The Woman in the File
To Jae-gyeom, the middle-aged man standing before him seemed like a glimpse of his own future. Life after moving to Seoul and joining Daeyun Motors would be no different from this man's — every moment under the watchful eyes of his stepmother and father, every action required to be flawless. Thinking of it that way, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of pity for the man.
“Then I'll ask when I'm back from my outing. I'll contact the concierge later.”
At his answer — an acceptance without the slightest refusal — the man's face lit up.
Jae-gyeom closed the door and returned to Ji-su. As if nothing had happened, she was waiting for him, fully dressed, her face bright and clear.
“Ji-su, that drone thing earlier — what was that about?”
“Oh, that. Mom was saying they're doing a drone laser show at Cheomseongdae every night starting today, all through the holiday... So I was thinking maybe we'd go watch it together. By the way, who was that just now?”
“Hmm... how should I put it. Should I call him the intruder who ruined our mood?”
Embarrassed, Ji-su gave him a light push with a pillow.
“Intruder is a bit harsh... Let's just call him the kind soul who made today's Im Ji-su laser show possible.”
“No, seriously, who was it?”
“How about we stop by Cheomseongdae, then have a glass of champagne — just the three of us, with your mother? The man from earlier was hotel staff. I asked for... room service.”
“Wow, really? Mom did tell you to take me out on a date, but... I bet she's been thinking about Dad a lot today. She'll love having champagne together.”
Watching Ji-su's face brighten with delight, Jae-gyeom smiled too. Of course, his stepmother's inexplicable behavior had left a sour taste in his mouth, but there was no need to show that to Ji-su.
Out the door they went, hands clasped tight, weaving through the autumn night and stacking up glittering memories. Over the two nights and three days of the Chuseok holiday at Daeyun Hotel, the three of them spent such good autumn days that they truly felt like family.
“You didn't have to drive all the way up here. I could've taken the train.”
“Train, my foot. If I'd put you on one standing-room only, do you know how miserable I'd have been?”
“You worry too much.”
“Besides, you have your interview tomorrow. This is the right call.”
On the last day of the Chuseok holiday, Jae-gyeom had finally come up to Seoul to drop Ji-su off, planning to head straight back to Gyaechon without lingering long. Ji-su was beside herself with gratitude toward him for driving up to Seoul through the brutal holiday traffic, all for her sake.
“I'll just drop your stuff and go. Lock up well, and go to bed early.”
“You're leaving right now? It's cloudy out... and it's almost dinnertime. Eat something first.”
“If I eat, I won't want to leave. I need to go now. That's why I didn't even turn off the engine.”
At his rather firm reply, Ji-su dropped a bomb.
“Turn it off. Stay the night.”
“What?”
They both recognized the words at once — the exact words Jae-gyeom had said to her the day they first met. He turned off the engine.
“...Im Ji-su, seriously. How are you, down to the shamelessness and the cheek, exactly my type? Fine. Just once, then I'll leave before dawn.”
“No! You've got it wrong! I really just meant sleep and go!”
Jae-gyeom picked up her duffel bag and the side dishes her mother had packed, and strode ahead toward her studio apartment. No matter how Ji-su trailed behind him insisting it was a misunderstanding — that she'd only said it because he looked tired — it did no good.
The front door closed, and Jae-gyeom, who had gone in first, turned to face her. The moment they stood opposite each other in the narrow entryway, Ji-su's eyes squeezed shut on instinct. If it was just once before he left... did that mean it started right now? Having spent the whole holiday with her mother, she hadn't been able to show her affection freely. He must have had it hard too, she thought — and just as she even pursed her lips slightly forward—
“I'm in a hurry too, honestly... so let's just start with a kiss. We can do the next step after your mother's side dishes go in the fridge.”
At Jae-gyeom's teasing remark, delivered after a single peck and a quick retreat, the back of Ji-su's neck flushed red.
“No! No! Who's in a hurry? I'm not in a hurry at all! I just wanted to kiss you, that's all!”
The tension that had hung delicately in the air melted away into soft laughter in an instant. In a mood where a single glance at each other set them both giggling, they put away the side dishes, washed up, ordered delivery food, and watched a movie.
Leaning against each other, less than ten minutes into the film, Jae-gyeom's lips found Ji-su's cheek. The kisses that drifted slowly down her ear, the bridge of her nose, finally reached her sweet, soft lips.
“I want to be with you like this every day.”
After a somewhat deeper kiss, Jae-gyeom whispered quietly. In the darkened evening, Ji-su too found herself craving time alone with him, and her heart spilled out unguarded.
“Then... stay with me, and leave tomorrow morning?”
“I should leave in the early hours so my Ji-su doesn't wear herself out. Your interview is tomorrow morning, remember? And I have a car to fix by the day after anyway, so heading down early tomorrow is the right thing to do.”
She understood perfectly what he meant by not wearing herself out, but Ji-su shook her head.
“No. Let's not. Not for my interview — I mean, it's better for you if we don't. I hate the idea of you driving before dawn. You'll be exhausted. No.”
She said it out of concern for his fatigue, but he just scoffed. There was a subtly different look in his eyes, too.
“So my Ji-su underestimates me.”
“Underestimates you?”
“That I'd be tired from a little sex... Am I really that flimsy? Oh — wait, was that not contempt? Was that a dare?”
“N-no, that's not what I...”
Unlike the soft gentleness of moments ago, the kiss he resumed grew deeper, hungrier, as changeable as the look in his eyes. It was heavy, and she was breathless — but she didn't dislike it, so Ji-su pulled his body closer still. At her touch, which seemed to crave him, his movements grew all the more unrestrained.
Lifting Ji-su into his arms and settling her on the edge of the bed, he knelt down beneath her and immediately tugged her sweatpants clean off. That one decisive motion sweeping her underwear away with them was, of course, a given.
“Ah — wait, hold on!”
Jae-gyeom's long, persistent efforts finally brought the fortress down.
“Jae-gyeom, ah... that's enough, hurry. Okay?”
There was no way Jae-gyeom didn't know that her earlier words — don't have sex, just leave — had come from her worry for him. But what Ji-su wanted to hear, of course, wasn't concern. It was the affectionate petulance of wanting to be together. Or, failing that, words like right now — begging for him, driving him mad, just like this.
“Ji-su. I love you.”
“Mm. Me too.”
As they confirmed each other's hearts, one more night stacked upon the last, and the density of their love deepened. After carefully tucking the blanket around Ji-su as she drifted off, exhausted, Jae-gyeom departed for Gyaechon before sunrise. It was the Friday after the Chuseok holiday ended, so many companies were closed and many people had taken the day off — but Jae-gyeom and Ji-su returned to their ordinary lives.
Madam Jin Song-hwa arrived at her office on the fourteenth floor of the Daeyun Group headquarters — the chairman's office of the Daeyun Cultural Foundation. She was both the chairperson of the foundation run by Daeyun Group and the director of Daeyun Gallery, but declaring that she found the bother of being addressed by her many titles tiresome, she had instructed the staff to simply call her whatever came most comfortably — Madam, the Madam Chairwoman, and so on.
Employees and outsiders alike took this as 'the modesty of a conglomerate chairman's wife,' and it only burnished her public image with an air of warm approachability.
“Madam, good morning.”
Receiving Chief Secretary Cho's impeccably deferential greeting, she settled into her office and accepted the report her secretary presented.
“The materials you requested.”
The title field on the report binder was blank. It meant the material was unofficial. With an expressionless face, Madam Jin turned past the cover to the next page and read through it line by line in a low voice.
“Name: Im Ji-su, twenty-eight years old. Admitted top of her class to Hankuk University's Business Administration program, graduated top of her class. Quite the clever young lady, isn't she.”
Chief Secretary Cho, who had served at her side for over thirty years, offered neither answer nor expression.
“Jayang Asset Management — that's the number one investment advisory firm in the country, is it not?”
“Yes, Madam.”
“And she left that excellent job... to sit idle at home now?”
“Yes. The stated reason for resignation on her letter was 'preparing for marriage.'”
“Marriage?”
A strange, almost unnervingly keen interest flickered in Madam Jin's eyes.