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Chapter 05
“W-what?”
Unable to reveal her tear-stained, pitiful face, Somang only mumbled.
“Are you… teasing me right now?”
“When you’re twenty-nine. If you still like me then, let’s get married.”
As Hangyeol’s words rang clearly—almost as if all the noise around them had vanished—Somang quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Then she spun around and threw her arms around his waist.
“You promised! You’re really going to marry me!”
Held tight in Hangyeol’s broad chest, Somang clung to him as if his words might fly away if she let go.
“So you’re going to keep liking me until you’re twenty-nine?”
“Of course! My feelings will never change. My dream is to have a baby who looks like you and live happily ever after!”
Somang didn’t let go of him until Siwon—who had just finished parking the car—pried the two apart.
And time passed quickly.
Maybe the saying is true: when the distance grows, so do hearts drift apart. The daily calls and messages dwindled.
“Oppa, is Hangyeol-oppa really that busy? Why hasn’t he been answering lately?”
“Yawn… Haven’t you heard ‘no news is good news’?”
Exhausted from his residency at a university hospital, Siwon yawned so wide it looked painful.
“Hey, go out. Let me sleep.”
“Wait… but did he contact you at all?”
Ignoring Siwon’s complaints, Somang sat stubbornly on the edge of his bed, fidgeting as she asked again.
“Nope.”
“Did you check your email?”
“Sigh… Baek Somang.”
Hearing Siwon about to explode, Somang shrank back.
“I was just… wondering, in case.”
“Fine. Yes, he contacted me! There, satisfied?”
“Really? What did he say? Is he coming back to Korea?”
“He’s not coming. He went on a blind date recently, and apparently he’s getting married soon.”
Somang blinked, stunned as if she’d been hit.
“So stop asking me about Yoo Hangyeol already.”
Dragging stiff, stone-frozen Somang out of the room, Siwon slammed the door.
“He’s… getting married…?”
Somang marched right back in and shook Siwon awake.
“He promised to marry me! What do you mean he’s marrying someone else?! Tell me you’re lying!”
Siwon rubbed his dry face, irritated.
“Sigh… Baek Somang. Why would Hangyeol marry you? Why do you think he hasn’t contacted you? He’s been busy arranging his marriage after going on that blind date.”
“No! That’s not it!”
“To him, you’re just his friend’s kid sister. So stop it already.”
Thrown out again, Somang desperately tried calling Hangyeol, but the dial tone rang and rang with no answer.
After that, she fell sick and stayed bedridden for a whole week.
Siwon called it a “summer cold—one even dogs don’t catch,” but Somang knew better than anyone that it wasn’t a cold.
This hollow emptiness, the nonstop tears… there was no way this was a cold.
It was pure, painful heartbreak.
Before she knew it, years had passed as if she’d been under a spell cast by Hangyeol. And now—it was time to get off work.
Hangyeol stepped out of his office. The shirt buttons that had been undone earlier were now neatly fastened.
“On second thought, it is our first team dinner. I’d prefer if everyone could attend.”
At that, Deputy Manager Gam scurried up.
“Assistant Manager Baek! You heard him, right? Mandatory, mandatory!”
“Ah… yes.”
Unwilling but resigned, Somang followed her teammates out.
The familiar charcoal grill restaurant they visited each quarter was up ahead.
“Let’s all take care of each other until the TF team wraps up,” Hangyeol said, and the team cheered enthusiastically as if they were already one unit.
Beer glasses clinked brightly in the middle of the table. Somang drained her glass of somaek in one go.
The alcohol went down unusually smooth today.
“It’s intense. Really intense,” Dahee murmured beside her.
“What is?”
“Over there. The team leader’s table.”
Following Dahee’s gaze, Somang saw Hangyeol surrounded by female employees.
Whatever they were talking about, he was smiling brightly, laughing.
Was he always that easy to amuse?
Pouting, Somang glared at him.
“Ridiculous.”
“Right? Someone who’s basically on track to become an executive wouldn’t care about low-level employees like us.”
Dahee shook her head and refilled Somang’s empty glass.
“Yeah… I guess so.”
Somang laughed bitterly as she mulled over the words.
After five years, Hangyeol seemed further away from her than ever.
Marriage? Forget that. She couldn’t even dare hope for a simple date.
Well, of course. He was supposed to get married in the U.S. anyway… But then why isn’t he wearing a wedding ring?
Brushing off the suspicion, she shook her head.
How are you going to take responsibility?
Responsibility? He can’t even remember his own promise!
Feeling increasingly wronged, she chugged another somaek.
“You’re gonna break the glass! Put it down gently!”
Barely listening to Dahee’s scolding, Somang alternated soju and beer into her glass.
“Team leader, do you have a girlfriend?”
At the sudden question from Jiseon in the admin team, the bustling chatter died down instantly. Every female employee’s eyes zeroed in on Hangyeol.
“Ah, no. I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Even though it was midsummer, it felt like cherry blossoms were suddenly blooming—every woman’s cheeks turning pink.
Hope sprouted again, and even Somang glanced toward him.
And then—hangyeol, seated in the center, caught her wandering gaze. His eyes, heavy and lingering as if licking over her, made the hair on her neck rise.
“But I do have someone I plan to marry.”
He smiled, looking straight at her—her heart thudded violently.
W-what… was that…
Questions poured from all sides, but Hangyeol only smiled, offering no details.
“Well then, I’ll head out first. Enjoy the rest of your dinner. Oh—here’s the card.”
Even after he left, the employees’ number-one topic was his mysterious fiancée.
Some claimed she was a Korean-American he met at the U.S. branch, others swore they’d seen him dining with someone from the Seri Electronics family at a hotel.
“Didn’t he look right at our table earlier?” Dahee poked Somang’s arm, drunkenly blinking slow.
When did she see that?
“I—I didn’t notice?”
“Absolutely. He totally said it while looking this way. Don’t tell me…”
Dahee’s serious expression made Somang uneasy. What if she suspected something between her and Hangyeol?
Somang suddenly stood.
“I’m going home first.”
“Huh? Already?”
“It’s midnight.”
Ignoring Dahee’s plea for “just one more drink,” Somang reached her apartment complex.
Vrrrt. Vrrrt.
[Where are you?]
[I told you I have something to say. Why are you so late?]
“Seriously… what a personality.”
Carrying bags of snacks for a third round of solo drinking, Somang rang the doorbell instead of entering the passcode.
But the door didn’t budge.
He’d been texting nonstop until a moment ago—there was no way Siwon fell asleep already.
Sighing, she jabbed the bell repeatedly.
“Oppa! Open the door!”
At that moment—
The door swung open. A clean, sweet cotton scent—like vanilla—drifted out.
And there he was.
Freshly showered, a towel draped around his neck.
Hangyeol stood in front of her.
“You’re here?”
Completely at ease—as if this were his home—he greeted her calmly.
Somang’s brain momentarily shut down.
“Hic—”
Ah. She finally understood something: when someone is too shocked, their voice really does disappear.
Why… why is he here? Why?!
Her steps tangled like her breath, and she stumbled, but Hangyeol caught her by the waist and pulled her inside.
“Careful. You’re going to fall.”
Her limp body followed his lead without resistance.
A water droplet from his wet hair fell on her cheek. He wiped it gently with the towel.
As he leaned in, closing the distance, his broad, water-dotted chest filled her entire vision.
“W-why, whyyy…!”
Overwhelmed, her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor.
Unfortunately—her gaze dropped straight to the conspicuous bulge under his towel.
It was… big. Too big.
Was he hiding a banana under there? The white towel around his hips jutted at an impossible angle.
Flustered, she looked up—and the sculpted abs she’d seen earlier at the office glistened with leftover water, flushed pink.
Everything was a landmine.
“Are you hurt?”
“S-sorry!”
When he reached out, she slapped his hand away instantly.
Then, abandoning all the snacks she’d bought, she shot up like a spring and bolted into the guest bathroom.
