“Huh? There’s no umbrella.”

The umbrella stand was empty, as if the person who left after In Young had taken it.

“I’ll just take a taxi anyway.”

Gyeo Wool thought nonchalantly, “Would I get rained on just because there’s no umbrella?”

However, taking a taxi was not as easy as she thought.

A long line waiting to catch a taxi.

Rain pouring down as if the sky had burst open.

It was nearly impossible to wait for a taxi without an umbrella.

“What should I do?”

While she was pondering, she saw a man who had been waiting for a taxi dash towards the bus stop.

“If I run, I’ll get there quickly, right?”

Gyeo Wool also started running, following the man.

But there was a difference between seeing it and actually running in the rain.

The bus stop that looked close was quite far, and her clothes were soaked through by the pouring rain.

She roughly brushed off the dripping water with her hands and looked at the digital display showing bus arrivals.

“15 minutes?”

The bus going towards the apartment complex would arrive in 15 minutes.

The man who had run ahead of Gyeo Wool was lucky enough to catch a bus that arrived right away and left.

“I can’t even sit down.”

Her eyes went to the chairs, but she was reluctant to sit.

Her clothes were wet, so sitting down would feel uncomfortable.

She had no choice but to stand looking in the direction the bus would come from.

“The traffic is really bad…”

With the rain pouring down and rush hour on top of it, the cars on the road were moving at a snail’s pace.

The situation on the opposite road was even worse.

The road looked like a parking lot, with cars stopped even before the red light came on.

“Ah~ It’s cold.”

Gyeo Wool hugged herself tightly and hunched her shoulders.

Perhaps because of the rain, the temperature had dropped sharply.

Being weak against the cold to begin with, getting rained on made the chill seep into her bones.

“Why isn’t it coming?”

Gyeo Wool grumbled as she marched in place, trying to fight off the cold even a little.

15 minutes had passed, but there was no sign of a bus-like vehicle even in the distance.

That’s when it happened.

A black car in the opposite lane made a U-turn and stopped in front of the bus stop.

A car that could never look unfamiliar to Gyeo Wool’s eyes.

Through the window that smoothly lowered, Tae Wook could be seen sitting with a hardened expression.

“Ch-Chairman!”

[This is the timeline separator]

The car Tae Wook was in had stopped at the intersection in front of the company.

He had barely managed to shake off the CEOs of partner companies who were trying to hold him back for dinner and drinks, and was heading towards the company.

“The early winter rain is falling like a summer shower,” said Driver Choi, looking out at the car that had stopped completely after repeatedly stopping and going.

Tae Wook also looked out of the car with a frustrated expression.

Although it took a long time from the hotel to the company, he thought it was good that he said he would pick her up.

It seemed that even an umbrella would be useless in this rain.

Moreover, if she took the bus instead of a taxi…

Tae Wook’s gaze turned towards the bus stop as if drawn to something.

A woman standing alone at the bus stop.

A woman taking steps in place, her body hunched up, probably from the cold.

Although his vision was blurry from the pouring rain and darkness, Tae Wook recognized it was Gyeo Wool the moment he saw her.

“Turn the car around!”

Tae Wook shouted urgently towards Driver Choi.

“Weren’t you going into the company, sir?”

Driver Choi turned his head with a perplexed look and stared at Tae Wook.

The cars in front were backed up, but they would be right at the company once they got the left turn signal.

“Didn’t you hear me say turn the car around?”

When he raised his voice, Driver Choi quickly turned the car around.

As they got closer to the bus stop, Gyeo Wool’s figure became clearer.

The car stopped in front of Gyeo Wool.

When Tae Wook lowered the car window, he could see Gyeo Wool’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Ch-Chairman!”

“Get in quickly.”

Tae Wook barely suppressed the anger rising within him and moved to the side to let Gyeo Wool get in.

However, Gyeo Wool hesitated with a troubled expression.

“I said get in. What are you doing?”

Not realizing she was worried about wetting the seat with her drenched clothes, Tae Wook’s voice came out coldly.

Only then did Gyeo Wool hurriedly enter the car.

The car interior quickly cooled down from the cold dampness she brought in, showing how cold it was outside.

“Just what…”

Just as Tae Wook’s voice was about to rise,

Her hand fastening the seatbelt caught his eye.

Her hand, wet with moisture, had turned pale white.

What’s this?

Tae Wook’s gaze moved from Gyeo Wool’s hand to her arm and then higher.

Her delicate shoulders, completely soaked, were trembling like aspen leaves.

“What on earth happened!”

Tae Wook’s voice rose involuntarily in surprise.

Gyeo Wool looked like someone who had fallen into water and come out.

Even though he saw she didn’t have an umbrella, he hadn’t thought she would have been caught in the rain.

“Turn on the heater. And is there a towel or blanket in the trunk?”

Tae Wook asked Driver Choi.

“Yes, there is. I’ll go get it for you.”

Driver Choi quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to get out of the car.

But Tae Wook was faster.

He opened the car door and rushed outside without an umbrella.

Neither Driver Choi nor Gyeo Wool had time to stop him.

Tae Wook took out a blanket from the trunk and came back.

Though it was just a moment, raindrops were dripping from his hair.

His shoulders and back had not escaped the rain’s attack either.

“You’re all wet.”

Gyeo Wool looked around, trying to find something to wipe off the moisture.

“Not as much as someone, so it’s fine.”

Tae Wook said gruffly and handed the unfolded square blanket to Gyeo Wool.

But she gently pushed the blanket away.

“Chairman, you’re really wet. Use this to wipe off at least.”

“You really don’t listen.”

Tae Wook just wrapped the blanket around Gyeo Wool’s shoulders.

Surprised by his action, she grabbed the end of the blanket and tried to pull it down.

“I’m fine.”

“Just try to take it off! I’ll make sure you can’t come to work starting tomorrow.”

The stern gaze pouring from Tae Wook pierced Gyeo Wool’s eyes.

His warning worked.

She pulled up the blanket that had slipped off one shoulder to cover both shoulders.

“I clearly told you on the phone to wait, did you forget?”

“No.”

“Then why were you waiting for the bus in the rain?”

“The distance to the apartment is closer than from the hotel to the company. And on a rainy day like today, it would take several times longer.”

Gyeo Wool gave the reason why she couldn’t simply follow his instructions.

“So you’re saying you did it for my sake?”

Tae Wook rubbed his eyebrow with his finger in disbelief.

“When I told you to wait, didn’t you think I might have had my own reasons?”

“I thought it was right for me to move.”

“Then why didn’t you at least call? Didn’t you think that if you just left without calling, I would have gone all the way to the company and inconveniently gone up to the president’s office looking for a secretary?”

Tae Wook was angry.

The more he spoke, the more he felt his emotions intensifying.

The reason was simple.

He had come rushing here thinking of Gyeo Wool. But she didn’t even understand his feelings, which made him feel hurt and disappointed.

“Now I see it wasn’t for my sake, but just for your own.”

“I did call.”

Gyeo Wool felt wronged.

“You didn’t answer, so I thought you were in a meeting and even left a message.”

“You… called?”

Tae Wook’s voice lowered as he furrowed his brow.

He remembered putting his phone on silent mode before entering the meeting.

“Let’s say that’s true about the phone, but why don’t you have an umbrella? Don’t you know where umbrellas are kept?”

“I guess no one thought it would rain.”

Gyeo Wool’s voice was quite prickly as she indirectly said there were no umbrellas left to use.

At his words asking why she didn’t have an umbrella when she couldn’t take one because there weren’t any,

At his words asking why she didn’t call when she had called, Gyeo Wool was as upset as she could be.

‘If you were going to get this angry, why did you say you’d come pick me up at the company!’

Gyeo Wool had been so grateful that Tae Wook came back to the company because it was raining.

When he brought the blanket and covered her with it even while getting rained on, she was truly touched to the point her heart swelled.

However, Tae Wook’s cold questioning made her gratitude and emotion disappear in an instant.

“If you didn’t have an umbrella, you could have taken a taxi right in front of the company. Don’t tell me you were trying to take the bus to save a few pennies…”

Tae Wook trailed off.

He saw Gyeo Wool furrowing her brow and biting her lower lip inwards.

He realized that she was upset by his pressing words.

Indeed, if she could have taken a taxi, would she have gone to the bus stop through the rain without an umbrella?

Even knowing this, the emotion boiling up inside him wouldn’t easily subside.

“Next time something like this happens, wait until I come.”

“No.”

“What?”

Tae Wook stared at Gyeo Wool in bewilderment at her answer.

“Whether I get rained on or not, please don’t worry about me.”

Gyeo Wool spoke in a tone as cold as her expression and then turned her head away completely.

[This is the timeline separator]

Tae Wook, who had been reading a book in the study, looked at the clock on the desk.

It was just shy of 1 AM.

He took off the glasses he was wearing and rubbed his eyes that were becoming drowsy.

“Looks like I won’t make it past 1 o’clock today either.”

Strangely, for the past few days, he would feel sleepy around this time.

This symptom was unusual for him who had suffered from insomnia, but he didn’t dislike it.

He could fall asleep within minutes of lying in bed.

“I should go to sleep.”

Tae Wook closed the book, got up from the desk, and left the study.

It was when he was walking towards the bedroom.

The bright light coming from the kitchen caught his attention.

The housekeeper had left before he returned to the apartment, so the person who had gone in and out of the kitchen must have been Gyeo Wool.

“She must have forgotten to turn off the light.”

Tae Wook thought he should turn off the light and changed direction towards the kitchen.

But Gyeo Wool was in the kitchen he thought would be empty.

He saw her taking something out of a drawer in the cabinet next to the sink.

“Are you looking for something?”

“Oh my!”

With a startled sound, the open drawer closed with a bang.