Chapter 8 – Secret Temptation – Part 1

Chapter 8 – Secret Temptation – Part 1

The next morning.

His mother asked worriedly,

“Are you really okay going alone?”

Upon hearing that his father’s friend would give him a tour, Woojin had been getting ready since morning.

“Yes. I can take the subway and be fine.”

“You don’t even know the way well, Mom will go with…”

“Gangnam-gu, Seoul…”

Woojin not only stated the company’s address, but also rattled off the subway map like a robot.

Then he raised his cell phone.

“I’ll have to do more and more things on my own from now on. I need to get used to it. I’ll call you if I get lost. But that won’t happen.”

The sentence Woojin said stuck in Mom’s head.

‘I’ll have to do more and more things on my own from now on.’

She couldn’t refute it.

She couldn’t help but feel anxious, though…

Mom smiled warmly.

She couldn’t keep him by her side forever.

For Woojin’s sake too.

“Okay, if you don’t know where you are, you have to call Mom, okay?”

“Yes.”

Woojin, who had gone out to the entrance and put on his sneakers, hesitated instead of leaving right away.

“Woojin, why? Did you forget something?”

Now he remembered.

The greeting for coming back home.

“I’m leaving now. I’ll be back.”

“Okay, have a good trip and come back safely.”

“Yes.”

Woojin, who had gone outside, looked at Mom waving from the window.

Woojin, who had been quietly looking at Mom, muttered.

It wasn’t like this before.

“I’m leaving. I’ll be back later.”

Woojin turned his head and started walking again.

After that, there was no stopping him.

He already knew how to take the bus and the subway.

He had even watched videos of it.

And since his cellphone had a navigation function, he didn’t think it would be difficult.

Inside the train, various people caught his eye.

People tired from exhaustion, people who were angry, joyful people, people with expectant expressions, and so on.

But none of them knew that Woojin had observed them.

Because he had quickly averted his gaze.

After about 20 minutes, Woojin got off the train and headed for the exit.

He saw his destination across the street.

[Shinhwa General Trading]

Before going in, Woojin called his dad’s friend.

“Uncle, I’m here.”

-Alright, I’ll come down to the lobby.

Woojin didn’t enter the lobby but watched the men and women in suits walking around.

“Ordinary…”

These were the things Woojin dreamed of.

“Oh, our Woojin is here?”

His dad’s friend, wearing a pink tie, approached him.

“Thank you for letting me visit.”

As Woojin bowed his head, he gave a refreshing smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m capable of doing at least that much. Hahaha. Let’s go in.”

As they entered the lobby, he saw people swiping cards to enter, just like on the subway.

The cards were employee IDs.

“Is it fascinating?”

“Yes.”

“There’s a place for staff members to eat in the basement. It’s called the company cafeteria. And this company is the main branch of Shinhwa General Trading. So…”

“Gwangju, Busan, Daejeon, Pyeongtaek…”

As Woojin rattled off the branches, he smiled and shook his head.

“Did you look all that up?”

It’s not like he was interviewing a new employee.

“Living an ordinary life is difficult, you know.”

“You’re very clever.”

He took Woojin straight to the elevator.

“Uncle works on the 7th floor.”

“Huh? Are you the manager’s son?”

Woojin’s head turned at the sudden voice from beside him.

It was a high school girl in a school uniform.

“Hyerim. Not my son, but my nephew. He said he was passing by nearby, so I was going to stop by to give him something important.”

“Oh, okay.”

She looked Woojin up and down and said,

“Are you a high school student?”

Woojin replied in the same casual tone she used.

“Are you a high school student?”

She, with a slightly flustered look, pointed to her school uniform as if to show off.

“Can’t you tell by my uniform? That I’m a high school student?”

“Oh, the elevator’s here. See you later, Hyerim.”

The uncle, who showed an awkward smile to the high school student named Hyerim, got into the elevator with Woojin.

Soon, partitions unfolded before Woojin’s eyes as they arrived on the 7th floor.

Some people were frantically talking on the phone in English, Japanese, and Chinese, and others were seen bowing their heads, being scolded.

“How is it?”

“It looks fun.”

“It looks fun?”

“Yes. Because it looks ordinary.”

If you fail, you get scolded; if you do well, you get praised; and you agonize over your work.

He thought it was a natural company atmosphere.

There’s none of that here, where you get hit for not working more, for eating, or for sleeping.

It was very peaceful.

“Hahahaha.”

Uncle Munjin let him slowly look around the office.

“Oh my, who is that manager? He’s really handsome.”

“Wow… He could be a celebrity, couldn’t he? But Manager, you don’t have a son, do you?”

It wasn’t just empty words.

He was truly handsome, and one could even describe him as beautiful, a truly righteous path.

But they couldn’t know Woojin’s past, his dark and desperate background.

“Oh, my nephew. He said he was passing by the company, so I called him over for a bit. Get him something to drink.”

The female employee who had disappeared into the pantry handed him a canned drink. When Woojin hesitated for a moment, Uncle Munjin took it himself and opened the can.

“Here, drink.”

“Thank you.”

“Manager, please approve this.”

“Oh, right. There are no problems with this Saudi Project, are there?”

“Well…”

While Uncle Munjin was talking, Woojin looked around the office structure and the people as if he were sightseeing.

“Damn it! I told you to at least set up a meeting!”

Uncle Munjin, who had suddenly shouted, ran his hand through his hair and turned his gaze to Woojin.

“Woojin, what should I do? I have to leave now. Your uncle has an urgent matter to attend to. Here, this is for your transportation when you leave.”

Woojin did not take the money that Uncle Munjin was holding.

I have money for the fare. Thank you for today.

Woojin turned around without looking back.

Uncle Munjin reached out to grab Woojin, but he had more urgent matters.

Tell everyone to gather in the conference room!

Woojin, who got on the elevator, felt a strong desire to quickly become a university student and get a job at a company.

That way, he could buy Bomi chicken and show filial piety to his parents.

Also, in terms of psychology.

Through hot reading, induction, deepening, metaphor extraction, post-hypnotic suggestion, and so on.

Ding-dong.

Woojin, who got off the elevator, immediately headed outside. No.

We meet again?

Hyerim was a high school student.

She slowly nodded and once again scanned Woojin.

Did you receive what the manager gave you?

Woojin slowly nodded.

This is not the time for a high school student to be here. Her walk is confident, as if this is her territory, and she doesn’t flinch when dealing with adults.

Considering her tone, composure, expressions, and actions.

She is a relative of a superior at the company.

And a high-ranking one at that.

Woojin’s thoughts quickly organized themselves.

It wouldn’t hurt to know the child of a superior.

Oh. Well, goodbye.

Woojin, who answered briefly, brushed past her.

Hey.

Woojin stopped and looked at her.

“Why?”

“But isn’t it class time right now? Skipping class?”

“I don’t go to school.”

“What?”

“I said I don’t go.”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

“I’m eighteen too.”

“Right.”

Woojin turned his back and started moving again.

“Hey, wait.”

Woojin, as if he had expected it, thought to himself and turned back, speaking in a dry, mechanical tone.

“I don’t like spending time without any benefit. I don’t think there’s anything I can gain from talking to you. I’d prefer if you didn’t talk to me anymore.”

‘Now, tell me who you believe in.’

On the contrary, she felt her face burning.

It felt as if her very existence had vanished.

Soon, she said sharply,

“What if I’m the CEO’s daughter, Ira?”

Woojin read the non-verbal cues etched on her face.

It wasn’t a lie.

Woojin’s eyes widened slightly and his mouth opened appropriately.

He had made a surprised expression.

Woojin was looking down at her, having placed her on the Go board like a candle.

“Really?”

One side of her mouth curled up crookedly.

“Do I look a little different to you now?”

Yes. Her face looked different.

Her gaze was now openly indulging him.

She had changed, treating him like a subordinate, unaware if it was rude.

Another thing.

Greed was visible.

In an instant, she imprinted her position on the other person and looked down on him.

She easily controlled her excited emotions of the Righteous Path.

After checking her gestures, tone, and face one more time, Woojin grasped Hyerim’s personality.

Not a perfect sociopath or narcissism, but a narcissist.

When she becomes an adult, she will be one of the two.

“You said you don’t go to school, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I’m bored, want to hang out with me today?”

Her dilated pupils instantly moved to the right, and the corners of her eyes drooped slightly. Conversely, the corners of her mouth turned upwards in a sneer.

Greed.

She thinks of me like a toy.

And,

Conversely, I can move her brain like a marionette.

“Okay.”