Chapter 9

Unlike usual, he had slicked his hair back neatly and was standing there in a sharply tailored black suit.

He looked every bit as luxurious and sophisticated as someone attending an end-of-year awards ceremony.

Eun-yoo stared at him in disbelief, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

Then Manager Kang muttered, still looking dazed.

“Wow… This is insane.

The new CEO was Ha Dong-gyeong?

Is that why they kept it a secret all this time?”

Hae-min was practically bouncing in her seat, making a huge fuss.

“Oh my gosh, what do we do?

It’s Ha Dong-gyeong.

It’s really Ha Dong-gyeong!

Wow, he looks even more incredible in person!

Ha Dong-gyeong is our CEO….

But doesn’t he suit the role perfectly?

He played a third-generation chaebol heir in a movie, and now it feels like we’re watching a movie all over again!”

Just as Hae-min said, Dong-gyeong standing before them looked like a scene straight out of a film.

Not only was that magnificent smile playing around his lips, but even his smallest gestures seemed effortlessly elegant.

While the employees each chimed in with their own comments, Eun-yoo’s eyes were trembling like they had been caught in a raging typhoon.

H-How could this be…?

How could a penniless unemployed man become a CEO overnight?

And of all places, why our company…?

As she bit down on her lip, utterly unable to make sense of the situation, Dong-gyeong looked at the employees and began to speak.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.

I’m Ha Dong-gyeong, and I’ll be working alongside you from now on.

Some of you may already know me, but I’m about to begin a new chapter in my life—not as an actor, but as the head of a company.

Thank you for being part of this new beginning.

Just as I made myself into a world-renowned brand, I’ll do my utmost to help Coffee Moment grow into a world-class company as well.”

His introduction was polished and perfectly delivered, without a single unnecessary word.

The moment he finished speaking, loud applause and cheers erupted from every corner of the room, as though everyone had been waiting for that very moment.

The female employees looked positively flushed, almost as if they’d come to a fan meeting.

The conference room had turned into a full-blown celebration.

Eun-yoo was the only one who couldn’t enjoy the moment.

She couldn’t even remember how the morning had passed.

She’d barely touched her lunch before heading back up to the office.

Her heart was still racing from the shock of seeing Ha Dong-gyeong.

What on earth had just happened?

Her head felt like it was about to explode.

And the thought that she’d now have to see him not only around the neighborhood but at work, too, made the back of her neck stiffen.

“What in the world is going on…?”

She was taking out her frustration on a perfectly innocent sheet of scrap paper with her pen when a notification from the company messenger popped up on her monitor.

[Come see me on the rooftop. Now.]

It was a message from Dong-gyeong.

As if she’d been waiting for it, Eun-yoo sprang to her feet.

There were so many things she wanted to ask him.

She hurried out of the office, got straight into the elevator, and headed upstairs.

When she reached the rooftop, Dong-gyeong was already there waiting for her.

After checking that no one else was around, Eun-yoo quietly approached him.

Then, knitting her brows as tightly as she could, she lowered her voice and demanded,

“What on earth is going on?

Why are you at our company, oppa?

You… you were unemployed, weren’t you?”

“I was.

Until this morning.”

He answered without hesitation.

But his reply did nothing to clear things up, leaving her more confused than ever.

Frustration getting the better of her, Eun-yoo raised her voice.

“I heard you’d gone completely bankrupt!”

At her sharp tone, Dong-gyeong’s brows furrowed.

He let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Who keeps saying I’ve gone bankrupt?

Is it possible to go bankrupt without even knowing it?”

“…”

“Where on earth did you hear that?

That’s fake news.”

He stared at her as if he didn’t believe a word of it, and Eun-yoo quickly lowered her gaze.

*Han Song-hee.

I heard it from Han Song-hee…*

She’d believed her friend and thought he’d really gone broke.

She’d even spent that very morning nagging him to hurry up and find a job.

And she’d said all that to Ha Dong-gyeong, a wealthy man with enough money to acquire an entire company, while she was nothing more than an ordinary office worker.

It was practically a comedy.

How ridiculous must she have looked…?

Biting her lip in embarrassment, she cautiously raised her head to gauge his reaction.

When she caught his crooked gaze fixed on her, the excuses began spilling out of her mouth.

“Well, I heard you’d sold your house and buildings and everything….

And you were walking around every day in those stretched-out old T-shirts….”

Dong-gyeong let out a short, incredulous laugh.

Lowering his eyelids arrogantly, he said,

“That T-shirt is limited edition.

It’s from the Harid Vintage line.

There are only five in the entire world.”

Good grief.

Eun-yoo’s mouth fell open.

Who would’ve believed that a shirt that looked like it couldn’t possibly cost more than ten thousand won was actually a luxury designer item?

As it turned out, she was the one who knew nothing about the world, not Dong-gyeong.

*Fine.

You’re amazing.

Happy now?*

She pouted her plump lips, but suddenly a surge of irritation rose inside her.

How could he acquire her company without saying a single word to her?

She couldn’t understand it at all.

If he’d just told her about it, she wouldn’t have misunderstood everything in the first place.

With an indignant expression, Eun-yoo snapped,

“Still, you should’ve told me beforehand if you were going to become the CEO of our company.

You must’ve heard everything from Eun-yeop oppa, including the fact that I work here.”

Even as she spoke, she could feel her cheeks growing hot.

No matter how she looked at it, she felt deceived.

They’d had plenty of chances to talk while living under the same roof, yet he’d kept his mouth shut until the very end.

She glared at him resentfully.

Dong-gyeong slowly rubbed the space between his brows, then looked straight at her with an utterly chilly gaze.

“I didn’t think it was something I needed to discuss with you.

And it’s certainly not something I need your permission for.”

His voice was low, but carried a distinctly authoritative edge.

Eun-yoo’s shoulders instinctively drew in.

The amusement had vanished from his eyes, leaving them sharp and cold.

It sounded almost as though he were warning her:

*I’m the CEO of this company now, and you’re just an ordinary employee.

Don’t get any ideas.*

His attitude drew a clear line between them, making her feel as if the distance between them had suddenly grown enormously.

They weren’t even that close anymore, so why did it sting?

Besides, he wasn’t even the Ha Dong-gyeong she’d once known.

Trying to push away the inexplicable hurt, Eun-yoo straightened her back.

Then a bold voice slipped from her lips.

“Then there’s something I’d like to tell you, too.”

“All right.

Go ahead.”

“I’d like you to keep our relationship a secret while we’re at work.

I don’t want the employees getting the wrong idea, and I think it’s best to keep business and personal matters separate.

So I’d appreciate your cooperation.

Mr.

C-E-O.”

She made sure to address him formally as CEO.

It was her way of saying that he wasn’t the only one who could draw a line between them.

Dong-gyeong tilted his head slightly and idly stroked the tip of his chin.

Then he raised an eyebrow.

“Our relationship?”

“Yes.”

A mocking remark soon followed.

“Did we ever even date?”

As if to say, What is there between us that’s so important it needs to be kept secret?

His words struck a nerve, and Eun-yoo’s brows drew together.

How could someone be so unbelievably obnoxious?

If that was a talent, he certainly had it.

Lifting her chin, she shot back,

“Exactly.

We never dated, so it’d be terribly unfair if people got the wrong idea.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.

So please pretend you don’t know me at work.

I don’t want any unnecessary misunderstandings.

Well, I’ll be going now….”

She was standing her ground and about to end the conversation when she heard footsteps approaching from a distance.

In an instant, his long fingers covered Eun-yoo’s lips.

“Shh.”

As she flinched, Dong-gyeong whispered close to her ear.

“You don’t want to get caught right now, do you?”

He immediately took her by the wrist and led her behind the ventilation unit, where they hid.

A moment later, the voices of Manager Ma and Assistant Manager Go from the Sales Management Team drifted over.

They must have come up after finishing lunch.

“Good grief.

Who knows what this company is going to look like from now on?

I’m worried, I’m really worried.

How does someone who used to be an actor expect to run a company…?”

“But apparently Ha Dong-gyeong—or rather, CEO Ha—actually majored in business administration.

At Korea University.

I looked into it, and it turns out he even earned related degrees while he was acting in the States.”

“Oh, really?”

The two were happily chatting away about their newly appointed CEO, completely unaware that Eun-yoo and Dong-gyeong were hiding just behind them.

She was relieved they hadn’t noticed them, but Eun-yoo couldn’t even turn her head comfortably.

The space where she was hiding with Dong-gyeong was incredibly cramped.

The narrow gap between the outer wall of the building and the ventilation unit was just wide enough for two adults.

They were so close that she could practically see every tiny hair on his skin.

Her pulse began racing like crazy.