Yunhui didn’t get ready to go out, even though Ian had assumed he would naturally head to work. Instead, his secretary arrived at the house with both hands full of work.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
At Ian’s question, Yunhui glanced at him and said there wasn’t.
“You can barely sit comfortably. What exactly are you going to do?”
Ian let out a groan at the unnecessary addition. He wasn’t wrong. Sitting in the dining chair throughout the meal had genuinely been uncomfortable. And hearing it from the very person responsible only made Yunhui more irritating.
There was no point wandering around with nothing to do. Yunhui was probably right that Ian should rest properly while he had the chance, so he went back to the bedroom.
Apparently, the housekeeper had changed the sheets while he was gone. The sight of the immaculate bed brought another wave of embarrassment rushing over him.
Ian lay down on the neatly made bed and stared at the ceiling.
What am I even doing here?
The sense of unreality started creeping over him, but it didn’t last long. His body must truly have been exhausted, because his eyelids gradually grew heavier until he drifted back to sleep.
When he came to, the sunlight streaming through the window was almost painfully bright. He checked the time and found that roughly three hours had passed. The rest had helped; his body felt considerably lighter.
There was no sign of the housekeeper in the living room. Only Yunhui and his secretary remained, sitting there working.
The table was covered in documents scattered in every direction. Yunhui, wearing glasses, was staring gravely at a tablet.
Ian stood in the bedroom doorway and deliberately knocked his fist lightly against the door.
At the sound, Yunhui and Chief Secretary Park both looked over at the same time.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
Yunhui set down what he was looking at and rose. Even as he stepped away, he gave his secretary another instruction before finally coming over to Ian.
Ian jerked his head toward the bedroom, and Yunhui followed him inside without objection.
“Why are you keeping me here?”
Yunhui narrowed his eyes slightly and tilted his head.
“Don’t tell me you only brought me here to sleep with you.”
Only then did the corner of Yunhui’s mouth curl faintly upward.
“If that’s all it is, I was wondering whether I could take care of my own business during the day. I’m not going to run away, so you don’t have to worry about—”
“Says who?”
Yunhui cut him off.
Ian closed his mouth and looked at him.
Ever since his secretary had arrived, Yunhui hadn’t asked Ian to do anything all day. If Ian’s only role was to satisfy Kang Yunhui’s sexual frustration, then there was no reason for him to spend his days trapped in the house.
He couldn’t live like this indefinitely. He needed to work at something and earn money for his mother’s hospital bills. Yunhui might be taking care of them for now, but Ian couldn’t depend on him forever.
“Then give me actual work to do.”
Ian pressed the issue.
He already knew Yunhui would never allow him to simply go off and find another job. The contract they had signed dressed it up in indirect language, but one of its provisions effectively allowed Kang Yunhui to dictate how Seo Ian spent all his time.
“I won’t get in your way.”
When Yunhui remained silent, Ian added that much.
Whether Kang Yunhui believed it or not, Ian was good at his job. He had started at Haemyeong Industries as an intern, but his abilities had earned recognition from everyone around him, and he had risen through the ranks quickly.
From time to time, people at companies they did business with who didn’t know Ian was CEO Seo’s son had even made serious attempts to recruit him.
So Ian was confident he could be useful to Yunhui as well.
“I know.”
With that brief reply, Yunhui gestured for him to follow and went back out to the living room.
“Teach Seo Ian everything he needs to know about the chief secretary’s office.”
At Yunhui’s instruction, Chief Secretary Park rose without any sign of surprise and approached Ian.
He was already carrying several thick binders.
Only then did Ian realize Yunhui had intended from the beginning to put him to work in the chief secretary’s office.
“I was going to take it easy on you today, but if you don’t want that, I’ve got no reason to object.”
Yunhui pointed at the binders and ordered him to familiarize himself with everything inside them before the end of the day.
Ian took them, opened one, and suppressed a sigh.
They contained information on all of Sanha Group’s major businesses.
There wasn’t just one project, but dozens. Ian was already feeling overwhelmed by the list. Some sections even dealt with technical matters related to new product development at Sanha Electronics.
Unless someone was a specialist, even understanding the terminology would be difficult.
And Yunhui expected him to learn all of this today?
“You’re not saying you can’t do it, are you?”
Yunhui asked as though it should be obvious that he could.
Ian looked straight at him and smiled pleasantly.
“Of course not.”
That jab at his pride sparked his competitive streak in earnest.
There’s no such thing as impossible.
If he kept at something long enough, one way or another, he would manage it.
There might not have been anything effort couldn’t accomplish, but there were certainly things capable of working a person to death.
Going through the Sanha Electronics documents while looking up unfamiliar terminology himself took far longer than Ian had expected.
He was comfortable with distribution and logistics, since Haemyeong Industries dealt with those fields as well. Electronics was the real problem.
After wrestling with the documents for what felt like forever, Ian finally looked up and realized it was already the middle of the night.
Yunhui had spent the entire time working through his own mountain of paperwork. From time to time, he took phone calls or disappeared into the study for video meetings.
Apparently, he hadn’t been exaggerating when he said even two bodies wouldn’t be enough.
He truly looked that busy.
And considering he had cleared his entire schedule for two days, it was only natural that twice as much work would now be waiting for him.
Chief Secretary Park didn’t leave until after ten at night.
Even after he was gone, Yunhui remained trapped beneath his pile of documents.
“I’ve prepared a late-night snack. Would you like some?”
The housekeeper addressed Ian, who was sitting on the living room sofa reading through documents about Sanha Electronics.
Only then did Ian raise his head. He tilted his stiff neck from side to side, trying to loosen it.
“Yunhui… I mean, the vice chairman?”
“He’s in the study.”
The housekeeper pointed upstairs.
Yunhui’s bedroom had once been on the second floor too.
Ian had wondered why Yunhui seemed to be living alone in such an enormous house. Chief Secretary Park had explained that Yunhui’s parents were currently staying in Europe and had no plans to return for some time.
While Yunhui had been living in the United States, the second-floor bedroom he no longer used had apparently been converted into a study. That was why, after returning to Korea, Yunhui had been forced to use the first-floor bedroom instead.
Ian hadn’t been able to leave that bedroom for the past two days, so he hadn’t had a chance to go upstairs.
Curious about how things had changed, he volunteered to take Yunhui’s late-night snack to him.
Carrying the tray upstairs, Ian stopped in front of the room Yunhui had used as a child.
He knocked.
No answer came from inside.
He knocked once more and waited, but again there was nothing.
Did he fall asleep?
Kang Yunhui was human too. After pushing himself this hard, even he had to get tired.
Ian had just reached for the doorknob when a voice came from behind him.
“What are you doing there?”
He turned.
Yunhui was leaning against the second-floor railing, watching him.
“Huh…?”
Ian stared at him, puzzled as to why Yunhui had appeared from behind him.
“They said there was a late-night snack ready.”
He held up the tray he had brought.
Yunhui told him to follow.
Instead of entering the room he had used as a child, Yunhui walked to another door at the end of the hall and opened it.
“So this was the study.”
“This was always the study.”
Yunhui corrected him.
Come to think of it, this had originally been the study used by Yunhui’s parents. Ian had known it was a study when he visited ten years ago, but he had never had any reason to come inside, so this was his first time actually seeing it.
“Chief Secretary Park said earlier that they converted your room upstairs into a study, so I thought he meant that one.”
“Ah…”
Yunhui made a short sound and frowned.
He looked displeased about something.
“It was converted. I just don’t use it.”
There was something in his tone that sounded almost like a warning not to take an interest in that room.
Ian looked at him for a moment, then simply nodded.
Study or not, it had nothing to do with him.
“Did you cancel the engagement?”
He hadn’t been able to ask earlier with Chief Secretary Park around, but he had been wondering all day whether it had truly been canceled.
The quickest way to confirm it would have been to contact Yudam himself, but Ian couldn’t break the promise he had made to Yunhui.
For all he knew, Yunhui might use that as an excuse to revive the engagement he had canceled.
Instead of answering, Yunhui took out his phone and called Chief Secretary Park.
“What’s the status of the cancellation of my engagement to Han Yudam?”
Yunhui switched the call to speaker and set the phone down between them.
[Yesterday, we formally informed them that the engagement would not proceed. Madam Han protested that they couldn’t simply spring something like this on her and said she wanted to meet and discuss it in person. I told her that would be difficult given your schedule, but assured her that our business with the Han family would proceed without disruption and sent over the prepared contracts. President Han appeared satisfied with that response.]
“Thank you.”
Yunhui ended the call and looked at Ian.
“Is that enough to satisfy you?”
Ian gave the faintest nod.
This is enough.
This was the best outcome for everyone.
He tried hard to convince himself of that.
But it did nothing to ease the heaviness inside him.