Did I Ever Love You? (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 7

“I knew this would happen. It’s great that you’re back, Department Head, but the workload has seriously exploded. I don’t even have time to grab a cup of coffee. Right, Manager?”

Joo Yeon, seated nearby, whined to Ji Yeon.

Kang Hyun aggressively expanded his division’s responsibilities and worked tirelessly, often staying late into the night.

This directly increased the workload for every team under him.

Ji Yeon’s own tasks had grown by roughly 20% compared to usual, forcing her to stay sharply focused just to keep up without missing anything.

“My boyfriend keeps asking me every time we meet why I’ve been coming home so late lately. I can’t even get mad at him—it’s clearly because of work. Anyway, it’s tough.”

“Oh my! Assistant Manager Joo Yeon, you have a boyfriend?”

Ji Yeon asked in surprise.

She’d assumed Joo Yeon had a crush on Department Head Lee Kang Hyun, given how thrilled she’d seemed when he returned.

“Yes, of course! We’ve been together for over two years already. We originally met as a workplace couple at C&C, but my boyfriend moved to another company. Honestly, while we were dating in the same company, we had to sneak around and be extra careful about being seen. Now, it’s so much freer—I love it.”

Joo Yeon gazed blankly into space, lost in the memory.

“I thought you had a crush on the Department Head. I totally misunderstood.”

Ji Yeon laughed awkwardly.

“Oh, please~ Department Head Lee Kang Hyun is totally unattainable—like a celebrity you can never have! And even if, by some miracle, you became his girlfriend, imagine how miserable you’d be. If I had a boyfriend that good-looking and talented, I’d never sleep, worrying someone might steal him away. Ugh, just thinking about it sounds exhausting.”

Joo Yeon shook her head vigorously.

“Hmm… but still, I wish he could be mine for just one month. I’d love to know what that feels like, even once.”

As she said this, Joo Yeon burst into cheerful laughter, clearly lost in some happy fantasy.

“Oh, right! Manager, are you joining the meeting with Sales later?”

“Yes, I was invited too.”

Ji Yeon’s Planning Team fell under the Strategic Planning Division led by Lee Kang Hyun, and today was the quarterly meeting between Sales and Strategic Planning.

“Manager, don’t be shocked during the meeting.”

“Shocked? Why?”

“You’ll finally witness the legendary ‘Dragon versus Tiger’ you’ve only heard about.”

“Dragon versus Tiger?”

“It’s our nickname for them—the ‘dragon’ is Sales Executive Cha Min Woo, and the ‘tiger’ is our very own Department Head Lee Kang Hyun. Oh, technically his title is Managing Director, but everyone calls him Department Head.”

“But why…?”

“Because Executive Cha Min Woo and Department Head Lee Kang Hyun don’t really get along. I’m not sure how things are outside meetings, but during these sessions, their clashes get pretty intense. Sometimes, it seriously feels like a real dragon and tiger fighting—like they’re about to tear each other apart.”

Joo Yeon stared off into the distance, as if picturing the scene.

“Both of them are so handsome—it’d be nice if they just got along. Funny thing is, even when they’re fighting, it still looks cool because they’re both so good-looking.”

Ji Yeon couldn’t entirely disagree with Joo Yeon.

‘Cha Min Woo is undeniably masculine and good-looking, sure—but his face doesn’t even compare to Department Head Lee Kang Hyun’s.’

Cha Min Woo had strong, rugged features—very traditionally masculine.

In contrast, Lee Kang Hyun had long limbs and the perfectly proportioned, lean-muscled build of a foreign male model—evident even in his tailored suit.

His skin was fair, and at times, he looked more beautiful than some women.

If not for his icy gaze, people might easily mistake him for a professional model.

‘Anyway, I’ll have to be extra careful not to catch Cha Min Woo’s eye during the meeting.’

A few hours later, around fifty people gathered in the conference room. Ji Yeon sat as far into the corner as possible, trying her best to stay unnoticed.

Soon, the quarterly review began. After each team leader presented, a heated Q&A session broke out.

“Compared to last year, support was severely lacking last quarter. Even if we overlook product planning, we’re getting tons of field feedback saying advertising efforts were particularly weak. Are you actually tracking your ad view counts?”

Following the Sales team leads, Cha Min Woo voiced this pointed critique.

Today’s target was clearly Planning—and specifically, Marketing.

His question about ad views was obviously loaded.

He was indirectly asking: “How many people actually saw your ads relative to the money you spent, and how much did that even help sales?”

“We did achieve sufficient ad views—in fact, they increased by 15% compared to last quarter. However, as you know, advertising budgets are tied to operating profit. If Sales can’t meet its revenue targets, continuously running ads won’t magically fix the problem. As you mentioned in your presentation, operating profit is currently at minus 12%. Shouldn’t you present realistic figures first, Executive Cha Min Woo, so we can make appropriate proposals?”

Kang Hyun replied in a level, emotionless tone.

Yet for some reason, Ji Yeon sensed a chilling coldness in his voice.

“Oh! It’s finally starting! Go, Department Head Kang Hyun!”

Joo Yeon whispered excitedly into Ji Yeon’s ear.

For the next thirty minutes, sharp exchanges flew back and forth between Cha Min Woo and Lee Kang Hyun.

Everyone except Ji Yeon—who was attending for the first time—seemed completely accustomed to the spectacle.

‘Department Head Kang Hyun is impressive. Someday… I want to represent my team with that same strength and confidence.’

Kang Hyun argued fluently, proposing aggressive strategies that clearly overwhelmed his opponent.

Though Cha Min Woo was equally articulate, he seemed slightly outmatched in this meeting.

“Therefore, Strategic Planning will form a task force to prepare for next quarter. Five members from Planning will join the project unit: myself, Deputy Manager Seol Dong Seok, Manager Eun Ji Yeon, Assistant Manager Lee Joo Yeon, and Staff Member Go Kang Sik. Once our proposal is finalized, we’ll schedule a meeting with Sales.”

Hearing her name unexpectedly called out, Ji Yeon jolted in surprise and instinctively looked up—straight at Cha Min Woo.

Min Woo, seated near the front of the room, immediately locked eyes with her.

Startled, Ji Yeon quickly looked away, pretending not to notice—but ended up making direct eye contact with Kang Hyun, who happened to be sitting right opposite Min Woo.

‘Why are they both staring at me right now!’

She hurriedly lowered her gaze and pretended to take notes on her laptop.

“Understood. For the next ad campaign, I hope you’ll create something that lets our field staff truly feel consumers’ reactions firsthand. I’m looking forward to it, Department Head Lee Kang Hyun.”

Min Woo turned his gaze away from Ji Yeon as he addressed Kang Hyun.

Not long after the meeting ended, Ji Yeon sighed deeply upon receiving a message from Min Woo.

[We were in the same meeting, yet you didn’t even greet me from your seat.] [You don’t need to greet me. Actually, it’d be best if you just pretended not to know me, Executive Cha Min Woo.]

What greetings? Are we even on greeting terms anymore?

We’re about to get divorced—why act so friendly?

[I’m sorry I left without a word that day. I was completely overwhelmed.]

Of course he was overwhelmed, after saying something like that.

Ji Yeon didn’t even bother replying.

[Also, if I really said those things back then—I’m sorry. I wasn’t in my right mind.]

For the first time in three years of living together, she heard him say “I’m sorry.”

But this apology only made her feel worse.

Cha Min Woo—do you only regret saying those words? Do you even understand what you should truly be sorry for?

Not wanting to see any more of his messages, Ji Yeon shoved her phone into her bag.

Min Woo waited for a reply that never came. After fiddling with his phone for a long while, he finally set it down.

Ever since their last meeting, he’d felt strangely guilty toward Ji Yeon.

He’d never felt this way during their time together.

Moreover, he’d woken up in a bad mood that morning after overthinking things—and Ji Yeon’s silence only worsened his mood.

That morning, just as Min Woo was rushing to get ready for work, Se Ah suddenly held him back and hesitantly began speaking.

“Min Woo, I have something to tell you—will you listen if I say it?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Actually, there’s something I need.”

“What do you need? Just tell me—I’ll buy it for you.”

“No, it’s just… if I always have to ask you every time I need something, it’ll be inconvenient for both of us. Plus, I have a lot of personal expenses—and especially now, I need quite a few things for housekeeping.”

Housekeeping? Min Woo felt a flicker of doubt at Se Ah’s words.

She seemed to be circling around something she really wanted. He stared at her intently.

“Could you just give me one of your credit cards?”

“A card?”

“As I said, I need some household money. There are things I need to buy right away…”

Min Woo pulled a card from his wallet and handed it to Se Ah.

“Here. The limit isn’t low—you shouldn’t have any trouble using it for everyday purchases.”

“Thank you! You’re the best, Min Woo~!”

In the car on his way to work, Min Woo closed his eyes—then suddenly frowned as a thought struck him.

He realized that in all three years of living with Ji Yeon, he’d never once given her any household allowance.

Of course, her family was wealthy enough that she didn’t worry about money—but as her husband, he’d never provided her with living expenses.

‘How did Eun Ji Yeon even manage her daily life? Did she rely on money from her parents?’

The thought left him slightly uneasy, but he quickly shook his head and pushed it away.

It was all in the past—no use wondering about things that couldn’t be changed.

***

It was moving day—Saturday morning.

“No, you shouldn’t take that! No, no!”

For Ji Yeon—moving out and living alone for the first time—this was her first realization that moving was such a massive ordeal. She felt like even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough.

Having naively believed, based solely on the “full-service moving” ad, that she’d just need to show up at her new place, this was quite the eye-opener.

Moreover, since she was only taking her own belongings and leaving Min Woo’s behind, she had to constantly run around giving instructions to the movers.

She’d labeled everything she was taking with sticky notes, but still double-checked each item—terrified of accidentally leaving something behind.

Because if she forgot something and had to return here—just the thought made her shudder.

“Ma’am, what should we do with this?”

“Please take that.”

“And this box? It came from the small room.”

“Take that too!”

Most of the furniture had been part of her wedding dowry, so she was allowed to take it—but aside from a few items, she decided to leave the rest behind.

Cha Min Woo could deal with it himself.

“Are you taking the bed?”

“No, please disassemble it and throw it away. I’ll pay the disposal fee.”

Once most of her belongings were packed, it was finally time to head to her new home.

“Goodbye for real this time. I hope I never have to relive those days again.”

Since her new furniture hadn’t arrived yet, she decided to leave some boxes unpacked for now.

It’d probably take a few more weeks to fully settle in.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After the movers left and Ji Yeon was alone in her new apartment, she flopped onto the living room floor and soaked in the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Now truly alone, she didn’t feel lonely at all.

After roughly unpacking, evening was already approaching.

Ji Yeon decided to explore the neighborhood first.

“Oh, right! There’s a private gym on the second floor! I’ve got nothing else to do—why not check it out? Then I can see what else is nearby.”

Energetic as always, Ji Yeon quickly changed into leggings and a T-shirt and headed out.

A private gym shared by only two households—she really was happy with her new place.

Inside, the gym was about the size of a small living room, with two treadmills and three or four strength-training machines.

Someone was already working out—running quickly on the treadmill facing the large window, so only their back was visible.

They seemed completely unaware of Ji Yeon’s entrance.

‘Must be my upstairs neighbor.’

Uncomfortable at the thought of making first contact with a stranger she hadn’t even greeted yet, Ji Yeon turned to leave—when suddenly, her neighbor stepped off the treadmill and began peeling off their sweat-drenched T-shirt.

Their eyes met as Ji Yeon caught sight of his bare, heaving chest—and she silently screamed, “Oh my god.”

“Eun Ji Yeon?”