Office Romance Scandal (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
The two of them stayed silent the entire way home. Tae Hong either seemed lost in thought or simply kept his eyes closed. Hae Jin didn’t say anything more either.
The car, so quiet it didn’t even make a sound, had already arrived at Tae Hong’s parking lot. Still appearing asleep, Tae Hong kept his eyes shut.
Should I wake him or not?
It was already long past midnight, and the last bus had stopped running ages ago. But she couldn’t just stay like this. At this rate, she genuinely felt she might never make it home.
“Team Leader, we’ve arrived.”
She shook Tae Hong’s shoulder. He, who seemed like he wouldn’t budge at all, opened his eyes. Confirming he was in a familiar place, Tae Hong opened the door and stepped out. Hae Jin followed him out of the neatly parked car.
“I’ll head in now.”
She bowed politely and turned to leave. This was the moment to perfectly wrap up her very first day at work—but Tae Hong, as always, refused to do exactly what Hae Jin wanted.
“Assistant Jeong Hae Jin.”
His voice, crisp and clear as if he’d sobered up completely, stopped her in her tracks.
“For your first day, you did better than I expected.”
At his words, Hae Jin’s movements slowed. The distance between them was barely two or three steps.
“You drive well, you’ve got good judgment, you read situations accurately, and above all, you seem perceptive.”
In that instant, her entire first day’s evaluation was summed up in that single sentence.
Should she be happy about it or not?
She was glad she wouldn’t be fired right away, yet his words felt like a bitter declaration that things would continue this way—which left a sour taste in her mouth.
“Take the car. Taxis hardly come here.”
Since it was her first time at Tae Hong’s place, she didn’t even know where the bus stop was or the exact address. Tae Hong slowly closed the gap between them, step by step.
Now he stood close enough that if she reached out her hand, she could touch him.
His long arm stretched toward Hae Jin. Almost instinctively, she reached out her own hand as well. Click—the smart key landed in her palm.
“See you here tomorrow at 7 a.m.”
Leaving only those words behind, Tae Hong walked past her. By the time Hae Jin snapped out of her daze at the weight in her palm, he’d already gone inside his house.
“Haah.”
Only once his figure had completely disappeared did the breath she’d been holding finally burst out. It had started the moment he began slowly closing the distance—when her inhales and exhales fell out of sync.
“He’s really sucking the life out of me right from day one. Seriously.”
Feeling as though Tae Hong’s lingering presence still hovered nearby, Hae Jin turned her head slightly, then got back into the car. The vehicle, now driven by Hae Jin, quickly pulled out of the parking lot.
She was alone again. The only difference this time was that her destination was home. She never would’ve dreamed her first day’s commute home would stretch past midnight.
The chill of the pre-dawn air, beyond mere twilight, cooled her entire body. It had been a day full of twists and turns. Her self-introduction already felt like a distant memory. Yet she still couldn’t let her guard down.
Her mission for the day wouldn’t be complete until she safely parked this expensive car in her narrow alleyway—still a treacherous journey home, even without him.
**
She must have been too tense the previous day; the moment she woke up, every inch of her body felt stiff. Still, she moved as if nothing was wrong. Even before her family’s downfall, Hae Jin had always been diligent—it was simply a habit ingrained in her bones.
Once she opened her eyes, she had to get up and do something. That’s how she’d gotten to freely learn whatever she wanted. That’s how she’d gotten to buy whatever she wanted using her dad’s credit card.
Of course, all that now belonged to a wistful, distant past. Did that accidental heir himself, Moon Tae Hong, even realize how drastically he’d altered the course of her life?
While getting ready for work, her gaze fell upon her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Suddenly, last night’s incident came rushing back—the firm hand that caught her as she leaned backward, and the solid chest her body had brushed against. Though it had happened just hours ago, the unfamiliar sensation still felt vividly fresh.
His body had been hot, his touch sticky. Their eyes had met again and again, almost pulling her in each time.
“You’re crazy, Jeong Hae Jin. Get a grip, Jeong Hae Jin.”
“If you’re not up to par, I won’t hesitate to cut you.”
Daydreaming was a luxury she couldn’t afford. He was the type who’d truly fire her without hesitation. If her job disappeared, so would her livelihood—everything would vanish.
Hae Jin quickly shook her head. She was now a dedicated mark assigned to her boss—she had no choice but to stay busy and get to his parking lot by 7 a.m.
The fancy car, utterly out of place in her neighborhood, blinked its headlights. Fortunately, she arrived right on time.
“Team Leader, I’m here.”
She’d only made a quick phone call and said that one line, yet Tae Hong was already walking toward the car. Hae Jin hurriedly ended the call and stepped out of the vehicle. Tae Hong gave her a casual wave and got into the passenger seat.
Her eyes went straight to his hand. A fresh bandage was already taped there.
“Are you okay?”
“This?”
He waved the hand she’d bandaged the night before. It looked fine—thank goodness.
“You looked really worried over something this small.”
“Of course I’m worried!”
It was ridiculous—the injured person acted completely unfazed, while she’d worried for nothing. Yet even as she drove, her eyes kept drifting back to his wound.
“Pull over up ahead for a moment.”
Not long after they’d set off, she wondered what this was about, but Hae Jin turned on her hazard lights and stopped the car where Tae Hong indicated. As soon as the car came to a halt, he asked,
“What kind of coffee do you drink?”
“Huh?”
“Let’s grab some coffee. My head still won’t clear.”
Wait—didn’t he say yesterday that tea cleared his head? Lost in thought about the previous day, she blurted out “Iced Americano” before she even realized it. Tae Hong nodded and got out of the car.
“This feels weird. Shouldn’t I be the one buying the coffee?”
She stretched her neck over the steering wheel, carefully observing Tae Hong’s movements. Just as she was about to get out to meet him, she heard a knock on the passenger window.
Hae Jin instinctively rolled the window down and took the coffee from his hand. Now with one hand free, Tae Hong opened the passenger door and got back in.
“Let’s go.”
Watching Tae Hong take a sip of his coffee, Hae Jin started the engine.
“But, Team Leader—shouldn’t I have been the one to get the coffee?”
“The parking spot here has a short time limit. If another car comes up behind us, we’ll need to pull out right away.”
Ah, now Hae Jin understood, and she nodded.
“And I have another question.”
“Ha, what is it now?”
Her constant morning questions made Tae Hong pause mid-sip. But Hae Jin, brimming with curiosity, didn’t stop.
“Yesterday you said tea was better for waking you up, didn’t you?”
“Oh, that?” Tae Hong brushed it off lightly.
“My room gets a lot of visitors.”
Right—last night, she herself had been one of those visitors.
“People I want to meet versus those I don’t. People I need versus those I don’t.”
Hae Jin pursed her lips at Tae Hong’s rigidly binary logic.
So, what he was really saying was—
“When someone I don’t want to see or don’t need enters my room…”
My guess probably isn’t right.
“I serve them tea.”
Ding-dong-dang—it all clicked perfectly. What a rugby ball of a guy.
Hae Jin clenched her molars tightly, then asked one final question.
“Then, may I ask what today’s coffee means?”
“The opposite kind of people.”
So, that meant she was someone he wanted to meet—and someone he needed. Just as she drifted into her own thoughts, Tae Hong gently pulled her back.
“So you’ll make good judgments.”
“About what?”
“You know—things like whether to report something or not.”
She knew instantly who he was referring to, even though he didn’t say the name. It had to be the Chairman. It made sense—after all, he’d suddenly planted a parachute candidate right beside him. Naturally, people would suspect what her true role was.
Should she tell him flat-out she had no intention of reporting anything? Even if she did, he might not believe her. Better to prove it slowly through her actions.
“Assistant Jeong Hae Jin. One more thing.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
Interpreting it as an extension of his earlier warning, she tensed up immediately. Honestly, every single moment felt like an exam, every step like walking on thorns.
“From now on, just be here by 7 a.m.”
“Yes—wait, what?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
It wasn’t that she had a problem—it was that she absolutely couldn’t. His words echoed in her mind again: a personal secretary who sticks by his side everywhere, from the moment he clocks in to when he clocks out, whether domestically or overseas.
“Understood. I’ll do that.”
She couldn’t afford to get fired by him. She had to hang on as long as humanly possible—even if he shook her hard, she mustn’t fall off. Jeong Hae Jin would cling on with ruthless determination.
He arrived at the company and took half a step ahead of her. Of course, Hae Jin stayed right on his heels. Their joint appearance instantly drew attention—more than enough to turn heads.
First, because of their sharp styles and good looks; second, because Tae Hong was walking alongside a woman.
Although everyone’s gaze fixed on Tae Hong, he seemed completely unfazed—leaving poor Hae Jin alone feeling jittery and uneasy.
Only when they entered the elevator, where outside eyes couldn’t see them, did Hae Jin finally let out a deep sigh.
“Haah.”
“Were you nervous?”
“Would you believe me if I said I was even more nervous than on my first day?”
Heh. Instead of answering, Tae Hong simply smiled at her.
“For your information, all the employees already know I’m the owner’s son.”
Of course he’d state it so openly—clearly, he felt no shame about it at all.
“And up until now, I’ve never had a secretary, let alone a personal attendant. So to everyone else, this scene must look incredibly unusual.”
It felt almost like he was mocking the picture his father had painted.
“For a while, people will keep gossiping about how I’ve put a woman beside me.”
“Oh, I see.”
Just as she nodded absentmindedly—
For a while… a woman… beside me. The fragmented words echoed in her ears.
“T-Team Leader.”
Tae Hong, still holding his phone in one hand and his coffee in the other, lazily looked down at her.
“This is just me worrying needlessly—hahaha.”
An awkward smile tugged at her lips. She tried to keep her expression calm, but her mouth kept twitching uncontrollably.
“I mean—not that I’m implying anything.”
She didn’t even know what words to choose anymore.
“It’s just… terms like ‘office scandal’ keep popping into my head.”
That can’t be it… right?
“Guess I’ve got an overactive imagination factory running inside me, huh?”
Please just say it’s not true—that he’d never caused an office scandal before.
But Tae Hong stayed silent. His lazy gaze gradually softened, then slowly grew sharper, glinting with something unreadable.
With that look, of course I’d keep misunderstanding things.
Hae Jin gripped her half-finished coffee tightly with both hands. Her palms felt so warm that the condensation on the cup began cooling her down.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
Tae Hong shook his head slightly, as if to say, “You answer for me too.”
“Don’t tell me… that’s exactly why the Chairman assigned me as your personal mark?”
Something in her words must have offended him—he immediately tensed, his eyes flickering with irritation.
“Don’t get carried away with your assumptions.”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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I like his honesty and my god there is communication.