Deal Breaker - Chapter 50

“Secretary Noh, isn’t that your apartment?”

Hyeji-ya.

After that night, he never called her so tenderly again.

That night, it had only been manners. Manners that crossed a line.

That single warm word had melted Hyeji’s frozen heart. But when it passed on without staying, it left behind nothing but a gaping hole that let in the cold. It reminded her of her birth father, who had wandered into her heart at will, only to leave behind an emptiness.

Kanghyeon had acted with good intentions, yet Hyeji was hurt. And perhaps, she had resented him a little. If it was going to be like this, he shouldn’t have crossed that line in the first place.

Indeed, a wounded creature with black hair should never be taken in carelessly.

He was the one who had taught her about s*x, and he was also the one who had taught her how to draw a line when it came to loveless s*x. Like a duckling imprinting on the first being it saw, she had followed Kanghyeon’s lead in everything, trusting that he knew best. Six years had passed this way.

The distance between them shifted in width from time to time, but it had become a permanent chasm, and it was one that could never be crossed.

Like the Han River dividing Gangbuk and Gangnam.

The car crossed the red bridge spanning the river. At two-thirty in the afternoon, they returned to the office later than scheduled.

“Hello, sir. Did you enjoy your lunch?”

The receptionist stood and greeted Kanghyeon with a radiant smile the moment she saw him.

Over the past six years, Hyeji had never seen Han Kanghyeon spend the night with another woman, but she had seen countless victims of his goodwill. The receptionist was one of them.

“How is your father’s health these days, Nuri-ssi?”

“Thanks to you, sir, he’s doing so, so much better.”

Nuri’s father had undergone major surgery for cancer last year. At that time, the employees of the company had raised funds to help her, and upon hearing the news, Kanghyeon had personally extended an unprecedented level of support: covering the full cost of surgery and care, and giving Nuri three months of paid leave.

When she returned from that leave, the way she looked at Kanghyeon had changed.

‘Did my eyes look like that too, back then?’

But Kanghyeon’s gaze toward Nuri hadn’t changed. She was simply an employee in unfortunate circumstances.

‘Did he look at me like that too?’

Maybe it was his position as a corporate owner, or maybe it was simply his inability to stand by while someone fell into the abyss. Kanghyeon was generous with his help for those in need. Hyeji was undoubtedly one of the names on that list.

But that man… he would give freely of his money, but never his affection.

Han Kanghyeon helped everyone, regardless of gender or age, but it was only women who suffered from his coldly impartial kindness. A man who checked every box for a prince on a white horse or a benevolent benefactor suddenly extending his hand, how could a woman not imagine herself the heroine of a Cinderella story?

Cinderella and Daddy-Long-Legs should both be banned books. They are harmful material. They make women dream pointless dreams only to end up hurt.

For six years, Hyeji had watched from the sidelines as Kanghyeon created countless victims wherever he went.

But really, had he done anything wrong? It was the women’s fault for mistaking his goodwill for affection. And yet, to act in a way that made it impossible not to like him, only to tell them not to… that made him a bad man.

“Hello, sir.”

On the way to the Director’s office, a female employee sitting at a desk in the hallway greeted him, and Kanghyeon stopped walking.

“Minju-ssi, that bag looks sturdy. I don’t think I’ve seen it before. Did you buy a new one?”

“No, sir, I’ve had it for a while. I just decided to bring it out again.”

“Ah… It’s nice.”

“Really? Thank you.”

The woman blushed and smiled shyly. Just like that, another victim was born. To him, this was no more than small talk, like commenting on the weather.

But it gave the impression of affection. Kanghyeon knowing Hyeji’s underwear size or keeping track of what bags his female employees carried was nothing more than his keen observation and sharp memory, but to those unaware of this, it would feel like interest.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“No, I’m fine.”

As they entered the secretary’s office, Hyeji asked, and Kanghyeon shook his head, heading for his office.

Returning to her desk with a cup of coffee she’d made for herself in the small break room adjoining the secretary’s office, Hyeji’s face froze.

A box of chocolates sat on her desk. The receptionist had just given it to Kanghyeon as a gift. Being a good man, he hadn’t refused, but he had no intention of eating it, so he passed it on to her.

This was precisely why Hyeji never gave him her madeleines.

Who would he give her gift to? She didn’t want to see proof with her own eyes that she was nothing special, that she received the same treatment as everyone else.

He was kind to everyone equally. In other words, he treated no one as special.

A man kind to all, yet guilty because he loved no one.

Han Kanghyeon was a good man, and that made him a bad man.