Chapter 6….
The welcome party for his first day at work was lively.
Since not only the Planning Department but also the Design, Production, and Sales departments were attending, they had rented out an entire barbecue restaurant.
Yeonha deliberately arrived late, hoping not to end up sitting across from Dohyun.
But her worries were unnecessary—he was already surrounded by the female employees.
Relieved, Yeonha quietly looked for an empty seat, and that was when her eyes met Jinyoung’s.
Oblivious as ever, Jinyoung raised his hand high and shouted.
“Team Leader! Over here! I saved you a seat!”
His voice was so loud that even those who hadn’t noticed her arrival turned to look at the entrance where she stood. Naturally, that included Dohyun as well.
For a brief moment, their eyes met. Yeonha quickly averted her gaze, pretending to look elsewhere.
“I’ll just sit here.”
Forcing a smile, Yeonha placed her bag on an empty seat near the entrance.
Once she sat down, the attention that had gathered on her quickly dispersed.
While she was pouring water into her empty cup, Jinyoung plopped down beside her with his spoon, chopsticks, and soju glass in hand.
“Why didn’t you come over? I worked so hard to save you a seat.”
Jinyoung grumbled.
Even without seeing it, Yeonha could easily imagine how fierce the competition must have been for seats near Dohyun.
“I don’t like the inside seats. It’s inconvenient when I need to go to the restroom.”
“So you gave up steak just because of the restroom?”
Jinyoung asked incredulously.
“I like pork belly better.”
Even though she knew the real reason for his disappointment wasn’t steak but Dohyun, Yeonha pretended not to notice.
“Team Leader, you’re such a mismatch.”
“What is?”
“You look like the type to cut into a fancy steak, but your tastes are so simple.”
“That’s supposed to be a compliment, right?”
“Of course.”
When Yeonha shot him a playful look, Jinyoung grinned back, as if he’d never been sulking at all.
He was truly a junior she couldn’t dislike.
“But why were you so late?”
“I had to sort out the work order that’s due tomorrow.”
It wasn’t a lie.
It wasn’t urgent, but she had delayed on purpose.
After taking a sip of water, Yeonha glanced across to the Production Department’s table.
“By the way, where’s Deputy Manager Kim Seongsu?”
“He got a call and left, said something urgent came up.”
“Really?”
“I was cheering inside, you know. If he’d stayed, who knows what kind of trouble he would’ve stirred up with you again. Ugh.”
Watching Jinyoung shake his head, Yeonha gave a wry smile.
From the very start of her employment, Kim Seongsu had always nitpicked her.
Complaining that her designs didn’t meet cost targets, telling her to cut materials, demanding she skip QC because deadlines were tight—always finding fault, but only with her work.
Eventually, unable to endure it anymore, Yeonha had snapped, and their argument had reached Jin Myunghee, the head of the Design Department.
Upon hearing the situation, Myunghee had gone to Kim and put her foot down firmly: “Design decisions are under the sole authority of the Design Department. Don’t interfere.”
After that, his meddling lessened, but he still growled at her whenever they crossed paths.
“Alright, looks like everyone’s here now. Let’s hear a welcome speech from Nam Dohyun.”
At the Planning Department Head Jung Seongtae’s cue, Dohyun rose from his seat.
As he stood, the female employees let out cheers.
One look from Seongtae, and they quickly quieted down.
“Thank you for the warm welcome. I may be lacking, but I’ll work hard. Thank you.”
His short greeting was met with applause and cheers once again.
“Everyone, raise your glasses.”
At the department head’s call, Yeonha set upright the empty glass in front of her and reached for a bottle of soju.
Just then, Hwang Yongjun from the Production Department lifted a bottle.
“Let me pour for you.”
“Thank you.”
As Yeonha held up her glass with a polite smile, Deputy Manager Hwang, ears turning red, carefully poured.
“To LS Fashion!”
At Seongtae’s toast, everyone raised their glasses. The first shot had to be downed in one go, so Yeonha emptied it in a single gulp. The bitter soju burned its way down her throat into her empty stomach, leaving her insides churning.
She quickly took a piece of cucumber to ease the taste.
Maybe it was because they hadn’t had a company dinner in a while, or because there was a new recruit, but the atmosphere was livelier than usual.
The drinks flowed nonstop, the grills were constantly replaced, and one by one, people grew tipsy.
Judging from the flushed faces all around, Yeonha seemed to be the only one still sober.
While the group noisily debated whether to go to a karaoke bar or a pub for the second round, Yeonha excused herself.
“I’ll just go to the restroom.”
Her head spun for a moment, and she paused before carefully walking off.
She had tried to discreetly dump some of her drinks, but sitting beside Seongtae, she had still ended up downing nearly two bottles in the latter half.
Closing her eyes in the restroom to steady herself, she sensed someone else entering.
The overlapping footsteps meant two people.
They entered the stalls on either side of hers.
“Hey, don’t you think Nam Dohyun’s voice is amazing? Sitting next to him, it’s like hearing someone speak from a cave.”
The sudden mention of his name made Yeonha open her eyes.
“I know, right? I want to record it on my phone and listen every day. Team Leader, should we try now?”
“It’s too noisy, you wouldn’t hear it properly.”
Listening closely, Yeonha realized the voices belonged to Kim Miseon, the Materials Team Leader, and Assistant Manager Ahn Eunyoung.
Like Jinyoung, both seemed completely smitten with Dohyun.
“Aww, what a shame~”
Eunyoung whined in a nasal tone before leaving her stall. While Miseon was washing her hands, Eunyoung clapped her hands as if remembering something.
“Oh, right! Did you hear what Gi-tae from Sales said about Dohyun?”
“What about him?”
“Before joining our company, he worked for the Australian luxury brand Scanlan Theodore.”
“What? Really? He left that company to come here? No way.”
Miseon sounded incredulous.
And no wonder—Scanlan Theodore was a world-renowned fashion brand headquartered in Australia. LS Fashion might be one of Korea’s top firms, but it couldn’t compare.
“Exactly. If it were me, I would’ve stayed there until I died.”
“Maybe he messed something up? Otherwise, why quit such a good job?”
Miseon sounded doubtful.
“I don’t think so. Apparently, he’s lived in Australia since he was young, so he just came to Korea out of curiosity.”
“For that reason alone? I don’t get it.”
“Don’t try to. What matters is that Nam Dohyun came to Korea—and to our company.”
“You’re right about that!”
The two laughed together for a while before leaving the restroom.
Left alone, Yeonha silently renewed her resolve.
No matter what—she must not get involved with Nam Dohyun.
When she finally returned to the restaurant after taking her time, she was surprised to find the hall empty except for Dohyun.
Yeonha had already texted Jinyoung to pack her bag, intending to use the restroom as her excuse to slip away from the second round. She hadn’t expected Dohyun to still be there—much less holding her bag.
“What’s going on?”
Trying to hide her unease, she asked.
“When I was about to leave, I noticed this bag was left behind, so I waited.”
He knew it was mine… and waited?
“How did you know it was mine?”
“The bag was near where you were sitting, and you were the only one who went to the restroom and didn’t come back.”
At his calm explanation, Yeonha suddenly felt embarrassed for having mistaken his actions as personal interest.
Covering her fluster, she quickly asked another question.
“What about Jinyoung?”
“He went ahead to the second venue.”
A pang of disappointment rose at being left behind—but then she remembered she hadn’t checked her phone after texting him.
She had only herself to blame. Knowing she disliked company dinners, she had expected Jinyoung to wait like last time. But that was her own wishful thinking.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared, Yeonha stepped closer.
“Thank you.”
