It’s Kang Jae Kyung.

Da Hae reflexively checked his hand. His fingers were clean, as if he had wiped off the scabs.

Perhaps that blood was meant for her.

If Kang Jae Kyung hadn’t intervened, it might have flowed more tragically from somewhere on her body, Kye Da Hae’s share.

So she should have thanked him, but decided to skip it. The pettiness entangled in the past wouldn’t allow it.

“I run hot.”

The coat removed by Da Hae’s smiling hands was firmly put back on by the man’s outstretched hand.

“So this is how you strip.”

“Excuse me,”

“It’s been a while, Ms. Kye Da Hae.”

The gazes of the two people of different heights intertwined in the air. The emotions in their colliding eyes were not easily read.

“You remember me, right?”

Remember.

Shamelessly, the man asked about memories.

She remembers the cool air of dawn.

The distinctive mustiness from old bricks and the scenery of drizzle outside the window, too.

The eleven-digit number written on a lemon-colored Post-it. All he left behind when he departed without a word was a phone number.

As if saying to contact him if she missed him, that behavior was quite distasteful.

The lingering feelings were probably long-lasting for that reason. Because it was vexing and frustrating.

As she just stared with insensitive eyes, the man tilted his head and asked again.

“Why didn’t you contact me?”

“Were you waiting?”

“If I say I was, would you view me innocently?”

His oddly smiling face while discussing innocence was exasperating.

It’s not that she hadn’t considered it.

She had thought about casually asking if he’d arrived well, or if he’d like to get coffee sometime.

Her fingers that traced over the phone screen but couldn’t easily type out the letters weren’t bound by pride or anything like that.

It was a slightly more complex and subtle emotion.

It’s not that she placed significance on it being her first experience.

She didn’t want to dwell on a one-night connection. And yet, it seems she dwelled on it for quite a long time.

Even though it was just one day out of long years of studying abroad.

A taxi slowed down and stopped beside the two facing off, forgetting the cold.

It was Kang Jae Kyung’s vexing but attentive gesture.

“I’d like to take you home, but I think you’d hate that.”

“No, I…”

“No? You wanted me to take you home?”

“No! Not that part, I meant to refuse your kindness…”

“You’re Chairman Bae’s granddaughter, so you can afford the taxi fare, right?”

Jae Kyung went past Da Hae to the front of the taxi and opened the back door wide. He tilted his head urging her to get in quickly.

Da Hae pressed her chilled lips together, hesitated for a moment, then slid her bottom into the car.

After confirming both her feet were inside, the man suddenly stretched his arm in front of her.

His large hand gripped the passenger seat shoulder, then his upper body leaned deeply inside.

Da Hae held her breath unconsciously, pulling her chin back and pressing her back firmly against the seat.

Wondering what he was doing, he unnecessarily checked the time on the navigation, then slowly withdrew his body.

“Merry Christmas.”

00:04.

She almost had her heart flutter.

She wondered how a holiday greeting uttered softly at breath’s distance could sound so sexy.

With final words asking the driver to take good care of her, the man closed the car door and waved his arm widely.

As the car gained speed, Kang Jae Kyung’s figure in the side mirror gradually shrank.

Only then realizing the weight on her shoulder was still there, Da Hae hurriedly stopped the taxi.

Screech!

As the red brake lights flashed, Jae Kyung tilted his head, then soon curved his lips in a smirk.

“Take your coat!”

Kye Da Hae, who poked just her head out the wide open window. Like a meerkat standing guard.

“Return it to me later.”

“Stop playing games and take it quickly! The meter’s running.”

The man who had been wiggling his fingers over his crossed arms gently stroked his straight eyebrows.

As his lowered eyelids revealed his eyes again, an attractive smile spread.

“We’ll see each other again, you and I.”

* * *

THANK YOU.

As the projector shining on the screen displayed the last page of the PowerPoint, those seated around the conference table applauded vigorously.

Though the closing report was already finished, it was like a self-congratulatory ritual looking back on a particularly successful year.

“You all worked hard this year too. Let’s work even harder next year and become rich.”

The last week of December.

Team Leader Kye Da Hae, who had stayed up for two nights straight before her sabbatical leave, smiled wryly with a haggard face.

She was already famous for being obsessed with work, but it was especially evident after Christmas passed.

Kye Da Hae, the senior designer of the footwear design team in Young Son Industries’ fashion division, has been concurrently serving as the team leader of the SPA branding task force since early this year.

The unfavorable views that she was appointed as a parachute personnel were suppressed by her performance.

Targeting footwear as a differentiation from competing SPA brands, she garnered a sensational response by presenting shoes typically seen in high-end brands at affordable prices and in various designs.

For the upcoming S/S season’s new line, she solidified her position by achieving an unprecedented collaboration with a famous sports brand.

As Da Hae left her seat after finishing her ambiguous remarks between encouragement and criticism, a betting pool immediately formed as if they had been waiting.

“Will she or won’t she get married in the new year.”

The subject was Team Leader Kye’s marriage. The betting medium was company stocks.

Though she didn’t particularly hide it, rumors of Da Hae’s frequent arranged meetings were rampant in the company.

There was a common opinion that it was too early to rush into marriage at her age, but they figured that’s how chaebol families are.

On the company’s anonymous board, lists of business figures organized by industry, age, appearance, and other categories were even circulating.

Thinking her marriage partner wouldn’t be an insignificant person, they aimed to predict the stock lottery that could happen at any time.

The meeting ended with New Year’s wishes split between the team leader’s marriage and remaining single.

Kye Da Hae, the subject of their wishes, returned to her office and checked her vibrating phone, putting it on speaker.

As she did so, she laid her tired head on the desk.

−You’re not coming?

“You know the answer but still ask.”

The caller was one of Kye Da Hae’s few friends. Seo Jin Hee.

The persuasion to attend the alumni gathering had been going on for a week already.

She didn’t get tired of asking even though she was refused every time.

Even if there was no special schedule, it wasn’t a gathering she particularly wanted to attend.

After saying she’d wait until Da Hae came, the phone quieted down but immediately vibrated briefly. It was a text with the alumni meeting place and time.

Before she could check that, the screen vibrated again and concise text appeared.

“I said I understand.”

A long sigh escaped between Da Hae’s teeth as she propped her chin on her bent elbow.

Whether it was set on a schedule, the same text came every hour on the hour.

Even after that incident at the K-club event, Chairman Bae’s passion for arranged meetings showed no signs of cooling.

Saying this would be the last one this year, Bae Jung Soon insisted on a meeting with the mobile phone peddler’s grandchild, mentioning the few days left of this year.

It was hard to refuse when she put on an act with IV drips that were obviously vitamin injections.

Though she was indeed healthy for her age, her wrists and nape seemed to have suddenly become gaunt, so Da Hae said she would do as she wished since it wasn’t difficult to have a meal.

Snowflakes began to flutter outside the window.

Will it be cold… As she turned her eyes to check the coat she had hung up in the morning, she caught sight of the neatly hanging long coat.

From its appearance, tidily wrapped in dry cleaning plastic, Kang Jae Kyung’s form was drawn.

Beyond 3D, adding scent, voice, and warmth to make it 4D. Da Hae slapped her own cheek.

He said they would see each other again.

The man who left those meaningful words did not appear again. Like 5 years ago.

It’s not that she was expecting or longing for it, but she was conflicted about what to do with the coat.

It seemed a waste to throw away, but keeping it was quite bothersome.

What Merry Christmas.

After mentioning she was Chairman Bae’s granddaughter and going on about taxi fare, the app’s automatic payment system charged the fare to his card.

She had incurred quite a debt in their brief encounter.

In exchange for his injured hand, the warmth lent to her cold shoulder, the taxi fare.

It wouldn’t be difficult to find out which family Kang Jae Kyung who appeared at the K-club belonged to, but she had no particular plans to do so.

Figuring there must be a reason he wasn’t reaching out despite knowing her situation, after all.

She spun the chair around and stood up, unfolding her crossed legs.

Pink stiletto heels made a cheerful sound as they stepped on the tiles.

Though she wasn’t particularly obsessed with clothes or bags, she had an exceptionally strong attachment to shoes.

That was the reason she became a shoe designer.

Because it seemed she would never tire of it even if she worked her whole life.

Da Hae lowered her head to examine her instep from various angles, then stretched her arms wide and yawned.

“Perfect weather for an easy day.”

Flicking her fingers at the man’s coat hanging like a scarecrow, Da Hae grabbed her own coat hanging next to it and headed straight for the arranged meeting place.