“Honestly, I wonder if there’s anyone who wouldn’t be happy receiving something like this.”

Eun Soo lowered her eyes. The jewel on her hand resting on her knee emitted a brilliant shine. It felt somewhat unreal that this was on her hand, and that it didn’t feel as awkward as she had expected.

“I think… I’m happy too. No, I am happy.”

Eun Soo’s gaze slowly moved. She looked at Joo Han’s hand resting on the steering wheel. Seeing the ring on his large, slightly rough-looking hand with slightly protruding knuckles made a corner of her heart ache.

She had imagined sharing the same rings before.

And sometimes, she had imagined witnessing an unfamiliar ring on Joo Han’s hand someday.

Eun Soo’s heart was somewhere between those two emotions – one so thrilling it felt like bursting, and one so painful her whole body ached.

Eun Soo’s gaze, which had risen a bit more, met Joo Han’s, who had been staring at one spot all along.

“Thank you. It’s so beautiful.”

Joo Han just looked at Eun Soo. Eun Soo couldn’t hold his gaze for long and turned her head away.

I just wanted to hear words like that. That’s enough.

It was hard to bear as she seemed to hear such words from Joo Han’s gaze.

You spent your money and I just received it, and all I did was say thank you, yet why do you look so overwhelmed?

In fact, she knew. Joo Han always wanted to give something, and he was happiest when someone thanked him with a smile.

But every time, Eun Soo had tried to argue, push away, and not be indebted even a little. Her own comfort was more important than Joo Han’s satisfaction.

If it was going to be like this, I should have just happily accepted the things you gave back then.

As regret lingered, it was about to turn into lingering attachment. Eun Soo muttered inwardly.

‘I’m sorry. If I couldn’t accept it then, how could I accept it now? I’ll return it when everything is over. But I know better now than to say that unnecessarily right now.’

Eun Soo raised her eyes again. She smiled as she met his unwavering gaze that seemed like it would never leave her.

“In return, I’ll pay for dinner. Whatever you want to eat.”

“Good morning……”

Lee Jae Rim, who was entering with an ordinary work greeting, widened her eyes. Somehow noticing, she rushed to Eun Soo and grabbed her left hand, raising it to eye level.

“What’s this? Even at a glance, the brilliance feels on a different level from cubic zirconia?”

Examining it this way and that, Jae Rim covered her mouth with her other hand while still holding up Eun Soo’s hand.

“Unbelievable. You got proposed to!”

“No, it’s just a couple ring……”

“Just a couple ring? Aren’t couple rings something you get from places in Jongno that give you the best gold price? So it’s easier to sell back after breaking up……”

Jae Rim, who had been muttering thoughtlessly, suddenly closed her mouth with a gasp. It was because her eyes met with Joo Han’s, who was walking behind Eun Soo.

As she was about to explain that she didn’t mean to imply they would break up, Joo Han said one thing.

“Hand.”

“Yes?”

“I said let go of her hand.”

“Ah, yes.”

Jae Rim immediately released Eun Soo’s hand. Joo Han, seemingly satisfied with just that, calmly went down to the basement. Jae Rim marveled again as she noticed the ring on Joo Han’s hand as he lightly touched the railing.

“That flex is insane. If you get just couple rings from Deepmolten, where are you going to get wedding rings? Oh right, am I not supposed to mention brand names? Am I going to be edited out again?”

Jae Rim peered towards Park PD, who was standing with a camera in the distance. Eun Soo asked.

“But how did you know it was a Deepmolten ring right away? It’s not like there’s a logo or anything.”

“I had picked it as one of the rings I wanted to buy if I ever had the chance to propose. Ah, but now that the CEO and manager have already done it, I guess I won’t buy this one.”

Kim So Min said,

“Isn’t it that you can’t buy it rather than won’t buy it? I think we should hear your bank account’s opinion too. Oh, that’s if you even get the chance to propose in the first place?”

“So Min, why are you being like this to me first thing in the morning?”

“I’m just doing what I always do.”

“That’s right. You’ve always been like this.”

Oh Sun Kyung smiled brightly.

“Come to think of it, you couldn’t even think about couple rings while you were secretly dating. It seems you got them as you switched to public dating, it looks good. I’m envious.”

At the word ‘envious’, Eun Soo’s cheeks flushed red.

“Thank you, Manager Oh.”

In the relatively quiet afternoon, Park PD requested a short interview with Sun Kyung. After hesitating, Sun Kyung sat in her office chair and shyly faced the camera.

“I heard you’ve worked here the longest.”

“Yes. I joined when CEO Kim Kyung Hun was here. They say the rest are A.D. (After Director) and I’m the only B.C. (Before CEO) member, based on when the current CEO took over.”

Park PD laughed.

“It might feel like you’re a bit of a power behind the scenes?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Sun Kyung’s expression turned slightly serious.

“I think the CEO’s role should be done by the CEO, and it’s not right for someone else to try to do it.”

Park PD was a bit surprised by the unexpectedly firm tone from Sun Kyung, who had been the least caught on camera so far as she quietly did her work.

Meanwhile, Sun Kyung bit her lip in belated worry. She had said it thinking of Jang Hyun Man, who acted like he was the CEO without acknowledging the new CEO Joo Han, but she wondered if it was okay for this to be broadcast.

If Jang Hyun Man himself heard it, and if the people who used to work at Vida and moved to Moem heard it, they would surely understand, and she worried if they might try to find fault with it.

‘Should I ask them to edit it out? But I didn’t specifically name anyone. Isn’t it the problem of the person who feels guilty?’

As Sun Kyung was thinking this, Park PD asked a question.

“Did you know that Joo Han and Eun Soo were secretly dating in the office? Was there anything suspicious?”

“No, I had no idea at all. It was so unexpected that the three of us – me, Jae Rim, and So Min – even talked before about how it was good that the CEO and manager weren’t in that kind of relationship.”

Sun Kyung laughed embarrassedly and shrugged her shoulders.

“But… I don’t know if I should say this, but I did wonder on my own if the CEO might have a one-sided crush on the manager.”

Park PD’s eyes lit up.

“Really? In what way?”

“It wasn’t any specific incident, but just sometimes the way the CEO looked at the manager seemed a bit different, but I thought it was just my imagination. Maybe because I went to all-girls schools, I have some fantasies about a male friend who has a crush. Plus, the CEO’s appearance and gaze are kind of, how should I say, unnecessarily mysterious-looking.”

“I can see what you mean.”

Park PD nodded immediately.

While checking the footage from yesterday intermittently, a shot of Joo Han looking at his phone with honey-dripping eyes passed by.

He wondered if it had caught Joo Han secretly exchanging messages with Eun Soo, but when he paused and looked closely, Joo Han’s phone screen was playing a vlog of a country puppy.

“Anyway, now that I think about it, I guess not all of it was my imagination, so I feel oddly proud. In that sense, I think Manager Sun is really amazing. How could she not show any signs at all?”

It’s not that I didn’t show any signs, there were no signs to show.

Eun Soo, who had stopped halfway up the stairs after seeing Sun Kyung in the middle of an interview while coming up to the office, muttered inwardly.

“If it were me, forget a year, I think I would have been caught right away. Don’t your eyes automatically follow when the person you like comes and goes in front of you? When they pass by, you want to secretly hold their hand. When you’re left alone… ahem.”

Oh, Manager Oh was quite a romantic person. Sun Kyung seemed a bit harder to understand compared to Jae Rim or So Min, but it felt like she had discovered an unexpectedly cute side.

“Ah, come to think of it, Manager Sun tends to leave work the latest, so there must have been many times when just the two of you were left……”

Sun Kyung gently covered her mouth and blushed.

“Ah, so that’s why……”

What do you mean ‘that’s why’? I just take my time going home because I live close by, and Kim Joo Han just didn’t leave because he lives here.

Just then, a presence approached from behind and a very small, low voice settled near her ear.

“I didn’t know it would look like that.”

Startled by the sudden whisper, Eun Soo turned around quickly, only to be more shocked to see Joo Han’s face right in front of her, and turned back to the front. At some point, Joo Han had come up close behind her as if giving a back hug.

Lightly touching the railing with one hand and Eun Soo’s shoulder with the other, Joo Han whispered again.

“We never did, but let’s say we did.”

“What……”

“Whenever we had the chance, just the two of us at night in the office… you know, that kind of thing.”

It was weird enough whispering right into her ear, even if it was because of the microphone, but what he was saying was even weirder. Just as she was thinking she should hit him, a weight suddenly settled on her shoulder where his breath had been constantly falling.

Joo Han, who had lightly rested his chin on Eun Soo’s shoulder, stayed like that for a moment before straightening up. Joo Han’s hand trailed down from Eun Soo’s shoulder along her arm, brushing her hand before moving away.

“Tell Manager Oh to contact me when she’s done with that.”

Joo Han, who had whispered even words that could have been said normally, went down the stairs. Eun Soo, who had remained frozen before belatedly turning around, caught sight of something. It was the broadcasting station’s camera installed where the stairs curved.

‘……He knew that would be caught on camera.’

It was an angle that would definitely look like a secret back hug and hand-holding. Eun Soo was purely impressed.

He has a plan for everything, huh.

Does he study this separately? Should I do it too?

Eun Soo, who had even thought that far, shook her head inwardly.

No, at least I should keep my head straight.

The next day, a familiar guest appeared at Vida. It was Yoon Ki Woo, who came with a film art director.

“I’ve joined Director Choo Jae Young’s new project, and they’ve been busy looking for props and locations these days. I brought them here to take a look as well.”

The art director, who had been in charge of everything from film sets to props to locations for over 20 years, looked strict at first glance. A slightly arrogant attitude was visible even when greeting Joo Han and Eun Soo.

“Hmm….. Well. I appreciate Director Yoon’s sincerity, but this place is also not really……”

A ‘pissed off’ expression that would be unnoticeable unless looked at very closely appeared and disappeared on Joo Han’s brow. In contrast, Eun Soo’s smile became even brighter.

“Excuse me, Director Kim. By any chance, did you work on the art direction for ‘The End of That Winter’?”

“Oh my. How did you know that?”

“You also did ‘Those Who Love’, ‘The Continuing Connection’, and ‘Jackpot’, right?”

“That’s right. But how……”

As Eun Soo rattled off even the titles of films that had failed at the box office and were not well-known to the public, not only Director Kim but also Joo Han and Ki Woo’s eyes filled with wonder.

“Honestly, unless you’re a major, you don’t really think about who the art director is while watching a movie, right? But while watching ‘The End of That Winter’, I became curious for the first time. I wondered who and how they created such a perfect background.”

Director Kim’s expression gradually changed.

“A background that doesn’t stand out more than the actors, doesn’t have anything that catches the eye negatively, and maximizes the characters and story. I was deeply moved when I found out that it came from your hands, Director. We’ve even drawn inspiration when arranging spaces at Vida… It’s an honor to meet you like this.”

Director Kim, who had completely melted, burst into laughter. Watching this scene, a huge question mark appeared in Joo Han’s mind.

Did Eun Soo… like movies that much?