Private Secretary - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Private Secretary Episode 16

“You get your salary from Hogen but your favorite team is Wowon?”

“No, you can’t connect it like that. I’m a lifelong Wowon fan. My parents are Wowon fans, and so am I.”

“But Wowon doesn’t pay your salary.”

“You’re not telling me to switch to Hogen, are you?”

“I think that would be morally right.”

“No way. I’d rather not watch baseball at all than change my team.”

After passing through the traffic jam, the road finally cleared up a bit. Tae-san kept his eyes on the road ahead while glancing at Lee Seol.

“My father is the owner of the Otters, isn’t that being too stubborn?”

“What does that matter? I’ve already buried my bones with Wowon. And look at today’s game – we beat Youngsong 10 to 4.”

“Hogen probably has a higher ranking though.”

“Nobody knows who’ll win until the regular season ends.”

“Hogen has won twelve championships so far, but what about Wowon?”

“…”

“Wowon?”

“…Three times.”

Tae-san was infuriatingly persistent, knowing full well that Wowon’s championship count was significantly lower yet forcing her to answer anyway.

“See, wouldn’t switching to Hogen be better for your mental health too? It’s more fun to support a winning team.”

“If you switch just because they’re good, how is that being a fan? No matter how badly or well they do, Wowon is my number one pick. Love them or hate them, they’re my kids, my children.”

“That’s quite a grand comparison.”

“But it’s not wrong. Just like children can’t survive without parents, baseball can’t exist without fans. So I wish they’d play better with fans in mind. Ugh, really.”

Lee Seol, who couldn’t help but get overly invested whenever baseball came up, gritted her teeth seeing Wowon’s recent record of 3 wins and 7 losses.

Meanwhile, Hogen was 7 wins and 3 losses, but she decided not to mention that fact.

“Are you that passionate about everything?”

“…Just about things I like.”

“Then is arranging my blind dates something you like doing?”

“That’s for the Department Head’s sake and my sake, in various ways all around…”

Once again, Tae-san smiled faintly and quietly picked up speed.

“So who are you going to have me meet next?”

“Since you didn’t like the person you met today, I’ll carefully select someone again.”

“You said these are just for show anyway. Just pick anyone. It doesn’t matter.”

“Still, you’re taking time out of your busy schedule to meet them, so it would be unfair if there’s no benefit at all. You can’t know everything about a person from just their resume, but I’ll try to narrow it down to someone who matches your preferences as much as possible.”

Tae-san nodded slightly as if to say do whatever you want.

When did he stop making a fuss about absolutely refusing? Now he was calmly bringing up talk about the next blind date.

Even without saying it, it seemed like Tae-san had somewhat fallen for her logic, so Lee Seol secretly grinned to herself.

* * *

After driving through the night roads, the villa where Lee Seol lived came into view.

“You can drop me off here.”

The villa was inside an alley, making it inconvenient for cars to enter and exit.

Lee Seol deliberately had him stop the car on the main road and unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Where’s your house?”

“If you go into that alley over there.”

Lee Seol pointed to the alley visible ahead and got out of the car.

Thinking it wouldn’t be polite to just leave, Lee Seol walked around to the front of the driver’s seat and bowed awkwardly.

“I should be the one driving you home, but I’m sorry I couldn’t.”

“Go in. There won’t be any need to contact you tomorrow, so rest well.”

“Thank you. Please leave first. I’ll go in after watching you leave.”

Then Tae-san frowned and gestured for her to go first.

Lee Seol glanced around nervously, bowed once more, and headed toward the alley.

There was at least one streetlight, but the illumination was too low to reach the front of the villa.

So when entering at this hour, she usually used her phone’s flashlight to illuminate her steps, but today the surroundings were strangely bright even without doing that.

“…What?”

Lee Seol looked around and then toward the end of the alley.

Tae-san was illuminating the inside of the alley with his headlights, and the high beams flashed quickly several times.

As if to say don’t look back, just hurry home.

“Why is he really acting like that?”

She thought he was someone who lived completely apart from kindness and consideration, but the Tae-san she experienced today was nothing like that at all.

Had some intimacy built up between them through working together all this time?

She found herself lost in thought alone.

Because of the bright light, she couldn’t see the car or Tae-san. But she felt like he was definitely looking this way, so she bowed toward the empty air once more.

Then she hurried into the alley. Strangely, her heart kept pounding.

“Are you crazy? Toward your boss? Get it together, Han Lee Seol.”

Lee Seol, who had safely entered the villa, muttered as she climbed the stairs.

Then the sound of the car moving echoed through the quiet neighborhood, and Lee Seol stood still in that spot until she could no longer hear the sound.

* * *

The date for the second blind date, which had been postponed repeatedly due to frantically busy work, was set purely by chance.

Lee Seol hadn’t forgotten about the ‘blind date mission’ assigned to her, but no matter how she looked at it, the situation never seemed right to bring it up, so she had been inwardly frustrated.

But today, the opportunity finally came.

“Department Head, then for lunch today…”

“Wait.”

Tae-san’s originally scheduled lunch appointment was canceled due to the other party’s urgent circumstances.

So she was about to ask whether he would eat alone or handle it while meeting with Strategic Planning Department staff when a call came from Kim Se-na.

Sensing it might be a private call, she was about to leave when Tae-san raised his hand to stop her.

So Lee Seol stood quietly in front of the desk without making a sound.

“You want to have dinner together Saturday evening?”

As soon as Lee Seol heard Tae-san’s words, the word ‘blind date’ flashed through her mind like lightning.

Lee Seol quickly crossed her arms and drew an X in the air.

Startled by Lee Seol’s sudden action, Tae-san frowned and stared at her.

“Wait a minute, let me check my schedule.”

Tae-san made an excuse to buy time for an answer, and Lee Seol scribbled in the diary she was holding and showed it to Tae-san.

「Tell her you have a blind date that day.」

There were no set appointments, but she could decide on the date first and then choose the person.

Tae-san looked uncertain, but Lee Seol opened her eyes clearly and nodded confidently as if to say just trust her.

“…I have a prior engagement that day. It’s hard to cancel. It’s a blind date.”

Lee Seol smiled brightly and kept nodding to show he was doing well.

Tae-san, who burst into laughter again at Lee Seol’s behavior, slightly turned away from her and continued the call.

“Well. That’s hard to tell you. Let’s meet another day. I have work to do, so I’ll hang up first.”

Lee Seol approached Tae-san as soon as he finished the call.

“You did well. Then Kim Se-na will definitely react. She might ask where you’re meeting. Then you can just answer honestly.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already set up a blind date without telling me?”

“No. We have to arrange it from now. This time I’ll accommodate the other party’s location. Since we unilaterally set the date. Is that okay?”

“You’ve planned everything by yourself and now you’re asking if it’s okay? Would you cancel if I said it wasn’t okay?”

“I’ll get to work.”

It was when Lee Seol was about to bow politely and leave.

“So what were you trying to say earlier?”

“Oh, I was going to ask how you wanted to handle lunch. Would you like to eat with the Strategic Planning Department team members?”

“No. I’ll just substitute it with a lunch box.”

“Yes. Then should I prepare Korean food?”

“But why are you doing this? Work hours aren’t your responsibility, are they?”

“Oh, Yang Secretary stepped out briefly for a Management Support Team call. Should I prepare Korean food? Or we also have Western or Japanese cuisine.”

“Anything. Since you’ll be eating with me too, buy something that suits your taste.”

“…Me too? No. I need to call the blind date partner back. It’s an urgent situation.”

“Since she’s someone I’m going to meet, let’s decide together. While we eat.”

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