There are countless people in the world, and each of them has secrets.
In human relationships, those secrets can work in many different ways.
They can hold a relationship together, or they can destroy it.
Sometimes, revealing a secret becomes the key that bonds two people even more tightly.
Most secrets are weaknesses, after all.
Only when those secrets are shared can two people truly draw close.
But there are relationships where that doesn’t apply.
Sometimes a secret must be kept tightly hidden for the relationship to flourish.
And yet there is one exception.
“Romantic relationships.”
When two people have distance between them, secrets can be hidden as much as one likes. But when they become lovers, it’s different. They contact each other every day, and the time spent together only increases. Especially in Korea, partners frequently involve themselves in each other’s private lives. In that process, they naturally end up sharing secrets.
“I really struggled to get these concert tickets. You’ll like it too, Sia.”
“Oh, I love ballads! I like that singer too!”
Those first few days of dating were no different from any other couple’s. We ate simple meals together, bought four cans of imported beer and drank them while feeling the breeze by the Han River, drove along the freeway, and tore into fried chicken at a nearby pub.
But once we started dating for real, I began to notice odd things I hadn’t before.
“You’ve never been to a concert before?”
“Precisely, I’ve never sat in the third-tier seats. You can barely see the singer… if you watch only via the video screens, it’s practically a recital, isn’t it…?”
She said she’d never seen a concert or a musical unless she’d been in the very front row. Yet when I pressed her:
“Ticketing…? I don’t know about that. Someone else handles it for me.”
“Oh, you’ve got a friend who’s into that kind of thing?”
“…Yes, you could say that.”
She always seemed to have competent friends around.
But it wasn’t just that.
“Oh, did you hear about Managing Director Yoo Min-hwan’s divorce? The papers said it was due to personality differences, but actually his wife had an affair. She was working out for her figure and ended up hooking up with her trainer.”
She knew private details that hadn’t been made public.
Even at work, her insights popped out at odd moments.
“This is bad timing for that ad. Wouldn’t it be better to hold off a bit?”
“Agreed. HR Motors’ new model has to be released before we can run the ad, and the schedule isn’t out yet.”
“Isn’t it next week?”
“Next week?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“Really? Was that official?”
“I can’t find any mention when I search.”
“Where did you hear it?”
“Ah… maybe in a rumor mill.”
Sure enough, the new model launched a week later.
How should I explain it? She seemed to know everything about HR Group.
But the real problem came about ten days after we officially started dating.
“Assistant Manager Song! Why did you handle the U.S. bio ad like this?”
“I believe that was already approved. The other side agreed wholeheartedly, and our profit estimates were high. Both companies were satisfied. Was there an issue?”
“Are you kidding me?! Do you know how furious the director was?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll redo it.”
Suddenly, work became excruciating. I didn’t know why—it wasn’t just my immediate boss anymore.
“Assistant Manager Song, come to Executive Director’s office.”
“Executive Director’s office? Why…?”
In six years I’d never been there.
“I don’t know. They told me to come right now.”
When I arrived, I was scolded for matters settled long ago.
“Assistant Manager Song, are you joking?!”
“…Yes?”
“Why did you do this last year?!”
“That was at the director’s instruction…”
“Are you making excuses?! I want to fire you!”
“What?”
“You want to be fired?!”
“Ah, no.”
“Do your job properly. I’ll be watching.”
And then I got a strange offer.
“Director, you called?”
“Ah, Assistant Manager Song. I hear you’re the ace of Planning Team 2.”
“You flatter me.”
“No doubt. Your performance is impressive. You’re that good, right?”
“Thank you. I only did what I had to.”
“I saw you once applied to work at an overseas branch.”
“That was about three years ago. My senior invited me to go together…”
I’d hoped it would help my promotion, but I’d been turned down.
“How about going this time?”
“…Excuse me?”
“It says here you speak English well. You’d have no issue overseas. There’s a position opening in LA. Interested?”
“Sounds good.”
“What? LA? It’s warm year-round, great lifestyle, nice housing provided.”
“I’m too settled in Korea. Thank you, but I’ll help HR Group here.”
“Just go.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’ll get hard if you don’t.”
“…?”
In just ten days, my standing at the company had flipped. I’d been the ace of Planning Team 2, and I’d hardly ever been scolded for work. Now I’d become a liability.
‘It feels like hard mode at work started as soon as I began dating Sia.’
Maybe it was just my imagination… right?
“Sigh.”
I let out a deep breath on my way home.
“Assistant Manager must be having a tough time.”
“These past few days have been brutal.”
Her hand was clenched firmly in mine. She’s tall, everything about her is big and beautiful, but her hand—small, cute, and delicate.
“Still, I hang on because of you, Sia.”
No matter how grueling the workday, seeing Sia’s face on the way home makes all the fatigue vanish.
At first, I worried. Office romances attract attention. If it got out, it could cause trouble for our department. Even if we married, our mismatched financial mindsets could be an issue.
But once we started dating, it wasn’t the problem I’d feared. Since I hated extravagance, she never brought designer bags anymore. We didn’t need expensive dates to be happy with each other. Now I truly felt we could build a future together.
“Hehe.”
Sia smiled brightly.
We reached the subway transfer station. Since we both had plans tonight, we decided to part ways here.
“Be careful getting home, Sia.”
“Yes, I’ll text you.”
She waved with a radiant smile and added the sweetest line.
“Bye, oppa♥”
…!
I hiccuped. Every day I hear “Assistant Manager,” but hearing her call me “oppa” sent my grin soaring into the sky.
A passerby glanced at me with obvious envy—his wife, dripping with plastic surgery, clutched a Chanel bag. I gave them a supportive nod.
“Long time no see.”
“Yeah, about a year, right?”
I met my buddy for samgyeopsal and soju. We’d only been in touch by message, so it was nice to meet in person.
His name is Baek Sang-hyun—my close friend by blood. We were teammates in high school baseball and even trained together in college. We went into the military together, too; there were no secrets between us.
They say friends grow alike, and sadly he even mirrored my career-ending injury. He’d quit the sport about two years after me. Fortunately, he’d played pro for a year and had connections that got him into broadcasting as a sports reporter.
He joined via special recruitment but proved his skill once there. Last year he led in exclusive scoops.
“How’s the company?”
“It’s hell.”
“Why? You’re the most successful ex-player now. When alumni meet, they’re jealous of you.”
“It was great until recently. But in the past few days, everyone in upper management has been going crazy, like they’ve gone neurotic.”
“Ha. That’s office life for you. Cheers.”
“One, two, three.”
Before I knew it, we’d polished off three bottles of soju while reminiscing about college and catching up on classmates.
“Got any juicy news these days?”
“Remember Tae-hyun?”
“Kim Tae-hyun from college?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course.”
He was a backup player but at least on the pro first squad.
“What about him?”
“He got into trouble. Slept with a fan and got her pregnant.”
“…Crazy. Legendary.”
“They’re talking about cutting him, but I heard he’s getting married.”
“Well, marriage fixes that.”
“Right. He needs to keep playing.”
He always has the best stories.
“Anything else? Got insider info from the station?”
“Hmm. Not sure what I can tell you…”
“I keep secrets.”
“That’s one thing, but I’m a reporter.”
“Ugh, what do you expect from a journalist?”
“Wait, I do have something.”
His eyes lit up.
“It’s about HR Group. Our station covered it recently. But it wasn’t my beat; I saw it through the desk. You have to keep it secret.”
“Of course. Is it embargo-worthy?”
“Not that big, but it’s too small to broadcast, so they shelved it.”
“What is it?”
“Did you know HR Group has only one woman in the whole company?”
“You mean the chairman’s youngest granddaughter?”
“Yeah. It’s all dudes over there.”
“Five sons, thirteen grandsons, then a late granddaughter.”
Since she’s precious, HR Group hides her—no public name or photo.
“I heard she’s already working at HR.”
“Duh.”
“She didn’t parachute in.”
“She’s family. Of course she’d work there.”
“No, she joined as a regular employee.”
“Through open recruitment?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why’d she do that?”
“Apparently she wanted firsthand experience of how HR Group operates.”
“Do her coworkers know?”
“No way. She got in like any regular hire. You know how sergeants strip rank to haze new soldiers.”
“Is it a rich-kid’s twisted hobby?”
“Maybe. Or the higher-ups wanted someone to understand operations from the ground up.”
“Sure, she’s precious to them, so they’d plan something.”
I was jealous—if only I’d been born a chaebol third-generation, I’d be living easy too.
“They say she’s extremely beautiful.”
“I saw her photo once. She’s stunning. Her figure rivals Westerners.”
“No doubt. They marry the best-looking families in arranged matches, so the genes must be incredible.”
“But the important thing is… she works at your company.”
“…My company? HR Media?”
“Yeah, there!”
This piqued my interest.
“What department?”
“Not sure, but I knew her name. Now I can’t recall—probably the alcohol.”
“Think hard.”
“Hmm…”
He pulled out his laptop. You can look up employees on HR Media’s directory.
“Yoo… what was it?”
“Obviously Yoo.”
“Yoo…”
He thought hard, then snapped his fingers.
“Oh, I remember!”
“What is it?”
“Yoo Sia!”
“…?”
Blink—did I mishear?
“Yoo Sia?”
“Yeah. I remembered because her name’s like a celebrity’s.”
“…Really?”
“I’m sure. Even drunk, I wouldn’t forget that.”
He chuckled.
“You know her?”
“…”
No way. Impossible. But my alcohol-soaked brain felt a sudden shock.
Puzzle pieces that didn’t fit began to click into place.
‘All those designer bags…’
‘Her bizarre sense of money…’
‘How she knew every detail about HR Group…’
And most of all,
‘Ever since I started dating her, the bosses began harassing me…’
Not just any bosses, but most of them were executives.
And those executives…
‘They’re all her uncles or older brothers…’
Damn it.
My head started burning.
“What’s wrong? Why so quiet? You mean she’s in your department?”
“…Wait a minute.”
I frantically searched the employee directory for her name.
[Search results: 1]
– Yoo Sia: Planning Team 2
No one else shared her name. There was only one Yoo Sia in our company.
My friend stared at the screen, eyes wide.
“Whoa, she really is in your department?”
He didn’t know the context and snickered.
“Did you mess up somehow?”
“No…”
“Then no problem.”
“I didn’t make a mistake…”
Yoo Sia—Chairman Yoo Jin-gap’s youngest and only granddaughter…
“She’s my girlfriend…?”