“W-What…?”

The sound of her heart pounding seemed audible even outside her body. But Joo Han’s response was more nonchalant than expected.

“It’s a mistake for you to wake up in my bed, isn’t it?”

“…You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“If you’re not going to wear yesterday’s clothes to work, hurry home before the employees arrive.”

“Got it.”

The call ended. Eun Soo let out a shallow sigh and headed for the entrance.

A shopping bag was neatly placed in front of the shoe rack, with all her belongings inside. Eun Soo looked down at it and slumped into a crouch. She buried her forehead in her knees and covered her head with both hands.

‘What do you mean you don’t remember!’

Last night, when she got up at the rooftop bar, she was flustered by how much dizzier she felt than expected. She tried hard not to show how the world was spinning before her eyes, but who knows how it was captured on camera.

Anyway, she entered Joo Han’s house and finally let her guard down. Thinking about it now, that’s where her judgment went completely wrong.

‘I shouldn’t have let my guard down until I was lying in my own bed in my own home, but I put it down too early…’

She drank water in front of the refrigerator, and feeling too lazy to go to the sofa, she sat down briefly on a dining chair, but got a little irritated because it was uncomfortable and hot.

Then her memory cut out for a moment… and when she saw Joo Han in front of her, she rambled incoherently. She couldn’t quite recall exactly what she said, but she vividly remembered Joo Han’s fierce expression.

And, the decisive words that jolted her fully awake were…

‘Please don’t say you’re leaving in front of me. When I hear those words, I dream. In my dreams, I hear you say you’re leaving again, and I’m still there again.’

Eun Soo’s hands, which had been tearing at her hair, stopped listlessly.

It felt as if Joo Han’s body heat, which had been so hot it was almost frightening, still lingered on various parts of her skin. As her senses alternated between sharpening and fading, she recalled thinking she was being devoured, and goosebumps rose.

Neither of them had been in their right mind. They had broken up three whole years ago, yet they had clearly been consumed by the concept while acting as a couple. Self-reproach and regret boiled up.

‘…What mistake.’

She knew that a mistake was tripping over something or dropping something, not walking in of her own accord, holding on with her own hands, and sucking with her own mouth. And she couldn’t just blame it all on the alcohol.

‘Right, I should acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged.’

Eun Soo lifted her head, which had been buried on her knees the whole time. She pressed one hand firmly against her eyelids, which felt unusually heavy, perhaps from being swollen, and stood up.

‘I was shaken, that’s true. In fact, even now…’

But that doesn’t change anything. Nor should it change.

Eun Soo forcibly recalled the memory of their breakup.

When she heard from Sol Hee that Joo Han had left for America, she didn’t say anything but was deeply shocked.

Despite being the one who had firmly pushed him away first, she hadn’t expected Joo Han to tie up everything so coldly. The first breakup was that clumsy, selfish, and foolish.

Only when faced with a physical distance that made even chance encounters impossible did she realize, far too late.

That she had lost the only other person in the world who knew her best.

‘…Once is enough.’

She no longer wanted to be in a relationship where she had to fear experiencing such feelings again. Saying they were better as friends had a slightly different meaning now than when she had said it to break up, but it was still sincere.

Because saying they would start again was no different from saying it could end again.

She would not hope for anything more here.

No matter how much she regretted it, no matter how shaken she was.

“…What’s this.”

So Min, who had come to work as usual, stopped short upon encountering Jae Rim, who was crouched in a corner with a chair.

It was a face that was clearly asking someone to inquire what was wrong.

Thinking of acting contrary and just passing by, So Min reluctantly opened her mouth.

“Why are you so down this early in the morning?”

Jae Rim straightened up as if she had been waiting for this. Her eyes were still drooping.

“There was someone things were going well with recently, but it ended ridiculously.”

Interest flickered in So Min’s eyes. Though she wasn’t interested in others’ love lives, hearing about a failed relationship piqued her curiosity a bit.

“First, let’s be clear about the ‘things were going well’ part. It wasn’t just your own thought, right? It was mutual, correct?”

“Ah, of course!”

Jae Rim stood up abruptly with an indignant look.

“We just hadn’t said ‘let’s date’ yet, but we were practically dating, you know?”

“Ah.”

“I’m serious! Why do you look like you don’t believe me? I wasn’t going to say this much, but honestly, we even kissed, okay? Does it still look like I was the only one thinking it was something?”

“Hey, who asked about that!”

So Min frowned, upset at hearing about someone else’s kiss first thing in the morning. Despite looking slightly intimidated by So Min’s stance that suggested she might tackle her at any moment, Jae Rim stubbornly continued.

“You asked! Why I was so down. Then you should listen to the answer all the way through.”

I shouldn’t have asked. I should have pretended not to notice.

So Min thought about making an excuse that she was busy and running away, but Jae Rim, who seemed to have read her mind, grabbed So Min’s sleeve tightly and quickly spoke. How they had met by chance, exchanged messages for a while, and roughly what had happened.

“…Then suddenly, a photo of them with another man was posted. It said ‘1st day today’ like that. At first, I thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t. I was really dumbfounded. Do you know how humiliating and shameful it is to even ask what this is about? Wow, I really.”

Sigh. So Min, who had listened somewhat attentively, exhaled first.

“That’s trash. Block them and forget about it.”

“Uh… but calling a person trash is a bit…”

“Excuse me, but are you a pushover?”

So Min looked Jae Rim up and down with eyes that seemed to be looking at the king of pushovers.

“What kind of trash have you seen before that you’re saying this level isn’t trash? Geez.”

Just then, Eun Soo, who had entered, perked up her ears, sensing the flow of interesting air. So Min continued speaking.

“After even kissing, a person shouldn’t act like that. If that’s not trash, what is?”

Thud.

A sound of being properly stabbed deep into Eun Soo’s conscience was heard. So Min, who belatedly noticed Eun Soo standing stiffly, abruptly asked.

“I mean, Manager, honestly, if you’ve kissed, aren’t you dating?”

“No? Not really? Maybe not?”

Hearing Eun Soo’s almost reflexive answer, a genuinely shocked expression appeared on So Min’s face.

“What. Are you this progressive…?”

At that moment, Joo Han and Sun Kyung, who had been out somewhere, entered one after another. Sun Kyung added after her usual morning greeting.

“I don’t see the broadcasting station people today.”

“They said they have a general meeting, so they’ll be a bit late.”

Eun Soo, who answered immediately, unconsciously glanced at Joo Han. Though they didn’t even make eye contact as he was looking elsewhere, his expression didn’t seem particularly good or bad.

“Why do you look like that?”

Eun Soo flinched reflexively upon hearing Joo Han’s voice. For a moment, she thought he was asking her, but Joo Han’s gaze was directed at Jae Rim.

“Since it came up, ask the CEO and Manager Oh too. I don’t know anymore.”

So Min, who left those words for Jae Rim, muttered something like “what’s the world coming to” as she disappeared towards the stairs. Sun Kyung turned to Jae Rim with curious eyes.

“What should we ask? What happened?”

“Well… It’s absolutely not my story, it’s my friend’s story.”

Sun Kyung, who listened to Jae Rim’s explanation to the end with an extremely focused expression, frowned as if troubled.

“I’m the type who doesn’t understand kissing before even saying let’s date in the first place. What about you, CEO?”

This damn company. How did it end up gathering people who talk about kissing first thing in the morning?

Eun Soo’s insides were burning up. But officially, she had said she didn’t remember anything about kissing or whatever, so being conscious of it would look more suspicious.

Joo Han opened his mouth.

“Was that kiss, by any chance, done while drinking?”

“Huh? I, I think so.”

“Then don’t put any meaning into it. You probably wanted to do it in a drunken state. It’s something you remember.”

Once again, a silent scream rang out from Eun Soo’s conscience, which had been sharply stabbed. She should have naturally left her seat when So Min went earlier, Eun Soo thought, as she stared into the distance with the most unfocused eyes she could manage.

Joo Han patted Jae Rim’s shoulder as he passed by.

“Cheer up.”

“Thank y… I mean, I told you it’s my friend’s story!”

“Then pass it on to your friend.”

Joo Han turned his head. Eun Soo, whose eyes met his directly, hunched her shoulders.

“Eun Soo.”

“Uh, yeah?”

Eun Soo’s eyes widened as she saw Joo Han suddenly approaching. Joo Han calmly took both of Eun Soo’s hands. Looking down at Eun Soo’s trembling eyes, he said one thing.

“From now on, I’ll be your external hard drive.”

“What are you suddenly saying?”

“You know, when you delete your memories after drinking. I’m saying I’ll store them in my memory instead.”

Eun Soo silently closed her mouth as she saw a bottle of hangover cure coming out of Joo Han’s pocket and being placed in her hand.

“You can forget everything else, but don’t forget me.”

With those words, Eun Soo watched Joo Han’s back as he let go of her hand and headed underground, swallowing a sigh. It might have sounded cheesy to others, but goosebumps rose on Eun Soo’s arms instead of chicken skin. Because it was a fierce warning that he remembered everything.

Jae Rim chided with an “Aigh” look in her eyes.

“Manager, you said you were quitting alcohol, but you blacked out again.”

“Hey, is quitting drinking easy? Huh?”

“No, why are you suddenly lashing out at me? What did you do right to raise your voice?”

Leaving the grumbling Jae Rim behind, Eun Soo went up to the office and first poured the hangover cure down her throat. Her head was churning more than her stomach.

There was a lot to think about, but thinking wouldn’t solve anything, so she just had to endure it.

Eun Soo turned on her laptop with an almost solemn expression. She carefully checked the email sent by the headquarters representative and sent a reply.

The sponsorship-related documents that she had previously discussed verbally with Director Kim were also officially sent by the film production company. She was carefully reviewing that as well when a text message came. It was Yoon Bin.

Yoon Bin had mentioned wanting to drop by once during the filming of . However, from the company’s perspective, it would become a schedule, so he said he needed to discuss it. So she had only told Joo Han that he might come, and hadn’t told the broadcasting station side.

Of course you can come, thank you so much, Eun Soo sent a reply with excited emoticons attached, and was about to contact Joo Han when he called first.

“I just got a call from the PD. They said they received notice that Choi Yoon Bin is appearing, and they’re flying over right now, regardless of meetings or whatever.”

Joo Han muttered as if to himself.

“But is he really coming? Isn’t he busy?”

“How could he not be busy? It’s because he’s coming despite obviously being busy that we’re grateful.”

After ending the call with an “I understand,” Joo Han irritably propped his chin.

Grateful but not grateful.

He knew. How much ‘s SNS account followers and sales had increased after Yoon Bin’s last visit. And how much buzz it would create if it was broadcast as well. But he felt uneasy.

Although he had never explicitly expressed it, Joo Han was uncomfortable with Yoon Bin. Despite Yoon Bin never having treated Joo Han particularly uncomfortably, he had felt that way since they first met.

If he had been Eun Soo’s real older brother, Joo Han would have tried to make a good impression, but he wasn’t even that. But since he was said to be like a real older brother, it was awkward to be jealous.

Moreover, that person…