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Chapter 5…
Doa sat by the café window and checked the time.
The place she was in now was a café about fifteen minutes away from the company on foot.
It wasn’t exactly far, but it also wasn’t close enough for office workers to casually come and go during lunch break.
“Even the café location is so Gyeongjun-like. A perfect place to avoid getting caught and make an easy escape. Then again, he’s always been amazing at protecting only himself.”
They said enemies meet on a narrow bridge, but who would’ve thought she’d end up meeting Gyeongjun as a client of all things?
It made her uncomfortable, yet at the same time, she was glad.
Because she’d finally gotten the chance to confront the man who had done nothing but run away from her.
Today, she wanted to settle once and for all what would happen to the money that had been stolen from her.
Doa steadied herself and took a slow breath when suddenly the café door swung open.
Soon, Gyeongjun—wearing an indifferent expression—looked around before spotting her and walking over to her table.
For someone who had avoided Doa so desperately until now, he didn’t look intimidated or apologetic in the slightest.
The moment he dropped onto the sofa seat, he abruptly pulled an envelope from his pocket and tossed it toward her.
Doa instinctively snatched it up.
“What’s this?”
After opening the envelope, Doa tilted her head in confusion. She couldn’t help it.
Inside wasn’t yellow cash or green bills, but merely a single A4 sheet packed with text.
“Read it.”
At Gyeongjun’s words, Doa unfolded the paper.
[Settlement Agreement]
Woo Gyeongjun shall, as of today, pay Seong Doa the amount of 2,000,000 won (₩2,000,000), thereby concluding all monetary disputes, demands, and claims between both parties. After payment of the above amount, if Seong Doa privately contacts Woo Gyeongjun or engages in behavior that invades his personal life, legal action may be taken against her.
“What? T-Two million won?”
Doa’s eyes widened.
Her voice dripped with disbelief.
Meanwhile, Gyeongjun lifted his chin arrogantly as if he had made some grand sacrifice.
“I admit defeat, alright? I’ll give you the money, so sign this and never show up in front of me again.”
After saying that, he reached toward his bag and pulled something out.
Thinking it really might be the two million won, Doa reached for the envelope—
Smack!
Gyeongjun slapped the back of her hand away.
“If you want the money, sign this first.”
“What?”
“What, you think I can just trust you and hand over money? I need at least a written agreement.”
Doa looked back and forth between the envelope and the document before narrowing her eyes.
“So let me get this straight. You’re giving me a measly two million won and still demanding I sign a contract?”
Gyeongjun looked at her as if she were asking something obvious.
The moment Doa saw that shameless expression, the anger she had been suppressing erupted like a volcano.
“Hey! The refrigerator I bought for you cost more than two million won!”
“So what do you want me to do about it? Legally, I have absolutely no reason to return any money to you. If anything, you should be grateful I’m even giving you two million won.”
What the hell was he talking about?
He was trying to settle 32.7 million won with just two million and expected her to be grateful for it?
Then again, of course. There’s no way a person like you would return the money that easily.
But the old pushover Seong Doa was gone now.
“Listen carefully, Woo Gyeongjun. You scammed me with promises of marriage and took a total of 32.7 million won in wedding savings from me. I’m getting every last cent back—not even a ten-won coin will be missing.”
At that, Gyeongjun scoffed.
“And how exactly are you going to get it back? Going to come to our company and make another scene? Hey, do I look like I suffered any damage from what you did? Keep it up, and you’ll just end up looking like a crazy bitch.”
Ha! Then why were you hiding so thoroughly you couldn’t even show a single strand of hair while I was protesting outside?
Doa mocked Gyeongjun’s cowardice inwardly, but at the same time, she felt disappointed that even after going that far, she hadn’t managed to hurt him at all.
“You think I’ll just keep taking whatever you do forever? If you’re not taking this money, then you’d better prepare yourself. I’ll show you exactly what it means for a client to abuse their power!”
After finishing his sentence, Gyeongjun quickly grabbed the envelope from the table and left.
Once his back disappeared beyond the café doors, Doa felt her heart pounding even harder for no reason.
Surely… I’m not seriously screwed from now on, right…?
A few days later, it was already getting dark outside the windows.
In an office where most employees had already gone home, Doa sat alone at the only desk still lit up, endlessly clicking her mouse.
At that moment, the office door suddenly slid open with a rattling sound, and someone’s voice called out.
“Doa, are you working overtime again?”
At the sudden voice, Doa lifted her head to find Sunyoung standing there.
“Yes. What brings you here, Assistant Manager? Weren’t you going straight home after your outside appointment?”
“I was, but I left something behind.”
Sunyoung glanced around the office before tilting her head slightly.
“But why are you always the only one working overtime? Didn’t Nahui leave early again? Aren’t you both on the same project?”
Seriously, Assistant Manager.
Why does one person get to leave on time while I’m stuck guarding the office every single day?
Scenes from only three days ago replayed in Doa’s mind like a film.
“You said you wanted a proposal targeting younger consumers. When did anyone ask for a proposal that would drive away all your existing customers too? You really have no sense of balance.”
“It’s old-fashioned! Way too old-fashioned! Seong Doa, with such terrible instincts, how are you even working at an advertising agency?”
After openly declaring he would abuse his authority as a client, Gyeongjun had already rejected only Doa’s proposals four separate times.
As if determined to crush her spirit, he constantly picked fights with her work whenever he got the chance and hurled endless insults at her.
You couldn’t even get a job without me, so who are you acting superior in front of now?
That wasn’t just anger talking—it was completely true.
Back in college, both Gyeongjun and Nahui had wandered aimlessly even in their senior year, unable to decide on career paths.
Feeling frustrated watching them, Doa had secretly added their names to an advertising competition she planned to enter and worked tirelessly on it alone.
The project ended up winning second place.
Using that achievement, Doa and Nahui joined Abe, while Gyeongjun eventually landed a job at Hyunsin Department Store after his job-hunting period.
‘And that’s not all! Do you know how many résumés and self-introduction letters I wrote for him to help him get hired?!’
All the devotion she had given in the past had turned into feeding a dog after cooking an entire feast.
Because now, Gyeongjun was using the very career Doa had built for him to crush her.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve gone into a major corporation in-house instead of an agency. No, why did I even enter that competition with those losers in the first place? Seriously, what unnecessary meddling.’
The past, once spilled like water, could never be taken back no matter how much she regretted it.
While Doa silently blamed herself, Sunyoung found the item she had left behind and prepared to leave work.
She glanced at Doa and spoke apologetically.
“I’ve got something going on at home today, so I have to leave first. You should wrap things up and head home soon too.”
Once Sunyoung left, the office fell silent again.
Doa looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.
“What am I even doing? Instead of getting my money back, I’m just getting bullied over it… Seong Doa, you’re pathetic! Seriously pathetic!”
Even while muttering tearfully to herself, her hand never stopped clicking the mouse.
Just then, a message notification suddenly popped up on one side of her monitor.
[Hyunsin Department Store Marketing Team 1 — Woo Gyeongjun: The proposal revisions will all be done today, right? We’re presenting them at tomorrow’s meeting, so come in by morning and report to me.]
Haa—
If he were standing in front of her right now, she felt like she’d punch him in the back of the head.
‘Ah, I can’t believe I ended up coming back here again.’
Doa was standing in the lobby of Hyunsin Department Store.
Today was the day of a meeting involving the client company and the entire team.
The place she had stormed into only two weeks ago remained exactly the same.
The polished floors gleamed brightly enough to shine, the ceilings were still painfully high, and the flashy sculptures and bustling people were all unchanged.
‘Surely nobody recognizes me, right?’
Two weeks ago, she had turned this lobby upside down while wearing a ridiculous wig and sunglasses and shouting through a megaphone.
No one would imagine that same woman now walking calmly across the lobby dressed neatly in a blouse and knee-length skirt.
Still, I really want to get out of here quickly.
Suppressing the tightness squeezing at her chest, Doa headed toward the partner-company meeting room.
And then—
From the very center of the lobby, a cold, low voice pierced straight into her ears like it was scraping across her heart.
“What exactly are you doing here?”
