Faced with Director Cha's kindness, Ji-Won relaxed his expression. Realizing that his words might have sounded a bit too crude, he felt a small tinge of remorse. Even though his previous harsh tone was meant for someone else, he still lost himself for a moment, showing Director Cha such a petty side of him.
However, his reaction wasn't entirely without a reason.
No one at work, except for Seo-Jun, knew his relationship with Chairman Kang, and Ji-Won wanted to keep things that way. Having people know that he was the Chairman's son wouldn't make his days at work any more comfortable.
After all, Ji-Won wasn't planning on remaining in the company for much longer. His only goal was to save Chinjeol Foundation. Afterwards, he could very well go back to the States or work somewhere else. It didn't really matter to him where he ended up, as long as he was far away from that place. He just didn't want to have anything more to do with his father or his family.
At this time, someone else who had witnessed the conversation between Ji-Won and Director Cha fell deep in thought.
Compared to Director Cha's mild reaction, Su-Jin felt a bit piqued by Ji-Won's rudeness. The woman seemed to genuinely care about him, so he could at least try to act nicer.
But after taking note of the man's snappish tone, Su-Jin next observed how Ji-Won's eyes flashed darkly at the mention of his father. This small detail caused her eyebrows to shoot up in surprise.
For the first time since she'd known him, Su-Jin wondered about Ji-Won's family. Who were his parents? What kind of people were they?
Somehow, thinking about all this, Su-Jin had a hard time imagining how Mr. and Mrs. Kang would look like or what kind of personality they had. Solely based on what she had seen of their son, it was enough to make her disinclined to want to meet either of them.
But then again, there had been cases where children didn't resemble their parents at all. Or perhaps there was simply another reason apart from genetic inheritance as to why Director Kang always looked so sour and acted so cold towards everyone.
Either way, Su-Jin wasn't really looking forward to meeting anyone else who resembled Kang Ji-Won. One block of ice was quite sufficient in her life. She really didn't need any more coldness around her or she might end up frozen stiff like an iceberg.
As she allowed her mind to go astray, she couldn't help but glance at Ji-Won several times.
Even in those casual clothes, the man still looked extremely handsome and elegant. There was a certain air of distinction, like an aristocrat's aura, that emanated from his body. It made him seem high above the rest of them, like a flower residing on a high peak.
When Ji-Won was at the company, dressed in his suit and wearing a serious expression, Ji-Won exuded an incontestable aura or authority. His discourses were always short and to the point, and he seemed to dislike wasting time talking to people. Even during meetings he never allowed his subordinates to ramble about things that were unrelated to the meeting's agenda.
Now that he had taken off that business-like appearance, Ji-Won should have seemed more approachable. But in fact, his persona emanated a sense of aloofness that wasn't any different from his usual coldness.
While she continued to analyze him, Su-Jin didn't even realize that her eyes kept turning towards Ji-Won as though they were attracted by a magnet. Whether it was the way he moved or the manner of his speech, she couldn't help but be curious to see more of it, more of… him.
Due to her daydreaming, though, Su-Jin didn't notice that the person who occupied her thoughts was also stealing glances at her.
Ji-Won had been looking askance at Su-Jin for a while now. A few times he was even lucky enough to catch her eye. But her gaze seemed somewhat strange. It appeared almost blank, as though she wasn't looking at him, but through him.
The first time he noticed that, Ji-Won felt bewildered. Why would she look at him like that? Was it that she wanted to say something to him but hesitated?
But a moment later, Ji-Won merely brushed it off as being just a coincidence. Perhaps she was lost in thought and just so happened that her eyes landed on him. There was no need to think further into it.
Nevertheless, this thought gave birth to a small, selfish desire. Since she wasn't aware of the fact that her eyes were straying on his face, then he could very well do the same.
As such, Ji-Won took advantage of Su-Jin's lack of focus to look at her slightly more than he normally would have dared.
Just then, a loud bang came from behind, making everyone jump. The doors to the room were pushed open and a swarm of children ran inside.
Su-Jin's eyes widened in shock as her mind suddenly envisioned a stampede of wild animals, instead of a group of running kids. She could almost see clouds of dust rising in their wake.
"Uncle Ji-Won! Uncle Seo-Jun!" the children all yelled in one voice.
They singled the two men out and soon formed an impenetrable barrage around them. After successfully surrounding Ji-Won and Seo-Jun on all sides, the children looked up at them expectantly. Their small faces were beaming with anticipation, like a group of small animals waiting to be petted and played with.
Looking at them, Su-Jin could easily imagine their little tails standing up and swishing in excitement. The picture she saw in her head made her want to laugh. Indeed, such cuteness was hard to ignore.
When they saw the children gathering around them, both Ji-Won and Seo-Jun's faces broke into a smile. Then, they acknowledged each and every child, exchanging warm greetings with all of them.
It appeared that Seo-Jun had accompanied his friend on these visits quite a few times, because the little ones seemed very happy to see him as well. There were even a few boys who specifically asked for Seo-Jun to play with them outside for the entire day.
They all bounced around cheerfully, like a group of little monkeys. At the same time, the children took turns in calling the two men's names loudly, asking them to play together.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team backed away quickly, allowing the children enough space to run around.