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Chapter: 20
“How do you know me?”
Tilting her head slightly, she looked at him with curiosity as she picked up her clothes and stood.
“The author is my friend. I think I must’ve seen you around because of that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! She’s a nice person. Just meet her once. Please? Help me out this one time!”
Muyeon clasped her hands together in front of her nose as though praying and pleaded earnestly. Haeru, who had been pouting her lips in thought, lightly bit the inside of her cheek while considering it. After letting out a long sigh, she finally nodded.
“I’ll… think about it.”
She only answered because Muyeon could be incredibly persistent, and it seemed like she wouldn’t leave the room until she agreed to at least consider it.
Muyeon’s face brightened immediately as she leaned forward.
“Really?!”
“Yeah. So could you leave now? I’m tired.”
Haeru’s shoulders drooped as she gently massaged one of them with her hand, showing just how exhausted she was.
“Okay. Then think about it seriously!”
“Mm.”
She answered halfheartedly and, with the hand holding her pajamas, lightly pushed Muyeon out of the room.
Once Muyeon left, Haeru headed for the bathroom. She placed her clothes on the shelf and prepared for a shower.
Standing naked beneath the showerhead, she turned on the water. Warm water poured over her as she quietly closed her eyes.
But the moment she did, the memory of kissing Muhyeok earlier flashed through her mind, and she unconsciously lifted a slender hand to her lips.
The sensation felt so vivid that it seemed to happen all over again. Realizing she was replaying the kiss in her mind, Haeru slapped both cheeks with her hands.
“Don’t fall for him… Yoon Haeru.”
Muttering the words like a vow, she shook her head and forced herself to focus on washing up.
After finishing her shower, she lay down on the bed.
But sleep refused to come.
Her body felt refreshed, yet her mind remained in turmoil, and distracting thoughts simply wouldn’t disappear.
The next morning, she went to work with Cha Muhyeok.
Because of what had happened the previous night, she’d slept poorly and had hoped to drive separately. However, Muhyeok insisted on driving himself and made her ride in the same car, leaving her sitting in the passenger seat beside him.
“Were you tired yesterday?”
He broke the silence first.
“No.”
Quite some time had passed since they left, and since he hadn’t mentioned the kiss at all—not even while she’d been choosing her clothes—it seemed obvious he didn’t remember kissing her while drunk.
Feeling relieved, Haeru decided to erase the entire incident from her mind.
Without even looking at her, he asked calmly,
“Did I happen to do anything wrong?”
His repeated questioning brought yesterday’s events rushing back to her. Suddenly feeling the warmth lingering on her lips, she unconsciously ran her tongue across her lower lip.
A faint blush spread across her face. Turning her head slightly away, she answered firmly.
“No.”
“Really?”
The traffic light turned red, and the car came to a stop. He turned to look at her while she kept her eyes fixed outside the window.
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Do we have anything special scheduled today?”
Haeru slipped her hand into the brown bag resting on her lap and quickly pulled out a gray tablet.
“Nothing special. You have the company-wide meeting this morning, and a meeting with CEO Daong at four this afternoon.”
“I see. So there’s nothing scheduled for lunch?”
“No.”
“Then shall we have lunch together?”
“No. I’ll be too busy to have lunch today, President.”
After thinking things over all night, she’d decided she needed to establish even firmer boundaries, and her answer came out colder than before.
Muhyeok bit his lip and let out a deep sigh.
The light turned green, and the car began moving again.
Without another word, he drove all the way to the company.
Feeling suffocated by the silence, Haeru deliberately started talking about work while looking out the window, trying to make it clear that there was nothing between them except their professional relationship.
Finally, they reached the underground parking garage, and he parked the car before turning off the engine.
Anxious to get out of the enclosed space, she hurried to open the door, but he suddenly grabbed her hand.
Startled, her eyes widened.
Turning toward her with a sharp gaze, Muhyeok frowned.
“Are you sure I didn’t do anything wrong?”
Why was he asking such a difficult question again?
She settled back into her seat, yesterday’s events flooding her mind once more. Avoiding his eyes, she lowered her gaze and answered firmly.
“Yes.”
He tugged gently on her hand before placing his other hand beneath her chin and turning her face toward him.
Their eyes met.
They were close enough to feel each other’s breath.
“Then… does that mean we’re allowed to kiss?”
Her eyes flew wide open.
“What… what are you talking about?”
“You said I didn’t do anything wrong. We definitely kissed yesterday. If that wasn’t a mistake… then it’s okay to kiss you, isn’t it?”
“No. We didn’t.”
Her eyes trembled as she swallowed hard.
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying. You’re mistaken.”
“How could I mistake a kiss with the person I love?”
Just then, the loud warning sound announcing another car entering the parking garage echoed around them.
“You’re mistaken.”
“Do you want to confirm it?”
“Confirm?”
“Sometimes people remember after doing it again.”
Unlike his calm tone, both of her cheeks turned bright red.
She shook her head violently from side to side and nearly shouted.
“No!”
It was an outrageous thing to suggest.
Was he trying to give her a heart attack?
On top of that, they were in the company’s underground parking garage.
The windows were darkly tinted, but if someone looked closely enough, they might still be able to see inside.
If that happened, rumors would spread like wildfire.
Her past had already changed, and all she wanted now was to quietly keep her job, receive her paycheck, and help her father’s business in whatever way she could.
Unnecessary rumors had to be avoided.
Convinced that the only thing she could do was escape, she forcefully slapped his hand away with her arm.
Caught off guard, Muhyeok loosened his grip.
Leaving him stunned inside the car, Haeru quickly threw open the door and stepped out with one foot.
Once one foot was outside, getting the rest of herself out was easy.
She scrambled out of the car, slammed the door shut, and hurried into the building as though fleeing an alarm.
Muhyeok stared blankly after her until she disappeared from sight.
Then, without realizing it, he laughed.
“Ha… She’s too cute. I can’t stand it.”
He’d been doing his best to restrain himself, but whenever the overly proper and moral Haeru reacted like that, he felt an overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms.
He shook his head repeatedly.
“This really is a disease.”
Then he got out of the car.
After rushing out of the car first, Haeru hurried into the building and quickly stepped into the elevator.
There were already two people inside.
The two of them flinched as though they’d been caught stealing and immediately turned their backs toward each other, pretending to look at themselves in the mirror.
Even stranger, though neither of them said anything, they both awkwardly touched the corners of their eyes with an index finger for no apparent reason.
Haeru stepped inside and watched them for a moment before quietly turning to face forward.
Then a small laugh escaped her.
It was simply ridiculous.
The two standing in front of her were Taejun and Jaryeon.
What was even more ridiculous was that Jaryeon’s lipstick and Taejun’s lipstick were exactly the same color.
What an unbelievable coincidence.
The thought alone made her burst into laughter.
Imagining what the two of them had been doing before she got on the elevator made her snort uncontrollably.
Covering her nose lightly with the back of her hand, she sniffed and struggled to suppress her laughter.
When the elevator reached the fifth floor, Taejun got off first.
As though conscious of Haeru’s presence, he cleared his throat and gave her a polite nod.
“Good morning.”
“Yes. It certainly is a very good morning.”
Trying not to laugh again, she tucked her lips inward and offered him a faint smile.
Taejun responded with a strange look and an overly suggestive smile.
Haeru immediately turned toward the control panel and repeatedly pressed the Close Door button.
She had absolutely no desire to get involved with him.
She had no idea what kind of trouble that would bring.
Soon the elevator reached the eighth floor.
As Haeru stepped out, Jaryeon followed.
Haeru was about to enter the office where her desk was when a thin, sharp voice called from behind her.
“Yoon Haeru!”
Although Jaryeon had joined the company later than Haeru and held a lower position, she always spoke informally simply because they were the same age, despite Haeru always addressing her politely.
“Yes, Ms. Jaryeon.”
Just hearing Jaryeon call her name put Haeru in a bad mood.
Whenever Jaryeon called for her, it usually meant she was about to pick a fight.
“Must be nice~?”
Once again, Jaryeon looked at her with an irritating expression, slightly raising the corners of her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard President Cha Muhyeok is single. Ah~ Or are you not interested in single men? Ho ho ho.”
