Chapter 9 – What About Me, Then?
“I have a reasonable suspicion that my proposal was accepted because of my relationship with you.”
“A reasonable suspicion?”
Amused, he curled his lips into a faint smirk. Rather than putting her in a difficult spot, an impulse surged to make her cry instead. Malice, once fed by irritation, grew fast. Kang-woo rose abruptly and walked toward Chae-kyung, slow and deliberate.
“Assistant Manager Min Chae-kyung. Do you lack confidence in your own work?”
“No.”
With each step Kang-woo took closer, he could feel her tension sharpening.
“Then do you think what I do is a joke?”
“No.”
Shaken by his words, Chae-kyung answered quickly.
“I clearly told Director Shin to gather the elites of MOTE. Should I fire him for recommending an employee who lacks even this much confidence?”
He spoke as if joking, but his voice was ice-cold. Standing right before her, Kang-woo looked down with chilling eyes.
Startled, Chae-kyung’s widened eyes met his—then she quickly looked away.
Kang-woo lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“That’s not a reasonable suspicion. That’s the kind of thing a loser says.”
“……”
Seeing her pupils tremble at his mocking tone oddly reassured him.
“Assistant Manager Min Chae-kyung.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
“Work is work. Separate business from personal matters.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“I told you already. When it comes to us, wait quietly until I contact you.”
Chae-kyung bit her lip.
Kang-woo was startled by the sudden urge to pry her teeth apart with his fingers. Turning away abruptly, he strode toward the meeting room door—then stopped and looked back.
“Your briefing materials were good.”
“……”
He caught her face lifting. Watching her expression change with every word pleased him.
“But… don’t bite your lips.”
After delivering praise in a cold tone, Kang-woo left behind an unexpected warning and shut the meeting room door.
If he saw her biting her lips again, his hand might move before his thoughts did.
The question Chae-kyung had asked that day became an embarrassing memory of the past. The days when she wanted to avoid him passed without incident. As expected of a newly established department launched with ambition, the Strategy Planning Team plunged into hectic routines.
Even as a multinational corporation, the company was no different from any other Korean workplace.
As the Monday morning team meeting drew to a close, Assistant Manager Jang tried to liven things up.
“Manager Yang, we may be busy, but shouldn’t we at least have a team dinner? We’re a new department, after all.”
“The Vice President hasn’t said anything. Why a dinner now?”
“He’s lived overseas for so long, maybe he doesn’t realize how important unity is in Korean corporate culture.”
At Jang’s playful remarks, the rest of the team murmured in agreement. Manager Yang, with his thoroughly Korean mindset, nodded along.
“Well, we should eat together at least once. I’ll ask the Vice President—if not, we’ll just do it ourselves.”
“Sounds great!”
“Let’s wrap up the meeting here.”
“Yes, thank you, sir.”
As they left the meeting room, everyone chimed in about the dinner. Unlike the managers who were eager to organize a drinking session, the junior staff reacted lukewarmly.
Things like this were decided quickly. Kang-woo was constantly traveling on business, returning to the office only in the evenings without showing any sign of fatigue. In the end, Manager Yang never even brought it up to him and quietly decided to hold the team dinner without him.
For Chae-kyung, it was neither something she disliked nor looked forward to. She just needed to stay for a while and slip out when the moment felt right.
“Assistant Manager Min, let’s really enjoy this dinner. It’s been forever since we had one!”
Woo-kyung, eyes sparkling as if she’d been waiting for this, urged Chae-kyung on.
“It has been a while. Our company doesn’t even have that many team dinners.”
“Exactly. Even if we’re a foreign firm, we still have to follow Korean customs. When we do it, we should enjoy it properly.”
Woo-kyung’s optimism made Chae-kyung smile.
Gathered at a barbecue restaurant for the first time in a while, the team looked lively. Seated across from Chae-kyung, Jung-seok was diligently grilling the meat.
Woo-kyung exclaimed in admiration, praising him.
“Oh my, Assistant Manager Choo, do you really not have a girlfriend? You’re so considerate—where on earth are women looking?”
“Right? Manager Kang, there’s no man better than Assistant Manager Choo!”
Taking Woo-kyung’s side, Assistant Manager Jang launched into praise as well.
As if they’d planned it, the two advertised Jung-seok’s credentials like a sales pitch.
“Good personality, great academic background, solid family. His father’s an executive at K Group. He already owns an apartment—he just needs a woman!”
At Jang’s long explanation, Woo-kyung’s eyes sparkled even more.
“Seriously? If only I were younger, I’d snatch a man like him up right away.”
“Oh, come on. You’re embarrassing me.”
Jung-seok smiled sheepishly, scratching his head. Then his eyes met Chae-kyung’s, and he looked away awkwardly.
“Assistant Manager Min, are you seeing someone?”
At Woo-kyung’s blunt question, all eyes turned to Chae-kyung—even the department head’s gaze fixed on her.
“Yes, I am.”
From the time she turned twenty, the seat beside Chae-kyung had always belonged to Jun-heon, her ex-boyfriend. It had felt natural, comfortable. Even after his death, that familiarity lingered. Sometimes the lie spared her from further questions; other times, she told it because the idea of having no one beside her made her shudder.
“You are?”
Woo-kyung asked in surprise.
“Yes.”
“You don’t seem to talk much, though. You never mention your boyfriend. If he’s some half-baked guy, just break up. Get tangled up with the wrong man, and you’ll suffer your whole life.”
Assistant Manager Jang said it lightly.
“Exactly. If you’re unsure, meeting someone else isn’t a bad idea either.”
As Woo-kyung chimed in, Chae-kyung grew uncomfortable.
“……”
As the conversation increasingly centered on her, she drank water repeatedly.
Eventually, the topic she’d hoped to avoid—office romances—came up.
“What about Assistant Manager Choo? You need a man like that!”
Just as Chae-kyung was about to give a vague answer, a deep voice behind her cut in.
“What about me, then?”
A large shadow fell over her. Startled, Chae-kyung turned around—and found Kang-woo standing there, looking down at her. His gaze burned.
At his sudden appearance, the team—and Chae-kyung—rose to greet him.
Caught off guard, everyone scrambled. From the seat of honor, Manager Yang hurriedly made room for Kang-woo—at the farthest possible distance from where Chae-kyung was sitting, diagonally across.
“Vice President, please sit here.”
Without waiting for an answer to his question, Kang-woo passed by.
He and Director Shin had been returning directly to the office after a regional business trip. Hearing the Strategy Planning Team’s chatter, Kang-woo stopped on his way to the vice president’s office. The latecomers were just finishing up before heading to the dinner.
“Let’s hurry. Assistant Manager Jang keeps calling.”
“We’re done. Of all days, why do we have outside work today? With Jang’s reputation as a heavy drinker, I’m scared.”
“Oh—hello, sir!”
The team members froze when they ran into Kang-woo.
“Did I just hear you’re having a team dinner?”
“Yes… Vice President.”
With one hand shoved into his pocket, Kang-woo frowned deeply.
“Where?”
“Ah—across the street. A pork belly place.”
Sensing something off, they answered quickly.
“Lead the way, Director Shin. At the very least, I should attend—it’s a team under my direct supervision.”
“Vice President—”
Director Shin, startled by the change in him, tried to speak. Kang-woo had never participated in casual staff gatherings, especially abroad where such a culture barely existed.
“Director Shin.”
“Yes.”
Kang-woo cut him off.
“No backtalk.”
“……”
Irritation laced his voice. The tense team hurried ahead.
He didn’t care whether they had a dinner or not.
One thing bothered him—the fact that Chae-kyung, who couldn’t even drink well, was sitting there.
They arrived quickly at an ordinary Korean barbecue restaurant. The contrast was glaring: Kang-woo’s clothes and accessories alone could’ve bought the place outright.
And the irritation didn’t fade.
Her answer about having a boyfriend. The team’s attempts to pair her with Assistant Manager Choo, who’d helped her prepare materials. Every word pierced Kang-woo’s ears.
It grated on him unbearably.
Disliking the idea of Chae-kyung and Jung-seok together, Kang-woo had impulsively inserted himself.
What about me?
He wanted her answer. He was irritated that they were trying to match her with Jung-seok. Seeing her discomfort lightened his mood slightly—but not completely.
It had been impulsive, but he truly was curious.
Seated at the head table with the managers, Kang-woo stared straight at Chae-kyung. Cutting through the hum of conversations, his low voice demanded an answer.
“Assistant Manager Min. I asked you what you think of me.”
All eyes turned to her.
Everyone looked intrigued.
Chae-kyung’s face flushed—partly from the alcohol, partly from the attention.
Kang-woo’s relentless gaze weighed heavily on her.
“You are far beyond my reach, Vice President.”
“Why?”
He pressed her, unrelenting.
“I’m just an ordinary person.”
“So am I.”
“……”
At his words, Chae-kyung couldn’t respond.
“The Vice President is every woman’s ideal.”
Assistant Manager Jang jumped in with exaggerated flattery.
“Exactly. That’s what Assistant Manager Min means.”
Woo-kyung wrapped it in kinder words.
Unmoved, Kang-woo looked at Chae-kyung a moment longer—then tossed out a single line and withdrew his gaze.
“Try wanting more.”
At those words, a breeze stirred in Chae-kyung’s heart.
