DD Chapter 8
At 6 o’clock in the middle of winter, it was still dark out, but Mirae’s Construction’s chairman always started his morning at this time.
When Yeonwoo went downstairs, Jaesik, reading a newspaper, folded it closed and stood.
“Now that our Yeonwoo’s awake, let’s eat breakfast.”
Seokheon, who had been drinking tea, also stood up. In this house, Seokheon played the role of keeping the seat next to his grandfather while thoroughly adapting to the old man’s style.
The continued scandal of Myunghoon, the current president of Mirae Construction, has led to an increase in negative opinions on his managerial abilities. And he had been aiming to manage the group’s subsidiaries.
There was no problem while Jaesik was still alive and well, but the group’s work would definitely get complicated once he died.
Seokheon understood his situation well. Yeonwoo might now know, but he perfectly showed the appearance of a successor of Mirae Construction in front of others.
“Did you sleep well? It wasn’t uncomfortable sleeping in a different bed, was it?” Jeongae greeted Yeonwoo with a benevolent smile that was different from last night.
“Yes.” Yeonwoo was the only one in this house who not only knew Seokheon’s real face but Jeongae’s, too. “I’ll help serve the food.”
“It’s okay. You’re going to work, so you need to eat comfortably for breakfast.”
Unlike other houses, this household served a hearty breakfast. There was clear soup with fish boiling on the built-in induction in the middle of the table.
Jeongae scooped out a piece of fish, placed it in front of Jaesik, then scooped two bowls for Seokheon and Yeonwoo.
“Alright, let’s eat. Yeonwoo, eat a lot and stay healthy.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
As Yeonwoo dipped her spoon into the soup, Jaesik stared at her, not touching his food.
“In the new year, I’ll transfer some stocks to your name once I’ve settled the tax issue.”
Jeongae and Yeonwoon’s movements stopped at the same time. Only Seokheon continued eating.
“You don’t have to, Grandfather,” Yeonwoo waved her hand and refused, but everyone in the dining room knew that Jaesik would do whatever he wanted.
“I do. When I welcomed you into this house, I was able to gain a lot of strength watching you. It’s not like I don’t have any to give. Of course, I’ll share it with my children.”
Yeonwoo couldn’t answer.
“Father, how’s the soup?” Jeongae suddenly intervened.
Only then did Jaesik take a sip. “It’s good.”
“And Director Lee?”
“It’s fine.”
Jeongae usually talked at meals, but on this day, she did not take a break and took the lead in talking about various topics. Because of that, Jaesik didn’t bring up what he said about the stocks again.
Seeing Seokheon’s grandfather’s trust was more painful to Yeonwoo than Jeongae’s sharp gaze.
While sipping the clear broth, Yeonwoo pondered about the plan she had prepared for a long time.
It will be over tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’ll finish this all and run away.
Jaesik followed Yeonwoo and Seokheon as they walked out of the house.
“The next time I’ll be seeing you will be on New Year’s Day,” Jaesik said, patting Yeonwoo’s shoulder. Yeonwoo lost her family because of him, so he tried to be a good grandfather to her.
Yeonwoo knew how he felt. She wanted to visit and greet him often to ease his anxious mind, but she avoided him when she started sleeping with Seokheon.
“Grandfather, please stay healthy.” Yeonwoo wasn’t a person who could pretend that nothing was wrong. She was tired of deceiving people. “Wherever I am, I always think and worry a lot about you.”
“Yes, I know you do.”
Yeonwoo felt sorry for Jaesik, who constantly worried about her, but she said farewell the only way she could.
‘Stay healthy. I’m really sorry for disappointing you.’
When Yeonwoo got into the car, Seokheon stretched out his arm toward the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt.
“Are you going straight to work?”
“I’m wearing the same clothes as yesterday, so I think I’ll have to change first.”
More than the clothes, the expensive bag was the problem. On their way to her place, she thought of wearing different clothes and choosing a plain bag.
“Then go home and get changed. I have your clothes. I have to wear a suit too.”
“No.”
The only things Yeonwoo had in his house were expensive items that didn’t suit her taste.
“Oppa, I have something to do when I get home. I haven’t been home for two nights and three days.”
“Okay. I’ll take you there then.”
“Thank you.”
Seokheon reached out toward the passenger seat once again to hold Yeonwoo’s hand. Holding her hand was now natural for him. He probably thought that Yeonwoo would always be by his side.
“I hope we can live together soon.”
Instead of answering him, Yeonwoo looked down at Seokheon’s hand wrapped around hers.
The person who had been assigned to PR Team 2 was an employee who joined last year. She had a cute face, and she sat next to Yeonwoo, diligently taking notes as Yeonwoo taught her the ropes.
She didn’t hesitate to ask questions and clarifications to make sure she had grasped it correctly, so Yeonwoo figured she’d do well.
The team didn’t do a lot of work, but it made her sad to see a competent person quickly fill in her position.
“Yeonwoo-sunbaenim, can I call you and ask you if there are things I don’t know?”
“I’m planning to go abroad for a while, so I may not be able to answer the phone.”
Yeonwoo decided to get rid of her old number and register a new one in her name as soon as she left.
She didn’t know if Seokheon would find her or not, but she had no intention of getting caught.
“Are you going to study a new language? Wow, I’m so jealous.”
“It’s not like that. It’s just for a few months…”
“Really? Where are you going?”
“It’s just somewhere in Southeast Asia, so…” Yeonwoo mumbled and gave her an email address she used to use in college. “If you have any questions, please email me here. I’ll read your email.”
Since her predecessor left their contact info during turnover, Yeonwoo did, too.
Turnover was over at around 3 PM. Yeonwoo sent her replacement a backup file of her previous work and said, “Would you mind checking if the mail I just sent you came in?”
“Yes, I got it. Thank you for the detailed information. Actually, many people congratulated me for being assigned to PR Team 2, but I’m grateful to be onboarded this way.”
Seeing her smile, Yeonwoo couldn’t help but smile back. The new member probably received congratulations because the administrative position in PR Team 2 was a reputed one within the company.
Whether it was because of Jaesik or Seokheon, Yeonwoo, who was first assigned to a position that previously didn’t exist, never worked overtime, unlike her colleagues who did several times a month.
Just as she was about to pack her things on her desk in a box, she received a message in their office chat system.
「 Ms. Yeonwoo, why are you quitting?」
It was from Manager Jeong Mihyeon. She was startled to hear the news of the new team member’s assignment yesterday, but she only found out Yeonwoo was leaving the company after going to work today.
She was probably surprised about the news of Yeonwoo’s resignation, especially since her resignation and the appointment of her replacement were handled together.
Yeonwoo pondered on it for a while after receiving Manager Jeong’s message. She had already picked up on her relationship with Seokheon; who knew what else she knew.
「 As soon as I graduated from college and joined the company, I felt like I was at a loss in my career path because it was different from my major, so I quit because I wanted to study more.」
The cursor blinked for a long time after Yeonwoo typed the period. She wondered if she should send her greetings, but she was afraid of what Manager Jeong would say after she left, so she ended up thanking her.
「Thank you for your help throughout my time at the company.」
She heard the sound of the mug placed at Manager Jeong’s desk, then the clacking of the keyboard followed.
「Is it really to study more?」
「 I’m sorry?」
「Ms. Yeonwoo, you do know what I saw, right? Is it because of your relationship with the Managing Director?」
Yeonwoo closed her chat browser to make sure others didn’t see it.
Even if employees’ personal messages were not stored on the server, Yeonwoo did not expect Manager Jeong to ask so directly. After a while, her pounding heart calmed, and she wrote her reply.
「 I’m not like that with him.」
She felt it was better to deny her relationship with Seokheon, an executive.
A series of messages followed.
「If it’s not like that, then I’ll talk comfortably.」
「Ms. Yeonwoo, wherever you go in the future, don’t live like that. When people like you go against the rules, a person who lives honestly like me feels cheated.」
Yeonwoo couldn’t even think of a reply.
“Ms. Seo Yeonwoo.”
Just then, Director Choi of PR Team 2 jumped to his feet.
“Yes, sir?”
Yeonwoo closed Manager Jeong’s message window and stood.
“Did you receive a call from the executive office?”
Yeonwoo bit her lip when she heard the director say ‘executive office.’
“Has our team ever worked with the Managing Director? Why would they call for Yeonwoo?”
Seokheon had never called for Yeonwoo so openly.
“Go ahead. I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seokheon would contact Yeonwoo through his personal phone or secretly call for her through his secretary, but today was the first time he summoned Yeonwoo during business hours.
Did someone tell him about her resignation? Perhaps the competent secretaries of the executive office heard the news of her resignation and passed it on to him?
When Yeonwoo rushed to leave the office, Manager Jeong clicked her tongue.
Yeonwoo’s heart sank when Seokheon called for her, and she felt pathetic for being ashamed to hear Jeong Mihyeon laugh at her like that.
When Yeonwoo arrived in front of the executive office, the secretaries stood up all at once and bowed politely to her. After a brief greeting, Yeonwoo headed inside.
Click–. As soon as the door closed, Seokheon strode closer.
Because Seokheon’s back was against the light, the closer he got to her, the more Yeonwoo’s face was covered with his shadow.
“W-why did you call–”
“What are you doing!”
Seokheon held an A4 sheet of paper in front of her face. He had printed Yeonwoo’s approved resignation letter.
He had only found out this morning that Yeonwoo’s resignation was approved and that her last day at the company was today through the head of the HR department.
“Just what are you doing!”
Novel Endeavors 
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