Chapter 23
When Se-rang returned to her office, Secretary Cha stopped her briefly in front of the door.
“Representative Baek is waiting inside.”
“Really? He came early.”
“Well….”
Representative Baek did not come early. Director Yeon came extremely late….
Secretary Cha briefly considered telling her the truth, but decided to simply open the door for her instead.
“Thank you. I’ll finish the conversation within an hour, so you may leave work now, Secretary Cha.”
“No. I’ll accompany you until all your scheduled matters are finished, Director.”
“No, it’s fine. I know how to drive too. I’m going straight home after this today, so please tell Grandfather not to worry himself sick either.”
“!” Secretary Cha looked at Se-rang in surprise.
“I know too. That you report every single detail to Chairman Yeon. Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying I dislike it. I do think it’s only natural. No, wait, hm, it is a little unpleasant that Grandfather doesn’t respect his granddaughter’s privacy like this, but please tell him I’ll endure it a little since I need to win the successor position.”
“Haha….”
“Then have a good evening, Secretary Cha.”
After saying that, Se-rang closed the door.
There were several reasons she quickly sent Secretary Cha home. First, she did not particularly want the conversation from this point on to reach Chairman Yeon’s ears.
And the second reason was that the person on this side was not an easy opponent, so she had to focus.
“Did you wait long, Representative Baek?”
“Very long.”
Hm. He’s pretty again today.
That flawless skin really makes a person angry. Our Se-rang spent a hundred million won on her skin. Who knows if our Baek Do-gyeong even spends ten thousand.
“Isn’t it bad business manners to answer that so directly? Do I even have to teach that to the representative of a company?”
“I don’t know. Calling someone here and then arriving late seems like worse business manners. Yeon Se-rang.”
“What’s with ‘Yeon Se-rang’ to a business partner? You should properly call me Director Yeon.”
“You called me here under the pretense of business, but I didn’t come here for business.”
“Then what did you come for? Did you come to play?”
Se-rang leisurely took a step forward. Then she chose a bottle from Se-rang’s liquor collection whose name she roughly recognized and opened it.
With a light sound, the liquor poured into the glass in a smooth trickle.
Seeing that shiny face makes my stomach turn so badly that I don’t think I can get through this without at least a glass of whiskey.
Se-rang downed the whiskey in one shot.
“I came here to date, Yeon Se-rang.”
Pfft.
And immediately spat it out.
“Are you out of your mind? Who’s dating whom?”
“You and I are dating.”
“You really are out of your mind….” Se-rang shook her head.
Baek Do-gyeong chuckled, rose from his seat, and handed her a handkerchief. “Saying that with liquor all over your mouth honestly isn’t very convincing, Yeon Se-rang.”
Se-rang glanced down at the handkerchief, then lightly swatted it away with her hand.
Then she pulled a tissue from the coffee table and dabbed the corners of her mouth.
“Representative Baek. I never thought I’d say this with my own mouth. Listen carefully. The chance of you and me dating approaches zero. Understood?”
“Why? Until recently, you were pestering me to date you.”
“What is wrong with you all of a sudden? Fine, let’s say I went temporarily insane because I was obsessed with someone like you. It’s in the past, but still. But weren’t you the one who only thoroughly saw me as your admission ticket into Imperial? Why are you clinging now? Are you the one with some weird mentality where being rejected makes you interested instead?”
She thought that if she cut him off moderately, he would welcome it and remain as her show-window fiancé.
Why was he clinging even harder instead?
Was he really insane? Se-rang frowned.
“Weird mentality? Your choice of words is harsh.”
“I’m expressing it elegantly compared to what you’re doing!” Se-rang snapped as though she was fed up.
“So, are you upset? If I reflect on myself, will you also push me away just enough and then go back to how things were before—”
“The past is the past, and the present is the present. Even if you cling to ghosts of the past, time still moves on.”
“Without the past, there is no present, and without the present, there is no future. Are you embarrassed that you clung to me? Is that why you’re trying to properly make me submit like this?”
“You’re seriously insane.” Submit, my ass. Se-rang rolled her eyes in disgust. “I don’t have that kind of hobby. What would I even do after making you submit? Your despair, misery, and things like that have no value whatsoever in my life.”
“Then is only my happiness valuable to you? That’s a little touching.”
“Listen. Do you not know why I’m using polite speech with you every single time right now? No matter how much you try to annoy me by speaking casually, I’m going to keep using polite speech. Do you know why?” Se-rang flicked the tissue behind her and landed it precisely in the trash can. “Because you are nothing more and nothing less than my business partner.”
“Ah. So you’re admitting that you still need me and can’t throw me away?”
“…….”
Did this man attend some speech academy for pissing people off?
“No, Representative Baek. You seem to have forgotten something. The two of us are tied together by a contract, aren’t we? A contract where I’m the superior party and you’re the subordinate party. Don’t you remember the contract we made back then?”
“I remember.”
“Then you can just keep it.”
“But that was a verbal contract, Yeon Se-rang.”
“Do you want me to write you a contract? I feel like it would become the funniest contract in the world. Would something like that even have legal effect?” Se-rang chuckled, took out another glass, and poured liquor into it. Then she handed it to Do-gyeong. “Can’t we just settle the contract with this glass of liquor?”
“No.” Baek Do-gyeong accepted the glass, but he did not drink yet. That meant he would not let it be settled with this.
Se-rang clicked her tongue. How expensive.
“No, Representative Baek. Even so, we can’t actually write in a contract, ‘The subordinate party, Baek Do-gyeong, will become the superior party Yeon Se-rang’s footstool and do everything she orders. In return, the superior party will maintain her engagement with the subordinate party and cooperate so that the subordinate party is not completely excluded from Imperial’s succession competition.’ Or what, do you actually have some hobby of becoming someone else’s official footstool?”
“What if I do? Is there a problem?”
“Do you really have the confidence to bring a lawyer and say you’re becoming my footstool?”
“I do have confidence, Yeon Se-rang. You’re the one who doesn’t.”
“Then call a lawyer now and write it. Bring your registered seal.”
(Translator’s Note: Registered seal — Refers to an officially registered personal seal used in Korea and other East Asian legal or business contexts for formal contracts and official documents.)
Hahaha.
Baek Do-gyeong could not hold back his laughter.
“Is it funny?”
“Yes. The way you’re acting is fairly cute.”
“The more I see, the stranger your tastes are.” She did not want to know about the secret tastes of her former boss and current enemy. “Tell me. What feels so uncomfortable that you want to leave this in writing as a contract?”
“I wasn’t anxious before. I never even imagined you wouldn’t like me, so I didn’t think this engagement would ever become unstable.”
“You’re a businessman, and you bet everything on something as fragile as a person’s feelings?”
“That’s right.” Baek Do-gyeong readily admitted it with a bitter smile.
It was her first time seeing that kind of smile from him, so Se-rang closed her mouth.
“I was too careless, trusting only your love.”
“I’m glad you know that now.”
“That’s why I’m not going to be careless anymore. One mistake can happen, but from the second one onward, it’s failure.”
“So you want to receive a written contract for this engagement?”
“Yes. I’ll be in trouble too if you use me as much as you want and then throw me away, won’t I?”
“No, seriously. Haven’t you already taken everything you could by using me until now? You went from being an Imperial employee with nothing to a label representative. Isn’t that enough payment for maintaining this flimsy engagement?” Se-rang let out a disbelieving laugh. Just how far did this person’s greed go?
But Do-gyeong did not laugh. Instead, his expression was more subdued than ever.
“It isn’t enough.”
“Of course it wouldn’t be. For you, nothing short of Imperial’s chairman seat would be enough.”
“Yes. I’ll only feel secure after I obtain at least that much.” Baek Do-gyeong took the liquor bottle from Se-rang’s hand and refilled her glass. Then he raised his own glass as though asking for a toast. “What will you do?”
“Fine. Let’s write a contract. We’ll have to refine the conditions, though.”
“Good. I’ll write up my side’s conditions and send them to you. You send yours too.”
“Do that.”
When Se-rang practically gave up with both hands and feet raised, Baek Do-gyeong shook his glass once more.
“Cheers?”
“…Cheers.”
She really could not beat him. Yeon Se-rang clinked her glass against his.
“But before we write the contract, let me ask you for one thing. As future business partners.”
“Say it.”
“Send me two of your trainers. To my side.”
“That’s not difficult.”
“No. Not the trainee trainers. Trainers for the debut team.”
“…….”
At Se-rang’s words, Baek Do-gyeong’s gaze gleamed oddly.
“You know all sorts of things.”
“We’re in the same boat. Shouldn’t I know that much?”
“I don’t think I know anything about you, Yeon Se-rang.”
“I found out myself, so you can find out yourself too.” Se-rang spoke primly and glanced at Do-gyeong. “Will you send them?”
“I’ll send them here by tomorrow morning.”
Okay.
Only then did Se-rang relax and drink down her liquor.