Chapter 4. Nothing Happened. ……Yet
Have you ever heard the voice of a star crying out from somewhere in the distant universe?
That sparkling, clamorous voice.
‘It’s the president! He’s the person I like!’
He had heard a voice he had never heard even once before, and therefore one he could never possibly forget.
“What do you mean? What do you mean, a star is making a sound?”
Dohyun spoke while standing close behind Ihun. Startled, he cleared his throat.
“What did I say?”
“Yes. Something about the voice of a star…….”
I was so surprised that what I was thinking came out of my mouth.
Ihun unnecessarily turned his gaze toward the numbers on the elevator panel.
While climbing the stairs, after hearing the confession of a company employee, he had unconsciously headed toward the elevator like a lost navigation system and simply gotten on it.
‘Ra Ihun! I like President Ra! I’ve liked him so much ever since the first moment I saw him after joining the company!’
Ihun shook his head at the intense stimulation.
Perhaps it was because he had suddenly learned the secret of his birth and had temporarily lost his senses. He pressed firmly against his temple.
“Secretary Kang, what I heard a moment ago…….”
“A passionate confession directed at the president?”
A passionate confession.
“You heard it?”
“How could I…… not hear that? It even felt like she was determined to spread the rumor throughout the company and make sure it reached the president’s ears.”
So I didn’t hear it wrong.
“She must really like the president. Judging by how she loudly declares that she likes someone who even has a fiancée. Just how much do you have to like someone to do that?”
Is it possible to like someone that much, to have feelings like that?
“Well, how many employees do you think like the president?”
Ihun’s lips twitched as his eyes widened.
“There are more?”
At Ihun’s question, Donghyun made an incredulous expression.
With that face, wouldn’t it be harder for there to be none……?
“I wouldn’t know for sure, but there must be quite a few, right?”
“Are you asking me?”
Why are you asking me? Is this mockery?
“There…… probably are.”
When Ihun furrowed his brow, Dohyun clasped his hands together.
“I’ll look into it.”
“Don’t you have work to do, going around looking into something like that? Don’t report information unless you’re certain it’s true.”
It probably is certain, though.
Dohyun muttered to himself before finally asking the question he had been curious about since this morning.
“But what did you investigate today? You could have asked me to do something like that. Was it urgent? Or important…….”
‘A passionate confession directed at the president?’
Dohyun kept saying something, but all Ihun could hear was the cry of a star and the deep echo lingering in his chest.
What is the feeling of liking someone?
Come to think of it, he had never felt anything like that in his life.
No, he had never experienced emotions very strongly in the first place.
‘Brother, I heard you’re getting married. Is it really okay to get married like this?’
……Marriage.
When Cheolmin had set the wedding date, Ihun’s first thought had been, ‘Will my schedule be free then?’
Without any emotion or sentiment.
Because to him, marriage was nothing more than business.
‘If I really were to get married, I’d want to marry the president! I like him so much!’
The employee he had met at the emergency exit had said that she liked me so much that she wanted to marry me. She had definitely said that.
That must be how ordinary people get married.
But what about me?
A marriage without even knowing my own feelings.
A marriage done as business, without any feelings of affection.
……Is this really okay?
“Should I break off the engagement?”
“Did you need a background check because of the broken engagement? If that’s the case, you could have told me…… Yes? Break off the engagement?”
Dohyun asked in a loud voice, his eyes widening dramatically.
“Did you just say break off the engagement? Is something wrong? D-Did that confession earlier…….”.
“Why? Do I look like some lunatic who would break off an engagement because of one confession?”
Uh…… judging by that look in your eyes right now…… maybe a little?
The Ihun Dohyun had observed until now was not someone who would do such a thing.
But right now, there was somehow a hint of madness flickering in his eyes.
“If that’s not it, then why are you suddenly saying that…….”
“I was joking.”
“Y-You joke too?”
As he inwardly wiped away sweat in relief, Ihun continued staring at the elevator numbers changing with a frightening expression.
President…… sir?
Well, he must have just said it without meaning it…… right?
That confession earlier was rather sensational, but someone who had probably received at least three confession letters every day since childhood wouldn’t break off his engagement…… over something like that, would he?
If the president gets married, he’ll work less and go home early, and then maybe I can start leaving work on time, too.
The president gets married, and I leave work on time.
That’s our happy ending, President.
Right?
Right, President?
It is, right?
It must be.
It absolutely has to be…!
Dohyun repeatedly wiped the sweat from his forehead in an effort to regain his composure.
***
The ominous premonition did not disappear.
Ihun’s attire, which had never once been disheveled, had completely changed over the course of a few days.
With the front of his shirt left open and his sleeves rolled all the way up.
Even his usually immaculate hairstyle had become disheveled, with a few strands of hair falling over his forehead.
As though he were a male lion lying in the middle of a vast grassland.
There was an unmistakably sexy and languid, bad-boy aura about him.
“President, as I mentioned yesterday, there are matters you need to approve by the end of this week.”
Thud.
The rubber ball that had left Ihun’s hand struck the wall and returned to his hand.
“The most urgent matter is the approval for the new business investment. It’s a proposal to increase the amount by 20 billion won…….”
Thud. Once again, the ball struck the wall.
While Dohyun was giving his report, there was no response, and only the ball continued going back and forth.
Had he become so obsessed with work that even exercising was considered a waste of time, so he was now working out while working?
With this walking machine, it certainly seemed possible.
Dohyun took a deep breath.
“President? Why are you suddenly playing with a ball?”
“Ah, this? It’s just good for relieving stress.”
Then he threw and caught the ball once more with another thud.
“Why are you suddenly doing something like this that doesn’t seem like you…….”
“What was it that made me, me?”
“Pardon?”
Plop. As though he had lost interest, Ihun tossed the ball onto the sofa and straightened his posture.
“What happened with what I asked you to find out?”
“Ah, that.”
Dohyun flipped through his planner.
“Her name is Lee Dana. There are four members in her family, and she is the eldest daughter of two daughters. She graduated from Hankuk University and joined our company’s Public Relations Department two years ago.”
Lee Dana…… Hankuk University…… Public Relations Department…….
Ihun mulled over Dohyun’s words as though engraving them into his mind.
“She’s diligent, so she has never been late even once, she gets along well with her colleagues, and she has a good reputation for being very respectful toward her superiors. Unless she meets her friends or goes to exercise after work, she tends to go straight home early.”
“…….”
“She paid for three months at a gym but only went for two weeks, and she hasn’t gone back since.”
“Is she ill?”
“No. She’s, well, perfectly normal…… I suppose.”
One of Ihun’s eyebrows rose crookedly.
Is it normal to pay for three months at a gym and only go for two weeks?
“We’ve confirmed that she currently has no boyfriend.”
Right. She doesn’t have a boyfriend.
Makes sense. Because she likes me?
Ihun nodded. But no further words followed.
“Is that all?”
“Ah, yes. Nothing particularly special came up……. Even if she’s ordinary, she’s unusually ordinary.”
As Ihun stared at him, Dohyun rummaged through the documents, which contained nothing else of note.
“Uh…… s-she eats well, too. Her eyes are clear, so I suppose she sleeps well, too…….”
“Where?”
“Pardon?”
“Where does she eat well?”
“Pardon? Well…… wouldn’t she eat at the company cafeteria?”
“Are you asking me?”
“She probably does…… I’ll find out.”
“That’s enough.”
Ihun stood up from his seat.
“I can find out myself.”
“Yes? What do you mean…… President? Where are you suddenly going?”
Ihun, who was already standing by the door, turned to look at Dohyun.
