Affectionate Obsession - Chapter 50

Junhyeok sat at his office desk, staring intently at the monitor.

It was the sales data uploaded that morning.

A sales graph, occupying one part of the report, showed a sharp decline compared to the previous quarter.

This was something he had fully anticipated. It was why he had prepared countermeasures to minimize the impact when he exposed RM Food’s ingredient issues.

However, the countermeasures he had prepared were not as effective as he had hoped.

In a way, it was natural. To maintain performance, his department store could not afford to lose its VIP customers to other department stores, and to prevent that, they had to offer commensurate treatment.

Knowing this, he had still provoked Kim Taekwang, who was responsible for a large portion of HN Department Store’s sales. Thus, even with countermeasures in place, the outcome was inevitable.

Junhyeok took off his glasses and leaned back deeply in his chair. He closed his eyes, pressing his temples against the throbbing headache.

He could recover the lost sales. He was confident he could.

The problem, however, was the steepness of the decline and the timing; it was the first quarter since he took office.

While a poor performance this quarter wouldn’t immediately bring down HN Department Store, that was only from his perspective.

The shareholders’ perspective would be different.

The moment this issue became known to the shareholders, they would first assess the immediate losses HN Department Store had to bear, and then question the competence of the current CEO who failed to prevent the situation.

Of course, he didn’t think he would be dismissed from his position because of this incident.

He had achieved considerable success before, and his father, Chairman Jeong, wouldn’t easily cast him aside.

However, trust once lost with shareholders would be very difficult to regain.

“Hoo…”

Junhyeok let out a heavy sigh.

Just then, as if sensing the turmoil within Junhyeok, a knock sounded.

“Mr. CEO. The Chairman has called for you to come to the head office.”

This was the report from Secretary Kim, the one Junhyeok wanted to avoid most at this moment.

“How in the world are you handling things!!”

Junhyeok stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze lowered. He knew this would only fuel Chairman Jeong’s rage, but paradoxically, it was the only way to calm him down.

Anything he said would sound like an excuse, and even if it weren’t, the only way to explain would be to confess everything about Yeonhui.

For Junhyeok, being exposed for Yeonhui’s situation was a far greater problem to avoid than his current predicament.

“What about the penalty paid to RM Food, and why are sales so much worse than when Park Seungjun was CEO, right after you took the helm?!”

“Father, you know that there was embezzlement occurring between RM Food and the dismissed CEO Park, don’t you? That’s why you fired CEO Park.”

Junhyeok asked calmly, his voice more measured than usual.

His demeanor poured more fuel onto Chairman Jeong’s already blazing anger.

“And so you deliberately leaked the RM Food ingredient issue to the press? Didn’t you know that would damage the department store?”

“……”

“Explain to me, in a way I can understand, why you took it upon yourself to handle that issue in such a manner.”

Junhyeok’s eyebrows twitched minutely. He had thought the Chairman didn’t know, as there had been no severe reprimand, but it seemed he was mistaken.

Junhyeok’s mind raced. In truth, he had no proper excuse regarding that issue.

Leaking it to the press was not the only way to resolve the Bonheur problem.

If anything, it was the worst possible approach, and there were many ways to resolve it quietly.

Junhyeok couldn’t easily open his mouth. Impatient, Chairman Jeong’s anger flared again.

“Can’t you hear me asking for a reason? After hearing that you were responsible for this, I had to take my blood pressure medication, which I had finally managed to stop taking this morning!!”

Junhyeok swallowed the sigh that filled his mouth. He hadn’t failed to prepare for this issue; rather, from the beginning, there was no room for excuses.

Since he had done it knowing this, no solution would suddenly come to mind now.

Junhyeok took a deep breath. In that moment, his lips, which had been tense, returned to their natural shape.

“I have nothing to say even if you dismiss me over this matter. I will accept whatever punishment you decide.”

“You son of a—!!”

Chairman Jeong finally stood up abruptly and raised his hand. Junhyeok slowly closed his eyelids.

If he could get away with it by taking a slap, it would be cleaner.

But what brushed past Junhyeok’s skin was not Chairman Jeong’s hand, but his voice.

“Find some excuse, somehow.”

Junhyeok slowly raised his eyelids. He saw Chairman Jeong, holding the back of his neck, breathing with his eyes closed.

Junhyeok did not reply.

Chairman Jeong likely hadn’t expected a reply.

His prediction was not wrong.

Chairman Jeong’s lips moved again.

“Even if I want to be your shield, I need a valid reason. So, somehow, create that reason. Get that face out of my sight before my blood pressure bursts and I collapse.”

Chairman Jeong waved his hand dismissively, looking utterly exasperated.

It was a more anticlimactic conclusion than he expected. There was no reason to dislike it.

Junhyeok bowed respectfully to Chairman Jeong. Then, he quickly left the chairman’s office.

It would be difficult to create the reason Chairman Jeong wanted, but at least he had bought himself some time.

He had to move quickly. Before Choi Sookhee, and now his own father, turned against him.

He had to proceed with as many plans as possible while his father remained unaware.

Yeonhui stared blankly at the pot of stew bubbling on the stove.

It was still a long time before Junhyeok would be home.

She knew she was preparing an early dinner, but she had nothing else to do today.

For the past few days, she had stopped acting as Yoon Sera and had just stayed home.

It was because Junhyeok had told her she should rest for a while.

‘For now, most of the work that needs to be done is mine, so you should rest. Calm your mind.’

Yeonhui had not responded to his words. She thought having such time might not be bad. Right now, both her body and mind were exhausted.

As Junhyeok had said, she intended to rest and compose herself for a while. However, spending time doing nothing was not as easy as she thought.

“Haa…”

Yeonhui let out a soft sigh.

She had thought resting would help, but her condition hadn’t improved much since the charity auction event she attended with Junhyeok.

Meeting Sookhee must have been quite overwhelming. Moreover, the conversation she had with Sookhee that day could not be forgotten for a moment.

The more she replayed it, the more she realized the contempt Sookhee had shown that day, which she had overlooked at the time, now struck her with a fresh realization.

This was what pushed Yeonhui deeper into despair.

And so.

Even though she had been told there was nothing for her to do for now, she hadn’t been able to stay still for even a moment.

She cleaned the entire house, and to avoid falling into distracting thoughts, she kept her body constantly moving.

Only by doing so could she pass the time, and only by doing so could she prevent her already poor condition from worsening, even if it didn’t improve.

However, with each passing day, the tasks she could do became increasingly limited.

It was natural that the number of chores decreased when she only looked for work within the house.

Today, even the few tasks she had couldn’t be found, so she decided to rest for a change, but that resolve lasted less than ten minutes.

Yeonhui sighed repeatedly and shook her head a couple of times.

She felt her mind clearing up a little.

Blinking with clearer eyes, she saw the stew bubbling on the stove was about to overflow.

Once this was finished, she would truly have nothing left to do.

Even as she thought this, Yeonhui turned off the heat and shut off the gas.

She couldn’t burn the stew just to create something to do.

She covered the pot with a lid and looked around the kitchen. As expected, there was nothing to do.

Finally, she went to the living room and sat on the sofa. Just then, her silent phone began to vibrate.

Yeonhui picked up her phone with dry hands. However, her pupils dilated the moment she saw the name on the screen.

Yeonhui hastily brought the phone to her ear.

“Ah, Auntie! What’s wrong? Did something happen to Mom, to Mom…!”

—Yeonhui! Mom woke up! Come to the hospital quickly, quickly!!

Before Yeonhui could finish speaking, Miyeong’s tearful voice rushed through.

She couldn’t believe it.

Just a few days ago, she had heard the attending physician advise her to prepare herself, and Yeonhui had almost given up.

But, but…

Unaware that the phone had slipped from her grasp and fallen to the floor, Yeonhui hurried towards her room.

She grabbed her coat and quickly left the house.

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