“A broadcast? Wow!”

Jae Rim, who always had good reactions, was the first to respond.

“What kind of program is it? A drama? A movie?”

“No, it’s an observational variety show. It’s not an existing program, but a new one that will be launched and aired as a Watplus original.”

“Wow, that’s interesting.”

At the mention of Watplus, Sun Kyung’s eyes also sparkled with curiosity.

Only So Min, who had almost no interest or enthusiasm for the entertainment industry, showed little change in expression. Based on Jae Rim and Sun Kyung’s reactions, she could only guess that it was a good thing.

“Who’s going to be on it? Singers? Actors?”

Joo Han, who had been standing silently behind Eun Soo, suddenly answered.

“Me and Team Leader Sun Eun Soo.”

“What?”

“I heard there will only be ordinary people as cast members. There probably won’t be any celebrities or famous people.”

Jae Rim asked back with a puzzled expression.

“So, you’re not just providing the store as a location, but you and Team Leader Sun are directly appearing on the show? As ordinary people on a variety show?”

“That’s right. But the store will also be featured. They’ll mainly film here.”

Eun Soo added an explanation. It would capture the daily lives of cast members who are doing work and romance together.

“What? Work and romance…?”

Doubt and confusion were evident on the employees’ faces. Sun Kyung voiced the question that had come to everyone’s mind.

“Why are you two on a program like that…?”

Having expected the question, Joo Han smiled leisurely.

“Let’s continue this conversation over a meal.”

Joo Han casually placed an arm around Eun Soo’s shoulders. Then he turned his body towards the door.

Seeing Joo Han’s hand resting on Eun Soo’s shoulder in an indifferent yet affectionate manner, the employees experienced their first shock. They were hit with a second wave of shock upon seeing Eun Soo meekly walking without hitting Joo Han or cursing at him with her eyes.

Sun Kyung and Jae Rim muttered different words at almost the same time.

“It must be a joke, right…?”

“I don’t think it’s a joke…?”

“Team Leader Sun Eun Soo and I are dating.”

Inside the new fusion Chinese restaurant near the company, which had been chosen as today’s dinner venue, Joo Han made the shocking announcement in a tone no different from when he was choosing from the menu.

Eun Soo turned her gaze away in embarrassment and chimed in.

“That’s how it is.”

Coincidentally, Joo Han and Eun Soo sat next to each other on one side of the table, while the other three employees sat across from them.

It wasn’t like they deliberately sat apart at other times, but they would just sit anywhere and end up sitting next to each other. However, today, seeing them sitting side by side felt somewhat awkward.

So Min scratched her cheek with an obviously disbelieving look.

“Are you already filming something? Like a hidden camera prank?”

Sun Kyung also tilted her head and laughed.

“It’s not even April Fool’s Day, and you’re suddenly playing this kind of prank. What’s the occasion?”

It would be strange for everyone to immediately accept it upon hearing, as nothing had happened between them so far. Joo Han calmly said,

“I figured you wouldn’t believe it. I’ll take it as a sign that we had a perfect office romance.”

Eun Soo also quickly chimed in.

“I’m sorry for not telling you until now. I was worried that my personal life might cause inconvenience at work in many ways, so I tried to keep it a secret as much as possible. That’s why I hesitated when we received the broadcast offer, but since there’s no better opportunity for promotion…”

“What…?”

What is this? Is it real?

Seeing Sun Kyung’s gaze wavering, Eun Soo inwardly smiled with satisfaction. Jae Rim, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

“Since when?”

“A little over a year.”

“What? Not recently? Hmm… I’m sorry, but can you tell us the exact date?”

“May 11th.”

“Then, what was the most recent meal you two had on a date?”

“Dakgalbi set for two with assorted noodles and cheese noodles, and even fried rice… Wait, why are you asking this?”

Joo Han, who had been answering smoothly as if enchanted, came to his senses and frowned. Fortunately, they were questions he could answer right away, but if Jae Rim had attacked with something they hadn’t coordinated beforehand, who knows what would have happened.

Eun Soo, whose hands and feet had turned cold due to Jae Rim’s sudden questioning, blurted out.

“Are you interrogating a criminal right now? F-Falling in love at work isn’t a c-crime…!”

Unable to say the word ‘love,’ Eun Soo pointed at Jae Rim. But Jae Rim suddenly turned to So Min and said,

“See, So Min? I was right, wasn’t I? I won, right?”

Everyone’s puzzled gazes turned to Jae Rim. Jae Rim spoke with a triumphant look for some reason.

“They wouldn’t have coordinated the date they started dating and the food they ate on a date just to play a prank, would they? This is real! They’re a real couple!”

So Min immediately refuted.

“You shouldn’t jump to conclusions based on what you want to believe. It’s just circumstantial evidence, and there’s no visible proof. You didn’t even ask them separately and check if their answers matched.”

“Visible proof? What more proof do you need? Couple T-shirts? Couple rings? They said it was a secret romance, so how could they have shown it?”

“There are still other possibilities to consider. Are you two also betting on this? Whether we’ll fall for it or not.”

“Hey, that’s really far-fetched!”

Why are those two arguing when we say we’re dating?

Eun Soo, who had been watching the situation with a dumbfounded look, detected something strange.

“Betting? You two ‘also’…?”

Suddenly, an odd silence fell.

Gazes demanding an explanation turned to Jae Rim and So Min. Jae Rim hesitantly opened her mouth.

“Actually, some time ago, So Min and I saw it. At the entrance of the store, we saw you and the CEO… kissing.”

“W-What…! What did you see?”

Eun Soo jumped up. Her voice, which had grown large enough to go off-key, was filled with consternation. Joo Han also had a furrowed brow, looking like he couldn’t even guess.

“A-At the store? Really?”

Sun Kyung, who seemed as shocked as the parties involved, grabbed the hem of So Min’s clothes beside her. It was a hand urging her to quickly tell the story in detail.

“Well, it’s true that we saw you two standing very close, as if you were one body.”

“Oh my.”

“But I don’t think it was a kiss.”

“Oh my goodness!”

As soon as the explicit word left So Min’s mouth, Sun Kyung went wild. It was the first time everyone had seen Sun Kyung express her emotions so intensely.

So Min, who had also lost her usual calm demeanor, coolly pointed out item by item.

“If it had been a secluded place, it would be one thing, but it was right in front of the store and during business hours. So I told Jae Rim that we must have misunderstood. Like maybe Team Leader Sun got something in her eye, or there was a bug, you know, things like that.”

As soon as he heard the word ‘bug,’ Joo Han grasped the situation. It seemed that Jae Rim and So Min had been nearby when he was removing the bug stuck in Eun Soo’s hair.

On the other hand, Eun Soo’s mind had gone blank, so she couldn’t immediately recall the incident and was still lost in confusion.

“That’s a possibility, but I heard something, so… Anyway! That’s why we made a bet. I said it was a kiss and you two are dating, and So Min said it wasn’t.”

Jae Rim finished speaking and stared intently at Joo Han and Eun Soo. Her eyes seemed to be asking them to judge who had won.

“That’s…”

Wait a minute. Is it right to explain this now?

Joo Han stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth.

Anyway, they had to make the employees believe, and Jae Rim, who seemed the least likely to believe, unexpectedly believed it right away because of this incident. When Jae Rim took a strong stance, Sun Kyung seemed to have completely fallen for it, and even So Min looked like she would reluctantly believe it if there was evidence that it was true.

Joo Han’s gaze shifted to So Min and back.

Usually, So Min would just go along with everything, but she rarely got fired up like this. It seemed to be because of the bet. The fiery competitiveness, a habit remaining from So Min’s days as an athlete.

‘I don’t know how much you bet, but I’m sorry, So Min.’

Joo Han conveyed with his eyes and opened his mouth.

“That was… a mistake. We absolutely restrained ourselves at the company, but that day, I couldn’t control my instincts. I didn’t know there would be witnesses. I apologize.”

What are you saying, you crazy person!

Eun Soo’s eyes widened, and she tried to hit Joo Han’s thigh under the table. However, Joo Han grabbed her hand. He must have expected and defended against it, as he was the type to prepare to be hit when he said something deserving of it.

“Look at this! This!”

Jae Rim suddenly bent forward and shouted. So Min, who quickly followed with exceptional reflexes, also witnessed Joo Han and Eun Soo’s tightly clasped hands under the table.

“When a secretly dating couple sits next to each other? It’s the rule that they must be touching somewhere out of sight. You saw it, right? So Min, you saw it too, right? Will you still not admit it?”

“…I admit it.”

“Give me 100,000 won by tomorrow.”

“Let’s negotiate. I offer 50,000 won.”

“What? You’re starting the negotiation by cutting it in half? Did your conscience get cut in half too?”

For Jae Rim and So Min, the bet seemed much more important than the CEO and team leader’s romance. Only Sun Kyung looked at Joo Han and Eun Soo alternately with her cheeks slightly flushed.

“I had no idea. Even when I thought you were just close friends, I liked seeing you together and sometimes felt envious, but wow.”

“Th-Thank you. Team Leader.”

Eun Soo replied in a daze. She had already thrown away Joo Han’s hand that had caused this situation.

“I was a bit puzzled earlier, but now that I know, you two really suit each other.”

Sun Kyung added with a smile.

“That program, . It’s you two in a nutshell, isn’t it?”

No, Team Leader Oh. Actually, there’s only work and no love. There was, but it disappeared.

Eun Soo swallowed the words she couldn’t say and laughed awkwardly.

She unconsciously turned her head and met eyes with Joo Han, who had been looking in her direction. A sense of camaraderie in having somehow overcome a hurdle together, and a feeling of being overwhelmed by what lay ahead, all rushed in at once.

But even greater than that was the embarrassment. For some reason, Joo Han’s gaze fixed on her made her self-conscious, and the gazes of the employees looking at her and Joo Han made her even more nervous. In a fluster, she grabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork in front of her and suddenly stuffed it into Joo Han’s mouth.

“Eat.”

Eat and don’t say anything. Don’t say anything crazy without warning or discussion like before.

Although his eyes seemed to say he didn’t know why he was being given this all of a sudden, Joo Han obediently chewed what had been put into his mouth.

Eun Soo, who had successfully silenced Joo Han’s mouth and turned her head to try eating it herself, flinched upon meeting three pairs of eyes looking at her with a strange gaze.

“CEO Joo is good with chopsticks, so there’s no need to…”

“They couldn’t hold back their desire to show it off.”

“I know, right? They don’t seem to have any intention of hiding it anymore.”

Eun Soo, whose head was throbbing, quickly picked up her glass.

“Come on, the food has gotten cold while we were talking about unnecessary things. Let’s all have a drink together, as a company dinner should be. Whose turn is it for the toast today?”

“Me.”

Sun Kyung raised her hand. At each company dinner, they would take turns proposing their own toast.

After pondering, Sun Kyung spoke with a bright smile.

“I’ll go with ‘No hands? No feet? Sweet and sour pork, eat it alone.'”

“…”

Regardless of whether Eun Soo’s expression crumpled or not, Sun Kyung cheerfully led the toast.

“No hands! No feet!”

Then So Min and Jae Rim responded as if they had been waiting.

“Sweet and sour pork! Eat it alone!”

Eun Soo, who had been watching Joo Han clinking glasses as if it had nothing to do with him, let out a deep sigh.

If deceiving just three people was this exhausting, would she be able to successfully tell a lie to the nation in front of the camera?

Feeling overwhelmed, Eun Soo poured the alcohol into her mouth.

And, a few hours later.

This time, a sigh escaped from Joo Han’s mouth.

“I knew it from the moment you started drinking like you were refueling through your throat.”