Kang Jinwook was the first to move. He grabbed the two enormous suitcases next to Sunwoo in one swift motion and headed straight for the parking lot.
With his long legs, he had barely taken a few steps before he was already far ahead, putting a considerable distance between himself and Sunwoo.
“Kang Jinwook!”
Sunwoo hurriedly chased after him. By the ti he managed to catch up, Kang Jinwook was already near the waiting car, having utilized his towering height to his advantage.
The chauffeur, who had been waiting in the underground parking lot since Kang Jinwook’s arrival, promptly opened the trunk. Kang Jinwook handed over the two suitcases, which the chauffeur loaded into the trunk with practiced efficiency.
“Hah… hah… What the…?”
By the ti Sunwoo caught up to the car, panting heavily, the trunk—containing his suitcases—was already shut.
“Get in,” Kang Jinwook said curtly.
Before Sunwoo could protest, Kang Jinwook placed a firm hand on his shoulder. With surprising strength, he guided Sunwoo toward the back seat, half-pushing him inside.
“W-wait a minute!”
There was no ti to object, no ti to explain that this wasn’t right. Kang Jinwook had already pushed him further into the back seat before taking his own place beside him. With a glance toward the chauffeur, he gestured for the car to start moving.
Once again, Sunwoo had no way to escape. He still didn’t know how to open the door from the inside, and the tinted windows were sealed tightly, blocking any view from the outside.
While Sunwoo desperately left smudges on the car window in a futile attempt to find a way out, the vehicle smoothly exited the parking lot and rged onto a major road.
“This is too much! This is outright kidnapping!”
As the scenery outside whizzed past, Sunwoo turned sharply to glare at Kang Jinwook.
“If I report this to the police right now…”
“Go ahead.”
“…”
Kang Jinwook’s utterly calm and confident reply left Sunwoo speechless. Of course, it wasn’t as if his complaint would hold much weight. Kang Jinwook was, after all, the heir to Taesung Group, a man with both wealth and influence over the country’s law enforcent. Any report Sunwoo made would likely disappear without a trace.
“Fine, maybe I can’t report you, but I can always contact the Chairman.”
“...What?”
At the ntion of the Chairman, Kang Jinwook’s expression stiffened noticeably. His gaze beca sharper as he turned to glare at Sunwoo.
Sunwoo, however, didn’t back down and t Kang Jinwook’s glare head-on. If this were following the original plot, it was the Chairman who had orchestrated Sunwoo’s current situation with Kang Jinwook.
Sunwoo knew this ant that invoking the Chairman’s na would keep Kang Jinwook from treating him recklessly.
Of course, he had no real intention of contacting the Chairman. He wasn’t sure what the Chairman’s true intentions were and didn’t want to act rashly.
‘If it cos down to it, there’s always Kang Jintae, his brother.’
Kang Jintae was likely involved in this situation too, after all.
“Where did you hear such nonsense?” Kang Jinwook’s brows furrowed deeply.
“It’s better than letting you have your way with ,” Sunwoo retorted.
“You really have no fear, do you?” Kang Jinwook said, his tone laced with irritation.
No fear? Was he joking? Sunwoo had been walking on eggshells, constantly worried about what insane stunt Kang Jinwook might pull next!
While Sunwoo grumbled internally, the car crossed the Han River and entered a neighborhood of gentle slopes lined with large houses. After climbing a hill, the car ca to a stop in front of a high wall.
“Ah!”
The familiar sight made Sunwoo’s heart sink. Kang Jinwook glanced at him briefly before stepping out of the car. Sunwoo, realizing he couldn’t stay inside forever, reluctantly followed suit.
Tilting his head back, Sunwoo gazed up at the now-familiar wall, which was adorned with the drooping branches of a pine tree that likely cost millions.
‘To think I’d end up here again…’ he thought with a sigh.
“Choi Sunwoo.”
Kang Jinwook called out to him from the gate, motioning for him to co inside. Sunwoo hesitated, considering resisting further, but rembered that his luggage was still in the car’s trunk.
“What about my luggage?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Secretary Gwak replied as he stepped out of the car.
For a brief mont, Sunwoo entertained the idea of abandoning his suitcases and making a run for it. But he quickly dismissed the thought—he didn’t want to overexert himself during the early stages of pregnancy. Besides, it was ti to confront Kang Jinwook and settle this once and for all.
With a resolute expression, Sunwoo followed Kang Jinwook inside.
“Welco,” Butler Baek greeted them at the entrance with a warm smile.
“Hello,” Sunwoo replied politely, bowing his head.
Butler Baek’s expression brightened even further.
“Ah, Sunwoo, welco! We’ve been expecting you.”
You didn’t need to, Sunwoo thought to himself. But faced with Butler Baek’s friendly deanor, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsh. Instead, he offered an awkward smile.
When Sunwoo glanced at Kang Jinwook, he caught the man staring at him with a strange expression, which made him pause.
‘What’s with that look?’
It felt as if Kang Jinwook was displeased about sothing, but Sunwoo didn’t have ti to dwell on it. He needed to settle this matter and get out of this house as quickly as possible.
“Kang Jinwook, let’s talk.”
Sunwoo crossed his arms and stood his ground, calling out to Kang Jinwook just as the man seed ready to walk away.
Butler Baek, who had been standing nearby, widened his eyes in surprise.
‘Did he just call him Kang Jinwook?’
It was the first ti Butler Baek had heard anyone address Kang Jinwook so casually. Most people called him “Executive Director” or other honorifics, but not this bold and informal “Kang Jinwook.”
What was even more shocking was Sunwoo’s attitude. Butler Baek knew who he was—he had seen him visiting the house occasionally for work. Back then, their relationship seed distant, with Kang Jinwook ignoring Sunwoo entirely while Sunwoo anxiously avoided his gaze.
Now, not only was Kang Jinwook paying attention to Sunwoo, but their dynamic seed entirely different.
Of course, Butler Baek, ever the professional, didn’t let his curiosity show. He simply observed them calmly, his expression neutral.
“What do you want to talk about now?” Kang Jinwook asked, glaring at Sunwoo with suspicion.
“Fine. Follow ,” he said after a mont, turning abruptly and walking ahead.
‘There he goes again, doing whatever he pleases!’
Annoyed, Sunwoo clenched his fists and stomped after him. He silently swore that as soon as he left, he would tell Kang Jinwook what he thought of him and give him a good slap.
After walking for quite a while down the hallway following Kang Jinwook, they arrived at a study that exuded an impressive atmosphere.
“Wow…”
Seeing the countless books cramd into the dark wooden bookshelves, which must have held hundreds, Sunwoo let out a gasp without realizing it. This was a scene he had only ever imagined before.
Except for the area with a large window, the study was surrounded on three sides by books. In front of the window was a wooden desk, and the midday sunlight streaming in made the surroundings bright, giving the whole space an even more striking impression.
“So, there was a place like this…”
Kang Jinwook’s study was sothing you’d expect to see in a movie or drama set, boasting an incredible scale. At this point, it might as well have been a personal library.
“Do you like books?”
As he watched Sunwoo, who kept looking around the study with a face full of amazent, Kang Jinwook asked. He recalled that this was the first ti he had brought Choi Sunwoo here.
“Yes, I do. Oh, this… this book!”
As if hypnotized, Sunwoo walked over to the bookshelf, found a book, and his face lit up.
“This author’s book too, oh…”
Turning back with a joyful face while holding the book, Sunwoo’s expression suddenly beca flustered. Only then did he rember where he was, who he was with, and why he was there.
‘Choi Sunwoo, are you an idiot…?!’
Even if he was happy to see the book, this was ridiculous. Sunwoo sighed inwardly. Yet, he still couldn’t bring himself to return the book to its place and instead hugged it tightly to his chest.
Watching this, Kang Jinwook averted his gaze and said casually, “That’s unexpected. You claid to have lost your mory, but you still rember things like this?”
“This has nothing to do with mory. It’s just my preference… And you keep doubting , but I really did lose my mory.”
Sunwoo once again emphasized that he was suffering from amnesia, just in case.
“I don’t rember anything, seriously.”
It wasn’t a lie—he genuinely had no idea what kind of person Secretary Choi had been before. This allowed Sunwoo to face Kang Jinwook confidently. Surprisingly, the ridicule or sneer he had expected didn’t co.
“I heard from Secretary Jo that you were pretty good at your job?”
“Well, I an… I was always a bit competent.”
Sunwoo, briefly awkward, soon raised his chin slightly, acting smug. At least when it ca to gathering data, organizing schedules systematically, and managing docunts, he had confidence in himself.
After all, that was the kind of work he used to do at the publishing house—checking authors’ schedules, coordinating publication dates, organizing different promotions or events for various platforms, and so on.
Managing multiple authors by himself and making sure nothing slipped through the cracks had been an exhausting yet demanding job.
“Then, helping Secretary Gwak starting tomorrow shouldn’t be a problem,” Kang Jinwook said with a smirk.
“That’s not going to happen.”
Sunwoo decisively rejected the task Kang Jinwook was trying to force onto him.
“What?”
“For starters, I’ve already submitted my resignation and expressed my intention to quit. So, I have no plans to continue working.”
“I thought I made it clear that I rejected your resignation?”
Kang Jinwook crossed his arms and said with a smirk.
“When I submitted my resignation, I clearly expressed my intention to terminate my employnt contract under labor laws. That ans you, as an executive, cannot forcibly keep
employed.”
Sunwoo didn’t back down, citing labor laws confidently. He had already looked it up online and knew that an employer couldn’t legally refuse a resignation once the intent had been communicated.
“I tore up your resignation letter?”
Kang Jinwook pretended to tear the paper with both hands, asking if Sunwoo didn’t rember what happened then.
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