Kapitel 44: It's the least I can do for her.
"Jaehyun?"
Oh Jaehyun snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a concerned voice beside him. He glanced at a frowning Ji-Eun beside him and he relaxed his own furrowed brows.
"Are you alright?" She asked him, looking at him when they stopped in front of a red light at an intersection. "You looked kind of... pissed off the whole afternoon."
Sighing, Jaehyun shook his head. "I'm alright. But something happened earlier. It's really bothering me."
"What happened? Is it work-related? Have I overlooked something?" Questions started to rain on Jaehyun and all he could do was to smile weakly at her.
"Relax," he said. "It's not work-related. I just had... words with Bae Yuri earlier when I was at The Little City."
Ji-Eun's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You know, there are only a few things that can go through your impenetrable armor. Do you want to go home, so we can talk about it? Visit Father too, maybe?"
He knew exactly what she meant when she asked if he wanted to go 'home'. Home meant the Chung Mansion. Not the hotel, and definitely not his house.
"Yes," Jaehyun smiled lightly at her and nodded. "Maybe it's time for you to go home too."
With his affirmation, Ji-Eun put the car in gear and prepared to turn the car around to go to the direction of the family mansion. Jaehyun closed his eyes and let Ji-Eun drive in peace.
Chung Ji-Eun had been driving to and from appointments for the better part of the afternoon, letting Oh Jaehyun off of his task. Perhaps she had been in a really good mood that she had offered to drive the car the whole time. Or maybe she had seen how dour he looked the whole afternoon. Who knew what her reason was?
"I'll drive, Secretary Oh," she said when he had swung by Grand Gala Square after lunch that day. "You look... tired."
He accompanied her from one meeting to the next, keeping up with her schedule. Perhaps she indeed noticed something was up with him when after one appointment, instead of going to her usual coffee spot for her afternoon snack, she parked by his favorite spot called The Hideout, a few blocks away from their main office, and decided to get their drinks there.
No words were said between them as they sat at an open-air table. Ji-Eun enjoyed her snack while her secretary leaned back in his chair in silence, enjoying his bitter coffee. In their own weird way, they understood each other. He appreciated her gesture and she endured his long, sullen silence, not once calling him out for it.
It wasn't until a few minutes ago when Ji-Eun actually addressed him about his mood that he came to understand that he'd been brooding for a few hours now. After all of their appointments, after all their work, she finally decided to ask. He knew she had been keeping it in, so he reorganized his thoughts as they traveled home.
"Here we are," she said happily. "I'll go ahead, alright?" After parking the car, she shot straight out of it and bounded through the mansion doors.
"Grandpa Chen!"
He heard her exclaim as he closed the car door. He straightened his suit jacket and walked up to the front door to greet the family butler.
"Young Master," the old butler greeted Jaehyun as he approached.
"Grandfather Chen," he bowed. "I'm no Young Master of this house, you know."
The butler laughed. "Take that up with President Chung," he said, amused at the thought. "The Young Miss called ahead to tell us that you were coming, so dinner has been prepared for the three of you."
He gestured for Oh Jaehyun to come inside, so he could close the front door.
As he walked inside, he heard Ji-Eun's voice somewhere near. He followed the sound of her voice and soon came to the drawing room to find the father and daughter pair already having a lively conversation.
Jaehyun waited at the door until the elder noticed him.
"What were you doing there?" He said as he finally noticed him. "Come in, you silly boy!"
"President Chung," Jaehyun bowed.
The elder smiled as he settled himself on the couch.
"I hope this is not just a social call," the elder said. "Are you going to stay here tonight?"
"Yes, Father," Ji-Eun answered. "There are some things Jaehyun and I needed to talk about."
"Oh?" The elder looked from Ji-Eun to Jaehyun, curiosity in his eyes. "Is there a problem at the office?"
"No, Father," Ji-Eun laughed. "Just some stuff we need to take care of."
"I see," the elder drew in a breath and pressed no further. 'Well, I'm glad you're both here."
The elder looked over to his daughter. "Ji-Eun, there are some things I need to talk about with Jaeyun," the elder gestured to Jaehyun kindly. "Can you please help Old Chen out in the dining room for a while?"
Ji-Eun looked at Oh Jaehyun worriedly. He nodded at her, putting her at ease.
"Oh, don't worry too much," the elder laughed. "I just want to catch up with him and ask him questions. We have to bring your Nana in for your wedding too, so..."
"Of course, Father," she stood up. "I'll call you both when dinner is ready."
The men watched as Ji-Eun went out of the drawing room to look for the butler.
After about a minute, Jaehyun looked towards the elder. "Is there anything I can help you with, President?" He asked.
"Ah, when will you ever learn to call me something else, huh?" The elder shook his head. "At the very least call me Uncle?"
Jaehyun looked back at him blankly. "I cannot possibly-"
The elder sighed. "I know you can't, boy. I know you can't." He reached inside his breast pocket and pulled out a formal invitation. "This is for your Grandmother. Ji-Eun would want her Nana there."
"I will let her know," Jaehyun nodded.
There was a bout of silence before the elder started to speak again.
"How is my daughter doing?" The elder asked, his tone becoming somber. "How is she taking in this wedding? Is she causing you a lot of trouble?"
"She's not causing trouble," he answered quickly.
'Well, besides the occasional underwear and clothes run...' Jaehyun thought to himself.
"Ji-Eun is doing alright, President," he nodded along as he spoke. "She is handling things very well with the Song family. Both parties have been making an effort to get along. In fact, they even went out earlier to prepare something for the wedding."
When Jaehyun said 'both parties', the elder understood it to be Ji-Eun and Hyun-Shik.
"That's good," he nodded. "And you? How have you been doing?"
Jaehyun could only stare back at the elder in mild surprise.
"Me, President?" Jaehyun cleared his throat.
The elder reached out and touched Jaehyun's shoulder. "I'm also worried about you, Jaehyun," the elder said. "I mean, I know of your affections for my daughter. I've always known. Seeing Ji-Eun being married off... You must be having a hard time too."
Oh Jaehyun found himself staring back at the elder in shock. He wanted so much to refute the elder's words, but he found that he couldn't.
"I don't want to hurt you or Ji-Eun," the elder said. "I know how fond she is of you. But to be honest, she just doesn't seem to see how much you're enduring right now. She is... quite a cruel mistress, you see."
"President, I..." Jaehyun started.
"Is there anything I can do to help you?" At this moment, Chung Luo-Yong was asking earnestly. "Do you want to be transferred to someone else's service? Do you want to transfer to another branch?"
In his heart, Oh Jaeyun knew that the President was not asking him merely to send him away for convenience. The Chung elder was genuinely concerned about him and his state of mind.
"President," Jaehyun said in a serious tone. "I can't leave Ji-Eun just to save myself. I owe her too much for me to just leave."
At that moment, Jaehyun saw the gratitude that was in the President's eyes.
"I apologize if the extent of my power is not enough to shield you from all of this, Jaehyun," the elder hung his head. "You may not be my son, but I am truly grateful that you are here for my daughter."
If circumstances had been different for all of them, Chung Luo-Yong might have chosen Oh Jaehyun to be part of the Chung family. But that was not the case in the past and that's not the case even at present.
"President, please allow me to stay," Jaehyun said in a firm voice. "I've hurt Ji-Eun too much in the past. Staying by her side... It's the least I can do for her."
"Oh Jaehyun, I wasn't asking you to go," the elder smiled at him. "In fact, I'm relieved to hear that you want to continue working by her side, working for our family. I was only asking how I can make things easier for you."
Oh Jaehyun noted the happy expression on the elder's face and decided then that maybe his decision to remain by Chung Ji-Eun's side was not a bad decision after all.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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