Just Twilight-Chapter 85

She had seen him at various company events, but this was her first time facing him one-on-one. Compared to Mihyang, his expression was much softer, but despite his smile, there was something about him that kept people on edge.

“Yoon Junyoung.”

“Ah, have a seat.”

As she sat on the sofa, she could feel him evaluating her. Meeting his gaze evenly, Junyoung watched as Inseop’s lips curved into a faint smile.

“I rejected your resignation.”

His voice was calm.

“I know you’re not the type to quit just because of rumors. So, is it your department you’re dissatisfied with?”

“No, sir.”

There had been plenty of inconveniences, but she genuinely liked her work in risk management. And besides, Mihyang and Seungwoon were completely erased from Hangyeong now. Since she had originally wanted to leave because of the European assignment, and that had been canceled, there was no longer any reason to quit.

“Then keep working hard. Hangyeong needs capable people like you.”

As if that was all he had called her for, Inseop flashed a businesslike smile and stood up. Sensing his intention to end the meeting, Junyoung opened her mouth.

“If I may ask something.”

He paused, glancing at her. Junyoung sat straight and spoke.

“President Hong, doesn’t this situation bother you?”

“Me? What do you mean?”

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“Keeping someone like me—who was known as one of Hong Mihyang’s closest associates—at Hangyeong.”

A silent chuckle flickered through Inseop’s eyes. He leaned back comfortably against the sofa and looked at her.

“I know Mihyang well. If you asked her to name two people she’d never contact again, even if she came back to Korea, it’d be me and you. Her pride is everything to her.”

Junyoung found herself nodding in agreement.

“Understood.”

“Send my regards to Director Kwon.”

She was about to leave when Inseop spoke again. Suppressing a smirk, Junyoung maintained a polite expression, bowed, and left the office.

That had been six months ago.

Manager Seong had stopped making things difficult for her—not that she knew whether it was because of something Hong Inseop had said or simply because Mihyang had disappeared. Regardless, her work life had been peaceful.

If she ignored the sheer amount of work, that is.

“So, you have a bit of time until next week.”

Pulled from her thoughts by Manager Im’s voice, Junyoung looked up. He had just placed a thick folder on her desk.

“What’s this?”

“You remember? The contract addendum with TANDOZ for next year. They’re requesting adjustments to the inventory storage fees in exchange for relaxed DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) terms.”

“Isn’t that under Manager Seong’s jurisdiction? Why is this coming to me?”

She stiffened as a bad feeling crept over her. Manager Im glanced around before lowering his voice.

“It looks like Manager Seong will be transferring to the European branch next year. The position Na Seungwoon was originally meant to take. That means you’ll be handling TANDOZ again.”

“What? Seriously?”

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Reflexively, Junyoung glanced over at Manager Seong’s empty desk. Manager Im raised a finger to his lips, signaling her to keep her voice down. Narrowing her eyes, Junyoung whispered.

“Where do you even get these rumors from…?”

Manager Im simply adjusted his glasses and ignored the question.

“Anyway, we need to review the feasibility of their proposal with the finance team by next week. At least we have a few days.”

Junyoung’s mouth parted slightly in disbelief. As Manager Im casually left the metaphorical bomb on her desk and walked away, she called after him.

“Manager Im!”

“I know, I know. I’ve got my own fires to put out. Good luck!”

Awkwardly waving, he hurried back to his seat.

Junyoung exhaled heavily, her gaze dropping to the stack of documents.

…Why did she have a bad feeling she was about to get promoted?

Frowning, she half-heartedly flipped through the pages before shaking her head.

Forget it. I’ll deal with it on Monday.

Today was Friday. And more importantly, she was finally seeing Beomjin again after four days.

But still…

He hadn’t contacted her once in four days?

Junyoung raised an eyebrow and glared at her eerily silent phone.

She had fought with Kwon Beomjin.

For over four months since getting married, they hadn’t once raised their voices at each other. That alone made this an unusual situation.

The issue? Beomjin cared too much about her safety and health—or at least, that’s how she saw it.

She understood where he was coming from. She knew she could be impulsive and reckless when she got fixated on something. Maybe that’s why she was so suited for risk management in the first place.

But sometimes, work just didn’t give you a choice.

The argument had started last week when she went to Okcheon.

Hangyeong’s Daejeon branch had flagged a case of possible credit risk due to a business partner’s default. Junyoung had been investigating for nearly a month and found evidence that the company was deliberately hiding assets.

That led her to a warehouse at an abandoned factory in Okcheon, where the documents were supposedly stored.

She had been in Daejeon at the time, and those documents could have been moved at any moment. She had to go. She wanted to wrap things up as soon as possible—traveling back and forth to Daejeon all the time wasn’t exactly easy.

Maybe Beomjin would have let it slide.

If only her phone hadn’t died right after her last call to him.

Long story short, she got the evidence, sent it to HQ, and everything worked out. Except for the part where she got caught by a security guard on her way out.

She had made it back to Daejeon safely.

With a scraped knee.

And there, waiting outside her lodging at two in the morning, was Kwon Beomjin.

He knew how she was. Normally, even when he was upset, he tried to understand her reasons. But that night, she had a scab on her knee.

All this fuss over a scraped knee.

When he had been the one to get stabbed.

Now absentmindedly rubbing her knee, which had long since healed, Junyoung perked up as her phone vibrated.

A slow smile spread across her lips.

“So, you’ve finally cooled off?”

Four days without hearing her voice. Of course he missed her.

Grinning, she picked up the phone—only to frown.

Not who she was expecting. But not entirely unrelated either.

“Yeah?”

— Noona. Are you done with work?

Hearing Samdu’s gruff voice, Junyoung pouted.

“No. I’m not.”

— Ah… got it.

Junyoung’s formal tone was one of the few things that truly unsettled Samdu. She could hear his hesitation through the phone, making her sigh.

“Why? Did something happen to Beomjin?”

— Yes.

“What?”

Her voice rose slightly at his immediate response. Samdu awkwardly continued.

— He’s… well, very drunk right now.

Junyoung frowned, caught off guard.

“What do you mean? He could drink an entire bottle of whiskey and still be fine.”

— Yeah, well, tonight, he had baijiu.

Baijiu?

Beomjin never got drunk, no matter how much soju he drank. But she had heard before that baijiu had always been his weakness. In all the time she had known him, she had never once seen him drunk.

“Baijiu? Who the hell gave Kwon Beomjin baijiu?”

— A guy named Li Xiaomin. He was introduced to hyung through Seohwa Group—some investment expert from China. The kind of person who starts every business discussion over drinks. And, unfortunately, he happens to love baijiu…

Clicking her tongue, Junyoung started stuffing her bag.

“So where are you now? Are you taking him home?”

— No, I’m in front of Hangyeong. I’ll bring him over.

Hangyeong? He’s outside my office?

Junyoung, who had just shut down her computer, blinked in surprise. A strange suspicion flickered across her expression.

“…Samdu. You haven’t been tailing me these past four days, have you?”

Samdu didn’t answer. Instead, he let out a couple of dry coughs, as if something had caught in his throat.

Junyoung shook her head in exasperation as she got up from her chair.

He must have reported what time I came in, when I left, even when I ate lunch. And I actually believed that Beomjin would go four days without checking in?

“I’m coming down.”

With a scoff, she bid Manager Im farewell and left the office. As she pulled on her coat, her cheeks were noticeably flushed.

***

I can’t believe this.

The sight before her made Junyoung turn to look at Samdu.

After the parking lot incident, he had bulked up even more, looking almost like a massive boulder. But under Junyoung’s sharp gaze, he immediately hunched his shoulders.

“How long has he been like this?”

“A little over an hour.”

Samdu answered hesitantly. She had no intention of tormenting him, so she decided to let it go. Unwinding the scarf around her neck, she sighed. The hospital was warm enough.

“I’ll take him.”

“I’ll wait in the car.”

Bowing his head, Samdu walked down the corridor toward the elevator.

Junyoung craned her neck slightly and peered through the window on the hospital room door.

Inside the dimly lit private room, Beomjin’s mother lay asleep on the hospital bed. Sitting on the couch beside her bed, dressed in all black, was Beomjin, staring at her.

The heavy, three-seater leather-and-wood sofa was originally placed against the wall. How the hell did he even manage to drag it over there?

Slouched slightly, one elbow resting on his knee, he looked like he was dozing off.

Or so she thought—until she noticed his lips moving. He was murmuring something.

Careful not to make a sound, Junyoung slid the door open and stepped inside.

As she approached, his voice became clearer.

“…Young doesn’t listen, Mother. She doesn’t listen. Not a single thing I say.”

His speech was slightly slurred, as if he were sleep-talking.

Junyoung barely held back a laugh. She bit her lip to stifle the sound and silently took another step toward him.