Boss, Our Promise was Different (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 2
From his very first day at work, Do Hyuk seemed possessed by a vengeful ghost fixated on his job, summoning team members one by one under the guise of “understanding their duties” and ruthlessly crushing their self-esteem.
Making every single employee want to quit within just one day—if that wasn’t talent, what was?
Thanks to his powerful first impression, the team members were actually grateful that Do Hyuk never spoke to anyone outside of work matters, let alone attend a welcome dinner.
Anyway, ever since that day, there hadn’t been a moment of peace in Product Planning Team 1.
Especially for Jae In—Do Hyuk kept piling on so much work that even pulling overtime like eating meals couldn’t keep up, and the backlog kept growing until she was practically suffocating.
She wanted to confront him about how unfair this was, but knowing she’d partly brought it on herself—and seeing that Do Hyuk stayed even later immersed in work—she gave up completely.
“Assistant Manager Seo, do you perhaps have a grudge against the team leader?”
“N-no, nothing like that.”
“That’s strange. He’s always tenacious, but for some reason, he seems even harsher on you.”
Section Chief Park, utterly clueless, kept scraping right over Jae In’s raw nerve.
She knew the reason all too well.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t fix it—it was that she couldn’t fix it fast enough.
Jae In had immediately apologized for her slip-up and worked diligently to prove herself, yet Do Hyuk still looked visibly displeased.
For example, last week, when the bus Jae In was on got into a minor accident, causing her to be late.
Do Hyuk raised his voice at her for being late by exactly 11 minutes:
“Why is it that accidents only happen on buses you happen to be on?”
“I’m sorry for being late. The bus I was supposed to transfer to arrived late…”
“In that situation, did it never occur to you to just take a taxi?”
Honestly, no. Do you have any idea how much taxi fares cost?
The real issue came when Deputy Manager Kang Na Hee walked in right after and explained she’d been late because she couldn’t find parking—Do Hyuk’s reaction then was telling.
Without a word, he just brushed past Na Hee and walked straight into his office.
For a brief moment, relief and a triumphant smile flickered across Na Hee’s face, which had been tense with anxiety.
“What’s this? The team leader is incredibly lenient with Deputy Manager Kang, isn’t he? Poor Assistant Manager Seo.”
Thanks to Section Chief Park’s unnecessarily cruel follow-up, Jae In felt even more miserable.
It had already been over a hundred days since Do Hyuk started tormenting her. All Jae In had gained from stubbornly enduring it all was the dubious honor of chronic fatigue and hwabyeong.
“Assistant Manager Seo, are you perhaps daydreaming right now?”
“Huh? Ah—sorry!”
Jae In snapped back to reality under Do Hyuk’s disparaging stare.
“If you have the luxury of daydreaming during meetings, how about focusing more on your work?”
Luxury? Was he serious?
Jae In’s frustration surged.
‘Luxury, my ass! Can’t you see I’m barely breathing under your abuse? Give me a break, humanely! There’s never enough time, even with daily overtime! If I drop dead from overwork, will you take responsibility, you jerk!’
She desperately wanted to scream it all out and storm off—but payday was just around the corner.
‘My throat’s tighter than my wallet, so I’ll hold on just once more.’
Unaware—and clearly uncaring even if he knew—of Jae In’s boiling resentment, Do Hyuk dropped his final bomb.
“Don’t you know that senior management is highly interested in the diet product line? This won’t do. I’ll need to review progress myself—let’s meet this Saturday.”
“Saturday?”
Jae In couldn’t believe her ears.
That day was the one she’d finally arranged to meet her friend Yu Ra, after canceling her summer vacation due to being swamped nonstop.
Forget about her plans—even the thought of spending her precious weekend in a tense work meeting with her nightmare of a team leader was horrifying.
‘Please, tell me you’re joking!’
Seeing her teammates’ pitying glances, Jae In felt tears welling up.
She couldn’t just sit back and take it anymore.
“Team Leader, Saturday won’t work—”
At that moment, Do Hyuk’s icy glare shot straight at her.
Gah! Every hair on Jae In’s body stood on end. She gulped down the rest of her sentence and reluctantly replied in a voice barely louder than an ant’s.
“…I’ll see you on Saturday.”
“Let’s meet at 9 a.m.”
“Yes, understood.”
Thud. Do Hyuk closed his file and said,
“That’s all for today. There’s no point continuing this meeting. Everyone, revise the issues raised and submit them by tomorrow.”
At “by tomorrow,” everyone rose from their seats, faces ashen.
Desperate to escape Do Hyuk’s radar as quickly as possible, Jae In hurriedly opened the meeting room door.
Then, a calm, low voice caught her by the ankle.
“Assistant Manager Seo, stay behind for a moment.”
“…Yes?”
What now?
Her teammates now openly shot her sympathetic looks—mixed with relief that they’d drawn less attention thanks to her.
“Hang in there, Assistant Manager Seo.”
Na Hee whispered softly as she passed by behind her.
Instinctively, Jae In turned—and saw it. The slight upward curl of Na Hee’s lips.
‘Seriously?!’
Kang Na Hee, her same-age colleague from the same hiring batch, had always subtly gotten under Jae In’s skin, but since her promotion earlier this year, she’d started making it obvious.
Though Jae In’s work performance was clearly superior, rumors claimed Na Hee had secured the deputy manager position first thanks to strong recommendations from the former team leader—who’d been demoted to a regional office—and Section Chief Park.
‘Well, I guess she did go the extra mile—even remembering the team leader’s forgotten wedding anniversary. Impressive, Kang Na Hee.’
Whatever. Now wasn’t the time to worry about Na Hee.
Once the meeting room door closed and they were alone, Do Hyuk gestured for Jae In to come closer.
Come closer?
As Jae In hesitantly approached, Do Hyuk motioned downward, as if telling her to lower her head.
Why was he suddenly doing something he never did before?
Well, if he said to bow, she bowed.
Then, Do Hyuk leaned in close and murmured softly into her ear,
“Seo Jae In.”
His low, gentle voice sent electric shivers down her spine.
‘Huh? He’s never called me by name before…’
Was it because her fear had peaked?
Her heart pounded wildly at Do Hyuk’s unfamiliar behavior.
“Y-yes, Team Leader.”
Her voice trembled involuntarily.
“Do you really like coffee that much?”
“Huh?”
Coffee? Out of nowhere?
Confused, Jae In turned her head—and yelped in surprise, jerking backward. She’d almost bumped noses with Do Hyuk.
Thump-thump-thump. Her heart hammered so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest.
Completely composed, Do Hyuk continued,
“You’re attached to coffee all day, and then you stop by a café again late at night—you’re practically addicted to caffeine, aren’t you?”
Wow, this was seriously unfair.
Who was making her work late every night, stuck in an endless loop of office-home-office-home?
“Team Leader, I haven’t even been near a café after work lately—oh!”
Suddenly, a memory flashed through Jae In’s mind.
Yesterday, after work, she’d stopped by a café with Team Leader Na Min Woo from Product Planning Team 2, a senior from university.
She remembered sitting side by side with Min Woo at a window seat, sipping coffee—when she spotted Do Hyuk driving past.
“Did you… happen to see us?”
“If you like coffee that much, I’ll buy you all you want—drink it with me. Haven’t you considered that openly meeting another team’s leader at the café right in front of our office, outside work hours, might start nasty rumors?”
Jae In’s mind went blank at Do Hyuk’s suddenly sharp tone.
Nasty rumors?
Min Woo had just said he needed to discuss something urgent, so they’d only sat for about 30 minutes.
“It’s not like that with Senior Min Woo—I mean, Team Leader Na—”
“If an office romance goes wrong and causes gossip, it’ll jeopardize the whole project! Do you ever think before acting?”
Wait—how did this turn into a love affair?
“From now on, act like a professional and don’t burden the team.”
“Wait, just let me explain—”
“I’m not even sure you understand what ‘professional’ means.”
In that instant, Jae In heard it.
The final thread of her patience snapping.
“I trust you’ve understood clearly. That’s all.”
Do Hyuk fired off his words like a machine gun, then abruptly stood up and stormed out.
‘You damn bastard!’
Trust? How dare he! He’d arbitrarily paired her with someone in an imaginary relationship, scripted their breakup, and branded her irresponsible.
Veins bulging at her temples, Jae In clenched her fists.
‘This… crosses the line, right?’
Way, way over it.
Last night, Jae In stayed wide awake, her mind too tangled to sleep.
No matter how busy work got, no matter how many overtime hours she pulled—she’d always managed to endure.
But being nitpicked for utterly baseless reasons, like yesterday? That was impossible to tolerate.
So, she decided to resign.
Her human rights mattered.
Because of that tyrant team leader, her resignation came three months earlier than planned—but it was a resignation she’d always intended to submit.
Jae In had already been accepted into a Japanese pastry and baking school, with classes starting next April. She’d planned to stay at the company only until the end of February to settle things in Japan early.
Since childhood, Jae In had dreamed of creating her own bakery brand, blessed as she was with exceptional manual dexterity and aesthetic sense.
Due to her family’s financial struggles, she’d tightened her belt for years to barely scrape together the 50 million won tuition.
She still hadn’t saved enough for living expenses abroad—but rather than beg, she’d sooner never see her team leader’s face again.
She’d long had her resignation letter ready, tucked close to her heart. All she had to do now was throw it down.
To make the moment perfect, she wore her brightest outfit and even did a full makeup look she never normally wore.
All to dramatically toss her resignation at Cha Do Hyuk’s face and declare proudly:
“Thanks to you, I’m quitting. Don’t live your life like this—and let’s never cross paths again!”
Having rehearsed the scene dozens of times in her head, she was confident she’d nail it perfectly in real life.
Alright. Game time.
“Yeon Ji, is the team leader in?”
“Of course. He’s always the first one in, isn’t he?”
Perfect.
Jae In took a deep breath and stood up. Her steps toward the team leader’s office felt light and springy.
Knock knock.
Boldly, she rapped on the door.
No response.
‘Ah, right—Cha Do Hyuk zones out completely when he’s focused.’
She knocked firmly once more—but again, silence. With no choice, she quietly opened the door and slipped in.
She assumed he was absorbed in work—but to her surprise, the room was empty.
He must’ve been right in the middle of something; a fountain pen lay atop an open document on his desk.
‘This wasn’t in my script…’
Deflated, Jae In hesitated.
Should she leave and come back, or just do it now that she was already here?
Suddenly, Do Hyuk’s piercing—almost lethal—gaze flashed in her mind.
Her heart lurched, and she doubted she could deliver her prepared lines without stammering.
Change of plan.
She’d just leave the resignation letter on his desk. If she walked out now, she might weaken and take it back later.
‘Yeah, he’ll call me after reading it anyway.’
Jae In placed her resignation letter right on top of the document Do Hyuk had been reading.
Then—thwack!
The fountain pen, jostled by the motion, rolled off the desk and clattered to the floor.
Even the fountain pen was now tackling her.
Panicked, Jae In scrambled under the desk to retrieve it.
‘Where is it?!’
Since she couldn’t see it, it must’ve slid under the drawer unit. She frantically thrust her hand underneath, feeling around—but found nothing.
‘Ugh, I need to get out before the team leader comes back…’
Her grand plan to dramatically slam down her resignation was long gone; now, she was jittery as if chased by a ghost.
She pushed her arm in deeper—and finally, her fingertips brushed against something hard.
‘Got it!’
Relieved, Jae In wiped the cold sweat from her brow.
Now that she had the pen, she just needed to put it back and leave.
At that very moment—
Creak. Bang.
The door suddenly opened and slammed shut—and Do Hyuk’s voice rang out.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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