LC Prologue

The sliding door of the Korean restaurant opened, and the first face to pop into view was Director Lee Jun-ha from OI Telecom. You could tell he was a stickler for rules; his tie knot was pulled all the way up, and he hadn’t even taken off his suit jacket. He had this dignified air about him, mixed with a stubbornness that came with his years.e962bc821dd9797d

“Good evening, Director. My meeting with the British broadcasting company ran late, so I’m a bit behind schedule.”02756ea662171177

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“Oh, Team Leader Hwang! No, no. Come on in, have a seat.”844dafe577534e07

Team Leader Hwang Na-yoon, walking gracefully into the VIP dining room, was also rocking a perfectly tailored office suit. She was the youngest ever to be promoted to team leader, a real star in OI Telecom’s Product Planning division. She was totally on the executive fast track, taking short-term MBA classes on weekends and practically living at the office during the week, never letting go of her work for a second.f31cb4e40c494d96

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“Looks like the new team leader isn’t here yet.”53d0f864eb965159

Na-yoon sat diagonally 40313b2db0 across from Director feac477ce7 Lee Jun-ha, smiling 2917f2471c softly. This dinner today was specially 1c7c26825c set up to introduce the 4476107122 new team leader joining the 8379454e97 Product Planning division.8d5cc9d1c1ea560f

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“Oh, I wanted to chat with Team Leader Hwang first. I told that person to come about 20 minutes later… but since your meeting ran late, they’ll probably burst in any minute now, huh?”eb201015d80eab8c

Director Lee gave a 8a4f8766ff friendly smile. But even though he looked 3b949fc6b8 like a nice guy on cf70a5b233 the surface, Director Lee was 86e7d9d1df actually a pro at pitting 23c5b53b05 team leaders against each other, 5342221ce5 like a dog fighter.a5805b31822afe60

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“My bad. I should’ve just ditched the British broadcasting company director and everything, and come straight to see you, Director.”9d17a331652512dc

Director Lee burst out laughing, “Wahahaha!”3e03280edd040843

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“That’s a big deal, though, can Team Leader Hwang really just ditch it? But it’s sweet to hear you say that… So, speaking of which…”a366a9dc158e9160

Ah, here comes the c3c46cd821 main point.01e2ce55024b9419

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“About this new team leader… they’re apparently a bit difficult. Could you, Team Leader Hwang, handle them well? Huh?”495ad67da68b65f0

“Handle” the new team leader? That sounded a bit off. It didn’t make sense to “handle” a team leader from another team who was coming in at the same level. Na-yoon sharply sensed that the vibe was getting weird.5f33e7d93447af9d

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“Is there a work-related reason why I should ‘handle’ a team leader from another team?”18e0eb23444e9634

Director Lee started talking 043929f1b3 with an expression like 81d0359fc5 a principal at an c2232e9f06 orientation ceremony.e7fabf6cea14566c

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“Hmm. So, the new team leader is actually the developer of Thunder Warning.”603be8535ddd3a85

“Thunder Warning? I heard nobody knows who the real developer of that app is.”df8fc1fb67b14729

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Thunder Warning was a d4d2bcf694 call-assist app that filtered 4ce00f6366 out voice phishing numbers. If you installed f7e308c679 Thunder Warning, it 6a993a893d could even catch 92c59930a2 complex phishing schemes 19e32b5f0e where foreign numbers 575b7181f2 were changed to 17d5a066f2 domestic mobile numbers f73c5cd085 via portable base 644693b167 stations. Several reports had been d7bdb64edc published, stating that thanks d2ae44dc94 to Thunder Warning, the 6d19566c97 number of voice phishing 4185918a84 cases in Korea had 52f1cd2237 significantly decreased. Thunder Warning had also 8914c99bce played a big role e138fa41da in catching voice phishing 202179357f crime rings by relentlessly d88596ef58 tracking the routes of 52598bea78 portable base stations.a488d047bbc042f4

But the problem was, customers using Thunder Warning weren’t using the telecom companies’ call-assist apps. Because of this, each telecom company had been desperate to absorb Thunder Warning and recruit its developer.fd6949605b247809

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“They must be an incredible person.”69584e77518ab253

As if pleased with Na-yoon’s answer, Director Lee let out another hearty laugh.66ee060c54ab4409

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“So, about that… the new team leader chose Team Leader Hwang as their deputy team leader.”f7bbb7211f3d92dd

Her head felt numb, like she’d been smacked in the back of the head.467a71d105720cf6

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“Director, what are you talking about?”5ee2a3dfc6b0aebd

“One of the conditions for them to hand over Thunder Warning to OI Telecom and join our company is that they want Team Leader Hwang as their team’s deputy team leader… You don’t like it?”cfad9c719faa5ff9

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Of course not! Going from a team leader to a deputy team leader? No way she’d like that.251d5ce2cc88f074

“Shouldn’t you offer me satisfactory conditions then? This is a change of position, from team leader to deputy team leader. Did I cause trouble for the company? Or is this a situation where I should be resigning, and I’m just cluelessly not getting it?”1e2ba34277b8f24a

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As Na-yoon’s questions poured out, Director Lee took a sip of warm buckwheat tea and smiled.1bcb436415efe2ff

“A new project will start in a dedicated space set up in Gangwon Province. You’ll have executive-level car support while using the project space. If needed, a driver can also be provided. Once this project is over, you can go to a country of your choice as a group expatriate and then return as an executive. Your annual salary will be 1.5 times what it is now. And naturally, you’ll get performance bonuses if the project succeeds.”063356101936be36

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The conditions were pretty sweet. She’d always thought that her lack of international experience might be a hurdle to executive promotion. To overcome that, she’d either have to go for a master’s degree abroad or become an expatriate. But studying abroad wasn’t an option because she’d have to stop working, and it wasn’t easy to become a group expatriate from a department that mainly dealt with the domestic market. She’d been telling herself to just get a short-term MBA first and then think about it, bleeding her nose every weekend while wandering around Gwanak Mountain.32acdc197ddfd003

“Thank you, Director. It sounds like it’s just ‘deputy team leader’ in name only.”ea991166b4ab9857

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Na-yoon gave a knowing smile d54b030f6c and playfully crinkled her nose.b51a995e231fe3ae

“I was almost getting upset earlier because Team Leader Hwang was grilling me so hard. Did you really think I wouldn’t have thought of something like this?”eb346b04ef9ee75e

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They were both ca62a5343d smiling at each 0fb1b07553 other, their intentions 0deb9fb808 clearly visible, when ea18474005 someone knocked softly 71b054bc77 on the door.0ef38ab9d4328a0b

“Yes.”3ace867af9c3c28f

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At Director Lee’s reply, the sliding door gently opened.e6b86448be932712

Who could this amazing team leader be, the developer of Thunder Warning, who was about to give her a 1.5x salary bump and put her on the executive fast track? Na-yoon smiled sweetly and looked at the face revealed through the door. Then, upon recognizing the person, the smile on Na-yoon’s lips froze.8c15a5b9dda9900b

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‘Do Seol-woo?’9205dfcfe49e4ff8

As he was about eba8163d8f to step into the fe24abbbab dining room, he spotted 8591507be7 Na-yoon and the corner f8c9802643 of his mouth twitched 64790598b0 slightly.28851a2e1626fbf0

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Is he trying to die?3027ea112d8ae8f2

But wait, this ex-boyfriend, the one she wanted to kill, is the amazing team leader? Na-yoon’s mind went blank, unable to process the unbelievable situation. It was the moment her only love, the one she’d had a passionate relationship and a devastating breakup with, reappeared as her direct superior. He was her only love, and the man she had hoped to never encounter again in her life.6ddd730199e4303c

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Do Seol-woo looked a81e2736e0 between Director Lee dce907a241 and Na-yoon, then 5aa8d330d9 casually greeted them.597a5b5bd56e8a0d

“Am I late? It seems you two have already started talking.”742723f287ce47f3

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“No, no! I called Team Leader Hwang earlier because I had something to discuss with our Deputy Team Leader Hwang. Have a seat, have a seat.”5d0b18436528bbbc

The words “deputy team leader” pierced her heart like an arrow. Do Seol-woo, as if strolling through her wounded heart, sat down in the chair next to Na-yoon, emanating a deep, woody scent.dbfc7bee17d50cbf

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“Now that I think about it, you two went to the same university and the same department. Do you two happen to know each other?”c7e3f333f00428f7

At Director Lee’s question, Na-yoon smiled brightly and answered first.32a733fb4b70ab6a

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“Our department had so many students, you know. This is my first time meeting him today. What year are you?”cf6350d201a439be

At Na-yoon’s sly question, Do Seol-woo chuckled.cf5bb796fd140359

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“I remember Deputy Team Leader Hwang. We were in the same class.”f9e42e26b3cb7321

Na-yoon suddenly feared c39ebf2847 she might end 3b1b5134b6 up in jail 9a0b94839b before getting on c7f0e8a8c5 the executive fast 84be605279 track. A strong urge 8d11bfdae6 to strangle the aff77ba166 shameless Do Seol-woo b5858c8e56 was rising within 8129291163 her.48ac8cfdf7c37305

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“Why wouldn’t Deputy Team Leader Hwang remember such a handsome Team Leader Do?”28ceffc810772cfb

As Director Lee said, Do Seol-woo’s good looks were still outstanding. In college, his hair was always casually messy, but the sleek, combed-back pompadour style now accentuated his smooth face even more. She’d been entangled with Do Seol-woo from the end of her freshman year until just before graduation, but this was the first time she’d seen him in such a perfectly tailored suit.34a5b65968e01d14

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Are you getting butterflies? Are you crazy, Hwang Na-yoon?26888c85d81b027b

Dating rule number one: c1e7c05b09 Never date someone from 97e59b2cb2 the same company! Na-yoon chewed over 357ed67536 the rule she caf22dff90 had deeply ingrained c00c9f94e3 in her heart.b9dc01fc5a6258f4

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“Oh, just a moment. You two chat for a bit.”1d385dca5f2a1b21

Director Lee left, as b733953e95 if he had an 5bb81a55db urgent call to take. Before silence could even settle, 0c309a248a Do Seol-woo opened his mischievous 9480482f24 mouth.2d5153280de14e7e

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“Long time no see.”298101bfd63d3701

Na-yoon was so dumbfounded that she childishly wanted to ask, “Do I know you?”1d70915f1a834cc1

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“This is our first meeting as team leader and deputy team leader, and suddenly being so informal is really not cool.”1804ef03a0d0ec79

She attacked calmly, then took cdd02038cb a sip of buckwheat tea.fe9fd93a65c7445f

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“We’re not exactly in a situation where we need to be so formal, are we?”57f4d645ed26ed26

Is this guy… Does he have partial amnesia or something? Na-yoon stared at Do Seol-woo with a completely emotionless face.36e6a6d5c736665d

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“After being dumped so brutally, it’s not like I can smile and greet you again, is it?”30b025826aea7bc0

At her blunt question, 632aa61ba7 Do Seol-woo tilted his b5d09f1193 head slightly and leaned 49a24822cd in. It was an angle 598943d0ac similar to when they f3b4ba012f used to kiss a d11611d54a long time ago.574473e8e520f88c

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“What are we going to do, Deputy Team Leader Hwang Na-yoon? You’ll have to work with me and smile now.”52083f9bf6a2d52d

Her heart pounded wildly. If she had her way, she’d slap Do Seol-woo’s cheek. But somehow, Na-yoon’s fragile heart was instead revisiting memories of Do Seol-woo, her only romantic partner in life.dfcd8589e796af0d

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