Beneath the Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 12: Hye-jin's Revenge

Hye-jin watched with a growing sense of frustration as Joon-ho and Ha-eun continued to work together, their interactions becoming increasingly warm and less hostile. Every smile exchanged between them, every lingering glance, fueled her anger. It wasn't just about Joon-ho; it was about the principle of the matter. Ha-eun, in Hye-jin's eyes, was a nobody—a girl who had somehow wormed her way into Joon-ho's life and, more importantly, his heart.

Hye-jin had always been confident in her ability to control the dynamics at the company. She was the one people came to for guidance, the one who knew how to manipulate situations to her advantage. But Ha-eun's unexpected rise had thrown everything into disarray. Joon-ho, who had always been distant and focused on his work, was suddenly paying attention to someone else—someone Hye-jin considered far beneath him.

As she sat in her office, her eyes narrowed in thought, Hye-jin's mind raced with plans to reclaim her position. She needed to remind Joon-ho of who was really in charge, who he could truly rely on. And the best way to do that was to make Ha-eun look like a failure—a saboteur, even.

It didn't take long for Hye-jin to devise a plan. She knew the inner workings of the company's projects inside and out, and she was well aware of the tight deadlines and the pressure Ha-eun and Joon-ho were under to deliver a successful marketing campaign. If anything were to go wrong, it would have devastating consequences—not just for the project, but for Ha-eun's reputation as well.

With meticulous precision, Hye-jin set her trap. She waited until the office was nearly empty one evening, knowing that Ha-eun often stayed late to finalize details. Hye-jin accessed the project's database, altering a few key elements in the presentation that Ha-eun was supposed to present to the executives the next day. It was subtle—just enough to cause confusion and chaos when the time came. If everything went according to plan, it would look like Ha-eun had either made a terrible mistake or, worse, deliberately sabotaged the campaign.

The next morning, Ha-eun arrived at the office early, determined to double-check the final details before the big presentation. She was nervous but confident that all their hard work would pay off. She knew the project inside and out, and she was ready to show the executives just how much she and Joon-ho had achieved together.

But as she reviewed the slides, her heart sank. Something was terribly wrong. Key data points were missing, and entire sections of the presentation had been altered. Panic set in as she frantically tried to correct the errors, but it was too late. The meeting was in less than an hour, and there was no way she could fix everything in time.

Her hands shook as she gathered the materials and headed to the conference room, her mind racing with questions. How could this have happened? She had been so careful, so thorough. But now, everything was falling apart.

Joon-ho was already in the conference room, setting up the projector. He glanced up as Ha-eun walked in, immediately noticing the anxiety etched on her face.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, his tone concerned.

Ha-eun hesitated, unsure of how to explain the situation. "I—I don't know. Something's wrong with the presentation. It's like the data's been tampered with."

Joon-ho frowned, his expression darkening. "Tampered with? How?"

She handed him the laptop, showing him the errors that had suddenly appeared. Joon-ho's eyes scanned the screen, his jaw tightening as he took in the changes.

"This doesn't make sense," he muttered. "We double-checked everything last night. How could this have happened?"

Ha-eun could feel the weight of his gaze on her, and for a moment, she wondered if he was beginning to doubt her. "I don't know, Joon-ho," she said quietly. "I swear I didn't make these changes. I would never—"