The Outing
"Boss! Are you asleep?!"
"Ah... who is this? Oh, yes. Executive Director."
Ham Juhyeon, the President of Doowon Heavy Industries, was just drifting off to sleep when his phone rang in the bedroom. He glanced at the screen, wondering who would call at this hour, but the moment he saw the name ★★★, he bolted upright, grabbing the phone with both hands.
"Yes, Executive Director."
"No, President, I’m much lower in rank, you don’t have to be so formal..."
"Not at all. Please, go ahead. Is this regarding the incredible things you accomplished today..."
The President, who was listening with the utmost respect, wondering what more could possibly be needed, heard his voice amidst the sound of roaring wind.
"President! Send one of our spare passenger ships and one of our FSRUs to Incheon Port!"
"...?"
"And that tugboat we have, the one for pressure towing?"
"Ah, yes. That too... but why..."
"We have to go save some people and a ship!"
What on earth was he talking about?
"That ship finished its contract with us..."
"Come on, it’s near our country, our waters."
"...?"
"Send them right now, and get every oil skimmer we have on board. It looks like oil is starting to leak!"
"Where are you right now..."
With the final words, "I'm out at sea, at sea!" the call ended.
The President stared at his phone for a long time, wondering what kind of chaos this was in the middle of the night. He went out to the living room, sat down, and turned on the TV to call his staff, when—
"The situation we are showing you now via SNN drone, we are trying to explain what exactly is happening..."
"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to our viewers. Since this has not been approved or released as a press statement, we are broadcasting live using a drone. According to information coming in, a tugboat carrying Doowon Group Senior Managing Director Han Suhyun and related staff has just passed near Seonmido, Incheon..."
"Reporter Kim, can you confirm the reason they are heading there?"
"It has not been confirmed, but 10 minutes ago, the West Sea Five Islands Guard of the Korea Coast Guard..."
On the tugboat cutting through the rough sea, he was there with his secretary, Eunbyul, and other staff. As they each smoked a cigarette, she kept checking her phone.
"I’ve contacted the telecommunications company. They said they can provide support via satellite."
"What about the Chinese side?"
"They basically said, 'Thank you if you save them.'"
Because they were incredibly close.
"If we go any further, we can't smoke anymore! They say oil is floating everywhere!"
"Are we really going to save a ship?"
"Of course!"
"Wow..."
They looked at him with expressions that seemed to say, How on earth are you going to pull this off? It was a ship from a completely unrelated company, and even the company involved in the incident was just working overtime and not actually going to rescue the vessel.
"I have a plan for everything. Please, just trust me."
"... ....Yes."
Honestly, they couldn't trust him. And putting the trust issue aside, and the fact that he was paying them a bonus, why were they helping someone else's business at this hour?
After gathering the other staff who had the same questions, Eunbyul whispered something to them.
"Come to think of it, that would be a huge help to the company."
"We’ve been hearing so much talk about monopolies lately anyway."
"The news is saying they should break up the company... as if we’re a communist country."
"Let's use this opportunity to change the public perception!"
He didn't know what she had told them, but regardless, they had gathered everyone they needed. From captains with decades of experience moving ships, to headquarters staff capable of administrative and external communication, to Geojedo shipyard employees with 10 to 20 years of experience in crisis management.
The reason he had braved the embarrassment to call and bring such people together was simply because a burning passion was rekindling in his heart.
The feeling that he could take the lead in something. This moment, where the only thought that existed was that he had to take responsibility for every situation and keep his wits about him to see it through. That was what was moving him.
And the driving force that allowed that passion to emerge—the existence of Eunbyul, who had changed more than half of him in just a single day by his side. Those things were what made him strive so hard.
"Executive Director, they say the tugboat will arrive soon. They also said they’ve loaded the oil skimmers onto it."
"Understood!"
***
As soon as he entered the house, he didn't even glance at her. Even asking for his clothes had only happened once, yesterday. She couldn't hide her disappointment, having hoped, even just a little, that he had returned to her. Though, what was the point of being disappointed now?
As she watched him prepare dinner on his own, she thought to herself that she had truly become a useless existence in the house, that he didn't even use her anymore.
"Executive Director! Are you available to talk?"
Even though they were divorced, her nerves would stand on end and her ears would perk up whenever a woman's voice came from his phone. Hearing that voice, her first thought was, 'Who is that?' Judging by the way they called him 'Executive Director,' it seemed to be a company employee. It felt strange because she had never heard him talk to a woman on the phone before.
Only then did she sense that something was off. In any organization, whether it was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or anywhere else, there had to be both men and women. And they would inevitably clash. Yet, the fact that this was the first woman's voice she had ever heard from him meant, '...He had been considerate enough not to make me worry until now.'
During their marriage, whenever he received a call about work, he had always switched it to speakerphone so she could hear, out of consideration for her. It was always a man's voice. All to ensure she wouldn't worry. To make her feel clearly that he was currently on a work-related call, that he didn't mix with other women, and that he was always Seo Jia's man.
He barely ate his meal while talking to the female employee, went to the living room for a moment, and after that, he went into the master bedroom, put on a suit, and left the house without saying a single word to her.
With her pupils dilated and unfocused, she sat slumped in that spot for a long time without moving, staring into the void. Then, she slowly stood up, did the dishes, and went into the study.
***
I thought Master would be staying home today, but he went somewhere.
I had something to say today.
I couldn't say it.
Will I be able to tell him tomorrow?
Do I dare to converse with Suhyun?
While he was busy turning the company upside down, she decided she needed to meet someone, so she put on a hat and clothes and went outside.
The people she met were...
"...Why are you like this?"
"No... it's..."
"..."
Her friends, Hayeon and Seohee, who hadn't seen her in a while. Seeing her haggard appearance, they told her they should go somewhere, grabbed her arms firmly, and led her up to the second floor of a nearby cafe.
After their drinks arrived, Hayeon, her friend who was quite close to her—they had been graduate school peers—asked directly, "I heard you haven't been coming to the office lately."
"...I'm on leave. I wanted to rest."
"Something happened, didn't it?"
"...I, I got divorced."
"What?"
"Sud... suddenly?"
They couldn't hide their shock as they looked at her. Naturally, they couldn't. The fact that her divorce from him was true was known only to the two of them, a few of his friends, and Eunbyul—a person whose name she had heard but didn't know how she had found out.
"I... I was the one who asked for the divorce first."
"... Why...?"
She couldn't say anything more and sobbed for a long time. Her friends quickly tried to soothe her, wondering if she was this broken because of abuse.
"...Did your husband hit you? Like...?"
She shook her head.
"Then? Then what is it?"
"Let's not ask too much. Just calm down first..."
Her friend, Baek Seohee, had gone to the same school since middle school. Even though their majors were different, she focused more on comforting her than Hayeon, who was more curious.
Once she caught her breath and calmed down, she told them the facts. That she had been the one to present the divorce papers first, and that she had thought if she asked for a divorce, he would listen to her. That maybe they could redefine their relationship by doing some lewd things together. She told them things she hadn't even told her parents.
She continued with what happened after. That when she asked for a divorce, he really got divorced, and then she was the one who clung to him. Because she thought of him every single day. So she went to find him, and unable to hold back, she did this and that.
At that point, Hayeon asked, "Why did you do such a thing? He became your... ex-husband who you divorced?"
"...It's not just that I missed Suhyun, but I liked doing it with Suhyun..."
"You said you hated doing it with your ex-husband."
"That, that's because I felt like I was surrendering too much, and it was embarrassing, and shameful..."
"What is this..."
However, Seohee told her to stay still for a moment.
"Speak comfortably."
Then, she hesitated for a moment, and instead of saying that he had approached her because he was interested in her body, she told them the truth. That she had frequently appealed to him, and he had responded once out of every ten times. So, feeling impatient and seeing a glimmer of hope that things might be getting better, she had packed a lunch and gone to the company on her own, turning the place upside down, and after realizing that had failed,
"...So, I told my ex-husband not to go to hostess bars where women come in during our marriage."
"And he said, 'I won't call any women, so you come and pour the drinks for me, Jia.'"
They each said one thing, and "I remembered that, so I went to find him there again,"
"...No, what is this? Getting him drunk and doing it is fine. But you're saying you did that because you wanted to sleep with your ex-husband? Hey, that's selfish of you..."
Hearing that, she started crying again, and Seohee looked at her with a dumbfounded expression, but seeing her cry, she quickly approached and patted her shoulder.
"Seriously, why did she become like this?"
"..."
Seohee looked at her for a long time and said, "...For now, let's... let's listen to the end before we think about it."