Chapter 15

Ding. Floor 9.

As the elevator doors opened, the employees heading to that floor poured out. Woojung, greeting the familiar staff with a smile, planted her feet right before the office threshold. Ju-shin, walking half a step behind, naturally stopped as well.

The back of the head that had been peeking inside the glass door suddenly spun around and scanned the hallway. Only after confirming there was no one around did her round eyes widen. It was a look of regret.

Two days ago. That day her unrequited love was exposed.

Kim Ju-shin, who had offered to help if she wanted it, appointed himself her coach. He claimed that he was precisely the top-tier love-coaching instructor you couldn’t even find in Noryangjin.

Jung Woojung laughed at him coldly.

The person who knows how to boil ramen is the one who actually boils it. A guy who only ever passively spoon-fed what was handed to him giving secret tutoring tips? A guy who naturally gets the opposite sex swarming around him without any effort has no way of knowing the mindset of the underdog.

……Even though she thought that way.

She had been touched by the intern, who claimed his only wish was his senior’s happiness, and ended up going along with his intentions. But thinking about it again, this wasn’t right.

“Ahem, um……”

Woojung, broaching the subject with a dry cough, moistened her dry lips. Right now was the prime time to retract her hasty decision.

“I was thinking things over last night.”

Following her hesitant voice, his gaze dropped to her fingers scratching the back of her neck, swept over one foot tapping the floor, and returned to her face.

“You thought about it.”

“I’m grateful you cared, but I’m sorry anyway. It just doesn’t feel right to use my junior for this. I’ll be fine, so—”

“You’ll be fine, so.”

“So…….”

“Let’s pretend it never happened?”

As if that was precisely it, her small head nodded vigorously.

“I’ll just take your heart as thanks with gratitude. In that case, let’s get some delicious—!”

“Even the rumors are already out about me.”

“Delicious……”

“A love triangle scandal?”

“Hey…….”

That was true.

Back then, when she had complained that if Assistant Manager Im and Ha Yun-sang were already dating, what good was a romance coach anyway, Kim Ju-shin had vanished right then and there. When he reappeared, he told her not to worry about such things. With a pretty smile.

And that same afternoon. A new rumor swept through the office like a whirlwind. It was that the PR team’s assistant manager and the intern were locked in a fierce love triangle over Assistant Manager Im from the planning team. That was when she realized the place the intern had visited was the support team’s office, and that the basis for his bold declaration was the result of him asking Assistant Manager Im right to her face.

Because his questioning method and nuance were quite prone to misunderstanding, the gossip spread in the blink of an eye.

Was he feeling pity for a superior who engaged in sneaky, unrequited love? She still had no clue what was going on inside the head of a guy who went this far, but anyway, she did feel sorry that he had become the talk of the town because of her.

……Still, this wasn’t it. Should she say it more firmly? Just as she was thinking that, an arm suddenly entered her field of vision, grazed her neckline, and passed over her shoulder. Before she could even process the drastically narrowed distance, the familiar scent of fabric softener invaded her nose. It was only after that she noticed his broad chest.

Woojung swallowed hard. This was the second time. That she had held her breath without realizing it. And that the sound of her heart pounding like crazy was echoing right in her ears.

Soon, a ding sound—the signal of the security being disarmed—came from the back of her head. A click, the sound of the lock releasing, followed right after.

Only then snapping out of it, Woojung straightened her awkward posture. In the hands of the man who had straightened his obliquely leaning upper body was an employee ID card. Stepping half a beat ahead, he pushed the glass door open with his shoulder while lowering his gaze.

“Trust me just this once.”

As if drawn in by his sweet voice, her clear eyes slowly lifted upward. When her gaze passed his attractively curved lips and high-bridged nose to reach his slightly smiling eyes, the laughter that flowed like a breath fluttered ticklingly against some unknown place.

“You won’t regret it.”

“…….”

Could a devil’s whisper be this sweet? Woojung, blinking blankly with wide eyes, nodded her head as if by sheer inevitability.

The devil who had successfully reeled in his little lamb curved the corners of his lips upward. That’s right, his long eye corners folded into narrow crescents as if praising her.

The footsteps of the two, having reached an agreement, crossed the office threshold side by side. As they looked around, sensing a different atmosphere than usual, they spotted the team manager and team members gathered around Manager Kang.

A multitude of gazes gleaming with curiosity flew toward the two people who had just arrived at work.

“What’s going on with you two~? What were you doing outside the door, Team Leader Jung~?”

The team manager, opening his eyes with a sly look, smiled lazily. Choi Sookyeong, resting her arms on her partition while looking at the coffees they were holding side by side, murmured, “Cute, so cute.” Ha Yun-sang’s gaze, who had been sitting with his chair pulled out, also landed on the cups held in their hands. The brand printed on the sleeves was quite a distance away from the office building.

That meant they had either run into each other by chance at a cafe, or one of them had purposely gone out of their way to buy and bring one on the commute. Or perhaps they had come to work together. Whatever the case, it was too fishy to be a mere coincidence.

On top of that, Jung Woojung was just smiling without offering any explanation, and Kim Ju-shin was clinging tightly right beside her, tagging along. It grated on Ha Yun-sang’s nerves.

Woojung herself had no idea what kind of repercussions the location of the coffee shop would bring. Kim Ju-shin had handed it to her when they met in the lobby and told her to just smile if anyone asked, so she had simply done as she was told. Having been a model student back in her school days, she was the type to follow her teacher’s instructions well.

“Are you having a meeting?”

Returning to her group after putting down her bag, Woojung asked routinely. Naturally, the intern was right beside her.

“A meeting?”

Manager Kang, sitting with his hips propped against the desk, wore a sly smile. Then, pointing his index finger like a gun barrel, he alternated between pointing at Ju-shin and Woojung.

“Didn’t the two of you have your own private meeting?”

Saying the atmosphere seemed a little different lately, and that the intern obviously suited Team Leader Jung better than Assistant Manager Im from the support team, and so on.

“You know that secret office romances are known to everyone except the copy machine, right? So don’t bother trying to hide it.”

“……It’s just because Team Leader Jung has a good personality.”

Yoon-sang, who had been keeping quiet, stepped in to defend her.

“She’s kind to everyone.”

Right? Asking with a soft smile, Woojung couldn’t hide the spreading smile and chuckled brightly. The knowing gazes stabbing at her cheeks were deliberately ignored.

Once the atmosphere settled, they returned to the original topic.

“So everyone’s free this weekend, right?”

At the team manager’s question, everyone answered in the affirmative.

The gist of it was this. Because Department Head Go’s mother, who ran an orchard, had injured her leg, there was no one to tend to the farm, and since it was a rural area where finding labor immediately wasn’t easy, they were severely short-handed. Since that was the case, shouldn’t they, as people eating from the same pot, lend a hand?

The team manager, who always held Department Head Go in high regard, said he would support them using team activity funds as well as his own money if needed. Suggesting that going on a farm volunteer trip¹ disguised as a workshop wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Fortunately, everyone seemed willing. Aside from the purpose, she felt a little excited as if they were going on a belated spring outing.

Saying he would share the detailed schedule via email, the team manager returned to his office, and the team members dispersed to their respective desks.

While sipping on coffee that had already gone ice-cold and tapping away briskly at her keyboard, Woojung turned her head toward the shadow heavily blanketing over her head.

That gaze took in the expressionless Kim Ju-shin, then drifted down to the keyboard following his hand as it stretched out smoothly.

[Ha Yun-sang (PR/Assistant Manager): (Forwarded) Team Leader Jung. Would you like to go together in my car this Saturday?]
[Jung Woojung (PR/Team Leader): (Drafting) Wow! Goo-]

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Slender fingers ruthlessly pounded the backspace key. The text being drafted in the messenger vanished in rhythm. Following that, because Ju-shin lowered his remaining arm completely to trap Woojung within his embrace, her frail shoulders shrank inward roundly.

Tap-tap, tap-a-tap.

[Jung Woojung (PR/Team Leader): (Forwarded) I’m fine.]

No reply came back from Yun-sang.

“…….”

Eyes full of resentment sharpened toward the intern who had irresponsibly returned to his desk.

“Do you really have to go this far?”

Woojung whispered softly, holding onto the partition and poking her head out sideways. Without even sparing her a glance for her vexing mug, he tapped on the keyboard and merely jerked his head upward.

Straightening her posture and looking at the monitor, a messenger notification popped up at the bottom of the screen.

[Kim Ju-shin (PR/Intern): (Forwarded) LOL ]
[Jung Woojung (PR/Team Leader): (Forwarded) -_-?]
[Kim Ju-shin (PR/Intern): (Forwarded) While working]
[Kim Ju-shin (PR/Intern): (Forwarded) Please don’t]
[Kim Ju-shin (PR/Intern): (Forwarded) Disturb]
[Kim Ju-shin (PR/Intern): (Forwarded) Me]
[Jung Woojung (PR/Team Leader): (Forwarded) Huh]
[Kim Ju-shin (PR/Intern): (Forwarded) Focus?]

Unable to bear it any longer, Woojung struck Ju-shin’s forearm with a solidly clenched fist. Ju-shin chuckled and rubbed the spot where he’d been hit.

Watching the two of them, Manager Kang smiled slyly, saying if that wasn’t dating, what was.

Saying they shouldn’t jump to conclusions, Yoon-sang added with a smile and left the office. Stepping out into the hallway and finding himself alone, his face stiffened coldly.