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7. Falling at First Sight
I touched the article as if spellbound. After a brief loading screen, a banner for D Magazine appeared—a webzine run by a media outlet under the Moyeon Group. The upload date was about a year ago.
Scrolling down, a photo showed him leaning against a desk in what appeared to be his office, a nameplate reading “Managing Director Han Je-ha” resting on it, looking straight ahead at me.
It was an elegance that fully justified casually concluding he was the heir to Moyeon.
[Q. The Business Support TF you currently belong to is called the brain trust, packed with core talent to the extent that it’s called Moyeon’s “control tower.” As a leader heading one of those teams, what kind of sense of responsibility do you carry? A. At Moyeon, each department has independence in decision-making. Therefore, regardless of which team it is, every single team member—regardless of rank—is part of the brain trust, making it a core department. In the case of Strategy Team 2, which I belong to, our main task is building businesses to lead the company’s future, but fundamentally, we exist to take responsibility when those businesses fail to achieve the expected results. Anticipating unexpected risks and losses, stepping up to make up for them, and setting up preventive measures by reviewing processes so the same mistakes aren’t repeated—that is the role of the team and my responsibility as a leader.]
A clear and impressive answer. It wasn’t authoritarian, yet it firmly imprinted his position on the listener.
He’s a smart man—in quite a few ways.
[Q. Let’s move on to a slightly more personal question. You held a private wedding around this time last year. You’re probably spending your newlywed days completely showered in honey, but since you’ve strongly avoided media exposure up until now, stories about the two of you are practically non-existent in public. By any chance, could you share the story of how you first met your wife?]
“Ha.”
It was an embarrassing question. Everyone and their mother knew it was a loveless marriage.
On top of that, “showered in honey.” If I had been the interviewee, I would’ve stammered nonsensically, only for it to be reduced to gossip by the next day—something like [Moyeon Electronics Managing Director Han Je-ha’s Couple: Whispers of Discord]—and chewed over in public.
But since it was him and not me, I scrolled down with a light heart. He must have handled it smoothly.
[A. I first met my wife during my studying-abroad days. There were a few Korean international students in the same class, and among them, my wife was an exceptional student, taking first place throughout the semester. I felt drawn to my wife’s intelligent and confident appearance. No, it would be more accurate to say I fell for her at first sight.]
“……”
I flipped my phone over flat on the table. I buried my forehead in the surface and just blinked my eyes.
Is this a cleverly fabricated lie, or the truth? I couldn’t tell which was which, and I was confused.
Unless he intentionally set out to frame me for falsifying my academic background, it was highly likely that the fact I attended a prestigious university was true.
“Wasn’t I kind of smart?”
I temporarily pushed down my soaring ego and followed the train of thought.
Then, what about all that talk of being drawn to me and falling at first sight…
‘You barely escaped death, and you’re pulling stupid stunts like this?’
‘Keeping up the pace with a ridiculous play ends here.’
‘You should go see a hospital. It looks like a deep cut.’
From the moment we first met, the cold, downward-pressing gaze and harsh words. Cold eyes that didn’t even carry enough weight to be called contempt.
“Ha.”
I woke my phone back up and glared at the man smiling on the screen. He wore a public face, but the sharp line of his eyes—impossible to hide—was clear even through the photo.
And yet, he pulled off the act of a newlywed deeply smitten with his wife so damn well.
Considering what kind of knife he was sharpening beneath that deliberately gentle expression, having been stabbed by that knife multiple times, the feeling wasn’t very pleasant.
“Liar.”
It must have been to silence the annoying rumors accompanying a political marriage, but it was still infuriating. Something he could have just brushed off vaguely, he went as far as saying he “fell at first sight”?
There’s a limit to how much you can deceive people; how could you put on a face like this and pretend to be a romantic fool…!
I was fuming, glaring with all my might at the sleek facial features on the screen, when the unexpected ring of the doorbell startled me so much I dropped my phone.
“What? Who is it?”
Could the bed have arrived already?
Peering through the intercom with a heart full of anxiety, I saw a neatly dressed, unfamiliar man standing outside.
“Who is it…?”
— Hello, Madam. I’m Secretary Yoon, serving the Managing Director.
What is that man’s secretary doing here? Did he somehow hear me cursing?
I whipped my head around, wondering if a wiretap was installed somewhere, but there was no way something like that existed.
Because it was such an unexpected visit, I opened the door slightly with a reluctant feeling.
“…Hello.”
“You must have been surprised by the sudden visit. We formally introduced ourselves during the past anniversary ceremony, but I am Yoon Do-yoon from Moyeon’s secretariat office.”
The bright-looking man bowed politely with a good-natured smile. That gentlemanly attitude slightly lowered my guard, but it was still awkward since I didn’t remember his face.
Understandably so—not a single one of the hundreds of articles published mentioned anything about my accident aftereffects. Whether it was dismissed as my groundless lie or due to some other reason, the current state of my affairs was classified information.
Judging by the fact that he mentioned our previous meeting, even his closest aides seemed unaware of the situation. Wait, does this mean I really have to keep up the act on top of everything else?
Perhaps misinterpreting my troubled expression, the man changed the subject on his own.
“I heard the news that you were discharged a few days ago. I’m very glad to see you’ve fully recovered.”
Aside from smoothly moving past the awkwardness, the words he offered were so warm that my heart softened.
Such gentle goodwill. It was the first hospitality I had received since leaving the hospital.
“Thank you for your concern.”
However, Secretary Yoon’s expression as he smiled back at me was somehow awkward.
As I wondered what I was missing, I remembered: I wasn’t a human being who acted according to normal common sense.
I recalled past days when my terribly uncomfortable twins had been made profoundly uneasy by my “kind and affectionate attitude”—the absolute foundation of human relationships. There were one or two times I cried inside seeing how they would tense up and watch me nervously whenever I tried to smile and make conversation.
Perhaps this man, too, was anxious, wondering what scheme I was up to with an attitude so different from the disaster I used to be.
“By the way… what brings you all the way here?”
“Ah, the Managing Director sent me. He heard that Madam injured her ankle, and asked me to accompany you to the hospital.”
For a moment, I let out a small, dry laugh, forgetting that his secretary was right in front of me.
His callous tone from this morning was still vivid in my mind—and he made a request like that?
Anger slowly bubbled up at the stark contradiction between his actions and the interview from earlier.
“If you’re alright with it, I will escort you to the hospital.”
Still, I couldn’t just leave my throbbing ankle as it was.
I reluctantly nodded at Secretary Yoon, who still wore a gentle smile.
In the end, I got five stitches.
The doctor added that if I had come in any later, the wound would have festered, and asked how I managed to endure it when the pain must have been quite severe.
I thought I felt some warmth in my foot at night, but I didn’t think it was to a painful degree. I thought I had a sensitive personality, but perhaps I had a surprisingly dull side after all.
When asked how I got hurt, I tried to brush it off vaguely, but fearing it would cause unnecessary misunderstandings, I glossed it over by saying I broke a flower vase. Well, it wasn’t a total lie, so my conscience wouldn’t grow hair.
As I thought that and looked down at my firmly bandaged ankle, Secretary Yoon spoke to me.
“Madam, did you experience any discomfort while receiving treatment?”
Madam everywhere I go. When the doctor suddenly called me Madam, I wondered what was going on, only to find out it was a hospital affiliated with the Moyeon Group.
It was a cringeworthy title, but since I had resolved to adapt quickly, I answered without a fuss.
“Not at all.”
“I’m just glad it wasn’t a major injury.”
The eyes meeting mine through the rearview mirror curved neatly. His clean and warm smile possessed a wholesome power that made even the observer feel good.
However, if he was the managing director’s secretary taking care of even such personal matters, the probability that I had spared him from my rampages—regardless of age, gender, or status—was remarkably low.
“Um, Secretary Yoon.”
“Please speak.”
“How long have you been working here, by any chance?”
Despite the out-of-the-clock question, a kind answer returned without a hint of doubt.
“I’ve been serving him since he was promoted to Managing Director, so a little over two years.”
“Then, in that time… did I… ever make any mistakes toward Secretary Yoon?”
