Chapter 11

“If you just give me the info, I’ll do the deduction.”

His rising inflection sounded as though he were doing a massive favor.

-You…

Sigh. A thick sigh overlapped the sound of the blinking turn signal. The name Jung Woojung had popped up yet again while he was pulling off some outrageous stunt. Considering all the talk about whether someone was human or not, it didn’t seem like he was doing it for a good reason.

-I told you not to get mixed up with that friend of mine.

“Huh? Hello? I can’t hear you well.”

-….

The other side of the receiver fell silent. The sound of footsteps that had occasionally echoed—as if the call had been taken while on the move—faded away.

-If I find them.

“Hmm, spicy beef soup?”

-What kind of charge makes it a death sentence?

A charge. Ju-shin, reciting it casually, carefully chose his response.

If a justification was necessary, and if it had to be by Kim Ju-shin rather than Jung Woojung…

“The crime of sending an innocent citizen into exile?”

His indifferent tone tossed out words of unknown meaning.

“Because it seems that bastard sent me to study abroad after all.”

It was true that he had left to study abroad voluntarily, but if he hadn’t lost contact with Jung Woojung, and if he hadn’t witnessed that mess seven years ago, he wouldn’t have had any reason to leave Korea. So it wasn’t an entirely wrong statement.

Kwon Seon-o, who had no way of knowing that, spared even a sigh. Ju-shin enjoyed the silence. He could picture it without even looking: the furrowed brow as if asking what kind of nonsense this was, and the veins bulging on top of it.

-Kim Ju–

“Your Honor! The sinner is Satan with no room for reform!”

Having finished parking, he chuckled while making a theatrical plea.

Chief Secretary Kwon had already hung up the call.

9:05 AM.

A slightly flushed face slipped into the office, reading the room. She was panting as if she had run all the way.

Sweeping back her stray hairs with her fingers as she sat down at her desk, she heard a squeak from the reclining backrest beside her.

“Arriving now?”

Leaning his head against the headrest, the intern greeted her leisurely and smiled brightly. His handsome face made it twice as irritating.

“Even the PR Officer is late.”

“Well, you know. Haha.”

“Ah, you’re not mad because I didn’t give you a ride, are you?”

“…Eh.”

Instead of saying no, Woojung just gave an awkward laugh and waved her hands.

Staring intently at the woman’s face where her emotions were laid bare, Ju-shin turned his chair around to face her properly. Feeling his burdensome gaze, she glanced sideways; he was resting one arm on the desk, propping up his chin with a smile.

Should I pretend not to see? Woojung pondered for a moment. Being overly friendly since Monday morning felt either like the precursor to an accident or a peace offering for trouble already caused.

Trying hard to erase the anxiety creeping up on her, she mouthed “Why?”, but the guy only shrugged his shoulders, a smile lingering around his eyes.

“……”

What’s up with him today?

She wasn’t sure if it was just a feeling, but the atmosphere felt strangely different today. Was he feeling genuinely apologetic about not giving her a ride on the way to work? Suddenly, the cool sedan with its heavy exhaust roar came to mind.

Even to her, someone clueless about cars, that morning’s sedan looked far too extravagant for a rookie entering society. Judging by the wealthy aura radiating from everything he wore, maybe his family was rich. An only son of a rich household, raised with lavish care. Thinking of it that way made a bit of sense. It explained his anti-social personality that never bowed to anyone, and even his clumsiness with simple machinery.

Since they never had private conversations, most things about the intern were pure guesswork. It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about how to get closer; she simply hadn’t had the breathing room because he kept causing accidents before she could even suggest anything. When you were busy repairing a collapsed levee, landscaping was a luxury, wasn’t it? She was just comforting herself with the thought that she was doing a decent job as a senior when—

“Get to eat something delicious?”

Section Head Kang, walking past the hallway, rested both arms on the partition and asked. His friendly voice was directed at Kim Ju-shin.

“What in the world…?” Overwhelmed by the unbelievable sight, Woojung’s lips parted slightly. Her slowly blinking eyes looked from Kang Jin-sung on the right to Kim Ju-shin on the left. Then she looked back at Kang Jin-sung.

That Kang Jin-sung—the one who used to tear into Kim Ju-shin like he wanted to eat him alive—had stopped on his way to greet him? And with a gaze as warm as sunlight, no less? She distinctly remembered the atmosphere being bloody as late as Friday….

Instead of the intern, who just watched her face without answering, Woojung asked.

“Delicious?”

“Eh? What, you don’t remember?”

“Pardon?”

A trace of fear flickered briefly in her uncomprehending eyes. As if he had expected that, Kang Jin-sung smirked.

“The intern went through hell and back to get you home. Go buy him some food and coffee.”

“……Good grief.”

If anyone had carried her home, she would have thought it was Ha Yun-sang. It seemed Ju-shin had been forcibly drafted just because he was the junior.

Her eyes, which had aimlessly followed the back of Section Head Kang as he left to prepare for a meeting, drifted sideways to the adjacent desk.

“That…”

“There sure are a lot of stairs in that neighborhood.”

Massaging the back of his neck as if to show off, Kim Ju-shin grabbed one shoulder and stretched with a wide arm rotation. Even in this casual motion, the muscles wrapped in his taut shirt were sensuously revealed.

Swallowing a gulp before she even realized it, Woojung asked cautiously.

“……Did you carry me on your back?”

“I carried you.”

“All the way home…?”

“All the way to the bed?”

“……”

“I even took your shoes off.”

Pointing at her feet with a look, Ju-shin smiled mischievously and said, “Did a good job, right?” Woojung let her throbbing head drop with a thud. The atmosphere had felt weirdly different today for a reason. The one who had caused an accident wasn’t him; it was her. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to retrace the past days, but there was no way any evaporated memories were going to surface.

“……Thank you.”

“Just words?”

“……”

He was even dropping honorifics now. It really felt like her meager authority as a senior had been driven down into the dirt. But who cared about that? The first man she had ever brought into her studio apartment was none other than Kim Ju-shin.

Swallowing a groan, Woojung defiantly displayed the back of her smartphone. A check card was tucked into the case.

“Western, Korean, Chinese, Japanese. Just name it. A full course including dessert—”

“No.”

“Huh?”

Woojung asked back blankly. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Ju-shin raised his index finger and brushed the tip of his chin.

“Not food.”

“……?”

“Pay me back with your body.”

“My body?”

“That’s only fair.”

His confident attitude was just like a loan shark coming to collect a debt. Unaware that she was being swept along at his pace, Jung Woojung fell into deep thought. Her eyes, wandering through empty space, rolled clockwise.

Pay him back with her body. That probably meant asking her to do paperwork or carry office supplies in his stead. If it was something like that, it wasn’t like she couldn’t do it.

“Deal!”

At her readily given acceptance, the corners of Ju-shin’s eyes curved upward into a smile. Innocent Jung Woojung. Ah… could he really be this happy? It would be even more perfect if he could just get rid of that Ha Yun-sang—or whatever his name was—who kept smiling idiotically as he walked over.

“You two seem to have gotten a lot closer.”

“Oh! Assistant Manager!”

Striding over, Yun-sang draped an arm over the back of Woojung’s chair, tilted his head, and smiled sweetly.

“Did you get home safe that day? I wanted to take you back…”

Dragging out the end of his sentence, his eyes turned toward Kim Ju-shin.

“Since your junior here was so adamant about it.”

“Ah… Haha. Is that so?”

Smiling awkwardly, Woojung also looked at Ju-shin. Her eyes reflecting him were full of question marks.

She found it quite unexpected that a careless guy who didn’t show any respect to his seniors—let alone treat someone as his senior supervisor—would volunteer for such a task. He had expected a reward, but it wasn’t even a monetary one.

Meeting his gaze, Kim Ju-shin didn’t offer an explanation; he only raised an eyebrow. Was there a problem? His expression seemed to ask.

Right then, drawing their attention to himself, Yun-sang asked affectionately.

“Were there quite a few stairs on the way home? That must have been tough.”

With a faint smirk, Ju-shin slowly swept his gaze over Yun-sang with a subtle look. It was pathetic. He was just dying for an excuse to act like he knew all about Jung Woojung.

Tapping his chin with a fingertip and letting out a low hum from his throat, Ju-shin replied with only a smiling mouth.

“Well, I suppose it might be tough for someone in their thirties.”

“……”

“I’m still young.”

As you can see? Wrinkling the bridge of his nose, he added it like a whisper, with a rather teasing tone. Letting out a scoff, Yun-sang slowly bobbed his head.

“Fascinating.”

An uncomfortable current born from an unknown battle of nerves. It was a peculiarly strange day. Kim Ju-shin acting all sweet to her, and the old-timer Kang Jin-sung being friendly to him. And Angel Ha Yun-sang locking horns with him.

Not knowing the reason and trying to read the room, Woojung sprang up from her seat and clapped her hands together.

“Black tea! Black tea, anyone? The tea bags Assistant Manager bought smell amazing.”

“Really?”

Smiling amiably and saying he was glad to hear that, Ha Yun-sang picked up Woojung’s tumbler, suggesting they head to the pantry.

Left all alone, Kim Ju-shin let out a dry laugh. Then, shifting his weight against the backrest, he pushed himself up.

“Black tea sounds good.”