GITDS 08

Chapter 8

“Look at this. Han Tae-kyung is someone who always thinks rationally and calculates everything he does, yet he just accepted that one explanation and let the matter go?”

Chaewon let out an incredulous laugh.

She was currently Haesin Group’s in-house lawyer, and thanks to their parents, who had been close friends since childhood, she and Tae-kyung had grown up like siblings.

As adults, they only saw each other occasionally, but after Tae-kyung lost both his father and older brother at the same time, Chaewon came to see him every single day.

Even when Tae-kyung shouted at her to stop coming or said cruel things to her, Chaewon had remained steadfastly by his side.

Looking back now, Tae-kyung thought that if he hadn’t even had Chaewon back then, he might have completely broken down long ago.

“I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry.”

“You were at least a little cute when you were young, but now you don’t even have that going for you.”

“You still act like a child.”

It was the kind of playful remark that might have made someone laugh, but Tae-kyung merely answered with the same stiff expression.

Chaewon quietly stared at his face for a moment.

Before that accident, Tae-kyung had been a warm person who would occasionally break into a mischievous smile.

But after that day, he had become someone who had forgotten how to smile brightly.

He always acted according to calculations and made decisions based on reason rather than emotion.

It seemed Tae-kyung believed that was how he could protect the company—and himself.

“You’re not drinking?”

Feeling frustrated inside, Chaewon picked up the wineglass in front of her and drained it in one go. Then, noticing Tae-kyung’s untouched wineglass, she asked him.

Tae-kyung picked up the glass of water in front of him.

“Yeah.”

“It’s no fun drinking alone.”

“You drink well enough by yourself.”

He could have had at least one glass with her, but Tae-kyung continued to draw a clear line even with Chaewon, speaking and acting so firmly that she pouted her lips as though she were hurt.

As she refilled her wineglass, Chaewon casually asked,

“Do you want to stay over at my place tonight?”

At Chaewon’s question, Tae-kyung’s eyebrows, which had remained expressionless until then, rose sharply.

He held her gaze for a moment before pulling the corners of his lips into a smile.

“I’ll take you home. Hurry up and eat.”

“Ha…”

Alone in the empty office, Jungwon let out a sigh as she examined the blueprints.

At the bottom of the blueprint was the name of the designer: Min Tae-san.

Seeing her father’s name, she bit her lip tightly.

“The blueprints for exactly that ship are the only ones missing. Then again… I suppose it would be stranger if they were still here…”

Even though a month had passed since Jungwon joined the company as a senior engineer, she was still subjected to the harsh gazes of the people at Haesin.

Every day, people talked about how shameless she was and wondered aloud how she could possibly walk around with her head held high.

As though their words were echoing in her ears again, Jungwon frowned and pressed both hands tightly over her ears.

“They don’t even know the truth.”

But even if they learned the truth now, what would change?

“I promised myself I wouldn’t care what people thought.”

To keep the tears that had welled up from falling, Jungwon raised her head and stared at the ceiling.

Through her slowly blinking vision, she realized that it was already past midnight. She wiped away her tears with the palm of her hand and looked back at the blueprints.

Last Friday, Jungwon had told Do-jin that she wanted to examine all the blueprints the team had designed so far and apply them to the program.

Do-jin had willingly handed the materials over to her.

But that had actually been an excuse.

Jungwon still couldn’t accept that the accident had happened because of a mistake in her father’s design.

She thought that if she carefully examined the blueprints of the ships that had been built around that time, perhaps she might find even the smallest trace of something.

That was why she had been looking through blueprints like this every night.

But nowhere could she find any trace of her father.

“A shipbuilding company couldn’t possibly have deleted all the blueprints. There has to be something somewhere… Ha…”

She had thought that she would be able to find some kind of clue once she entered this place.

But that had been nothing more than Jungwon’s wishful thinking.

She wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, but there were things that were likely to take much longer than she’d expected, including the blueprint designs themselves.

Jungwon let out a deep sigh.

At that moment, she felt a brief vibration from her pocket.

She checked the caller and hesitated for a moment before answering.

― Have you been well? I’ve been wondering what Haesin is like now that you’ve returned after all this time.

“Don’t bother asking how I’ve been. Just tell me why you called.”

At Jungwon’s cold response, Kyle burst into laughter on the other end of the phone, apparently finding something amusing.

― Why do you think I called Ms. Min Jungwon? There’s only one reason. How is the program you’ve been working with for the past month?

“……”

“It’s a well-made program. With just this, I feel like you could exaggerate and say we could build any kind of ship.”

― That’s good news. So, when do you think you’ll be able to provide the blueprints?

“Don’t rush me. I’ve only just learned how to use the program. Besides, designing a transport ship takes even longer. It’s normally a job that takes about a year.”

― A year? Ha-ha, well, this is unexpected. I didn’t know you were such a relaxed person, Ms. Min Jungwon. If you think you won’t be able to do it, tell me now. I need to start looking for someone else as soon as possible.

At Kyle’s sarcastic remark, Jungwon’s head began throbbing.

She placed a hand against her forehead and furrowed her brow.

Her gaze instinctively shifted toward the tightly closed office door.

― Oh, right. Did I tell you that your sister might be able to receive a lung transplant this time?

“What?”

Jungwon’s eyes widened at Kyle’s words.

Her sister’s lungs were already so severely damaged that she had been told there was no way for her to survive without a transplant.

They had received offers of lungs from brain-dead donors several times before, but the organs had never been compatible with her sister.

But did this mean they had finally found lungs that matched?

Jungwon was too shocked to say anything.

Then she heard Kyle’s low laughter through the phone again.

― You sound really surprised. I suppose I should have told you sooner.

“Is that… really true? How is that possible? We’ve been struggling because there haven’t been any lungs compatible with my sister…”

― Things like that are all possible if you have enough money.

“……”

― The surgery is in one month. So if you want to save your sister, you’ll need to bring me the first set of blueprints by then.

Kyle cruelly reminded her of her true purpose, using her sister’s life as collateral.

Jungwon’s hand trembled violently around the phone.

“I understand. Then I’ll…”

― Ms. Jungwon.

Just as she was about to hang up, Kyle suddenly called her name.

― I’m giving you this advice because you seem to be having trouble deceiving people and stealing the blueprints without being noticed… Do you know the easiest way to deceive someone?

“……”

― You win the heart of the person you’re trying to deceive. It’s even better if you develop a deep relationship with them, like lovers. A man who’s fallen in love can give a woman anything. Even his life, if she asks for it. Foolish, isn’t it?

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

― I’m saying you should win Han Tae-kyung’s heart. If that’s too difficult, then at least try it with the engineer who created the program. Ms. Jungwon, you’re quite pretty, aren’t you? Do your best. You have to earn your money’s worth.

At his insulting words, Jungwon’s hand trembled around the phone.

When she failed to answer, Kyle told her that he would contact her again soon and ended the call.

Jungwon squeezed her eyes shut.

Her situation was so miserable that this was all she could do.

A deep sense of despair washed over her.

“Ha… I really hate this… I want to give up on everything…”

For a long time afterward, Jungwon continued staring blankly at the ceiling.

Then she quietly muttered to herself, gathered the blueprints she had been examining, and stood up.

Jungwon walked down the empty hallway while rubbing her aching shoulder.

She stopped in front of the elevator, pressed the button for the lower floor, and briefly closed her eyes.

When the elevator arrived with a chime, Jungwon finally slowly lifted her heavy eyelids.

At that moment, her eyes met those of the person inside.

The man was leaning against the elevator wall as though his day had been just as exhausting as hers.

It was Han Tae-kyung.

He looked at Jungwon and asked,

“Are you still not done with work?”