When Ojae looked at her face, he slowly started speaking.
“This coffee tree has bloomed because Gyeonhui took care of it sincerely. Look at this.”
Ojae pointed to the nutrients that were stuck in the pot.
“At first, he told me to throw it away and even to kill it. However, he doesn’t even allow anyone to touch the pot.”
She could say nothing.
“… Why on earth is he doing this?” Sun said.
Hearing her, Ojae started speaking slowly with a shallow sigh.
“Are you supposed to meet him tonight? Then please ask him why he does things that he has never done before.”
Hearing Ojae, she felt like her heart was shattered and sore.
“JI just have one thing to ask you, Sun. Please don’t look at him the way you thought of him in the past. He has changed; he’s not the same guy you’ve known anymore.”
She closed her eyes after feeling the pain in her heart.
Ojae also looked at her sadly without leaving her.
‘Bang.’
Then they heard the door opening.
“Huh? No one should be coming…”
Ojae panicked and quickly looked back.
A short time later, Ojae’s face turned ashen, as soon as the door opened, and he saw the person who came into the office.
“Vice President…”
The person who came into the office was Mrs. Shin, Gyeonhui’s mother.
Sun was embarrassed and looked at her without saying anything. Mrs. Shin also was looking at Sun silently with sharp eyes.
***
“Hah. Why is the traffic so heavy at this time?”
Gyeonhui looked at the congested road and mumbled to himself in frustration.
There was severe congestion on the highway because of the road construction for the Winter Olympics, and the massive car accident involving ten vehicles that crashed.
He began to be impatient once he checked the time.
He pressed the Bluetooth button and called Ojae.
Ojae had always answered the phone before even the beep sounded twice, but this time, he didn’t answer the phone until Gyeonhui heard the voice message prompt.
“What the hell is he doing?”
He hung up the phone while he was furrowing his eyebrows.
He exhaled for a long time as the cars on the road completely stopped.
Time was running out, and the road conditions were the worst.
He alternately looked between the road and his wristwatch; he turned his head and looked at the passenger seat.
He saw the crocodile doll, and it seemed to be smiling at him.
“What are you laughing at? I’m frustrated here.”
He pushed the doll with his hands.
The doll fell to the bottom of the seat.
He turned his head and looked to the front after venting his anger on the doll. However, he leaned back to pick it up and put it back on the seat.
He wasn’t happy about it, so he sat it down straight, and even fastened it with the seatbelt as if he were treating it like a person.
Looking at the doll satisfactorily, he suddenly burst out laughing in frustration.
“… What am I doing now? Hah…”
He sighed for a long time. However, his expression, while looking back at the doll, seemed more comfortable than before.
***
As elegant as a chrysanthemum but cold like ice.
It was Sun’s first impression of Mrs. Shin when she saw the older lady for the first time.
Her cold eyes were exuding insatiable energy.
“… Nice to meet you.”
Sun greeted her with the calmest voice she could muster.
“We’ve met before.”
Mrs. Shin was smiling, but her voice was cold.
When Sun looked up again, Mr. Shin turned her attention to Ojae.
“It looks like Mr. Woo’s gone again.”
“He is going to stop by the logistics center in Ansung. Haha…” Ojae smiled awkwardly.
“I’ve come here from the logistic center.”
Her cold voice made it feel like she knew everything.
“That’s…”
Ojae’s face turned pale and could not speak anymore.
“Being a CEO doesn’t mean that he can do anything he wants…”
Her words stung.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Shin.”
You have nothing to apologize for. It’s the irresponsible owner who did the wrong thing. Don’t you think so?” Mrs. Shin looked at Sun and asked. However, Mrs. Shin soon returned her attention to Ojae like she didn’t expect an answer from Sun at all. “Tell Gyeonhui to come and see me as soon as he comes back if he wants to keep sitting there as the CEO.”
“I will,” Ojae responded hastily.
Mrs. Shin shifted her gaze and looked at Sun.
It felt like she was a machine scanning Sun, evaluating a product with a cold gaze. It wasn’t the eyes one would use when they looked at a person.
Although it only lasted for a brief moment, Mrs. Shin’s eyes were still breathlessly cold.
“I’ll see you again.” With a brief smile, Mrs. Shin turned and exited the office.
‘Bang.’
“Hah…”
When Ojae heard the door closing, he exhaled for a long time.
“Sun, I’m very sorry. I didn’t expect her…” Ojae apologized to Sun feeling sorry for her.
“I’m fine. I’ll go back to my office then.” Sun smiled awkwardly as she left the office with Ojae.
Sun noticed the back of Mrs. Shin, walking toward the elevator, far from the hallway.
Her body was small, but it looked unshakable, and her perfectly formed back made Sun fully aware of why she was the vice president of the Lasung Group.
At the same time, however, she abandoned her own son, Gyeonhui, and picked him up again and raised him to his current position.
The indescribable emotions swirled in her mind, and it became more complicated.
***
After barely escaping the high traffic area, Gyeonhui breathed a sigh. Hopefully, he could return to the office on time.
Then, his cell phone rang.
When he checked the caller, he quickly answered the phone with Bluetooth.
“What the hell are you doing? Do you have any idea how many times I’ve called you!”
Gyeonhui shouted as soon as Ojae answered the phone.
“There was a situation, so I couldn’t answer your phone call.”
“What situation?”
“It was… The vice president was here at your office.” Ojae’s voice sank.
Gyeonhui exhaled for a long time, breathing heavily, and started speaking again.
“… What’s going on?”
“I really don’t know, she told me that you need to see her as soon as you come back to the office if you want to keep your position…” Ojae carefully conveyed Mrs. Shin’s words to Gyeonhui.
“Hah…” He exhaled a frustrating sigh.
It was clear that she was not satisfied with his absence.
Recently, he wasn’t showing her anything productive at his job. He was only disappointing her.
“What about Sun? Aren’t you meeting her today?”
Gyeonhui clenched his molars tightly without answering. He pressed his chest and started speaking again. “Did you do everything that I sent you?”
“Oh, yes, of course.”
“Okay.” Gyeonhui then tried to hang up the phone.
“Hey, Gyeonhui.” Ojae urgently called him.
“What?”
“What are you going to do now? Are you going to go to the vice president?”
Gyeonhui thought for a moment and slowly started speaking. “No, I have to do something more important today.”
When Gyeonhui finished speaking, he hung up the phone.
Turning his head and looking at the crocodile doll, he stepped on the accelerator like he had determined something in his mind.