Yoojin couldn't take her eyes off Dongha's face as he smiled brightly at her.
They had only been apart for three days—over the weekend and yesterday—but every time her thoughts wandered, he had been there.
He had followed her that way in her mind, and now, he had actually appeared in front of her.
Dongha seemed pleased by Yoojin's reaction—standing there, staring at only him instead of getting into the car. He let out a light laugh, stood up, and held out his hand toward her.
"Get in."
When Yoojin took his hand, warmth seeped into her palm. Guided by Dongha, she got into the car and sat in the seat by the door.
The vehicle was a limousine-style van, with individual seats arranged separately. Dongha sat in the seat next to Yoojin and looked at her.
"Ms. Yoojin, were you surprised to see Mr. Dongha?"
Joo Myung-gon, seated in the front, spoke in a stiff tone, as if reproaching Yoojin for forgetting his presence.
"Oh—yes, yes. Hello, Director!"
Startled by his voice, Yoojin snapped back to her senses and finally offered the greeting she hadn't finished. Then she turned to Chen in the back seat and greeted him as well. Chen's face flushed faintly as he met her eyes.
"But how did you end up coming to Vietnam, Dongha?"
Yoojin looked back and forth between Dongha and Director Oh in the front.
"How else? I took a night flight."
At Dongha's almost petulant tone, Yoojin's eyes widened.
"A night flight? You arrived at dawn?"
Director Oh cut into their polite back-and-forth.
"I heard you two were middle school classmates. Don't be so formal—just talk comfortably."
At his words, Yoojin leaned closer to Dongha and whispered softly.
"How did you really end up coming on this trip?"
"I couldn't just sit still. I was too worried."
"Did Manager Lee tell you to go?"
"Manager Lee probably only found out after I left. I skipped the morning coffee meeting—and judging by the fact that no one called me, he must have known."
As Dongha mentioned Manager Lee, the corner of his mouth twisted upward.
"What?"
"This was a direct instruction from the Chairman. A special order to make sure Han Yoojin gets back in time for Friday's workshop."
"The Chairman?"
Yoojin shook her head in disbelief.
Was it really necessary to go this far for a single intern?
"Seems like they're taking this workshop seriously. I heard they're even planning to film it for the company v-log contents."
Ah—only then did she remember. Just last Thursday, she had told Jang Seo-hee, who had transferred to Samho Entertainment, that she was fine with being featured in the company v-log.
"I didn't even tell Seo-hee I was on a business trip."
"Yeah. Yesterday, Intern Lee Chansu brought over a camera and told me to film some work scenes. I told him you weren't there. Then headquarters called and told me to come to Vietnam and film with you."
Dongha pulled a small camera from his bag and attached it to a long grip. Yoojin stared at it, caught off guard.
"You came all the way to Vietnam just to film a video?"
"They assigned a claim case to an intern who hasn't even been here a month and sent her on a solo business trip. That already put Samho Apparel in an awkward position. You know we're already on the Chairman's bad side, right?"
At the mention of Samho Apparel being in the Chairman's disfavor, even Director Joo twisted around in his seat to look at Dongha. Despite the serious content, Dongha looked oddly pleased.
"First thing—we need to film with you."
He turned the camera toward himself, then leaned toward Yoojin. As he moved closer, the fresh citrus scent of his cologne tickled her nose.
"Finally meeting Partner Han Yoojin from Samho's 30th Open Recruitment Onboarding Program."
His voice flowed low and smooth.
"Partner Han Yoojin, why don't you say hello to the subscribers of the Samho Group channel?"
"Ah—hello?"
Caught off guard, Yoojin lifted one hand and waved awkwardly, bowing slightly at the same time.
Seeing her flustered reaction, Dongha's eyes curved into crescent moons, clearly amused.
*
The moment they entered the factory, Dongha drew all the attention of the workers—especially the female workers.
With his sculpted, model-like face, pale skin, towering height nearing 190 centimeters, and striking physique, Dongha stood out sharply among the comparatively smaller Vietnamese men.
Chen from Taitex, with his fair skin and height well over 180 centimeters, looked like a refined Chinese nobleman. Vietnamese women were known to favor wealthy, fair-skinned Chinese expatriates; had Chen been alone, he would have monopolized all the attention.
But every gaze in the factory was drawn to Dongha instead. Yoojin witnessed it several times—Vietnamese female workers glancing at Dongha absentmindedly, eyes widening, then breaking into bright smiles.
An inexplicable discomfort crept over her.It felt different from Jaehee, who had openly and aggressively expressed her interest in Dongha at the studio.
Meanwhile, Dongha's attention was fixed on Chen. Chen kept stealing glances at Yoojin, and each time, Dongha stared at Chen as if drilling holes through him.
As soon as they entered the office, Director Joo clenched his jaw and barked harshly.
"At least the strike happened today. Otherwise, production would've dropped like crazy. Tsk."
Then, as if making an official declaration, he addressed Dongha.
"Yoon Dongha—you're banned from entering the factory from now on."
Dongha didn't seem particularly wounded. He brushed back the hair falling over his forehead. The women in the office stirred at the sight—Lin among them.
"Yes, Director. Then does that mean filming inside the factory is prohibited as well?"
"No!"
Director Joo reverted instantly to his irritable self, shouting as if slaughtering a pig.
"Then will you give us time later to film with Yoojin?"
"Finish the claim first, then do whatever you want!"
Director Joo glanced between Yoojin, Dongha, and Chen.
"What kind of business trip is this? Everything's settled with money anyway—someone with decision-making authority should've come! Tsk."
Chen looked bewildered as Director Joo shouted at them. Assuming the defective fabric had angered him, Chen asked in English,
"
Yoojin turned to Director Joo.
"Director, may we check the defective fabric now?"
At her question, Director Joo nodded. They left the cool, breezy office and stepped into the warehouse, heavy with heat and humidity.
It wasn't even a morning that allowed coffee.
A battle began—two companies facing off over defective fabric.
The buyer demanded compensation worthy of what they had paid. The seller tried desperately to minimize losses.
"With two men here, they'll handle it."
Leaving them without assigning any on-site staff, Director Oh simply led them to the warehouse and left.
Without a word, Dongha and Chen tore open the plastic wrapping around the fabric rolls and began spreading them across the floor.
*
Outside, the torrential squall had already passed. After lunch, the afternoon shift began.
Yoojin spoke with Manager Lee Hyuk on the phone. She reported that Dongha had suddenly joined the trip and that they were inspecting the defective fabric with the supplier, but strangely, Manager Lee had little to say. He only told her to hang in there before ending the call.
Dongha and Chen continued the inspection in silence, as if waiting to see who would give up first.
They tore open new rolls, spread the fabric long across the floor, and whenever they found sections that looked acceptable, Chen argued that not everything was defective.
Each time, Yoojin heard Director Joo's voice in her head shouting, "How long are you going to cherry-pick?"She would stiffen and shake her head silently.
The short-sleeved shirts Dongha and Chen wore were soaked through with sweat, their pants dusted white with residue from packaging and fabric fibers.
Yoojin quietly helped—recording roll numbers, spreading fabric, organizing the stacks.
From time to time, Director Oh would come by, glance at the three of them working nonstop, then leave again.
Late afternoon, the concrete walls of the factory began to hum faintly as sewing machinery noise resumed.
Yoojin realized the strike had ended sooner than expected. In a way, outsourcing production to Vina Factory 1 had turned out to be less costly than anticipated.
The strike at Factory 3 was resolved—but the defective fabric claim Yoojin was handling showed no sign of easy resolution.
As Director Joo had said, without someone with authority present, all they could do was continue inspecting.
Chen stacked the inspected fabric neatly to the side. As Dongha pulled another roll forward, Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke, signaling an end.
"It's okay. No need to see more."
Then Chen turned away to make a call—in Minnan, a Taiwanese dialect.
"Is that it?"
Dongha looked down at his filthy hands, hesitated, then wiped them on his pants. Since he was already dirty, he seemed to decide not to care anymore. He chuckled softly, then spoke.
"Yoojin, I didn't even bring extra clothes."
"What?"
Yoojin stared at him, dumbfounded. Dongha's eyes sparkled.
"I rushed here. Just grabbed my laptop, camera, and passport. Who would've guessed I'd be tearing open fabric rolls in a factory?"
Dongha bent slightly toward Yoojin and whispered near her ear.
"When all I can think about is you, I end up doing things I normally wouldn't. Do you know that?"