepare backup personnel so there are no gaps. For overtime pay outside work hours, we can do it at the level the current company pays, but are there any additional items?”
At Robert’s words, Hyedam could tell who had just sent him a message.
“The conditions are so unconventional that I don’t even know what more to add or subtract.”
“He’s someone who doesn’t easily trust people, but it seems the conversation went well.”
Was that really a conversation that went well? Hyedam gave an awkward smile, and the lawyer left first, saying he would create a contract based on the parts they’d just coordinated.
“Robert-ssi.”
“Yes.”
“Would it be rude to ask what kind of person the team leader is? I briefly looked at the team leader’s file in our team, but it only had basic information. Since you’re his secretary, you must know well, but knowing things like the superior’s preferences and personality helps a lot in assisting them rather than just external matters.”
“He’s a warm, kind, and good person.”
“During the time I serve him, are there parts I should reference or be careful about?”
When a formal answer came back to his careful question, Hyedam turned the question in a different way.
“Since he likes bread, when he doesn’t look to be in a good mood, prepare bread and espresso. He prefers light and clean tastes rather than oily bread with many additives. Bagels are fine too. He values promises, and above all, he likes honesty. Living as the offspring of an aristocratic family with wealth and influence isn’t very smooth.”
“He likes bread?”
“If you introduce him to a good bakery, he’ll really like it.”
“It seems you’ve investigated me and decided there are no problems.”
“Yes.”
“The team leader knows too?”
“Of course.”
Robert’s words contained many implied meanings. The life of an influential aristocratic family’s offspring. A genius who followed the best elite course exactly, has money, has ability, has a solid family background, and even appearance—nothing is lacking.
Even just looking at the lives of Hollywood celebs that appear in gossip columns, they were full of unimaginable things. The image of a world-famous corporate owner who likes jogging, jogging while surrounded by bodyguards, came to mind. Just recalling the number of vehicles that came to pick him up or the car he saw in front of the cafe this morning sent chills down his spine.
They must have liked his situation of being an orphan with nothing to have and nothing to lose. Similar age to him and a beta, so there would be no scandals or trouble, and he thought perhaps he was the person they needed most.
He thought they had many similarities during the short time together, but it was a life with nothing to share.
As the conversation continued calmly, when one thing suddenly came to mind, Hyedam slightly moistened his dry lips with the tip of his tongue and opened his mouth.
“Robert-ssi, you don’t have to answer this. Please think of it as trivial curiosity. Does the team leader by any chance like ugly things?”
“Hmm. That’s quite a unique question. I know his aesthetic standards are quite high. Do you have any other questions?”
With that conversation, Hyedam left the conference room.
He had to return to the office where he worked and spend the afternoon organizing his belongings and unpacking them at his new place.
