In the taut tension that seemed like it wouldn’t end unless he answered his question, Hyedam slowly opened his mouth.
“For an office worker, salary increases and better working conditions are essential.”
“That’s fortunate.”
When did they arrive in front of the company? At the same time as he answered, Leo moved, and the back door immediately opened.
Following Leo, who received everyone’s attention, wasn’t easy. At first, everyone seemed surprised by his build and appearance, and next came murmurs like “Ah! The owner’s son.”, “He starts work today.”, “This is no joke.”
Even after entering the Marketing Team, the employees’ gazes continued, and finally, only when Leo entered the team leader’s office did the gazes following him disappear.
No. Those gazes turned toward Hyedam. Hyedam, who had been assigned a seat closest to the team leader’s office in the space for other marketing employees, not the same space as Leo, couldn’t miss the lips of the employee right next to him twitching the moment he sat down.
As if he was a monkey in a zoo. Well, these people who had seen the truth of the rumors directly and knew all the way to the fact that he, who appeared together with him, was his personal secretary, had no choice but to unload their overflowing curiosity on him.
What Hyedam needed, having not let go of the edge of tension for even a moment while with Leo, was quiet rest. The desperation to drink a beverage full of caffeine before work started didn’t seem to reach the others.
“Hello. Lee Hyedam-ssi. We greeted each other briefly yesterday—I’m Han Yujin.”
Unable to ignore Yujin’s hand that she stuck out in front of him with a bright smile, Hyedam lightly grasped her fingertips.
“Yes, hello.”
Unlike Yujin, who exchanged greetings neatly and withdrew her hand, one of the group behind her seemed to want to finally cross the line, twitching, so Hyedam spoke first with a hardened expression.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
Even if they asked him something, there was no answer he could give. They probably already knew through his name that he was the owner’s son, and without even needing to search, just typing his name would make associated search terms pour out about his family and parents.
“You know everyone’s curious.”
Excessive curiosity isn’t good. Toward the person who finally brought the words out of their mouth, Hyedam showed a faint smile instead of a cold expression. This guy clearly still hadn’t learned what you naturally pick up while living in society.
“You know there’s an official meeting with the team leader at 10 o’clock today, right? You’ll exchange proper greetings then. You’ll also have to brief him on all the content related to the project currently in progress.”
“We seem similar in age, so don’t be so uptight and tell us something. You’re not just a secretary but a personal secretary, and you even came to work together, so you could hint at important things in advance. That way our work life is more comfortable too. That’s what social life is all about. Now that we’re working together, we should help and understand each other, shouldn’t we.”
Yes. But we shouldn’t. Why should I?
Unlike his honest inner thoughts, Hyedam only looked the other person over carefully. All work comes with confidential matters. And when that confidentiality is leaked, there’s a price to pay accordingly. Are such things only related to work?
Having worked as a secretary for several years, not some other position, no response was best for stories related to the boss he served. Because the start of rumors often begins with very trivial things.
“If you continue working together from now on, you’ll naturally come to know the parts you’re curious about. Have you finished preparing for the meeting? He’s meticulous about work.”
How would I know if he’s meticulous about work or not? For now, leaving behind words with the meaning to prepare for the upcoming meeting to scatter the attention focused on him, Hyedam immediately left the office.
“I want to do no work for high pay. Really.”
From the moment he opened his eyes until now, stuffiness washed over him from the continued tension. Pulling down the necktie choking his neck a bit, quickly passing through the corridor and standing in front of the elevator, Hyedam exhaled deeply. Should I have at least smoked for times like this? Watching the rapidly changing numbers while putting his hand in his pocket, Hyedam tightly gripped the small plastic box that touched his fingertips. Life as Leo’s personal secretary, which was just beginning, didn’t seem like it would be smooth.
* * *
7:40 AM.
Standing in front of a famous bakery, Hyedam deeply lowered his head. Though the harsh winter cold hadn’t started yet, he buried his face in the muffler wrapped around his neck in the chilly temperature hovering around 3 degrees.
Not yet accustomed to the life of waking up earlier than usual, unable to shake off the drowsy energy, he yawned languidly.
Lightly shaking his body to fight the cold and shake off the remaining sleepiness, the smell of freshly baked bread seeped into Hyedam’s nose. The long line gradually shortened and after a while, a bag with freshly baked bread and a coffee tray were in his hands.
“Can’t even make reservations, I need to find another method. If it gets any colder, I don’t think I’ll be able to do this either.”
From his house to the bakery took 30 minutes, but from the bakery to Leo’s house was a 3-minute walk.
As soon as Hyedam, who crossed the crosswalk with quick steps, stood in front of the glass door, he bowed his head to greet the security guard who opened the door as if he’d been waiting. The first time he came in, he had to go through security checks layer upon layer several times, but now, with just one eye scan, he could immediately get on the elevator.
At the same time Hyedam got off the elevator and stopped walking in front of the large door, the door opened.
Already repeating the same routine for a week, Hyedam changed his shoes and headed to the kitchen.
8:00 AM.
After checking the clock hanging in the kitchen, his social life began by deeply breathing in and exhaling.
He put down what he was holding on the island table and washed his hands first. Everything flowed naturally like water—selecting a bagel from among the still-warm bread, cutting it in half and putting it in the oven, then taking out the espresso and green tea latte from the coffee tray.
Hyedam, who was taking out butter and jam to place on the table, raised his head to confirm someone approaching nearby and lightly bowed his neck to greet them.
“There should be fig jam. Milk jam too.”
Hyedam, who had taken out whole cherry jam and orange marmalade jam, turned around without complaint to put those away and find and take out the jams he mentioned.
Appearing while wearing a bathrobe, he disappeared in an instant, and as Hyedam transferred the jam he’d taken out to a small dish, the oven’s alarm sounded.
Smelling the warm, fluffy baked bread scent that made his heart comfortable, Hyedam took out prepared oranges and apples from the refrigerator, put them in the blender, and opened the oven with a satisfied smile.
Dividing the bagels onto two plates, and in the meantime pouring the finely blended juice into a glass cup and placing it on the table, the simple breakfast preparation was finished.
Though the dining room wasn’t far away, simple breakfasts took place at the island table in the kitchen.
As Leo, who had changed clothes while Hyedam prepared, sat in the chair across from him, breakfast began.
The corner of Hyedam’s mouth, who had taken a sip of green tea latte, slightly rose. He’d clearly drunk green tea latte, but it felt like drinking coffee. From the moment he passed through this house’s front door and entered inside, Hyedam felt like he was swimming in coffee.
How could such a rich coffee scent fill the house? Thinking that too was an ability, Hyedam touched the bowl containing fig jam.
“Should I give you jam?”
“No.”
Why tell me to prepare jam when you don’t even eat it? When the conversation cut off, Hyedam drank a bit more green tea latte and turned on the tablet.
“I’ll tell you today’s schedule. Lunch appointment at 12 PM, Marketing Team CF-related meeting at 2 PM. Since there’s a conference at 6 PM, you’ll need to leave by 5 PM. I’ll organize and submit the report that came up from departments other than Marketing that you mentioned yesterday by this morning.”
“Lunch?”
“Since it’s a schedule I received from Robert-ssi, I don’t know the appointment location or the person you’re meeting.”
“Check and report back.”
“Yes.”
Having finished the day’s schedule briefing, Hyedam stared blankly at the toasted bagel. Does he really like bread? After he inadvertently prepared breakfast on the first day, that work naturally became his job.
He couldn’t ask Robert in detail either, who had handed him a personal card with the name Leo Lewis written on it, not the company corporate card, and told him exactly where and what bread to buy.
The espresso and bread like bagels that Leo liked were paid for with that card, the beverage he drank was paid for separately with his own card, and he prepared breakfast half-heartedly eating or not eating. He cut one bagel in half and divided it onto two plates, but the bagel in front of him always remained as it was, and Leo also didn’t eat even half the bagel.
“Good morning.”
Hyedam, who had been drinking latte in front of Leo checking the news on his tablet, stood up from his seat at the welcoming voice.
