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Chapter 26
Somang, seeing Hanjeol disappear from view, returned to the stairwell and sank down against the wall with a thud.
“Am I crazy…? Did we just… kiss? Me and Hanjeol oppa?”
She buried her face in her hands, exhaling short, heated breaths. Her heart thumped wildly against her knees, nearly jumping out of her chest.
Taking a long breath, Somang slowly lifted her face from her hands.
As she gently stroked her lips with her thumb, the soft, tender sensation that had just been pressed and licked by him replayed vividly in her mind.
“Why… are a man’s lips so soft and squishy?”
Somang was now irritated at everything.
The lips beneath her thumb felt as juicy as biting into a ripe peach. Slightly fuller than usual, they were soft enough that her thumb sank in with the slightest pressure.
Just from a single kiss, her entire nervous system felt like it had short-circuited, her heart racing uncontrollably.
<Whether it’s a kiss or something else… wouldn’t it take something more intense than just a peck to really get through to me?>
Then… what else? Are Hanjeol oppa and I really going to do that?
Thinking that far made her head spin, and her blood seemed to rush faster than ever throughout her body.
If just a kiss could make her melt like this… something else would be unbearable…!
Before Somang could figure out how to overcome this predicament or find a solution, noises came from outside the stairwell.
A PA announcement rang overhead, indicating that the fire drill was over.
Somang got up, trying to push away thoughts of the recent, intimate kiss by imagining herself in a lush green meadow. She took deep breaths, fanning herself as she left the stairwell, though the memory of the intense kiss still occupied her mind.
Back in the office, employees were gradually returning to their seats.
“Deputy, where did you go? We looked for you and saw you leave with the manager.”
“Oh, I went down to the underground parking. I guess we just missed each other.”
“So you came up the stairs from there? Your face is so red.”
At Eunjeong’s words, Somang hurriedly checked her reflection.
Her lip color had vanished, replaced by a flush spreading from her neck to her face.
Her first-ever kiss had felt like warm, thick peppermint jelly circulating in her mouth.
Something had rubbed intensely, like in a movie scene—but strangely, she hadn’t disliked the unfamiliar sensation.
Later, half-unconsciously letting herself go, she had even reached a kind of ecstatic trance, just as he intended.
“Uh, what? Deputy!”
Eunjeong had suddenly started searching frantically.
“Y-your… nose is bleeding!”
“What?”
Impossible. Nosebleed?
Looking at Eunjeong’s words, she realized something warm was trickling from beneath her nose.
She wiped it with the back of her hand, revealing two streaks of red.
A double nosebleed.
“Oh my! Deputy Baek.”
The commotion over Eunjeong searching for tissues drew everyone’s attention. Somang scanned the crowd for Hanjeol. Fortunately, he hadn’t returned to his seat yet.
Somang then called Dahee, who was entering with a smile.
“Dahee, come with me to the infirmary.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
The tissue under her nose was soaked red.
“She went up the stairs from the underground parking to the office.”
Eunjeong handed Dahee a fresh tissue she had torn off.
“Seriously, how’s your stamina? That’s just the 12th floor.”
Dahee clicked her tongue but rolled the new tissue and neatly pressed it against Somang’s nose. Somang shook her head, telling Dahee she was making too much fuss.
They waited for the elevator, bickering lightly.
Swoosh.
The shiny doors opened, and Hanjeol got off, staring at Somang in surprise.
“What happened?”
Seeing his face, her blood pressure, which had just started to calm, shot up again.
<Or was that kiss just… nothing?>
While replaying the intense kiss in her mind, her double nosebleed erupted.
Unable to admit this straightforwardly, Somang brushed past Hanjeol and got into the elevator.
“We bumped into each other.”
She repeatedly pressed the close button. Outside, Hanjeol didn’t move a muscle until the doors shut.
A nosebleed from a kiss.
Judging it impossible to go home together under these circumstances, Somang made dinner plans with Dahee.
[Jeong Dahee/Quality Control Team: I’ll choose the restaurant. No complaints, right?]
[Jeong Dahee/Quality Control Team: I heard iron-rich beef steak is good for nosebleeds]
As expected, it was the Italian restaurant her first love ran.
Though recently opened, a row of potted plants lined up, and among them was a small cactus Dahee had sent.
“You had a first love too?”
Dahee closed her lipstick cap.
“Who hasn’t?”
Come to think of it, she had a few relationships in college too. They just ended quickly, leaving no memorable past love.
“But maybe because it was a first love… seeing him again feels so weird.”
Ordering their food, Dahee lightly pressed her palm over her chest.
“Did you… like him again?”
“Kind of.”
Dahee smiled faintly, gazing nostalgically toward the kitchen where her first love had disappeared. His tanned, strong appearance matched her own athletic image.
Soon, the man brought the food himself.
“You haven’t seen him before, right? This is my college classmate. He works at the same company. His name is Baek Somang.”
Somang wished the restaurant well.
“Come often. We’ll give you great service.”
“I will. I’ll tell my colleagues how good it is.”
He bowed politely, thanking her.
After finishing the well-cooked steak and pasta, a dessert not on the menu appeared: brownie with ice cream.
“This is a bribe to make you come again.”
Dahee smiled beautifully at his words.
Watching their sweet atmosphere, he hesitated, fiddling with his apron pocket.
Just as Somang wondered whether she should leave them alone, he pulled out a stiff piece of paper, causing the table to tense.
“I was going to tell you later… didn’t want to surprise you.”
Blushing, he handed over a wedding invitation.
“I’m getting married. That’s my fiancée over there.”
He pointed to a slightly chubby young woman at the counter, who bowed her head.
“Yeah. I caused some trouble.”
The two left the pasta shop silently and headed to a bar.
Dahee laughed uncontrollably, still processing the reality.
“Hey, drink less. I can’t take you home like this.”
“Wow… so embarrassing.”
Dahee crushed ice loudly, cooling herself down.
“Did you notice I liked him?”
“Kind of?”
“Damn. I can never go there again.”
Dahee muttered, tugging at her hair while repeatedly drinking soju mixed with beer.
Somang, who hadn’t drunk due to the nosebleed, eventually took Dahee’s glass.
“Stop drinking. It’s okay to feel embarrassed.”
Some people really do hang out in pairs.
One with kimchi soup, one with a nosebleed.
Apparently, they were indeed friends.
After drinking her cola like beer, Somang called a taxi to send Dahee home, then boarded the bus herself.
First loves really don’t work out. Somang kicked at small stones along the way, feeling heavy-hearted.
At the apartment gate, she saw a familiar silhouette rushing toward her.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Totally.”
Hanjeol’s hands already carried a plastic bag from the now-closed Haengbok Pharmacy, with iron supplements and disinfectant gauze visible inside.
Too embarrassed to look at him, Somang ignored his gaze.
“Where did you bump into earlier?”
“…….”
Your lips.
Ignoring his words, Somang hurried inside her apartment.
4. No Contact (★Absolutely under no circumstances, even emergencies★) Welcome
The rules she had written were crossed out with a cancellation line.
Next after the kiss… is that it?
Somang secretly grabbed the package under Hanjeol’s hand.
“That’s mine, right? Give it to me. I think I’ll need it.”
She quickly took the medicine envelope from his hand.
