Mr. Taeyoung was horrified. Brows knitted together and his eyes opened wide. “What do you mean my rating isn’t enough? The chat completely shows that my reputation has recovered,” he protested.
“That was your reputation amongst your current partners and clients,” Mr. Nam grabbed the second folder once again and opened it. He continued, “Your reputation with the public is undecided. And with the people within the business industry, their trust in your name is yet to be restored.”
I secretly glanced over to Mr. Taeyoung and his jaw clenched. His hand on the table slowly clenched as Mr. Nam put the folder back on the table.
Mr. Nam continued, “Did you really think that I wouldn’t see that? Your chart explained everything perfectly.”
We were on our way to the front door of Mr. Taeyoung’s office when it suddenly opened. It was Mr. Taeyoung’s secretary, along with another woman. She might be the client that Mr. Taeyoung has a meeting with.We immediately stopped and bowed towards her. Mr. Taeyoung stepped forward and shook hands with her. “Good day to you, ma’am. I’m Nam Taeyoung,” he greeted.“Good day to you as well, Mr. Nam. I’m known as Madam Mina of Apathi Real Estate,” the woman returned a smile.Mr. Taeyoung stepped back and introduced Mr. Nam, “This is my brother, Nam Jinho. He’s the head of Nam Corporations.”“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madam Mina,” Mr. Nam shook hands with the client.
It was already past five in the afternoon and I was still transcribing the voice recordings today. At first, I only wanted to take down notes of the important details. However, I kept getting distracted with the whole audio. So, I took it upon myself to transcribe them.As for my officemates, everyone has already left the building. Soyoung wanted to stay behind but I told her that I would only stay for a bit. Minju and her friends didn’t say a word when I returned. But they would still do their occasional death glares.As for Mr. Nam, we didn’t speak during the whole ride back to the company. The car was dead silent. But Haru and I exchanged glances through his rearview mirror. Eventually, Mr. Nam spoke to me when we got into the elevator.---*---*---*---
“It’s the end of the day and I usually come here to get away from work. You should do the same, Miss Ryuk. Remember, don’t bring your work everywhere that you go. Or it will consume your everyday life. Is that clear?”I nodded. The way Mr. Nam said that, he wasn’t angry and it wasn’t said sarcastically. He was kind and soft when he asked me to stop thinking about work. The manner of how concerned he was with my well-being was truly amazing.We returned to our food and allowed for silence to overcome the room. The sound of pans clanging and plates being moved were very faint. Distant murmurings from the staff can also be heard. And even though I was sharing a meal with our employer, I didn’t have the feeling as if I was being watched. Which was a comforting feeling to have.D
“First thing is I already sensed that you were uncomfortable with that invitation,” he replied. He asked, “Am I correct? Or am I just assuming things? Because you froze a bit after Taeyoung blurted out that question.”With a firm smile, I nodded.“Because of that, I had to act quickly. I couldn’t tell you to ignore him when we were still with him. That would be rude of me to do. Second,” he continued, “Now that a client of mine and my brother have met you as my secretary, I have no doubt that they will tell the rest of the people within our circle about you. Like what my brother said, I never brought my secretaries along with me. It’s always Hyeongu who accompanies me in such meetings. For me to suddenly bring a secretary along is news for them. And it’s going to be worth their time to talk about.&rdqu
“Good evening, Mr. Nam. Good evening, Miss Ryuk,” Haru greeted as soon as we stepped out of the building.“Good evening, Haru. Take Miss Ryuk home as quickly and safely as possible,” Mr. Nam instructed.“Yes, sir,” he bowed. Haru turned to me and gestured towards the backseat door. I nodded at him and he headed to the driver’s seat.I turned around and faced Mr. Nam. “Really, Mr. Nam, you didn’t have to. You still need to go home yourself,” I protested once more.He chuckled before he replied, “Don’t worry about me, Miss Ryuk. I can return home at any time that I choose. What’s important is that you get home to your family. As you mentioned, your mother needs you urgently. You mustn’t kee
The kids looked at one another before Ahra replied, “Mama went out with Aunt Jaeyun this morning. And when they returned in the afternoon, they suddenly became strict with us. They gave us baths, gave us food and told us to stay in this room.”“When they gave us baths, they were too cruel, Aunt Mingyu,” Chiwon entered the conversation. “Most of the time, we complained that the water was either too hot or too cold. But they never listened to us.”Sunmi added, “They called us brats and even told their friends that we were hard-headed kids and that we deserved to be disciplined all the time.”My blood boiled as their eyes slowly watered. I pulled them into my arms and held them as tightly as I could. I didn’t know what happened and how they were treated. But they we
One of the guys from downstairs sat comfortably on my bed. He laid his back onto the headboard with his hands tucked behind his neck. He turned to my direction and smirked as soon as he saw me."Miss Ryuk? Miss Ryuk?" I could hear Mr. Nam's faint voice from my phone. But all I could focus on was the asshole that had the audacity to enter my room uninvited and sat on my bed.I stomped towards the foot of my bed and continued, "You are trespassing my room and you're sitting on my bed without my permission. Are you that big of a dick to do intruding things?"He slowly stood from my bed and walked towards me. He said, "I should be offended by the way you talk to me. But seeing you angry makes you even more attractive."My grasp on my phone tightened as he moved closer to me.
I looked up and saw two women who peaked their heads by the door frame.Mr. Kim briefly turned around before he returned to me. He said, "I brought some friends from the National Children's Welfare Association. They will be responsible for comforting the children with what happened tonight. You will need to come downstairs with me to decide on what to do with those guys tonight." He signalled for the ladies to enter the room.The women slowly entered, careful not to make any brash actions or sounds.The children suddenly grabbed onto me. Some of them whispered in fear. My heart broke as I heard that. That was the very thing that I wanted to prevent from happening: for them to have fears of the outside world. To experience horrifying scenes that they shouldn't be even thrown into, especially at such a young age.