I’d Rather Live as a Villain

I’d Rather Live as a Villain – Episode 37

(Shouldn’t you be posting this to headquarters or the electronics department?)

A message from Manager Noh Gyu-hyung came in on KakaoTalk.

-Draft exclusive contract confirmed! I’m only contacting you now because I had to attend to the executive director.

Why is this friend acting like this?

Why do something out of the ordinary?

I never specifically asked Manager Roh to report on the business trip details.

Of course, I was curious about the meeting results.

I trusted him, but… still, I was curious.

I was bearing with it, but I didn’t expect to find out this way.

Before replying, I checked the time first.

8 PM.

I figured it must be the peak of lunchtime over there.

I sent a reply.

-You’ve worked hard. Did everyone have lunch?

I couldn’t just exaggerate and send a message saying everything went incredibly well.

Now, I too must behave like a proper owner…

As soon as I sent the message, the number 1 disappeared immediately, and a reply came in.

-We just had a quick meal together, but the executive director didn’t eat, saying he wasn’t in the mood.

I thought as much.

It means he poured all his energy into that meeting.

And… it’s a sign that the day he lightly falls ill once a year is approaching.

I’ve never actually met her.

But I’ve seen her countless times in photos.

Her mother, the late An Young-hee’s memorial day is coming up.

I’ve been preparing for that these past few days.

If you spend almost all your time performing duties right beside someone like I do, Manager Roh will soon catch on.

He’s quite a strong-willed person, hates showing weakness, so although the executive director doesn’t show it outwardly, it’s strange how his word count significantly decreases around the days before and after his mother’s memorial.

-Didn’t you skip breakfast too? At least have a cup of coffee.

-How did you know that?

-Is everyone back at the hotel now?

-Yes. There’s no additional schedule today, so after telling everyone to take some personal time, the executive director went up to his room.

-Check if there’s a decent sushi place nearby.

-Sushi?

I’m not one to send long messages on KakaoTalk, but this time I have no choice.

-Prepare the sushi without eel, shrimp, or salmon. Focus on tamagoyaki sushi and white fish sushi. If there’s beef tataki sushi, grab a few of those too. For the salad, preferably with balsamic dressing. If you can’t find a salad with balsamic dressing, just get some cherry tomatoes and bring them to the room.

-Right now?

-Usually, I wouldn’t say this, but when going on a business trip for war-like preparations, Manager Noh needs to pay special attention to the meals.

-Yes, I’m sorry. I was actually worried about what to do since you skipped breakfast and didn’t seem to have plans for lunch.

-I had a feeling that’s why you messaged me. Good job. In the future, if you’re unsure about something, feel free to contact me.

-Thank you, Director.

-Got it. Look up a sushi place and prepare right away. When you deliver it to the room, sell me out. Say it was my order.

***

There were often times like this.

When I was serving as the shadow to a woman named Kang Moon-jung, my boss at the time, there were moments when I wanted to make her smile, no matter the reason for her subdued mood.

Her mood directly determined the intensity of my work.

But every time, there was a clear wall between her and me, a wall directly tied to my livelihood, and I never dared to approach it.

Now, however, I’ve earned the right to at least touch that wall.

And I’m about to use that right.

Two days later, at Incheon International Airport’s arrival hall.

“Huh? Why are you here?”

The first group to exit the arrival hall.

At the forefront were the Director and Manager Noh Gyu-hyung.

And behind them, several related personnel from the distribution department who had gone on the Paris business trip were exiting the gate, pulling their suitcases.

At first, they didn’t recognize me.

It was only after Manager Noh noticed me and gave a hint that the Director, startled, came over to me, mindful of the surrounding eyes.

“If it weren’t a restful weekend today, I would have brought a few more company employees to welcome you. It’s a pity.”

“What are you talking about?”

“After accomplishing such a big task and returning, we should prepare at least this much of a welcome ceremony. I’ve only hung the banner in my heart. There are too many eyes to prepare anything more; it might seem too fanatical.”

I received the Director’s suitcase from Manager Noh.

“You’ve worked hard. Manager Noh, you can go home from here.”

Manager Noh, surprised by my unexpected appearance, seemed relieved by the suddenly brightened expression on the Director’s face.

Even I could see the Director’s expression had changed markedly before and after discovering me.

“Thank you.”

After a brief exchange of greetings with the distribution team members there,

I headed to the parking lot alone with the executive.

“Why did you even come out?”

The executive asked, still surprised that I had come to meet him at the airport.

Dragging my suitcase, I walked on and, realizing we were now alone, I answered with a joke.

“I never knew weekends without Moonjeong could be this peaceful.”

“What?”

“Wow, I actually got to sleep in for once. Can you see how fresh my skin looks? Without someone clattering around from dawn to go exercise, I managed to sleep in.”

I flashed a mischievous smile at his rolling eyes and quickly gathered up my scattered joke.

“After lounging around the house all day, I found it bearable only until noon; after that, I got restless. So I went out for a drive to get some exercise, catch some fresh air, and sort out my thoughts with music on.”

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Mrs. Ahn Young-hee’s passing.

Whether the executive scheduled his business trip around his mother’s anniversary to avoid sinking into depression, or because he deemed the matters urgent enough to be settled quickly, only he would know.

But from now on, I wanted to tend to the mood of the woman who would pretend not to be herself.

As we left the airport in the car, I asked what she planned for dinner, and she replied that she had no appetite after the long flight and the awkward timing.

“Oh, by the way, the picture you sent to Director Roh as support was quite a clever cheer.”

“That’s the least I could do. But about that picture…”

“Yes?”

I loaded another joke in my arsenal.

“In that picture, why is there a large wooden box under the table?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what’s inside that box?”

“In the box? How would I know that?”

“You don’t know?”

I exaggerated my surprise, briefly turning to look at the executive.

“And do you know what’s inside?”

“Are you saying you hung that picture there without knowing what’s inside?”

“…”

“That box isn’t just any box; it represents a gift box. The artist is famous for such expressive work. Didn’t you know…?”

“A gift box? Do you know much about Taesik’s paintings?”

“Just a casual liking? The kind where you could get slightly acquainted with a stranger through drawings? Just that extent? But not quite at a professional level.”

“I had no idea you liked art, Taesik. So? What’s inside that box?”

“It contains the luxury Marco, a top-grade coffee machine brand born from the CMG Group located in Northern Italy.”

It was then I realized I had been spouting such nonsense and caught the side-eye from the executive next to me, who was driving. In response, they playfully punched my arm.

“Are you crazy?”

“Ah, why? Why hit someone who’s driving? You promised. If I caught the draft, you said you’d install Marco coffee machines all over Black Bean and Gold Line.”

“Good grief, this is ridiculous. To make someone burst out laughing like this? Seriously. Pfft…”

Dimples formed on her cheeks.

It was a genuine laugh.

Upon arriving home, we immediately divided our roles in the living room.

While the executive unpacked their luggage and went to shower, I quickly changed into a suit and prepared the champagne.

No need for snacks.

There’s no one to eat them anyway.

This champagne, which I’ve prepared today, will suffice as a sleeping aid for her, who has been struggling with jet lag these past few days.

After finishing the shower and coming out to the living room in pajamas, the executive burst into laughter again upon seeing me, dressed in a suit and sitting neatly on the sofa at this hour.

“Puhahaha… What are you doing, again! What’s with that outfit now?”

“Are you done showering?”

I stood up, conveying my seriousness, and asked.

“Why suddenly wear a suit at this hour?”

“I have a presentation to do.”

“A presentation?”

“The Marco coffee machine. You haven’t received the presentation yet.”

“Please, stop talking nonsense with such a serious face.”

Regardless of the executive’s shock, I gestured towards the indoor staircase, implying that I had prepared a presentation in the third-floor conference room.

Upon reaching the third-floor conference room, she burst into laughter once more, this time with tears, at the presentation I had prepared.

“I can’t believe this, really. Wow… Were you always such a character? Weren’t you usually more reserved?”

“I’m being serious right now. Please, take a seat.”

Before starting the prepared presentation, I popped the champagne.

While filling the executive’s glass, I said,

“This champagne. On the first day the division head came to work, I had Director Jang request it, and the chairman sent it over.”

“Oh, right. This is the champagne Dad only sends to the executives on special occasions.”

Carefully pouring the champagne to minimize the bubbles, I then filled my own glass.

“While delivering this, Director Jang said something. He said this isn’t meant to be opened now.”

“…?”

“Champagne is meant to be popped after a victory, not opened in advance and waited upon until the win.”

Nodding in agreement to some extent, the executive looked at the contents of his glass, bubbling up.

Continuing the conversation, I looked at the executive and said,

“If we open it too early, it’ll lose its fizz and become undrinkable. I’ve seen many fall from grace after hastily opening and drinking what the chairman gave, thinking it was a sure win.”

“But why open it so soon?”

“We can always buy more.”

“…”

“I thought, why not create more occasions to pop champagne like today, and just buy more as needed?”

I spoke with the intention of looking forward and walking on.

Right now, I’m taking on the role of your queen maker, focusing solely on making you the queen. You’re doing well on your own, and I trust you will continue to do so, but let’s not burst into emotions like a teenage girl on the anniversary of your mother’s passing, who’s been gone for over 20 years. Let’s keep our eyes forward and walk on.

I had heard from Club Owner Kang Cheol-jin how Madam Ahn Young-hee passed away.

It was a somewhat regrettable story that I, too, was unaware of until then, different from what the world knew.

But…

“Anyway, there’s so much to focus on going forward, I wonder if it’s necessary to imbue this single bottle of champagne with so much significance. You’ve really worked hard. I had faith you’d bring back good results, but an exclusive contract? I never imagined you’d secure that.”

We lightly clinked glasses and took a sip of champagne.

“Is this also that?”

“What?”

“People say when you receive recognition, you gain superpowers. Are you trying to bestow superpowers on me now?”

“Hmm… Rather than that, now… located in the north of Italy…”

“Pffft, you’re crazy, seriously. Definitely crazy.”

Now, even mentioning the north of Italy would make the executive bite his lower lip, trying to hold back his laughter with dimples forming.

I began the presentation I had prepared to make her laugh a little longer.

That was the kind of woman Kang Moon-jung was.

Confident that she knew everything, but living together in the same space with her, truly getting to know everything, Kang Moon-jung was indeed that kind of woman.

A woman who loved pranks as much as I did, who enjoyed silly jokes as much as I did.

Though we lived in clearly different worlds, perhaps we were similar in our thirst for playful banter and jokes in our dry lives.

With each chapter she turned, she struggled not to let her laughter show, her nostrils flaring due to her tightly pressed lips, and even that she didn’t want to be caught, so she scrunched up her face.

Then I would put on an even more serious face, infusing the presentation with solemnity to ensure her attempt to hold back laughter ended in failure.

When the brief presentation of about 5 minutes was over,

The executive, clad in pajamas, showed me the full extent of authority he could muster at the moment, lightly tapping the table three times with his fist.

“Okay. Proceed!”

“Yes! Thank you!”

As I took my seat, the executive extended his champagne glass towards me and asked,

“How did you manage to hold back all this time?”

I lightly clinked my glass against his and asked,

“What do you mean?”

“All these pranks. How much you must have wanted to do them?”

“I never held back.”

“Really?”

“Until now, I was always Assistant Manager Yoon. You never distinguished between Executive Yoon, Tae-sik Yoon like now.”

“Is that so? That makes sense. I feel a bit of regret.”

“What for?”

“If I had known you were such a fun person earlier, we could have become closer sooner. I’m thinking of using honorifics with Executive Yoon from now on.”

Honorifics?

“It’s more comfortable and better for me to keep doing this with Tae-sik, but it seems right to use honorifics with Executive Yoon.”

“…”

“Tae-sik Yoon is still difficult and uncomfortable for Kang Moon-jung, so it’s hard to speak casually. Maybe it’s right for Executive Kang to use honorifics with Executive Yoon, slowly finding the balance… That’s what I thought at the airport earlier.”

“Because of me?”

The executive shook his head sideways in response,

“No, because of us.”

Because of us…

“Anyone can see, it fits the position, and more than anything, it suits us well. We… should be people who suit each other well. The presentation today was good, Executive Yoon.”

“Thank you, Executive.”

“In that spirit, shall we do a cheers?”

“Sounds good.”

“Cheers. How is it? Not awkward at all, right?”

The next day, night.

At the Hanshin Daily headquarters in Seongbuk-dong.

For some reason, Chairman Kang Man-ho attended the memorial service of the late Madam Ahn Young-hee.

I’m not sure how it was done before, but at least since I started serving the executive director right by his side, this is the first time the chairman has attended Madam Ahn Young-hee’s memorial service.

“Oh dear, my sister-in-law. Finally receiving a bow from a son-in-law.”

This memorial service holds significant importance in the Hanshin Daily family.

The entire family always gathers.

Not just the family of Ahn Cheol-hyun, the major shareholder, but also the families of the youngest, Ahn Seong-hyun, the representative of T&GV.

To that extent, I understand that through this memorial service, Hanshin Daily does not want to lose the connection with the existence known as Kang Moon-jung, or more precisely, the ties with the Daeyoung family.

Since we don’t hold memorial services at my home, I wasn’t sure if this was correct and once asked my mother about it.

I asked if there’s a case where a younger brother holds a memorial service for his niece, the daughter of his elder sister.

She said that since memorial services are held differently in each household depending on circumstances, there’s no set rule, and while it might happen depending on the situation, it’s not generally common.

Standing to the left of the executive director, I received the drink she poured for me.

Then, after circling the drink over the incense, I placed the cup in front of Madam Ahn Young-hee’s spirit tablet.

Two bows.

During those bows, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.

At some point, I even made a somewhat ambitious confession inwardly, wishing to truly bow as a son-in-law one day, and vowed to do whatever it takes to help your daughter achieve her current goals by her side.

It was when the memorial service had ended, and we began to eat the ritual meal.

“Brother-in-law.”

“Yes.”

Ahn Cheol-hyun, the major shareholder, spoke to the chairman.

“Now that Moon-jung has married off, shouldn’t you be considering moving her up to the main office or the electronics division?”

At that single remark, the expressions of everyone gathered around the memorial table shifted in their own ways.