Chapter 7.6

"What happened? He came straight to the lounge?" Se-ah asked, while she picked up a chicken leg and bit into it.

"He was at the table next to me in the lounge. Thanks to that column you wrote saying you drink three cocktails at a time, I had champagne with dinner, then three cocktails in the lounge, and got so drunk. And Tae Yi-seop saw it all. That's the whole story. Hyunseong was worried about the date and called, then said he'd come pick me, I mean you, up. I was trying to convince Jong-woo I was fine, when Tae Yi-seop intervened to stop Jong-woo from bothering me. I heard someone say all the staff was looking at us, but I didn't notice. Then, finally, Hyunseong oppa came and that ended that."

"OMG." Se-ah dropped the chicken leg in her hand, and it landed on the floor and then rolled away.

Min-kyung neatly removed the meat from the bone, then placed them in the empty box before wiping her hands with a wet nap. "After all that, the Executive Director got so much worse. He used to only hate me, but now he hates me with his entire soul. I think he's planning on pushing me until I throw my hands up and quit the company." 

"Why? Who cares? Can't you go out and have a drink? What's the reason to hate you? You even said he had intruded into you, his employee's, private conversation." 

"I don't know, I guess I became more aggravating to him after that night."

Se-ah stood up to grab the chicken leg that had rolled away from her and spotted the shopping bag on the other side of the room. "Huh? What's that? Did you go shopping? OMG!" She squealed loudly.

"No. Tae Yi-seop's mother gave me one of the shopping bags, and the other has his jacket in it." So often, Min-kyung wanted to take out that trench coat and stomp on it until it was tattered and chuck it in the trash. But she decided to keep it clean and donate it, or something similar when she had the time.

"Can I look inside?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Se-ah wiped her oily hands from the chicken with a wet nap, then smiling, carefully took the trench out for examination. "Wow. Just as expected… I guess Executive Director Tae Yi-seop is much taller and has a better body than I imagined? The size and length of this coat is wonderful. Oh there... It's been altered and shortened a bit. He got it tailored in the shoulders and took it in below the waist..."

Se-ah examined the trench carefully then asked. "But why do you have this? Are you keeping cause there was an emergency?"

"No, throw it back in there. It's all uncomfortable and a mess. Director Tae Yi-seop, he is being a bit awkward."

"Then why did he leave such a good coat? A mess? It's clean-looking; is there something wrong with it? Did he drop something on it?"

"No, I just wore it for a while."

"You?... What? Why? From the lounge that day?"

Min-kyung took a sip of her non-alcoholic beer, pondering. When she thought back to that night, she felt like there was a lump in her throat. Se-ah grabbed the can from her hand, "Could it be that Executive Director Tae Yi-seop took off his jacket and put it on you that night?"

"I kept it on, I must've been holding it. Oh, I don't know, I don't remember…"

"Says someone who has a knack for taking coats or not?" Se-ah leaned in and focused her big eyes on Min-kyung. Min-kyung, trying to avoid eye contact, looked down at the floor. This was a point she wanted to ignore. Why on earth had he done that, and why did she keep it?

"So, were you cold? Did you spill your drink on your outfit?"

"No."

"Then, why?"

“He… could see…” Min-kyung spoke with an unconfident tone. While trying to push the memories out of her mind, they instead bubbled up, and she felt her insides starting to burn in shame.

"What?"

That evening, he had gritted through his teeth, 'I can see all of you.' Those words hit her mind so hard it sobered her up for a moment, then her whole body became hot and full of embarrassment.

"You mean... down, inside…?" Se-ah asked, pointing at Min-kyung's chest.

"Yup. That's right." Min-kyung said in a slightly raised voice. "He said he could see everything 'cause I was unbuttoning my jacket since they were too tight. You don't have to look hard to see how terrible the Executive Director thinks I looked; he was laughing."

Se-ah opened her eyes even wider, "Kang Min-kyung."

"Uh?"

"Do you really think Tae Yi-seop hates you?"

"He has said this many times, 'I hate you.' He generally is someone who doesn't lose his cool or show emotions in front of others. Still, I guess his hate for me overrode his whole lifetime of pretense and hypocrisy. And said it while looking straight at me."

Lee Seop's smooth, perfect face came to her mind as she spoke. 'That bastard.' Min-kyung bit her lip.

"He is basically telling me to get out. I thought he'd just be rude like this for a few days, but the past two weeks have been so difficult. 'Don't make that face, turn your head, it's bad.' He says this to my face. Haaa… He's being so rude to make me, so I'll say I can't work there. Is that empathy or caring? Haaa... He's a bastard."

After her outburst, Min-kyung suddenly remembered them, sitting side by side, eating the risotto with the red cherry tomatoes and the round cheese in front of them. Of course, she had only gotten him that risotto because he looked hungry and canceled his dinner plans, but… At one point, while they shared a meal in silence, she felt like some soft and sweet feeling passed between them like a gust of wind.

Min-kyung rubbed her lips with her fist at the surfacing memory, unsure of this fuzzy, ambiguous sensation going through her.

"Drink." Se-ah put a can of real beer in Min-kyung's hand and took away the non-alcoholic drink. "You may need this if we're having this conversation."

"Okay." Min-kyung sighed and took a gulp of beer.

"You… by any chance, when your project is finished, can you leave?" Se-ah's voice was serious.

"I have nowhere to go, I can't just leave TK because the Executive Director doesn't like me. So I have to just do my job well. Even though he doesn't like me, I will just hold on for a little while, then throw the work to someone else to be his secretary and transfer to a different department. The Executive Director wouldn't be so rude or try to get my attention if I weren't his assistant anymore. But it hurts my pride that I'm thinking about this when I haven't been in the position for long… and the twins…"

"No, no, don't think that." Se-ah wagged her finger and motioned for Min-kyung to take another drink.

Min-kyung drank the cold beer, filling her twisted stomach from the stress. Yes, only a half a can in, and her face was flushed red. As her intoxication grew, she swayed and drooped her shoulders.

"Min-kyung."

"Huh?"

"Are you, perhaps… attracted to Tae Yi-seop?"