chapter 17
“Um… is this… real?”
The woman asked after reading Seung-oh’s business card several times. She looked awkward, holding it carefully as if afraid it might crumple.
“Do I look like someone with nothing to do?”
“Well, no, but…”
“So just give it to me. Your resume.”
Seung-oh held out his hand expectantly. Just as the hesitant woman tried to pull her resume out of the envelope to hand it to him—
“I’ll look first!”
Ji-soo suddenly snatched the resume from her hand.
“Ow!”
The woman grimaced as her hand got scratched in the process. Seung-oh quickly checked her fingers.
“Did it cut you?”
“No, it’s fine.”
The woman hastily hid her hand behind her back, pretending nothing had happened. Seung-oh frowned and looked at Ji-soo.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, if she joins, I’ll have to see it anyway. I was just curious.”
The woman, fidgeting nervously, couldn’t wrest the resume back from Ji-soo. Poor thing.
“High school graduate, huh.”
“But I studied design on my own…”
The woman looked on the verge of tears but somehow didn’t shed any. She seemed even more pitiful to Seung-oh. He straightened up and reached for the resume.
“Give it here.”
“I-I’m still looking at it.”
“I said give it.”
“Chee.”
Ji-soo pouted but returned the resume to Seung-oh.
“Cho Seo-ha? That’s your name?”
“Yes.”
The name “Seo-ha” was like a golden shackle for Seung-oh. Ok-soon knew this well.
“The girl is far too talented. My poor son can’t even breathe freely because he met the wrong woman.”
Ok-soon’s frequent sighs of exasperation still came to mind.
This Seo-ha was nothing like Yoon Seo-ha. Her resume was pitiful—high school graduate, no TOEIC or TOEFL scores, no overseas study, no relevant work experience. Even if submitted to HR directly, it would surely end up in the shredder the moment she turned away.
“Let’s see your design.”
The woman handed over the entire envelope. Seung-oh pulled out a sheet of paper and studied it seriously.
“This is not bad.”
“Really?”
The anxious woman beamed at his words.
“It really captures Kang-yoon’s identity. Did you really study on your own?”
“Yes. I had to earn money for the family, so I couldn’t afford tuition.”
“Have you been working? There’s nothing on your resume.”
“I was in accounting. Recently, I’ve been unwell and took a few years off. But when I heard Kang-yoon was looking for a designer… I know I’m shameless, right?”
“Let’s go, oppa. We’re wasting time.”
Ji-soo tugged Seung-oh’s arm. Seung-oh handed the resume and portfolio back to the woman and whispered in her ear:
“Resumes are submitted by mail. We’ll look at them during the interview.”
Glancing back while walking, he saw the woman still standing there, stunned, unable to believe her luck.
“Oppa.”
Ji-soo tapped him to get his attention.
“I-I feel… not good.”
“Why? Because of what?”
“You kept staring at another woman…”
Ji-soo usually spoke fine, but when nervous or scared, she stammered. Seung-oh chuckled and lightly ruffled her hair.
“Are you jealous?”
“N-No, not jealous… it’s just…”
Ji-soo quickly lowered her head, looking adorable as always. The way she stammered over jealousy just because he spoke to another woman was cute.
“Honey.”
He whispered gently in her ear, and she smiled shyly.
“I really love you. That woman earlier—I just chatted with her for fun.”
“Then… the resume? You’re not really going to hire her, right?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Seung-oh evaded the question and strode into the lobby. By then, Ji-soo had faded from his mind, and the woman standing alone in the middle of the path filled the space.
[Congratulations on passing the document screening. The interview date is…]
Seo-ha laughed bitterly at the message from Kang-yoon confirming her document acceptance.
“This actually works.”
Of course, she knew Seung-oh would pass by that place at that time. It was planned to pass the resume as a disguised coincidence. Yet, part of her hoped the plan would fail. How could someone with such poor academic background and no experience pass a document screening?
Seung-oh, by carrying out this absurd plan, proved how poorly the company was run.
“Yes. I’ll see you at the company.”
Seo-ha felt exasperated with Seung-oh as she opened her wardrobe—but then despair struck again. She had nothing suitable to wear to the interview. Everything looked painfully outdated.
“A floral blouse? And this T-shirt material…”
For a designer interview, unlike other office jobs, one had to dress stylishly and express individuality—style was part of the skill.
After searching the wardrobe for a long time, Seo-ha found one outfit in a corner, still wrapped in dry-cleaning plastic. The suit seemed over ten years old and didn’t even fit her.
But at least the fabric was decent. That was a small relief.
“Grandma, I’ll borrow your sewing kit.”
She had no sewing machine or mannequin. The sewing kit and hangers she had borrowed from her grandmother’s room in the rooftop house were all she had.
She first disassembled the suit completely. Without a pattern, she traced it on newspaper, cut it with kitchen scissors, and stitched it together by hand.
She added the best materials from other clothes, and finished using an old iron from her grandmother’s room.
It took a whole week. If she’d had proper clothes, or even an old sewing machine, she could have finished in a day and spent the rest of the time on design work.
Poverty was like that—never having even the full 24 hours to herself.
Seo-ha finally finished and headed to the interview. Amid the elaborately dressed “peacocks,” she in her suit looked like an awkward little duckling.
“Number 32, please come in.”
All eyes turned to her. They were all familiar faces.
There was Director Cha. He knew nothing about design. Was Ji-soo here as the team leader? Seung-oh didn’t matter. But why was Ryu Kyung-jun here?
She had never heard of a secretary attending a designer interview. His eyebrows were furrowed, as if recognizing her.
“Hello. I’m candidate 32, Cho Seo-ha.”
Seo-ha nodded politely and sat. Ji-soo, at the far end, glared at her so sharply she felt it could pierce her forehead.
“Cho Seo-ha, your resume is unusual.”
Kyung-jun held her resume and spoke dryly.
“Your education doesn’t meet our standards, and you have no relevant experience. I’m curious how you passed the document screening.”
Ji-soo nodded, clearly full of things she wanted to say.
“Maybe they liked my design. For a designer, inspiration and talent matter more than education or experience.”
“Ahahaha!”
Ji-soo suddenly laughed loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. Slightly embarrassed, she cleared her throat.
“Sorry. Inspiration and talent… it just doesn’t match the outfit you wore today.”
She openly stared at Seo-ha’s long skirt and worn sneakers.
“May I show you?”
Seung-oh raised an intrigued brow.
“Show what?”
“The outfit I’m wearing.”
Seo-ha stood and spun around. Her long skirt reached below the calves with a deep slit in the back, paired with a bold but neat jacket accented with a corset.
“I couldn’t afford college and had nothing to wear to the interview. This is my mother’s old outfit that I remade myself. I made it modest but added bold points to create a unique suit.”
Her confident face shone without makeup. Even the worn sneakers looked vintage in the mix-and-match look.
“Please hire me. You’ll see that education isn’t that important for a designer.”
Kyung-jun almost dropped his pen when he saw Cho Seo-ha. The strange woman who had loitered around the hospital all this time had shown up asking to be hired as a designer—he couldn’t not be surprised.
“What is this woman?”
This was the resume that Seung-oh had personally instructed to pass. Kyung-jun, furious, went to the CEO’s office.
“I told you before not to let personal feelings influence decisions. Why did you approve this resume, even giving special instructions?”
“I judged her skills. Secretary Ryu also attended the interview and checked the portfolio, so you would know.”
“….”
Amazingly, Seo-ha actually had solid skills. In fact, her design was better than any posted in this announcement.
“Where did you see her skills? You didn’t even look at the resumes one by one.”
“Well…”
Seung-oh hesitated, then confessed the truth under Kyung-jun’s piercing gaze.
“I happened to meet her near the office. She was submitting her resume, so I got curious and asked to see it. She showed me.”
“Huh.”
Kyung-jun knew the woman had been hovering around the CEO repeatedly. He could swear their meeting wasn’t a coincidence.
But why? Was it only to get a chance at Kang-yoon?
“If you really dislike her, I can cancel her acceptance. The announcement hasn’t gone out yet.”
Kyung-jun pondered.
She was suspicious. Yet strangely, she reminded him of Yoon Seo-ha—the confidence, tone, and even design.
“…Hire her.”
Seung-oh tilted his head in surprise.
“Weren’t you displeased?”
“The design is good, as the CEO said. Hire her, but make her an intern for three months.”
Three months would be enough to figure out her true intentions.
Kyung-jun neatly folded Seo-ha’s resume and put it in his pocket. He intended to find out more about this woman.
