[Do it.]
“Pardon? I haven’t finished my report yet——”
[I said do it.]
Why does he keep making me say the same thing twice? And just like that, Kwon Gi-jeong’s voice came through no more.
“Executive Director Kwon……”
Having confirmed that the call had already ended, Lee Dae-hyeon slowly turned his head. As though he’d been waiting for exactly that, a faint smile settled at the corners of Seo-in’s lips.
“What did Gi-jeong say?”
The inside of the car was quiet. The distance between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat was, on top of that, remarkably close. At this proximity, Kwon Gi-jeong’s words would have already been perfectly audible. And yet Seo-in was asking Lee Dae-hyeon as though he needed a definitive confirmation.
Strange. A peculiar feeling washed over him. In that instant, looking at Seo-in’s smiling face, Lee Dae-hyeon had the inexplicable — and entirely baffling — impression that he was somehow catching a glimpse of Kwon Gi-jeong’s nature.
“He said to follow your instructions, as you… requested.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Seo-in clasped his hands together with a light clap.
Lee Dae-hyeon wasn’t sure it was truly wonderful — but he kept that thought to himself.
Even someone who knew full well just how bulldozing Kwon Gi-jeong’s nature was, Seo-in was speaking in ways that left Lee Dae-hyeon’s head spinning with confusion.
“I’ll take it that things will proceed accordingly, then.”
Seo-in wore the expression of someone who had accomplished exactly what they’d set out to do. At that, Secretary Lee faltered.
“But……”
“Have you already forgotten? Gi-jeong is the one who gave his approval.”
“……”
Lee Dae-hyeon’s eyes rolled in a slow circle. It was undeniable. Kwon Gi-jeong had, without question, just said to grant what Seo-in had asked. And yet Kwon Gi-jeong hadn’t asked what Seo-in was demanding, and hadn’t so much as listened properly to Lee Dae-hyeon’s report either.
“Surely someone of Gi-jeong’s standing wouldn’t go back on his word.”
“He would not, I believe.”
Lee Dae-hyeon answered, though hesitantly. Whatever else could be said about Kwon Gi-jeong, he always made good on what he said. The question was how that would play out in practice. Secretary Lee had watched the entire process of that from up close.
He was someone who could let a favor done for him slide by without a second thought, yet he never forgot any displeasure he felt or any grudge born from emotions turned sour. Repaying it several times over was nothing to him.
Secretary Lee could say with complete confidence that this was decidedly not heading in a good direction. But voicing that was something he couldn’t help but hesitate to do.
Park Seo-in was the person Kwon Gi-jeong had chosen to marry. He had been accepted as Gi-jeong’s partner. Whatever the nature of things between the two people entering into this marriage.
“Thanks to you, Secretary Lee, this was resolved with remarkable ease.”
“Ha……”
Secretary Lee’s lips parted, but what escaped was not words — only a faint, scattered exhale. Into that gap, Seo-in’s voice flowed in seamlessly.
“If you’re heading back to the office, shall I give you a lift?”
Seo-in placed his hands on the steering wheel. Secretary Lee waved the offer away hastily.
“No, no. I have my car parked just ahead. If you’ve said all you needed to say, I’ll take my leave.”
Secretary Lee opened the passenger door and stepped out of the car. Into the gap of air left behind, Seo-in’s voice carried out with effortless grace.
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you. Please continue to look after me well. Drive safely.”
Secretary Lee closed the door and stepped back from the car, and the vehicle Seo-in was in pulled away with quiet ease.
Secretary Lee’s eyes followed it. He himself had come with a driver in tow. But there was no attendant to be seen in Seo-in’s car. Hadn’t he mentioned earlier that he had driven himself here?
And when Seo-in had left after meeting with Kwon Gi-jeong that day too, he had been alone at the wheel as he drove away.
As Secretary Lee made his way toward where his car was parked, he found himself thinking back on Seo-in, who had appeared before him with such composure.
A complexion so pale it was almost translucent, and a delicate, yielding appearance that stirred in onlookers a certain poignancy — something that pressed gently against the inside of the chest. But the moment you exchanged even a few words with him, that feeling vanished without a trace. No — if anything, that face of his only made it harder to keep one’s wits about oneself.
“……Do it.”
Why does he keep making me say the same thing twice? Having said exactly that, Kwon Gi-jeong ended the call unilaterally. He turned his head with complete indifference, and from the head seat of the sofa across from him, Chairman Kwon Bu-geon — who had been watching him — felt the tendons along his jaw tighten visibly.
Kwon Gi-jeong had come up to the chairman’s office on the upper floor just a short while ago. Not because he had any desire to. When you already know word for word what someone is going to say, no one goes out of their way to sit down and listen to the same lecture they’ve heard a hundred times.
“Am I not talking to you right now?”
The wrinkles at the corners of Chairman Kwon Bu-geon’s eyes ran deep. He had built his rise on construction, then expanded into hotel resort businesses, and now had acquired pharmaceutical companies to form Yeonbaek Group, along with its own research institute. Through all those countless years, nothing could be said to have gone smoothly. They were years weathered through relentless storms.
And yet even with age, his force had not diminished in the slightest. If anything, the weight of those years had compounded, and he was now the sort of man who barely showed any emotional reaction to the ordinary upheavals of life.
Even so — faced with Kwon Gi-jeong, that same Chairman Kwon found his patience steadily wearing thin, to the point where he could barely contain the sharpness threatening to burst out of him. Kwon Gi-jeong, the son he had struggled to conceive at a late age, was a man even Chairman Kwon found difficult to handle.
“It was Secretary Lee.”
Kwon Gi-jeong shook the phone he was holding and murmured in a low tone, as though it was too much effort to say more.
“Secretary Lee is running himself ragged doing exactly what you want, Father, so just wait a little.”
“Gi-jeong!”
The veins on the back of Chairman Kwon’s hand, resting on the sofa armrest, stood out in sharp relief. Kwon Gi-jeong spoke right over it.
“I have something to say first. I’m sparing you from having to repeat the same nagging you always do, so there’s no need to keep at it. Besides, Secretary Lee is with the person I’m going to marry right now.”
“What?”
Chairman Kwon’s gaze slid to Secretary General Kim at his side. He hadn’t been informed of this beforehand — his eyes sharpened in reproach.
“Is that true?”
Wanting to confirm it for himself, Chairman Kwon’s gaze shifted again. Kwon Gi-jeong met the Chairman’s fury-laden eyes with perfect composure.
“I’ll comply with what you’ve been asking, Father. From now on.”
A peculiar silence settled over the room. Having been deceived more times than he could count, Chairman Kwon found himself unable to readily believe Kwon Gi-jeong’s words.
And with good reason. Chairman Kwon had already been pressing Kwon Gi-jeong to marry more times than anyone could keep track of. It was no small thing — it was a matter of the utmost importance.
Because it was the wish of Chairman Kwon’s wife, Go Eun-ju. Go Eun-ju was afflicted with a rare illness. There was no medicine that could help her, and the days she had left were not many.
Her one wish before she died was this: that Kwon Gi-jeong would have a good partner by his side. And so Chairman Kwon had been hounding Kwon Gi-jeong with a desperation that ran to the marrow — only to receive nothing but hollow assurances and not a shred of actual progress. Now, at last, with Go Eun-ju’s remaining time truly growing limited, and Chairman Kwon’s pressure bearing down harder with each passing day, it seemed Kwon Gi-jeong was finally raising the white flag.
The veins on the back of Chairman Kwon’s hand eased slightly, and he narrowed his wrinkled eyes as he pressed for confirmation.
“This time, you mean it?”
“Of course. Secretary Lee is there right now, I’m telling you. If you don’t trust me, check with Secretary Lee yourself.”
Chairman Kwon, listening to Kwon Gi-jeong, looked over at Secretary General Kim beside him. The man had served by Chairman Kwon’s side for many long years — that brief glance alone was enough for him to understand what was being asked. He looked ready to go and verify things with Secretary Lee on the spot.
“I already told you. Secretary Lee isn’t here right now — he’s with the person I’m going to marry.”
