Chapter 70

“Ms. Na-Yool cannot even start such a relationship. She cannot stand being entangled with a male employee, not even a little…”

Awkwardness, oh awkwardness, where do you come from? Is it because the already entangled man is right here, hearing this face-to-face?

“…Because she is not the kind of person to act lightly with no consideration for her reputation. That’s what is ‘upright’ about her. And she really conducts herself admirably.”

Recalling Hee-Jung had previously told her to be more open-minded and to consider dating someone closer to her even if it is a coworker, now what a turnaround! The truth is, Na-Yool’s entanglement with Si-Jin had her sitting on pins and needles, as she was not exactly ‘upright’ nor had ‘conducted herself admirably’ since then.

“And, well, moreover, is Ms. Na-Yool someone who plays around at work? With how hardworking she is! And how busy she is every day with just her own workload. Of course, no one is as busy as you are, Mr. President, but…”

“Even busy people who date, date.  They sometimes even skip sleep to make time for it.”

“Of course, it often happens, but Ms. Na-Yool is…”

“I know. A very upright person indeed.”

Please, just make fun of me already. I can’t play along with that fake serious expression of yours…

Si-Jin’s meaningful eyes turned to Na-Yool.

“Apart from that, personally, I don’t think office dating is particularly bad. As long as work does not suffer any setbacks, the employee’s private life is irrelevant. Rather, I think it can be a motivation for work. The same goes for Kim Na-Yool and Lee Seung-Jae.”

What the heck are you saying.

“The workload is intense, so I can’t limit your freedom to that extent. Even when you’re facing each other all day, I know it must be hard to make eye-contact.”

“……”

“So in conclusion, I hope you will not think of the company as too rigid. All of you.”

“Of course, we always think of it as our home…”

How could employees possibly feel comfortable in a company where their boss goes to work every single day?! Every Monday started with a lump in their throat…

At this point, it was hard to keep up with Si-Jin’s thoughts, whatever he said. Pondering in confusion whether she should answer back or not, Hee-Jung nervously looked at Na-Yool. Familiar with Si-Jin’s speech, Na-Yool clearly knew his words were not to be taken at face value, and that chances were high it was a trap.

But, at this rate, Hee-Jung was on the verge to fall in the trap and confess about Na-Yool’s (inexistant) relationship. Therefore, although awkward, it was mutually beneficial to help Hee-Jung out in some way or another.

Na-Yool reluctantly spoke up.

“… Come to think of it, Park PD said he was looking for the person in charge of outsourcing to ask about the contract form, did you get his message when you arrived?”

It must have been about 2 or 3 seconds. After unknowingly grabbing Na-Yool’s forearm, Hee-Jung flinched and nodded her head.

“Oh, I didn’t see it. At all. I haven’t even turned on my computer yet…”

“Then you should go quickly. Park PD seems to be very busy.”

“Is that so?”

Hee-Jung inwardly rejoiced, but then looked back at Na-Yool as if asking if it was really alright to leave her here on her own. Then, as soon as Na-Yool’s eyes gave their reticent approval, she quickly disappeared from the break room.

The front of the coffee machine, which used to be crowded by several people every morning, was especially quiet today. Na-Yool wished for someone ‒ even the annoying middle-aged men ‒ to come stroll in. But all she got was grievance towards those missing people, responsible for her being alone with Si-Jin.

“I also have some work to catch up with, so…”

“You, you’re good at playing around.”

“……”

If it had been Si-jin’s house, she would have pretended not to hear it and walked away. But this was the company. Steered by the subordinate status ingrained in her body, Na-Yool instinctively stopped in her tracks.

No matter how many times they had quarreled together, ultimately, he was still her boss. And once the boss opens his mouth, the conversation is implicitly never over until he closes it again.

“It’s different from what I heard before.”

“Not really.”

“About Lee Seung-Jae.”

“I am telling you it’s not.”

“If Ms. Kim Na-Yool says so.”

This damn “So that’s how you’re gonna play it” tone. This spiteful yap. This incomparably relaxed face. Each one of them is so hateful. To the point she was baffled that yet, she did not hate it that much, overall.

“When was that ‘before’, exactly?” Na-Yool asked.

“It’s not something you said, but something Shin Hee-Jung did.”

Si-Jin took a sip of the carbonated drink and calmly regained a tone appropriate for the time and place. [T/N: From here, he drops casual speech and speaks in a more formal way.]

“……”

“To be precise, it was when Shin Hee-Jung and Park PD were excitedly chit chatting about you.”

Unaware that such a thing had happened, Na-Yool felt stress build up anew. She let out a deep sigh from within. Si-Jin clicked his tongue.

“Such an exhausted sigh, right from early morning?”

His reprimanding attitude, like an elder spurning her for bringing bad karma, weirdly suited him. Na-Yool shook her head sideways.

“Whatever people in the company are gossiping about, it has nothing to do with me.”

“Half the topic is Ms. Kim Na-Yool herself, but it doesn’t concern you?”

“I neither created those rumors, and neither are they true.”

“How surprisingly upright of you.”

“Even a third party said I am upright. Nothing surprising about it.”

“I didn’t think you were the kind to believe everything others say.”

“My uprightness is a fact.”

As Na-Yool shrugged her shoulders to defy him to say otherwise, a slightly wider smirk spread on Si-Jin’s already smiling face. She had seen that gaze before. Like eyes looking at something very small and cute.

It felt like she was treated like a puppy. Therefore, even if she considered it as being watched under a favorable light by someone like Kwon Si-Jin, it did not feel that good.

“I do not want to struggle over something I cannot do anything about. And I do not want to let others entertain themselves with it either.”

For that matter, she had been busy expressing her aversion concerning the rumors, but so what? After all, he did not know about it.

Si-Jin pointed his chin towards the mug Na-Yool was holding to gesture to her to drink it. Seemingly showing mercy, he then changed the conversation topic.

“I’m the one assigning work. I know you don’t have much to do yet.”

“I do have a proposal to review.”

“The previous version was good. Didn’t I check it?”

“You said you really hated the pop-up page of SongYoung Construction.”

“When did I.”

“You said it 3 more times while dropping me off at my house yesterday though…”

Na-Yool wrapped with both hands the mug that had cooled down and spoke in an extremely polite manner. It was because the more modest and respectful her words and actions were, the more appropriate distance could be found.

Of course, Si-Jin could not care less.

“I changed my mind. Looking at it again, I like the positioning of the typography.”

“Isn’t it the only thing you said you liked? What do you mean, ‘changed my mind’…”

“The softness of the font is also nice, and the image layout is good.”

“But just with this font and layout, it is not complete yet.”

“Isn’t not completing it your distinct signature? I just thought that sometimes it’s fine to let it go.”

What a shameless glib-tongued poser.

“… Please just hire more staff already. If possible, someone who will miraculously satisfy you on every project.”

“Sorry, I’ve never met such a person.”

“Yeah, go figure…”

“I am looking for one, but I assure you, it won’t make much of a difference.”

“Thanks to you, I am not looking forward to it at all.” Despite her worn-out voice, Na-Yool was sort of delighted hearing that info. After all, he was not one to say empty words. Si-Jin indifferently went on without detecting her faint excitement. [T/N: She’s happy to know he is looking into it, because more people = less work for her to do.]