Joining Forces (2)

It must have been a Saturday, about two months after I married Yang Mi-jeong, when the house erupted over a thief. From first light, Fire Fox had torn through every room in a frenzy, insisting her favorite lingerie had vanished.

"Just take your time looking. It's got to be somewhere."

"It's gone! I said it's gone! It's really not here! Stop lying around and help me look, would you?"

Unable to endure Fire Fox's nagging, I turned the entire wardrobe inside out—I am not exaggerating—and still the lingerie she wanted was nowhere to be found.

"Aah~. Where on earth did I put it? I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sure I left it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the shopping bag."

"Didn't you drop it off at the cleaner's?"

"No! That one can't go to the neighborhood cleaner's, so I put it aside separately."

"Hah... fine. I'll buy you a new one. So let's stop looking already. At this rate the whole day's going to be gone."

"I can't just buy another one! It was a gift—a fashion-show limited edition from a famous lingerie designer!"

Wearing a tearful pout, Fire Fox still couldn't bring herself to give up, and called Manager Song Jiho.

"Oppa, it's me! I think a thief broke into our house. Yeah! Maybe it's that stalker from before? Can you file a police report for me? I have to find that lingerie!"

I had no idea what Song Jiho said to soothe her, but Fire Fox's face lit up in an instant.

"Really? Okay. Bye."

In that instant, the lingerie she'd been so desperately hunting for vanished from her mind as if it had never mattered. It was a hollow ending for a rare day off I'd given up, but if my wife was happy, I let it go.

A few days later, Manager Song showed up with a set of lingerie so garish it was embarrassing even to look at, claiming he'd gotten it from the same designer.

"Kyaa! Isn't it gorgeous?"

"So are you going to model it for me today?"

"Are you crazy? I have to save this for a really, really important day."

The lingerie was immediately buried deep in the closet. If she was only going to take it out and look at it now and then, why go to all that trouble to get it? Women really were incomprehensible creatures.

Fire Fox seemed to have completely forgotten whether the stalker even existed. But I had overheard their phone call, and I couldn't shake the unease. The thought that a stalker was watching the wife I loved was too unsettling to ignore.

So I asked my wife's permission and installed security cameras in the dressing room and throughout the house. A few days later, I confirmed the intruder's face—and nearly jumped out of my skin.

Song Jiho, the man Fire Fox treated like her own older brother, had walked into our empty house, stuffed something from the laundry room into a paper bag, and walked right back out. Worse, the bastard had used the hours when Fire Fox and I were both out to wander the house as if it were his own. He'd lain on our bed and breathed in my wife's scent, collected strands of her hair, drunk coffee from her cup, and even taken a bath in her tub before leaving.

The moment I confirmed the stalker's identity, I tore out every camera I'd installed and started changing the passcode every morning on my way to work, so that only Yang Mi-jeong and I, with our key cards, could come and go freely.

"Ah! Oppa. Did the cameras catch anything?"

"Huh? Uh... well. Not yet."

"Really? The second we find out who it is, I swear. This time I'm making sure they go straight to jail."

I wanted to tell her who it was. The words just wouldn't come. How shattered would she be, I thought, to learn that the manager who'd stood by her for over a decade was the stalker? I planned to catch clearer evidence first and file a police report. Then the divorce happened out of nowhere, and I never got the chance.

Han Se-ah clearly still had no idea that the stalker she'd ground her teeth over was Manager Song Jiho. That was why she'd summoned him to her side.

Hm?

Come to think of it, Song Jiho's outfit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked uncannily familiar. Why was that? I figured it out in an instant. It was the same suit and shoes I'd worn before I got rich. Same brand, same style—and the cologne he was wearing was the one Fire Fox had given me as a gift.

What the hell? Was he copying me?

So Fire Fox hadn't been the only one he was stalking. And come to think of it, the point when he'd started putting on weight...

It was after the day Yang Mi-jeong came to me in tears and threw herself into my arms!

Looking back, it had been a living hell of a marriage for me. Song Jiho, it seemed, had simply envied that relationship of ours. He'd always been at her side, and Yang Mi-jeong had never once given him a glance.

The hand Song Jiho had extended for a handshake was trembling finely.

"A perverted thief? You're not talking about me right now, are you?"

"Did you actually think I wouldn't know? I have evidence. Shall I show you?"

At the mention of evidence, that ogre of a face crumpled. His head must have been spinning. He was worried I might have told Fire Fox the truth. But if I had, Fire Fox wouldn't have summoned him here—unless she'd gone straight to the police.

The bastard wasn't a complete idiot, apparently. Once his thoughts reached that far, he let out a snicker.

"The evidence is shaky, huh. That's why you never reported it."

"Think whatever you like. We're strangers now anyway. It has nothing to do with me."

"Heh heh. Kang Minhyuk, you've come a long way. You've gotten real petty."

"I've taken a lot of hits."

Stay quiet and the world takes you for a sucker. That was just how things worked.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going. Department Head Han just killed our team's project again, so I need to go cook up some ideas. Excuse me."

The moment I started to walk away, he grabbed my arm.

"You could at least read the room a little? I outrank you, you know. Wouldn't want to get fired from a nice job you worked so hard to get. That respectable job is the only thing you've got."

Was there anything more pathetic than threatening to fire an employee who was already planning to quit? I shook off his hand, snorted, and answered.

"Well, I wouldn't know. Unlike some people, this isn't a job I had to scrape and claw to get."

"What?"

"By the way, Deputy General Manager Song, you've been watching too many dramas. Your instincts are way off. You think firing a full-time employee is that easy? If you're so sure, go ahead and try."

At my provocation, Song Jiho's eyes flew wide. I looked down at him just as steadily, my gaze sharp. His eyes couldn't hold out. He looked away first. He'd realized, a beat too late, that I wasn't just talking.

I gave him a faint smile and turned away. The sound of Song Jiho huffing in helpless rage reached my ears.

The sky was clear. It really was a fine day.

That said, I wondered how Section Chief Oh Seung-won was holding up.

A single misspoken word had cost Section Chief Oh Seung-won Han Se-ah's favor, leaving him high and dry. He'd spent the entire day chained to the office, covering the paperwork she was supposed to handle herself.

Honestly, he felt more at ease this way. All he had to do was keep his head down, endure in silence, and wait for a chance to close the vise around Lee Jungwan's throat.

But at some point, the reports Lee Jungwan had been sending to Department Head Han Se-ah had stopped cold. Something secret was clearly passing between the two of them—something he wasn't privy to—and not knowing what it was was driving him mad.

In the end, Oh Seung-won went to Lee Jungwan himself.

"Hello, Team Leader Lee."

"Ah, Section Chief Oh. What brings you here?"

"Department Head Han asked me to get a sense of where things stand with the supplement dispenser."

"Oh, did she?"

Lee Jungwan glanced around, started to say something, then hesitated.

"Well, it's still in progress. I was actually getting ready to report on it around tomorrow. Could you let her know I'll stop by before lunch?"

Just as he'd thought. Oh Seung-won realized his suspicion had been right on the mark. But for now, he had no choice but to back off.

"Understood. I'll pass that along."

Oh Seung-won bowed his head and turned away without protest. He'd only taken a few steps when Team Leader Lee Jungwan called him back.

"Hey, Section Chief Oh Seung-won."

"Yes?"

Oh Seung-won answered the summons, and Lee Jungwan asked,

"Your older brother's doing well, I trust? Come to think of it, I haven't been in touch with him for quite a while. We used to drink together, after all—I feel bad for letting it get so distant. Give him my regards, would you?"

The words, delivered with a smear of a smile, sent a chill down Oh Seung-won's spine.

Don't tell me... he knew everything?

Oh Seung-won fled the office as if running for his life. He couldn't even remember what he'd said in reply.

When? Where did I slip?

No. More than that.

Was I pushed out of Han Se-ah's inner circle not because of a slip of the tongue, but because of Team Leader Lee Jungwan?

All this time, Lee Jungwan had known he was digging into him—and had simply let him? Lee Jungwan was far more calculating than he had given him credit for. The casual way he'd bared his hand might have been a warning: don't get any ideas.

But having come this far, there was no backing down.

I was already prepared to resign anyway.

The problem was how far Department Head Han Se-ah was involved. One wrong move and he might find himself going up against a chaebol family. He needed to be careful.

It's a little earlier than I planned, but it might be better to blow this open now.

Knowing Department Head Han's impatient temperament, there was a high chance she'd ignore the fact that they'd stolen another company's idea and push ahead anyway. It might be better to expose the idea theft before the project got fully underway—so that Han Se-ah could pin everything on Lee Jungwan and cut him loose. At the very least, he could protect his older brother's exclusive rights to the business.

Decision made, Oh Seung-won gathered the materials he'd been collecting and left the office, intending to leak the information to a reporter he'd befriended while working in the secretariat and ask for an article.

That was when he ran straight into Kang Minhyuk at the entrance to the hallway. Facing him was awkward after what had happened at the hotel, so Oh Seung-won tried to put a polite distance between them and walk past.

A moment later, it was as if he'd walked into a wall. A massive shadow cut off the light.

"Section Chief Oh, where are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you rushing off to in such a hurry?"

I'd been wondering how Oh Seung-won was doing, and then he walked right into the New Business Development Team of his own accord. And then he went straight to Lee Jungwan and started asking about the progress on the supplement dispenser?

Pretending to look over some documents, I listened in on their conversation. The usual bureaucratic back-and-forth was underway, and just as Oh Seung-won was about to leave, Lee Jungwan asked after CEO Oh Seongjin.

In that instant, I read Oh Seung-won's face. Panic and fury crossing in his eyes. But Oh Seung-won answered smoothly that he'd pass along the regards, and left the office at once.

The impatience and tension in his stride. That was when I understood. Oh Seung-won hadn't come here on Han Se-ah's orders.

Had Song Jiho showing up at Han Se-ah's side changed something in him?

A vaguely ominous feeling settled over me, and I followed him without making it obvious. Before long I saw him grab a document envelope from the office, and I stepped into his path.

"Section Chief Oh, where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?"

"Ah, I have something to take care of..."

"Could I have a word with you for a moment?"

"I... don't have anything to discuss."

"I think this might change your mind."

I held a printed sheet up in front of his eyes. Oh Seung-won's pupils shook violently.