Chapter 8. Is It a Coincidence, and Not Fate?
……Does the President not work these days?
“Good afternoon, President!”
“We meet again, Ms. Lee Dana.”
Are we even meeting in the elevator now?
Well, I suppose that could happen. The elevator belongs to everyone who works at this company.
“Are you coming back from a meeting?”
“Yes. What about you, President…….”
Oops, I almost naturally asked about the President’s business because we had been meeting so often. What an impertinent employee.
“The weather is nice today, President.”
“It’s raining.”
“I, I like the rain. I like heavy rain, too, and hail, and commuting to work on rainy days is the best…….”
Dana realized for the first time that she was this kind of person.
Was she really someone who fawned like this in front of her superiors?
Was she really capable of becoming this servile…?
But then, suddenly, as if he were about to pin her against the wall, a long arm reached toward her.
No, is this where the story goes……!
Thump, thump. Her heart raced shamelessly. But then.
“What floor?”
“Huh? Just the third floor…….”
He pressed the elevator button for her and stepped back.
Oh. Had she been so flustered that she had forgotten to press the button?
“Good work.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you…….”
When the doors opened, the President stepped out of the elevator first.
Oh, seriously. Sigh. I’m so nervous I’m going to die before my time, seriously.
She finally let out a relieved breath. It seemed as though the President’s faint scent still lingered in the elevator.
This is exhausting, President. Please, let’s never meet again!
……That was what she thought.
But even after that, the accidental encounters kept happening at meeting observations, the rooftop garden, the archives, and so on!
Every time, she had to bow and scrape so much.
Slumped over her office chair like a completely exhausted person, she suddenly felt puzzled.
What was this fatigue?
It felt like she was meeting the President every single day lately. Why on earth was this happening?
No matter how she thought about it, there was no reason for an ordinary employee to run into the President this often.
……Could it be?
“That confession?”
***
Dana peeked outside from inside the restroom.
He’s not there, right? He’s not there?
Surely they wouldn’t run into each other even in the restroom.
Especially the President.
But there was a reason people said that the unexpected could catch you off guard.
“What are you doing, Lee Dana?”
“You scared me.”
Dana flinched at Yoonseo, who whispered from behind her.
“Why aren’t you going to the conference room?”
“I am.”
Even so, she didn’t take a single step, instead rolling her eyes around in every direction.
She poked her nose out and sniffed, and for now, there didn’t seem to be any trace of the President nearby.
By now, she could tell how close he was just by his scent, but there was still no sign of him.
“Lee Dana, aren’t you coming? I’m in charge of today’s meeting materials, so I have to get there quickly.”
Dana grabbed Yoonseo as she was leaving the restroom.
“You know, I’m asking because I feel like I might be mistaken, so could you pour some cold water over me?”
Without hesitation, Yoonseo turned on the sink. Dana hurriedly stopped her.
“No, with words! Pour it over me with words.”
“What is it?”
“……The President. I feel like I’ve been seeing him around a lot lately.”
“Really? The President? But why? Is it because you like him so much?”
“I just wondered if maybe it was because of my confession…….”
“What does your confession have to do with seeing the President often?”
“Well, the President heard me confess, right? Maybe he’s bothered by that confession and keeps lingering around me…….”
Pfft.
Yoonseo burst out laughing and quickly covered her mouth. Dana glared at her.
“I know, okay? I know how ridiculous a thought that is. But no matter how I think about it, it’s strange. I keep running into the President, whom I had never encountered even once, ever since that confession…….”
“So what you’re saying is, the President heard your confession and you’ve been on his mind so much that he keeps circling around you? It’s not like he likes you, and he didn’t even hear you confess directly. He just happened to overhear it and came to see you?”
When she put it that way, it really was far too absurd to make any sense.
That busy man, no, that heavenly king, why would he loiter around this humble servant just to see her?
“He wouldn’t, right?”
“No. He wouldn’t. The President is getting married soon.”
“Huh? Married?”
“You know the President has a fiancée. Baek Seorin of Dongyeon Group. They say she’s prettier than a celebrity in person. Everyone’s saying the wedding date has been set. You didn’t know?”
“I’m busy enough with work. When would I have time to worry about whether the President has set a wedding date?”
“What are you talking about? If the person you like is getting married, how can you not care? You like the President that much.”
“Huh? Oh, uh, right. I do like the President. He’s the only person I can see…….”
At this point, she wondered if she really should start liking him.
She kept forgetting.
Just as she was wondering whether she should stick a yellow memo on her desk as a reminder.
“……I’m sorry.”
Yoonseo suddenly spoke with an extremely sympathetic expression.
“I can’t say anything positive when you like the President.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like I didn’t know the President was engaged. If he’s engaged, of course he’ll get married. But when is the date?”
“They say it’s in two or three months.”
It was definitely an unfounded worry. And it had all been a misunderstanding.
Of course.
There was no way the President would come to the company cafeteria to see her, come to the break room, conduct a departmental inspection, and keep meeting her under the guise of coincidence.
Who was she, anyway?
She was ashamed of herself for having even briefly worried that the President might have been bothered by that confession after hearing it.
Besides, when she searched online for photos of Baek Seorin of Dongyeon Group, it became clear that it really was an utterly impossible notion.
She had actually thought that a man who was going to marry a woman like that would be loitering around her?
Even the President had a face that looked like it had been carved by the gods?
She had thought such a man had come to see her?
“Haha. Lee Dana, you really are something.”
Let’s not have ridiculous misunderstandings in front of a man who is about to get married.
They really are a heavenly pair. Bless you both.
Dana quietly clapped.
But.
What were the odds of an ordinary employee running into the President on her way home from work?
“What a coincidence, Ms. Lee Dana.”
……Really? We live in different places, and we even take different routes home?
At this point, isn’t this a coincidence of the level of fate?
These things keep happening over and over, so how am I supposed not to misunderstand it?
“…….”
Of course I won’t misunderstand. They say he’s getting married in three months.
A heavenly woman and a heavenly man.
“Good afternoon, President!”
She greeted him brightly.
“You’re still energetic even though it’s time to go home. Get in. I’ll take you home.”
“What? No, no. It must be a hassle for you, so I’m fine.”
“What if it isn’t a hassle? It’s fine, so get in. I’m not the one driving, anyway.”
He opened the car door for her himself.
“Uh…….”
Her gaze suddenly turned toward his car.
It was pitch-black and gleaming….
A Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class!
Price: approximately 320 million to 400 million won.
The highest-end line of the Benz S-Class, the pinnacle of luxury.
Equipped with either a V8 4.0-liter twin-turbo engine or a V12 6.0-liter engine. With a 0-to-100 km/h time in the 4–5 second range, it had sports-car-level acceleration despite being a large sedan.
And what about the interior?
Wood trim, premium Nappa leather, and massage seats.
A smooth ride that felt ‘like floating on clouds.’
Soundproofing so thorough that it was quiet enough to make you feel the silence.
The odds of ever riding in a car like this in her lifetime were lower than the odds of the President actually following her around!
“Then I’d appreciate it if you could drop me off along the way.”
She slipped into the car.
As soon as her insignificant body entered such a precious car, it automatically became polite.
Silence flowed.
It really is because the car is so good that it doesn’t even feel like I’m inside a car.
It wasn’t just quiet. It was almost embarrassing.
Would I look arrogant if I just sat here? Should I say something?
“Ms. Lee Dana, is there anyone you’re having dinner with tonight?”
She was one step too late. The President had started making small talk.
Is this how you’re going to conduct yourself in society, Lee Dana?
“I don’t. The company is far from my family home, so I live on my own.”
“Same here.”
“Oh, so you live on your own too, President.”
There was nothing particularly wrong with what she said, but why did the phrase ‘live on my own’ sound so out of place?
Perhaps he felt the same way, because he suddenly gave a small laugh.
Haha. She also gave an awkward smile.
“Ms. Lee Dana.”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to have dinner with me?”
“Ah, yes, yes!”
What?
Office worker Lee Dana answered before she could even think instinctively.
