Dating the Female Secretary (1)
The catering company packed up the dishes and tableware they had brought. Having an outside contractor handle the garden party like this kept everything neat and tidy, and Kim Chirok even pitched in with the cleanup.
The sixty-something caretaker who managed the villa remarked, "Having a young bachelor around sure makes the cleanup go faster."
President Jeong-hee called Kim Chirok and Bang Mihee over and handed each of them an envelope.
"Thank you both for your hard work. You can go now."
Kim Chirok was grateful for the unexpected envelope and bowed at a full ninety degrees. Bang Mihee, however, didn't seem particularly thankful. Without a word, she tossed the envelope into her bag.
She didn't even say thank you. Maybe that's what happens when you've been the Chairman's secretary long enough to get envelopes like this all the time.
Director Jang, who had been sitting under the pavilion staring at his phone, walked over. He hadn't left yet.
"You two lucked out with those envelopes. And just so you know, you'll still get your overtime pay on top of that."
"Thank you, sir."
"Also, I have something to discuss with President Jeong-hee, so I can't leave just yet. Secretary Bang, would you mind giving Kim Chirok a ride to Yangsu Station?"
Instead of answering, Bang Mihee's eyes went wide as she stared at Director Jang's face.
Director Jang grinned sheepishly. "Kim Chirok doesn't drive, that's why. If you just follow the Bukhan River downstream, you'll hit Yangsu Station on the Gyeongui-Jungang Line in Yangsuri. Just drop him off there."
Bang Mihee glanced at Kim Chirok, then nodded. She would allow it.
Kim Chirok looked at her. "I'm sorry about this."
"Follow me."
Bang Mihee's car was a gleaming BMW as well. Oh Ha-young from H Chemical drove a BMW too, but Bang Mihee's was brand new, which made it gleam all the brighter.
I don't know what a secretary's salary looks like, but she's driving a luxury car like this. Oh Ha-young is a hotel owner's daughter, but Bang Mihee is supposedly a PE teacher's kid, and she's rolling around in this? Some things you just can't figure out.
Kim Chirok rode along the Bukhan River in Bang Mihee's car. He cracked the window, and a cool river breeze drifted in. They drove for a long while, and still Bang Mihee said nothing.
He studied her profile as she held the wheel. She was a beauty, no question about it — better looking than Oh Ha-young from H Chemical's General Affairs Department.
He decided to try striking up a conversation.
"Nice car. How much did this set you back?"
"Ninety million won."
Ninety million? Our entire family fortune doesn't even add up to twenty million won, and she paid ninety million for a car? Wow. This woman is something else.
"A car this high-end must cost a fortune to maintain."
"The company covers the fuel."
Kim Chirok wondered when he would ever get to drive a car like this. Even if he bought a used one on installment, it would probably be a compact. Manager Lee at H Chemical drove a rattling used Sonata.
The conversation died again. Bang Mihee never spoke unless Kim Chirok spoke first. She really was a haughty woman.
Still, riding in a luxury car with the secretary to a major chaebol chairman wasn't a bad feeling at all. Before he knew it, they had reached Yangsuri.
"You can just drop me in front of the station."
Bang Mihee's face took on a thoughtful look. Then, instead of heading toward the station, she said, "Your place is in the same direction. I'll drop you off in Bongcheon-dong."
"Huh? What? You don't have to go out of your way on my account—"
"It's fine. Traffic shouldn't be bad at this hour."
Kim Chirok's spirits soared. On the subway, you could easily end up standing the whole way. Riding in a luxury car like this was a completely different experience.
"Aigoo, this is too much of an honor."
"It's fine."
They fell silent again until the car crossed Paldang Bridge. Once they merged onto Olympic Expressway, Kim Chirok asked, "When did you join the company, Bang Mihee?"
"Three years ago."
"So you're a year my senior, then. Senior!"
At that, Bang Mihee seemed to smile for the first time. But it lasted only a moment.
Kim Chirok pressed on. "I'm probably older than you, though. I was born in the Year of the Pig."
"So you're three years older than me."
"Oh, really? You look younger than that..."
For the first time, Bang Mihee asked him a question. "Where in Bongcheon-dong do you live?"
"Near Bongcheon-dong Central Market. You can drop me off in front of Seoul National University Station."
"Do you live in Woosung Apartments?"
"I... I don't live in an apartment. I live in a villa."
Whenever the word "apartment" came up, Kim Chirok somehow couldn't hold his head high. It had been that way since his school days, whenever anyone asked where he lived. People said your neighborhood and your home were your class — and it seemed they were right.
Bang Mihee, however, showed no sign of looking down on him.
"Do you live with your parents?"
"I live with my mom."
"I heard both your parents were still around..."
"My father injured himself, so he's in Gangwon Province recovering."
"So he lives in a country house, then."
Kim Chirok gave a bitter smile at that. His father was living in a hut in a Gangwon mountain valley, like some wilderness hermit.
"Did your father work at H Group?"
"No. My father was a laborer... I mean, he was a poet."
"A poet?"
Bang Mihee's eyes widened. It was an unusual occupation for a father.
"Poets don't make much, so we've been living as a low-income household."
At that, Bang Mihee smiled again. The ice princess, haughty as they came, had smiled twice today.
Director Jang's words suddenly came back to him — if Bang Mihee was an ice princess, then Kim Chirok ought to try breaking the ice.
Bang Mihee asked another question. Once the dam broke, she seemed to talk just fine.
"You came over from H Chemical, didn't you?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Director Jang said you came in first in the hiring rankings. So why did you end up at a subsidiary?" She tilted her head.
"Th-that's because of rotational assignments. They told me to build my career..."
He couldn't bring himself to say that he'd been edged out by connections and sent to a subsidiary instead of Group headquarters.
"I heard you were pretty popular with the women at H Chemical?"
Did she see the Instagram photos Oh Ha-young posted?
"I wasn't popular at all. I'm not really the sociable type..."
"Doesn't seem that way to me." She glanced at him with a faintly mocking look.
"I have no interest in the women at H Chemical. I don't know what nonsense they might be spreading, but that's all it is."
"Is that true?"
"I swear on the heavens."
At that, Bang Mihee's expression seemed to soften.
At that same moment, back at the Chairman's Bukhan River villa, President Jeong-hee and Director Jang were having a private conversation.
Director Jang spoke first. "Heh heh heh. Today's operation seems to have been a success."
"Now that they've left together in a car, I hope it gives them a chance to get closer."
"The haughty Bang Mihee didn't seem to reject Kim Chirok outright. She's not exactly taken with him yet, but it'll work out. He's got the academic pedigree and the looks."
"That's a relief, then."
"How did you convince Bang Mihee?"
"I was honest with her. I told her that if she had the child, she might receive a department store, but the child would be illegitimate."
"That's how it would go, yes."
"I told her that even with money, that kind of life could be a miserable one."
"Money isn't everything."
"So I told her to keep her relationship with the Chairman a secret and marry the most promising young man in the company. I said that was the wise path. I told her I was speaking as a fellow woman."
"That was well said. But she refused at first, I assume?"
"Of course. So I told her the company would recommend a good young man for her."
"How did she react?"
"At first, she didn't say anything."
"She must have been conflicted."
"I told her we'd recommend the three finest employees in the company. I even showed her the personnel files you sent over."
"Well done."
"I told her that marrying a young man from a well-connected family would only mean more constraints, less freedom. I told her to choose a man with no background who would devote himself to her alone. And to choose a man who could grow all the way to CEO."
"Hmm."
"And I told her we'd make sure she received a generous financial settlement of her own."
"If she's wealthy herself, it shouldn't matter if the man has no money. A handsome, intelligent one would be better. Someone like Kim Chirok."
"I told Bang Mihee that as a parting gift for ending the relationship, we'd give her a corporate entity and a Gangnam apartment worth five billion won. I even showed her the place yesterday. The Banpo apartment happened to be vacant, so it was convenient to show her."
"Did she agree to take the apartment?"
"She seemed to like it, at least. But she didn't give an immediate answer. She asked for time to think."
"From Bang Mihee's standpoint, an apartment like that would be impossible to buy even if she worked her whole life. A five-billion-won apartment could probably buy a small hotel in Incheon."
"I also told her to hire the recently retired Administration Department Head to set up the corporation."
"Ah, you mean Department Head Kim? He'd handle everything from incorporation to management just fine."
"And I casually suggested she might try dating Kim Chirok."
"Oh, you went that far?"
"As it turns out, Bang Mihee already knew who Kim Chirok was."
"Heh. In the world of female employees, a handsome bachelor joining the company is always a topic of interest."
"I told her that even though Kim Chirok is poor, he's a Seoul National University graduate and highly capable, so he has a real shot at rising all the way to the top."
"That must have piqued her interest."
"But Bang Mihee said it seemed like Kim Chirok was already flirting with the women at H Chemical."
"Haha. Is that so?"
"So I told her that according to our investigation, he doesn't have a serious relationship with anyone."
"You've done your homework, President."
"They're riding in the same car right now, so hopefully it leads somewhere good. Let's wait and see for now."
"Understood. You must be tired, President. Why don't you rest in the inner quarters? I'll be on my way."
"You worked hard today as well, Director Jang. This matter must stay a secret until the day we die."
"We'll take it to our graves. For Bang Mihee's future, we keep our mouths shut. Don't worry about that, President. I have a daughter of my own."