This Is Driving Me Crazy

The secretary asked cautiously, sensing the unusual tension radiating from Taemin.

“Could it be that the report never reached the executive director?”

“……I must have mixed up the dates. You may leave.”

Once the secretary had gone, Taemin stared out the window for a moment with a pensive expression. Then he let out a short, dry laugh.

“Of course. Just as I thought.”

It was exactly as Taemin had predicted. Unlike him, who could abandon Juhee without hesitation, she could never abandon him.

She had stormed off in a rage, spitting out the word “over,” but once she got home and had time to think, she would surely come to her senses. She would understand his deeper intentions and realize that everything he was doing was for their future.

When Chairman Yang had asked whether it would be a good idea to place Juhee as Jeha’s secretary, Taemin had enthusiastically recommended her.

Once she became Jeha’s secretary, Juhee would find a way to prove her worth. His princess was a truly exceptional woman. That was why he had loved her. Even if they weren’t sexually compatible in bed and he never felt fully satisfied, she was too precious to throw away.

But there were limits to how much he could understand and overlook.

“Still, she should have at least reported to me, her direct superior.”

Even though they were personally entangled and had just fought, Taemin was still Juhee’s direct boss. No matter how angry she was, the proper procedure was to report before transferring departments. Yet Gong Juhee couldn’t separate personal and professional matters and had crossed the line.

He was just thinking that he needed to have a word with her when his phone rang. He had hoped it might be her, but the caller was Hye-sun. With clear disappointment on his face, Taemin answered.

“I told you not to call me during work hours.”

“……She needs to know now, Mother.”

At Taemin’s reply, Hye-sun exploded in anger.

“I knew it! Even so, how can you be so heartless to the child?”

“Why? Did Juhee act rudely toward you?”

“Rude would be better! She only came for her birthday seaweed soup and then washed her hands of it. She knew I’d prepared side dishes just for her, yet she didn’t come home, didn’t help with the housework, and even though I called her, she hasn’t called back once! And that’s not all! Yesterday was payday, and she knows it perfectly well, but she didn’t even give me any allowance! It’s not like I’m asking for a fortune!”

“Juhee is very upset right now. So please be understanding for the time being, Mother. I’ll talk to her properly.”

“Forget it. I don’t need that girl anymore! A polite daughter-in-law from a chaebol family is coming soon. Why should I feel any loss?”

As Hye-sun’s grumbling stretched on, Taemin felt layers of exhaustion piling up.

“This is why you should never take in a black-haired beast. After everything we’ve done for her, how can she act so ungrateful over something so trivial? And honestly, does Juhee even make sense for you?”

“Mother, I have to work.”

“Oh dear, I’ll hang up now. Ah, and bring your future daughter-in-law home sometime, alright?”

“I will.”

The moment he ended the call, Taemin took a deep breath to suppress his rising anger. If anyone had done wrong, it was him, not Hye-sun. He was disappointed in Juhee for understanding his true intentions yet still treating Hye-sun like a stranger. To think she couldn’t separate personal and professional matters and would act so thoughtlessly.

“Gong Juhee, how do you plan to handle the consequences of charging ahead like this?”

Taemin already knew what would happen next.

Soon Juhee would contact him. She would report every single one of Jeha’s movements and even Seohwa’s major secrets in detail. After all, in any relationship, the one who gives more of their heart always ends up in the weaker position.

By now, any trace of guilt Taemin had felt toward Juhee had cleanly vanished from his heart.

Chairman Yang didn’t say a single word until the meal was over. He simply gazed at his grandson on his left with a pleased expression, watching him eat again and again. The boy only picked at his food because of his picky palate, but even that was endearing.

Who could have imagined a day like this would come? Not only had he shown up for the breakfast meeting on time, but he had appeared dressed impeccably from head to toe.

After gazing at his grandson with deep affection, Chairman Yang’s eyes shifted to Juhee standing just outside the dining room. With her neat posture and expressionless face, she remained almost completely still, like a statue. Perhaps because she wasn’t wearing lipstick, her entire look from head to toe was monochrome, making her even less noticeable.

In any case, Gong Juhee had completed her first mission. And she had done it perfectly.

However, the only person in a good mood at this table was Chairman Yang.

He had three sons and only one precious granddaughter whom he cherished more than his own eyes. The people invited to this breakfast meeting were the executives of Seohwa Group’s major subsidiaries—men who were essentially the limbs of his four sons.

To them, Jeha’s appearance could only feel like the calm before a storm.

Despite being nearly eighty, Chairman Yang remained robust thanks to rigorous health management, and he had never once mentioned a successor, which had kept his sons on edge. Yet not only had he brought his grandson back to Korea, he had even given him the seat beside him—a place he had never allowed any of his sons to take. There was no way they wouldn’t understand what that meant.

Whether the others stirred or not, once the meal ended, Chairman Yang announced that he would have tea with his grandson in the indoor garden.

When two cups of pleasantly warm plum tea were placed on the tea table, Chairman Yang spoke first.

“You tied your necktie very neatly.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Jeha yanked the tie loose. As he watched Jeha unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt as well, Chairman Yang clicked his tongue. It was impressive that he had stayed proper for a full thirty minutes, but that temper of his…

Only after loosening everything that could be loosened did Jeha settle into a comfortable position and get straight to the point.

“Since I behaved so nicely today, won’t you grant your grandson one small favor?”

Favor, my ass. From the fierce glare in his eyes, it was clearly a threat and a demand.

“Let’s hear this small favor of yours.”

“You overstepped your authority. This is a violation of privacy.”

“Speak so I can understand, you brat.”

To the chairman, who was pretending not to know despite clearly understanding, Jeha snapped irritably.

“Send Secretary Gong back to her original position immediately.”

“Why should I?”

“Are you so short on friends that you want to turn even my friend’s secretary into a spy?”

“They won’t be spies. They will become your people.”

There was no way Jeha didn’t know why Chairman Yang had placed Taemin in the executive director position. Taemin had no connections and was highly ambitious—perfect prey for the chairman.

His abilities were decent, and he was one of the few friends Jeha had allowed close. Even if he switched sides like a bat, it would only be to either the chairman or Jeha, so there was nothing to lose. But Jeha had never expected him to drag Gong Juhee into it as well.

“I choose my own people. And of course, they will be men, not women.”

“Aigoo, why is my ear suddenly so itchy?”

When Chairman Yang casually dug at his ear with a nonchalant expression, Jeha burst out.

“Are you really pretending not to know? You know what happens when women look at me. Yet you’re letting her into my house? How is that acceptable?”

“Does Secretary Gong even see you as a man? To my eyes, she looks at you like a pebble on the roadside. Though I must say, that makes me like her even more. In any case, you should fix that prince complex of yours first.”

Jeha irritably swept his hair back. He was annoyed, but he couldn’t deny that the old man had a point.

Even being called a roadside pebble was infuriating, and now he had to hear about his prince complex on top of it. It was only natural he’d be upset.

“It’s hard to find talent as outstanding as Secretary Gong. Just the fact that she got you to come here says everything.”

“I came because I had business here. I came on my own two feet.”

“Either way, you came. And you came looking very neat and proper. That necktie clearly wasn’t tied by you.”

Of course Juhee had tied it for him. She had offered, and there was no particular reason to refuse. Besides, arguing with her when she spoke in that calm, persistent way was too much of a hassle.

“I won’t repeat myself. Since you caused this mess, Grandfather, you clean it up yourself.”

At Chairman Yang’s brazen “do it yourself” attitude, Jeha’s face crumpled. For a second he even considered just leaving Korea again. The thought was that extreme.

Reading his mind, Chairman Yang spoke in a soothing tone.

“Just as you said, I asked Secretary Gong to become your secretary. But Jeha, I am the head of Seohwa Group. How can I go back on my word to a mere secretary? Even if I don’t have many days left, I am still a man. A man cannot go back on his word.”

“Who told you to cause an accident without even asking my opinion?”

“What accident? It was an excellent choice. Why don’t you tell me yourself? What exactly about Secretary Gong displeases you so much?”

Jeha pressed his lips tightly shut.

He couldn’t possibly say it. He had already warned Juhee not to stand out because she was distracting and irritating him. He couldn’t admit that if someone like her boldly invaded his private, intimate bedroom, he wasn’t confident he could endure it.

“See? No matter how much you think about it, there’s nothing to criticize, is there?”

The gaze that had always been warm toward Jeha alone now turned as sharp and resolute as a blade. It meant there would be no compromise.

But Jeha was in no position to compromise either. If Gong Juhee kept hovering in front of him, he was afraid he would become the bastard who stole his friend’s woman. His relatives, who already treated him like trash, would be busy pointing fingers and tearing him apart, saying blood couldn’t lie.

At his grandson’s stubborn silence, Chairman Yang spoke again, trying to soothe him.

“Just work with her for a couple of months. If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll send her back then.”

When Jeha remained silent, Chairman Yang continued with a sigh.

“Hyang-ja recommended her. She said she wanted to give you proper wings, so she told me to keep Executive Director Han and Secretary Gong by your side. Will you still refuse?”

The moment Hyang-ja’s name left Chairman Yang’s lips, Jeha squeezed his eyes shut.

How many steps had he taken after leaving the indoor garden?

He saw a slender silhouette standing ramrod straight on one side of the hallway.

Jeha stopped walking and shoved his hands carelessly into his pants pockets as he thought. He had thought she was only good at her job, but it turned out she was clever in other ways too.

Gong Juhee must have known. That if she could just get him to attend the breakfast meeting, Chairman Yang would somehow become her shield. On the surface she acted rudely and bluntly, but it also meant she had accurately read Jeha’s affection for his grandfather.

Was it just her head that was good? Her tenacity was no joke either. She had fearlessly entered a man’s bedroom at dawn, calmly discussed his genitals when he tried to intimidate her by throwing her on the bed, and even offered to wash a grown man.

Juhee accomplished things that ordinary people with normal courage could never do.

What a completely unordinary woman. Damn it, that was the problem. She was so different that he kept noticing her, his eyes kept drifting to her, and he kept wanting her.

That was why he was going crazy, and now not only Chairman Yang but even Hyang-ja had gotten involved. There was no way the chairman would ignore advice from Hyang-ja, who had never once led him astray.

The same went for Jeha. He didn’t have the confidence to refuse the words of the only person who had ever made him feel something like motherly love.

But if things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before he became a bastard.

“Fuck. This is driving me crazy.”

Perhaps sensing Jeha’s unwavering stare, Juhee quietly turned her gaze toward him. Her clear, plain eyes behind the glasses were as transparent as a stream of pure water. The moment their eyes and gazes intertwined, his heart tightened for no reason.

This wouldn’t do. He should just send her away. If she were out of sight, his mind would feel at ease and he would be able to think normally.

With his long legs, Jeha closed the distance in a few strides and stood before her. Facing her like this made him newly aware of just how small and delicate Gong Juhee was. When those calm, unmoving eyes looked up at him, his heart tightened once again.

“I finished talking with Grandfather. Secretary Gong, you should go back to Executive Director Han……”

“The chairman’s guests are still in the dining room.”

He had been about to tell her to return to Taemin’s secretary team. But Juhee not only treated him like a pebble on the roadside, she even cut his words off cleanly. And she did it with an utterly calm gaze and voice.

So what? What does that have to do with me? As Jeha glared at her with his eyes, Juhee slowly reached out her hand.

“I know what you’re trying to say. Still, please give me just a few minutes.”

The smooth movement of her fingertips that captivated his gaze, the way she stepped closer as if to embrace him, the faint, sweet scent of her body that drifted to his nose, the white, slender neck revealed above the neatly buttoned collar of her blouse.

“For the sake of Chairman Yang’s dignity as well……”

With both his sense of smell and sight stimulated at once, the tightening in his chest now turned into a tingling sensation. It was an unwelcome feeling.

“Please allow me to straighten your appearance one last time, Director.”

The moment her cool fingertips brushed over the firm line of his neck above his shirt, Jeha sharply grabbed her slender wrist.