Chapter 101
Harin... please co back soon.
Just as I was thinking that—
“Found you, my cheeky junior!”
“W-What!?”
An arm suddenly hooked itself around the back of my neck, nearly causing to stumble forward from the sudden pull.
My heart almost jumped out of my chest as I quickly turned around in surprise.
“Daejin sunbae?”
The man laughed quietly after seeing my reaction.
“Who else were you expecting?”
“Sunbae!”
I grabbed his arm imdiately while trying to steady my breathing.
“You scared !”
Instead of letting go, Daejin tightened his arm around my shoulders.
“This is what you get for making yourself so hard to approach. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for Secretary Yoo to leave the office so I could finally talk to you?”
“Really? Surely it’s not that hard to just talk to , right?”
“The hell it isn’t. Secretary Yoo warned all of us not to engage with you unnecessarily unless it’s work-related. We all want to talk to you casually, you know, but we’re more afraid of her finding out and putting our careers here at risk.”
“Really? She did that?”
“Yes!”
I could only shake my head after hearing that.
Honestly, this was exactly what I ant when I said Harin and Yuna always did whatever they wanted.
Daejin seed to notice my expression because his teasing smile softened slightly as he looked at .
“It’s pretty tough huh?”
“Hm?”
I didn’t quite understand what he ant, but he subtly nodded his head toward Yuna’s office.
“To handle Madam Han all by yourself without Secretary Yoo around. Not to ntion it’s only been a few days since you started working here. We all feel sorry for you right now.”
I could only laugh awkwardly in response.
“Kinda… but she seems pretty nice, actually.”
“Now that you ntion it, I noticed that too. But for the past few years, you have no idea how scary and strict she used to be. Everything changed quite drastically after the late Chairman fell sick, and her attitude softened even more after he passed away.”
“I see.”
I found myself glancing toward Yuna’s office again.
For so reason, it was difficult to imagine the gentle woman I had just t being intimidating.
“Anyway, Sunbaenim.”
I gently removed his arm from my shoulders.
“If you’ll excuse , I actually have sothing I need to do.”
“Already? You really hate talking to , don’t you?”
“I’m not!”
I imdiately protested.
“You can still talk to after work, can’t you? And besides…”
I pointed toward his desk.
A mountain of docunts was piled on top of it.
“Don’t you have your own work to do, Sunbae? If Secretary Yoo catches you wandering around, don’t drag down with you.”
“Ugh, now that you've shown those files, I feel even less motivated to finish them.”
“Fighting, Sunbae.”
“But before you go, Haemin.”
“Hm?”
Daejin suddenly looked unusually serious.
“If you happen to run into Jiyoo today… make sure you pretend to be dead.”
“What?”
“Or suddenly faint. Anything works.”
“Huh? What are you even talking about, Sunbae?”
“I’m being serious. She’s really pissed off right now and feels completely betrayed by you.
“Wait, why?”
“Because—”
Before Daejin could finish his sentence—
“Because of what exactly?”
A dangerous voice suddenly appeared behind us.
We both froze on the spot.
Slowly, we turned around.
Jiyoo was already standing right behind us, arms crossed.
Without wasting any ti, she reached out and grabbed Daejin’s ear.
“Ow!”
“Kang Daejin.”
Her smile looked terrifying.
“What exactly are you telling Haemin about ? Are you badmouthing in front of him?”
She twisted his ear harder.
“Ow! Ow! Ow! I’m not!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
Then she turned her sharp gaze toward .
“Is it true, Haemin?”
Looking at Daejin sunbae’s pitiful expression, I imdiately decided to help him.
“Yes, Noona! He’s not badmouthing you. He was… yeah, he was praising you. He’s saying how hardworking and important you are to this company. He said nobody can handle things as efficiently as you and he can’t help but respect you for it.”
Daejin imdiately nodded.
“Exactly!”
He pointed at dramatically.
“See? Haemin understands . I was literally just saying how amazing you are.”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
Daejin nodded rapidly.
Then, after a few seconds of consideration, Jiyoo finally released Daejin’s ears.
“Then it’s fine.”
She really was terrifying.
Daejin imdiately grabbed his ear.
“Seriously, Jiyoo, can’t you be a little kinder? My ear actually hurts, you know. Keep acting like this and no man is ever going to want you.”
Jiyoo looked completely unbothered.
“Like I care about that. And what are you still doing here? Go finish your work.”
“Cold.”
He dramatically wiped away imaginary tears before turning around.
Jiyoo imdiately grabbed a nearby file.
“I’m going! I’m going!”
I couldn’t help laughing as he hurried back toward his desk.
It was only and Jiyoo now.
“So… Noona…”
I pointed vaguely in another direction.
“I’ll excuse myself first.”
“Where exactly do you think you’re going, my junior?”
“Yes?”
My heart imdiately sank.
“There are a lot of questions I want to ask you.”
A dangerous smile slowly appeared on her face.
“Let’s go to your desk.”
I was screwed.
She looked genuinely pissed, just like Daejin sunbae had said.
And sohow, I already knew exactly what kind of questions were coming.
The mont we reached my desk, Jiyoo imdiately pushed my shoulder.
“Here. Sit down.”
I dropped into my chair.
She pulled another chair over and sat directly in front of .
Without wasting any ti—
“Haemin, what’s all this news about?”
“Is it true you went out with Ms. Hwang?”
“Are you in relationship with her?”
The questions ca so fast that I couldn’t even process them properly.
“Did you already know her before you started working here?”
I instinctively turned my head toward Daejin’s desk. He was already sitting comfortably, watching the scene with amusent.
*The question continued*
When our eyes t, he silently raised a thumb and gave a sympathetic “good luck” look.
Seriously this guy.
I let out another sigh before turning my attention back toward Jiyoo noona.
“Noona, one question at a ti, please.”
Jiyoo crossed her arms.
“Fine.”
Then she leaned forward.
“Now explain.”
“Noona, what happened last night isn’t what it looked like. It just…”
Since there was no point trying to hide everything without giving a reasonable explanation, I decided to tell her the truth. But without revealing too many details about how close Sera and I actually were.
I denied all the rumors that I was passing information to her and explained that my appointnt as a diator between the two companies only happened because Sera trusted and Yuna approved it.
I also added that Yuna already knew Sera and I knew each other before I was hired.
Throughout the entire explanation, Jiyoo simply listened quietly without interrupting.
Honestly, I didn’t expect her to believe everything I said anyway.
Eventually, my explanation ca to an end.
For a few monts, she remained silent before letting out a long sigh and shaking her head.
“You’ve really been having a hard ti lately, haven’t you?”
I could only smile awkwardly.
“Kinda.”
“Seriously, Haemin, your face really drives won crazy, doesn’t it? To think you even won Ms. Hwang’s heart...”
“Noona, what are you talking about?! We’re not in a relationship!”
Jiyoo laughed softly.
“I’m just kidding. But look, I’m sure Harin already lectured you about how careless your actions were last night, so I’m not going to repeat everything she probably said.”
That was unexpected.
“I’m sorry for pressuring you to explain everything, Haemin. But I did this because I was worried about you. Most people are still skeptical because they don’t know what really happened. Rumors tend to spread faster than facts in a company like this.
She folded her arms.
“But I’ll help clear up the misunderstandings whenever I can.”
Her words caught off guard.
“You… trust , Noona?”
She smiled gently.
“Of course I do. I know how to read people. And I know you’re telling the truth.”
I felt a wave of relief wash over .
“But Haemin.”
Her expression turned serious again.
“I’m hoping that’s really all there is to this situation.”
“What do you an by that?”
Jiyoo rested her elbow on the desk.
“I an I hope you’re not hiding anything else that could create bigger problems for the company later.”
“No?”
“Good.”
Her gaze remained fixed on .
“Because as part of the legal team, if the board start pushing for a formal investigation into this… I might not be able to protect you. And when that happens, I’ll probably end up on the opposite side of Harin.”
“She’ll obviously do everything she can to protect you, and I’ll be obligated to do my job. Neither of us wants that situation. So I’m asking you again, is that really all there is to it?”
I nodded quickly.
“Yes. That’s everything.”
For several seconds, she simply studied my face before finally smiling again.
“Okay.”
Just like that, the tension disappeared.
“That’s all I wanted to know.”
She then stood up and gave my shoulder a light pat.
“Also, if Harin isn’t around and you need help with anything, co find , okay?”
“O–Okay”
She smiled one last ti before walking away.
I watched her leave before letting out a quiet sigh of relief.
She really could turn scary in an instant.
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