Chapter 8
. I Was Born This Way
Inside the director’s office, Siwan discreetly peeked out through the blinds.
“Hm, is Assistant Manager Joo Hana out on another field assignment?”
After observing for the past few days, he’d noticed she was away from her desk about every other day. But what kind of fieldwork would someone in the planning team need to do?
He sighed and sat back down at his desk.
“I’m sure Team Leader Oh Ah-young is handling it just fine. It’s not really something I need to concern myself with.”
Then his eyes landed on the lunch bag sitting neatly atop his drawer.
It had been a week since he’d eaten that kimchi fried rice. Siwan still hadn’t returned the lunchbox.
He couldn’t just hand it back without thought—that would be rude. So, he had taken it home, washed it thoroughly himself, and brought it back to return properly.
In movies or dramas, there’s always a housekeeper at the boss’s house. But that’s just fiction. Siwan didn’t have one.
His father, Do Myung-jin, lived by many principles, one of which was “Take care of your own responsibilities.”
Under the Do Myung-jin and Samantha Kim household, the eldest son Do Si-jin, the second daughter Do Si-hyun, and the youngest son Do Si-wan were all expected to take part in household chores from the moment they graduated high school. The idea was simple: don’t dump your responsibilities on others just because you’re an adult.
There was even a monthly rotation: laundry, meals, grocery shopping, garbage and recycling.
On the day Siwan graduated high school, his brother Do Si-jin had been so happy he even bought him a cake.
After the small celebration, Si-jin had beamed and said:
—”Siwan, this month you’re in charge of bathroom cleaning and garbage/recycling duty.”
Siwan shook his head to shake off the memory that had suddenly flooded his mind.
The lunch bag had been sitting there for days, waiting for the right moment to be returned. At this point, it looked more like a decorative item than anything else.
If he returned it in front of other people, it could cause misunderstandings—and Joo Hana would likely be put in an awkward position.
The world of female office workers could be brutal. Just the fact that she had “made lunch for the director” would be enough to spark rumors, both real and imagined.
But simply leaving it on her desk without a word also seemed inappropriate.
He thought about sending a thank-you message, but he didn’t have her number.
Of course, as the director, there were plenty of ways he could find it. But in this day and age, if a boss contacted someone on their private number without consent, it could turn into a whole “personal data protection” issue.
“Sigh… Siwan! This isn’t something to be wasting your brainpower on…”
He turned his gaze back to the approval documents displayed on his monitor.
The red number “30” flashed in the top right corner—thirty documents waiting for his review.
He let out a long sigh.
The burdens of a manager were never light.
The moment he signed off on a document, the responsibility became entirely his. That meant he couldn’t overlook even a single digit or character.
Sure, there were some bosses who blamed subordinates regardless of who approved what—but Siwan had grown up watching Do Myung-jin and couldn’t bring himself to be that kind of person.
As he leaned back in his chair to collect his thoughts, his phone vibrated briefly.
A message from Chae Soo-hwa.
Chae Soo-hwa:
Oppa! When can I come visit?
Siwan clicked his tongue and frowned.
Chae Soo-hwa:
Don’t come visit, then let’s at least have a meal. I’ll come to your office.
I’m busy. Maybe when things settle down a bit.
It wasn’t that he disliked her. In fact, among his peers, he liked her the most—as a little sister, that is.
The problem was that “meals” were a huge ordeal for him.
At a time like this, when he needed to solidify his position as director, he didn’t want to waste precious time on what felt like a grueling task.
Feeling guilty about turning her down repeatedly, he put their chat on silent and flipped the phone face down.
“Back to work.”
He picked up the office phone and dialed Team Leader Oh Ah-young’s extension.
The phone barely rang before she answered.
[Yes, Director!]
“I have a few questions about the new product planning proposal. Could you come to my office?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock at the door.
“Director, it’s Team Leader Oh Ah-young.”
“Come in.”
Oh Ah-young walked in confidently but froze in place when she met Siwan’s sharp gaze.
She had never cowered in front of even the two toughest department heads, Cha Min-hwan the sly one and Kim Deok-bae the snake.
But Siwan’s piercing gaze and powerful aura made her shrink instantly.
‘Why is the Director’s stare so intense? What’s going on? What did we do wrong?’
Was this really just a casual Q&A session? Thinking back, his voice over the phone had sounded a bit cold and clipped.
‘Crap, did we overcharge something? Was there a typo? Should’ve gone to the restroom—I’m about to pee myself.’
Let’s pause for a moment.
Siwan had sharp eyes. So when he maintained a neutral expression, people often assumed he was angry or displeased.
This time was no different—he was simply looking at Oh Ah-young as she entered, without a hint of annoyance or dissatisfaction.
Unaware of how intimidating his gaze looked, Siwan was the one who found Oh Ah-young’s hesitation strange.
She hadn’t approached the desk after entering. Was this some kind of cultural quirk in the Food Development Division?
He quickly brushed off the thought.
Better not to invite her closer and risk making her uncomfortable.
He began asking her questions based on the report she had submitted.
Trying to accommodate her distance, he raised his voice slightly—but that only made her more nervous.
Still, her answers came fluid and accurate, and Siwan nodded in approval.
Team leaders don’t typically write reports themselves—they review and sign off on what’s submitted by their teams. For her to recall everything so clearly meant she had thoroughly reviewed it.
He was impressed.
“You seem to have the entire report memorized, Team Leader Oh.”
It was a compliment. But in her hyper-tense state, it sounded more like, “You’re answering without even checking the report?”
“I’m sorry! If there’s anything wrong, I’ll redo it right away!”
Siwan tilted his head in confusion.
“I wasn’t criticizing you. I was genuinely impressed. You even remembered the exact figures in the report.”
“Oh—thank you! I misunderstood because you were glaring so intensely. I apologize.”
“Ah…”
Siwan was aware of how he looked—he knew his eyes came off harsh.
Back in school, seniors would scold him for “talking back” even when he hadn’t said a word. But how could he change the shape of his eyes? He had once considered cosmetic eye surgery but dismissed the idea as too extreme.
Still, if subordinates were misreading his expressions this badly…
‘Maybe it’s time to seriously reconsider.’
Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and softened his tone.
“My eyes are just naturally like this. If I do need to criticize, I’ll let you know explicitly. Otherwise, even if it looks like I’m glaring, I’m not.”
“Understood. I’ll remember that.”
“Thank you. You can go now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Oh Ah-young had just reached for the door when Siwan stopped her.
“Oh, one moment.”
“Yes?”
She turned back, trying to keep a composed expression despite her nerves.
When a boss stops you like this after a compliment, it can only mean one thing: more work.
No employee welcomes that. Oh Ah-young was no exception.
‘Please no! My current workload is just perfect!’
After a brief pause, Siwan asked seriously,
“Does Assistant Manager Joo Hana often go out on fieldwork?”
“No, she can’t!”
“…?”
He paused, trying to interpret what she meant.
‘Does she mean I shouldn’t be interested in her?’
Of course not. Oh Ah-young had just been so tense expecting an extra task that she’d been mentally chanting “Please no”—and accidentally said it out loud.
Recovering quickly, she smoothly covered her blunder.
“If you’re thinking of reassigning her as your personal assistant, I must object as her team leader. She’s a treasure of the Planning Team.”
“Ah… Secretary Seo is already handling things well, so I’m not looking for another assistant. Don’t worry.”
“Ahaha. That’s a relief. Ahahaha.”
She wiped imaginary sweat from her brow with exaggerated relief.
Then suddenly remembered his actual question.
— “Does Assistant Manager Joo Hana often go out on fieldwork?”
“She’s the type who can’t rest until she’s seen, heard, and tasted everything herself. So yes, she’s out of the office quite a bit.”
“Would you say it’s for market research?”
“Yes! She’s out with Employee Koo Dong-geun right now, doing research for the new product planning.”
At the mention of Koo Dong-geun’s name, a faint wrinkle formed between Siwan’s brows.
“Those two seem to be together often.”
“Well, she’s his mentor. That’s natural.”
Now, in Siwan’s mind, Koo Dong-geun had been upgraded to “that annoyingly smug employee who hasn’t even done anything.”
Though even he didn’t understand why he found him so irritating.
