Chapter 36: A Friend’s Good Intentions

After making peace with the idea that he'll have to tell Seo-Jun what happened, Ji-Won's heart calmed down somewhat. He took a deep breath, before beginning to speak quietly.

"She said that… I have beautiful eyes."

"Ooh, she's quite open with her feelings." Seo-Jun raised an eyebrow. "That's good. You definitely need someone who knows how to push, since all you ever do is pull away. What did you say then?"

"I told her she's drunk." Ji-Won said flatly.

"Dear me. You really don't know a thing about how to deal with a woman." Seo-Jun lamented.

He suddenly understood that old saying 'hating iron for not becoming steel'. This definitely applied to him and Ji-Won's current situation.

Whilst Seo-Jun was complaining in his heart about his friend's shortcomings, the man in question was boiling with resentment. Ji-Won threw his friend a death glare, then remained quiet like a statue. He was already vexed enough as it was. The last thing he needed at that moment was this person's teasing.

When the two men finally returned to their table, they were greeted by a peculiar image. The entire Team 2 was cheering for Su-Jin to drink a glass filled to the brim with a mixture of soju and beer. It was the famous 'soju bomb' that everyone liked to drink whenever they went out with friends.

As soon as Su-Jin finished drinking the entire content of the glass, all team members clapped, congratulating her for that achievement.

Ji-Won stopped in his tracks, glancing at Su-Jin for a moment. After what seemed like several minutes, he ultimately turned his head away. It was her business if she wanted to get drunk until she fell unconscious. Why should he care?

But despite having this kind of thought, as soon as he heard two of the men asking to pour her another glass, Ji-Won felt an unexpected surge of annoyance.

As such, instead of heading towards his own seat, Ji-Won deviated from his route. Making a sudden right turn, he stopped right behind Su-Jin's chair. Just as she was about to raise the glass, Ji-Won yanked it out of her hands.

"That's enough drinking for you." his cold voice sounded from above her.

"Hey! That's mine. Give it back!" Su-Jin yelped, trying to take back her drink.

Ji-Won wasn't fazed by her feeble attempts. He raised his arm up, keeping the glass out of her reach. Then, he turned his head, throwing a menacing glare at the two men.

The two poor souls were stared at like that by the legendary Director Kang, so they instantly shrank inside their chairs, while shriving and trembling like a pair of leaves.

"We are sorry, Director Kang. We meant no harm, so please spare us." The two men both pleaded with the same voice.

But Ji-Won had already stopped paying any attention to them. Without replying, Ji-Won placed the glass on the table. Then, after a moment of careful deliberation, he grabbed Su-Jin by the wrist, pulling her towards Team 1's side of the table.

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All the while, Su-Jin kept whining and fighting against his fingers. The alcohol, however, made her movements too weak and her speech too incoherent for anyone to understand what she was saying. In everyone's eyes, especially in Seo-Jun's, she looked like a flailing little animal caught in the hunter's tight grasp.

Without paying any attention to her struggles, Ji-Won pulled Su-Jin's chair, making her sit down. When she began sliding to one side, he pressed her firmly into the chair with both hands. The moment he let go, though, she swayed on the spot, her shoulder bumping into Yeon-Ah's.

After this entire debacle, the group spent another hour at the restaurant. By the time they began to leave, most of them were barely able to stand. Ji-Won frowned at the sight.

Sure, it was something normal for colleagues to get drunk while on outings, but he never liked that. He had never admitted this to anyone, but he was afraid of alcohol. Well, in truth, he wasn't afraid of the alcohol itself, but of not being able to control himself because of it.

Unfortunately, their culture demanded that, as a person or a certain status, he had to entertain business partners from time to time. If he wanted to achieve his goals, there was no escape from this kind of thing.

Therefore, whenever he was forced to go out for a drink, Ji-Won never had more than what his body could handle. Sometimes, in order to be able to function properly after leaving, he would even employ tricks to deceive his drinking partners. Admittedly, this maneuver didn't always work, but he was continuously perfecting his skills.

Looking around, Ji-Won noticed with surprise that they were the only ones remaining inside the restaurant. All the other tables were empty. Most of the Team 2 members had already gone, some to their homes, others for a round two of drinks. To his left, Su-Jin had her head on the tabletop, eyes tightly shut. Yeon-Ah was gently patting her back, trying to wake her up.

"Well then, I suggest we leave for the night." Seo-Jun said briskly, getting up and picking up his jacket.

Then, in a sudden stroke of inspiration he addressed Ji-Won.

"I will take Miss Lee home. You take care of Miss Park."

"Me?! Why me?" Ji-Won cried out in indignation, taken aback by Seo-Jun's suggestion. "Why don't you take them both home?"

"Because they live in opposite directions. And besides, I need to speak to Miss Lee about the Seoul tour project we will begin next month. She seemed very interested in it, weren't you Miss Lee?" he turned towards Yeon-Ah with a big smile on his lips.

His eyes, though, looked pointedly at her, hoping against hope she will understand his meaning. To his relief, Yeon-Ah seemed to have picked up on something, because a second later she nodded slowly.

"Y-yes." She replied nervously, her eyes glancing anxiously between the Director and the Deputy Director, until finally settling on Su-Jin's sleeping form.

"You can speak about that tomorrow at work." Ji-Won insisted.

He was not fooled by his friend's lame excuse. Something in Seo-Jun's attitude made him have a bad feeling about all this.

"No, I can't." Seo-Jun retorted flatly. "There will be other matters to take care of tomorrow at work. When will I have the time to talk about it?" He paused, turning towards Yeon-Ah. "Let's go, Miss Lee."

After sputtering a bunch of nonsense with a straight face, Seo-Jun grabbed Yeon-Ah's hand and hastily pulled her out of the restaurant.

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