NOVEL NEXT Episode 42
Episode 42
“Well, whatever. What’s the point of talking about the past?”
Jae-young said with a not at all okay face. This makes me anxious instead. Seung-hyun just looked at Jae-young with a suspicious face, unable to give any answer.
As he expected, Jae-young didn’t answer that it was really okay because it was okay. But dwelling on the past would only hurt his own feelings.
“Since Han Seung-hyun said it’s done after doing it once.”
“When did I say that? Don’t make things up.”
Seung-hyun blushed slightly at the blatant words. Fortunately, he didn’t jump up from his seat and deny it. He must have said that wanting that reaction.
“It… probably wasn’t something I disliked. I don’t remember well, but it was something I wanted to do.”
“Saying it’s not something you disliked and saying it was good are not the same thing.”
“…If you’re going to hear what you want to hear, why even have a conversation?”
What vaguely remained in his memory was definitely pleasure. But saying that out loud was a bit, no. It was something he quite avoided.
Anyway, it’s a 1-year relationship. He felt like he could say it without hesitation in front of others. Strangely, it was difficult in front of Jae-young.
“It’s really okay. If you don’t remember, it can’t be helped. A person’s brain isn’t like a memory card, so there’s no way to restore it either.”
Seung-hyun, who barely held back wanting to ask if that was the tone of someone who was okay, shook his head. What okay? If he was going to say that, he should just put his protruding lips back in.
“Sleeping together isn’t anything to Han Seung-hyun, right?”
“If you keep talking like that, go ho…”
“Something trivial, it may be unfamiliar the first time, but it’s easy to do it two or three times, right?”
Seung-hyun’s mouth, who was about to tell him to go home if he was going to act so upset, was tightly shut. It was an unexpected answer.
To a friend after spending the night together. It was a bit of a strange relationship from the start, but he had never thought deeply about it. Anyway, making new acquaintances was also work, so he thought it wouldn’t be bad if they became connected like this.
But can you still call each other friends if you repeat such things a second and third time? No, in the first place, is it okay for friends to make such a proposal?
He knew it was definitely strange. But if he had immediately countered, maybe. If he refused in this atmosphere, Seung-hyun intuitively knew that he and Jae-young would become awkward rather than friends.
No matter what he was thinking, how long had it been since he said not to show it? Love and sex aren’t synonymous, but…
“…..”
But still, isn’t this wrong? Seung-hyun hesitated for a moment. It was a wrong worry to start with, knowing the correct answer but still hesitating.
“…Someday, if I want to do it again. Let’s think about it then…”
Seung-hyun said words promising the future and lowered his head. Thinking that if he says there won’t be a day he wants to, that’s it, he himself didn’t notice the moment he inwardly imagined that someday.
***
“This is, well, I wasn’t close with Executive Han… but my eyes are getting hot for no reason.”
“If you’re going to say something you don’t mean, it’s better to say nothing at all.”
“Who would dare say a word out of fear?”
Hyeokjae said, shrugging his shoulders. The pile of documents on the desk were mostly about Seung-hyun.
“The more I know, the more surprising. I thought our Secretary Lee was a dog that listens well to Executive Han’s words.”
The source of those documents was naturally Seok-hyung. Seok-hyung, who handed over to Hyeokjae all the data about Seung-hyun’s medical records, of course, and the things he had lastly handled at the company and was preparing, was looking at Hyeokjae with eyes full of hostility rather than loyalty.
“Our Executive Han… probably didn’t expect to be backstabbed like this.”
“I’m only acting as he wishes.”
“Well. It seems like Executive Han wants to quit everything and rest. Well, thinking of the usual Executive Han, it’s understandable, but… People change when it’s time for them to die, you know? Ah, is it the opposite? Anyway.”
Hyeokjae flipped through the documents with a face showing no sympathy or pity. Of course, Seok-hyung’s sudden action wouldn’t harm him. If anything, it would benefit him.
“If it’s at most a year, since you can’t take money with you when you die anyway, he may want to live a leisurely life now.”
“…There’s no way that’s the case.”
Seok-hyung denied Hyeokjae’s words, clenching his fists tightly. There was no way. The Han Seung-hyun he knew wasn’t such a person.
“Right now, he’s probably just wandering for a bit because he’s confused. But he… is absolutely not the kind of person to let go of everything for such a reason.”
Although the current Seung-hyun was very different from the Seung-hyun Seok-hyung knew, Seok-hyung firmly believed it was only a temporary change.
He couldn’t say he had seen him the longest, but he was confident that he had at least seen him the closest.
Even the weak parts of that person that no one knew, and the ambition he couldn’t let go of until his last breath.
“What, is he someone who can’t die alone even out of resentment? Is that it?”
“…..”
He thought it was a vulgar expression, but it wasn’t fundamentally very different from what Seok-hyung was thinking.
He was someone who couldn’t bear the thought of his death benefiting others. If the future given to him was the same anyway, he would have acted without hesitation.
But he would have thoroughly used what he had learned. Because he was a person with strong pride. Because he was a person who wanted to be recognized for his work.
“Although he’s confused right now… he’ll return to his original self before long. Don’t we need to lay the groundwork for that time?”
So these documents will definitely be of great help to the future Seung-hyun. He didn’t want to reveal Seung-hyun’s illness, but Jeong Hyeokjae was also quite a suspicious person, so he couldn’t make a deal while hiding his cards.
“Well. It’s fine with me. Anyway, I don’t care about HJ’s succession structure… What’s important right now is each and every achievement. Our Secretary Lee won’t be loyal to me… but at least he’s reliable when it comes to deals, right?”
“…..”
“Well, I know Secretary Lee is good at his job. I’d be happy to work with him next year too.”
Seok-hyung, who didn’t blink an eye, answered. 1 year later. He hoped it wouldn’t come, but time couldn’t be avoided.
“Then what’s the first card I should play? There’s the most data on the construction side. Hmm. It seems like it would be efficient to touch this side at the end too.”
“All the data I have is based on the day the resignation was submitted, so it’s better not to drag it out. Among them, the most urgent is… probably this one.”
Seok-hyung said, pulling out a document. Hyeokjae, who checked the contents of the document while adjusting his glasses, grinned.
“I didn’t know HJ was trying to touch this side too.”
“It’s a field that Executive Han Tae-sung is set to oversee from planning to overall management. The time it should be made known externally will be around late next month.”
It was HJ Group’s new business plan that would go out under Tae-sung’s name. Around the same time, the new business plan Seung-hyun was preparing was abolished with the sound of Chairman Han clicking his tongue, but Tae-sung’s eventually passed the final approval and was proceeding with the goal of launching before the end of the first quarter next year.
“I’ve seen that internal control is also well done… Indeed, this is the kind of field where if you announce it before the preparation is finished, it’s just right to hear words like the tyranny of a giant corporation and withdraw.”
“Since it’s the field they’re investing the most time in, if you shake it up once, there will be gaps for a while.”
“I have a reporter on my line. Should I contact them?”
“It would be good if we could meet once during the weekdays.”
Seok-hyung clearly remembered how frustrated Seung-hyun was and how angry he was on the day when the fortunes of the two were reversed.
In the first place, it was just an ostensible opportunity, and he knew whose hand would be raised if the proposal had a similar level of completion. That’s why he prepared harder.
‘The time to read it was different from the start.’
Seok-hyung recalled Seung-hyun’s expression as he left the president’s office. For a moment, his brows almost furrowed, but Hyeokjae’s office was also no different from the middle of enemy territory to him.
‘If you look weak, you’ll be eaten up in an instant. Don’t stop struggling. Even if you get hit while doing that, you have to struggle till the end. The moment you give up, you lose.’
The words he had heard from Seung-hyun someday made Seok-hyung stand up straight. His words were right. The end comes the moment you give up.
“Yeah. I wonder how happy our Executive Han will be to see what his capable secretary has prepared.”
Hyeokjae, who didn’t see the slightly furrowed brows, laughed as if it was interesting.
“In my opinion, Executive Han and I are slightly similar types. So I think we’ll get along quite well too.”
Hyeokjae, who had been giggling for a while, wondering what was so funny, lightly tapped Seok-hyung’s shoulder. Seok-hyung just slightly lowered his head without answering.