Chapter 7. I Think I May Have Touched the President’s Nerve
Dohyun hurriedly followed Ihun.
“Isn’t this a rather sudden, unexpected departmental inspection? Surely the other executives would be more than capable of handling it. Haven’t they always done so until now?”
Was he really that oblivious, or was he doing this on purpose?
Ihun stopped walking and stared intently at Dohyun.
“This sudden inspection couldn’t possibly be because of that Lee Dana, could it?”
He really couldn’t imagine it.
Well, I understood.
The truth was, I hadn’t intended to take things this far either.
At first, I only wanted to see what kind of woman could possibly like me that much.
Just where did such an intense feeling of affection even come from?
When she saw me in the company cafeteria, her face had turned so red that I thought she was going to let everyone in the world know.
I was even worried that she might be unable to eat because of me.
But there was a twist.
Even while she glanced around shyly and nervously, she ate her meal extremely well.
She neatly stripped the meat from the back ribs with her red lips.
I liked that. She seemed remarkably healthy, if that was the right way to put it.
There was even a hint of spiritedness in the way she gnawed on the back ribs.
Maybe that was why. I wanted to have a conversation with her at least once. And so, I met her again in the break room.
Did everyone become like this in front of the person they liked?
Not only had she been reluctant to let go of the hand she had once grasped because she was so reluctant to part with it.
She had even carefully wiped the mouth of the can with her own clothes.
There was another twist here, too.
Although she was clearly flushed and acting awkwardly and unnaturally, as though something inside her had malfunctioned, she still said everything she wanted to say.
What an interesting woman.
I was beginning to feel grateful that she liked me.
A smile escaped me without my realizing it.
If that had been all, perhaps my simple curiosity would have ended there.
But then.
“I know you work hard for the company, so let me treat you to something like that.”
Work hard for the company….
I had taken it for granted my entire life. That was why, despite everything, I had never once wanted to hear words like that.
Yet her words struck his heart in a strangely powerful way.
On top of that, there was her pretty face, her spirited way of speaking, her politeness and affability, and the shyness she showed when dealing with someone she liked.
I had only wanted to exchange a few words with her.
Before I knew it, my curiosity had spread like wildfire in an instant.
From the simple question of what it meant to like someone, to the question of what kind of woman this Lee Dana, who claimed to like me, actually was.
“President. If you conduct such a sudden, unannounced inspection, the employees will be caught off guard, too.”
“It’s not an inspection. It’s encouragement.”
“Who would think of it that way? While they’re working, if the President suddenly barges in—Ugh!”
Dohyun clamped his mouth shut at the object that had nearly entered it.
“What is this?”
“What do you think? It’s a card. Have them order coffee for the employees.”
“You’re treating them to coffee, too?”
“Then am I supposed to go there to encourage them empty-handed?”
“Ah, yes. That’s true.”
But whether it was an inspection or encouragement, why on earth was he going to the office where the employees were working?
Surely he wasn’t going to visit the department and buy everyone coffee just because he had received a confession.
“Ah, Secretary Kang.”
“Yes, President.”
“One should be a white chocolate mocha. Extra hot milk, lots of whipped cream, an extra shot. Leave out one pump of syrup. No, don’t leave out the syrup. Make it sweet.”
“President, did you usually drink it that sweet?”
“It’s not for me.”
“Then who is it for….”
‘You have to eat something sweet. Something sweet. Sweet. Sweet.’
Ihun recalled Dana chanting her order in front of the vending machine.
“There’s someone there who keeps singing about sweet things.”
“Who is that…? Surely….”
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m coming!”
Lee Dana was there, after all.
Still, could it really be because of that confession?
Surely he wouldn’t do something crazy like buying coffee for the department just to go see the person who had told him she liked him.
However, as he ordered a drink with plenty of whipped cream, Dohyun had a feeling that perhaps it really was exactly what he thought.
***
“The President is coming, but act like you normally do, huwah, huwah. Hmm? Just like usual, hoo-hoo. Naturally, okay? Just work the way you alwa—, ahem, the way you normally do, the way you always do.”
The thoroughly nervous team leader clutched his chest.
“You there, Assistant Manager Kim! Your desk is a mess! Where did Senior Staff Shin go? He hasn’t even filled his seat. Call him right now! Hooow. The President is coming, but don’t be conscious of him, okay? Just do what you normally do. Like usual. Okay?”
The team leader barely managed to shout in a voice that sounded as though he were about to run out of breath.
“Isn’t the team leader going to die at this rate?”
Someone’s joke made a few people snicker.
The President’s sudden departmental inspection.
Everyone was working as casually as usual, but the team leader was the only one making a huge fuss about it.
Of course, strictly speaking, he wasn’t the only one. Dana was conscious of it, too.
Why was the President coming out for a departmental inspection?
And why so suddenly?
She had thought she wouldn’t have to see him directly again, so why were they meeting again this quickly, just a day later?
Ah, whatever. I should just work.
Besides, if she blended in among the employees in the office, there was no way he would even notice her.
She was just about to drink the coffee handed out by the secretary’s office when someone grabbed it.
When she raised her head, Ihun was already there, looking down at her.
Gasp!
“Good afternoon, President!”
She jumped to her feet and greeted him.
He leaned closer and gave her a friendly look.
“We meet again, Ms. Lee Dana. Is there anything difficult about working here?”
“Yes! Other than every single day being difficult, nothing at all!”
Crazy. Are you an idiot?
What are you even saying?
His gaze seemed to change strangely.
“Haha… I meant that to say you’re working that hard….”
“You don’t have to work too hard, so take care of yourself and take it easy. If there’s anything difficult, tell me anytime.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
…Every day is difficult.
What the hell. Was she asking the President to reduce her workload?
Did she want him to hear, ‘Fine, I’ll fire you,’ Dana?
Just as she was mercilessly whipping her own soul into shape.
Without anyone else noticing, he switched the coffee in her hand with the coffee he was holding. Then he walked past her and went on to greet the other employees.
What was that? Why did he switch the coffees?
Could there be some kind of code written on it saying, ‘Don’t fall for me, idiot. I’ll fire you’?
But that wasn’t it. I didn’t even like the President. I already felt wronged.
She hurriedly opened the lid of the coffee she had received.
Fortunately, there was no code on either the front or the back of the lid.
But unlike the Americano the other employees had received, it was overflowing with whipped cream, with an elaborate drizzle drawn across it like a spiderweb.
A coffee so sweet that just looking at it made her stomach churn.
Blood sugar spike → insulin surge → hypoglycemic shock!
Was he saying, ‘How dare you like me? Eat this and die…’?
Surely a code wouldn’t appear on the bottom after she finished drinking the coffee…?
Ah, that’s what this was.
“I’ll pay you back for the drink soon.”
“Oh, no. I know you work hard for the company, so let me treat you to something like that.”
Come to think of it, this must have been the price of the drink she had treated him to in the break room.
Oh, honestly. I told him I’d pay for it.
The President really does believe in giving and taking.
“But do you like sweet things?”
She took a sip of the coffee without thinking and set it down, when she felt an intense gaze upon her. Yoonseo was looking at her.
A smile she had seen somewhere many times before.
She knew what that smile meant.
“Good for you, Dana. You even get to see the face of the person you like while you’re working.”
Damn it. That’s not it. The person I like is….
She glanced at Jihoon, who was sitting in the neighboring department.
What was this? She could have sworn that until the day before yesterday, she liked Han Jihoon?
Suddenly, those feelings felt like a fossil from long ago.
Something definitely felt wrong.
What could it be? She had no idea, but she should just work.
After taking another sip of the coffee, she stuck out her tongue because it was too sweet, then quickly focused on her work again.
Ihun, who had been greeting another employee, turned back toward Dana.
Watching her work so diligently, the corners of his lips curved upward.
