Younger Man at Work (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1

6 a.m., at the Dae Won Construction headquarters.

Even the reception staff hadn’t arrived yet. At this hour, when most employees were still lost in dreams, a tall, imposing man appeared in the eerily silent lobby, flanked by his secretaries.

He was none other than Kwon Seung Joo, the thirty-three-year-old CEO.

A woman blocked his path right in front of the elevator, as if not a single second wasted on commuting mattered to him—he strode forward briskly, as though every moment counted.

Petite in stature, slender-framed, with small lips turned completely pale from tension—she looked just like a tiny rabbit standing defiantly before a tiger.

“My name is Yoon Eun Seo, from the Planning Team. I absolutely must speak with you, sir.”

Before his startled secretaries could intervene, Eun Seo looked straight into the CEO’s eyes and spoke.

“It’ll truly only take a moment. Please, just spare me a little time.”

Glancing briefly at the ID badge hanging around Eun Seo’s neck, the CEO slightly furrowed his handsome eyebrows.

“Please contact me through the Secretary’s Office.”

As Kwon Seung Joo turned to leave without hesitation, Eun Seo grabbed the hem of his coat and cried out,

“I wouldn’t be doing this if you’d agreed to meet me after I’d tried contacting you so many times!”

By now, the secretaries had finally snapped out of their daze. Struggling against their attempts to pull her away from both sides, Eun Seo quickly said,

“Two years ago, in Yeonsa-dong, on a rainy day.”

The man’s previously impenetrable expression flickered ever so slightly—just enough for Eun Seo to know he remembered.

Thus, she could deliver her next words with just a bit more confidence.

“I also fulfilled your request back then, didn’t I?”

Predictably, no denial came from him.

“So… I think you can at least spare a moment to hear me out.”

After staring silently at Eun Seo for a while, the man suddenly asked, without even turning to look at his secretary behind him,

“Do I have any free time today?”

“You have an executive meeting this morning, sir, followed by external appointments starting from lunchtime. Tomorrow morning and again after lunch, you have back-to-back meetings scheduled, so you’re expected to finish around four or five in the afternoon.”

Kwon Seung Joo nodded and said,

“Then come to my office tomorrow at five p.m.”

*

Having successfully secured the appointment, Eun Seo returned to the fifth floor where her own office was located. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest.

Her hands trembled so badly it took her a long time just to open her water bottle. The moment she finally twisted off the cap, she gulped down the water desperately. Only after nearly emptying the entire 500ml bottle did she collapse onto her chair, utterly drained.

“Haa…”

A wave of exhaustion, akin to death itself, swept over her. Just seeing Kwon Seung Joo’s face—or merely sharing the same space with him—had kept every muscle in her body taut with tension. It wasn’t just her; he had that effect on everyone. There were plenty of employees who’d fainted just from encountering him.

Confronting such a man directly and forcing him into an agreement had drained an enormous amount of energy from her.

But she had no other choice.

[The landlord says they want to terminate the lease.]

She’d received the notice via the real estate agency ten days ago—her request to renew the lease had been denied.

It was a house where she’d lived for a full fifteen years without a single increase in the deposit. Since the lease had been tacitly renewed every time, she’d never once spoken directly to the landlord. To Eun Seo, the landlord had existed only as a name on paper.

Now, that name had suddenly leapt off the documents and into reality, dropping a bombshell on her.

[Apparently, they plan to demolish the house and build a new structure there.]

Unmoved by Eun Seo’s shock, the real estate agent continued,

“Honestly, it’s surprising they kept it unchanged for this long—do you even know how much that land is worth now?”

The neighborhood had already begun developing about ten years ago. Now, the entire area was densely packed with apartments, villas, and commercial buildings. Standing alone amid the towering structures like a small child squeezed between giants was a spacious, modernized hanok—the house where Eun Seo lived.

[Anyway, they’re giving you notice three months before the lease expires, as required by law. Just prepare to move out accordingly.]

But Eun Seo simply couldn’t leave on such short notice.

“Wait… isn’t there something called the lease renewal request right? I heard tenants can legally stay for two more years if they request it once.”

She’d clung to this piece of information she’d heard on the news, only to be met with derisive laughter.

“There are exceptions to that rule, too. It doesn’t apply if the landlord plans to demolish the building entirely.”

Looking at Eun Seo’s stricken face with pity, the real estate agent advised,

“From the way they contacted you through the Secretary’s Office, this landlord seems to be someone really important. Don’t waste your energy fighting it. Just thank them for letting you live there so comfortably all this time and move out peacefully. I’ll try to ask them to give you some moving compensation, at least.”

He wasn’t wrong. Despite being an old, modernized hanok, the house sat on a plot large enough to build a decent-sized building—and yet the deposit was only thirty million won, unchanged for fifteen straight years.

That she’d been allowed to live there for what amounted to practically free rent was already an immense favor. So, it would have been proper to simply express her gratitude and move out quietly.

But…

Fortunately, Eun Seo actually knew who the landlord was. Of course, knowing didn’t make him any easier to meet.

From that day on, she began persistently calling Dae Won Construction’s Secretary’s Office, where she herself worked.

[I’d like to meet the CEO in person.]

When a second-year ordinary employee requested a private meeting with the CEO, the Secretary’s Office gave a perfectly reasonable response:

—Please state your business.

She feared that if she revealed the truth, they’d reject her outright without even letting her see his face. Meeting him in person and explaining her situation seemed like her only chance. So, she could only say this:

[I’d like to explain that directly to the CEO himself.]

The reply came shortly after:

—He says he won’t meet you.

After being flatly rejected like that five times over ten days, she’d ultimately had no choice but to ambush him on his way to work.

*

The next day, Eun Seo couldn’t focus on her work at all. As time passed, her anxiety grew until she could barely breathe. Every time she checked the clock, it felt like her heart dropped straight to her feet.

“Why’s your face so pale?”

Her close friend and fellow Planning Team member, Kim Seon Ah—who also happened to be her hiring-year cohort—asked.

“Oh, I guess my breakfast didn’t sit well.”

“I see. By the way, I saw Seung Joo in the lobby this morning.”

Seon Ah was a die-hard fan of CEO Kwon Seung Joo. She hadn’t fallen for him after joining the company—in fact, she’d joined precisely because she liked him. She claimed she’d fallen for him at first sight after seeing a small photo accompanying a news article in her sophomore year of college: “Kwon Seung Joo, third-generation heir of Dae Won Group, joins Dae Won Construction as executive.”

[While my friends were running around on live TV, I was running through shareholder meetings. When they got dragged off by their managers, I got chased out by my secretary.]

Perhaps the constant need to hide it at work had built up stress—because now, in front of Eun Seo, her closest colleague, she was openly gushing with unfiltered fangirling, freely calling him “Seung Joo.”

“But today, Seung Joo seemed… different somehow.”

Eun Seo’s heart lurched.

‘Did he look upset? That’s the one thing I can’t afford today…’

She forced down her anxiety and asked casually,

“How so? What was different?”

“His outfit was totally unlike his usual style. He always dresses so… rigidly, right? But today he looked surprisingly fresh—even wore a really nice-looking tie.”

Eun Seo instantly deflated. ‘Is that all?’

“Maybe he has a date or something…?”

Seon Ah mumbled to herself, then quickly shook her head.

“Well, our Seung Joo probably doesn’t even have time to meet girls.”

Finally, five p.m.—the fateful hour—arrived. As her coworkers began preparing to leave, creating a slightly chaotic atmosphere, Eun Seo quietly slipped out of the office. When she reached the CEO’s suite, the secretary announced her,

“Sir, Yoon Eun Seo is here.”

The CEO’s office was far more spacious than she’d imagined. The panoramic view of the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows seemed to epitomize this man’s social status—a man who always looked down on everyone from the very top.

Eun Seo bowed deeply toward Kwon Seung Joo, seated behind a massive solid-wood desk.

“Thank you for making time to see me, sir.”

Kwon Seung Joo walked over and sat down on the sofa first.

“We won’t be long, so no tea, please.”

He dismissed his secretary with a nod, then glanced at his wristwatch.

“I don’t have much time, so please get straight to the point.”

He straightened his back and fixed his gaze firmly on her. That alone made her blood run cold—as if his eyes burned wherever they landed.

Unable to meet his eyes directly, Eun Seo shifted her gaze to his chest, just above his suit buttons. Only then did she understand what Seon Ah had meant that morning.

She’d never paid attention to what the CEO usually wore, yet today’s look was strikingly different at first glance.

A man who’d become CEO at thirty-three naturally carried a heavy, solemn aura in his attire. But today, he wore a light navy suit. Without the usual waistcoat that always made him look overly formal, his large frame appeared surprisingly leaner, and even his dark brown tie looked stylish. Now she understood why Seon Ah had mentioned a date.

Standing before a man who’d look perfectly at ease on a runway, Eun Seo felt even more intimidated. Her head kept drooping lower and lower. She noticed a slight pilling on the knees of her slacks and regretted not dressing more carefully—though, to be honest, she didn’t own any nice clothes to begin with.

Shaking off her distracting thoughts, Eun Seo finally spoke.

“I’m the tenant of the house you own in Yeonsa-dong.”

As expected, Kwon Seung Joo showed no sign of surprise.

“So?”

“I’m truly, deeply grateful that you’ve let me live there for fifteen years without ever raising the deposit.”

A hint of irritation crept into the man’s voice.

“I don’t need thanks—I asked for your business.”

“I heard you plan to demolish the house in three months and build something new in its place.”

Eun Seo bowed her head deeply.

“I know it’s shameless of me to ask, but… please, if at all possible, could you delay it by just one year?”

“Why?”

The fact that he didn’t immediately refuse but instead asked for a reason sparked a faint glimmer of hope in her.

“There’s a reason I can’t move out right now.”

CEO Kwon Seung Joo’s expression shifted slightly, as if he’d just understood something. Was it her imagination, or did one corner of his lips twitch upward?

“If it’s moving costs you’re worried about, I’ll make sure you’re compensated generously.”

Humiliation burned her cheeks red.

“It’s not about money. The truth is… I have…”

Eun Seo took a deep breath and, for the first time, looked directly into his eyes.

“Fifteen years ago, I lost my younger brother.”