Chapter 12
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The simple workshop had no office. Jae-yeon roughly cleared away a pile of packages near her workbench and pulled out a chair.
"Please sit here first. It's been a while since anyone's been here, so there's not much room....... Can I get you some tea?"
"No thanks."
Jae-yeon sat down beside him, removing the work gloves from her hands. They faced each other, clasping the corners of the desk.
Do-geon looked her up and down, feeling strange to see her in a low ponytail, an apron with large pockets, and work gloves.
"So."
"...."
"Why were you following me?"
Jae-yeon asked casually, her tone light as if she was joking.
"Mr. Han didn't seem to want to get involved with me."
"Of course I don't want to get involved."
Do-geon looked down at her, a bit arrogant. "You're my grandfather's lover, and you're also sleeping with my cousin."
"..."
"I thought I'd check out what you're really like, so I did a little background check, because I'm a suspicious sort."
"Ah, background checks."
Jae-yeon smiled crisply, unmoved.
"That's interesting. So, did you find anything?"
"Not that anything came out......"
Do-geon’s gaze swept over her, observant. The casualness of her face struck a nerve.
"I've gotten to know a little bit about you."
So innocent, or so shameless.
"Oh, was there something fishy that you followed me?"
"I know you used to work at a place called Lamer. My second uncle...... Han Dong-woo was a regular there, and the time he stopped going coincides with the time you stopped working."
"..."
"I heard you met the chairman at a charity event, too. Is that a strange coincidence or......."
A curious sarcasm twitched at the corners of Do-geon’s mouth.
"I wonder if you were deliberately approaching the people at Daejin..................."
It didn't matter if it was speculation. It wasn't his purpose to get the answer right in the first place.
He was just curious to see what was behind that masked veil of layers. Silence fell over the table for a while. Do-geon found himself intrigued, waiting for an answer to come out of her mouth. Finally, Jae-yeon muttered.
"Mr. Han Dong-woo was a regular at Lamer?"
She blinked as if she'd never heard of him before, and then burst out laughing. But for some reason, it was a laugh that didn't seem very amused to Do-geon.
"Oh, that's a shame. I thought you followed me because you were interested in me. I was expecting you."
"..."
"I didn't know he was a regular there, I was just working at my mom's friend's shop, my mom worked in the brothel for a long time."
Jae-yeon casually recounted what Do-geon had been investigating behind the scenes.
"I didn't go to college, and I wanted to make a lot of money, so I worked at a shop run by a friend of my mom's. I stayed for about a year, and then I thought, "Let's make a new life," and I saved up enough money to open a workshop."
"And that's how you met the chairman."
"Yes, by chance at a charity event."
"You met the chairman of Daejin, and you became his lover."
"Oh, I made the first move. I thought, "Daejin's chairman, that's amazing. I'm pretty and young, so of course he'll fall for it."
Jae-yeon, who spoke shamelessly without changing her expression, smiled.
"So you did approach him with a purpose from the beginning."
"Well............... so what, but I do love Mr. Chairman."
Do-geon, who had been listening seriously, almost laughed out loud at the last part. Love?
"..................Suppose so, then why are you meeting with Han Do-seok? You're not even surprised that I know you're meeting with Han Do-seok in the first place. What if I tell the chairman?"
"The chairman is dying soon anyway, so it's only a matter of time. If you want to keep him around a little longer, you shouldn't tell him."
For a moment, Do-geon doubted his ears. Was she serious about all this? What the hell was she doing?
At a loss for words, he pursed his lips a few times. He hadn't been this speechless in a long time, not even during the recent all-out war on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations.
As he watched Jae-yeon in disbelief, Do-geon spoke after a long pause.
"And you say you love the Chairman ..................? Do you know what you’re talking about?"
"All love is a condition anyway. If men love my looks, why shouldn't I love their money?"
Jae-yeon said that with a look that was almost too much to bear. There was nothing false about her face, which was like a perfect craft, but it was odd because it was so simple.
It was too simple.
A normal person would hesitate to bring this up, or at least feel shame, but she seemed to have none of that.
"But she's not smart enough to do what she did in the first place. She's a bitch. Can't you see that she doesn't think of the consequences?"
Maybe she was just a stupid girl who didn’t think about anything but her own feelings, or maybe she thought too deeply and too complicatedly.
Do-geon kept his gaze on the workbench. He could see her clasped hands. They were white and small, but rough with a thin layer of calluses.
"Is the interview over?"
He raised his eyes again. Jae-yeon stood up, tucked her work gloves into her apron pocket, and said nonchalantly.
"If it's over, I'd like to be paid for the interview."
".................. what?”
"Well, I was just about to head back anyway, so if you're on your way, would you mind giving me a ride? Taxis are sometimes hard to find around here."
Instead of answering, Do-geon asked.
"Why didn't you bring a car?"
"Why drive yourself? You can pay for a cab."
"Then why not send the driver.................."
"Oh, I had a brief fling with a driver once, but the madam found out.................. and he got fired, so I've been a little cagey about getting a driver ever since."
"..."
"You don't like it?"
"To be honest, I don’t."
It couldn’t be good. If he gave her a ride for nothing, it could make it look like he was personally involved with her, first Chairman Han, then Do-seok, and then himself. As if reading his mind, Jae-yeon rolled her eyes and smiled.
"If you don't want to be misunderstood, you can drop me off somewhere farther away. Can you give me about five minutes so I can clean up?"
Jae-yeon turned away without even listening to his answer. Left behind, Do-geon stared after her in disbelief.
He clicked his tongue low and checked his wristwatch. Time had already passed without him doing anything.
A thud up ahead made him look up. In the corner, Jae-yeon was moving something. Do-geon set his jaw and watched her back. She rested her hands on her hips, surveyed the materials, then bent down to organize them.
With her skinny body, Jae-yeon moved the heavy items with ease. Honestly, it was amazing. She didn't even look like she was struggling.
It was winter, so she was wrapped up tightly, but he wondered if there were lean muscles underneath her clothes.
'Crazy, what were you thinking....................’
Do-geon rubbed the back of his neck irritably.
"Let's just go.”
He hadn't been able to refuse Jae-yeon's request after all, because sneaking up on her was morally wrong anyway.
He may not be a man of conscience, but he has been socialized to abide by a general level of convention. He could objectively judge the standards of good social behavior.
But getting into a car with her was still quite uncomfortable. It was more a matter of reason than of mood, and he was tired of waiting for her to say something inane again. .....................
There was another thud from the front.
Jae-yeon, who had pushed the box into the corner, stretched her back. Do-geon tilted his head slightly, slowly scanning her side profile.
She had a smooth forehead line and a slender nose, eyes that were slightly upturned but rounded, full lips of a pale color, and a white, thin neck. ................
The woman counting the boxes hadn't changed much. At most, it's just a ponytail and an apron. But for some reason, she looked completely different from the woman he had seen in the mansion.
Somehow, she seemed more alive. His eyes narrowed slightly.
'Alive..................'
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