While they weren’t sure how much work would be reduced with the addition of one person, it was good news in a time when an extra hand was as precious as a rain in the desert.

“So, should we have a company dinner when the newcomer, no, the support arrives? Meat…dinner?”
Her eyes were speaking.

We’re working so hard, we should at least eat some meat. Director!

“Good, let’s have a dinner.”
“Oh yeah~!”
“The person who will join us is Kwon Yi An, a man, and his rank in Korea is manager.”
Everyone ignored the last part of Kang Hyun’s talk, looking forward to the beef dinner.

After the meeting, Ji Yeon frowned as she checked the company messages that had arrived during the meeting.

One of the messages was from Cha Min Woo.

Since Ji Yeon had changed her phone number, he had no other way to contact her and had used the company messenger.

[Contact me. If you don’t, I’ll find you.] What is this, a threat? Just because he wants to meet, do I have to meet him?

She didn’t want to see the messages as much as she didn’t want to see Cha Min Woo.

[I’ll contact you within this week.] After contemplating for a moment, Ji Yeon sent a reply. Then, with a determined look, she dialed somewhere.

Rrrr Rrrr

The signal rang twice before the other person picked up.

“Hello, Mrs. Ji Yeon.”
“Hello, Secretary Choi, it’s been a while since we last spoke.”
The person Ji Yeon called was the chief secretary of Chairman Cha Seung Jo.

He had been serving as a secretary, almost like a housekeeper, looking after the chairman’s official and personal affairs for nearly 30 years.

“It’s been a while since we last met. I trust you’ve been well? What brings you to call?”

“Is there a chance the Chairman might have a free slot this week? About 30 minutes will do. If this week is difficult, I would appreciate it if you could inform me of any other available dates.”
“This week, a lunch appointment was just cancelled, so there’s about an hour free from 12 o’clock. If not, this week will be difficult, but next Friday afternoon is open for about 30 minutes.”
“Then, could you reserve time at 12 o’clock. The location is…….”
“The location, if you’re going to have a meal, I’ll arrange somewhere quiet for you to converse and let you know.”
“Thank you, Secretary Choi.”
Ji Yeon had a lunch appointment with Deputy Ju Yeon, but it seemed best to meet Chairman Cha as soon as possible.

After ending the call, she sought understanding from Deputy Ju Yeon.

“Deputy, I’m really sorry for the sudden change. I have a place I urgently need to go to, so it seems like we will have to postpone today’s lunch to another time. I’ll treat you to something delicious next time.”
“That’s okay, Manager. I also have a lot of work today and was wondering whether to do a working lunch, so it’s rather a good thing. Don’t worry and attend to your urgent matter.”
Fortunately, Ju Yeon smiled and was understanding.

Ji Yeon exhaled a deep sigh and stood in front of the building.

The place Secretary Choi had reserved was a reservationonly Korean restaurant, about a 10minute drive from the company.

‘Right, there’s no need to keep putting it off. It’s about clearing everything up neatly.’
Ji Yeon entered the restaurant.

When she arrived at the designated seat, Chairman Cha Seung Jo was already there.

“Hello, father.”
“Oh, Ji Yeon is here, sit down. It’s been a while since our last meeting. Have you been well in the meantime?”
“Yes, I’ve been well.”

“So……. We’ve never had a separate meeting like this before, so it seems like you have something to say because you suddenly requested a meeting, right?”
As soon as Ji Yeon took her seat, Chairman Cha poured tea into the cup and asked sharply.

He was indeed a very perceptive person.

“Yes, that’s right. Father.”
“Is it about Min Woo?”
Chairman Cha looked at Ji Yeon with sharp eyes.

She hesitated for a moment under his fierce gaze, but seemed to have made up her mind and exhaled a deep sigh before opening her mouth.

“We’ve broken up, father. I’ve already left home, and Min Woo is living at his house with that woman.”
Chairman Cha didn’t immediately respond to any of her words. He took a few sips of the warm tea in front of him, then looked at Ji Yeon and answered.

“It’s a passing wind. It will be resolved soon, so come back.”
He said as if he already knew what it was about without hearing more.

“Father!”
“When a couple lives together, all sorts of things can happen. How great it would be if there were only good things while living together. I don’t know if you know, but Min Woo is more sentimental than he seems, and he can’t get over it. He thought differently because she was his first woman. You will know that it was just a phase once you look back, but you don’t know that at the time. Especially when you’re young, if you get stuck on something, you can’t see anything else. As your husband, a kind person like you should understand him with a broad heart.”
When Ji Yeon didn’t say anything with a hardened expression, Chairman Cha continued speaking.

“I’m not trying to discriminate between men and women, but men often meet women unintentionally, or by mistake. It’s not without reason people say men are animalistic and impulsive. It’s because men and women have been… inherently different from birth. And if you can’t cover up your husband’s brief mistakes, how can you call that a marriage? Just bear it for one more month. I will take care of it in the meantime.”
Chairman Cha spoke to Ji Yeon as if it were nothing more than cleaning a stain off a piece of clothing, then he called a staff member to order food.

While the staff member brought a lot of food and set it on the table, Ji Yeon kept her lips tightly closed and didn’t say a word.

“The side dishes here are not salty and taste good. It’s similar to the food you make. Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I’ve eaten the food you made. When will you invite this soninlaw again to show off your cooking skills?”
Chairman Cha asked with an incongruous chuckle.

“Father.”
Ji Yeon swallowed hard with a dry mouth, then opened her mouth.

“Go ahead, tell me.”
Chairman Cha, still with a smile on his face, looked at Ji Yeon.

“Was it a mistake for you, father, to meet Kang Joo Ran while leaving behind Mrs. Kim Ji Won? And the women you met afterward?”
At Ji Yeon’s words, Chairman Cha’s face hardened in an instant.

“I call that deception, not a mistake.”
Chairman Seung Jo, who had been looking at Ji Yeon without a word with a hardened face, furrowed his brow.

“To me, a mistake is putting sugar into the soup instead of salt because they were next to each other. A mistake is opening file B when you should be opening file A for a report to your boss. The biggest mistake I ever made was jittering so much during an important exam that I messed up my answer sheet. That’s a mistake, father. It’s doing something wrong unintentionally while doing your best.”
“Are you trying to teach your soninlaw now!”
Chairman Cha, who had been holding his spoon, slammed it down and raised his voice.

“Calling it a mistake when you married while having a longterm girlfriend, and couldn’t forget her even after the marriage, and set up a separate household with her while having a wife. Is that a mistake, father? Have you taught such a wrong moral sense not only to yourself but also to your child, because you did so? So, am I allowed to meet other men while I’m married?”
“How can you compare the two? No way!”
Ji Yeon burst out into an unwitting hollow laugh at Cha Seung Jo’s immediate response.

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