LIGHTNOVELONLINE Ch31 - Who do I resemble?
Ji-heon hurriedly closed the office door.
Before he could think, his body moved first. By chance, he ended up grasping Jeong-oh’s hand, which was still holding the doorknob.
After the door closed, Jeong-oh immediately pulled her hand away from Ji-heon.
As she glared at him, Ji-heon found himself at a loss for words.
This was the first time he had encountered such a woman. No, it was almost the first time for everything.
He had only called her over to give her cookies, and now he found himself cornered.
She was looking at him fiercely, demanding an apology with her gaze and expression.
Her unwavering eyes made Ji-heon feel tense. It genuinely seemed like she was ready to throw everything away and leave the company.
Jeong-oh truly had no regrets.
Her declaration of quitting was a final ultimatum.
Having once again confirmed what kind of person Ji-heon was, she felt there was no other choice. For Ye-na’s sake, she thought it would be wiser to give up on him.
So, she was a bit surprised when Ji-heon desperately grabbed her.
This was her true last chance with him.
She had a glimmer of hope.
Even if her existence meant little to the man who had lost his memories, she was still a member of his department.
He stared intently at her, looking angry.
It seemed as though he was thinking, “What kind of person is this?”
Even though she spoke harshly, Jeong-oh couldn’t help but feel intimidated by his gaze. Still, she didn’t back down.
An uncomfortable silence hung between them. Then,
“I’m sorry.”
Finally, his lips parted.
His expression was still sour, and his attitude was terrible, but for some reason, Jeong-oh’s eyes began to well up.
“…What are you sorry for?”
It would have been fine just to accept the apology, but she found herself wanting more. It was a bold question, but she was hesitant to raise her voice too much, fearing he might explode.
After a moment, he answered again.
“I’m sorry for teasing you, Lee Jeong-oh.”
“And?”
“…I’m also sorry for making you work too late.”
His face was still sulky, but his pronunciation was clear.
The corners of her lips wanted to rise involuntarily. Her eyelids were growing hotter. She didn’t want to cry or laugh, but it felt like she might end up with a strange expression, both crying and laughing at the same time. Jeong-oh desperately held her lips together.
“What are you going to do from now on?”
“As you wish.”
“As I wish? Do you know what I wish for?”
Ji-heon sighed and turned his head slightly to the side, as if he didn’t want to meet her gaze.
The situation was certainly not to her liking. Still, she acted quite obediently.
The power of announcing her resignation was truly remarkable! Jeong-oh felt a surge of excitement as if she had discovered Ji-heon’s weakness. Just moments ago, she had been despondent, but now her spirits were lifted.
With the tables unexpectedly turned, she needed to seize this opportunity.
“Please uncover the truth behind last Thursday’s incident. I really didn’t do anything wrong. There must have been someone who entered the meeting room when I stepped out to take a call. I’d appreciate it if you could look into that.”
“Got it.”
“And I definitely uploaded a file to the company cloud. Someone must have deleted it. I hope you can find out about that too.”
Ji-heon nodded quietly.
His compliance sparked a hunger that she hadn’t felt earlier.
“I’ll take the cookies. I’ll enjoy them with my team.”
“You’re going to eat them together?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
Jeong-oh found it odd how his expression changed at her mention of sharing the cookies.
“Did you put something weird in the cookies?”
“Do I look like that kind of person?”
His retort was sharp.
If that was the case, it seemed he hadn’t done anything suspicious with the cookies.
“Please only put cookies in the box.”
Don’t include your feelings.
Don’t put any emotions into the cookies.
Don’t try to sway me with food. It reminds me of a time seven years ago.
She lightly advised him and hugged the cookie box.
“Thank you. I’ll be going now.”
Despite carrying the heavy cookie box, Jeong-oh left the office feeling lighthearted.
Click.
The door closed behind her.
Left in the office, Ji-heon scowled and slumped into his chair.
Lee Jeong-oh had an extraordinary skill for manipulating people.
Amid everything, her words kept echoing in his ears.
“Even if you gave up everything you have, I wouldn’t trade it for my everything.”
Her everything.
My everything.
She had drawn a clear line, indicating that she and he were entirely different. She trivialized everything he had, which he had never even counted.
Though it annoyed him, Ji-heon couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Somehow, he felt it might really be true.
Even if he gave up everything he owned, it seemed unlikely that she would ever enter his world.
And that was why he had let out that apology.
The heartfelt apology was not genuine. It was merely a means to keep her close.
Still, the moment he uttered the apology, a hint of remorse did arise within him.
All of this—the phenomenon of Lee Jeong-oh, who manipulated his feelings—was infuriating and frustrating.
Yet, her faint smile as she took the cookies overshadowed everything.
Ultimately, he thought, since the result was good, it didn’t matter, and Ji-heon found himself laughing in disbelief.
Jeong-oh encountered Gi-hoon and Eun-joo in the hallway. The two were lingering around, unable to return to their seats, waiting for Jeong-oh to exit the office.
“Were you waiting here?”
“Deputy!”
Gi-hoon exclaimed as if he had found a lost comrade in battle.
Eun-joo’s eyes widened when she saw the large box Jeong-oh was carrying.
“What is this?”
“It’s cookies and other stuff. The director gave them to me, apologizing for making me work late last Thursday.”
“He apologized for making you work late and gave you cookies?”
“Oh, he was going to throw them away.”
“He gave you what he was going to throw away as a gift?”
“Well, that’s what he said.”
“Oh, Director Jung is truly despicable. Absolutely.”
As expected, the noble Ko Eun-joo didn’t look favorably upon Ji-heon’s gift. Jeong-oh shrugged her shoulders.
Ji Ji-heon, you really need to manage your reputation better.
.*. *. *. *. *. *.
The cookies and chocolates Ji-heon had gifted were enormous in quantity. Even after sharing them fairly with her team, she ended up bringing a significant amount home.
As Jeong-oh took the cookies and chocolates out of her bag, Ye-na’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
“Mom, is this a gift for Ye-na?”
“Of course.”
It’s a gift from Dad.
“Ye-na, you can only eat one a day. Understand?”
“Can’t I eat two?”
“Okay, two.”
Ye-na, having struck a deal with her mom, eagerly tore open the cookie packaging.
The cookies were so big that Ye-na’s small hands and face seemed even smaller in comparison.
Ye-na opened her tiny mouth wide and took a big bite out of the cookie. Crumbs were everywhere, both on her face and dropping onto the floor. She wiped her mouth and beamed with delight.
“It’s delicious!”
“Eat a lot.”
“But you told me I could only eat two.”
“Two is plenty. How much more do you think you can eat of this giant one?”
Hehe.
Ye-na giggled happily and took another adorable bite.
Her dad had given this to her.
Watching Ye-na enjoy her treat, Jeong-oh felt an odd sensation. It was as if someone was gently squeezing her heart.
“Mom, who gave this to you?”
“The director at my company gave it to me.”
“Just you?”
“Yep, just me.”
“Does the director like you?”
“No, I received it because I’ve been working late.”
Jeong-oh replied while wiping the crumbs off Ye-na’s mouth.
“I hope he does.”
“Why?”
“Then he might give you more cookies.”
“Mom can buy cookies too. The ones I buy are tastier.”
It was amusing to see her daughter develop a fondness for Ji-heon, based solely on the cookies, without knowing anything about him.
Jeong-oh gazed at Ye-na, who was glowing with happiness over a single cookie.
When looking at her child, time seemed to fly by unnoticed.
Ye-na, meeting her mom’s gaze, asked suddenly, “Mom, who do I look like?”
It was an unexpected question.
Momentarily recalling Ji-heon, Jeong-oh felt a bit flustered and stumbled over her words.
“Uh, don’t you know? You look just like Mom.”
“But Mom is good at drawing.”
“Mom couldn’t draw at all when she was your age. And how good do you think I was? For a seven-year-old, you’re drawing really well. You look just like me.”
Jeong-oh pointed to the animal frame Ye-na had made at kindergarten.
Still, Ye-na refuted, “But Mom doesn’t know how to play Go.”
“That’s because Mom is an adult! You won’t know how when you’re a baby either, Ye-na.”
“Mom can’t play Go, though.”
“If I study, I can do it!”
Jeong-oh’s voice rose in pitch in response to her daughter’s piercing remarks.
After all the encouragement she had given, her daughter was now teasing her.
Pouting, Ye-na told her grandmother, “Grandma, Mommy yelled at me.”
“Mommy feels guilty. Mommy can’t play Go like our Ye-na can.”
Ye-na burst into laughter at her grandma’s response.
“Mommy can’t play Go, ha ha ha!” The sound of her child’s laughter filled the house.
Eventually, Jeong-oh couldn’t help but laugh along with her daughter.
Sometimes, the worries from outside the home find their way inside.
Bringing work home is quite common.
In moments when she finds herself frustrated over not being able to think of the perfect tagline that fits her client’s needs, the sound of laughter from the living room makes Jeong-oh perk up her ears.
What’s so funny that the child is laughing so heartily? The innocent laughter pulls her away from her work. When she arrives, she finds Ye-na giggling at some trivial TV show.
There’s a stark difference in humor between adults and children, making it hard to laugh along immediately. Yet, the boundless joy of her child eventually draws Jeong-oh into the laughter.
Being a part of that laughter made her forget all her worries.
She was everything to her.
Her entire life. The sound of her child’s laughter. Her child’s happiness.
.*. *. *. *. *. *.
The next day, Ji-heon called Jeong-oh to his office.
Ji-heon diligently completed the task that Jeong-oh assigned to him.
He showed her the location data for the security cameras obtained from the security management office.
“As you can see, there are no cameras in the conference room where this assistant was.”
“There aren’t many cameras installed in the company, are there?”
“It’s best to install only enough to identify if a theft occurs. A surveillance atmosphere isn’t desirable.”
That was a reasonable point. The only cameras installed were a few in the hallways. There was a camera in the conference room hallway, but it couldn’t see the entrance of the conference room that Jeong-oh had used.
“I think there should at least be a camera at the entrance of the conference room.”
Jeong-oh offered her opinion, but Ji-heon didn’t respond.
This man tended to ignore responses when he felt cornered.
‘Clever.’
Somehow, that reminded her of Ye-na.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Uh? Did I laugh? I didn’t laugh. Ahem.”
She had inadvertently chuckled while thinking about Ye-na, and Ji-heon caught her. When he pointed it out, Jeong-oh cleared her throat.
Ji-heon, giving a slight hint, showed her the CCTV footage.
“There’s no camera at the entrance of the conference room, so it’s hard to determine who the perpetrator is or even if there was one, but there is some meaningful data.”
Jeong-oh’s gaze moved to the CCTV screen Ji-heon pointed at. The people from Team 1 were gathered and talking. Soon after, they dispersed.
Then Ji-heon showed her footage from another hallway’s CCTV.
“If a person captured by camera 3 came this way, they should show up on camera 4.”
“Ah… but it doesn’t seem to show them.”
Jeong-oh carefully observed the employee Ji-heon had indicated.
It was quite some time later that the employee Ji-heon pointed out appeared on camera 4. Between cameras 3 and 4 was the conference room where Jeong-oh had been on Thursday.
This colleague had had subtle friction with Jeong-oh, so she figured it could be true. However, it was just a suspicion; without solid evidence, she couldn’t press the issue.
“Can we check the cloud records?”
Upon Jeong-oh’s request, Ji-heon began typing on the laptop. A screen displaying various symbols and numbers appeared.
“This assistant has a record of uploading a file titled ‘Proposal for DaeWon Liquor Phase 1’ to the cloud. There’s also a record of it being deleted. However, we don’t know who deleted it.”
“Ah… so there’s no information on who deleted the file. It looks like it was done on a public computer, not a personal one.”
“Someone used the public computer in the C Output Room.”
Since the equipment in the C Output Room was quite old, employees didn’t use it often.
Someone accessed the public computer with a shared ID and deleted the file, making it impossible to identify the culprit. Of course, there were also no security cameras in the C Output Room.
After a long silence, Ji-heon stood up.
“Let’s just ask the suspicious person directly.”
“That’s reckless! Without evidence, they’ll never admit to it.”
If they pressed too hard, it could just spread rumors about Ji-heon being ruthless.
Jeong-oh smiled and tried to dissuade Ji-heon. “I’ll handle it from here.”