An Instinctive Proposal (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
How could there be someone like that?
She shared the same space and time with him, yet he felt as if he existed in an entirely different dimension.
An indescribable aura radiated from his body.
“…Yeon Woo. Ms. Seo Yeon Woo?”
“Yes!”
Startled by the sudden voice near her ear, Yeon Woo snapped upright.
She’d been so entranced staring at the man that she’d completely missed the question directed at her.
The man let out a derisive snort.
“You must be sleepy. Guess it’s tiring coming all the way to Seoul just for an interview.”
She felt dizzy. What on earth had she been thinking about in the middle of an interview?
“If you’re going to doze off with your eyes open during an interview, just go home and sleep. Why waste your time coming all the way here?”
“I’m sorry. I was just nervous. If you could please ask the question once more…”
“Thank you for your time.”
Without even glancing at Yeon Woo’s resume, the man flipped it over and shoved it aside.
Yeon Woo had no choice but to leave the interview room as if she’d been chased out.
‘I must’ve been out of my mind.’
Overwhelming regret crushed her—she’d ruined the interview for such an absurd reason.
She’d failed final interviews before, but never like this. The emptiness and futility were so crushing her knees nearly gave out.
This interview had been especially important.
Tae Sung BioLogics was the one place she absolutely wanted to get into, even if she failed every other interview.
Their salary and benefits were the highest in the industry.
The company’s image as a global conglomerate appealed to her, and part of her also wanted to see what kind of person her second grandson—who’d become CEO—really was.
‘How foolish.’
Yet she’d just thrown away her only chance.
Unable to leave the interview area right away because of the lingering disappointment, Yeon Woo finally made it down to the first floor after some time had passed.
Just as she reached the lobby and decided she might as well buy Sun Ok’s favorite dessert since she’d come all the way to Seoul…
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
Before she could fully exit the lobby, she spotted a man walking toward her from afar.
The very interviewer who’d stolen her composure.
The same man who’d coldly greeted her and flipped her resume over.
She’d thought it was all over, but now that she saw him again, her legs moved on their own.
It felt like a last chance granted by fate.
She had to do something—anything—to change his mind.
“Hello!”
Yeon Woo approached him and bowed deeply.
When she lifted her head, he was looking down at her with lowered eyes.
She sucked in a sharp breath.
His dark eyes were like a predator’s. Intimidated by his raw, untamed presence, Yeon Woo clasped her hands tightly together.
“I’m sorry for blocking your path. You might not remember me, but I was the one who had an interview with you earlier.”
His eyes swept over her impassively. He clearly remembered.
“I apologize again for my rudeness in the interview room. But there’s something I really wanted to say—I wasn’t dozing off or being careless at all. Quite the opposite; I was just extremely nervous…”
“Were you stuck here because of that?”
Unexpectedly, the man chuckled.
Yeon Woo’s eyes widened as she looked up at him. He felt entirely different from the man she’d met in the interview room.
He had a face that suited smiling.
His previously sharp, intense gaze now seemed softened—perhaps by the afternoon sunlight.
“I really wanted to clear up that misunderstanding. Thank you for hearing me out.”
Regaining her composure, Yeon Woo bowed deeply, hands still clasped together.
Then she quickly stepped aside, not wanting to take up any more of his time.
“What’s your name?”
But suddenly, he asked.
“Seo Yeon Woo.”
As soon as she answered, he tilted his head slightly and asked,
“Do you have any special talents?”
Her lips trembled slightly in surprise. His sudden question about talents felt loaded with intent.
“I mean, something you’re particularly good at—something that sets you apart from others.”
He kindly clarified.
“I’m meticulous and very responsible.”
“Everyone claims they’re meticulous and responsible. Got anything else?”
His mocking tone made her throat tighten.
“I…”
What should she say?
She’d never been quick-witted, and now her mind was pitch black in front of him.
With every passing second, cold sweat trickled down her back. She knew this question might be her last chance, yet her mouth refused to open.
But saying something—anything—was better than silence.
Gripping her clasped hands tighter, Yeon Woo blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I smile well.”
And as she gave him a bright smile, the man stared straight at her.
He let out a quiet laugh.
Almost a scoff.
“I see.”
It was obviously the wrong answer, and shame washed over her—but she kept smiling as if nothing had happened.
“I’ve got it. Go home and get some sleep.”
With that final remark, the man brushed past her.
His expression once again turned blank and indifferent, as if he’d never spoken to her at all.
She couldn’t sleep well that night, consumed by self-reproach for having kicked away even her last chance.
So when she eventually received the final acceptance notice some time later, Yeon Woo felt as if the world were playing a trick on her.
She recalled the man’s mocking laugh.
And immediately after, a complicated mix of emotions rushed in.
More than the joy of finally becoming an office worker, she felt a stronger anticipation—of possibly seeing that man again.
New employee training had begun.
At the training center in Yongin, Yeon Woo gradually adjusted to her new life.
Sharing meals and living together in the same place naturally deepened her bond with her fellow trainees.
“Have you all heard the rumors about the CEO? I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s really like.”
It was lunchtime after the morning session. Yeon Woo looked up from her plate of spicy stir-fried pork.
“Same here. It’d be nice if we at least knew his age.”
“Do they really need to keep it that secret? What if we accidentally meet him and make a fool of ourselves?”
“No way. They say he has a big scar on his face—you’d recognize him instantly.”
The trainees were intensely curious about the CEO, whose presence circulated only through hearsay.
Yeon Woo was no exception.
The scar itself didn’t matter to her; she was just worried about making a mistake in front of him.
After all, she’d already done that in front of that man.
“But maybe only you’ll be fine, Yeon Woo.”
Just then, Lee Kyung Ho—a fellow trainee from her group who’d quickly grown close to her—turned toward her and said,
“You’re going straight into the CEO’s secretarial office.”
All eyes immediately turned to Yeon Woo. She awkwardly smiled, chopsticks still in her mouth.
“That’s right. You joined directly as a secretary, didn’t you? So you won’t go through department rotation like the rest of us.”
“You’ll end up knowing the CEO better than any of us. You’ll have to share some juicy stories later.”
“Yes.”
At that moment, none of them could have imagined it.
That the rumored CEO would turn out to be someone so utterly unexpected.
Her chance to see again the man who’d haunted her thoughts since the interview day came far sooner than she expected.
“The CEO will be visiting today. Remember, this is the person you’ll be serving—please behave appropriately.”
She thought, Today’s the day I finally see the famous second grandson.
“Man, I’m seriously nervous.”
“I’m wide awake now. We can’t afford to get on the CEO’s bad side—should I just keep smiling?”
“Do you think he really has that scar?”
The trainees were even tenser and more excited than usual.
Yeon Woo, of course, was the most nervous of all.
Noticing her pale, anxious face, Kyung Ho gently patted her shoulder.
“Don’t be so nervous. There’ll be senior secretaries in the office—they’re not going to kill you. Just stay quiet and keep your head down.”
She steeled herself with those words—yet the person who appeared shortly afterward was shockingly the very man from that day.
‘No… no way…’
She’d thought his aura was uniquely overwhelming, but she never imagined that interviewer was CEO Ki Tae Han himself.
Tae Han, whom she met again, still felt like an imposing mountain.
His perfectly tailored suit, model-like physique, and intensely focused gaze commanded attention.
His eyes alone were so piercing that the entire staff froze the moment his glance swept over them.
Yet the first words Tae Han spoke as he scanned the room were ominous.
“There’s someone here I didn’t hire.”
Everyone flinched and exchanged uneasy glances. Yeon Woo bit her lip, her expression uneasy.
It felt like he was talking about her.
After all, she was likely the only one who’d given such a botched answer when asked about her special talents.
From that day on, Yeon Woo’s future glowed with an unfathomable, ambiguous light.
It was neither dark nor bright—just an endless, solitary tunnel where she couldn’t even see the end.
“My name is Seo Yeon Woo. I look forward to working with you.”
After completing training, her first official day finally arrived.
Fortunately, Yeon Woo rarely encountered Tae Han directly.
Working in the secretarial office—which also handled management analysis—kept her swamped with document preparation, and Tae Han was surprisingly often away on business trips or outings.
Yet as time passed, something subtly changed: she began to feel proud of him.
All the skeptical media reports and bizarre rumors turned out to be completely wrong.
Ki Tae Han was truly someone worthy of respect.
Under Tae Han’s leadership, Tae Sung BioLogics showed explosive growth, and his aggressive management philosophy dominated the business pages of major newspapers almost daily.
He alone had planted seeds in barren soil, watered them, nurtured the wind, and made them sprout.
And astonishingly, he’d accomplished all this in a remarkably short time, rising swiftly to lead the entire group.
“Yeon Woo, you misfiled these documents again. Fix them before the CEO notices.”
“I’m sorry.”
Of course, assisting someone so extraordinary was anything but easy.
Tae Han was both a perfectionist and a results-driven leader, demanding exceptional competence and poise from his aides.
His expectations ranged from achieving ambitious goals that surpassed experience levels to arranging documents in precisely his preferred order.
Moreover, due to his unusual allergy to whiskey, she always had to be extra vigilant about alcohol whenever organizing gatherings.
But Yeon Woo never grew weary.
She felt a deep sense of loyalty toward the amazing company Tae Han had built.
“Good afternoon, CEO.”
She didn’t go entirely without seeing Tae Han after joining the company.
Whenever he arrived at his office, all secretarial staff stood up to greet him.
But that afternoon was different—Yeon Woo was the only one present in the secretarial office, as Tae Han had returned a full hour earlier than scheduled.
During company-wide meetings, one staff member always remained on standby for emergencies—and that day, it happened to be her.
She could feel his indifferent gaze brush past her as she nervously greeted him.
He’d never acknowledged staff greetings before, so she assumed he’d silently head straight into his office as usual.
“What’s so good?”
But for the first time, Tae Han actually responded.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
aah, serim really messed up.
claimed to know everything but in reality know nothing.
allergic reaction could be really dangerous.