Impossible Romance - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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2.

“What?”
Jun-hee’s ears flushed with embarrassment.
“Is it because that bastard is the head of Daegwang Headquarters? Just like he did to me before—groveling for money. Is that it?”
“….”
Despite seeing him after so long, his barrage of crude words made Jun-hee bite her lower lip hard.
“Or do you actually like a guy like that? Is that why you’re clinging to him?”
Kwon Seok-ha’s caustic remarks showed no sign of stopping. Jun-hee, who had been listening in silence, finally decided she couldn’t take it anymore and opened her mouth. But at that moment, Kim Sung-woo cut in first.
“Who the hell are you to interfere with my secretary? You hit me, didn’t you? Do you know who I am? I’m not settling this.”
As if the alcohol had risen to his head again, Kim Sung-woo slurred his words and rambled incoherently. He was both afraid of Kwon Seok-ha and displeased by the way he was talking to Jun-hee.
“You bastard. I won’t let this slide!”
Kim Sung-woo struck the floor with his hand, putting on another pathetic display of bluster. But the man before him didn’t budge an inch. His attitude was unmistakably dismissive.
As that weighty charisma drained the alcohol from his system, Kim Sung-woo’s eyes gradually cleared. At first he’d thought the man was some celebrity fresh out of a magazine, but rubbing his eyes and looking again, he recognized the face.
As if a fog were lifting, the handsome features came into focus, looking down at him with contempt.
“Ah, hello. I… Executive Director, what brings you here? No, I apologize for my rudeness…”
Kim Sung-woo stared at Kwon Seok-ha intently, his lips trembling. This was the man who had recently acquired shares in Daegwang and could manipulate his family however he pleased.
“I happened to pass by and noticed my belongings had fallen.”
“What?”
Kim Sung-woo, flustered, scanned the Guest Room. If Kwon Seok-ha’s belongings were actually here, it would be a disaster.
“Ah, looking again, it appears it was a person.”
Kwon Seok-ha pulled his red lips upward on both sides, flashing a charming smile.
Jun-hee, standing beside him, deliberately turned her gaze away.
“If it’s a person, it would only be my secretary. Why would you…”
Kim Sung-woo, caught off guard as if struck at a vital point, expressed his confusion in a servile manner. But then, as if he’d found a way out, his face brightened and he brought up his father, Kim Hyun-sung.
“Well, in business you’d probably need my father’s help too. Can you really treat me like this?!”
A businessman would surely need the assistance of a congressman. That must have been why he’d invested in Daegwang.
With that thought, Kim Sung-woo, feeling slightly more confident, leisurely straightened his upper body. As if to show off in front of Jun-hee.
“Your father? Ah, Congressman Kim Hyun-sung? You mean that washed-up paper tiger?”
Kwon Seok-ha immediately scoffed at Kim Sung-woo’s words.
“I came here to do some charity work, and I have to witness this disgrace. I can’t tolerate anything unseemly at a company with my investment in it. What should I do?”
“Charity work?”
“Yes. Charity work. And you’d better accept it.”
He openly mocked the book launch event as charity work, but Kim Sung-woo could only swallow his resentment internally. It hurt all the more because it wasn’t even wrong.
“Ahem.”
Kim Sung-woo cleared his throat and watched Kwon Seok-ha’s expression carefully.
“If the department head appears before reporters looking like this, it’ll be charity work. But if you manage to look presentable, my money becomes a sponsorship. The moment the word ‘charity’ leaves my mouth, things won’t be pleasant.”
Kwon Seok-ha lowered his shoes from the table and brushed the dust from his clothes. His tone was polite, yet somehow carried a warning. No—it was definitely a warning.
Kim Sung-woo seemed to have sobered up completely. He rose from his seat and fastened his robe. It sounded like a threat that if his private life were exposed to reporters, the investment in Daegwang would end.
“Understood. Go ahead first. I’ll see you at the book launch event.”
Jun-hee stepped back, watching Kim Sung-woo. She wasn’t sure what Kwon Seok-ha’s intention was, but the result was that everything had been resolved smoothly—a relief she could finally allow herself to feel.
“I’ll escort Ahn Joon-hee.”
“What did you just say?”
Kim Sung-woo, who had been heading toward the Bathroom, stopped and turned back to question him.
“You heard me.”
“No, Ahn Joon-hee is my personal secretary. Why?”
“I already explained. Since I dropped her, I’m going to pick her back up.”
The decisive tone of his words sobered Kim Sung-woo instantly. Yet he couldn’t ignore Kwon Seok-ha, who wielded enormous influence over his Company. Moreover, having witnessed his shameful behavior today, he now found himself with a weakness exposed.
“Fine, then. I understand. Ahn Joon-hee, come here.”
Kwon Seok-ha, who had dismissed Kim Sung-woo with ease, turned his attention toward Jun-hee.
“Team Lead, or rather, Executive Director—what are you saying?”
Jun-hee’s expression was even more flustered than Kim Sung-woo’s. She was grateful that he had rescued her from Kim Sung-woo’s outburst, but to immediately create an unemployed person like this?
“I’m saving you out of pity. Don’t you get it?”
“This is my Workplace. I don’t think that’s something you should speak about so carelessly.”
“So you take pride in it?”
Beneath the seemingly gentle tone lay nothing but sarcasm. There was no way she could feel pride in coming all the way to a Hotel where a despicable boss stayed just to clean up his mess.
Shame washed over her, and her face—even the nape of her neck—flushed crimson.
“You don’t need to concern yourself with it.”
She spoke with forced strength in her voice, but it was difficult to hide the tremor beneath.
Of all times.
After years of not seeing him, it had to be in a place like this.
She hated this moment of encountering him. She hated all these situations where she had to expose the depths of her misery. She hated that she could never be confident in front of Kwon Seok-ha—that all of this was so pathetic.
Jun-hee loved this man for that very reason, but she hated him too.
“Your name reaches even the United States, and you say I shouldn’t care?”
His weighty voice fell like a rebuke upon her.
Until recently, Kwon Seok-ha had been working at the US Branch, and it had been only two weeks since his appointment as Executive Director at Headquarters. So his displeasure came from the fact that even across the ocean, her name had reached his ears.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful going forward, so please don’t concern yourself either, Executive Director.”
Jun-hee spoke softly, her head turned away.
“As if. I’ve decided to keep you by my side, so remember that.”
Kwon Seok-ha spoke calmly, his expression indifferent.
“What do you mean by that?”
Jun-hee’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him. By his side? The very thought was terrifying.
“Do I really need to bring up your brother?”
He looked down at her as though he held the very strings of her life in his hands.
“….”
When family was mentioned, Jun-hee had nothing to say.
Watching her lips press together quietly, stubbornness evident in every line, Kwon Seok-ha let out a soft laugh.
“Come.”
He turned toward the exit of the Guest Room without waiting to hear anything more.
Jun-hee let out a hollow laugh at this absurd situation. She had found Kim Sung-woo, but he had already disappeared into the Bathroom connected to the Bedroom. He had extracted himself from this uncomfortable position in every way possible. It was also his tacit acknowledgment of her resignation.
Jun-hee swallowed a small sigh internally and gazed at the back of the man standing before her. His broad, expansive back appeared immovable, as if he would not compromise with her in the slightest.
She placed the items related to Kim Sung-woo that she had brought onto the table and followed Kwon Seok-ha out of the Guest Room.

***

Following Kwon Seok-ha led her to the Business Room operated by this Hotel. It was a space occasionally used by Seonjin Group for high-intensity meetings or discussions regarding external information leaks.
Belatedly, Jun-hee recalled that this Hotel was affiliated with Seonjin Group and offered a bitter smile. She had only learned today that an investment agreement had been exchanged with Daegwang. Her compensation for assisting Kim Sung-woo, who held only the title of Director but had distanced himself from actual work, was merely nominal.
The Secretary’s Office would possess the substantive operational details, and they had not shared that information with her. Come to think of it, that was likely why the book launch reception had been held at this Hotel as well.
She had struggled so hard to escape from Seonjin Group and from Kwon Seok-ha’s gaze, only to discover that the place she had fled to was merely another palm of his hand.
She felt like a rabbit that had wandered into a hunting ground without knowing anything. A very foolish one at that.
“You said you were living in a one-room apartment.”
Kwon Seok-ha, seated on the sofa in the center as if he owned it, spoke his first words. One long leg was elegantly crossed over the other.
“It’s not a one-room apartment—it’s a One-room Apartment.”
Jun-hee, having pieced everything together in her mind, gently bit her lower lip before releasing it.
The fact that he knew where she lived meant he had certainly contacted her parents in the meantime.
It was unlikely Kwon Seok-ha had initiated it himself; someone in her family must have mentioned it first upon hearing news of his return.
“Don’t play with words. You’re really something, letting me overlook you like this.”
Kwon Seok-ha spoke slowly, his gaze fixed intently on Jun-hee’s eyes.
“I won’t cause any trouble for the Executive Vice President.”
Jun-hee averted her gaze, disliking the way he scrutinized her face, which he hadn’t seen in so long.
“Will that even be possible? Come in while I’m still being generous.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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