Translated by Jasmine.
So Long For Now, Summer
Chapter 12
No Way
………………………………
He was looking half way, as relaxed as a car owner, whether she was or not.
For convenience, she had booked a room in a luxury hotel close to Camellia Island where the forum was held, but it was a long way to go from the restaurant.
She wished this road was over, but she also wanted it to be longer for at least another hour but still nothing would change.
Nothing would ever happen.
“…if I had told you I was suing Mr. Chang, did you really want to release the recordings?”
She didn’t know from where did the courage come from but she wanted to know, and because she wanted to busy herself asking questions.
However, she instantly regretted that she said something wrong.
“No.”
He answered it simply; Yes, this was it. It’d be strange if he really does it. She bit her lip and felt her heart rise and fall.
He laughed, as if he were enjoying the breeze of the wind.
“I can’t disclose it, because I don’t have it.”
“What?”
“I didn’t record it.”
“… What?”
“You hold my cell phone, Ms. Hee-joo.”
“…….”
The dizzying buzz in her head was pushed back in a moment. She muttered in shock.
“…what the hell—but then, with the unexplained recordings, you told Chairman Jang—”
“If the other party listen to me obediently, I’ll never be caught—”
“—yes, I do, if I’d really believe that and sue. What are you going to do.”
“Sue him? Let’s do it because I’m a witness anyway.”
He made a complaint, as if he were thinking about a drink from a vending machine.
“No, that’s not the problem! You’d threaten him, and if you don’t have proof, you’ll be humiliated…”
“I was threatening him, but what can Chairman Chang do?”
“…you asked him for compensation, and if they ever make it legal, you—”
“Chairman Chang had admitted himself to committing a crime of abusing his position and power, so gave compensation in the form of an agreement.”
“Mr. Vice President.”
“And to be humiliated, there’s nothing worse than to do a molesting act with an old man’s face … and now you’re mad at me?”
“Giga, I’m not … I’m just freaked out.”
“You don’t have anything to lose.”
“… I was felt restless … because I really believed it—”
“I’ve never seen you this upset.”
“I’m not mad, I’m not, I wasn’t.”
She was embarrassed that her words did not come out properly, she was embarrassed that she shouted at him. Her heart thumped hard, she is an idiot.
“Chairman Chang is one who is a little dangerous to play with, but it has to be, it’s okay now.”
“But—”
“Of course I had to kind of put myself in a bit of a risky position there.”
So it was just me.
“It’s a little stupid, but it’s my choice, so I don’t care about the embarrassment.”
He added, as if he had looked into her thoughts for a moment, and she felt defenseless to be showing it on her face, which was not well-hidden, because of the driving.
“One of my cousins, who had nothing in his head, would eventually marry his daughter. I know I was crazy this time, and I might be gone forever. Maybe that’s why it felt a bit good, but I’m sorry for Hee-joo.”
“… The proposal sounded great, and Chairman Chang held high regards for your ability, and if you had gone with the marriage, he would have been very supportive of you…”
She knew it was a little too late, but she felt uneasy since she had never spoken of his personal matter before, and while she was worrying, her arm brushed against his arm, which he had laid on the armrest.
“So?”
“…….”
“Do you want me to get married?”
Woo Jin-ha asks casually.
No way.
She was the woman who had been weighing the timing of Woo Jin-ha’s mother leaving every time she came to his office with a marriage demand.
No matter how much she wanted him, she did not want to be with a man who was married.
“Of course if she’s a good woman.”
So she wanted this lie to be believable without any doubts.
As a secretary, she was involved in the public affairs as well as all private affairs of Woo Jin-ha, but she had never handled anything related to a woman more than six times.
He wasn’t a monk, but he never had the same woman more than once. The first reason was he was too busy with no time to care for a woman, the second was he did not want to meet with people who had a lot of time with nothing to do.
It was both hope and frustration for her when Woo Jin-ha did not meet any woman, and she did not want to see any of those gorgeous women, but what can she do?
It was mostly due to him who seemed to have no one who he was interested in, and that indifference of his is the reason why her unrequited love could last so long.
So she wasn’t too much affected with the possibility of another woman by Woo Jin-ha’s side.
His marriage, which all Woo Jin-ha’s mother ever talked about, was also the same familiar subject. If it actually happened in front of her eyes, certainly she wouldn’t last even for a second.
“Good woman … the standards are too vague.”
“I have talked too much.”
“No, finish what you’re trying to say.”
“The daughter is a great choice for the marriage, and I was wondering why you keep refusing to talk about it.”
“It’s expensive.”
“What?”
“I don’t have a hobby sleeping with a woman who fucked my cousin.”
“Oh….”
She blushed, hearing the words blatantly. He tapped her gently and continued.
“I don’t need a debt.”
“….. You meant it was too much for a price?”
“Usually it was, and I don’t want to increase one more shackle.”
There was nothing to say that marriages could be described on the same level as a shackle. However, she quietly swallowed a sigh of relief.
“What if the conditions aren’t that high of a price?”
“If there’s nothing to gain, then there’s no point in getting married.”
Even if she lowered the conditions a little compared to Chairman Chang’s daughter, It still couldn’t be compared to a woman of a high status that she couldn’t even dream about anyway.
The family that has power to support are shackles, but if it does not help much, there is no reason to marry too, so it seemed like he just did not want to marry.