Oppa, That Must Be A Mistake - Chapter 7

After the party.

In the back seat of a taxi, Joo-won thought to himself.

-It’s true that I liked you.

-It’s true that I liked you.

-It’s true that I liked you.

Hye-Joo’s words from a few moments ago rang in his ears.

It was a crucible of chaos. She stolen my underwear as soon as I arrived in Korea, and then she insisted that she didn’t like me. A few days ago, Hye-Joo said she actually liked Seung-won, and now she was saying she liked me again.

“What is it, really?”

He couldn’t figure out what she was really thinking as she kept saying this and that like a madman. What made it worse was what Hye-Joo said at the end.

– That day, my confession woke him up!

When was that day? Was it 10 years ago or a few days ago? When was the last time I saw Oh Hye-Joo?

Joo-won stared out the car window, lost in thought.

It had been ten years ago, the day Hye-Joo had thrown a pepero as tall as a man into his arms. As usual, the house was cluttered with gifts and letters. Joo-won crossed his arms and stared at the pile that had taken over the center of the room.

‘Did I mention Oh Hye-joo is Seung-won’s friend?’

I remembered being roughly introduced to her when we bumped into each other in front of her house.

She haven’t shortened her hair like any girl these days. It’s hard to see her with a short haircut, but she’s well-groomed.

As I recall, it was an uninspiring encounter that can be summed up in two sentences.

‘I didn’t expect her to like me.’

There are so many girls who like Kang Joo-won that if you lined them up, you could fill half the schoolyard, but Hye-joo was a bit of a surprise.

The first time we were introduced, she said my name without any shame. For a guy who’s been chased with girls since he was a kid, Joo-won was shrewd in that department. To him, there was not the slightest hint of selfishness in her clear eyes.

“That’s weird.”

Joo-won smiled and shoved her into the corner of the room.

A few days later, he ran into Hye-Joo on the street. She blushed, and the first thing she said was.

– Oppa, I’m sorry about that day.

What was I sorry for? Giving away an uneaten pepero? Is that really something to be sorry for?

It was pitiful that she couldn’t even lift her head and shivered, so he just responded nicely.

-It was delicious. The almond one.

?
There was a pause before she opened her lips again.

-The truth is, I like you…….

?
Giggles.

A basketball rolled out of nowhere. Joo-won reflexively caught the ball, threw it back, and turned his head.

-What did you just say?

-Oh, no, nothing!

?
Joo-won smirked at Hye-joo, who was blushing.

“Why are you so embarrassed after gaving me a pepero? I’m sorry.”

Unable to imagine that the next unfinished sentence was ‘I don’t like you,’ not ‘I like you,’ Joo-won found Hye-joo’s innocence endearing.

As it turned out, the two had a lot of unexpected encounters. She was close to Seung-won, so she would see him around her house, and although they were in different grades, they attended the same school, so they would often bump into each other in the hallway. Each time, Hye-joo would run away, and Joo-won would look at her curiously.

There were a few more such encounters before he left to study abroad after finishing college entrance exam, and while he doesn’t remember much about them, he does remember that Hye-Joo was usually the one to avoid him.

“I don’t recall any definite rejection on my part. Hmm.”

So what Hye-joo means by ‘breaking the confession’ must be recent.

Joo-won’s memory flashes back to a month ago, when he ran into Hye-joo at home shortly after returning home. It was the day he ran into Hye-Joo at home after returning home.

-If you want to make friends, go out and do it. Are you a stalker? What is this?

?
I remember making a big face and pushing her around.

He pretended not to care, but in fact, Joo-won was very embarrassed that day. When he got out of the shower and put on a robe, he was surprised to find a woman in the middle of the house.

He panicked and accused her of being a stalker, which she probably interpreted as a rejection.

He also called the police to report the theft of his panties, which was only to make sure she was safe, but it must have been embarrassing enough for Hye-Joo, who didn’t know about the trauma 10 years ago.

‘Hmm…… that might have felt like a rejection.’

Hye-Joo’s explanation that she’d given up after being tricked into confessing made some sense.

‘Yeah, whatever. I wasn’t going to accept it anyway.’

But…….

Why does it bother me so much?

Hye-joo’s voice kept buzzing in my ears, saying that she had folded her heart, and that she had folded it very cleanly and neatly.

“Why do you have to fold it so neatly? It’s not funny.”

Joo-won buried himself deep in the sheets and mumbled.

His heart raced with an unknown emotion.

The company has been in an uproar since morning.

The female employees gathered in the toilets were talking about the announcement posted on the intranet today.

“Have you seen the intranet? There are two buddy candidates this time.”

“One of them says CEO Kang Joo-won, Kyaaaak!”

It’s called [Buddy Program].

The Buddy Program was a unique system that Datas Korea introduced as part of its new hire training for new employees.

In a company of a certain size, new hires are gathered together and group training is conducted by the HR department or training team, but in a startup like Datas Korea, the number of employees is small and the HR department has limited resources, so they have their own training system.

That was the buddy program.

The buddy program was a two-week program where a senior employee who joined the company first would teach the new hire about the company’s culture, organizational chart, and other general matters.

It’s a slightly different concept than a handoff, where the focus is on the job, and the buddy program is more about helping the new hire get acclimated to the company.

The buddy program was more about helping new hires get acclimated to the company, including tips on when the gym is less crowded, tips on how to report to work late, and tips on where to eat near the office.

The company provided a corporate card for two weeks, which allowed us to buy a lot of delicious food, and the excuse of training new employees to go out and do activities, which attracted a lot of applicants. In short, it’s a ‘honey-do’ job.

This year’s buddy program was more intense than ever. This was because Kang Joo-won had joined the program last week.

“Hye-joo, did you see the intranet announcement? Did you apply for the buddy program?”

Da-hee asked cautiously in the restroom. She’d gotten back to their old relationship thanks to Hye-joo’s initiative at the dinner party.

“Of course I didn’t.”

“Why……?”

“Huh?”

“You said you like Mr. Kang.”

Hye-Joo sipped her coffee and smirked.

“I did. But it was in the past, and now it’s present, present is present and past is past.”

“Is your heart really that cut and dry?”

“It wasn’t even that big of a deal. Why, I want to tell you something.”

Da-hee mumbled with a wistful expression.

No, I’m…… worried about you. It was only a month ago that you tried to confess to Mr. Kang, and I heard that you confessed to Mr. Kang in high school, too, so I thought you might be acting like everything is okay.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

You have to realize that Chun Da-hee has a weak heart.

Hye-joo chuckled and reassured her. Da-hee clung to her arm like a squirrel, whimpering.

“But why didn’t I know? There are no secrets between you and me. Why didn’t you tell me that you and Mr. Kang had such a history?”

“I didn’t know you and Seungwon Kang were dating either.”

“That’s because……!”

“There’s no relationship in the world without secrets. Oh, you’re so naive. Isn’t it time for you to grow up?”

Da-hee laughed at Hye-Joo’s words.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to keep any secrets from you, so if something happens, we’ll tell each other, right? We’re best friends.”

“I see you doing it.”

“You Too!”

Then someone ran up to me.

“Mr. Kang says he’s decided on a buddy!”

The eyes of the employees gathered in the restroom turned in unison. One of the employees, who had been waiting for the results, asked with a glint in her eye.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Mr. Ruby from the business team. He’s firing up the coffee right now, so go get it!”

The employees who were serving the capsule coffee jumped to their feet, some sighing in disappointment, some rejoicing in the free coffee.

Hye-Joo, of course, was among the latter.

*

It was the first day of Buddy.

Joo-won stood in front of his closet, running a hand through his hair after his morning shower.

The dress code at Datas Korea was casual, so he didn’t have to wear a suit, but he preferred the feel of a crisp white t-shirt.

Whirly Rick.

A white, wrinkle-free t-shirt was wrapped around his toned body. Buttoning it up one by one and finally fastening the cufflinks, Joo-won crossed his arms and peered into the closet.

“It’s a blue outfit. You’re making me do troublesome things.”

Normally, he would have left, but today he had a special mission.

[Day 1 mission of the buddy program: wear the same color and find out who each other’s buddy is].

There were five missions in the ten-day buddy program, excluding weekends. They were nothing fancy, but they included eating together at a restaurant near the company, studying a booklet distributed by the HR team, walking around the company to introduce the work and members of each team, and getting stamps.

Today’s task was the most insignificant of all: take a picture with Buddy wearing the same color as him.

“This isn’t child’s play, why are you doing this?”

It was a one-on-one tutoring session for new hires to help them integrate into the company, and Joo-won didn’t like it.

‘Do you think I study that much while joining the company as a representative?’

He felt ridiculous, having spent more than two months studying to the point of nosebleeds before joining the company.

He didn’t even know who his buddy was yet; he’d vaguely heard that it was someone from the business team, but he’d been so busy that it had slipped his mind. He’d almost forgotten, and was glad he’d remembered the blue outfit in the morning.

“Even if it’s only been three months since we were represented, this would be completely abolished.”

Joo-won grumbled and threw the blue knit over his shoulders like a shawl.

Arriving at the office, he glanced at his wristwatch and stepped off the elevator.

It’s 10 minutes before work. Still no one in blue in the lobby. He turn to look, hoping it’s a male employee.

“…… Is that her again?”

?
In the distance, I saw Hye-Joo in a blue skirt.

The pencil skirt contrasted with her white blouse, showing off a more intense color. Her long, wavy hair was tied up in a high bun. Contrary her cheerful outfit, her face is all grubby.

Why is Hye-Joo here?

I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the name I heard yesterday. I think I heard someone from the business unit…….

‘Oh, Hye-joo Oh was also in the business unit.’

After a moment of wondering what was going on, Joo-won realized the answer.

Joo-won’s buddy was an employee from that division, and he is probably familiar with Hye-Joo, Since they are in the same business unit. Did she try to beg him into switching buddies?

‘That means she haven’t made up your mind yet.’

Then it is.

The corners of Joo-won’s mouth curled up.