Though Yeon Seok shouted his question, naturally no one answered. Yeon Seok wiped the sticky raw egg from his eyes and fumed.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

But the raw egg barrage did not end after just one. Raw eggs aimed precisely at Yeon Seok flew in without pause.

“These crazy bastards! What are you trying to get by doing this crap!”

He yelled so loudly that his throat went hoarse in a short time. It was the first time in his life suffering such humiliation. Not only verbally abused by an unspecified crowd for no reason, but even assaulted. His only thought was that he needed to catch and lock up all these bastards.

Let’s retreat for now. As he looked around trying to escape, the crowd that had gotten close at some point had completely blocked any gaps for Yeon Seok and Wan Jin to get out.

“Won’t you move? I said, won’t you move, you bastards. You bastards, acting like some gang thugs.”

That’s when it happened. Ji Soo, who had been walking from behind, swiftly ran over and stretched out her arms to wrap around Yeon Seok.

“Everyone, you mustn’t do this. Throwing eggs is also clearly violence!”

Ji Soo shouted in the direction the eggs had flown from. The crowd began to murmur, dumbfounded by the identity of Ji Soo who had suddenly appeared.

“Who are you to butt in! Move!”

“Hey! Who are you to suddenly jump out and make a fuss? Are you on the same side as that abusive jerk?”

Though she thought it was utterly childish, Ji Soo did not waver. Right now, rather than who was on whose side, calming the angry people and ensuring no one gets hurt was important.

At least anyone with sense wouldn’t throw raw eggs at someone other than Yeon Seok… Ji Soo’s thought was a delusion.

“If you have a problem with this person, lodge an official complaint with the company. Throwing eggs or objects like this, ugh.”

At that moment, dozens of eggs flew towards Ji Soo and Yeon Seok. She hadn’t expected them to go this far. But she had no intention of running away now.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

The eggs hit her face, shoulders, abdomen, quite diversely before falling to the ground. The ground the two were standing on quickly became filthy.

“An abuser who won’t even properly apologize has no human rights! None!”

“Get on your knees and apologize to the victimized crew! Do it!”

The voices of many converged into one, echoing loud and clear. Even while throwing eggs, their excitement didn’t seem to die down easily, their protest transforming into an even more intense form.

Once again, an egg flying towards Ji Soo’s face smacked precisely into her forehead and dripped down powerlessly.

***

Joo Hyuk, upon receiving a report of a big commotion in front of the headquarters, stopped what he was doing and headed down.

As expected. The situation was more serious than he had thought. An angry crowd and three people standing against them. The person being mercilessly assaulted while shielding Yeon Seok and Wan Jin.

If his eyes were seeing correctly right now, that person was…

“Executive Hwang, that person is Han Ji Soo, correct?”

“Yes, Senior Director. Goodness, I don’t know why that kid is doing that again.”

Even with a neat black two-piece suit covered in eggs, arms stretched out, the woman standing there was clearly Han Ji Soo. Squinting, tilting his head to look, it was undoubtedly her.

But why was that woman doing that in front of Shim Yeon Seok right now?

“What kind of situation is this right now?”

Unable to comprehend it with his common sense, he sought an answer from Jae Ho. Jae Ho, as if at a loss, rubbed his face before opening his mouth.

“Suddenly Ms. Han Ji Soo jumped out and is apparently protecting Mr. Shim. I also don’t quite understand why she’s doing that.”

“……”

“Where have all the security guards gone?”

“I had them stationed in front of the crowd to keep people from rushing in, but it seems they were pushed back by the sheer number of people.”

Just looking at the pickets they were holding, one could tell they belonged to other organizations that had come up from all over the country. It felt like the situation was unfolding more exhaustingly than Joo Hyuk had imagined.

Glaring at Ji Soo, Joo Hyuk squeezed through the crowd without even a small gap. Ji Soo’s slightly open eyes widened in wonder as she discovered Joo Hyuk.

“Wait, Senior Director, what brings you here…?”

“Is it that surprising for me to be at my own company?”

“No, that’s not it, but…”

Up close, Ji Soo’s state was even more miserable. Not only was she covered in eggs from head to toe, the skin exposed outside the fabric was red and inflamed.

Why was it? Looking at Ji Soo like that, curses welled up to his throat.

It was unpleasant and irritating.

Joo Hyuk grabbed Ji Soo’s hand and pulled her towards him with a jerk. Ji Soo’s small body was reeled into Joo Hyuk’s chest.

“Ack.”

Ji Soo’s forehead collided with Joo Hyuk’s chest.

“Stop doing things beyond your place and let’s go in now.”

“But Manager Shim is…”

Ji Soo turned her head. Yeon Seok quickly ran towards the parking lot, but objects flew in from all directions. The crowd surrounding him was downright threatening.

“You can let him handle it. Who’s worried about whom right now?”

“No, but still, at this rate…”

But even with Ji Soo’s concern, her body ended up following Joo Hyuk. The force of the hand Joo Hyuk had interlocked with hers was too strong.

The place Joo Hyuk stopped at was the ground parking lot located behind the building. To be precise, in front of Joo Hyuk’s black sedan.

“Get in without a word for now.”

“But my clothes are dirty right now…”

“Just get in.”

“…Yes.”

At the tone that sounded half like a threat, Ji Soo immediately obliged.

Joo Hyuk personally opened the passenger door for her. Feeling somehow like a criminal, Ji Soo nodded her head and obediently got into the passenger seat.

“Senior Director, this time I’ll properly drive for once…”

Under Joo Hyuk’s glaring eyes, Ji Soo couldn’t even finish her words. Turning on the engine and grabbing the steering wheel, Joo Hyuk started driving without even mentioning the destination.

“Senior Director… May I ask where you’re going?”

“…No, you may not.”

“Yes…”

It was awkward to talk, and awkward to look at her cell phone. Ji Soo periodically wiped the egg liquid dripping from the top of her head and only stared forward. Then, Joo Hyuk took out a towel from the glove box and handed it to Ji Soo.

“Thank you, Senior Director.”

Ji Soo began to slowly wipe her face with that towel. No matter how many times she had been hit directly in the face, it still felt numb.

It wasn’t that she wanted to stand there to protect Yeon Seok. She just wanted to let the protesters know that their actions were not right. She thought if she, not their target, stood there, they would stop throwing… But that was unexpected.

Ji Soo’s eyes widened in surprise when she realized the sedan was heading towards Joo Hyuk’s house.

‘Why are we going to the Senior Director’s house right now?’

Well, it would have been strange no matter where they went. In the first place, it was odd for Ji Soo to be in Joo Hyuk’s sedan at all.

Getting out of the car, Joo Hyuk opened the passenger door and gestured for Ji Soo to follow him. Ji Soo silently followed behind him without a word.

***

Joo Hyuk took off his jacket and tossed it on the sofa, loosening his tie. While Joo Hyuk did that, Ji Soo stood in the middle of the living room like a scarecrow.

“Wash up and come out. I’ll prepare clothes in front of the bathroom. Don’t wear those clothes again.”

“You mean… take a shower?”

“If you go home looking like that, your grandmother will think it’s strange.”

If Hyun Sook found out about this, she might rush out saying she would kill the ones who threw eggs at her granddaughter. It was terrible just imagining it. Shaking her head, Ji Soo headed straight to the bathroom.

After confirming Ji Soo entering the bathroom, Joo Hyuk let out a long sigh and closed his eyes tightly.

A while later, Ji Soo came out wearing Joo Hyuk’s large t-shirt and shorts, with a towel around her neck and wet hair, and quietly sat on the sofa.

Joo Hyuk silently looked at Ji Soo like that. Ji Soo was sitting with a towel around her neck, her back straight.

“By any chance… did I do something today that could have caused trouble for the company?”

“……”

“Or did I do something to upset you, Senior Director?”

Ji Soo sincerely wanted to know what she had done wrong. If Joo Hyuk pointed it out precisely, she intended to correct it no matter what.

“I absolutely detest stupid people who cause trouble.”

“…Yes.”

“I hate even more those who can’t distinguish where to butt in and stick their nose in everywhere.”

“…Yes.”

“I also despise people who act like they’re somebody, pretending to be nice while taking a loss.”

Absolutely detest, hate, despise.

Ji Soo was not unaware that the person Joo Hyuk was cursing at was her. She wasn’t that dense. Her face gradually turned pale.

“Why in the world did you do that today? Frankly, the person who would feel most relieved to see Manager Shim being treated like that by others would be you, Han Ji Soo. What’s the reason you went out of your way to protect Manager Shim?”

“It didn’t seem right.”

“What the hell didn’t?”

“I just thought acts of violence… were unacceptable and wanted to stop them. That’s all.”

Joo Hyuk let out a scoff at the absurd answer once again.

“Could it be… you wanted attention from others for protecting an executive? Or were you after something else?”

“No, I wasn’t thinking that far ahead when I did it.”

In a way, it was an impulsive and instinctive action. Even if she had more time, Ji Soo was not the type to act in order to gain favorable results for herself.

“Han Ji Soo, you are truly the worst.”