Page 41 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
Haneul takes about a minute to scan for important words. Hanee sees him tense up, nostrils flaring, the veins on his forehead starting to protrude.
Why, he looks angrier than Seonbae did while reading the story. And it was abouther ex-boyfriend! Why does Daepyo look so mad?!
The familiar burning at the nape of his neck is back for the second time today, this time for good reason and not for a good reason. It was trying to tell him something.
It was him all this while. It was Rodrigo. Kenji is Rodrigo!
* * *
The mood inside the boardroom hasn’t improved much since the break, much to Mr Choi’s disappointment. Haneul had walked in looking lost and had absent-mindedly bumped his foot into the table. Stephanie looks like she isn’t willing to allow Timira an inch and is busy convincing others of her idea. Timira walks in wearing a frown and her hair in what must have been a bun but now resembles a virus emoji with hairs springing out with gay abandon. He isn’t very surprised when Timira doesn’t put up much of a fight as the room goes into a vote.
Alice and Bhaskar had advised Timira to go with the majority if she wanted to fly under their radar.
‘Bro,sunn meri baat. The more vocal you are about your disapproval, the closer they’ll look into you and your past. If you wish to finish off your tenure sans any drama, let it go.Tu pro hai, Bhai. I know you can handle him professionally, and should he misbehave, take it up with the company. Global NorthhaiKorea. They are progressive and treat women with respect!’
Timira recalls Bhaskar’s advice and wonders how much of it is actually true. She has seen dramas and read enough about workplace sexism in Korea to blindly believe Bhaskar.
Women are treated like shit everywhere, argh. Ghanta they’ll support me if Rod kicks up a fuss here, as well!
But she decides to heed their advice and abstains from voicing her disapproval of Rodrigo anymore.
They want him, so they’ll have him. Whether I like it or not. Dekh lungi uss gadhe ko! Kya ukhad lega woh meri?
When the results of the vote are announced, Timira is sure to be the only vote against Rodrigo. But to her and everyone else’s surprise, he has won by a margin of four votes to two.
Oh! Oh? Stephanie, Mr Choi, the styling team’s Jieun and Sangman from finance obviously voted for Rod. But who aside from me voted against him?? Ah, must’ve been Hanee … but she didn’t vote! Who is this person? I must find out. They will be my new best friend! Bye, Bhaskar and Alice!
‘There, so we have it. Rodrigo is SecondSkin’s choice for its new ambassador!’ Mr Choi announces excitedly. ‘Congratulations to those who voted for him!’ But as his eyes travel towards Haneul cutting a sorry figure, all excitement exits the room.
It’s been so many years since his accident. And yet, any mention of football makes him uncomfortable. Ah, why did Ms Stephanie have to push this hard? Of course, she wouldn’t know why Daepyonim is taking this personally. And she and Rodrigo are acquainted, after all. Although I wonder how they know each other. Is it through Chairman Ri? I’m very sure he has used his influence on her to push Rodrigo as our ambassador. Although, come to think of it, his star power wouldn’t be so bad for us …
Mr Choi continues to muse as the room starts to clear one by one. Across him are Timira and Hanee, packing their things.
I don’t think Timira-ssi realizes that she has an ally in Daepyonim. Perhaps I should tell her? Or not. It’s pointless, after all. It’s pretty much a done deal now. But she mightbe relieved to know that she isn’t alone. Although I wonder why she is so vehemently against Rodrigo. They even worked together! Am I missing something here? I should probably try to find out. Might it be because of something that happened between them? Timira-ssi doesn’t seem like someone who’d bring an unjustified personal grudge to her workplace! She’s got way too much experience under her belt to be unprofessional at work.
By the time Mr Choi has arranged his thoughts and decided on what to do next, Timira and Hanee have already left.
‘Timira-ssi! Timira-ssi!’ he has to call out, his voice a few decibels louder than usual.
Timira is about to ask Hanee who the latter thinks voted against Rodrigo, when Mr Choi catches up with them. He’s a little out of breath, having speed-walked.
‘Yes, Bujangnim. You wanted to say something?’
‘Ah, yes. Yes. If you have a minute, there’s something I’d like to say. Care to step inside my cabin?’
Timira turns with a quizzical look on her face towards Hanee who looks equally nonplussed. Shrugging, she gestures at Timira to follow Mr Choi and find out for herself.
Inside his cabin, Mr Choi loosens his tie and grabs a bottle of water, holding it over his mouth and drinking in large gulps, not realizing that a small trickle is flowing down his chin. Finishing its contents, he noisily crumples the bottle and trashes it. Without bothering to wipe his watery chin and throat, he takes off.
‘You must be disappointed, Timira-ssi.’
Timira looks up and waits for Mr Choi to elaborate.
‘It looked like you really did not want us to sign Rodrigo. Would you care to share with me why you’ve been dead against this from the get-go?’
Mr Choi had not intended on being this direct. He had, in all honesty, wanted to do a little digging around. But, at this moment, he feels it’s best to ask straight up.
Timira, a little taken aback by Mr Choi’s sudden salvo, is slow to respond.
