The Country Life Diary of a Gangster's Secretary-Chapter 118
The following day, Hyesung did not show up for work. The employees in the secretary team who had to relay this information to Lee Hyuk were all nervously watching his reaction.
"We were told he went out for external business…" one of them said cautiously.
Lee Hyuk nodded in response. After parting ways with Hyesung the previous day, he hadn't bothered to contact him. Although Hyesung had spoken in unusually strong terms, Lee Hyuk hadn't really believed that Hyesung's words were serious.
Yesterday, Lee Hyuk had also been on edge, so his own words had come out more harshly than intended. He figured that once Hyesung came to work today, they would be able to talk things out and resolve the situation.
Looking back, even though they had clashed a few times since the company was founded, they had always managed to work things out. That's why Lee Hyuk hadn't thought much of it.
"If I end up being as rotten as the others, then maybe you'll cut me off too. But, well… I suppose that wouldn’t matter much."
Lee Hyuk clicked his tongue. In the end, he was the first to lower his guard. He quickly tried calling Hyesung, but it was futile. Just as he was about to call again, a text message arrived.
[I'm out on external business today. I’ll finish my work and head straight home, so don't wait up.]
The tone of the message was hardly appropriate for a secretary addressing their boss. But what really bothered Lee Hyuk wasn’t the inappropriateness of the message—it was that Hyesung was deliberately avoiding his calls and seemed to be taking a much harder stance than expected.
"Is he really that angry…?" Lee Hyuk sighed deeply, instinctively reaching for a cigarette. But then Hyesung's words from yesterday flashed through his mind.
"Damn it," Lee Hyuk muttered in frustration as he put the cigarette away and left his office. His destination was Sungjin's office. As he made his way from the CEO's office to the executive suite, he encountered employees who had just arrived at work.
"Good morning, sir…"
"Hello, Mr. President…"
The employees all bowed their heads, looking as though they were afraid. Lee Hyuk suddenly stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head.
The employees, startled by his gaze, quickly hurried past him. The feeling was distinctly different from his days in the Taesung gang. Back then, while his subordinates had respected and served him diligently, they were never fearful of him.
"What's up? It's unusual to see you here this early," Sungjin remarked with surprise as Lee Hyuk walked into his office.
"Hey."
"What?"
"How do you see me these days?"
"What kind of question is that out of the blue?" Sungjin frowned deeply.
"Do you think I've changed a lot compared to before?"
"Hmm… I’m not sure," Sungjin said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"You’ve always been a bit of an asshole with a terrible personality and…"
A string of unflattering words flowed smoothly from Sungjin's mouth. Just as Lee Hyuk began to regret coming to him for advice, Sungjin continued.
"But you do seem a bit more on edge lately."
"…"
"Since we’re on the topic, Hyuk, we might have started off as gangsters, but we don’t want to keep living that way forever, do we? Let’s take it slow, even if it means going at a snail's pace. We want to last, don’t we?"
It was a surprisingly sensible statement coming from Sungjin, and for the first time, Lee Hyuk began to understand what Hyesung had been trying to say. He reflected on Hyesung's words all day.
And when the workday ended, he found himself in front of Hyesung’s house.
He thought about going up to the door, but the lights were off, indicating that Hyesung hadn’t returned yet.
How long had he been waiting in the car?
In the distance, he saw Hyesung walking slowly, massaging his tired shoulders. Normally neat and tidy, Hyesung looked different today. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, and the top two buttons were undone.
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Lost in thought, Hyesung stopped abruptly when he noticed the car. Lee Hyuk lowered the window and gestured for him to get in.
"Get in."
After a moment's hesitation, Hyesung quietly got into the passenger seat.
"What kind of secretary skips work without permission?" Lee Hyuk asked.
"I told you I was out on external business."
"So what have you been doing all day?"
"And what brings you here, sir?" Hyesung asked, staring intently at Lee Hyuk, as if to say, "Isn't there something you should say before asking that?"
"Even if you were rotten, I wouldn't think of cutting you off. You're that important to me."
"…Is that all?" Hyesung paused for a moment before responding.
"I didn’t take what you said at first too seriously. I still don't fully agree that the way I'm running things is wrong."
Hyesung listened quietly, allowing Lee Hyuk to speak.
"But I understand what you were trying to tell me. So, I’ll try to change."
Lee Hyuk turned fully toward Hyesung, looking him in the eye. He had always liked those eyes, which met his gaze directly, no matter the situation.
"And why did you decide that?"
"Because if I don’t change, I’m afraid you'll get tired of me. I don’t want that. And I've never gone wrong by listening to you."
Lee Hyuk smiled, and Hyesung, clearing his throat, abruptly turned to look out the window. Was he still angry? Lee Hyuk wondered how he could make Hyesung feel better when he saw Hyesung take a deep breath and pull something out of his bag.
"What's this?"
"It's a kind of petition written by the HR department staff. It’s for Team Leader Choi."
The document was thick, suggesting that nearly every member of the HR department had contributed.
"And I just came from meeting with the fired Team Leader from the second department to get the full story."
"What?"
"Just as I said, Team Leader Choi wasn’t involved in the scandal. It seems that Team Leader Lee, who wanted to appear righteous after being caught plotting the corruption, bore a grudge against him."
In other words, as Hyesung had suspected, Team Leader Choi had been falsely accused.
"You found this out yourself?"
"Yes."
"And that guy confessed all this to you?"
"Technically, I threatened him. I told him I'd take every legal action possible if he didn't come clean. I memorized a few relevant laws and recited them to him—he got pretty scared."
Lee Hyuk stared at Hyesung in astonishment. He had indeed spent the entire day out of the office, investigating the matter as he had promised.
"Hyesung, you’re really something…" Lee Hyuk smiled, his expression showing that he was no match for Hyesung.
"It seems I was right."
"…Yeah. I'm sorry."
"If you’re sorry, you should contact Team Leader Choi yourself. Apologize and reinstate him."
Lee Hyuk nodded, saying there was no question about it.
"Oh, and one more thing, sir."
"What?"
"I have no intention of leaving Taesung. I was angry yesterday when I said I wouldn’t mind if you fired me, but I didn’t mean it."
Hyesung's voice was calm and steady, and for some reason, it put Lee Hyuk at ease.
"So please don’t fire me. I’ll never rot like Team Leader Lee."
Hyesung gathered his things and opened the car door.
"Take care on your way home. I’ll see you tomorrow."
With a click, the door closed, and Hyesung walked straight into his house without looking back. Lee Hyuk couldn’t take his eyes off his small, delicate figure, which somehow seemed larger than life.
When Hyesung suddenly announced that he was quitting his job as secretary, Lee Hyuk couldn’t believe it at first.
After that incident, Lee Hyuk made an effort. He quickly changed the atmosphere of the company, which had been run through force and fear, as if it were a gangster organization. It wasn’t easy, but in hindsight, Hyesung had been right.
The tone of an organization is set by its leader. And gradually, Taesung's image as a gangster-run company began to fade. Employee morale improved, and the company even started to be recognized as a good place to work.
The company’s success only accelerated from there.
"Probably the only person who could ever scold a guy like you was Hyesung."
Sungjin, reminiscing about the old days, smiled. Lee Hyuk didn’t bother to argue. It was true that he, once a proud and violent gangster, was now submissive and obedient to that small, pale young man.
It was an ongoing process, and Lee Hyuk knew that at the root of it all was love.
"I guess it’s best to hear him out first."
Lee Hyuk picked up his phone. The person he was about to message was none other than Executive Director Choi.
The current Lee Hyuk, the CEO, was essentially a creation of Hyesung’s influence. So he wanted to handle this situation in the way that Hyesung had helped him become.
[Executive Director Choi, this is Lee Hyuk. If you're available, would you like to have a drink with me sometime?]
Choi Sung-chan read the message from Lee Hyuk immediately.
His eyes widened as he turned the screen to show it to the person across from him.
"This… I guess I won’t need to set a trap after all. I didn’t expect the prey to come to me like this."
The sound of the teacup clinking against the glass table rang pleasantly through the room.
"Yes, it looks like our work just got a lot easier."
Jung Se-jin nodded slowly, having also read Lee Hyuk's message.
