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Episode 11.
She firmly believed that the only way to escape her home was through marriage.
But now, Yiryeong was sick of herself for only starting to worry about this now. She had enjoyed everything with him to her heart’s content, and only when reality came knocking did she start to hesitate—pathetic.
As she fidgeted with her fingers, she dug herself deeper into a dark, bottomless pit of thoughts.
A sudden tightness gripped her chest, as if she couldn’t breathe.
“Ms. Yiryeong.”
He called her name calmly.
“I won’t be a perfect husband.”
Had he sensed her worries?
Yiryeong focused on Lee Jun’s composed confession.
“But no matter what happens, I’ll be on your side. What I’m saying is—I’ll be the one person you can rely on.”
His voice, stripped of any lightness, carried weight.
The commanding charisma he showed in the office wasn’t here, yet he somehow felt even more reliable.
She wanted to lean on him.
“I’ll stay by your side, so you can depend on me.”
It was as if he had read her mind, and she suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
“This place will always be open—only for you, Yiryeong. A place where you can always come back and lean on me.”
Jun tapped his chest lightly to draw her attention back to him.
Was this the magic he had cast on her?
She wanted to fall into his broad arms.
Even if it was just a fake marriage meant to fool others, she wanted to live sheltered within that embrace.
More than staying in that uncomfortable house, she wanted to sleep peacefully in the arms of someone who said he’d be on her side.
“So come to me without worry.”
At his reassuring words, her eyes grew hot.
This was the man who had reached out his hand to her to help her avoid a blind date. Was he truly someone worth crying over?
Yiryeong kept questioning herself.
The answer was, of course, “No.” She didn’t know enough about Jun.
And yet she was drawn to him—because she liked him.
Her heart was racing for him and him alone.
Wishing for his love on top of everything would be greedy. She felt she could live without it.
“Executive Director.”
Having made up her mind, she called out to him simply.
“This is my first time in such a wonderful place.”
“I’m honored. But, Ms. Yiryeong,”
He poured wine and raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow playfully.
“When it’s just the two of us like this, can we please drop the ‘Executive Director’ nonsense?”
For a second, Yiryeong blinked dumbly and rolled her eyes.
So he hated that title.
He’d never shown it, so she hadn’t thought twice about it.
But now, she didn’t know what else to call him. Narrowing her eyes, she pondered.
“You could call me ‘you,’ or even my name. I wouldn’t expect ‘honey,’ of course.”
He fired off suggestions rapidly, as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“‘H-honey’?”
The sudden “honey” attack made her dizzy. She’d never even imagined it.
“In front of my parents, we should at least act affectionate, don’t you think?”
He planned to introduce her to his parents after the proposal.
“We’re three years apart, aren’t we? ‘Oppa’ works too.”
It sounded like he was using that as an excuse to say ridiculous things. Suspicious.
“O-Oppa?”
Yiryeong’s face flushed red, burning hot.
Flustered, she fidgeted with the ring box in her hands.
“Just relax around me. Don’t be so tense like now.”
She opened her mouth to say they weren’t close enough to call each other “Oppa” or “honey,” when—
“My mother isn’t an ordinary person. We’ll need to fool her eyes, so don’t you think we should act like a loving couple, whether it’s ‘honey’ or ‘Oppa’?”
She’d misunderstood for a moment.
She’d attached a romantic meaning to his suggestion to change how they addressed each other for the sake of convincing his parents.
She shouldn’t forget—this marriage had a purpose.
Her eyes cooled instantly as she opened the box.
“Alright. Let’s get married.”
She slipped the platinum ring onto her own finger, firing the signal flare of their business marriage.
AE Cosmetics’ long-standing tradition disappeared overnight. Thanks to that, Yiryeong was moved to an office position.
As days passed with no sign of the tradition being reinstated, rumors spread among employees of other departments.
The rumor was that a contract worker in the marketing strategy team had a powerful sponsor.
Yiryeong was well aware of these whispers. She was the only contract worker in the company, after all.
“They say she’s lured more than one guy with that pretty face.”
“Apparently, she’s the first one to secure a full-time position with her looks and body.”
She’d overheard these words plenty of times in the cafeteria and restrooms, but she bit her tongue.
After all, it was true that she was transferred to an office job because of her connection with Executive Director Seo Ijun. She decided it was her burden to bear.
Besides, even her marketing team members didn’t say anything, so she couldn’t speak up first.
If even the Executive Director didn’t step in, how could she?
She comforted herself, telling herself rumors were just rumors, and endured it.
Once again, she sat alone in the cafeteria, silently eating her lunch.
On her first day as an office worker, the food tasted great and she’d felt happy.
But that didn’t last long.
She couldn’t help overhearing the constant whispering, and soon realized the rumors were all about her.
Every seat felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t avoid them. If she did, it would look like she was admitting the rumors were true.
“We’re getting married.”
The impulsive proposal she’d made had been accepted by the Executive Director.
She endured it, knowing that once they held the family meeting and announced their marriage, there would be even bigger repercussions.
She rolled the grains of rice around in her mouth without appetite.
Feeling queasy, she decided to leave early today.
“Why are you sitting alone? You should’ve asked me to eat with you.”
Her senior, Hyunwook, who’d been on a business trip last week, sat down beside her naturally.
“You must like fruit. Here, have some. I just grabbed it.”
His kindness only made the whispering louder and the stares more intense.
“It’s fine, Assistant Manager.”
“It’s untouched, really. I don’t eat fruit, so you should.”
He must not have heard the rumors, since he’d been out all morning.
“I’m just full. You eat it.”
She forced a smile and waved her hands.
Just as she was about to get up to prevent him from adding to the rumors—
“I heard you got transferred to office work?”
Before she could stop him, Hyunwook moved some of his food onto her tray.
“It was cold even in February, so that’s great. At this rate, you’ll get a full-time position soon.”
Seeing him act as normal as ever made her realize she was the only one putting up walls.
“…There’s too much. I can’t finish it all.”
“Really? Then at least eat some mango. It’s too expensive to buy with my own money.”
His joke made her burst out laughing.
“Thank you.”
“Why thank me? I heard the Executive Director approved getting rid of the tradition. You owe it all to him.”
Heat suddenly rushed to her ears.
She instinctively touched her burning earlobe and stopped laughing.
She’d reacted just to hearing “Executive Director.”
She had been avoiding him all week, worried the rumors would affect him too.
“Are you okay? Do you have allergies or something?”
“No.”
“Come on, your face is red.”
She could feel the heat spreading from her ears to her neck and face.
“This cafeteria is just warm.”
“You’re really okay?”
Seeing him sitting beside her, worrying just like he did in the office, made her feel oddly guilty.
“You know the rumors about me, right?”
She decided to bring it up herself.
“I know.”
He nodded casually, as if it were no big deal.
“They’re just rumors, after all.”
His next words made her realize—shrinking away like this only made the rumors seem truer.
“Assistant Manager… thanks to you, I don’t feel so uncomfortable anymore.”
She finally faced Hyunwook’s feelings head-on, something she’d avoided until now.
“Because of me? I didn’t do anything.”
He gave her a clear, bright smile without a trace of malice.
Now it was her turn to respond to that smile.
“Assistant Manager, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Yiryeong, let me go first. This isn’t something to say in a cafeteria, but I need to say it now.”
Reading the mood, his expression turned serious.
“Yiryeong, do you have a boyfriend?”
It was a question she’d expected, but it still wasn’t pleasant.
For the past three months, the person who had comforted her the most was none other than Baek Hyunwook. That made her heart heavy.
“I think I’ve asked you this a few times already.”
He smiled faintly, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
“And every time, you made that troubled face. Just like now.”
As he said, she’d always avoided answering with that same conflicted expression.
She’d learned from experience at her previous job that having a boyfriend didn’t change anything.
“What if I became your boyfriend? I want to protect you from these nasty rumors.”
She didn’t want to deceive someone confessing so sincerely.
And even now, she didn’t want to ignore the Executive Director lingering in her mind.
“I don’t know how to say this, but…”
Just as she was about to reveal that she was engaged—
Clack.
A sharp, irritated noise drew her attention.
A man stood over them, looking as if he might devour them both.
The man she’d spent the last week avoiding—Executive Director Seo Ijun—was right there before her eyes.
