Chapter 23
“Jaei, are you doing well at school?”
Jaekyung, who had been drafting an official document, immediately felt uneasy at her father's sudden phone call.
“Yes. Did something happen?”
“Daughter! When are you becoming a permanent teacher? Someone I know gave me some study books. Once you become a civil servant, your life will be set.”
Her father still had no idea that she had been dismissed from her contract teaching position and had become her ex-husband's secretary.
“I'll take care of it.”
Her father, who hadn't even graduated high school, had always dreamed of Jaekyung becoming a civil servant and living comfortably without struggling.
While working at a host bar, he somehow kept collecting civil service exam books that weren't even related to the field Jaekyung would apply for.
The publication dates were years out of date, but he kept piling them up in the corner of the room.
Jaekyung could never bring herself to throw them away.
“I just want to do something good for my daughter. That's why I'm thinking about starting a business.”
“Dad, stop!”
The five hundred million won Director Jin had given her had disappeared into a scam almost the moment it hit the account.
Jaekyung couldn't spend the rest of her life paying off her father's debts.
“Please, don't do anything.”
Doing nothing would help her more.
Her father ended the call after saying he was hurt that his daughter opposed him.
But Jaekyung had no idea what he might do next.
Her head throbbed.
Still, she had to finish the official document for the education office first.
“...Secretary Seo.”
A familiar, playful voice called to her.
Jaekyung looked up and gave Chief Kwon a flat stare.
He was holding out a box of cookies with an apologetic expression.
It was the first time she had seen him since returning from the Jeju business trip.
“Do you know how much I waited for you?”
If he had called in advance...
No, even a text message would have helped.
She wouldn't have been caught so completely off guard.
Jaekyung chewed the cookie Chief Kwon handed her, trying to raise her blood sugar.
She hadn't had a moment to rest because of work these past few days.
Now her father's call had added even more stress.
“I'm really sorry.”
Chief Kwon smiled sheepishly.
“My battery was almost dead then, and my closest friend's father passed away. On top of that, the flights were canceled because of the storm.”
When he explained it like that, it really had been unavoidable.
Jaekyung couldn't stay angry at his cheerful face.
“Please make sure you contact me next time.”
“I definitely will.”
Chief Kwon pushed the cookie box closer.
“I even brought snacks for our secretary. Eat a lot. Ah...”
A cold voice came from behind them.
“What reason would you two have to contact each other?”
Jaekyung stiffened.
Yugam had apparently returned from his outside appointment without either of them noticing.
He snatched the cookie from Chief Kwon's hand.
“And why is Secretary Seo ours?”
Yugam bit into the cookie.
“She's mine.”
The sight of him chewing looked strangely like a predator eating captured prey.
After returning from the hospital, Yugam seemed wary even of Chief Kwon's playful affection.
This was exactly why Chief Kwon shouldn't have left his side.
“Chairman, why are you so defensive?”
Chief Kwon casually put an arm around Yugam's shoulders.
“Don't you know what workplace friendship is?”
“No.”
“My relationship with you is workplace friendship.”
Yugam's expression didn't change at all.
“And don't worry about Team Leader Do.”
Chief Kwon added,
“I'll handle him.”
“I wasn't worried.”
Whenever Yugam said he wasn't worried, it usually meant something was bothering him badly.
Chief Kwon was the only employee in the company who knew Do Yujin's true identity.
He was an illegitimate son born in the same year, conceived during the early stages of Heeyeon's pregnancy.
After learning about her husband's affair only after his death, Jin Heeyeon's hysteria had reached its peak.
Her husband was already dead.
She couldn't stand before his urn and demand answers.
Ten years of marriage.
She had believed in her husband's unwavering love.
She simply hadn't known that his love had been divided between multiple families.
And he had died in a plane crash while supposedly on a business trip...
when in reality, he had been traveling to meet that woman and his illegitimate son.
Jin Heeyeon was an extremely proud woman.
To the outside world, she was praised as a devoted daughter-in-law who served her father-in-law faithfully.
She was also admired as a talented executive leading the KE Group.
But there was only one place where she poured out everything rotting inside her.
Her only son.
Yugam.
“Are you doing this filthy nonsense because you're like your father?”
“Half your blood is rotten.”
“Remember that I'm your mother, and I'm the only reason I tolerate your disgusting stench enough to raise you.”
Night after night, she drank and spat venom at Yugam.
She cursed men as either children or animals.
Her hatred poured out until she was practically foaming at the mouth.
Yugam spent his nights buried beneath broken objects and words that could never be repeated outside their home.
Near dawn, Jin Heeyeon would eventually collapse into sobs.
“Son, without you, your mother has no reason to live.”
Chairman Do had already collapsed.
Yugam couldn't lose his mother too.
He endured silently from the age of eight.
But even Yugam eventually reached his limit.
During his first year of high school, as the new spring shoots emerged across the school grounds, he collapsed.
Panic disorder.
Anxiety disorder.
