Dry Monsoon - chapter 1.3

Even though Kwon Lee-hyun had made eye contact with her, he did not avoid her eyes. Instead, he stared at her with a palpable gaze that made her feel embarrassed, and lightly tipped his chin.
He read the pamphlet on his lap and listened to the secretary’s report without rest. In the meantime, the man would raise his eyes to meet Ji-eun several times and smiled gracefully.
By any chance, does he recognize me?
If so, a pretty tricky situation would arise. Ji-eun tried not to give Kwon Lee-hyun attention as much as possible, but it wasn’t easy. Whenever she met his eyes, she felt naked, and when she felt his stare, it felt like her skin was being ripped off.
Ji-eun felt like she was drowning in dark waters, and her hands began to sweat.
He didn’t seem to hide the arrogance that was lurking beneath his neat expression. His personality was reflected in the way he would smile with only the tip of his mouth while staring at his opponent, seeming as if he was measuring them.
“Hah, I was so nervous I thought I would die.”
“Good job, good job. I’m so proud of you!”
Soo-wan returned to his seat and high-fived the staff before taking a seat next to Director Ko.
His face, which was overflowing with joy, hardened for a moment when his eyes met Ji-eun, so she looked away first.
But soon after, he began to laugh brightly again and stroked his red cheeks as usual – until he heard a distinct voice.
“Lim Soo-wan. Congratulations.”
Ji-eun, who was lost in thought, concealed her surprise and looked down at the hand placed on top of Soo-wan’s shoulder. A man stood behind him – he wore a wristwatch on his right hand, and his body carried a lighter scent than she had expected.
Perhaps due to the appearance of an unexpected character, Soo-wan, who turned pale, jumped up from his seat and shook Lee-hyun’s hand.
“Ah, hello!”
“Yes.”
“How did Executive Director Kwon know I was…”
“I am personally acquainted with Painter Kim. I’ve heard a lot about the villa design.”
Soo-wan’s jaw dropped open, and his eyes crossed back and forth between Ji-eun and Kwon Lee-hyun without cease. Everyone was surprised by his sudden appearance. With no way to control the excitement, Director Ko mumbled something to Manager Yoon, asking if this was a conspiracy to steal the talents from their architecture office.
Kwon Lee-hyun’s eyes calmly read their expressions. With a seemingly invisible smile, he looked over the group and lowered his voice.
“I have a commission request. It’s personal, so I’d like to work with Lim Soo-wan if possible.”
“A commission? Of course! I’m flattered. It’s the greatest honor! Please contact me anytime!”
“I’m glad you have time. I’ll get in touch with you.”
Soo-wan bowed 90 degrees with his hands clasped together.
As Lee-hyun turned to leave, Director Ko, who stretched out his hand to shake just in time, pinched Soo-wan’s thigh.
Soo-wan smiled and screamed silently as if he was doing ventriloquism, and the director grumbled with a solemn face.
“What the hell are you doing, Lim? What’s the point of putting your foot in a big company? Just shake hands and end it, no glory!”
“Ah, Director. It’s SR, how can we pretend not to know them, yeah?”
“Why not! Don’t you know that being involved with a big company is equivalent to ‘one man sows and another man reaps’? He’s trying to steal your designs.”
“Does that even make sense? It’s a personal request. Whatever it is, there’s nothing bad about working with Kwon Lee-hyun. Don’t you think?”
“Damn it, that’s what you think! What’s gotten into you? Let’s go! Everyone’s going out, so you don’t have to watch it till the end.”
Director Ko made a big impression and left without hiding his angry expression. Ji-eun told Manager Yoon, who couldn’t do anything, to follow the director and went over to sit next to Lim Soo-wan. With his head down, he glanced at Ji-eun and then quickly averted his eyes.
“Do you think I’m selfish?”
“It’s not so selfish.”
“It’s unconscionable. I submitted the project we worked on together under my name.”
On the other hand, Ji-eun, who sat with her legs crossed, scratched her side with a subdued expression and grabbed his hand.
“Stop talking about it, alright? If you keep doing that, I’ll feel uncomfortable and won’t want to see you, Senior. No matter what choice you make, it’s up to you. Do whatever you want. Don’t get stressed.”
Her words failed to alleviate his guilt, but she also hated the exhausting situation and wanted to leave the venue as soon as possible. Earlier, Kwon Lee-hyun said he had something he wanted to ask – an extremely personal request.
The reason they had made eye contact so far was not because he recognized her, but simply because he was curious about the employees of SIN.
When she made the realization, her face became feverish.
She felt embarrassed because she got caught up in her own excessive self-consciousness and made an assumption.
Lim Soo-wan followed her out of the venue in good faith. When they came out, Director Ko, who was smoking a cigarette, patted Soo-wan’s shoulder with a softer expression. As if nothing had happened, the men got on the shuttle bus heading to the dining hall, shouting out comradeship.
“Men are children. Ji-eun understands. Director Ko, you’re being more sensitive because you’re still in a lawsuit with the bastard who stole the blueprint from a big company last year.”
“That’s still going on? I didn’t know.”
“As long as the law of preserving the total amount of idiots exists, you’ll probably have to deal with me for the rest of your life.”
Ji-eun held back her laughter as she got on the bus with Manager Yoon.
If the law of preserving idiots was true, does it mean that out of all the idiots around her, she should be keeping the less idiotic ones close? That way, there would be no change in the total amount, and the amount of preservation will also be maintained.
“But it’s bizarre. There are a lot of design and construction offices. I’m sure there are dozens of affiliates and subcontractors under SR alone…why us who have nothing to do with it?”
Director Ko, who sat diagonally from them, answered Yoon Sun-woong’s question.
“He said he’s close to Painter Kim. Maybe he wants to build something similar.”
“Is that so? But is that the only reason?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How would I know what goes on inside his head?”
Ji-eun also thought about the reason, but couldn’t come up with a clear answer.
The circumstances were the same at the after-party event called Winner Diner.
The event at the hotel’s sky lounge where she stayed allowed all of its guests to get drunk with free drinks, food, and music.
Way too excessively.

* * *
“Oh, our Lee Ji-eun! Our Ji-eunnie!”
“Get a hold of yourself! Senior Lim. Senior!”
Ji-eun helped Lim Soo-wan, who was terribly drunk, get on the elevator. Unlike the rest of the office staff assigned to the 8th floor, Soo-wan was staying on the 10th floor. Thanks to that, they all laughed bitterly and said they would submit their works next year.
When she put his card on the sensor, the button for the 10th floor automatically lit up. However, Manager Yoon, who was assisting Ji-eun with Soo-wan, saw Director Ko reeling from the far distance and ran over to help.
“Senior, walk a little. Get a grip on yourself, yeah?”
Ji-eun shook Soo-wan, who was holding onto her. The soft carpet on the 10th floor was slightly darker than the 8th floor, and the hallway was wider. Egon Schiele’s paintings hung along the dark red wall. Normally, she would have taken the time to appreciate it, but she was distracted at the moment.
Why was he so heavy!
“I collaborated too, right? Ji-eun, I actually worked on the design harder than you. But why am I so annoyed? What good are these plaques at all!”
Soo-wan’s voice rang out loudly as he talked with a twisted tongue.
Ji-eun had no strength to speak, so she dragged him to the front of his room. As she loosened her arm around him to insert his key card into the slot, he collapsed onto the hallway floor.
Fuck…
She swallowed the curse in a low voice and opened the door. Now to pull him up from the floor. Suddenly, Soo-wan, who was lying on the floor with his eyes closed, pulled Ji-eun’s arm.
“Ahh!”
She lost her balance and fell onto Lim Soo-wan, but fortunately, she didn’t get stuck because she had one hand on the floor. However, it wasn’t safe either. Ji-eun covered her throbbing wrist and raised her knee.
“Get up if you’re in your right mind. Are you crazy? What’s wrong with you? Senior, this is the hallway!”
Seeing Ji-eun yell, Soo-wan blinked his eyes blankly.
“I know. But why aren’t you saying anything?”
“What on earth do I say? If you’re sober, I’ll just go. I’m tired of this nonsense.”
“Don’t tell me you like me?”
What?
Ji-eun’s expression immediately distorted, as if she heard the sound of nails.
“You’re crazy, Senior.”
As she nervously retracted her arm held by him, Soo-wan jumped up and grabbed her shoulders with a clear, sober look on his face.
“I stole your design. Are you a pushover1? Aren’t you mad at me? Or are you planning to stab me in the back? Agh, you’re driving me crazy! Say something!”
This was why she didn’t like to deal with drunk people. Ji-eun, who shook her head with an exhausted expression, pushed Soo-wan away and picked up her handbag from the floor. At that moment, Soo-wan’s eyes, which were glued on her, gleamed with lust.
“Ji-eun, do you want to go talk in my room?”
“Huh?”
“I mean…”
There was a threat instinctively felt by the gliding hand on her cheek. Ji-eun mustered up strength in her voice.
“I won’t listen. If you’re drunk, just quietly get some rest.”
“What?”
“Pushover? Will you be satisfied if I called you trash? Do you think I’m okay? Now stop it because I’m annoyed too.”
Twisting herself out of his arms, she ran towards the elevator. She then forced the half-closed doors open and threw herself in, quickly scanning her key card.
“Ji-eun!”
Soo-wan, who ran over to the closing doors with an explosive face, shouted her name, but Ji-eun pressed the close button without a moment’s hesitation.
What the hell was this? Her already chaotic mind was entangled in a messy net, and she felt nauseated. As she wrapped her arms around herself to help with the rising chills, she felt a throbbing pain in her wrist.
While rubbing her aching wrist, she raised her head. As her mind was in turmoil, she didn’t notice another presence when she got on the elevator. It was at this moment that she saw a man’s figure reflected in the metal door.
He was dressed in the tailcoat she saw at the event. The rather tired-looking man took out his card and said.
“I’m going up to the 15th floor. You should get off; you’re on the wrong ride.”
Kwon Lee-hyun’s cold gaze glided down to her bare feet.
Ji-eun bit her lips and looked around for her missing high heels. She figured that in her haste, she ran without even knowing that they came off. Ji-eun felt embarrassed and wanted to hide in a hole, but she said with a resolute voice.
“I’ll take care of it.”
With a slight nod of his head, he drew his gaze away from her.
How annoying.
* * *
The man’s bright features were apparent despite the low light and high-pressure atmosphere.
Lee-hyun sat in the dark bedroom reading the report, and looked up when Secretary Kim opened the door and walked in.
“Was there?”
“Yes. As you said, it’s a pair of women’s shoes.”
He stared at the high heels brought by Secretary Kim and smiled. Then he looked at the report again and calmly signed his name.
“I guess I was mistaken. The designer was Lee Ji-eun.”
“So, what do you want to do, Executive Director?”
“I’ll have to change it to her.”
Covering the file, he put down his pen and the corner of his mouth quirked up, then he laughed.
Kim Eung-soo’s villa designer was, in fact, someone else?
Standing up, Lee-hyun stared at the high heels with calm eyes, then took out a cigarette and said.
“Lee Ji-eun, find out her number and report it to me.”
“Yes.”
Opening the balcony door, he laughed as if it was fun to see the high heels in Secretary Kim’s hand. The face of the woman, who couldn’t hide her shame with her pale face, was clear as it flashed in his mind.
Lee Ji-eun…
Notes
The term he called her is 호구 (ho-gu) which literally translates to ‘tiger’s mouth’. It’s a Korean slang meaning ‘a stupid person who is easily deceived by others’ or ‘a person who is so foolish that everyone uses them for their own benefits’. Essentially, someone who is easily taken advantage of.