TSG 50

Ha Jin-seong was half-lying on a chair and looking at the ceiling. There was a loud noise outside and the door slammed open.

“Managing Director, you can’t just barge in like this…”

“I have something to say.”

“Still, you should follow the procedure.”

Ha Min-hyuk listened with one ear to the secretary’s voice trying to stop him. Right now, the most important thing for him was to see Ha Jin-seong.

“Get out.”

It was Ha Jin-seong who organized the situation. He gestured for the secretary to leave and pointed to a chair for the visibly agitated Ha Min-hyuk.

“It seems like you have a lot to say. Go ahead.”

“Why did you do that?”

Neither Ha Jin-seong nor Ha Min-hyuk cared about adhering to their respective ranks within the company. Right now, they were more interested in having an engaging conversation.

“Last time you said you came as an observer, but this time what? Why is hyung representing me in the bidding?”

“It’s been a long time since I heard the word ‘hyung’ from you.”

Ha Jin-seong playfully responded to Ha Min-hyuk’s words. Normally, just looking at Ha Min-hyuk would make him irritated, but now he felt like he couldn’t stop laughing.

It should have been done this way from the beginning. Ha Min-hyuk was going on a rampage even more than when he was openly ignored and tormented.

Ha Jin-seong forced himself to laugh and looked at his half-brother.

“What’s so great about being brothers? Give me this project.”

“…What?”

“If it’s about achievements, I’ll give you something bigger. So, hand this over to me.”

Ha Jin-seong did not interfere with this project. Instead, he sent the people he’d recruited through Ha Jin-woong to look for other work. He’s even been fawning over Ha Min-hyuk, which made one wonder if he might have grown fond of his younger brother overnight, but that wasn’t the case.

“It’s because I got to meet someone more often through it.”

Ha Jin-seong made up a kind tone and gently lifted Ha Min-hyuk’s mood. Ha Min-hyuk could not say anything due to the kindness that had not been seen by Ha Jin-seong just a few days ago.

Shouldn’t Ha Jin-seong feel uncomfortable from the moment he showed up? Yet, not only did he send the secretary away, but he also kept smiling. Instead of the disdainful gaze and suspicion, there was joy.

Ha Min-hyuk swept his arm as he saw the smiling face of his half-brother who had changed so much. As he was trying to calm down the goosebumps, he suddenly remembered why Ha Jin-seong was like this.

‘No way.’

Ha Min-hyuk looked at Ha Jin-seong with an anxious face.

“That’s right. I’m interested.”

In an instant, the face of a certain person flashed through his mind.

“I’m just going to watch closely since he’s the type of person who doesn’t move as a scout. I just want to give him a reason to leave when it’s appropriate.”

Ha Jin-seong spoke in a friendly tone as if he were speaking to his own younger brother, Ha Jin-woong.

“So give it up. We are brothers who will lead this company in the future, so you can give it to this hyung, right?”

He even treated Ha Min-hyuk as his younger brother.

It was suspicious enough to make Ha Min-hyuk feel at ease while preparing to stab him in the back.

“Don’t look at me like that. This time, I am accepting you with a very generous heart.”

Still, Ha Min-hyuk’s suspicions did not go away, so Ha Jin-seong wondered what to do and suddenly found an invitation placed on one side.

“Let’s go there together.”

⍣⍣⍣

Shin Tae-oh temporarily postponed the meeting with Seongha Interior. It was one thing to break an appointment, but it was a little disappointing that the next one wasn’t scheduled.

So Se-hyun came to Seongha’s interior design office alone. Han Jeong-hwa, who was waiting at that moment called the CEO over.

“I’m Park Ha-seong, the CEO of Seongha.”

A man with a strong physique and as tall as Shin Tae-oh appeared. To be honest, Se-hyun’s first impression was that he was a person who was good at sports rather than artistic sense. The double eyelid eyes were particularly impressive.

“I’m Ahn Se-hyun.”

“Please come this way.”

Se-hyun couldn’t take his eyes off Park Ha-seong’s back. No, it was just his back that was visible. It was so broad that it obscured everything else.

For Se-hyun, who was always comparing the character to the original, this was the first person he saw who left a strong first impression.

⍣⍣⍣

Park Ha-seong was a character whose name was not even mentioned in the original work. Se-hyun has seen many characters so far. Among them, there were some who were very famous, like Ha Min-hyuk and Yoo Jin-ha, but there were also many who were not, like Park Ha-seong.

But why did he recall the original upon seeing Park Ha-seong? It was because of his presence.

‘Even though it has such a big presence, he wasn’t actually mentioned in a single line.’’

Se-hyun stared at Park Ha-sung even more because he thought it was so fascinating.

“Frankly, I’ve been curious why SR Construction would seek me out.”

As Park Ha-seong spoke, Se-hyun’s gaze casually swept the surroundings and returned. Curious about what they wanted him for… It couldn’t be that hard to guess.

Right away, he saw several business cards from various construction companies nearby.

“The CEO has been interested in the artistic outcomes.”

Regardless of how Park Ha-seong presented himself, Se-hyun only answered honestly.

“But I couldn’t keep the appointment with the CEO.”

Park Ha-seong acted awkwardly. He acknowledged his mistake readily this time. Watching him, Se-hyun felt a slight concern about his innocence for doing business.

Seeing him like this…

‘How could someone like me manipulate him?’

“I believe another opportunity will arise. The CEO was deeply impressed by the recent cruise ship interior.”

“How do you know that? You’re right.”

Seeing Park Ha-seong react like this, it was good to have researched various things before coming. Establishing such a connection now would secure a place for Shin Tae-oh the next time he came. That’s the role of a secretary: to smooth things out for the boss beforehand.

Now that the sudden event called Consortium has occurred, Se-hyun thought it was necessary to prepare more diverse cards in advance.

“While I was wondering if there was anything else I could do, I stumbled upon it.”

“That’s what our CEO wants. He wants to move away from uniform-looking houses and find individuality.”

Se-hyun chimed in, lifting Park Ha-seong up.

“Talking like that makes me really want to meet him. And I’ve recently taken charge of something. Would you like to see it?”

Se-hyun showed interest by nodding.

“I paid a lot of attention to this because it was the place where they decided to hold the party. They wanted a feeling that had never been seen before without significantly altering the existing structure.”

Park Ha-seong showed the photos on a tablet.

“It’s definitely different from an ordinary party.”

“Yes. We divided the space into many spaces and decorated each with a different concept.”

Se-hyun looked at each photo intently, and Park Ha-seong’s explanation was filled with enthusiasm. Anyway, this was where the party was being held and he decorated it like this.

“I’ve seen it well. Here’s my business card.”

After meeting the CEO and exchanging business cards, Se-hyun stood up from his seat.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes.”

“We’ve only exchanged greetings, haven’t we?”

“Ah…”

Se-hyun realized the reason for Park Ha-seong confusion and kindly explained.

“I came just to exchange greetings. If there’s anything to discuss, it will come down as instructions from the CEO.”

He felt regretful for not being able to have a more substantial conversation.

“Then, I’ll see you again.”

Se-hyun turned around with a proud face.

If Taenyang mentions Seongha, he should connect them right away.

⍣⍣⍣

Back at the company, Se-hyun moved with heavy steps when he heard that Lee Jin-ho was looking for him.

“It’s suspicious.”

What could it be that he wants to see him before seeing Shin Tae-oh?

“Should I not go?”

For a moment, he felt the urge to pretend not to notice, but he quickly dismissed it. If he’s being called by his superior, he should go.

“Come in.”

Greeted warmly by Lee Jin-ho, Se-hyun approached him cautiously. He had always been good to him. However, when he approached with such a smile, there seemed to be something more.

“I won’t be able to do any more work this week.”

Already busy as Shin Tae-oh’s personal secretary, he felt uneasy seeing Lee Jin-ho smile so nicely at him, considering all the other tasks he had to handle.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

As expected, he was trying to delegate tasks.

“What is it?”

Even though he didn’t like it, Se-hyun quickly gave in, feeling like he should take it on.

“Here’s an invitation.”

Judging by the fact that Lee Jin-ho offered it so quickly, it seemed like he knew Se-hyun would accept it. Se-hyun picked up the invitation and looked at its contents. He understood that it was a sudden schedule.

“Oh!”

And as soon as he saw where it was from, he nodded his head.

It was a charity party.

“You can just accompany the CEO.”

“Oh… Not the Chief, but me?”

“I would like that too, but the CEO hasn’t been in a good mood lately.”

Se-hyun nodded slightly. Shin Tae-oh hadn’t been in a good mood lately anyway.

For some reason, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but he knew when it had started.

‘When I handed over Yoo Jin-ha’s gift.’

One weekend passed after that, and Shin Tae-oh was still the same.

“Let me see this first.”

Se-hyun gently waved the invitation to change the topic about Shin Tae-oh.

It was a private party for VIP guests. Shin Tae-oh, Ha Min-hyuk, and Ha Jin-seong would attend it.

‘I wonder what happened then.’

Throughout the party, Ha Jin-seong went straight to Yoo Jin-ha, ran into Ha Min-hyuk, and even Shin Tae-oh got involved, making it a truly massive party.

“I’ll be back.”

With such a spectacle, of course, he would attend.