“Then…… I’ll have to ask you to take care of our grandmother for a moment.”

I thought they wouldn’t have any strange conversations. A feeling of unease flashed through my mind, but I thought it was unlikely since I would be back soon anyway. Joo Hyuk wasn’t the type to have a friendly conversation with someone he was meeting for the first time.

As Ji Soo left the bedside and started talking with a nurse, Hyun Sook, who had been keeping her mouth shut, started talking to Joo Hyuk again.

“What’s your position?”

“……I’m…… a manager.”

“So you’re in a higher position than our Ji Soo?”

Hyun Sook, who smiled with a pleased expression for some reason, began to scrutinize Joo Hyuk up and down closely. Then, as if she had grasped something, she nodded her head.

“Manager Min, I think you like our Ji Soo, don’t you?”

It was an unexpected question from Hyun Sook. Joo Hyuk’s breath got stuck in his throat, and he exhaled while loosening his tie even more.

“What did you just say?”

“I know it’s not polite to say this upon our first meeting. But I can clearly see it. It’s so obvious that Manager Min likes our Ji Soo.”

Ho ho ho. Hyun Sook burst into laughter, covering her mouth with her palm. It was in contrast to Joo Hyuk’s stiff expression.

“Manager Min, you know what? When you’re over 80 years old, there are things you can see at a glance. I may not have much education, but I’m very good at reading faces.”

After saying that, Hyun Sook stared at Joo Hyuk’s face intently. The gaze felt so sharp, as if it was exposing his insides.

“I think you’ve read it wrong this time. I absolutely do not like Ji Soo Han.”

At Joo Hyuk’s adamant tone, Hyun Sook seemed taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“You know what, Manager Min? You don’t have to be honest with me, but you need to be honest with our Ji Soo. There’s an old saying that a brave man wins the beauty. You’re not pretending not to like her in front of Ji Soo too, are you?”

“Pretending, you say. You are gravely mistaken, ma’am. Why would I like Ji Soo Han? I have very high standards.”

Joo Hyuk protested in an agitated voice. The great Min Joo Hyuk. What could he be lacking to have an unrequited love? And for a woman who already has a boyfriend.

Joo Hyuk was certain he would never do such a thing. He just found her a bit concerning these days, that was all.

With just this level of emotion, it couldn’t be described as liking her.

“Huh? What are you talking about now? Why would you like our Ji Soo? You have very high standards? I’m starting to feel slightly offended.”

Hyun Sook rolled up her sleeves as if she was about to fight with Joo Hyuk right then and there.

“To be honest, what’s lacking about our Ji Soo? She’s pretty, has a good personality, and lives diligently. Even without my pushing, she went to one of the best universities in Korea. Although her graduation was much later than others. But that’s because she was taking care of me and working part-time to earn money for living expenses.”

“……”

“Manager Min, you must know this well since you work next to our Ji Soo, right? She works so hard that it seems mindless and ignorant.”

Joo Hyuk recalled the recent business trip to New Delhi. In a way, Ji Soo had been reckless to the point of seeming inflexible and dull. Joo Hyuk’s heart stirred again as he remembered Ji Soo’s face smiling faintly in the hail-like rain.

“Oh, since we’re on the topic, let me ask you something.”

Hyun Sook checked to see if Ji Soo was still talking with the nurse, craning her neck. Confirming that she was still busy talking, she continued.

“Our Ji Soo went on a business trip to India or somewhere this time and was sick in bed all weekend.”

“……Is that so?”

He had told her she didn’t need to come see Seo Hoo on the weekend after the business trip ended. Thanks to that, Joo Hyuk had been properly tormented by Seo Hoo over the weekend.

“I asked her what she did, and she tried not to say anything even if she died, but after pestering her so much, she readily told me. She said she went out to buy medicine because the managing director was sick and got rained on.”

“……”

“No, what kind of company has such a lack of safety awareness? Telling a female employee to go to the pharmacy alone in a foreign place, really. Does that make any sense?”

It seemed she hadn’t mentioned getting robbed by a group of thugs on the way back and having her handbag stolen along with her umbrella.

“The company didn’t tell her to do that……”

“It must be all because of that person called the managing director, right? How much must he have overworked the new employee to make her, who is already nothing but skin and bones, go through such dangerous things? What if something bad happened to our Ji Soo?”

“……I think there’s some misunderstanding.”

“I’m going to go straight to the company and break that managing director’s legs. If he treats our Ji Soo badly, I won’t let it slide.”

Hyun Sook lightly ignored Joo Hyuk’s words and sighed heavily. The absurd thought of what would happen if he confessed that he was that damned managing director in this situation crossed his mind. Joo Hyuk unconsciously stroked his sturdy legs.

“Did Ji Soo say that? That the managing director made her do it?”

“Ji Soo says she went on her own. But do you think I’ll believe that? How perceptive do you think I am to believe that? What would a new employee know? She would just do what she’s told to do.”

But it’s true that an employee who has only worked for two months did it on her own.

It was frustrating that he couldn’t pretend to know here.

“Even if you’re used to being treated well by others, you should know that other people’s children are precious too. So what if he’s a managing director? With such a rotten personality, things won’t go well for him in the future. Tsk. Manager Min, you won’t tell anyone what I said, right?”

“How could I do that?”

Where would I spread gossip about myself? Joo Hyuk, who had suddenly become a rotten person with no good prospects, smiled bitterly.

“That’s right, our Manager Min and Ji Soo are similar in position, so you should get along well together.”

“Yes, I will…… do that.”

Finding the conversation with Hyun Sook too much to handle, Joo Hyuk turned his head to look for Ji Soo. After talking with the nurse at the desk, she had disappeared somewhere.

“Our Ji Soo…… is a pitiful child, so please take good care of her. Even though she looks endlessly bright on the outside, she’s not like that on the inside. Ji Soo is also interested in Manager Min, so you two must have had a meal together.”

Hyun Sook’s gaze was still checking to see if Ji Soo was coming or not, carefully continuing the conversation.

“Somehow, I like Manager Min. I can feel that you’d be much more helpful to Ji Soo than that managing director person.”

“So, ma’am…….”

“Lend me your ear for a moment. There’s something I must tell you.”

When Joo Hyuk hesitated, Hyun Sook pulled his sleeve and urged him. Having no choice, Joo Hyuk lent one ear to Hyun Sook and couldn’t think of anything for a while, as if frozen by her whispered words.

“Anyway, make sure our Ji Soo doesn’t get hurt and treat her well. It’s so nice that she broke up with that weird guy at the right time.”

“……”

For Hyun Sook, it had become an established fact that Joo Hyuk liked Ji Soo.

“As long as it’s not a selfish and self-righteous guy like the managing director, I welcome you with open arms. Such a person probably wouldn’t be able to comfort our Ji Soo when she’s sick. Anyway, I’m in favor of Manager Min!”

What should he reply to that? Joo Hyuk’s lips quivered. Just then, Ji Soo finished talking with the medical staff and approached the two.

Joo Hyuk just kept his mouth tightly shut. Joo Hyuk, who had been greatly drained in a short time, just wanted to leave this hospital as soon as possible.

***

“Thank you so much for today. If it weren’t for you, Managing Director, I don’t know in what state of mind I would have gone to the hospital.”

Ji Soo, sitting in the passenger seat, looked much more stable than when heading to the hospital. Seeing that, Joo Hyuk also felt much more relieved. Joo Hyuk recalled Ji Soo, who had turned even paler than her already white face and was trembling after receiving the call at the Korean restaurant. Joo Hyuk bit his lower lip at the stabbing pain in his heart.

“How is your grandmother’s condition?”

“The cartilage in her knees is very worn out. They said it would be best to have knee surgery as soon as possible. Other than that, there’s nothing much to worry about.”

Chatter chatter. Ji Soo spoke, moving her small, bright red lips diligently.

Her face was clearly facing forward, but Joo Hyuk’s gaze kept turning towards the passenger seat.

Min Joo Hyuk. What are you going to do harboring such lecherous feelings towards a new employee?

He sighed shortly, reproaching himself.

“I’m saying this because our conversation got cut off earlier. About the department transfer.”

“Yes.”

“I think the number of staff in the secretarial department is excessive, so I’m moving you. I thought it would be right for Ji Soo Han, who is not familiar with this work, to move.”

“……Yes.”

“I shouldn’t have hired Ji Soo Han from the beginning.”

“……”

“In the end, I’m sorry it turned out this way. Don’t take it too much to heart, and I hope you will work hard for the company in the external cooperation team, just like you do now.”

“Of course, Managing Director.”

He gripped the steering wheel harder.

I am a hypocrite. Telling blatant lies without hesitation. A disgusting hypocrite. Pushing away an innocent employee because of my own feelings, yet making such implausible excuses until the end.

“Then, for a month. I will do my best to be a helpful person in the secretarial department.”

Ji Soo kept pausing, unable to complete a sentence at once. Joo Hyuk wanted to turn his head and check what expression Ji Soo was making at that moment. But he never looked at Ji Soo’s face until the end.

On the way to Ji Soo’s house. The two didn’t have any conversation.