Finally Mine
Kang-hyun cut straight to the point without a single wasted word. Chae-yoon shot him a sideways glance, smiling.
“Who is it?”
“A newcomer. But her paintings are pretty good.”
“Really?”
“Art Space Naar cultivates a lot of rising artists, doesn’t it? I’d like you to reach out to this one as well.”
The moment the conversation turned to work, Chae-yoon’s eyes grew serious. She had never hated her job—if anything, she loved it—so her interest was only natural.
“Why not go through your mother’s museum?”
“Of course I could, but I want you to handle it.”
Curiosity suddenly lit Chae-yoon’s gaze. She wore a meaningful little smile for a moment before asking,
“Is she a woman, by any chance?”
“Don’t ask anything.”
“So she is a woman!”
It’s that woman you mentioned earlier, isn’t it? Chae-yoon leaned in close to his ear and whispered. Kang-hyun left the question unanswered.
“Her name is Jin Ye-seo.”
Even while giving him a look, Chae-yoon dutifully pulled out her phone and took down the information.
“Can I see the work?”
“Whatever she’s posted on social media you can look at right away. She works under her own name.”
It had to be done without Ye-seo knowing, so Kang-hyun could not simply tell her to bring a portfolio to Chae-yoon’s gallery himself. The woman who recoiled at anything he offered would refuse again without a second thought. That was why he was going through Chae-yoon’s mother’s museum rather than his own, and why Chae-yoon would have to make the first move with a direct offer of interest.
“An artist recommended by Do Kang-hyun himself. Now I’m genuinely curious.”
Watching her open the app as if she meant to check immediately, Kang-hyun added,
“For now I’d like you to trust me and just make contact. Don’t mention me at all.”
“Well, the atmosphere pretty much screams that I’d better. You came all the way out here for this today, didn’t you?”
“I did, but since we’re not on dry land I can’t exactly escape. Looks like I’ll have to enjoy myself.”
Chae-yoon burst into loud laughter again; the news that he would be staying longer clearly pleased her more than she let on.
“I’ll examine the portfolio carefully. If the artist’s a mess, I’m not moving forward.”
“She’s not a mess.”
“Well, if Do Kang-hyun with his picky eye is saying so, I’ll look forward to it.”
“Even better if you raise the value of the work while you’re at it.”
“Looking at this, the real artist here is Do Kang-hyun. You’re painting a pretty big picture right now, aren’t you?”
Chae-yoon needled him with a spinning little smirk as she searched the name Jin Ye-seo on social media. An account full of Western paintings quickly caught her eye.
“These paintings?”
“That’s right.”
After showing Kang-hyun the screen for confirmation, Chae-yoon began studying the work in earnest. The longer she looked, the more seriousness returned to her face.
“You’re right. They look pretty good. Annoyingly so.”
“Why annoying?”
“Tch. You bastard.”
“What. You just seem drunk.”
“Do you like this woman because of the paintings?”
He hadn’t seen the paintings first, so that wasn’t it.
“Not exactly. I think I like her paintings because I like her.”
“What? I was going to give her serious consideration based on your eye, and now it turns out it’s pure self-interest with rose-colored glasses? And you want me to trust you and contact her?”
“I came to you because the paintings are good too.”
“Tch. Bastard through and through.”
Kang-hyun laughed low, but the sound was swallowed by the noise outside. Just because he would soon have Jin Ye-seo did not mean he intended to crush the one dream she had left. He could not keep her as a secretary forever anyway. Right now she was unsettled, so he was keeping her close, but once she grew used to this life he would have to let her paint and nothing else.
That morning, the moment they arrived at work, Deputy General Manager Yoon Tae-seok followed Executive Director Do into his office. When he came out a short while later he shot Ye-seo a sidelong glance for some reason.
Both men had been acting especially strange today. Why was he looking at her? Between that and the matter with An Yeo-sa, she had the distinct feeling that something was happening that only she did not know about.
Is the deadline that man mentioned… getting close?
She stared at him with an uneasy expression, and Deputy Yoon glanced her way again—unlike his usual composed self.
“Are you watching my reaction, by any chance?”
“Pardon? Me?”
Deputy Yoon only widened his eyes as if the idea were absurd and denied it flatly. What could one expect from Do Kang-hyun’s dog?
Dad… when he worked beside the Executive Director, did he act like that too?
A bitter taste filled Ye-seo’s mouth. She shook her head and said,
“It’s nothing. I’m sorry, Deputy Manager.”
It’s not the first or second time those people have made a fool of me.
She withdrew and rose from her seat. It was also time to go to the pantry and prepare things for the Executive Director.
A little later Ye-seo carried a tray with a modest serving of neatly arranged walnut cookies, fruit, and a glass of iced coffee to help him stay sharp through the morning. Unable to erase the anxious look from her face, she headed for Do Kang-hyun’s office.
Knock-knock-knock. She entered carefully so the tray would not shake and approached his desk. From the moment she stepped inside until she set the plate and coffee glass down one by one with steady hands, she felt Do Kang-hyun’s gaze glued to her the entire time.
Combined with the suspicious air of Deputy Yoon, who had just come out of some conspiracy with this man, the clinging stare felt even thicker. Once she had finished setting out the refreshments under that tension, Ye-seo finally looked at him carefully.
Today his expression was particularly satisfied. Meaningfully so.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
She could not hide the unease on her face as she asked.
“Because you’re pretty.”
It had only been a few days since she asked him not to say she was pretty. Ye-seo was letting out a low sigh and lifting the empty tray when the next words came.
“Because I want to touch you.”
Her hands froze at the words that followed. When she slid her stiffened gaze sideways to Do Kang-hyun’s face, his eyes held an even more indecent light than when he had called her pretty.
He had not actually touched her, yet hearing it made her body prickle on its own. At her stiff reaction the corner of his mouth lifted.
“Because I want to kiss you.”
Ye-seo’s eyes went round. From his slyly curled lips came a voice that had sunk to its lowest register yet.
“Because I want to have sex with you.”
Ye-seo stood as if the screen had frozen for several seconds. In that instant it felt as though lightning had struck her body and something enormous had happened inside her.
It was the first time the man had spoken that word directly in front of her. He had implied it openly before, but never like this… Of course she had known that what he wanted was desire for her as a woman, but he had just laid the true nature of it bare.
It felt as if she had been struck hard on the back of the head; her thoughts ground to a halt. Her body would not move any more than her mind would. She wanted to leave this second, but her legs refused to obey.
Still frozen, Ye-seo managed only to lower her eyes. Every single word was terrifying. Because you’re pretty. Because I want to touch you. Because I want to kiss you. Because I want to have sex with you.
And the most terrifying thing of all was the possibility that every one of those words might come true. That this man would touch her body, that she would kiss him and have sex with him.
She did not want to imagine it, yet the more she resisted the harder her mind seemed to summon the scenes in rebound. Dizziness rose. Her face had already flushed so deeply she could not lift her head any higher.
Kang-hyun simply watched that face of hers. Seeing the pale cheeks dyed a faint pink, he could tell exactly how fiercely she was thinking. The soft cheeks and the expression were both adorable.
“Secretary Jin, why is your face so red? Were you imagining it too while you listened to me?”
He could not leave her alone and drawled the words with a sly grin.
“Imagining having sex with me.”
That finally made Ye-seo turn her head and look at him. Shame and anger together had heated her face even further.
“Are you… crazy? Of course not.”
Kang-hyun did not believe a word of it and gave a short laugh.
“Doesn’t seem like ‘of course not.’”
Ye-seo no longer wanted to show him her face; she spun around. Merely having this conversation made her feel as if she were standing naked in front of him, so she left the office without another word.
Kang-hyun’s low laughter echoed through the spacious office. Alone, he gazed into empty air and murmured,
“She really is an interesting woman.”
She would resist and then obediently listen. She would flare up with impudent anger and then grow crestfallen and flush red. On a personnel decision that no one but Chairman Do would dare contradict, she protested without fear—yet the moment he kissed her forehead she turned into a frightened, teary-eyed mess.
Maybe it’s because she’s still a little young.
After a brief silence Kang-hyun admitted to himself that he was thoroughly bewitched by this woman’s charm. The upward curve of his lips refused to come down.
Even young, she’s sexier than anyone.
It would probably be the same no matter what Jin Ye-seo did or said.
Do Kang-hyun had been busy enough these past few days that he often sent Ye-seo home first. The time he spent alone with Deputy Yoon had lengthened. Yesterday and today, with the weekend approaching, he seemed to have various appointments again—mostly, it appeared, for building connections. When she thought about it, he was a man who lived quite diligently.
Thanks to that, Ye-seo spent every evening after work living in the studio. Over the past few days the painting had progressed considerably as well.
It was already past ten at night when she felt a presence behind her and the hand holding the brush faltered.
She knew it was not An Yeo-sa. It was that man’s scent.
The uninvited guest who had returned after several days. Her request that he not come while she was painting had, of course, been useless.
Is he doing this more because he won’t even let An Yeo-sa watch? Or is he ignoring me for daring to push him away when I’m nothing but collateral?
“Why… are you here again?”
Ye-seo resumed her brushstrokes without turning around, the words flung back at him. Then an answer she had never imagined struck her from behind.
“To deliver news.”
Just hearing the two words “news” made her blood run cold. Ye-seo whirled around without even setting the brush down.
“News…?”
“There’s a very interesting piece of news.”
Judging by his expression, it was good news for the person delivering it—and almost certainly bad news for her.
“Is it… about my father?”
Ye-seo parted her lips with the utmost care.
“It’s news about your father, and it’s also news about Jin Ye-seo. Because it’s the news that Jin Ye-seo has finally become mine.”