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Chapter 6
The welcome party for his first day was boisterous.
Not only the Planning Department, but also the Design, Production, and Sales teams attended, so they had rented out the entire samgyeopsal restaurant.
Yeonha had deliberately arrived late to avoid sitting across from Dohyun.
But her worry was unfounded. He was already surrounded by female employees.
Relieved, Yeonha quietly searched for an empty seat, when her eyes met Jinyoung’s.
Without a hint of discretion, Jinyoung raised her hand high and shouted:
“Team leader! Over here! I saved you a seat!”
Her voice was so loud that even those who hadn’t noticed Yeonha’s arrival turned their heads toward the entrance where she was standing. Dohyun’s gaze included.
For a brief moment, their eyes met. Yeonha quickly turned her head, pretending to look elsewhere.
“I’ll just sit here.”
Forcing a smile, Yeonha set her bag down on an empty seat near the entrance.
Once she sat down, the attention that had gathered soon scattered again.
As she poured water into her empty cup, Jinyoung plopped down beside her, bringing her own spoon, chopsticks, and soju glass.
“Why didn’t you come over? Do you know how hard I worked to save that seat?” Jinyoung grumbled.
Yeonha could easily imagine how fierce the competition must have been to sit near Dohyun.
“Seats inside are too inconvenient for going to the restroom. I don’t like them.”
“You mean you gave up premium beef just because of the restroom?” Jinyoung asked incredulously.
“I like samgyeopsal better.”
Yeonha knew Jinyoung wasn’t disappointed about the beef, but about Dohyun, yet she pretended not to notice.
“When I look at you, team leader, you’re such a mismatch.”
“What do you mean?”
“You look like the kind of person who cuts into steak, but your taste is so simple.”
“That’s supposed to be a compliment, right?”
“Of course.”
When Yeonha rolled her eyes with a smile, Jinyoung beamed back as if she’d never sulked at all.
Really, she was an impossible junior to dislike.
“But why were you so late today?”
“I had to organize some work instructions to hand over tomorrow.”
It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t urgent, but she had deliberately used it as an excuse to arrive late.
Taking a sip of water, Yeonha glanced toward the Production Department’s table across the way.
“By the way, where’s Deputy Manager Kim Sungsoo?”
“He got a call about something urgent and left early.”
“Really?”
“I practically clapped on the inside. If he’d stayed, who knows what he would’ve picked a fight about with you again. Ugh.”
Watching Jinyoung shake her head, Yeonha gave a bitter smile.
From the very start of her career, Deputy Manager Kim Sungsoo had always nitpicked her work.
Telling her to change designs because the price wasn’t right, to cut materials, to skip quality checks because deadlines were tight.
Always and only with her designs.
Eventually, Yeonha lost her patience, and their arguments had reached the ears of Design Department Head Jin Myunghee.
After hearing the situation, Director Jin had firmly told Kim Sungsoo: “Design decisions belong solely to the Design Department. Don’t interfere.”
Since then, his meddling lessened, but every time he saw Yeonha, his growling attitude remained the same.
“Alright, looks like everyone’s here. Let’s hear a few words from Nam Dohyun.”
At Planning Department Director Jung Sungtae’s cue, Dohyun stood up.
As soon as he rose, the female employees erupted in cheers.
Director Jung gave them a pointed look, and they fell silent.
“Thank you for the warm welcome. I may be lacking, but I’ll do my best from now on. Thank you.”
His short greeting drew applause and cheers once more.
“Everyone, fill your glasses. Time for a toast.”
As Director Jung spoke, Yeonha righted her overturned glass and reached for a bottle.
Then, Assistant Manager Hwang Yongjun from Production, seated across, lifted a soju bottle.
“Let me pour for you.”
“Thank you.”
As she held out her glass politely, Hwang’s ears flushed red while he carefully poured.
“To LS Fashion!”
At Director Jung’s toast, everyone raised their glasses and shouted “Cheers!” They all downed the first glass in one go, and Yeonha drained hers as well.
The bitter soju scorched down her throat on an empty stomach, making her insides churn.
She calmed her mouth with a bite of cucumber.
The atmosphere was more festive than usual, perhaps because it was both a company dinner and a newcomer’s first day.
Drinks flowed endlessly, grills were swapped out, and one by one, people got drunk.
Judging by the flushed faces all around, Yeonha seemed to be the only one still sober.
As loud debates broke out over whether to go to karaoke or a pub for round two, Yeonha excused herself: “I’ll just head to the restroom.”
For a moment, dizziness made her stumble, but she steadied herself and walked slowly.
Though she had discreetly dumped some drinks along the way, thanks to sitting next to Director Jung in the end, she had still consumed nearly two bottles of soju.
In the restroom, she closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. Then she heard footsteps—two people entering.
They went into stalls on either side of hers.
“Assistant Manager Ahn, doesn’t Nam Dohyun’s voice sound amazing? Listening next to him feels like he’s speaking from a cave.”
Hearing his name so suddenly, Yeonha opened her eyes.
“Totally. I want to record it on my phone and listen to it every day. Should I do it now?”
“Even if you did, it’d be too noisy to hear properly.”
Listening closely, Yeonha recognized the voices as Fabric Team Leader Kim Miseon and Assistant Manager Ahn Eunyoung.
Like Jinyoung, they were clearly smitten with Dohyun.
“Aww, what a shame~” Eunyoung whined playfully as she stepped out of her stall. As Miseon washed her hands, Eunyoung suddenly clapped.
“Oh, right! Team leader, did you hear what Sales Department’s Gitae said about Dohyun earlier?”
“What did he say?”
“He said before joining our company, Nam Dohyun worked at the luxury Australian brand ‘Scanlan Theodore.’”
“What? Really? He left a place like that to come here? That’s unbelievable.”
It was understandable—‘Scanlan Theodore’ was a world-renowned fashion brand headquartered in Australia. LS Fashion was a leading Korean company, but still incomparable.
“Exactly. If it were me, I’d never have left.”
“Unless he caused trouble. Otherwise, why leave such a good company?” Miseon muttered suspiciously.
“I don’t think so. He lived in Australia since he was young, and apparently came to Korea just out of curiosity.”
“For a reason that trivial? I don’t get it.”
“Don’t try to. The important thing is that Nam Dohyun came to Korea, and to our company.”
“True. That’s what matters!”
Laughing, the two women left the restroom together.
Left alone, Yeonha once again made up her mind.
She must never get entangled with Nam Dohyun.
When Yeonha finally returned to the restaurant after taking her time, she was surprised to find Dohyun alone in the hall.
She hadn’t expected him to still be there—least of all holding her bag.
“What happened here?” she asked, hiding her unease.
“When I was about to leave, I noticed a bag left behind. So I waited.”
He knew it was mine… and waited?
“How did you know it was mine?”
“It was near the seat you were in. And the only one who went to the restroom and hadn’t returned was you, team leader.”
At his calm explanation, Yeonha suddenly felt embarrassed for momentarily thinking he might have a personal interest in her.
To cover her awkwardness, she quickly asked:
“Then where’s Jinyoung?”
“She went ahead to the second round.”
A flicker of disappointment rose in her—Jinyoung had left her behind. But then she remembered she hadn’t even checked after messaging Jinyoung to grab her bag.
Knowing her dislike for company gatherings, expecting Jinyoung to wait like last time had been nothing more than her own assumption.
Once all misunderstandings cleared, Yeonha stepped closer.
“Thank you.”
