Let’s put aside the apology for now. She probably didn’t open knowing there was someone outside.

But even thinking positively like that, the man’s behavior of holding the design book as if it were his own and staring blankly at Seo Ha was clearly strange and impolite.

“Can you give that back and move out of the way?”

After a strange staring contest, Seo Ha spoke first.

“Do you have business with the CEO’s office?”

“Yes.”

“The CEO is not available. Please come back later.”

The words ‘Who are you to say that?’ rose to her throat but she barely swallowed them back.

“Did she go far? If she’s in the company, I’ll go in and wait.”

“She’s in the company but I haven’t been informed of any schedule to let people in during her absence. Who are you and where are you from?”

“I’m curious about that too. Who are you and what department are you from to be blocking the door?”

Instead of answering, the man flipped the design book back and forth, examining it. It was as if he was dealing with a suspicious object.

“Give me that!”

Seo Ha roughly snatched the design book from his hand.

“You’re extremely rude. Asking about someone else’s affiliation before stating your own, picking up other people’s things and looking through them as you please. Just what−”

“Team Leader Yoon!”

A clear voice calling Seo Ha echoed from down the hall. It was Kang Hae Sun, Seo Ha’s birth mother and the CEO of Kang Yoon Company.

“I didn’t know you were here. You should have called before coming.”

Hae Sun always called Seo Ha by her title within the company, saying work and personal matters should be clearly separated. Seo Ha also maintained proper etiquette, calling her ‘CEO’ when others were around.

“Good morning, CEO. I brought a new design to show you.”

“If you’re bringing a new design first thing in the morning, it must be related to Team Leader Yoon’s brand, right?”

Hae Sun always said, as if it were a habit, that she would see Seo Ha’s brand succeed before handing over the company to her.

“Yes. Please review it.”

“It’s not a review, but a discussion. The design is entirely Team Leader Yoon’s domain, and I trust you. Come in.”

As Hae Sun turned, the man bowed slightly and stepped aside.

Seo Ha followed Hae Sun into the CEO’s office, briefly making eye contact with him. A gaze that couldn’t be called friendly even as a pleasantry. She couldn’t understand why he was looking at her like that when they’d just met.

“Who is that person? I’ve never seen him before.”

Seo Ha asked as soon as the door closed.

“Ah, Secretary Ryu?”

“Secretary?”

Come to think of it, that’s right. The long-time Secretary Choi had quit, and they’d hired a new secretary.

“Secretary Choi introduced him before leaving, Secretary Ryu Kyung Jun. I was worried because he seemed too prickly for someone so young, but watching him work, I can see why Secretary Choi would bring him. He’s very smart and does his job well.”

“Prickly people often do good work.”

That’s all Seo Ha said about Ryu Kyung Jun.

Her first impression was ‘rude and strange person’, but work is work, and personal is personal. Working in the fashion industry where sensitive and unique people abound, she didn’t want to run and tattle to the CEO about the secretary’s impolite behavior.

But why did the secretary come out of the empty CEO’s office?

She quickly dismissed the fleeting question. Simple organizing or finding documents were also part of a secretary’s job.

Seo Ha placed the precious design book she’d been holding onto the desk.

“Here it is. The new design, CEO.”

“You’ve worked hard, Team Leader Yoon.”

Hae Sun’s eye for fashion, honed from years of leading a company in the industry, could easily overwhelm most designers. Though confident in her design, Seo Ha nervously swallowed as Hae Sun turned the pages.

“Finally.”

Hae Sun smiled at her daughter after closing the last page.

“Kang Yoon Company will be launching a new brand. Congratulations, Designer Yoon Seo Ha.”

A bright smile spread across Seo Ha’s face too. She had taken the first step towards her own brand, a goal every designer dreams of.

“We should open a boutique in Cheongdam-dong. Invite VIPs and celebrities for a launch show. Then we’ll go down to Daejeon, Daegu, and Busan, opening pop-up stores. Department store entry comes last. We shouldn’t be begging department stores to let us in, we should make them come to us with entry proposals first. Can you do it, Yoon Seo Ha?”

Hae Sun was truly businesslike, strategizing the launch as soon as she saw the design.

Seo Ha was incredibly proud of such a mother.

Agile, resolute, and confident. When Hae Sun flatly rejected the merger and acquisition proposal from the supposedly great Daesung Group, Seo Ha felt her chest might burst from how intensely proud she was.

“Why ask the obvious? Whose daughter am I, Lady Kang?”

“Yes, yes. You’re my beautiful daughter.”

Hae Sun laughed brightly and patted Seo Ha’s bottom.

“I’ll be waiting for the samples. Oh, I heard you came with Seung Oh a few days ago? You should have called me before coming.”

It was that day when she nearly choked on pajeon. Seo Ha pouted, recalling the unpleasant memory she had tried to forget.

“I thought you were here. But you weren’t, and I only met a strange woman.”

“A woman? What woman?”

Hae Sun made a puzzled expression.

“You know, Aunt Nanjoo’s daughter. I think her name was Ji Soo?”

“Ah, Ji Soo? I heard she’s studying design too, so I thought it would be nice if you two became friends. Why? Was it not good?”

“No. It was terrible.”

Work is work, and personal is personal. Thankfully, Lee Ji Soo was firmly in the personal realm. This meant she could tattle to her mom without thinking about business or professionalism.

“She said she came to return clothes she borrowed. But it was my clothes. You know? The one I bought when I went to Europe in college, the one I really treasure. When I kept asking where she got it from…”

Seo Ha went on to recount in detail all the annoying things that happened that day. She meant it as a light venting session, but Hae Sun’s expression became a bit serious.

“That happened?”

“I felt like I became the bad person. I’m the one who got struck by lightning out of nowhere.”

After pondering for a moment, Hae Sun finally spoke.

“I should tell her not to come to the house anymore. You and Seung Oh shouldn’t come for a while either. Make sure to call me before coming.”

“She said she was coming to see her mom. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is. Ji Soo coming and going from our house wasn’t a given, it was a courtesy we extended. Why should I accommodate someone who upsets my child?”

“I was worried it might make things awkward between you and Aunt Nanjoo since she works for you.”

“Seo Ha.”

Hae Sun looked at Seo Ha with eyes full of affection.

“The important person to me isn’t Lee Ji Soo or Park Nanjoo, it’s Yoon Seo Ha. If something went wrong because of your mistake, of course we should fix it, but you didn’t do anything wrong, did you? I’ll tell my in-law not to touch your things or enter your room again. Even if there are empty snack bags rolling around in your room, they’re yours, so tell her not to touch them at all.”

“Hehe.”

Seo Ha laughed a bit foolishly. Having someone who takes your side unconditionally is such a reassuring and happy thing.

Golden spoon. Seo Ha was born with many things, but none better than her mother.

“You should go down now. Take good care of the design and put it safely in the treasure box.”

Hae Sun said.

The ‘treasure box’ was a small but sturdy safe. Seo Ha drew all her designs on paper with colored pencils and kept them in the safe, and only Seo Ha and Hae Sun knew the password.

“Alright. I’ll be going then, CEO!”

Seo Ha bowed and left the CEO’s office. Ryu Kyung Jun, was it? That strange man from earlier was still standing right in front of the door.

“Secretary Ryu Kyung Jun?”

When she called his name, another unfriendly gaze came back. Seo Ha paid no mind and lightly lifted the corners of her mouth to create a flawless business smile.

“I heard about you from the CEO. I’m Yoon Seo Ha. I’m the chief designer and team leader in the design department.”

“Ah, yes.”

She waited to see if he would say anything more, but Ryu Kyung Jun seemed to have nothing to add beyond that single ‘yes’. Seo Ha shrugged and continued speaking.

“We’ll be seeing each other often. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t block the way next time.”

She thought he would just say ‘yes’ this time too. Then she could have easily wrapped up the conversation and left.

“Will you always enter and exit the CEO’s office without an appointment?”

Ryu Kyung Jun asked a strange question in a not at all friendly tone.

“What about it?”

“Even Executive Director Choi goes through the secretary’s office before entering.”

“I’m−”

“I know. The CEO’s daughter.”

When he said ‘CEO’s daughter’, a kind of contemptuous smirk seemed to flash across Kyung Jun’s lips.

“How is it? Being the CEO’s daughter.”

“What’s your intention in asking that?”

Kyung Jun bent his waist slightly. His low voice whispered about a hand span away from Seo Ha’s ear.

“I’m asking because I’m truly curious. Chief designer at a young age, with a team leader position, going in and out of the CEO’s office like it’s your own room, promised your own brand launch. What kind of thoughts go through the mind of someone like you, whose life is laid out on a smooth road without a single obstacle, day after day.”

Kyung Jun straightened up again and smiled slightly.

“That’s all.”

It was a very familiar prejudice to Seo Ha. Whether she did well in studies, played instruments skillfully, or showed talent in art and design, some people always came to the same conclusion. It’s because Yoon Seo Ha has a golden spoon.

So she wasn’t particularly angry or flustered.

“As if I have anything to think about? Well, if I had to say−”

Seo Ha raised her right hand slightly and wiggled it. As if drawn by that gesture, Kyung Jun bent his waist again, bringing his ear close to her lips.

“I’m f***ing thrilled.”

Kyung Jun’s brow furrowed slightly. Seo Ha added in an even lower, clearer voice.

“Hooray for the golden spoon. In my next life too, I’ll be born with a golden spoon and drive down the smooth road with the top down on a convertible!”

“…”

Kyung Jun raised his head and looked at Seo Ha as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Do you always use such vulgar language?”

“Just as Secretary Ryu is always so rude.”

“Aren’t you worried about your reputation?”

“Just as you’re not worried about getting fired.”

“What if I spread rumors?”

Seo Ha had moved with a perfectly orthodox attitude like this since she was very young. She realized too early that this was the only way to avoid unnecessary gossip.

“Go ahead and try to spread rumors. Say Yoon Seo Ha was f***ing thrilled and bragging about her spoon. People will surely believe that?”

That’s why she could be 100 percent certain like this.

She could see Ryu Kyung Jun’s artificial facade – as Seo Ha saw it – starting to crumble. He seemed to have launched an attack but didn’t expect a counterattack.

Now was the time to retreat.

“Then I’ll be excusing myself. Good work, Secretary Ryu!”

Seo Ha walked away towards the far end of the corridor, making cheerful sounds with her heels, not giving Kyung Jun a chance to reply. Watching her retreating figure, Kyung Jun murmured quietly to himself only after hearing the elevator go down.

“… Still as insufferable as ever, Yoon Seo Ha.”