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Chapter 07
As Han-gyeol read down the list of rules, he covered his face with one hand, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Unbelievable. Baek Somang.”
<Housemate Rules>
-
Curfew is 8 P.M.
No curfew! I’ll buy you earplugs. -
Commute together.
Commute separately! And let’s avoid running into each other at work as much as possible.★(•̀_•́)
It was obvious that commuting together was absolutely off-limits to her. She’d even drawn a big red star and an angry emoticon at the end of the sentence.
Did she not realize that just makes him want to do it more?
When he kept reading, he found two more rules she had added. Seeing them only brightened his already satisfied smile.
-
Knock before entering.
-
No undressing.
Monday.
As Somang worked through all the tasks that had piled up over the weekend, an irritating mosquito-like voice buzzed into her ear.
“Baek Assistant~ Bae-aek Assistant~”
“Yes?”
Somang paused her typing and looked over her shoulder. Sure enough—there was Deputy Manager Gam Daesik, smiling brightly.
“Come out for a second. Hurry.”
Reluctantly, she got up from her seat.
“You see, Baek Assistant, I’m only telling you this because we’re on the same team, right? You know that.”
Since when are we on the same team?
Pulling her onto his imaginary boat without permission, Daesik immediately continued.
“You know there’s a new employee joining your team next week, right?”
“Employee Park Min-chan?”
“Watch your mouth, Baek Assistant! The truth is, it’s Young Master Yoo Min-chan. Yoo Min-chan! The chairman’s precious youngest son he had outside the family! Baek Assistant, you know Undercover Boss, right? He even changed his last name before joining. So let’s pretend we don’t know anything.”
He glanced around like a nervous pigeon, unable to hide his excitement.
“From now on, your number one task is to figure out what the young master likes. You can do that, right?”
His eyes gleamed with ambition.
“If things go well for me, things will go well for you too. You get what I’m saying?”
Knowing that he would keep dragging this out until she responded the way he wanted, Somang halfheartedly nodded and returned to her desk.
“Assistant Baek, Manager Song went up to the cafeteria first.”
A quick glance at the clock told her it was already lunchtime. She grabbed her ID card and headed out with Eunjung.
“So what did Deputy Manager Gam want?”
“He said he and I are on the same team.”
As Somang complained while piling side dishes onto her tray, Eunjung made a pitying face.
“Oh no, seriously! How did you end up becoming Gam Deputy Manager’s emotional support doll? Oh—there’s the manager!”
From afar, Manager Song waved enthusiastically—and next to him stood Han-gyeol, whose back looked annoyingly handsome even from behind.
“The team leader said that unless he has outside meetings, he’ll be eating with us for a while!”
“Oh…”
Forced into sitting across from Han-gyeol, Somang barely touched her food.
Meanwhile, Eunjung chattered non-stop the moment she sat down.
“I mean, commuting is killing me lately, so I’ve been looking for apartments. But everything’s so expensive!”
Somang nodded here and there, but all she wanted was for lunch break to end as soon as possible.
Then suddenly, the previously quiet Han-gyeol spoke.
“Then where does Assistant Baek live?”
“Huh? I… I…”
Startled, Somang’s eyes widened.
“Assistant Baek, didn’t you say you live near Jamwon Station?”
At Eunjung’s reminder, she had no choice but to nod.
“Yes, Jamwon Station.”
At that moment, the corners of Han-gyeol’s mouth lifted, almost innocently.
“I live there too. What a coincidence.”
Coincidence? What is wrong with this man?
“H-ha… I see.”
Somang tried to draw a line again, but Han-gyeol calmly erased it.
“Then, how about carpooling?”
Thud.
Her heart dropped straight to her feet and pounded like thunder.
She shot him a desperate warning look, but he remained completely unfazed.
Unable to take it anymore, she subtly brought her palm to her lips so the others wouldn’t notice and whispered—
“What are you doing!”
Han-gyeol lightly tapped the toe of her sneaker with his shoe.
“Pretend you don’t know.”
Color flooded her face like spilled paint.
Flustered but trapped in her seat, she retaliated by firmly stepping on his shoe.
He didn’t even flinch.
“Oh, I suppose commuting with your boss might feel uncomfortable?”
If only he were just her boss.
“It’s not that—Team Leader, you’d be inconvenienced because of me…”
“You must’ve missed the announcement.”
Eunjung clapped her hands.
“Announcement? What announcement?”
Eunjung explained.
Due to frequent subway strikes, more employees were using the company shuttle. Administration couldn’t add more buses yet, so they came up with a temporary solution: employees who carpooled would receive full gas and parking reimbursement.
“Assistant Baek, you were with Deputy Manager Gam all morning, so I guess you missed it. Everyone from the same neighborhood already turned in their forms.”
It felt like every direction she turned, she ran into another trap set by Han-gyeol.
Same company, same neighborhood… and now even the same commute?
Even in the short time she was eating lunch, her heart had risen and fallen countless times.
At this rate her heart would overload, and her lifespan would definitely be cut in half.
“If we live in the same area, we should commute together.”
She had no grounds to refuse.
This was Han-gyeol’s plan—perfectly executed.
Friday.
They had already endured several days of suffocating carpooling.
“How can someone who’s practically engaged act like this…!”
Her small fist trembled, the pen inside still uncapped.
Was he teasing her? Or had America corrupted him? He acted strange—like someone who had to bother her or he’d die.
But unfortunately… Somang still liked him too much to be immune to his antics.
2. Commute together.
Commute separately! And let’s avoid running into each other at work.★(•̀_•́)
Carpooling counts. We’re commuting together.
The elegant handwriting below the rule was undeniably his.
Carpool? The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it became.
Rejecting one rule, and suddenly the entire company is pushing her into this?
Scowling at the page, she wrote a new rule.
3. No abuse of power
She pressed so hard the letters came out dark. Even adding multiple exclamation marks wasn’t enough.
She desperately needed a shield—something solid that would protect her from being swayed by Han-gyeol ever again. No more wasting time like a fool.
“You ready?”
But the moment he stepped out of his room, her defenses crumbled.
In a striped shirt, sleeves casually rolled to reveal his forearms, hair neatly swept back—with a few strands falling perfectly over his forehead—he was mesmerizing.
He perfectly matched her ideal type.
Well… at least she could enjoy his OOTD every morning. Maybe carpooling wasn’t that bad…
Snapping back to reality, she smacked both cheeks with her hands.
Get it together! He went to America, went on a blind date, and came back to Korea without a single call. How can you still like him?
Ahem. Clearing her throat, she tilted her head toward the door.
“Aren’t we leaving? We’ll be late.”
“Let’s go.”
Han-gyeol walked up and adjusted the ribbon on her blouse shoulder.
“There. You’ve always been bad at tying ribbons since school.”
The moment he stepped away, she finally breathed again.
“N-next time, just… say it. Don’t touch.”
“You’re just gonna ask me to tie it anyway.”
“No, I won’t! You think I’m still in middle school—”
“Alright, then forget it,” he said without a hint of embarrassment, eyes curling into a smile again.
It was her favorite expression of his.
“What do you think about a spring wedding?”
Smoothly calling her name, he reached out and tucked away a stray strand of her hair. Even innocent gestures from him made her shrink back and increase the distance.
“Anything’s fine. Do whatever you want.”
“Really? Then I should hurry.”
He was cruel—asking her for wedding schedule input just because she told him to go ahead.
A surge of sorrow welled up, and she pressed her lips together.
“But… can’t you plan your own wedding without asking me? Don’t ask me about things like that.”
If she lowered her head, she was certain the tears would fall—so she lifted her eyes instead.
“If not the bride, then who else should I ask?”
“…Huh?”
Her tears retreated instantly. Her voice came out cracked, like a broken instrument.
Was this really the time for jokes?
Unable to hold back anymore, she burst out—
“You think I don’t know you’re preparing a wedding with the woman you went on that blind date with in America?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! Siwon oppa told me everything!”
