Chapter Twenty

We just finished our meeting with our client from the Nekobe Hotel. Nekobe Hotel was just one of the many businesses that ran under Nam Corporations. Even though it was a lunch meeting, I was still nervous as I sat down with Mr. Nam and our client, Mr. Choi.
Truth to be told, I expected for Mr. Choi to be, somehow, like Minju. But I was proven to be wrong. Mr. Choi was actually a nice person and he even made sure that I was comfortable during the whole time he talked with Mr. Nam.
Mr. Nam explained that before he would make partners with someone, he would always ask their employees about their bosses. Mr. Nam said that he would never accept a partner who had a record of mistreating their employees. Because it was against our company’s values and he would remind his partners and clients of that rule.
It was another reason for me to be in complete awe of my boss. Not only did he care for his employees and his employees’ families. He also cared for the employees of his clients and partners.
This man, this sort of boss, would be considered as God’s gift to the business industry. I could only wish that every person who owned a business, who ran a business, would do the same for all those who worked for them.
Mr. Nam was the epitome of leading by example.
“Miss Ryuk, make sure that all the notes that you’ve written down today, you will send to Hyeongu,” Mr. Nam instructed as we made our way to our next venue. “He will be the one to compile all the information you wrote today.”
“Yes, Mr. Nam,” I replied as the car made a right turn.
Haru, Mr. Nam’s driver, was also a pleasant person when we were introduced. Mr. Nam said he met Haru in the streets when his business started to flourish. He took him from the streets and offered him to be his driver. Mr. Nam sent him to driving school. And no one has ever driven for Mr. Nam other than Haru.
A few moments later, we stopped in front of a building with two towers. Mr. Nam stepped out without saying a word. I told Haru to meet us in the parking area before I followed Mr. Nam.
♔♔♔
As we entered through the doors, the lobby was a lot more spacious and not many people walked around. The only people in the lobby were a few employees, three gorgeous receptionists, two janitors and the security guard.
We approached the receptionists and they were immediately swept away when Mr. Nam stood in front of them. All of them stood up and greeted him with their biggest smiles. “Hello, Mr. Nam.”
“Hello, ladies. I have a meeting with Taeyoung,” Mr. Nam replied.
“Let me give his secretary a call,” the middle receptionist smiled as she dialed in onto her telephone.
On the other hand, the other receptionists caught sight of me. I smiled at them but they rolled their eyes on me instead. ‘I guess this was the price that I had to pay for being Mr. Nam’s secretary. Everybody was bound to hate me if I accompanied him.’
“Hello, good morning. This is from the front desk,” the middle receptionist talked over the phone. “Mr. Nam is here for Mr. Taeyoung… yes, he’s alone.”
“I’m not alone,” Mr. Nam interrupted her. He pointed at me and said, “I’m here with my secretary.”
Their eyes widened as they all looked at me.
I didn’t know how to react so I nervously waved at them.
The middle receptionist stuttered as she returned to her call, “I mean, Mr. Nam is with his secretary. Is Mr. Taeyoung busy right now?” A moment of silence happened as she listened to the other end of the call. “Okay, thank you.” She put the phone down and grabbed VIP passes.
She handed them over to Mr. Nam and said, “Mr. Taeyoung is on the fifty-first floor. His secretary will be waiting for you there.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Nam bowed briefly. He turned to me and I reached out my hand to grab my own pass. But out of nowhere, he slid the VIP pass on me. I froze on the spot as he adjusted the pass. I wanted to protest against him but I was too shocked.
We then headed to the elevators to our left. But I could feel the shock and glares from the receptionists.
Mr. Nam has acted strangely today. I wanted to know why but I was too scared to ask.
Mr. Nam pushed the “Up” button and thankfully, the elevator was already there. We stepped in and pressed the fifty-first button.
♔♔♔
As the elevator went up, I turned around and marveled at the view. The back of the elevator showed a perfect view of the city as we climbed up the left tower. Although the height did make me a bit dizzy, it was still beautiful to look at.
“The person we’re about to meet is my brother,” Mr. Nam broke the silence. I returned to him and he continued, “Adoptive brother, to be specific. He owns this building. A few years after my business flourished, he established his own and made a name for himself. He’s been trying to merge with our company for years but I never agreed to it.”
My brows furrowed as I asked, “Why not, Mr. Nam?”
He faced me and replied, “His company was embroiled in numerous scandals. He has yet to recover his company’s reputation. And I didn’t want that to smear the good name that I built for our company.”
I nodded. With caution, I asked, “In the world of business, is it normal that the business takes priority over family?”
Mr. Nam stood silent for a bit before he let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, yes,” he replied. He continued, “In the world that I play in, it’s a very competitive field. Everybody needs to prove to the world that they have something special to offer. Everybody is always at each other’s throats to get to the top.”
He turned to me and added, “A successful business isn’t built overnight, Miss Ryuk. If someone tells you otherwise, I implore you not to believe that. A successful business includes a lot of hard work, patience and the ability to balance being human and a robot of the world. I already assisted my brother in many things, even in his business. However, his poor decision-making has always landed in hot water.
“And for quite some time, I have secretly helped him out of those situations. I paid a lot of people, paid multiple lawyers and even bribed others just to help him out,” he explained. “But instead of changing for the better, I noticed that the more I helped him, the more reckless he became. That’s why after his last scandal, which was last year, I helped him one last time. And he continued to associate himself with people of questionable background.”
He ended his explanation with, “As much as I want to put family first before anything, I can’t apply the family card with my brother anymore. No matter how hard our mother pleaded with me, I have to think of my business first.”
I nodded as I had nothing else to say. From Mr. Nam’s standpoint, I understood why he had to act that way towards his brother. I saw how Mr. Nam put such importance, not only on his businesses and clients, but with his people as well. There was no doubt that whenever Mr. Nam would make a decision for his company, he would always think of how it would affect his people.
And just like what he mentioned a while ago, he would always base his partnerships on the backgrounds of his possible clients. Since his brother was also a businessman, I understood why he had to act coldly towards him in regards to partnerships. He had a lot of people under him so he had to think of his people first.
Slowly, Mr. Nam moved closer towards me, which made my eyes widened. As he closed the gap between the two of us, I moved back. I thought he would stop but he didn’t. Instead, he kept coming closer until my back hit the glass window of the elevator.
I held my breath as my heart pounded harder. ‘I bet he can hear my heart,’ I thought to myself. My heart was beating so loud, it was as if it wanted to jump out of my chest.
He then reached his hand out. I flinched as I immediately went into panic mode. Mr. Nam then moved a bit of hair away from my face. I looked down to my feet right after that. My cheeks burned pretty quickly as I tried to hide my face as much as possible.
After that, he smiled as he stepped back. He slid his hands into his pockets and said, “As much as I find your messy look attractive, it isn’t suitable for formal meetings such as this one.”
My eyes widened even more as I heard that. I wanted to slap him, hit him on the arm, and even punch him in the face. I just wanted to do something to him to make him stop. He has acted strangely the whole day. And I wasn’t sure if I could take it anymore.
“Miss Ryuk?” My head shot up as Mr. Nam called me.