“What have you done!”
Tae Seo did not let a single breath waver over the phone at Shin Jae’s scolding. He had anticipated the chairman’s rage since deciding not to participate in the rebidding and redevelopment of Hwami Apartments.
This morning, Tae Seo officially announced that Kang Sun Construction would not participate in the bid.
Since Tae Seo held full authority over the project, he proceeded with the decision without approval from the higher-ups. It was inevitable that the atmosphere at Kang Sun Construction would turn icy in an instant.
“If you’re going to do a job like that, you might as well give up your position as head of department.”
At the expected suggestion to relinquish his position, Tae Seo smirked. Was it only the head of department position they wanted him to give up? If it were up to him, he would prefer to send it away to someplace out of sight, be it America or England.
He never wanted the position of head of department in the first place. As soon as he was appointed, he was belatedly instructed by the chairman to participate in the Gangnam redevelopment project.
It was incomprehensible. Most redevelopment projects required demolition and rebuilding, which would cost several times more.
Moreover, prices for all sorts of materials had soared worldwide. Plus, it was prime land in Gangnam. When considering the costs of negotiating with the existing residents to proceed with the project, it was a loss.
Kang Sun Construction, known for building roads and landmarks overseas and leading new city projects, had no need to undertake a losing project.
“If you can’t handle it, you should have said so from the start! The selection of the construction company is tomorrow, why announce non-participation in the bid now!”
Would it have been accepted if he had said from the start that he couldn’t do it? No. In the end, it was just an order to find fault.
The Gangnam redevelopment project was an opportunity to blame Tae Seo, whether the bid was won or not. Kang Shin Jae was irked by the presence of Kang Tae Seo, who closely resembled himself.
As soon as the non-participation was announced, the news spread quickly. Tae Seo thought he might soon be called to the chairman’s office.
It was only natural for him, the person in charge, to be called. But it seemed that the anger over the mishandling of the situation was less than the desire not to face him. That must be why he was called.
“You will be responsible for this.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Tae Seo’s voice, in response, was as calm as ever. He knew well that this calmness would only fuel Shin Jae’s anger.
Kang Shin Jae probably wished Kang Tae Seo was incapable. Would he have preferred if Tae Seo lived like a wastrel, squandering money? Maybe he would have pretended to sympathize if Tae Seo had ruined his life due to a past trauma.
There had been rare occasions for a one-on-one with the chairman. But even then, Shin Jae did not look at Tae Seo. This was the same for Tae Seo, who had learned to ignore his biological father from an early age.
“Father! Look! My report card…….”
“Who’s your father?”
“…….”
His mother, Yu Jung Ha, and he had been staying in England, and it was just a brief return to Korea. It was after he finished his first semester at primary school.
Young Tae Seo, with his report card and award in his small hands, mustered the courage to call out to Shin Jae. He wanted to boast about his achievement of receiving OS (Outstanding) in all subjects. He wanted to be praised and acknowledged.
“Who said you could call me your father?”
“Father…….”
“There’s no one you should call father.”
“…….”
“Live as if you’re dead. Don’t draw attention to yourself.”
That was the first and last time their gazes truly met. The words his biological father handed down were too cruel for a five-year-old to hear.
Intelligent Tae Seo clenched his mouth shut and looked down. He was not naive enough to be unaware of the coldness and hatred dripping from the gaze and tone.
He had followed his father’s heels as he passed by and entered his room. Standing in the middle of his own living room, he felt abandoned.
Tae Seo, who had stood still for a while, was moved to his room by a servant who found his stillness odd.
After that, he fell ill for days. Since then, there had never been a time when Tae Seo called his biological father ‘father’. Before he started working, and even after, to him, his father was always ‘Chairman’.
Tae Seo’s father, Chairman Kang Shin Jae, referred to Tae Seo as the head of the department. This was true in the rare private moments, as well as in public. Before assigning him the department head role, he called him “that child.” But most of the time, he didn’t call him anything at all.
“Take your hands off your work for the time being. There’s no need to come in until I tell you otherwise.”
“I will do as you say.”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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