24

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24.

Today’s lunch menu was beef bulgogi and cabbage. When Eunseo ate each bite so enthusiastically, Seo Hyunwoo seemed impressed.

“By the way, Eunseo, you are such a good eater. You’re so thin, so it’s such a surprise.”

Eunseo giggled. She usually skipped breakfast, and her dinner was something she bought from a convenience store. So lunch was the only proper meal she got to have every day, which was why she couldn’t help enjoying it so much.

Seo Hyunwoo added, “I’m shocked that you don’t gain weight even though you eat so well. A lot of people go on diets, and they must be so envious if they saw you.”

She didn’t gain weight because all of her nutrients went to producing her useless milk. But of course, Eunseo couldn’t tell Hyunwoo this. She just laughed and wondered, ‘ Is this why Hong Yeri hates me?’

But Hong Yeri didn’t look like she needed to go on a diet, so Eunseo didn’t think this was the case. She decided to stop thinking about Hong Yeri and focus on her lunch.

Eunseo wasn’t the type to fret if someone hated her. She became curious why someone would hate her, but that was it. She was so used to being hated by her stepmother and stepsister that she didn’t care what other people thought of her. If someone didn’t like her, she just needed to leave them alone.

Seo Hyunwoo placed his own beef dish on Eunseo’s place.

“Here, have mine too.”

Eunseo replied, “Oh, it’s okay. You should have some too, Hyunwoo.”

“I don’t really like beef bulgogi, so don’t worry. You seem to love it, so you should have more.”

“Haha, alright. Thank you,” Eunseo answered with an appreciative smile.

Suddenly, Seo Hyunwoo seemed to have remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, your design has become really popular, Eunseo.”

“Really?” Eunseo jumped and placed her chopsticks down on the table.

Hyunwoo explained, “I heard there have been many customers who requested to have your exact design. There have also been many inquiries about the furniture you used for your design. We’ll be talking about it during tomorrow’s meeting, so heads up.”

Eunseo felt like she wanted to cry because she was so happy.

“Thank you so much, Hyunwoo!”

“Why are you thanking me? You’re the one who did everything. Good job, Eunseo.”

Unlike the other designers, Eunseo didn’t major in design. She has been feeling inadequate, always wondering if she belonged in the design department. But now that she got a good review, she felt relieved.

Seo Hyunwoo smiled. “It’s so nice to see you smile, Eunseo.”

Then suddenly, Hyunwoo jolted as he looked behind Eunseo.

“…Mr. Kwon,” Hyunwoo murmured.

Eunseo jumped as well and turned around. She saw that Kwon Jihwan was walking toward them with his own lunch.

This was the first time she saw the CEO in the office cafeteria. The high ranking officials usually ate outside the building, so this was a very rare occurrence.

“Hello, President.”

“How are you, Mr. Kwon?”

All the employees of DH greeted him.

Kwon Jihwan replied, “Have a nice lunch.”

He passed each table, and when he got closer to Eunseo’s table, he heard her greet him, “Hello, Sir.”

Seo Hyunwoo also bowed lightly. “Hello, President.”

To everyone else, Kwon Jihwan greeted back. But he ignored these two people and walked by silently. It was obvious he heard them, but he didn’t even look at Hyunwoo or Eunseo.

Seo Hyunwoo murmured awkwardly, “Is he having a bad day or something?”

Eunseo figured that this was her fault, but she couldn’t tell Hyunwoo about it. She only sighed, wondering how long it will take Kwon Jihwan to get over what happened.

It has been two weeks since that incident in the elevator. Kwon Jihwan was still keeping his distance away from her. He made it clear that he didn’t want to spend one second in her presence. When they bumped into each other, he mumbled hello before running away. If they met in front of the elevator, he would let her enter first and tell her he would take the next one.

But until now, Jihwan didn’t completely ignore her.

It felt like the situation was worsening, making Eunseo upset. She could understand that he was just trying to make sure she didn’t get the wrong idea about him, but this was really not necessary.

Eunseo wanted to grab him and tell him that he didn’t have to worry about her mistaking his kindness as an interest. But she knew this would only make things even more awkward.

Losing her appetite, Eunseo returned to her office. She decided to have a cup of coffee, so she went to the break room. But before she entered, she heard a conversation from outside.

“So someone heard it again yesterday! That weird sound!”

“Yeah, I know! This time, it was on the 8th floor.”

Several female employees were gossiping while drinking coffee.

“You said you heard it too, right Kyungeun?”

“Yes, it sounded like a small motor or a pump. Anyway, it definitely sounded like a machine.”

“Mijung from Best Home department told me it sounded like a breast pump.”

Eunseo suddenly became pale. Her heart began to pound fast.

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