Chapter 198: A Problematic Situation

Next day it was already Thursday and the team was starting to panic. Knowing they were very close to missing the deadline made everyone feel on edge.

Among them, Su-Jin appeared to be the most affected. That morning she kept pacing around her desk, constantly fretting over the situation.

"What should we do? Things aren't looking too well." she said.

"What CAN we do?" Yeon-Ah sighed dejectedly. "You and Director Kang have already checked most of the locations on our list and, apart from those that he found too shabby or inappropriate, the rest weren't even willing to work with us."

"You know..." Su-Jin stopped her pacing abruptly. "I actually find this kind of strange. Don't you?"

"What is strange? Our bad luck?" Yeon-Ah asked morosely.

"Well, that too." Su-Jin admitted, then continued to speak slowly. "But what I find even stranger is how each and every one of those places didn't even let us show them the presentation. Instead, they simply flat-out rejected us from the start. It was almost as though they knew exactly what our offer was. Don't you think that's kind of odd?"

Before the other woman could give a reply, the door to the Director's office opened and Ji-Won stepped out into the open area. He was followed closely by Seo-Jun and Jung Seok.

While Director Kang walked past Su-Jin and Yeon-Ah's desks, the other two men stopped next to the two women. They both had a gloomy air about them.

Glancing between the two, Su-Jin noticed that, while Seo-Jun looked more frustrated than anything, Jung Seok appeared to be almost on the verge of tears. Lately he looked somber and unwell most of the time, but today it seemed to be on a different scale. His cheeks were even more sunken and the pale shade of his face became even more noticeable. 

At the sight of the man's appearance, Su-Jin suddenly felt a mixture of bewilderment and apprehension. She could understand that the situation was bad, but was it really to this extent? To the point of crying over it?

Not able to hold back, she eventually drew closer to Jung Seok.

"What's going on? Is the situation really so hopeless?" she asked.

Instead of answering, though, Jung Seok sniffled loudly, then left the office in a hurry.

Watching him run away as if evil spirits were on his tail, Su-Jin felt even more baffled. 

Thus, she turned her inquiring gaze towards Seo-Jun, hoping the other man could provide an explanation. But to her astonishment, Seo-Jun merely waved a hand in dismissal and gave a half-hearted reply.

"Don't mind him. He's just upset because of this whole situation, just like the rest of us. He'll be fine."

Hearing that, Su-Jin was left with some complicated feelings. Her mouth twitched and she mulled over her next words for a while. At the same time, her mind couldn't help but grumble.

'You might say that, but you don't see everyone crying right now. So either Jung Seok is too sensitive or we really are in trouble.'

"Is it really that bad?" Su-Jin finally asked, feeling a sense of cold dread rising in her gut.

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"Pretty much." Seo-Jun replied grimly, then he gestured with his head in the direction of Ji-Won's office. "Just now he got called to the Senior Director's office. That old man will probably give him a hard time. Even if I'm sure Ji-Won will put up a fight, it still remains to be seen if he can salvage the situation."

"I see." Su-Jin let out a long sigh, her eyes lingering on the door to Ji-Won's private office.

~~~

Sure enough, just as Seo-Jun had guessed, Ji-Won's time in the Senior Director's office wasn't easy.

As soon as he stepped inside and the man's sharp gaze landed on him, Ji-Won developed an instant headache.

The Senior Director's eyes flashed with anger as his voice boomed inside the office.

"What is this about losing the proposal? Kang Ji-Won, do you even realize how important this is?"

At being addressed so crudely, the corner of Ji-Won's mouth twitched.

'Dammit! If this person knows about this already, then I should suppose it has also reached my father's ears by now. I'm sure those people are now happy beyond words, knowing they have succeeded in sabotaging all my endeavors. But I won't give up… not yet!'

Despite fuming on the inside, Ji-Won's upbringing helped him maintain a polite appearance. Even his tone remained cool and even.

"Sir, I know the situation isn't ideal, but my team and I are doing our best to find a solution."

"Such as?" The Senior Director huffed in distrust.

Ji-Won tried hard not to grit his teeth. 

The middle-aged man sitting in front of him was quite lucky that he wasn't aware of Ji-Won's background. If the latter had been a show off, wanting to ride on his father's coattail, he might have made his relationship with the Chairman public. Then Mr. Senior Director would have probably shown a different kind of attitude than he currently had. 

Whether it would be favors or special treatment, Ji-Won could have had everything he wanted. All he had to do was open his mouth and acknowledge his father in front of all the other employees. At that moment, no one would be willing to stand in his way anymore. Not even one person would dare to harm his work or be able to touch his teammates.

As things stood, though, Ji-Won wasn't the type of person to take the easy way out like that. Heir or not, he wanted to achieve results solely based on his own hard work, not because of who his family was. 

For that reason, he specifically told his father to keep their relationship a secret from almost everyone. 

That wasn't the only reason for his request, though. Ji-Won's abhorrence towards his father, as well as the family the man had made after Ji-Won's mother passed away, represented another strong reason why the young man wished not to be connected to Chairman Kang's name.

Consequently, apart from Seo-Jun and a couple of old executives, no one at Kangji Tourism knew that they were working together with the Crown Prince himself, namely Kang Ji-Won, the Chairman's oldest son.

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