🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 6: Do You Want to Play Along?
A-ryeon downed the champagne that had been poured into her glass. She did so to suppress the surge of emotions threatening to spill out in front of Do-hyeon. Then she stood up and turned to face him, who had been standing behind her.
As soon as A-ryeon rose, Do-hyeon took a step back and met her gaze.
“It seems difficult for you to give me an answer right away, so I’ll give you some time. But not too long. As I said, my time is money.”
“Let me ask you one thing. Is the long-awaited goal you mentioned perhaps the downfall of my grandfather?”
Wanting to know where Do-hyeon’s proposal would ultimately lead, A-ryeon deliberately asked a question she suspected he would be reluctant to answer.
Her question turned Do-hyeon’s expression cold. The atmosphere around them chilled in an instant.
“If that’s the case, would your answer be more favorable to me? Regardless of how I answer, though, it would be in your best interest to jump off a sinking ship before it goes down. You’re an outsider and an unwanted addition to the family anyway.”
“Ha…! You’ve really gone out of your way to remind me of my place several times today.”
A-ryeon ran a hand through her hair and picked up her bag.
“Whether I accept your proposal or not is my decision. Even if I choose to join hands with someone who has been playing games with me from the very beginning, I might still decide to sink alongside the people who are my family, even if they’re family in name only. Don’t make assumptions so easily.”
With a fierce look in her eyes, A-ryeon firmly retorted before walking past Do-hyeon toward the door.
“Wait a moment.”
Do-hyeon’s deep, low voice came from behind her. His tone was markedly different from the one he had used during their conversation, and she stopped in her tracks.
Still on edge, A-ryeon sighed at his call and turned around.
By then, Do-hyeon had already approached her and was standing right in front of her.
Startled, she stumbled backward until her back touched the wall.
“Why are you suddenly…?”
Before A-ryeon could finish speaking, Do-hyeon reached for her neck and swiftly unwound her scarf.
As the scarf came loose, the reddish marks scattered across her neck were exposed.
Alarmed, A-ryeon tried to cover her neck with her hand, but Do-hyeon caught her wrist.
His intense gaze settled on her neck.
“They’re still there.”
“Ah…!”
Do-hyeon rubbed one of the marks on her neck with his thumb.
“But I didn’t leave a mark like this.”
When he noticed the cut caused by the shard of the glass mug Madam Han had thrown, Do-hyeon’s expression turned icy.
It was the first time A-ryeon had seen him wear such an expression since meeting him.
He stared at the wound on her neck with a look that made him seem capable of killing someone at any moment.
“How dare they leave a wound like this on you?”
A-ryeon pushed Do-hyeon’s chest with her free hand and pulled away from him. Then she glared at him with a firm, unyielding expression.
“I’d appreciate it if you refrained from such rude behavior in the future. No matter what happened between us yesterday, don’t assume that we’ve grown close. It was nothing more than a moment of rebellion.”
“Perhaps you’re jumping to conclusions, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
Do-hyeon replied with a mocking smile at A-ryeon’s fortress-like attitude.
His answer was hardly satisfactory to her, either, but she chose not to say anything more.
“Oh, by the way, was the meal all right?”
At his completely unexpected question, A-ryeon raised an eyebrow, looking as though she had no idea what he was getting at.
“Was that a difficult question?”
“No. It was just so unrelated to the conversation that I wasn’t sure why you were asking. The food was nothing special to me. Anyway, goodbye.”
A-ryeon deliberately answered in a curt tone. She felt as though Do-hyeon kept leading her around by the nose, and she was tired of it.
The problem arose when she opened the door to leave and heard what he said on the phone behind her.
“Chief Secretary Jeong. Fire the chef and all the cooks who prepared today’s room-service meal.”
His words stopped A-ryeon in her tracks.
With a stunned expression, she turned around and looked at Do-hyeon, who had just ended the call, wondering whether she had heard him correctly.
“What… are you doing?”
“A chef who prepares food that doesn’t satisfy a customer’s taste is useless. Anyway, have a safe trip home.”
Do-hyeon calmly saw her off as though there were nothing wrong with what he had done, then turned away.
A-ryeon hurried over and grabbed the hem of his jacket.
“Wait! How can you fire them just like that?!”
“I specifically instructed them to prepare a meal for a very important guest today. They served food that failed to satisfy you, so they must pay the appropriate price.”
“But…!”
A-ryeon was so dumbfounded that she could barely speak.
“That makes absolutely no sense! Maybe I just didn’t have an appetite. Besides, I might have liked some of the other dishes.”
“Then which other dish do you think you would have liked?”
Do-hyeon smiled, lowered his head to meet her eye level, and asked.
With that single question, the icy tension that had filled the room began to dissipate.
He asked as though he were genuinely curious about her favorite food. A-ryeon stared at him in bewilderment, unable to figure out what was going through his mind.
“There’s no need to choose food based on my taste…”
Do-hyeon raised an eyebrow, wearing a slightly playful expression. Then his eyes returned to their usual shape, and he straightened his head.
“Then never mind. Have a safe trip home. The bodyguards will see you out.”
“No, wait a moment. What about those people?”
“Well, just as I said.”
Do-hyeon answered with complete indifference.
“But why should their jobs depend on whether the food suits my taste?”
“That’s their job. This is a company. If you can’t do your job, you get fired. Didn’t I tell you? I’m the kind of person who gives people compensation and proper treatment only for as long as they’re useful.”
There was no sign that the conversation would end anytime soon.
A-ryeon felt as though Do-hyeon were playing her like a puppet, and she no longer wanted to engage with him. However, she also hated the thought of innocent people suffering because of her.
“Porridge.”
Do-hyeon raised the end of his eyebrow and looked at her as though asking her to repeat herself.
“I said I want porridge! My stomach is upset, so I can’t eat anything else.”
At her answer, Do-hyeon smiled and picked up his phone.
“Prepare some porridge and send it to my room. Put the chefs’ dismissal on hold for now.”
A-ryeon watched him speak on the phone with a smile, her expression full of displeasure.
“Let’s sit down for now. The food will be here soon.”
With a gentle smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes, Do-hyeon guided A-ryeon back toward the table.
Ignoring his gesture, she walked past him and quickly took her seat.
Do-hyeon let out a quiet chuckle, apparently finding her behavior rather endearing.
Before long, there was a knock at the door, and a service cart was wheeled into the room. The staff swiftly cleared the table and arranged everything again.
A bowl of abalone porridge and several side dishes were placed in front of A-ryeon.
Sitting opposite her, Do-hyeon rested his chin on one hand and stared at her intently.
“How am I supposed to eat when you keep looking at me like that?”
“You’re surprisingly shy.”
“I’m not shy. Honestly…”
A-ryeon let out a deep sigh and held back the rest of her words. No matter what she said, she simply wasn’t quick-witted enough to come up with a suitable retort to his remarks.
“Go ahead and eat. It’ll get cold.”
At Do-hyeon’s urging, A-ryeon picked up her spoon and took a mouthful of porridge.
Only after tasting the smooth, soft porridge did she finally feel as though she were eating proper food. Her unsettled stomach seemed to ease little by little.
The porridge suited her taste, and she wanted to eat more. However, she was determined to leave the room as quickly as possible, so after just one spoonful, she put down her spoon.
“It’s delicious.”
“Are you not going to eat any more?”
“No. Since it was delicious, please cancel the chefs’ dismissals.”
At A-ryeon’s request, Do-hyeon leaned back in his chair.
“I’ll change it to a suspension. If they prepared food that you took just one bite of before abandoning it, I’d say suspension is already a generous punishment.”
“What exactly are you trying to do to me?”
A-ryeon’s pent-up anger finally erupted. She glared at him with such a sharp look that she seemed ready to strike him.
“Why are you using innocent people who have nothing to do with this as leverage to make me dance to your tune?!”
“Do you want to play along?”
“You really…!”
Faced with Do-hyeon’s refusal to back down even an inch, A-ryeon bit down on her lip.
Seeing her anger, Do-hyeon let out a small sigh. He picked up his chopsticks, took a side dish, and placed it on top of the porridge in front of her.
“You’ve barely eaten a proper meal since last night. Is it really that difficult to ask you to eat at least one bowl of porridge?”
Unable to tell whether his words were an expression of concern or another taunt, A-ryeon’s anger lost its direction and gradually subsided.
“I can take care of myself. I don’t think concern from someone I met for the first time yesterday is appropriate.”
“Can someone who takes care of herself really be in such poor physical condition? That would mean you’re not taking care of yourself very well. Just look at yesterday. You were whimpering that it hurt when we hadn’t even done that much.”
At Do-hyeon’s outrageous remark, A-ryeon’s eyes widened to their limit.
His words had crossed a line, and she raised her voice to warn him.
“Who was whimpering?! And in case you’ve forgotten, I came here today on my grandfather’s behalf. Show some respect. Would you behave this way in front of the assemblyman himself?”
“Don’t worry. Your grandfather won’t be coming today.”
Do-hyeon calmly filled A-ryeon’s glass with water as he spoke.
His words made her furrow her brows in confusion.
“What do you mean? He can’t come today?”
“Today’s luncheon with the prime minister will run late into the evening. So we have plenty of time. Why don’t you eat a little more?”
Realizing she had been tricked, A-ryeon clenched both fists in anger.
