TET Ch 2

Fortunately, clinging to the last shred of her reason, Yeonha didn’t actually drop the mannequin.

She hurriedly protested as she tried to get up.

“It’s a misunderstanding. I was just adjusting the outfit.”

However, between her pencil skirt, her pounding heart, and the mannequin that suddenly felt as heavy as lead, getting up wasn’t easy.

Kanghyun’s eyes narrowed.

“Is that so? Yet I didn’t sense any movement from behind the panel?”

He was implying that she’d been holding the mannequin horizontally from the start. His observation was so accurate she couldn’t deny it.

“Well, that’s…”

“It’s fine. I can’t interfere with personal matters.”

Was this what it meant to be caught red-handed?

His words, “personal matters,” felt like they referred to her “personal feelings” for him, and Yeonha felt a lump in her throat.

She closed her mouth. Kanghyun let out a chuckle.

He glanced at the mannequin for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, then looked back at Yeonha. His direct gaze was intimidating.

“The Chemical stock information is confidential. As is Chairman Seo Dalho’s unofficial condition for the Vice President position at the affiliate.”

Yeonha’s heart pounded. What she had dreaded had finally arrived.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up, positioned the mannequin upright, and said with a resolute expression,

“I didn’t hear anything.”

She had to keep the secret anyway. So, she calculated it was better to be proactive.

“Really. I didn’t hear anything. I promise.”

But his response was cold.

“I don’t deal in ‘promises’.”

“What?”

“Why would I bother with such cumbersome things with a secretary who works for me? Uncertain promises that make me worry about the aftermath… it’s better to avoid situations that require them in the first place.”

“Oh…”

Yeonha let out a low sigh.

She had forgotten.

This was Seo Kanghyun.

Someone who wouldn’t even worry about a secretary leaking secrets because he could make them disappear or fire them with a single word.

Alarms went off in her naive mind.

There was no other job available to Yeonha that offered a higher salary and more stability than this one. Moreover, she had a lot of debt to repay.

Desperation crept into her voice.

“Executive Director, I really promise, no, I mean, I’ll do anything. I didn’t hear anything. I’ll write a pledge if you want.”

“Well, I’m not naive enough to trust an employee who enjoys undisclosed hobbies in secret.”

Yeonha was speechless.

On top of the strange misunderstanding, now this accusation.

What should she do…?

She had to think of another plan as soon as possible. But nothing came to mind.

“Would a confidentiality agreement work?”

Kanghyun didn’t answer. Yeonha asked desperately,

“Then, something else…?”

“Something else?”

One of his eyebrows, arched languidly, rose and fell slightly. Yeonha hurriedly nodded.

“Yes.”

“What can you do? I’ll listen.”

“Um… Well…”

Is there… anything?

No matter how hard she thought, there was nothing.

What could possibly appeal to him?

But Yeonha had nowhere to retreat. She couldn’t afford to be demoted or fired.

“I’ll think about it.”

She added with a little more force, as if to appeal to him.

“Whether it’s proof that I’m not someone who would profit from disclosing company secrets, or proof that I don’t have strange hobbies, or anything you need, Executive Director, I’ll bring anything. So, please give me some time.”

Kanghyun fidgeted with his hands beneath his casually draped shoulder. For a fleeting moment, a smile played on his lips. But it was so brief that Yeonha missed it.

“Let’s exclude the first two and go with the last one.”

“…The last one?”

“I’m not interested in Secretary Ban’s benefits or hobbies.”

Yeonha felt a strange pang in her heart at his words.

“Think about what I need.”

Kanghyun’s voice was low and quiet, like a beast’s growl. Then, it returned to its usual tone.

“If there is such a thing.”

“…….”

“I’ll give you three days.”

Three days.

Not much time to find something that doesn’t exist.

But Yeonha had no choice.

“Yes.”

Kanghyun stared at the nape of Yeonha’s neck, naturally exposed beneath her bowed head. His gaze lingered for a long time. And then,

“Alright then.”

He pushed himself off the panel as if brushing off a bothersome task and turned away.

Kanghyun walked toward the door, and Yeonha, still staring at the floor, listened to his receding footsteps.

It had always been like this.

He was someone she had to steal glances at, standing at the far end of the secretarial line, bowing her head so no one would notice.

Before opening the door, Kanghyun suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Secretary Ban. Please dispose of that and order a new one.”

Yeonha looked up in surprise. His gaze was fixed on the outfit.

“A… new one?”

The presentation was only four hours away. This outfit was specially flown in from France.

“Is it impossible?”

Impossible.

A word that didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

“N… no.”

As soon as Yeonha reluctantly replied, Kanghyun smiled faintly.

He left the office. Yeonha almost collapsed onto the floor.

For the next two hours, Yeonha worked frantically to prepare a new outfit, oblivious to everything else.

After exhausting all her efforts to find an outfit of similar quality and meticulously setting it up, she collapsed in exhaustion.

She felt like she had died and come back to life.

Pitying Yeonha, Han Seok, a colleague from the same office, called her out into the hallway and handed her several chocolate bars.

“Ms. Yeonha, please have these. I heard you didn’t even have lunch.”

Han Seok was the secretary in charge of assisting Kanghyun. He must have returned early, as Kanghyun was currently with the Chairman at headquarters.

Yeonha politely declined with a troubled expression.

“You don’t have to give me this…”

“No, it’s okay. You listen to my worries a lot, Ms. Yeonha. This is a bribe of gratitude. So please take it without feeling burdened.”

Han Seok had confessed to having a crush on a female employee at the company. Ever since Yeonha accidentally found out about this, he often sought her out to pour out his heart.

Perhaps he wanted to comfort her, seeing her own similar, unrequited feelings.

Yeonha found herself listening intently to Han Seok. Of course, she couldn’t reveal that she, too, harbored a secret crush on someone she saw every day at work.

For that reason, the two of them occasionally talked about things outside of work and naturally became closer.

“Did you buy hers?”

Yeonha asked Han Seok, who smiled brightly in response.

“Of course, I did. Actually, I added a few more while choosing hers. I heard this chocolate is really good, but I don’t know if she’ll like it.”

Yeonha gazed down at the chocolates Han Seok offered. They were definitely famous for being delicious.

To be honest, Yeonha envied Han Seok’s ability to give such gifts. She, on the other hand, liked someone she couldn’t show even the slightest hint of her feelings to.

“She’ll like it.”

At Yeonha’s encouragement, Han Seok scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

“Do you think so?”

“But, are you sure it’s okay to give me so many?”

“It’s not just a gift. I want you to tell me which one is the most delicious.”

“Ah, that’s what they’re for?”

Yeonha smiled brightly.

“Well, I’d love to help you out… but what should I do? I love chocolate, so they all taste good to me.”

Han Seok smiled back.

“Then that’s good.”

“Huh?”

He flinched in surprise and quickly waved his hands.

“No, I mean, you’re an expert, so you must know best.”

“Ah.”

Beaming, Han Seok stepped a little closer to Yeonha. Then, he suddenly froze and lightly tapped her arm.

“Ms. Yeonha, Executive Director.”

Startled, Yeonha looked down the opposite hallway. Kanghyun was indeed walking towards them.

Slowly approaching, Kanghyun silently observed the chocolates Yeonha hurriedly hid behind her back.

As he passed right in front of them, he paused briefly and looked up at Yeonha’s face for a moment.

He didn’t say anything in particular. Just,

“Welcome back.”

“You’re here, Executive Director.”

After acknowledging Han Seok and Yeonha’s greetings,

“Yes.”

He simply gave his usual curt reply and entered the office.

Nevertheless, Yeonha’s heart pounded.

Because it was the first time.

The first time he had voluntarily given her his attention.

Flustered, Yeonha blushed involuntarily. Han Seok looked at her face with a puzzled expression.

Time passed steadily.

The three days Kanghyun had given Yeonha flew by in the blink of an eye, and D-day finally arrived.

✿˚.⋆

Kanghyun had been inspecting the Siheung factory since morning.

And around lunchtime, a sudden voice of salvation reached Yeonha.

“Everyone, there’s been an unexpected problem at the Siheung factory, so Executive Director Kanghyun won’t be returning to the office today.”

Yeonha, who had been anxiously glancing at the clock all day, looked at the manager announcing Kanghyun’s changed schedule as if he were a savior.

“He said he’ll be going directly to the dinner venue this evening, so please keep that in mind.”

Yeonha’s cheeks puffed out and her lips parted slightly.

Oh my god… she had bought herself some time.

There was a company dinner in the evening, but that didn’t matter.

He would be busy, surrounded by key executives at the dinner anyway.

Tonight’s dinner was for the entire mobile device division, so the venue was vast. This meant there was no chance of Kanghyun encountering a junior secretary quietly sitting unnoticed in a corner.

Oh, thank you.

For the first time since she started harboring her secret crush, Yeonha wasn’t disappointed that she wouldn’t see him all day.

She was rather relieved.

Since she hadn’t been able to find anything suitable to give him.

But who was it that said premature relief is like poison?

Yeonha soon realized how naive she had been.

When she found herself face-to-face with Kanghyun, alone, in an unexpected place.

When he whispered in her ear,

“Have you thought about what to give me?”

And…