50 - Two Commutes in One Day
Since he hadn't done it intentionally, he didn't feel anything strange about Eunbyul; in fact, his secretary was now beyond great—she was nothing short of phenomenal.
"How did you..."
"It was luck. But we really could have been in big trouble. If it had run aground..."
"I would have had to make international calls until dawn to find another tanker. The delay penalties would have been astronomical. ...Just imagining it is terrifying."
Honestly, the Chairman had never given a cash bonus to anyone during his tenure. It was only natural. The holding company, this headquarters where he worked, was a place where the primary job was thorough post-accident management, and preventing accidents beforehand was merely a secondary task. Everything else was just trivial busywork. Furthermore, there was no one who ever tried to do such things. Of course not. She had practically changed the shipping company knowing an accident was about to happen. No employee in this company had ever pulled off a feat like this. While half of Eunbyul's success today was timing and the other half was her diligence, he felt the latter carried more weight.
"I felt like I was dying from a hangover this morning, but it was worth it. Executive Director, there's 2 million won in this envelope!"
"Isn't that a bit small for handling such a major accident?"
"...Don't be so greedy...! Wait, ah, Executive Director, no!"
He snatched the white envelope from her small hand and pulled out the one from his own inner jacket pocket, swapping them and placing his own into her hand. Seeing her eyes widen and blink in confusion, he said, "...It's your merit, so you take it. I'm fine."
"Executive Director..."
"Ah, whatever."
Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, he looked away and stared out the window. Eunbyul smiled faintly, crinkling the envelope in her hand, and while his gaze wasn't on her, she briefly pressed it to her nose before carefully tucking it into her handbag.
"Get home safe."
"Thank you for the ride."
"...Don't go overdoing it with this and that again."
"It's my job. Don't worry!"
Back in the car, the driver spoke to him. "Ah... I apologize for keeping your secretary in the back. It's proper etiquette to have her in the front."
"No! Not at all. That... if I may ask, it seems you've had some good news...?"
"Well, you see..."
He told the driver about what had happened at the company. The driver couldn't have known otherwise. When he went into the office, the driver either sat in the waiting room checking his schedule and preparing, or took a break. Although he told his drivers they could relax or go out briefly as long as it didn't interfere with the schedule, his driver never did such things. With nearly 40 years of driving experience, he considered such things impossible and would quietly read poetry or essay collections instead. Knowing this, he told the driver everything in detail. By sharing these things, he felt the driver would realize he was trusted, and he believed it was good for building a solid relationship.
After hearing the whole story, the driver remarked, "...'Preparedness prevents calamity,' that's the feeling I get. You seem to be a person with thorough foresight. But how do you know the...?"
"It just happened that way. She's my university junior."
"Ah. I see."
The car slowly drove into the underground parking lot. He thanked the driver again, and the driver bowed his head. His steps as he entered the house felt inexplicably light. He knew she was inside, but it didn't matter. He hadn't done everything on his own, but he still felt a sense of being recognized by his father—at least in part. That feeling was wonderful. His sense of pride was further maximized by a phone call he received just as he reached the front door after getting off the elevator.
"Oh, son. Are you home?"
"Yes! Father! What's the matter..."
"I couldn't say it earlier because everyone was there, but, Han Suhyun."
"Yes."
He was busy rewinding his memory, wondering what he had done wrong this time.
"...I learned something from you today. Listening to subordinates and acting on it."
"...?"
"I heard it from the Support Team Leader. That you reviewed the facts your secretary confirmed and then put them into action."
He listened silently. After a brief sigh, the Chairman continued, "...If it had been me, I wouldn't have listened to such advice."
"Ah, no, sir."
"No. The position makes the person. The higher one climbs, the more one unconsciously looks down on those below them."
"..."
"If I were in that seat, I wouldn't have done it that way. I would have stuck to the original plan."
"I didn't really do anyth..."
"Shh, just listen quietly when your father is praising you."
His father's tone had shifted; it seemed he had been doing a lot of thinking. It was as if he had been struck by something significant and was reflecting on himself.
"Let's... talk tomorrow."
"..."
"I like the version of you today."
"You're home. Your clothes..."
"Forget it. Go inside."
"Um, dinner..."
"I'm not eating."
That was the end of the conversation. She was left trembling in the air, and he went into the master bedroom to quickly put his clothes away. Inside the room, his smile wouldn't fade—due to the fact that he had been praised by his father, the pride of having eliminated overtime for the subsidiary employees, and the massive shift in his concern for his secretary turning into complete trust. But as he opened the bedroom door and stepped out with that same expression, he saw her flinch in surprise. Then, his smile vanished, replaced by a blank, expressionless face.
"..."
He walked past her and began to prepare dinner himself. She stood behind him, wringing her hands and feet, trying to help in any way she could, but he noticed her and said, "Just go inside. I'll take care of it myself."
Honestly, food from a table prepared with care by someone you love is delicious, but food made by a woman he couldn't even stand to look at felt like it would be full of poison just by looking at it. So, he simply opened the refrigerator, fried some bacon and eggs, and made a corn salad himself, thinking, 'What is this? It's super easy...?'
Behind him, she watched him with a look that suggested she would burst into tears if touched. '...I, I wanted to do this for you today...' 'Why, to me, now... nothing...' 'Does he... really, really have a lover...?'
She had played all the cards she had. Now, he didn't want her body or her heart. If he were to remarry in this state? She would no longer be able to win him back with anything. It was a terror that made her knees weak. Regardless, he ate his simple dinner while answering a phone call.
"Oh, I'm off work, why are you calling?"
"Executive Director! Can you talk?"
"Yes. But I'm in the middle of eating."
He didn't even care that he was on speakerphone, which was crushing her. While he busily moved his spoon and chopsticks, Eunbyul began to talk incessantly.
"No, earlier—you gave me so much money I was so surprised I couldn't even speak!"
"Yes."
"Are you really just going to watch the fire from across the river like this? You have to row when the tide comes in!"
"...?"
"No, Executive Director, don't we have a heavy industry subsidiary?"
They did. They certainly did, but... what was she talking about rowing?
"Why do you ask?"
"We have to rescue them!!!"
"...? Why would we?"
"Oh, you're such a fool. Senior, if you play the media game now saying we're going to rescue the ships for free, our image will skyrocket!"
Now that she mentioned it, that was true.
"The costs will be substantial..."
"It doesn't cost much."
Huh?
"Anyway, maritime rescue activities are shared to some extent by the government and the companies involved in the incident. If you use the money from that, plus the transportation costs we saved by switching to Maersk today, the promotional effect will be worth hundreds of billions of won."
That made sense, so he stopped eating and focused on the call.
"But how do we..."
"Ask the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to support us with oil fences, and Doowon Heavy Industries has oil skimmers, right? The ones we used for the adsorption method when a similar accident happened before. The amount isn't that large, so it should be fine."
"Last year's incident... no, and how do you remember that,"
"That's not the important part. And let's send one of our LNG carriers so we can get everyone on board into lifeboats."
"Uh... uh. Okay."
As if possessed, he quickly finished his meal, sat on the living room sofa, and listened to her story.
"And for the tilted KMTC ship, we can push it with a pusher tug to stabilize its posture, and if we use divers and welders to patch the accident point, couldn't we tow it back with a tugboat?"
"The water..."
"It just tipped over from the collision; the drainage lines should still be intact."
While she sat slumped on the floor listening to the call, he didn't pay her the slightest bit of attention, instead hanging on every word Eunbyul said.
"Okay. Secretary. We're leaving right now."
"Yes!"
"But aren't you tired? First, I'll call myself and the staff on duty..."
"Instead, I want to leave early tomorrow."
"Let's go."
He walked past the slumped Seo Jia without a glance and quickly went into the master bedroom. He changed his clothes, dried his hair a bit more, and left the house without a word. Once a fire of passion was lit, it didn't cool down easily.