sinovels Chapter 82 The Tragic Girl
Chapter 82 The Tragic Girl
It takes about half an hour to get back to the apartment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-ku by public transportation.
After hanging up with Kim Min-jung, Jung Do-hoon opened Onnara's internal communication system and held a brief video conference with the cultural attaché at the Chinese Embassy in Madrid.
The meeting's content naturally involved reviewing the risk assessment report on the Spanish-speaking market with the other party, soliciting supplementary opinions, and, through the cultural attaché, initiating contact with some local Spanish institutions and convention and exhibition companies to lay the groundwork for future cultural exchanges between Korea and Spain.
The assistant, Park Ya-jeong, stayed behind to take meeting minutes. By 10:30, it was afternoon tea time in Spain, which is seven hours ahead of time, and the meeting ended.
On her way home from get off work, Park Ah-jeong hummed to herself, clutching her designer handbag, and sighed.
"It's good to be stationed abroad; there's even a special dessert time in the afternoon."
“It’s so lonely being stationed abroad,” Zheng Daoxun had a different opinion. “If you’re sent abroad for two years, you’ll want to come back.”
"I don't want to go home," Park Ah-jeong stretched, her slender figure faintly visible beneath her shirt. "Congressman Park and Judge Kim are both very busy people, I'll be alone at home anyway."
Representative Park Chan-ok is a member of the National Assembly representing the Democratic Party faction in the Gwangju East and South District A constituency, and has been re-elected for two terms.
Gwangju can be considered the cradle and birthplace of democratic factions. To be elected as a member of parliament in that constituency, the most difficult part is the party election, not the actual parliamentary election.
"Then you're a natural-born workaholic. But Representative Kim must be busy lately, right? There's another election next year." Jung Do-hoon smiled and left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. The two young people, who were close in age, became even closer to each other.
Park Ah-jeong pouted and looked at him with a bitter expression: "I am busy, but that's no excuse for you, Secretary, to make me work overtime, is it?"
"Old Pei has a family, and the other directors and assistant directors also have tasks assigned to them by me, so you're the only one left."
"If I don't work overtime, I can go out for drinks, watch movies, go shopping..."
"You think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs salary is enough for you to do all this?"
Upon reaching the security booth, Park Ah-jeong and Jung Do-hoon turned left and right respectively, heading towards the parking lot and the subway station.
But Zheng Daoxun had only taken a few steps when he noticed a furtive figure in the distance. The person seemed to be waiting for him, keeping a watchful eye on him, and even followed him for a few steps.
When Jung Do-hoon enlisted, he was assigned to an agency under the National Intelligence Service because of his outstanding language and information processing skills. His treatment was much better than that of ordinary conscripts. Moreover, he mostly did basic work in the office and did not have to suffer in the barracks.
Therefore, his training curriculum includes counter-surveillance, counter-monitoring, and self-defense techniques in emergency situations.
Moreover, in his previous life as a senior diplomat, Jeong Do-hoon also received professional training from the National Intelligence Service and the National Intelligence University.
Therefore, his intuition should be correct.
Instead of continuing towards the subway station, Zheng Daoxun returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, found a security guard, and accompanied him out through a small door on the other side. He then hailed a taxi and went straight home.
As for that furtive figure, let the security personnel handle it.
It's 10:30 now. Zheng Daoxun promised Yaxian he'd be home by 10:30, so he has no time to pay attention to that sneaky figure.
As for Kim Minjung, she originally thought that she wouldn't be able to wait for Jung Dohoon tonight, or that she had arrived too late and he had already gone home after get off work.
Just when she was about to give up, he coincidentally appeared at the entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Great, I finally caught him!
Kim Minjung was almost fainting from the heat. As an artist, she had to be fully armed with a baseball cap and mask when she went out, and even wearing them for just ten minutes on a hot summer day was unbearably stuffy.
Why did Zheng Daoxun turn back again? Did he leave something in his office?
Kim Minjung squatted on the ground, pondering how to act as if he was interested in Jung Do-hoon.
Alas, one wrong step leads to another, and now she can only resort to this method to cover up her ulterior motives.
Is it really necessary to go to this extent?
It was all just a charade, really.
Besides... actually, Jung Do-hoon is quite good from all angles; he's handsome and young and promising.
Even if they accidentally turn their on-screen romance into a real-life relationship, Kim Min-jung wouldn't lose out.
But... he's a bit too focused on his work. Would he agree to go out for a drink with Kim Minjung?
She was already waiting for Zheng Daoxun outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get off work, and she asked him out for a drink. He couldn't possibly refuse, could he?
Kim Minjung's sincerity is already evident.
Kim Minjung glanced at the entrance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs every now and then, and then picked up his phone to search for nearby bars. Time passed by, but Jung Do-hoon never showed up.
until……
A tall shadow suddenly appeared on the ground.
"Madam, please show me your identification."
Is that a woman's voice?
Kim Minjung looked up blankly. Standing in front of her was a woman in a suit... security guard? Or perhaps a secret agent.
"Huh?"
"Due to your suspicious behavior near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, I now need to check your identification and verify your identity."
Kim Minjung realized there must be a misunderstanding, and a bitter feeling welled up in his heart again.
She obediently took out her identification from her bag and removed her mask at the same time.
"I am Winter, an artist from Aespa. I am here to wait for Secretary Jeong Do-hoon from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
The female agent didn't respond immediately, but tilted her head slightly and whispered a few words into her earpiece. After a moment, she looked back at Kim Minjung:
"Ms. Kim Min-jung, we need to verify your information online, and it's not convenient here. Would you mind coming to my office with me to help us verify it?"
"Huh? I'm not lying to you..."
Jung Do-hoon dragged his tired body home at eleven o'clock. As soon as he opened the door, he smelled a faint fragrance.
Is this a late-night snack?
"Zheng Yaxian, you don't get much exercise staying at home anyway, how dare you eat late-night snacks?"
Jung Do-hoon glanced at the takeout box on the dining table and felt a wave of helplessness. He went over to throw away the trash, only to find that the takeout box had never been opened.
There was also a sticky note attached to it:
[Oppa, you must be tired from work. You didn't have time for dinner today, so I ordered you some fried chicken~ I'm going to sleep now, goodnight.]
Zheng Daoxun wasn't actually very hungry, but since it was Ya Xian's thoughtful gesture, he felt he had to eat a few bites.
He took the note down and tucked it into his Spanish dictionary. When he returned to the restaurant, he noticed a botched fried chicken dish in the corner trash can.
Ya-Hsien must have made this herself, right?
Zheng Daoxun felt a pang in his chest. He went to Ya Xian's door, gently pushed it open a crack, and found that she was indeed asleep.
If I come back earlier, will I be able to eat with Ya-Hsien?
He came to the bedside, gently patted Ya Xian's head, and then tiptoed out. But just as he reached the door, a very inconsiderate phone call came in.
This time he made a note for the phone call—
【Aespa.Winter】
Fortunately, Zheng Daoxun reacted quickly and answered the phone immediately, so Ya Xian's sleep was probably not disturbed.
"What do you want from me?"
"Secretary Do-hoon...could you please go back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and get me out of this mess?"