Secretary Gwak quickly observed Kang Jinwook’s expression as he exited the central control room. His lips were firmly closed, his eyebrows neatly aligned, and his eyes calm. It was an appearance that was no different from usual.
That only heightened Secretary Gwak’s curiosity about what Kang Jinwook had seen in the control room. However, there was no one to explain it to him, so Secretary Gwak’s questions remained unresolved.
Kang Jinwook, aware that Secretary Gwak and the other staff mbers were watching him, didn’t even spare them a glance. He simply walked down the corridor, took the elevator, and swiftly made his way to the exclusive parking area.
By the ti Kang Jinwook entered the elevator, Secretary Gwak had already anticipated the destination and contacted the driver, so the car was ready and waiting.
"Executive Director, where shall I take you?"
As soon as Kang Jinwook got into the car, Secretary Gwak asked. Just like in the morning, Kang Jinwook’s lips remained tightly sealed. Secretary Gwak once again observed Kang Jinwook’s expression in the rearview mirror, studying him carefully.
There was no change. Yet, Secretary Gwak could feel that sothing about Kang Jinwook’s atmosphere wasn’t right.
What had Kang Jinwook seen in the central control room? From what he could guess, it seed that Kang Jinwook had seen footage of the Oga he had been supposed to et during his rut cycle, as well as the person from the company in question.
Secretary Gwak recalled that a company representative, likely from the overseas business departnt, had been present during a dinner eting with governnt officials. Was it possible that this Oga had also accompanied them to the hotel? He hadn’t heard anything from the driver about that.
The problem was that Secretary Gwak hadn’t been able to follow up because, due to personal reasons, he had failed to accompany Kang Jinwook that day, and he didn’t know the exact details of what happened.
With a questioning look, Secretary Gwak turned his gaze to the driver’s seat.
"Ho."
Then, Kang Jinwook’s quiet command ca. The car began to move and, shortly after, they arrived at the house.
Secretary Gwak quickly got out and opened the back seat door. As he followed Kang Jinwook outside, he hesitated before asking a question.
"Executive Director, what about tomorrow's schedule?"
In the end, it was about Kang Jinwook’s schedule. Since Kang Jinwook hadn’t spoken first, Secretary Gwak felt that he couldn’t bring up the matter of the day’s events himself.
However, if Kang Jinwook changed his schedule, he would be able to discern his intentions.
"What’s the original schedule?"
Secretary Gwak imdiately briefed Kang Jinwook. As usual, the schedule included etings and discussions, most of which were urgent and couldn’t be postponed.
"Make sure to finish by dinner."
Kang Jinwook, listening quietly, gave the command. And with that, he entered the house. Nothing had changed drastically.
"Or maybe not?"
Left alone, Secretary Gwak tilted his head. Among the employees at the dinner, the only Oga present was Im Haewon.
If the two Ogas had t at the hotel and introduced themselves as employees of the company, he would have thought it was Haewon. But after observing Kang Jinwook’s behavior, it seed like he had misunderstood sothing.
The next day, Kang Jinwook moved as usual. As he had promised, he finished most of the important tasks quickly, getting everything done by dinner.
At the sa ti, he continued to stay in contact with Choi Sunwoo and checked the photos from the guards. He also called ho and asked Butler Baek to prepare lunch boxes, never missing a detail.
An unusual event happened in an unexpected place.
As Kang Jinwook and Secretary Gwak were passing by the secretary’s office, Secretary Gwak turned his head at the murmuring sound. Two employees were looking down at boxes and talking.
"Why would Secretary Choi send sothing like this?"
At the ntion of Secretary Choi, Kang Jinwook stopped in his tracks, unaware that both employees had also halted. Secretary Jo and Assistant Kim were opening their boxes to see what was inside.
They had received a delivery from the General Affairs team and had brought it to the secretary’s office. To their surprise, the package had co from Choi Sunwoo.
"I’m not sure either."
Secretary Jo tilted his head.
"Didn’t you receive any contact?"
"No, nothing. After he left, we weren’t really on that kind of relationship, were we?"
Assistant Kim looked suspiciously into the box. Inside was a neatly arranged set of Hallabongs, a type of citrus fruit.
They weren’t spoiled, nothing seed out of place, and the fragrant sll suggested they were ripe.
Why would he suddenly send sothing like this?
If sothing unpleasant or suspicious had been in the box, it would have made sense. But this was... unusual.
Then Assistant Kim’s gaze shifted to a small note beside the box.
Thank you for everything over the years. I am truly grateful.
Choi Sunwoo -
The contents of the note were so unlike what Choi Sunwoo would write. After all, it was "that" Choi Sunwoo.
It was surprising enough that he had resigned, and the fact that he hadn’t contacted anyone afterward was unexpected too. But now, to receive such a gift—or rather, an item whose intent was unclear—was puzzling.
"Could there be poison inside...?"
Just as Assistant Kim was about to suggest it might contain poison, he was startled when he saw Secretary Gwak standing nearby.
"What’s this?"
Secretary Gwak waved his hand dismissively, indicating that it was fine, and pointed at the boxes in front of Assistant Kim and Secretary Jo.
"Oh, this...?"
Before Assistant Kim could respond, he realized both Secretary Gwak and Kang Jinwook were looking at him and hesitated.
"Assistant Kim."
Secretary Gwak urged him to speak up, and finally, Assistant Kim stamred in response.
"It’s from Secretary Choi, or rather, from Choi Sunwoo."
Kang Jinwook, who had been standing at the office door, approached the boxes. His gaze imdiately shifted to the note Assistant Kim was holding.
"Sending sothing like this, I’m a bit surprised..."
"Assistant Kim!"
Just as Assistant Kim was about to express his surprise at receiving such a gift, Secretary Jo quickly cut him off, and Assistant Kim fell silent.
He looked at Kang Jinwook, who was staring at the boxes and the note with a blank expression.
"Is this everything?"
"Huh?"
Assistant Kim didn’t imdiately understand Kang Jinwook’s question and asked in return. But when he t Kang Jinwook’s eyes, he stiffened and quickly replied.
"Yes. Just for
and Secretary Jo."
Once the answer was given, Kang Jinwook’s eyebrow twitched slightly, but no one noticed. Suddenly, he turned and walked into the office.
"Don’t worry about it, take it with you."
He didn’t just leave; he said sothing cryptic and walked off. The remaining employees were left in confusion, but Kang Jinwook didn’t notice.
Another odd occurrence happened later that day when Kang Jinwook was about to leave for the underground parking lot after finishing work. Im Haewon, standing by the wall, saw him and bowed politely.
Secretary Gwak, watching from a distance, imdiately thought of the CCTV situation. Could it be that Im Haewon was now appearing because of that?
But...
"Executive Director, I heard you helped
in Jeju. Thank you. Thanks to you, I made it ho safely and had a good rest."
Im Haewon spoke with a soft voice. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from nerves and excitent. However, Kang Jinwook ignored her and walked toward the car.
"And then, Choi Sunwoo said that I was put in a difficult position because of ..."
As soon as he heard Choi Sunwoo’s na, Kang Jinwook’s head snapped toward Im Haewon. Im Haewon, who had been speaking without looking directly at him, startled and flinched when she saw Kang Jinwook’s sudden shift in attention.
"Have you contacted Choi Sunwoo?"
"Huh?"
"Have you called or ssaged Choi Sunwoo?"
"No..."
Im Haewon didn’t know Choi Sunwoo’s contact information. She had thought of asking Kim Tae-yeol, but he was away on a business trip that day.
She didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask for contact details, nor could she bring up a thank-you or apology through a third party.
But there was no need to explain these matters to Kang Jinwook, so Im Haewon shook her head.
Kang Jinwook, with a chilling tone, simply said.
"Good. Don’t bother with Choi Sunwoo anymore."
As he turned to get into the car, he glanced back at Im Haewon one last ti.
"You’re not feeling the pheromones anymore, huh?"
"Ah, no. I’ve taken care of it, since you said it was botherso last ti."
The main reason was the sudden onset of her heat cycle, which had caused inconvenience for others, and since Kang Jinwook had been present during that ti, she had intentionally suppressed the pheromones.
Then Kang Jinwook asked an unexpected question.
"Were you at G Hotel on the 29th two months ago?"
"The 29th at G Hotel?"
Im Haewon shook her head in confusion.
"No, I wasn’t."
As if he had expected that answer, Kang Jinwook nodded and got into the car. Secretary Gwak looked perplexed at the unexpected response.
As Im Haewon and Secretary Gwak exchanged confused looks, Kang Jinwook slamd the car door shut.
"What did you tell Im Haewon about what happened in Jeju?"
Kang Jinwook quickly asked Secretary Gwak, who had followed him into the car.
"I just gave a brief explanation about the situation."
He told her about Im Haewon’s heat cycle, the dangerous situation with the unsavory group, and how Choi Sunwoo had tried to help but got caught up in a fight. The one who resolved it was Kang Jinwook.
That was the extent of what Secretary Gwak had told Im Haewon. There was nothing particularly noteworthy, but Kang Jinwook’s expression seed unusually serious.
Even when he heard about the Hallabongs sent to the secretary’s office, or rather, the fact that only Secretary Jo and Assistant Kim had received a gift from Choi Sunwoo, his expression had been the sa.
‘This is strange.’
Actually, this wasn’t the only strange thing. Ever since he visited the hotel and checked the CCTV footage in the central control room, his behavior had been odd. If soone were to ask what was wrong, it would be hard to pinpoint exactly, but...
There had been a strange sense of unease surrounding Kang Jinwook all this ti.
"Where shall I take you?"
Secretary Gwak asked, knowing the destination. After all, lunch was already prepared next to Kang Jinwook, so the place was decided.
"To Jeju."
As expected, Kang Jinwook’s final destination was in front of Choi Sunwoo.
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