“I’m sorry. Our employee was a bit mischievous. He’s not usually like that, but his tension gets a bit high when he drinks.”

At Chae Won’s interjecting voice, Yoo Gun’s gaze, which had been locked with Sung Min, shifted to her.

Her clear speech made her seem fine, but her slightly flushed face and slowly moving eyelids suggested she hadn’t abstained from drinking entirely.

“You should manage your employees and phones well. Especially given the current times.”

Chae Won nodded in agreement with his words of caution.

“Chae Won, who is that?”

When Sung Min asked, the two men’s gazes locked again.

It was the irritating male voice that had been coming through the phone.

Yoo Gun stared intently at Sung Min’s distinctive face.

“Oh, this is… just Choi Yoo Gun.”

Just?

What did she just say? Just Choi Yoo Gun?

Yoo Gun’s brow quickly furrowed in disbelief.

“Ah, this is a doctor who runs the hospital with me. Moon Sung Min.”

As Chae Won finished her introduction, Sung Min extended his hand for a handshake with a scrutinizing look.

“Ah, but what’s your relationship with our Chae Won?”

Amidst the irritating words, Yoo Gun grasped Sung Min’s hand.

“We’re dating. Since recently.”

Chae Won’s lips parted slightly in surprise.

Equally surprised, Sung Min asked Chae Won.

“…Is that true?”

Unable to deny it, and unable to say it was a fake relationship for just a month, Chae Won barely managed to move her stiffened lips.

“Ah, well.”

After meeting Yoo Gun’s warning gaze that seemed to say ‘if you’re going to do it, do it properly’, Chae Won reluctantly nodded.

“Yes.”

“No way, since when?”

As Sung Min couldn’t easily close his mouth in disbelief, Chae Won’s lips quivered.

“For now, Sung Min, please take care of the employees. Yoo Gun, let’s go!”

“Wait.”

As they hurriedly turned to leave, Sung Min, still wearing a bewildered expression, spoke.

“Don’t go, would you like to have a drink together?”

Yoo Gun turned his half-twisted body back towards Sung Min.

“We’re old friends, so there’s almost nothing I don’t know about Chae Won. You could say I’m like an elder brother to her. So I’d like to congratulate our Chae Won on her first relationship.”

Contrary to his words, Sung Min’s eyes were sharp, as if saying ‘I need to verify you’.

“What do you mean, my first relationship? Sung Min, you just don’t know, but I’ve dated a lot.”

Chae Won protested at having her first relationship exposed, but Sung Min scrutinized Yoo Gun from head to toe with piercing eyes.

“Since you’ve just started, you must be curious about our Chae Won. As her elder brother, I can tell you a lot. Shall we go together?”

“Let’s do it next time. For now, I prefer spending time just the two of us.”

At Yoo Gun’s words, Chae Won turned her head as if to say, ‘What’s this about now?’

The two men’s gazes locked again over Chae Won, who was silently screaming.

Look at this guy?

Sung Min, imagining grabbing Yoo Gun by the collar, glared and said,

“I see. But maybe because you’ve just started dating, you two don’t seem very close.”

“Ah, you mean like this?”

As Yoo Gun grabbed Chae Won’s limp hand to show him, the corners of Sung Min’s smiling mouth awkwardly froze.

Chae Won, who had been standing stiffly with a blank face, soon scratched her forehead with an expression that didn’t quite work.

“Sung Min, take care of the employees. We’ll be going then.”

“No, wait. Kim Chae Won!”

Walking quickly and looking back carefully, Chae Won met Sung Min’s eyes, who was still lingering, and turned her body again with an awkward face.

“That’s quite a worried face.”

“Ah, it’s more that Sung Min seems a bit surprised. He keeps staring as if he can’t believe it.”

For someone who claimed to be like an elder brother, was his sister’s dating such a shocking thing?

Yoo Gun was more displeased by Chae Won’s seemingly concerned appearance than Sung Min’s wary gaze.

He twisted their joined hands, deeply settling into each of her finger joints.

Only then did Chae Won’s face lift towards Yoo Gun.

Their interlocked fingers tightened firmly.

She looked at him as if to ask why he was holding her hand so tightly when he could let go now, and he nodded his chin in the direction Sung Min had turned.

“You said he keeps staring.”

“That’s true, but there’s no need to go that far for Sung Min.”

“Let’s go to my car. You seem to have been drinking.”

“Do I smell? I only had a little to match the mood.”

As Yoo Gun leaned his head towards Chae Won’s nape, she unconsciously tightened her grip on their joined hands in surprise.

“It’s barely noticeable, but still, you drank.”

Feeling his voice almost touch her skin, Chae Won tensed her jaw.

He soon straightened up.

“Let’s go.”

Just then, the traffic light to their right turned green.

As she walked where he led, Chae Won looked at their tightly joined hands.

Now they were out of Sung Min’s sight, and after turning corner after corner, they could really let go.

But he showed no signs of releasing her firmly held hand.

“Yesterday three hours, today three hours, a total of six hours to compensate, Ms. Kim Chae Won.”

Choi Yoo Gun, speaking with that unforgiving face that doesn’t overlook even small mistakes.

“How do you want me to compensate? You said you don’t want me to buy you a delicious meal.”

“Time should be compensated with time.”

Chae Won suddenly thought he might be a very wicked owner at his company.

She imagined him giving instructions with an expressionless face, not allowing even a bit of loss.

“Alright, six hours. Call me when you need me, Choi Yoo Gun. I’ll help with anything.”

Just you be late in the future.

I’ll definitely deduct from those six hours.

“Whew.”

It’s definitely hot now that it’s July.

Or is it the alcohol kicking in belatedly?

Or…

Is it because she’s becoming increasingly aware of his hand touching hers?

Chae Won felt confused as she looked at their still firmly interlocked hands.

As she shook her head, Yoo Gun turned to look at her.

“Are you dizzy?”

Meeting his dark eyes somehow made her feel even more… lightheaded.

“I’m fine.”

It must be the alcohol.

She had deliberately drunk today to try and sleep due to her insomnia, but it seems she overdid it.

Chae Won quietly let out a long breath as she felt the effects of the alcohol belatedly rising.

*

In business, there are often times when you have to smile and spend time with people whose personality or tastes don’t match well with yours.

The current call with Chairman Hwang was one of those times.

“That’s how this industry is.”

Parked in the underground parking lot, listening to Chairman Hwang’s trivial chatter for the third minute as he guffawed.

“Then, let’s talk tomorrow. I’ll have my secretary contact you about the location.”

Yoo Gun, who had been looking down with a bored expression, cut off his words at an appropriate point.

Fortunately, the other party, sensing the mood, stopped trying to continue and soon said goodbye.

After ending the call, Yoo Gun turned his head to the passenger seat.

She had started dozing off 10 minutes before arriving, and even after parking and finishing the call with the client, she still hadn’t woken up.

Yoo Gun felt at a loss as he looked at her taking deep breaths in an uncomfortable position with her head bowed.

“Ms. Kim Chae Won.”

Whether due to the alcohol or sleep, there was no movement even though his voice wasn’t particularly quiet.

Thud. Yoo Gun’s gaze fell on the black jacket that had fallen to the floor of the passenger seat.

It was Yoo Gun’s jacket that he had given her out of concern for the direct air conditioning on her thin dress.

As a result, her bare legs were naturally exposed, which was dizzying.

He understood that she dressed prettily, but wasn’t the skirt too short?

He wondered if she acted this carelessly in front of that guy earlier too.

No matter how much she drank, shouldn’t she stay alert and go home to sleep?

“What on earth are you trusting to sleep so deeply like this?”

Somehow, her defenseless appearance was displeasing.

He also didn’t like how his own thoughts were strangely confused by Chae Won’s vulnerable appearance as a man.

As he watched, Yoo Gun grabbed her shoulder, intending to wake her.

“We’re here, wake up.”

Yoo Gun’s hand, which was about to shake her, soon stopped.

As Chae Won’s nodding head leaned against Yoo Gun’s arm, their faces became quite close as Yoo Gun looked down obliquely at Chae Won with her eyes closed.

Startled by the sudden proximity, Yoo Gun remained frozen, looking at Chae Won in front of him.

If Chae Won were to open her eyes right now, it would be a situation worthy of misunderstanding, asking what he was doing, so he should quickly move away or wake her up.

But…

His gaze was fixed on her evenly settled long eyelashes, her flawless clear skin, and her lips that had a particularly pink tinge as he stared down at her.

In the flowing silence, he felt something hot touch the nape of his neck.

Yoo Gun’s gaze drifted a little lower.

Yoo Gun’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he realized it was the soft breath flowing from Chae Won’s mouth.

“Ha, I’m crazy.”

Yoo Gun, who had all sorts of thoughts in those few seconds, quickly pulled away from Chae Won.

Losing her support, Chae Won finally opened her eyes slightly, swaying.

“Ah, ugh.”

Her eyes, which had opened weakly, gradually gained strength.

Frowning as if her head hurt, she brushed back her hair and straightened her neck.

Her eyes, still filled with sleep, finally looked at Yoo Gun.

“Are we already here?”

He was at a loss for words at her face, which showed no awareness after giving him so much stimulation in such a short time.

Staring at her, Yoo Gun let out a low breath and unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Get out if you’ve come to your senses.”

Nodding, Chae Won got out of the car and habitually took out her phone from her bag first.

Checking with sleepy eyes if there were any messages, she put her phone back in her bag with a deflated expression, realizing there was no news she had been expecting today either.

“You seem like the type who shouldn’t drink. It’s better not to drink if possible. Or at least keep your wits about you until you get home.”

Chae Won’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Did I say something strange while sleeping?”

“It would be fortunate if you had even that much awareness, but you didn’t respond at all even when called.”

“Ah…”

Ah, she says.

Looking at her innocent face that didn’t seem to understand how dangerous that was, Yoo Gun let out an empty breath.

“I originally get very sleepy when I drink… That’s why I deliberately drank today. I haven’t been able to sleep much for days since what happened to my elder sister.”

“Then you should drink at home.”

“That’s true, but there was alcohol at the company dinner, so I just had a little.”

“It’s late, let’s go in.”

Chae Won looked at his back as he walked ahead and her lips quivered.

“…What’s this, why do I feel like I’m being scolded?”

Seeing his somewhat angry appearance, Chae Won blinked in confusion.

“Did I do something outrageous?”

Did she say something nonsensical to him while half-asleep?

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t remember anything as she had slept sweetly without dreams for the first time in a while.

Tilting her head, Chae Won hurried her steps at his face turning back as if telling her to come quickly.