It was thanks to that habit.
Seo Jeongun’s signature clear smile was said to be so shockingly beautiful that once you saw it, you could never forget it. In the early days after he joined the company the year before last, there had even been an absurd situation where countless employees wandered the corridors aimlessly just to run into him.
However, despite having crossed paths with Seo Jeongun several times, Doh Yihyun still could not remember his face. He only vaguely recalled the impression that something had sparkled.
“But why would Executive Director Seo be looking for Team Lead Doh?”
“Exactly. It’s not like Team Lead could have made a mistake.”
Ignoring his team members’ murmurs, Doh Yihyun strode out of the office.
‘I’m tired.’
He was merely walking across level ground, yet it felt as though gravity had doubled. He had gone to bed late after working overtime the night before.
Since learning he was pregnant, Doh Yihyun had tried to cut back on overtime, but there were too many ongoing projects he had already taken on. It was not something he could immediately wrap up.
His body felt unwell, and he could not focus properly on work. There were already enough things bothering him as it was, and being interrupted by a sudden summons did not improve his mood.
After staring silently at the elevator button for a moment, Doh Yihyun turned instead and pushed open the emergency stairwell door. If the Doctor had known, he would have been horrified.
Doh Yihyun climbed the stairs quietly, but carefully.
“Ha.”
Reaching the floor where the executive office was located, he let out a short breath. Under normal circumstances, his breathing would not have faltered in the slightest, but now there was undeniably a faint strain.
“He is waiting inside.”
As soon as Doh Yihyun appeared, a secretary with her hair tied low into a single knot guided him as if she had been expecting him.
Doh Yihyun gave her a light nod and stood before a dark reddish brown door. As usual, he neatly adjusted his clothes before knocking politely.
“This is Doh Yihyun from Accounting Team 2.”
“Come in.”
A soft, gentle voice answered.
Keeping his gaze lowered, Doh Yihyun pushed open the heavy door. Come to think of it, this was his first time entering the executive office itself.
As befitting a subsidiary of one of the nation’s leading conglomerates, Seo Jeongun’s office was so spacious that it could not be taken in at a glance. Even to someone like Doh Yihyun, who had no particular eye for interior design, the furniture looked expensive and was arranged with precision. Several paintings hung on the walls, though he had no idea what they depicted. If there had been just a single bed placed in one corner, it would have lacked nothing to be called a top tier luxury hotel rather than an executive office.
Only after taking a disinterested look around the unfamiliar space did Doh Yihyun spot Seo Jeongun.
Seo Jeongun stood alone before a massive glass window that covered one entire wall. The warm afternoon sunlight scattered brilliantly along the elegant line of his nose.
The light was so bright that Doh Yihyun slowly closed and opened his eyes.
Perhaps it was because of the gossip he had just heard from his team members. Suddenly, his gaze caught on Seo Jeongun’s double lidded eyes, the crease neatly defined.
As if facing a stranger for the first time, Doh Yihyun carefully examined Seo Jeongun’s features.
While Doh Yihyun always maintained an expressionless face, Seo Jeongun habitually wore a faint smile. Yet when he faced Doh Yihyun, there was not a trace of laughter on his face.
Without his smile, Seo Jeongun unexpectedly gave off a sharp impression that was difficult to approach. It was probably due to the slightly upturned outer corners of his eyes. Contrary to the common opinion that he would seem gentle even when angry, there was a subtle air of authority about him.
His well shaped lips, pressed into a straight line, were rosy like a ripe peach. His bright gray brown curls, lightly covering his forehead, were slightly tousled.
Doh Yihyun’s gaze, which had been wandering aimlessly over those striking features, lowered a little further.
Seo Jeongun wore a soft sky blue knit sweater and neat beige slacks. The outfit was casual, yet his frame carried it so well that it gave the illusion of being formally dressed.
“Ha ha.”
Having been quietly watching Doh Yihyun, Seo Jeongun suddenly let out a low laugh. Then, quite deliberately, he curved the corners of his lips and folded his eyes into crescents.
As that smooth, picture perfect smile appeared, the oppressive aura surrounding him vanished in an instant. As usual, Seo Jeongun radiated a relaxed, languid atmosphere.
‘So that’s what he looked like.’
Even at a smile that would leave others entranced, Doh Yihyun merely blinked a few more times in indifference.
Each time his vision returned, Seo Jeongun’s form began to blur. Soon, in Doh Yihyun’s eyes, he became nothing more than a vaguely shimmering shape. That appearance was far more familiar to him.
“Yihyun, come closer.”
Seo Jeongun called him more familiarly than ever before, lightly beckoning with his hand.
‘Yihyun?’
As he steadily approached Seo Jeongun, Doh Yihyun frowned faintly.
Up until now, Seo Jeongun had always addressed him properly as “Team Lead Doh.” They were not close enough for such familiarity.
“It has been a while.”
However, stopping three or four steps away, Doh Yihyun offered a plain greeting instead of raising an objection.
“Mm. Have you been well, Yihyun?”
Tilting his head slightly to the side, Seo Jeongun asked after him in a voice so gentle it could have tickled one’s ears.
No matter how well known Seo Jeongun was for being kind to everyone, it was an excessively intimate attitude to show a subordinate employee he barely knew.
“What is this regarding?”
Doh Yihyun asked directly. He had a vague but ominous feeling that if he stayed in the executive office too long, he would be dragged into something troublesome.
Stretching out his long legs in a single stride, Seo Jeongun closed the distance until he was right in front of Doh Yihyun. Lowering his head to meet his eye level, he smiled even more broadly. It was a smile clearly meant to charm.
“I missed you.”
He suddenly uttered that ridiculous nonsense. And he did it with a bright expression.
The members of Accounting Team 2 often joked that their wish was to see Seo Jeongun’s smile up close. If they had been present here, they would have flushed red and shyly taken a step back. They might not even have been able to meet his eyes.
But Doh Yihyun stood upright with an indifferent expression.
“What did you just say?”
He asked again, polite yet cold.
“I said I missed you. Didn’t you miss me?”
Faced with Doh Yihyun’s chilly reaction, one might have expected Seo Jeongun to feel awkward. Instead, he whispered even more sweetly and affectionately. He likely would not treat even a lover this attentively.
Doh Yihyun did not respond. He merely frowned slightly.
‘Did he hit his head on a business trip?’
Otherwise, there was no reason for him to summon a busy person just to spout nonsense. Especially someone he had almost no professional overlap with, and who was known for being blunt.
Even under Doh Yihyun’s cold glare, Seo Jeongun shamelessly narrowed his eyes further as he smiled. The flesh beneath his eyes filled out, and his elegant eye line curved into the shape of a crescent moon.
Doh Yihyun’s gaze was drawn to Seo Jeongun’s long eyelashes. They were so long that it almost seemed as though a fluttering sound might accompany each blink.
“Mm.”
When Doh Yihyun stared openly, Seo Jeongun feigned a puzzled tilt of his head and straightened the upper body he had leaned forward. Doh Yihyun, who had been looking directly into his eyes, had to tilt his head back in response.
‘He’s tall.’
Because his team members talked so much about Seo Jeongun, Doh Yihyun had unwillingly learned some of his basic information. Seo Jeongun was said to be 188 centimeters tall.