“Yes, Director. The agency of artist SOO sent feedback this morning. They said they are very positive about the advertisement production. They are also positively considering the provision of new works by artist SOO for the advertisement and even personal appearance. So they said they will give us quick final feedback if we deliver a rough advertisement draft this week.”

“That’s good news. I’ve checked the works that this artist created in collaboration with our product once again and they were indeed fresh and fantastic. I have high expectations.”
After discussing the newly updated content and the upcoming afternoon meeting with the Sales Department for about an hour, they concluded the meeting.

Ji Yeon returned to her seat and checked the internal messenger notifications that had come in during the meeting.

[Let’s see each other briefly after the meeting.] One of the messages was from Cha Min Woo.

He kept asking to meet, and while she wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about, she felt she should agree to meet him once so he wouldn’t keep nagging.

[Understood. I’ll meet you at the emergency exit near the conference room after the meeting.] Since there were hardly any people using the emergency exit, it was much safer than meeting in other meeting rooms or nearby areas, as it wouldn’t expose them to others.

‘Ugh… I don’t want to meet.’
Ji Yeon opened another chat window. It was Kang Hyun.

[Do you have lunch plans today? If not, would you like to join me?] Just reading the message brought a smile to her face.

“Manager, did something good happen? Why are you smiling so contentedly? Anyone would think that your flowerboy boyfriend just surprised you.”
Assistant Manager Joo Yeon, looking at Ji Yeon, asked curiously.

It seemed she had been smiling quite noticeably.

“Something good… I’m just happy. Even though it’s busy, the project seems to be going well.”
“Indeed, our manager is a positivity man.”
Joo Yeon gave a thumbs up with both hands.

“Thank you.”
Ji Yeon replied to Joo Yeon and typed a reply to the message.

[I don’t, Kang Hyun. Let’s do it together.] For Kang Hyun who wanted to be addressed by his name, she intentionally wrote ‘Kang Hyun’ instead of ‘Director,’ and sent the reply with a smile.

And exactly 3 seconds later, she exclaimed, “Oh!” and was taken aback.

She had mistakenly looked at the wrong messenger window and sent a reply to Cha Min Woo that was meant for Kang Hyun.

Fortunately, she had noticed quickly and deleted the sent message.

‘It’s a relief I deleted it immediately… Gosh, I was really distracted. I should’ve been careful.’
Ji Yeon sent another message to Kang Hyun and then focused on her work, reviewing the feedback on the meeting materials.

The restaurant that Kang Hyun had reserved was a private Italian restaurant near the company.

All the tables were in private rooms, which was good because they wouldn’t be exposed to people.

Kang Hyun had arrived first.

“Did you arrive? Was it hard to find on the way?”
“No, I found it quickly. This place is supposed to be a really famous restaurant, right? I heard it’s hard to make lunch reservations. How did you manage?”
“I told you, didn’t I? If you hang out with me, you’ll get to visit more popular restaurants than a food blogger.”
Kang Hyun said with his unique gentle smile.

“Thanks to you, Director, I’m the only one who’s having a good time, right?”
The two, who ordered food right away, ate lunch while sharing about work and recent events, continuing their conversation.

“Which team did the new person work on? Manager Kwon Yi An?”
“He worked in the marketing team and product planning team at other companies. He joined our company’s U.S. team last year.”
“He’ll be incredibly helpful in running this ad, right?”
“I think so. He’s a friend with whom I have a personal relationship. He works meticulously and has a good personality.”
“Oh, you know him personally? That’s quite a deep connection.”

“Yes, I learned that he joined our company while having an online meeting for another project last year.”
“The world seems both wide and narrow. It’s evident when we meet like this.”
“That’s right. But this time, I’m purely bringing him in for work. Even if I know someone personally, they can’t stay if they can’t work.”
“Well, with your personality, Director, I’d imagine you to be quite firm.”
“Oh, if I appeared that way, is it bad?”
“No, it means you’re a reliable boss who perfectly distinguishes between work and personal matters.”
“Hmm… It doesn’t sound like that, but let’s go with that.”
Soon, as coffee and cake came out for dessert, Kang Hyun changed the topic and asked Ji Yeon.

“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, I’m feeling much better. Thank you, Director.”
“I’m relieved. I was worried and felt bad because I couldn’t be there for you.”
“I’ve been fully revived after crying on the shoulder of a cool guy.”
Ji Yeon grinned as she responded.

“After crying on the wide shoulder of a handsome man, all my worries disappeared in an instant.”
“I’m quite useful, right? That’s why I exercise. Always remember that I’m on standby. You can lean on me at any time. It’s exclusively for you, Ms. Ji Yeon.”
As Ji Yeon spoke teasingly, Kang Hyun joined in the banter and responded in kind.

Looking at him sweeten their joking conversation with a spoonful of charm made Ji Yeon’s heart feel as fluffy as cotton candy, even sweeter than the cappuccino and whipped cream cake she was eating for dessert.

Just in case, the two of them separately returned to the company and headed to the conference room with their materials for the afternoon meeting with the sales department.

There had been large and small meetings with the sales department before this meeting, but this was the first meeting attended by both executives… that is, Kang Hyun and Min Woo, since the last quarterly review.

Everyone seemed tense, as a fierce debate was expected.

Since this was a meeting led by the project team, everyone, excluding Employee Go Gang Sik, made presentations on their own responsibilities, starting with Kang Hyun.

“Will an advertisement for an unfamiliar author, who is not yet wellknown domestically, be successful in the market? Product collaboration is another story.”
As expected, the debate began with a question from Executive Cha Min Woo.

“As you know, this product is a very large project targeting not only the domestic market but also the U.S. market. We saw potential with the author named SOO, which is why the product collaboration started first. There are data quantifying the author’s recognition and influence in the materials we shared in advance, but if you simply look at various SNS, you will immediately realize that SOO’s recognition is not low.”
“Why do we have to look for each and every one of those? That’s the planning team’s job. If the sales department has to look for all that, why do we have a separate planning team?”
Cha Min Woo frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with something, and responded brusquely.

“That’s why we shared the reference materials in advance for you to see, they are even laid out in front of you right now.”
“Why do we have meetings like this if we have to look over all of that in advance? Just circulate the materials and be done with it!”
Everyone knew that Kang Hyun and Cha Min Woo didn’t get along, but the atmosphere of today’s meeting was quite different.

Cha Min Woo’s tone and attitude were far from conducive to constructive discussion.

He was acting irritated, as if something was bothering him.

Everyone in the meeting room felt it.

“I want to applaud the audacity of Executive Cha Min Woo, who attends the meeting without reading even a wellorganized document that is less than 10 pages, not even 100 pages.”
Everyone in the meeting room tensed up at Kang Hyun’s icy tone, which was devoid of emotion but cold as thin ice.

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