10 Please let her know that the Lady Chung is here. (1/2)
”How are you feeling?” Those were the first words that greeted Ji-Eun the following morning.
”Like death,” she answered as she slowly stood up to receive her coffee from her smirking secretary. ”What happened last night? I didn't do anything to embarrass you, did I?”
”Uh, no. You were pretty tired, I guess,” Jaehyun said. ”You mostly slept. So, I brought you back here at The Regal after dinner.”
She nodded as she gratefully accepted the canned coffee he offered.
She had woken up that morning to find herself neatly tucked in her bed at The Regal Hotel. On the table beside her bed, there had been a glass of water and a packet of hangover medicine. The stomach-friendly kind too.
She thanked the heavens for Jaehyun's consideration.
After showering, she quickly dressed and checked her work emails for the updates she asked from her team yesterday.
And that's how her overly caring secretary found her, working with a slight headache and a curable hangover.
”I have a call this afternoon with our partners at the Outer Islands,” she recalled. ”We might have to start discussing the possibility of working with Song Construction soon, so let's put that in today's agenda too.”
She spoke as she moved around the room, collecting her laptop, her phone, her pile of reports, and her car keys. She turned to find him rustling around the coat closet, picking one out for her, and handing it over.
”This should look okay,” he said as he took her documents and her laptop bag and waited until she put on the black over-the-shoulder coat he had handed over. ”It's still cold outside.”
”Okay.”
Jaehyun also took the car keys from her hand and said, ”I'm here, so I'll drive.”
Soon enough, after some morning pleasantries with the hotel staff, the two proceeded to where her next meeting was going to happen. As the ever-busy secretary cited important details for the upcoming event while driving, she found herself staring blankly at the report on her hand.
”The meeting today...” She cut him off. ”I'm thinking of leaning towards financing rather than a takeover. To say I don't have much experience in this field is a rather curious thing for me to point out.”
Jaehyun glanced at her from the rear view mirror.
”The group had expressed they would be following your decision,” Jaehyun said.
She smiled. ”Of course, they would say that.” She looked at Jaehyun. ”How is The Little City faring in the market share here and abroad?”
”Well, their revenues and operating income have been dropping slightly over the past year. Their share price have declined at around 38% year to date.” He started rattling off. ”They took to re-branding after the owner-actress decided to buy most of her partners' shares to save what's left of their finances.”
She nodded.
Nevertheless, I will listen to what she wants to say. Ji-Eun thought to herself .
After all, Song Min-Ji was the one who asked for her help. Not President Chung, not the group. The owner-actress had asked for Chung Ji-Eun, the youngest shareholder and the Merger and Acquisitions expert of the Chung Group.