Off Limits Attraction (The Heirs of Hansol #3) - Jayci Lee
One
Jihae Park nodded even though she couldn’t hear a word Rotelle Logistics’s CEO and CFO were saying over the din of the helicopter. The two men were fighting to put an arm over her shoulders to lead her away from the gales blowing from the propellers. Ultimately, they both grabbed a shoulder each and rushed her into the building.
She huffed impatiently as the two men continued to fight for her attention. Her father’s people behaved so ridiculously around her. What would they do in the presence of the almighty Chairman Park? They would probably freeze and pop out an egg. Or they would throw out their backs, bowing so low that their noses bumped their knees. The second option was a definite possibility, but the first one was so much more amusing to imagine.
In Los Angeles, she was more than the daughter of Rotelle Corporation’s chairman. She was the hardworking and competent vice president of Rotelle Entertainment, and was respected by her employees. She wasn’t just the chairman’s daughter.
She exhaled and drew back her shoulders. She shouldn’t get herself worked up. It wasn’t worth it. She was probably jet-lagged from her flight to New York last night, and the helicopter ride to New Jersey had been a bit bumpy.
“It’s a tremendous honor to have you with us, Vice President.” The CEO spoke in Korean once they were inside, bowing ninety degrees at the waist. Well, what a nob. The bowing was fine, but the CFO, a US native, clearly didn’t speak Korean.
“I’m glad to be here,” Jihae replied in English, giving Mr. CEO a pointed look.
She generally didn’t mind these visits to various subsidiaries of Rotelle Corporation. It gave her a chance to show them that their contributions mattered. What she did mind was the fact it took time away from her work at Rotelle Entertainment. Luckily, she had competent employees who could cover for her during her trip.
But her father might not be as fortunate with Mr. CEO. He’d been transferred to the New Jersey office from Korea and would sit as the CEO of Rotelle Logistics as long as he remained in her father’s good graces. Unfortunately for him, her father couldn’t care less about Jihae or her opinions, so the ass-kissing was wasted on her.
Rotelle Corporation had been founded by her great-great-grandfather soon after the Korean War. Its revenue, reputation and political power had grown exponentially until it had become what it was now—one of the biggest conglomerates in Korea with businesses in various industries including food, pharmaceutics, biotechnology, entertainment, media and logistics. She probably missed one there. Yes. Home shopping. She didn’t know why she kept leaving that one out.
“Would you be amenable to a quick tour of our office, Miss Park?” Mr. CFO bowed repeatedly to her with prayer hands like a Buddhist monk.
Why do people do that? Jihae wasn’t even certain where the custom originated. Did it belong to a country or a religion? She’d only seen the prayer-hands-and-bow thing during yoga and at Buddhist monasteries. When people randomly bowed to her that way, she felt mildly confused and quite offended by the caricature of Korea’s culture of bowing at the waist, which was a show of respect used to greet others or to thank them. And it didn’t involve bowing ten times at once like an unhinged marionette.
With a resigned sigh, Jihae smoothed her hands over her pristine white suit and schooled her expression into a polite smile. The two men were irritating her to an inch of her life, but there was no need to let on.
She survived the office tour led by the two bickering executives and ate an overpriced meal that didn’t come close to filling her up. After acknowledging their hard work and their important contributions to Rotelle Corporation, she bid them farewell.
Despite her assurances that she could find her way back to the roof without assistance, both the CEO and CFO followed her up to say their goodbyes. The CFO repeated his frantic bowing and the CEO held his ninety-degree bow the entire time it took her to board the helicopter. Once the helicopter took flight, they switched to waving so enthusiastically that their hands blurred. They soon disappeared from sight.
Jihae sighed and settled back in her seat, relieved to be finished with her latest heiress duties. The flight back to her hotel in New York City wasn’t long, but she had a hard time staying awake. The remarkable view that revealed itself as they approached the city saved