“Did Jo Si-Nae tell you that? That the Director and I broke up? And you’re just going to believe someone who was kicked off the team for causing a scene?”
Under Deputy Manager Go Eun-Ju’s verbal assault, Eun-Bi’s face turned bright red, and she stormed out of the meeting room. It was obvious she was heading straight to confront Deputy Manager Jo Si-Nae.
Although Eun-Ju’s total victory was clear, her expression remained nearly unchanged as she stepped out of the room.
“Daring to cross me?”
At Eun-Ju’s quiet mutter, Jinseo stayed silent, keeping her eyes averted.
“Do people only have heads on their shoulders so they don’t feel lonely?”
*Ugh.* That was both truly novel and terrifying.
Jinseo cautiously held onto her own head, imagining what it would be like to have a spare head resting on her shoulder.
Thinking she shouldn’t show her reaction, she tried to release a breath—neither a laugh nor a sign of embarrassment—but instead ended up inhaling sharply. At that moment, she locked eyes with Deputy Manager Go Eun-Ju. Eun-Ju stared at her, as if demanding an answer.
“Why?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“…….”
“Deputy Manager Go, you don’t curse, do you? You said people who curse are all vulgar.”
“Isn’t it necessary to show a human side, just very occasionally?” Eun-Ju retorted without batting an eye. “Why don’t you try cursing once, Deputy Manager Lee? You were smiling while effectively destroying someone earlier. It was a very bright, cheery kind of ‘f*ck you.’”
*Pfft.*
“Deputy Manager Lee, don’t laugh. If you don’t curse in times like this, you’ll just end up with internal bruising.”
Far from internal bruising, thanks to Deputy Manager Go Eun-Ju, Jinseo felt even more cheerful.
Soon, the news of the two having broken up would spread. Given the past, Eun-Bi would surely receive even more harsh judgment.
***
Eun-Bi went straight to find Deputy Manager Jo Si-Nae. She had been fuming when she left the meeting room, but as she climbed the stairs, she reconsidered. She thought about the wisest way to act right now.
With eyes brimming with melancholy, Eun-Bi opened the door to the library archives. She saw Deputy Manager Jo Si-Nae sitting at the librarian’s desk, mindlessly fiddling with her phone.
“Deputy Manager Jo Si-Nae.”
“Oh, yes. Manager. What’s going on?” Si-Nae looked at Eun-Bi with guarded eyes.
Last Friday, Si-Nae had been called in by Ji-Heon. That was when she found out that all the marriage talk Eun-Bi had been feeding her was a lie.
Ji-Heon hadn’t explicitly exposed her in a clear-cut way, but Si-Nae had figured it out. Or rather, she got the impression that Ji-Heon was speaking indirectly, hoping she would catch on to Eun-Bi’s lies.
Ever since she left Ji-Heon’s office, Si-Nae’s mouth had been itching. She was dying to tell someone what she had discovered, but no one would deal with her.
The only person who came to visit the isolated Si-Nae was Deputy Manager Go Eun-Ju. Si-Nae had clung to Eun-Ju when she came by for a handover, talking about everything—adding her own juicy details to the story she’d heard.
She knew that someday, Eun-Bi would come running to her. But Si-Nae wasn’t intimidated. If Eun-Bi wasn’t going to be Jeong Ji-Heon’s future bride, then Eun-Bi was a useless existence to her as well.
That was why she had treated her with such indifference, like looking at a speck of dust, but Eun-Bi looked at her with glistening eyes and asked how she was doing.
“Have you been well? I miss you so much, really. You were my best friend, Jo. It feels like I’ve lost an arm.”
Si-Nae’s gaze wavered.
Eun-Bi, quickly sensing this, asked cautiously.
“……Did you hear anything from Ji-Heon oppa?”
“…….”
“That’s not true. It’s just that there’s a complicated issue going on right now.” Eun-Bi looked at Si-Nae with a serious expression. She knew exactly how to sway Si-Nae’s heart. “The root of all this is someone else. We talked about it in the restroom once, remember? Don’t you recall?”
“…….”
“It means our intuition, yours and mine, was right all along. Do you understand how I feel?”
“……Are you saying Deputy Manager Lee Jinseo stole Director Jeong from you?”
As expected, Si-Nae reacted immediately.
“……I’ll tell you everything one day. Regardless, what you know isn’t the truth. I’m truly aggrieved and appalled too, but I’m going to overcome this.”
“…….”
“The reason you’re stuck here right now, Deputy Manager Jo, is all because of Lee Jinseo. Let’s all get through this. Let’s work hard and get everything back to normal.”
*I am a victim just like you,* was the message.
Their shared circumstances were the perfect foundation for forming a sense of solidarity.
Eun-Bi was someone who must never be allowed to collapse.
***
10:00 AM, five minutes before.
After finishing the meeting preparations, Jinseo went to fetch Ji-Heon.
Ji-Heon was already out in the hallway. When he spotted Jinseo, the corners of his lips curled up slightly. Jinseo didn’t show anything and walked up to his side, asking,
“Are you heading to the meeting, Director?”
“That’s the plan.”
While they walked side by side, her mouth kept itching. Jinseo asked, her eyes full of suspicion.
“Did you tell Deputy Manager Jo Si-Nae? That Eun-Bi was lying?”
He didn’t answer. But Jinseo read the affirmation in his silence.
*Wow…*
Truly amazing, just amazing.
Perhaps the difference was that he plotted for the sake of the truth while Eun-Bi did it for lies, but for some reason, their tendency to exploit people so well felt very similar.
The version of her from seven years ago truly hadn’t known this man’s true colors.
For some reason, she felt piqued. She matched his pace and retorted,
“But are you sure you can afford to be that relaxed? I think you’re at fault too, Director.”
“What fault is that?”
“Isn’t the fake relationship part of it a fault to begin with?”
“Is that jealousy?”
“It is not! I’m giving you advice as a friend!”
*Ugh,* it’s impossible to talk to him. Jinseo left Ji-Heon behind and walked into the meeting room first.
***
Soon, the first planning and production meeting began. The planning proposal was presented by the Planning Team leader, and the production plan by Team Leader Miran Seong.
The response was good. Even the Planning Team members were satisfied with the production plan. Ji-Heon didn’t have any major criticisms either, only adding points that needed supplementary work.
“The advantage of an in-house agency is the ability to receive cooperation from other subsidiaries. I would like to see a few ideas that utilize subsidiary benefits included. We don’t have much time, so if you have it ready by tomorrow, I’ll review it and submit a request for cooperation.”
*I didn’t think he cared about working, but he’s actually pretty good at it.*
Jinseo chuckled in the corner. At that moment, she made eye contact with Ji-Heon from across the room.
“By the way, who is scheduled to lead the production presentation?”
“I was planning to do it myself for now, but since the target is 20-30 year olds, I’m still debating,” Team Leader Miran Seong replied.
“How about Manager Eun-Bi Chae? She has a good expression,” the Planning Team leader suggested. Eun-Bi offered a pleasant smile.
Ji-Heon didn’t even glance at Eun-Bi, instead asking Miran,
“Deputy Manager Lee Jinseo worked hard on the PT preparation, didn’t she?”
“Yes. Deputy Manager Lee Jinseo always works hard.”
As Miran praised Jinseo, Ji-Heon also cast a sideways glance at her and smiled faintly.
“She has good quick-wittedness, too.”
For some reason, Jinseo didn’t find his praise easy to swallow. It felt sarcastic. Because the quick-wittedness she had shown in front of Jeong Ji-Heon was nothing but mocking him.
Yet, because he was praising her in front of everyone, her heart fluttered a little.
“Let’s go with Deputy Manager Lee Jinseo.”
A moment later, Ji-Heon made his decision. Jinseo was a bit surprised but nodded calmly.
Everyone was satisfied with Ji-Heon’s decision, but Eun-Bi, who had been shocked, bit her lower lip hard.
***
After the meeting, all the participants for the competitive PT went out to lunch together. Jinseo stayed behind to talk more with the Planning Team AE and Team Leader Miran Seong.
Since Jinseo had never met the representatives from Sori Telecom, she wasn’t familiar with the atmosphere. She had to familiarize herself with the tendencies of their executives and what to watch out for at the PT location.
She listened to so many stories while eating the abalone stone-pot rice that Director Jeong Ji-Heon had paid for that she couldn’t tell if the food was going into her ears or her nose.
“You’re not eating much today, Deputy Manager Lee. Are you nervous?”
“Haha. No. I’m just listening intently to what you’re saying, Team Leader.”
“Pfft. That’s why I’m at ease with you, Deputy Manager. No matter where I take you, you never seem intimidated.”
Team Leader Miran Seong praised her once more. However, Miran was a busy person and had to leave.
“Then I’ll be on my way, so take your time and enjoy the meal.”
Miran stood up first, and the other team members left the restaurant one by one. Gihun waited for Jeong-o until the very end, but eventually, he too had to rush back to the office after being summoned by a client.
As Jeong-o stood up last and stepped out of the restaurant door, someone clung tightly to her side.
It was Eun-Bi Chae.
“Do you know why Ji-Heon oppa is showing interest in you?”
“…….”
“It’s because it’s you. Jeong-o Lee. It’s because it’s you.”
It felt as though the satisfying lunch she’d just eaten was getting stuck in her throat. However, Jeong-o quickly resigned herself.
*Right. It’s Eun-Bi Chae. If you, backed into a corner as you are, want to vent your frustrations on someone, I’ll gladly be your outlet.*
*What kind of heart must you have had, waiting for me in front of the restaurant just to say that one thing to me?*
Jeong-o stood in place and listened.
“Oppa was born a chaebol, so he has this innate sense of pity. He can’t just walk past pathetic little kids, and if he hears someone is starving, he hands out money without hesitation.”
“…….”
“If I were you—a product of a single-parent household with nothing to your name, someone who draws pity—I’m sure he’d be willing to take an interest in that shell of yours.”
Seeing Jeong-o standing there without a word, merely watching her, Eun-Bi grew excited and pushed even harder.
“Did you try to look even more pitiful on purpose? Is that your only competitive edge?”
“…….”
“But still. No matter how uneducated you are, there’s a line you don’t cross. How could you set your sights on a friend’s man?”
“A friend’s man?”
Jeong-o raised her eyebrows and asked briefly.
Eun-Bi corrected herself.
“Ah. ‘Friend’ is a bit of a stretch between us, isn’t it? Anyway, it’s a bad habit to touch things that belong to others, Jeong-o.”
Jeong-o lifted one corner of her mouth and smiled quietly.
“Right. Thanks for the advice. Now that I hear you say it, I suppose you’re right. It must be because I’m Jeong-o Lee. But what can you do?”
Now, it was time for a counterattack. Jeong-o wasn’t the type to just take it.
*This situation, with no one else around, isn’t just to your advantage. I can speak my mind as much as I want, too, Eun-Bi Chae.*
“You must be dying of jealousy that you don’t even get that kind of attention. Because you will never be Jeong-o Lee, after all.”
Eun-Bi’s eyes widened at Jeong-o’s strike.
“And, ‘someone else’s man’? ‘Someone else’s things’?”
“…….”
“How is he ‘yours’? I doubt he was ever yours to begin with, was he?”
At Jeong-o’s assertive question, a veil of angry tears appeared in Eun-Bi’s eyes.
Jeong-o realized one thing: *The two of them really weren’t anything at all!*
Once she realized that, Eun-Bi’s behavior became even harder to understand.
“It’s a sickness, Eun-Bi, being hung up on someone who has no hope for you. You will never have Ji-Heon Jeong.”
“…….”
“He’s my man.”
Well, technically, it meant he was the father of her child. *I’m sorry, Ji-Heon Jeong. I don’t want to talk about you like you’re an object either, but she’s being incredibly rude. So, please, forgive me for a moment.*
Jeong-o offered a polite apology to Ji-Heon in her heart and smiled sweetly at Eun-Bi. She wondered if she had been too vicious. But then, remembering what she had endured in Ji-Heon’s office last Wednesday, this didn’t seem like such a big deal after all.
Eun-Bi’s face twitched violently at Jeong-o’s words. She seemed beside herself with frustration, unable to grab Jeong-o by the hair due to her social standing. Clenching her fists until it seemed like she might break her own nails, Eun-Bi glared at Jeong-o and then strode away toward the office.
*I don’t feel sorry at all.*
Jeong-o watched her go for a long time, then muttered to herself.
“Hmph. Little brat.”
“Pfft. You’re right.”
*Huh…?*
Startled by the voice coming from behind her, Jeong-o whipped her head around. She felt a chilling sensation, as if all the blood were draining from her body.
*No… why are you coming out of there…?*
A person emerged from behind a pillar in the pilotis parking lot right next to the building—a spot she hadn’t even realized existed. She hadn’t known there was space behind the pillar.
Jeong-o nearly tripped over her own feet. Thinking he had caught her weakness, Ji-Heon was looking at her with a satisfied expression, as if he were struggling to hold back his laughter.
Jeong-o thought: *I’ll probably be kicking my blankets in regret thinking about today for the next twenty years.*
No, the next twenty years were the least of her worries. What… what exactly did she say?
“He’s my man.”
The insane words she had spat out as a warning to Eun-Bi were etched into Jeong-o’s mind once more.