Office Romance Scandal (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
Holding coffee in both hands, a familiar car approached. Less than 12 hours had passed, yet she was facing him again.
The driver’s side window rolled down, and suddenly a long arm reached out. Without thinking, she handed him one of the coffees.
“Do you really cure hangovers with coffee?”
Just like that, as if he’d already taken care of everything, he began rolling the window back up.
“Ah—wait, hold on a second!”
Through the narrow gap of the closing window, she caught a glimpse of his sharp eyes. Still, she had to ask. Even if it was a weekend, wasn’t it her turn to drive?
“Just get in. Wouldn’t it be more helpful to think about what you need to do at the office, rather than wasting time like this?”
Only then did Hae Jin slip into the passenger seat. Once she’d fastened her seatbelt, the car started moving again.
Sipping the coffee she’d bought, Tae Hong casually offered his thoughts.
“The coffee around here is pretty good.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
She needed to say what she hadn’t been able to yesterday. Encouraged by his comment about the coffee, she decided to gather a bit more courage. She didn’t want to betray the chance and trust he’d given her.
On a Sunday morning, there weren’t many cars heading into the business district.
“Team Leader.”
She called out to him carefully. Though he didn’t look over—focused on driving—she could tell he was definitely listening to her.
“About what you said yesterday…”
“The brand launch?
Ah, that’s part of it, too.” Just as she paused briefly before continuing, her phone vibrated.
It was a message—she only meant to glance at it quickly—but as soon as she read it, the words she’d planned to say to Tae Hong got stuck in her throat.
[“Manager Jeong, this is Chairman Moon. If you have time, come see me.”]The title “Chairman Moon” confirmed it was Jun Tae’s message. She read it over and over, but there was no doubt—it really was him.
“Manager Jeong Hae Jin, are you unwilling to do it?”
“No, not at all.”
Why did he contact her? What could he possibly need? The message gave no clues for her to guess.
“If you’re willing to give me the chance, I’ll work hard.”
For now, she’d deal with it later. First, she needed to clearly show Tae Hong her strong desire to work.
“I see.”
**
Only Tae Hong and Hae Jin were in the office. From the lobby to the 28th-floor office, Hae Jin had seen no more than five employees.
As soon as they arrived, Tae Hong went straight into his room. Hae Jin stared blankly at the closed door for a moment before sitting down at her desk.
Yeon Jung had updated and left piles of documents stacked high, but nothing she looked at seemed to register clearly in her mind.
Why had he called? Could it really be just to ask for a report, as Tae Hong had suggested?
Her thoughts were in complete chaos. She needed to reply to the message. After a quick glance toward the team leader’s office, she stood up and headed to the break room.
With no one else around and even Tae Hong locked away in his room, the silence was so thick it felt like it was dripping through the air.
Carefully, she dialed the number from the message. After a few rings, Jun Tae answered.
“Hello, this is Jeong Hae Jin.”
Even though she was alone in the break room, her voice automatically dropped to a whisper.
“It’s me. Since you’re now an employee under Yeon Chang, it feels natural to call you Manager Jeong.”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Are you free today? I’d like to meet.”
“Today?”
Her first thought was Tae Hong’s schedule. Since he had nothing scheduled for the afternoon, late afternoon should be fine.
“I’m at the office right now—would sometime in the afternoon work for you?”
“Haha, so our Tae Hong’s working hard, I see.”
Did that count as reporting him? She bit her lower lip nervously—he probably already knew Tae Hong’s location just from what she’d said.
“Then I’ll send a car to pick you up.”
“Oh! If you could just tell me the location, I’ll go myself.”
“How about you just do as you’re told, Manager Jeong?”
Just like that—“do as you’re told”—left her with no choice but to reply, “Yes.” After the call ended, Hae Jin couldn’t bring herself to leave the break room right away.
What could his reason for meeting be? Before she could even think it through, the fact that she was now an employee under Yeon Chang alone had already forced her into a submissive position.
Meeting him under these circumstances would inevitably create a dynamic where she’d have no choice but to obey whatever orders he gave. And in that case, could she really be sure she wouldn’t refuse?
She didn’t even know what kind of instruction he might give—but based on his “just do as you’re told” tone, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t be exactly what Tae Hong had suspected.
Damn it—where had that Jeong Hae Jin gone, the one who was just standing there holding coffee a few hours ago?
She slumped her shoulders heavily and returned to her seat. Not long after, Tae Hong came out.
“Manager Jeong Hae Jin.”
“Yes?”
Her startled, guilty-sounding reply made Tae Hong stop in his tracks, as if he’d just caught her doing something she shouldn’t.
“Did you do something wrong?”
Ugh—maybe I’m about to! Hae Jin clamped her lips shut tightly.
“Do you need anything?”
“Let’s grab lunch and head home.”
Ah, had time really passed that quickly? She’d only made one phone call and hadn’t properly looked at a single document, yet the hours had slipped away. Her mind was so full of worry she hadn’t even noticed.
“Yes, understood.”
They had a quick lunch nearby. She barely tasted anything—honestly, she didn’t even know if the food had gone in through her mouth or her nose.
She’d planned to drive to Tae Hong’s house, but unexpectedly, he offered to drop her off at her place instead.
“Why… why’s that?”
“I told you this morning—come once you’ve gotten your head together.”
So he’d noticed she was distracted. Of course he had—everything from her fidgeting to her unfocused eyes must’ve been obvious. She even felt embarrassed at her unprofessional behavior.
“If you drive like this, you’ll crash—and I can’t afford the repair costs.”
She had no choice but to go along with what Tae Hong said. She knew she wasn’t in any state to drive herself either, so she couldn’t argue.
Why did the ride home feel like sitting on a bed of nails? Nothing serious had even happened yet—but just the fact that Jun Tae had contacted her made her heart race uncontrollably.
She couldn’t live with guilt—she kept catching herself worrying about what Tae Hong might think.
Had she ever been this happy to see her apartment building? When the familiar structure came into view, she practically wriggled in her seat. She wanted to get out quickly and escape his gaze.
If she kept looking into his steady eyes, she feared she’d blurt out everything on her mind—even things he hadn’t asked about.
“Well then, I’ll head inside.”
As soon as they arrived, Hae Jin rushed into her apartment without even glancing back at Tae Hong. Before meeting Jun Tae, she needed some time alone to think.
After she disappeared inside, Tae Hong didn’t drive off. He turned off the engine and stayed in the car.
What was going on? Why had she spaced out like that? She definitely hadn’t been this distracted earlier that morning. Or rather—her flustered state had started right after she read that message on her phone.
His fingers, which had been lightly tapping the steering wheel, suddenly stopped. He quickly pulled out his phone.
“Answer.”
His low, sharp voice sounded deadly. The temperature inside the car seemed to plummet.
“Chairman, check the schedule—anything unusual?”
He listened intently to the voice on the other end. And just as he’d expected, he heard the exact name he’d suspected.
He was told that a pickup was scheduled in front of Jeong Hae Jin’s apartment, and that the Chairman would meet her in his private space alone.
Jun Tae probably had no idea that Tae Hong had planted one of his own trusted people among the Chairman’s secretaries.
One might ask why a father and son would spy on each other like this—but that kind of trust only existed in ordinary families.
How could he trust a father who maintained two households and had completely ignored his mother his whole life? Where was trust supposed to come from?
That was precisely why he’d insisted on personally hiring staff for the Strategic Planning Team—after feeling utterly betrayed by his closest family, he’d resolved to only trust people he chose himself.
But what should he do about Jeong Hae Jin? The report confirmed it seemed true—there’d been no instruction for her to report anything.
He’d tried hard not to show it, but her anxiousness was glaringly obvious. After meeting Jun Tae, things would truly begin.
Tae Hong dialed the number at the top of his call log again.
“Take a photo of Jeong Hae Jin meeting the Chairman alone. Make sure her face is clearly visible.”
“Yes, understood.” With the deep voice of the man fading behind him, the screen went dark again. He stared expressionlessly at the entrance she’d hurried into.
Jeong Hae Jin—was she a useful card to play, or one to discard?
**
She’d thought coming home would calm her down a little. But as the scheduled pickup time drew closer, her mind went completely blank.
What if Chairman Moon asked her to report on Tae Hong’s every move? She’d already decided to stand firmly on Tae Hong’s side—wouldn’t that be betrayal?
Then should she pretend to report while actually withholding information? But could she really keep that up for long? Jun Tae had even visited her home—would he really not find out?
That didn’t seem easy either.
Should she just tell Tae Hong the truth—that the Chairman wanted to meet her? Wouldn’t that be the clearest proof she was truly his person?
But she still had no idea what proposal or request Jun Tae intended to make.
It might all be baseless anxiety—maybe she was just jumping to conclusions out of fear.
She didn’t want to do anything that might cause unnecessary misunderstandings while nothing was even decided yet. She wanted to be the kind of employee he needed—not a burden.
Her phone rang again. Once more, it was an unknown number.
“Are you Manager Jeong Hae Jin?”
“Yes,” she answered—and immediately heard the next words.
“We’ve arrived in front of your building.”
She was being told to come down. She ended the call with an “Alright” and took a deep breath.
The first time, she’d met Jun Tae when he’d suddenly shown up without warning. But now, she was on her way to meet him deliberately. Both times were hard—the first and now.
Back then, she’d been scared because she was overwhelmed. Now, she was scared because she didn’t know why he wanted to meet.
Nothing about this was easy. While waiting for the elevator, her anxious fingers tapped aimlessly on her phone—until she landed on the last photo in her gallery.
It was a picture of Moon Tae Hong. She’d taken it from Jun Tae’s phone the day he first came to make his proposal.
His fierce, intense gaze was perfectly captured in the photo. Though it lacked some of the sharpness he had in person, it still looked as if he were scolding her.
On her way to meet Jun Tae, the photo of Tae Hong felt like a whip lashing through her worry-filled mind.
“Figure out clearly whose side you’re really on.”
Ding—the elevator doors opened. Slowly, Hae Jin turned off Tae Hong’s photo.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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I like his honesty and my god there is communication.