Chapter 9. I Felt Your Scent in Those Trembling Eyes
In front of a large framed oil painting hanging on the wall, a nameplate reading ‘Director Yoon Yeonsook’ was placed atop a gleaming, extravagant desk.
Across from her stood Ihun’s secretary, Dohyun, with a polite and solemn expression.
“There hasn’t been any unusual movement?”
Her fingers slowly wrapped around the porcelain teacup.
Each time the bottom of the teacup touched the desk, an extremely faint sound brushed through the room.
Because the entire office was so quiet, even that tiny noise felt like a deliberate performance.
“Yes. As always, he’s working diligently.”
“That damned work, work, work.”
Yeonsook muttered disapprovingly before letting out a derisive laugh.
“It’s pitiful that all he does is work to the point of being boring. He doesn’t even know how to live like a proper human being. Then again, Ihun has been like that since he was young.”
With an expressionless gaze, Yeonsook stroked the dazzling, heavy rings adorning her fingers.
Even that small gesture was elegant and refined, yet there was something cold and untouchably distant about her.
Did she even know what pity was?
“Anything noteworthy?”
If she meant anything noteworthy, there was plenty to report.
Ihun’s clothes and hairstyle had changed recently.
He would occasionally blurt out incomprehensible things, like the roar of a star, and he had also been frequently coming and going from the office.
But if that were all, it wouldn’t qualify as anything noteworthy.
Ihun was behaving like a man who was in love.
Ever since he had heard a confession from a woman named Lee Dana, he had her investigated, suddenly treated her department to coffee, and even started going to the company cafeteria, which he normally never visited.
Was that all?
During working hours, he was constantly busy going somewhere, whether it was the break room or the archives.
But of all the ways Dohyun had watched Ihun behave over the past three years, this was the most amusing.
All this time, despite holding the title of President of SaJa Group, Ihun had done nothing but work like a slave.
Yet no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t explain why Ihun was acting this way.
Ihun hadn’t been the one to fall for her or confess, and the woman hadn’t confessed directly to him either; he had merely ‘happened’ to overhear a confession she made to her friends.
There was no way he could become so smitten and chase after her as though he were the one who had received the confession.
Unless he had suffered some major blow to the head.
Dohyun looked at Yeonsook silently.
What would she say if he told her about this?
She would probably say something like, What confession are you talking about? What nonsense are you spouting?
Right, why say something unnecessary when nothing major was going to happen?
He was getting married soon anyway.
“There’s nothing in particular.”
“I see.”
Yeonsook smiled faintly and looked up at Dohyun.
“Secretary Kang.”
“Yes, Director.”
“Has it already been three years since we started seeing each other like this?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And your mother? Her health has improved considerably by now, hasn’t it?”
Dohyun slightly furrowed his brow before smiling.
“Yes. She’s healthy and doing well now.”
“That’s a relief. It makes helping you worthwhile.”
Yeonsook rose from her seat and approached Dohyun with an elegant movement.
“I care about you a great deal, Secretary Kang. You know that, right?”
“Yes. I know.”
She patted Dohyun’s shoulder encouragingly.
“It won’t be much longer, Secretary Kang. Ihun will get married, and a little while after that, you’ll be moving to another position.”
“……”
“Until then, keep an eye on Ihun as you have been. If you notice even the slightest thing strange, tell me.”
“……Yes.”
Keep an eye on him, my foot.
She meant spy on him.
When Dohyun came out into the museum lobby, he saw Ion approaching from across the hall.
His sloppy clothes and rebellious gaze.
The rebellious attitude made him look exactly like Ihun these days.
As if anyone would fail to realize they were brothers.
The moment they crossed paths, Dohyun bowed his head in greeting and walked past him.
“Is living like that fun?”
At Ion’s question, Dohyun stopped walking.
“I mean living by reporting everything our brother does to Mom. Is that fun?”
Is your mother, who makes me act as a spy by using treatment for someone else’s family as leverage, having fun?
“Well, I don’t do it for fun. I do it to make a living.”
“True, without that, betraying our brother wouldn’t be easy. I wonder if Mom has planted anyone around me, too.”
Dohyun bowed his head, and without answering, walked out of the museum.
Ion had discovered Dohyun’s role two years ago.
At the time, he had been afraid that Ihun might find out and that his mother’s treatment would be jeopardized, but nothing had happened since then.
Rai Ion.
He pretended to be a troublemaker, but contrary to appearances, he was quite diligent and knew how to keep his mouth shut.
He acted like a devoted brother, calling him Brother at the end of every sentence.
But surely, deep down, he wanted to seize the throne of SaJa Group himself.
‘It won’t be much longer, Secretary Kang. Ihun will get married, and a little while after that, you’ll be moving to another position.’
He had lived his life walking a razor’s edge, and the time had finally come to put an end to this. At that point, he only had to confess everything and quit.
“Well, nothing will happen before then, right?”
***
Something really was happening.
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why am I sitting across from the President and eating with him right now?
And not at the company cafeteria, but outside the company.
Not lunch, but dinner.
Not just some ordinary restaurant, but a rooftop restaurant.
Not just a regular meal, but a course meal at a fine-dining restaurant.
Dana looked around in a daze.
A restaurant located in a tall building in the heart of the city.
A dazzling night view unfolded beyond the large glass windows.
Soft classical music played inside, while the guests quietly chatted and sipped wine.
The precise movements of the staff dressed in black suits also made it clear that this was not an ordinary place.
Fine, all of that was great.
But why, why on earth was I here?
With the President?
Dizzy.
She was still unable to grasp the situation, sitting there blankly without coming to her senses, when Ihun spoke.
“This is my return for the drink you bought me last time.”
What?
A return for nothing more than a single canned drink had come in the form of such an extravagant meal.
Is the President a pushover?
“I-I’m serious? I thought the coffee you gave me last time was the return favor.”
“That was something I gave to all the employees.”
But it wasn’t the sugar-bomb coffee.
You gave that one only to me.
……She couldn’t say that, though, since she hadn’t checked everyone else’s coffee.
She quietly nodded.
“Why? Does it not suit your taste?”
Ihun asked as he watched Dana freeze with her fork in hand.
“No? No, it’s fine. I eat pretty much anything.”
“Good. Eat plenty.”
But there’s…… so little on the plate for me to eat a lot.
The plate is huge, so why is the portion the size of a bean?
But since it seemed improper to gobble down food in front of the President anyway, she decided to eat whatever was served to her.
Humans really are strange.
Even when a situation is this uncomfortable, food still goes down just fine.
Maybe because it’s delicious.
Even though she creaked like a rusty machine, she diligently ate her food.
After even neatly finishing a lemon tart for dessert, she was about to rise lightly when Ihun suddenly asked.
“Ms. Lee Dana, what is it about me that you like so much?”
“Yes, President. Huh? President?”
“I’m asking what you like about me.”
“……What?”
Is this it! Is this the time to shower him with flattery, praise, and sycophancy?
The shining talent I had only just discovered!
Maybe he’ll promote me if I do well.
There’s a reason ordinary characters in dramas suddenly become corrupted.
Even someone who had never cared about power or position was bound to become ambitious when given an opportunity like this.
Suddenly, ambition stirred within her.
But.
What should I flatter him about?
I haven’t even thought about the President’s good qualities yet.
Ah!
“Uh, your scent.”
“My scent?”
“Yes. I, um, I like the way you smell, President.”
Wait a minute. Isn’t this sexual harassment?
No, I just genuinely, truly like it.
For some reason, the President’s expression seemed to stiffen in a way she couldn’t understand.
Damn it, there goes my promotion.
“I-I’m sorry, President, if I made you uncomfortable…….”
“No. It’s not that I’m uncomfortable. I just never thought of it that way.”
Was it just her imagination?
The President seemed to smile very shyly.
It felt somewhat unsettling, but she was relieved anyway. He didn’t seem particularly offended.
Perhaps she had taken one step closer to a promotion.
Now that she had relaxed, she felt she should say something and opened her mouth.
“Oh, right. I heard you’re getting married soon. Congratulations.”
“……Where did you hear that?”
“Huh? Oh, well, since I’m in the Public Relations Department, we’re the first to hear the news…….”
The President’s expression visibly stiffened.
I made a mistake……!
Why did I have to act up right when everything was going so well?
“I’m sorry. I made a mistake after only hearing the rumor……. I’ll be more careful from now on…….”
“Ms. Lee Dana.”
“Yes, President.”
“Are you all right?”
“What do you mean…….”
“You like me, don’t you.”
Huh?
“You want to marry me.”
What did he mean by that……!
Her pupils trembled with the force of a magnitude 7 earthquake.
