Gentle Giant Chapter 24
“Hyung, I’ll go to the company quickly and come back. I’ll return in the evening.”
Dain, who had been sleeping soundly, rubbed his eyes at the feeling of his body being gently shaken. He heard a short laugh from beside his pillow, and at the same time, a hand stroking his head followed.
“Juho…?”
“Yes. I woke you up to tell you I’m going out, hyung. Sorry. You can sleep more. I’ll call you later.”
“Oh, okay. Have a safe trip…”
“Yes, hyung.”
Leaving behind Dain, who couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality as he waved his hand, Juho left the room with quiet steps.
As expected, Korea’s summer was hot and humid enough to be suffocating. Juho’s face instantly crumpled as he got into the car that had been heated by the sunlight. Opening the windows and turning the air conditioning to maximum, Juho soon picked up his phone to contact the company.
“I’m coming now.”
-Yes. I’ll be waiting downstairs.
“Yes. I’ll arrive in 30 minutes.”
A conversation at a completely different temperature from when he talked with Dain took place, and the short call ended.
How much more greed could they have for a company that would run well on its own? Juho couldn’t understand his mother’s excessive desire to achieve dramatic results in his generation.
The reason Juho obtained his MBA faster than others wasn’t because he wanted to help the family business, but because of his personality that hated losing to others. He wasn’t laid-back enough to tolerate someone looking down on him from above. Honestly, there was no other driving force that could move him besides that.
As for the family business, there were his two older brothers, and at worst, his mother was keeping her eyes wide open like that, so there was no way it would fail.
Juho, who thoroughly separated his family and himself in his thinking, decided to just go along with things appropriately only while he was in Korea. He didn’t want to give his mother any excuse to interfere unnecessarily.
Fortunately, since it was past lunch time, the roads were relatively quiet. Having lived in New York, this level of traffic congestion didn’t even qualify as severe. For the most expensive land in the heart of Seoul, he thought it was manageable to drive since the wheels kept rolling steadily.
Soon the notification that he was arriving at his destination rang out, and Juho smoothly turned the steering wheel to move his car in front of the building.
As soon as Juho’s car arrived at the lobby, several men began to line up in formation.
“Welcome.”
As soon as Juho got out of the car with a cool expression, the men who bowed respectfully followed behind him in unison as he led the way.
Among them were ordinary humans, but most were beast-men. Though they belonged to the higher species among beast-men in Korea, they had no choice but to instinctively bow their heads to Juho’s aura, who was truly of the highest species.
Sitting in the conference room overlooking downtown Seoul, Juho looked around at the people who were clearly nervous. Seeing them already so frightened before even starting, he clicked his tongue briefly. Even at that small sound, several people flinched.
Soon, a scent incomparably thick and heavy compared to others began to flow from Juho. The beast-men in the same place as Juho shrank their shoulders once more and turned their heads away at that clearly intentional scent.
“As you know, I’m not trying to seriously interfere with company work. It’s just analyzing the management status and reporting improvements that need to be made because of my mother’s request.”
“Yes, yes. We understand that.”
“So, let’s start right away. First half quarterly sales reports for this year, OTT business-related presentations, secondary revenue evaluation reports, etc. If you have anything prepared, please give it to me.”
Juho extended his hand toward the men as he spoke. At his tone that dripped with coldness, the reports that hadn’t even been delivered yet were getting moist with cold sweat.
While Juho analyzed the reports, rejected them, and pointed out problems, a heavy silence settled in the conference room so thick that even the sound of eyeballs moving could be heard loudly. Because of Juho, who recited only the problems very directly as if he had seen them in advance somewhere, the men spent a long time just writing down improvement items.
When everyone was getting sick of Juho’s spirit of continuing work day and night without even the usual small talk, not even giving time to drink a glass of water, the meeting finally ended.
“Then I’ll come twice a week from now on, on Tuesdays and Fridays, to hear reports. I don’t need a separate office, and I think using an empty conference room like today will be fine. Good work. Next time, let’s look at improvement items by department in more detail.”
As soon as Juho finished speaking, everyone quickly left the conference room.
They escaped the conference room that had been filled with Juho’s thick scent and took deep breaths of the clear air in the corridor, then sighed just as much. Since it was a company with a relatively free atmosphere, it had been so long since they’d had such a formal meeting that they couldn’t even remember when.
Dark shadows fell over their faces at the thought that they’d need to work with their wits about them for the time being.
“Hmm, did you happen to receive a call from an unknown number at dawn?”
Juho asked while looking at Managing Director Kim, who was the only one remaining in the conference room after everyone had left. Managing Director Kim, who had been standing silently behind him, nodded and answered.
“Yes. We did receive contact. The matter has already been resolved well, so you don’t need to worry. It wasn’t a big deal, so I didn’t make a separate report to headquarters.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you. Managing Director Kim’s number is the only one I know.”
“Not at all. That’s what I’m supposed to do. Then since you came out today, would you like to see where you’ll be staying before you go?”
At Managing Director Kim’s question, Juho raised his wrist to check the time.
Since it wasn’t too late yet, it seemed like there would be time to briefly look around the house.
When Juho nodded briefly, Managing Director Kim moved first to escort Juho. Juho, who followed him out, soon called to Managing Director Kim.
“Managing Director Kim, please attend to your work. I can go by myself.”
“Still, it’s your first time there. Wouldn’t it be better if I went with you?”
“No. Honestly, it would be more uncomfortable if Managing Director Kim came with me. I’ll handle it myself, so don’t worry. I’ll contact you if anything comes up.”
At Juho’s direct refusal, Managing Director Kim showed a briefly flustered expression. However, he soon returned to his usual straightforward expression and greeted Juho.
“Let’s do that then. Then I’ll see you next time. Please contact me if you need anything.”
“Yes. Then.”
After nodding to Managing Director Kim, who bowed deeply, Juho got on the elevator that had arrived in advance. Inside the elevator rapidly descending, Juho ruffled his hair that had been neatly styled.
Once he actually started the meeting, problems kept appearing one after another, so he ended up concentrating quite a bit. Juho rubbed his stiff neck and left the company.
A car arrived just as he came out to the lobby. Getting in the car, Juho first checked his phone.
As he expected, several messages from Dain were displayed on his phone screen.
[Dain hyung: Juho, I was sleeping so I couldn’t even see you off properlyㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ Sorry│4:17 PM]
[Dain hyung: Is work going well? I’m about to wash up now! Greet the adults politely. Got it?? ^.^│4:33 PM]
[Dain hyung: Juho, what should we do about dinner??? Call me when you finish work~│5:41 PM]
He could almost hear Dain’s affectionate voice from the messages. Juho, who read the messages with his lips curving upward, checked the time. Not much time had passed since the last message from Dain arrived.
Juho immediately pressed the call button while starting his car. After short ringtones, Dain’s clear voice immediately rang out. He seemed to be in a good mood.
-Juho! Can you talk on the phone now? How was work?
“Today was just a greeting day, so I just did a simple department tour. I’m not sure yet. After only studying, talking with adults at the company is really awkward.”
-Haha! I see! But you’ll be able to do well! So you’re coming home now?
“Ah, no! The company said they happened to have a place contracted as lodging today, so I’m going to stop by briefly.”
-…Already?
“Yes. Really. There was no mention of it until yesterday. I think I should go see it first.”
As soon as he heard that Juho was going to look at a house, Juho swallowed the laughter that was about to burst out at Dain’s disappointed voice. He must be worried that Juho would leave right away.
Juho tapped the steering wheel with his finger while waiting for Dain to say the next thing.
-Oh… oh, okay. I hope it’s a house you like… B-but you’re not moving immediately or anything, right??
“Probably? I don’t know how things are handled in Korea yet…”
-I see. Yeah… you have to go see it first and decide… yeah yeah… got it…
At Dain’s voice gradually crawling into the ground, Juho covered his laughter with a clearing of his throat.
“Hyung, then what should we do about dinner?”
-Ah, right! Juho, is there anything you want to eat?
“Hmm. Ah! Hyung, then shall we eat out for dinner? I’ll buy you salmon today! I’ll search for a good place and send you the address, so you can get ready and come out.”
-Oh oh, salmon sounds good. But you’re buying? Can’t I pay?
“No, you can’t. I’ll be responsible for your salmon, hyung.”
-But I want to buy it for you…?
“I said no. Hyung, you promised to make me something else. Chicken braised in spicy sauce.”
-Right, chicken braised in spicy sauce! Yeah yeah! Then look at the lodging well and contact me. You’re driving there, right? Drive carefully.
“Yes. I’ll contact you again later.”
How many times had he said to drive carefully since yesterday? It was strange to hear such worry at this time when he had over 5 years of driving experience, when he hadn’t even heard it when he was a beginning driver. And it was as tickling inside as it was strange.
Juho found the address in the message Managing Director Kim had sent.
Since it was a neighborhood along the Han River, he could see the Han River through the large windows, so he felt significantly less stuffy. The duplex structure had 4 rooms excluding the living room, which was neither too many nor too few, and it seemed like there wouldn’t be much inconvenience for a short stay.
However, the house was far from Dain’s studio apartment and quite a distance from the school he had to attend. Considering his usual living radius, he didn’t like it in terms of efficiency.
“I guess they thought it would be okay since there’s a car. But it’s bothersome to move around.”
Talking to himself while looking around the house, Juho frowned when he saw the suits prepared in advance in the dressing room.
How much work did they intend to make him do, filling it only with suits? He could only let out a hollow laugh at the obvious intention.
After taking a perfunctory look around the house, Juho sat on the living room sofa and searched for decent course meals. However, so many reviews and restaurant names came up that it became even more complicated.
Eventually, Juho called Managing Director Kim. It felt unpleasant to ask for personal favors rather than company business, but… anyway, it was dinner with Dain, and he didn’t want to spend it at just any place.
Fortunately, Managing Director Kim sent word without much comment that he had reserved a hotel restaurant.
Right after that, he contacted Dain to arrange where to meet and left the house, thinking that he probably wouldn’t spend many days in this house.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
