Under the scorching sun.

Sour and lukewarm faces clicked their tongues in dissatisfaction. Due to the repeated friendly passes from the opposing team.

“Again?”

“…How nice. Our team leader.”

Kye Da Hae lowered her gaze to the ball in her hand, unable to take a shot.

Kang Jae Kyung habitually stepped over the line when the game started.

As if he were a designated outfielder. By the middle of the second game, this behavior became prominent.

A power-abusing play of receiving passes from allies and gently delivering them into his wife’s arms.

Their representative was doing such things. When he blatantly rolled the ball, she felt like rolling away with it.

Her face burned hot, separate from the blazing sun.

“Ah~ Representative! You should play fair!”

“Boo…!”

Unable to tolerate Kang Jae Kyung’s unfairness, complaints finally erupted from the opposing side. Timid jeers followed.

The subject of the jeers spread his palms forward and shrugged his shoulders. Then he claimed innocence.

“My hand slipped.”

What an excuse… Once again, the embarrassment fell to Kye Da Hae, so calming the public sentiment was also her role.

“…What are you doing? Really.”

Da Hae approached him and muttered through gritted teeth.

“I like throwing things.”

His nonchalant voice was innocent. A chuckle that burst out at his serious tone without a hint of a smile quickly retreated as she became self-conscious.

Lest that laughter be seen as a lovey-dovey couple, regardless of intention.

When Kang Jae Kyung stepped over the line, the puppy who followed him out had her lips pursed in a pout.

It seemed she was displeased with his actions themselves rather than being upset about the lack of fair play.

It was unclear why the young and cute friend was jealous between a married man and his wife.

“The barbecue preparation bet. One round decides it!”

Eventually, to eradicate corruption, the game changed to queen dodgeball.

A rule where the match is decided immediately if the queen is hit, regardless of the number of remaining players.

Naturally, Da Hae became the queen for the Madam’s team, while the puppy took on the role for the Representative’s team.

The remaining members of each team, encircling the outer line, poured out their cheers with reddened faces.

Among them, Manager Choi’s voice stood out.

Urging to look at the young lady who was sticking close behind Kang Jae Kyung, she raised the heat, then encouraged the worker bees not to be intimidated and to give it their all.

Da Hae smiled refreshingly, feeling very reassured by Kang Jae Kyung’s worker bees surrounding her protectively.

She had only meant to smile, but feeling like a real queen, laughter came naturally. Sparks flew in Kang Jae Kyung’s eyes as he watched her face.

Ha. Kye Da Hae is loving this, isn’t she?

Wheeeet! The whistle signaling the start blew.

The fired-up representative easily won the jump ball. He was no less than the dodgeball king.

“Start!”

The six worker bees struggled valiantly.

Thwack, out!

Thud, thwack! Out!

“Their competitive spirit is fierce…”

“When you see that, the couple really looks alike, right?”

The madam desperately guarding the worker bees’ backs. The representative annoyed by the men protecting his wife.

Something was off this time too.

Even when there were clear chances to hit the queen, Kang Jae Kyung’s fastballs only struck the worker bees defending in front.

Consistently avoiding just the queen, contrary to the rules.

“Out!”

In the end, the madam’s team was left with only the queen bee as the last survivor.

The representative’s team had two worker bees and the queen bee surviving, excluding him.

At this point, it would be reasonable to surrender, but insisting the game wasn’t over until it was over, she stubbornly wanted to continue. He didn’t want to hit her.

Jae Kyung let out a hollow laugh at the pitiful sight of the slender body lowering its stance, gripping the ball in small hands.

As always, that competitive spirit.

At this rate, the only option was to let her win naturally.

Da Hae’s eyes, which had been watching for an opening without even wiping the sweat beads on her forehead, suddenly grew wide.

Behind Kang Jae Kyung’s shoulder, who was stretching claiming his waist was stiff, she spotted the puppy.

Kye Da Hae’s ball, not missing the opportunity, flew without hesitation towards the enemy queen.

Thwack!

Woahhh!

“Representative team’s queen out! Madam’s team wins!”

“Kyaa! As expected of our team leader!”

Kye Da Hae! Kye Da Hae! Madam! Madam!

The cheers, which had been countless today, were quite enjoyable this time, and Da Hae responded with a stylish salute, touching her forehead with her index and middle fingers.

But that cheerful moment was short-lived.

Thwack!

“……”

Thump… roll roll roll…

Da Hae’s head fell forward. The volleyball that hit the back of her head and fell gloriously. The surroundings fell silent as if doused with cold water.

Cutting through the air that had grown chilly enough to freeze the midsummer sun, a sobbing voice flowed.

“Hic… I’m so angry… Representative… sob… hic… that was a foul… you deliberately avoided me!”

The puppy had finally caused trouble.

While Da Hae was silently suppressing her anger, Manager Choi, unable to contain her fury, picked up the ball. There was no time to stop her.

“That crazy…!”

Thwang!

The fastball that left her hand fell weakly without reaching the puppy. It was blocked by Kang Jae Kyung.

“Let’s stop here. I’ll apologize.”

Only then did Da Hae come to her senses and slowly turned around. Why was the girl who hit crying pitifully when she was the one who got hit?

The woman who had been sobbing with heaving shoulders glanced at Da Hae and then quickly hid behind Jae Kyung’s back.

Getting hit by the ball was fine, but this was quite peculiar.

It felt like watching someone cut off their nose, so to speak. Come to think of it, it wasn’t even my nose.

“Why is the representative apologizing? Little one! Why are you crying? Huh? Ah, this is getting my blood boiling.”

“Manager Choi, please stop…”

“I said let’s stop here. I’ve also apologized.”

The voice trying to stop Manager Choi, who was getting angry on behalf of the team leader, was cut off by the man’s cold tone.

Until then, she had been trying to endure somehow.

Da Hae pulled the tearful Manager Choi behind her back. The madam and representative faced each other without any line between them. The game was over.

Lips pressed into a straight line without makeup and eyes tinged with coldness. Kye Da Hae’s face, with her small chin raised high, was close to colorless with all traces of a smile gone.

Before the man could begin speaking, the woman’s neat voice lowly declared.

“I’ll discipline my own people. Don’t dare to order me around.”

A crease formed between Jae Kyung’s brows.

“How should I take this as an order?”

“Ah, then is it a threat?”

Eyes tilted slightly and eyes sharpened coldly clashed firmly. Even during this, the sniffling continued.

Da Hae, who let out a low sigh, was the first to break eye contact.

She didn’t want to dampen the mood of the employees who had come to have fun. As she turned her back, her team members followed.

Manager Choi restrained the grumbling of the team members.

Saying the representative was going too far, and that it was more hurtful to them that he was taking sides like that even though they were company employees. While she agreed, somehow it didn’t feel good.

The young lady was at fault, but she had escalated the situation.

Worried that this incident might completely distance the couple when they hadn’t even properly reconciled yet, the sandy beach she walked on felt like a path of thorns.

This shouldn’t end like this. Isn’t there some way…

While lost in serious contemplation alone, Jae Kyung, who quickly overtook her with his large strides, blocked the front of the group.

Like the team leader, his face was also calm.

“Manager Choi. If that’s how you felt, I’m sorry.”

“No… that, I…”

It was unbearable when he even apologized.

As she stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do, Da Hae, who had exhaled a long breath into the opposite empty space, turned her head.

“Why do you follow and make people uncomfortable? Go and lead your own group.”

“Let’s talk. It’s not an order. Not a threat either.”

“That judgment is up to the listener.”

We shouldn’t be emotional like this in front of people. There was no room in her mind to care about maintaining a showroom image.

The reason for the unpleasantness mixed with irritation and anger wasn’t just because he had scolded her team member.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t such a great defense, but the scene of him defending another woman wouldn’t leave her mind, and that irritation made her even sharper.

The man, who slowly brushed back his hair, grabbed the wrist of the woman trying to pass by. If there was a way to talk to a woman as stubborn as she was competitive, this was it.

“You always make me use force.”

Jae Kyung, who lowered his waist while pulling the grabbed wrist close, lightly slung the woman over one shoulder.

The team members let out exclamations like “oh my” and “oh dear” while whispering excitedly.

The scene of the picturesque couple against the backdrop of the sea was like a youth drama.

“…Hah. Put me down.”

As if the heat wasn’t rising enough already, blood rushed to her head as it hung upside down.

Dangling like a package, her smooth legs fell limply over the man’s shoulder.

It seemed futile to struggle, and it would only make her look foolish. And he wasn’t the type to let go easily even if she did.

“I’ll return her by mealtime. Team Leader Kye.”

Watching the retreating back following the road, Manager Choi solemnly took out her phone.

She pressed a contact in the ‘Family’ category and anxiously let the dial tone play.

That direction would soon lead to the dock.

“Uncle. It’s Ki Young.”

To make that promise to return the team leader by mealtime an unfulfilled one.