The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 3

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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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3.
Do-ah’s head snapped up in surprise.
‘Oh…. That’s the man I saw in the lobby.’
Among the suited men, he stood out unmistakably—taller by a head, with proportions so commanding they drew the eye like gravity itself.
Do-ah could still see the moment he’d clicked his tongue at her with such indifference.
‘Do they hire staff based on looks here?’
Certainly the “Director” had said he wanted to see her, but no matter how she looked at it, this man seemed far too young.
A director’s position typically required being past fifty, so he was probably a secretary or assistant to the actual director.
Looking at him again, his face was arrestingly beautiful.
The sculpted planes of his features, the sharp cut of his nose, the full lips and those magnetic eyes seemed designed by nature itself to bewitch—as if he’d been born to ensnare.
‘Wait. This isn’t the time to admire a man’s face.’
Do-ah reined herself in and glanced toward the door. The secretary had come in first, so the real director should follow shortly.
But oddly, no one else entered behind him.
Instead, the man settled himself across from Do-ah with casual ease, then opened his mouth in a voice that was both firm and measured.
“I am Yun Cha-gyeong, Director in charge of global operations for Hyunsin Department Store.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
Do-ah’s eyes went wide as saucers.
Impossible.
This beautiful man—a director?
He was far too young.
His sharp features, the cold edge to his expression, the neat tailoring of his suit—none of it matched the image of a director she’d conjured in her mind.
‘Why would he want to see me……?’
As anxiety and confusion swirled through her thoughts, the man spoke first.
“You understand what you’ve done, I trust?”
His face betrayed no emotion; his voice was glacial. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
Do-ah found herself shrinking back involuntarily.
“I—yes…… I’m terribly sorry for causing such a disturbance. I was just so desperate…… I promise it won’t happen again.”
“That’s a given. How do you intend to compensate?”
“……C-compensate?”
Do-ah repeated back, caught off guard.
Compensation for what?
Did I damage the staff’s hearing by shouting too loud?
Or did I crack the lobby floor?
No matter how she racked her brain, she couldn’t fathom it.
Do-ah wiped her clammy palms on her pants and ventured carefully, “That’s…… what kind of compensation are you referring to? Of course I did make noise in the lobby, but I don’t think it warrants actual damages……”
“That’s your assessment.”
As he finished speaking, the man slid a sheet of paper across the desk with a flick.
Do-ah reached out slowly and grasped it.
[Damages Claim Invoice]
……
*Total Amount Claimed: 225,000,000,000 won
‘One…ten…hundred…thousand…… wait, what? Two hundred twenty-five billion?’
Do-ah went rigid, the document trembling in her hands.
She read it once, twice, three times, but the numbers remained unchanged.
‘Is this…real?’
The world tilted. Her mind went blank; her mouth went dry.
Clinging to consciousness, Do-ah’s voice shook as she asked, “You’re…… you’re not joking, are you?”
The man’s mouth curved into a scornful smile.
“Do I look that idle to you?”
N-not joking?
Even if it were two hundred twenty million won, she’d be suffocating—but two hundred twenty billion?
If this weren’t the office of a director at Hyunsin Department Store, Do-ah would’ve bolted, convinced he’d lost his mind.
But this was the director’s office, and the man before her was the company director.
‘Stay calm. Stay calm.’
They say if you keep your wits about you, you can survive even a tiger’s bite.
Do-ah repeated this mantra inwardly, steadied her nerves, and spoke with careful deliberation. “That…… that amount, no matter how I think about it, is just…… not realistic. Just because I used a megaphone……. I mean, I was wrong, but opening a board meeting over something like this seems…… excessive, doesn’t it?”
Do-ah zeroed in on the most absurd line item in the document.
Her voice was small, but she’d mustered real courage in her objection.
“And…… why is the cancellation of the Moer contract being blamed on me? I didn’t do anything to break that deal……”
Even without being a luxury enthusiast, Do-ah knew the name Moer.
Their handbags cost hundreds of millions of won, yet the phrase went: “Can’t buy it even if you wanted to.”
“Today was supposed to be the final signing of the contract with Moer.”
The man exhaled a short sigh before continuing. “We were at the point where only signatures remained—when you burst in with a megaphone.”
The image of herself wielding that megaphone, causing chaos in the lobby, flooded back. Do-ah’s face flushed crimson in an instant.
But shame wasn’t the issue.
“The Moer vice-president witnessed your disturbance and decided to reconsider the contract.”
Do-ah found herself at a loss for words.
How could the timing have gone so catastrophically wrong? A dull ache spread across her temples.
“But…… surely I can’t be held entirely responsible? There could’ve been other reasons……”
Before she could finish, the man cut her off decisively.
“No. You are entirely responsible. If you want proof, I can show you all call logs, emails, every conversation record. Your liability is actually clear. We’re only asking for 50% compensation out of consideration for the circumstances.”
“W-what do you……?”
“The damages we’ve incurred from Moer’s contract falling through amount to four hundred fifty billion won when converted to figures. Now do you grasp that we’re actually being lenient with you?”
Her jaw fell open.
She wished this were a dream.
No—even nightmares weren’t this vicious.
“B-but that’s far too exaggerated……!”
“If you prefer, we can take this to court. Is that what you want?”
C-court?
That single word drained all color from her mind.
A legal battle between a mega-corporation and a nobody like her—the kind of thing you only saw in movies and dramas.
Do-ah could vividly picture herself, worn down from being dragged through lawsuits, utterly exhausted.
In the end, there was only one path forward from this situation.
Do-ah pressed her palms together at her chest and spoke to him in a voice trembling with desperation. “I’m truly sorry……! P-please, I have circumstances I need to explain…… if you’d just give me a chance—”
“I have no interest in your story.”
The man cut her off with brutal finality.
“Then…… what should I do…… ? I don’t have two hundred twenty billion—I don’t even have twenty million won!”
Despite Do-ah’s desperation, the man looked down at her with unmoved eyes. After a long pause, he spoke.
“It’s clear we won’t extract two hundred twenty billion from you.”
Do-ah nodded frantically at his words.
“But I do intend to hold you accountable.”
“Then…… would you be willing to reduce the amount?”
Could she negotiate it down to, say, two million won?
Even that was an enormous sum for her.
The man seemed to read her thoughts from her expression and laughed scornfully.
“If I reduced it, how much could you pay anyway? Whatever’s left would be meaningless.”
‘How is two million won meaningless to me!’
This is why the wealthy were so infuriating.
As Do-ah felt tears prickling at the edges of her eyes, the man seemed to come to some resolution. He lifted his chin.
“Then let’s do this instead. If you resolve a troublesome problem I’ve acquired, I’ll bury this matter right here.”
“……Me?”
Solve a problem a corporate director couldn’t?
“Could I even have that ability?”
“All you need to be is a woman.”
“Yes? What kind of problem could that possibly be?”
And then, from the man’s lips came words far more shocking than two hundred twenty-five billion won.
“Let’s enter into a contract dating arrangement. For exactly six months.”

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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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