Corporate Villain
Copyright© 2025 by K.W
Chapter 10
“Executive, I’ve changed.”
Daeyoung Department Store, Gangnam Branch.
Luxury Men’s Boutique.
As Manager Noh Gyu-hyung stepped out of the dressing room, Executive Kang Moon-jung tilted her head with an uncertain expression, just like before.
The owner of the Gangnam branch had rushed to the boutique himself to assist Executive Kang Moon-jung with her shopping.
The boutique brand shop employees, who were actually seeing the sole legitimate heir of Daeyoung Group, Kang Moon-jung, as well as the customers who had coincidentally entered the shop and encountered her, were all unable to discern whether this situation was real.
Someone even tried to secretly take a photo but was stopped by the department store’s security personnel.
“Sigh...”
The executive’s expression was unsatisfactory again.
Suppressing a sigh bigger than the one she exhaled, Manager Noh Gyu-hyung asked,
“What should I do ... Should I try on something else again?”
It’s been three hours already.
Manager Noh Gyu-hyung had been dragged around the department store for three hours now, following Executive Kang Moon-jung who insisted on buying a congratulatory gift for Deputy Director Yoon Tae-sik’s executive promotion.
Wasn’t it better to spend this time during work hours with a superior outside, rather than on a weekend or a day off?
Manager Noh, who didn’t have much personal acquaintance yet, was planning to ask Deputy Director Yoon Tae-sik for a favor soon.
Please, have your shopping trips with just the two of you.
“Turn around once.”
“Like this?”
Doing his best to model as per the executive’s instructions, Manager Noh Gyu-hyung was still confused about what he was doing here.
At first, he asked if he could borrow some of my lunchtime.
And he did so very kindly.
After all, today, Deputy Director Yoon would come to pick me up at the end of work, promising to let me off early.
To that, Manager Roh readily agreed without hesitation.
Thus, during lunchtime, I was dragged out to the Gangnam branch.
The suit that Executive Kang Moon-jung mentioned wasn’t just any suit.
It was her standard of a suit, choosing and choosing again until it suited her taste, something Manager Roh Kyu-hyung, shopping with her for the first time, couldn’t have known in advance.
Having already bought three suits and two pairs of shoes from another brand shop, we headed to yet another shop.
Manager Roh Kyu-hyung realized, just three days into serving Executive Kang Moon-jung, that there were tasks even more demanding than overnight work at the group’s head office strategic planning team.
“What’s the use if the build is similar? The face is completely different, the face. Manager Roh.”
“Yes, Executive.”
“That feeling is there, but it just won’t do. No matter how much I try to imagine Deputy Director Yoon’s face on Manager Roh’s body, the picture just doesn’t come to mind. Forget it, try on this three-piece suit and come out.”
“ ... Yes.”
“And come out with a tie on.”
From 1 to 4 PM.
For three hours, being dragged around, we purchased four men’s suits, three pairs of shoes, and two pairs of luxury cufflinks.
The suits he changed into to make the final decision must have been at least thirty, and the shoes, more than twenty pairs.
Returning to the distribution headquarters with Executive, Manager Roh felt a greater sense of relief that the shopping was finally over than envy of Deputy Director Yoon, who could receive such gifts at any time.
“Deputy Director, have you arrived?”
“Oh, Manager Roh.”
Seeing Manager Roh sitting alone in the seat that had been mine for the past three years and three months, I must admit, it felt strange.
And what’s with Manager Roh’s face?
“Is something wrong?”
“What? Something...”
“Your face looks dark. Manager Roh, did you always have dark circles?”
“Do I have dark circles right now?”
It seems Executive’s schedule has been quite tight these past few days.
Not that it’s too much.
Being me, I can adjust Executive’s schedule here and there, cutting it off at a reasonable point, but Manager Roh probably hasn’t acquired that flexibility yet.
Undoubtedly, she must have been waiting for the executive director, who was working overnight, idly browsing her phone, and it’s likely she even went to Pyeongchang-dong last weekend to match his schedule.
When I get the chance, I should share some tips on how to make accompanying the executive director a bit easier.
“Where’s the executive director?”
“He’s been waiting for the deputy general manager.”
After lightly patting the shoulder of Director Roh, who must be overwhelmed with his new duties, I knocked on the executive director’s office door.
“Oh? You’re here?”
He was looking at a townhouse pamphlet.
Specifically, it was a pamphlet for a luxury line of large townhouses completed by Daeyoung Corporation’s domestic construction division C&P.
“Did you have another external meeting over the weekend?”
“Last weekend?”
“Yes.”
“No? I didn’t have any schedule for the weekend.”
Then where did those dark circles under Director Roh’s eyes come from?
“Why are you bringing up an external meeting out of the blue? Anyway, did you report back from your visit to President Min?”
“Yes.”
With my arrival, the executive director seemed ready to leave early, standing up to put on his jacket hanging on the coat rack.
“What was the reason for the meeting?”
Securing one button on his jacket, the executive director asked while grabbing his bag.
“It seems urgent for the corporation, as he’s an external figure moving quickly. He asked to introduce him to the executive director and the head of the overseas construction division before his official start.”
At that, the executive director decided to hear the details on the move, taking his bag and walking towards the exit.
I opened the door of the executive office ahead of him, and after he left, I closed it.
“Director Roh. I’ll be leaving first. You’ve worked hard today.”
“Not at all.”
“As we discussed earlier, try to reschedule next week’s as roughly as possible. Except for the group headquarters-related schedules, try to transfer as many external meeting schedules as possible to the representative office. Since I’ve already discussed everything with the president, just be aware of that.”
“Yes, I understand. But, executive director. You should go together.”
At Director Roh’s words, the executive director frowned and then burst into laughter, saying, “Ah, look at me forgetting.”
I thought Director Roh would also leave for the day, but instead, I came out empty-handed and escorted the executive director to the elevator.
Our eyes met in the reflection of the elevator door that had just closed.
And so, we began a brief conversation through the elevator door.
“So, how were the executive director and the division head there?”
Turning away from the executive for a moment, I glanced at Manager Roh through the elevator doors.
As our eyes met, Manager Roh quickly looked down.
“I haven’t met them yet.”
“What do you mean? Earlier, President Min said he called them to introduce those two to Deputy Director Yoon, didn’t he?”
“I asked to greet them formally when I officially start working, and requested time with Executive Director Park Je-dong instead.”
Reflected in the elevator doors, the executive turned his head towards me.
I too turned my head to look at the executive.
“Why?”
“Because I need to receive the handover of duties. There was no other opportunity but today.”
It was but a fleeting moment, but the executive stared intently at my face, trying to read my intentions for meeting Executive Director Park Je-dong.
He was perceptive.
Then, he let out a slight chuckle.
Basement level two.
The parking elevator opened.
In a hurry for some reason, Manager Roh quickly moved towards the executive’s company car.
As always, I walked a step ahead, escorting the executive to his parked car.
“What’s all this?”
Manager Roh, who had arrived at the executive’s car first, was taking out large shopping bags from the trunk and waited for us.
Before Manager Roh could answer, the executive spoke.
“Don’t just stand there, open the trunk. They’re heavier than they look.”
They did look heavy.
How many shopping bags were there?
Without knowing why, I opened the Porsche’s trunk and helped Manager Roh load the shopping bags.
The trunk was so small that we had to accept that the bags would get crumpled as we tried to fit them all in.
“Huff...”
As if his role was finished here, Manager Roh said,
“Then, I’ll go back up.”
“Yes, do that. Fix the schedule and then you should head home early too.”
I bowed to Manager Roh, who was bowing to us, and opened the passenger door.
Since it wasn’t the car I usually drove, I had to be extra careful not to catch anything on the door, checking the executive’s leg area before gently closing the door.
“Where shall I take you?”
“Let’s go see the house now.”
House?
“Wouldn’t it be convenient to be as close as possible to the Pyeongchang-dong family home? There’s bound to be a call from the main house once or twice a week. Choosing a brand built by our construction division over other group’s brands for our newlywed home would benefit both my image and that of Director Yoon, who is about to register as an executive for Mulsan.”
I recalled the pamphlet that the executive had been looking at earlier.
“Are you talking about the Remius complex?”
“Let’s go see it first. I haven’t been inside to see it in person yet.”
“Understood. But what about the shopping bags we just loaded into the trunk?”
“Oh, those? I stopped by the Gangnam branch earlier today and picked up a few suits and pairs of shoes for Director Yoon. Someone with the title of head director should be prepared for executive appearances, right? Better to die than to suffer. I didn’t want to ask and nag, so I just picked up a few things according to my taste.”
Remius 1011.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity from the outside.
They say it’s 666 square meters.
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