After the noisy couple left, on the way back home after emptying the last of the whiskey.

Hwa Young, seated in the back, was lost in thought while gazing out the car window.

Secretary Yang, who took the wheel in place of the drunk man, looked at Hwa Young through the rearview mirror and asked.

“Did something unpleasant happen?”

“Huh?”

“Usually when you’re drunk, your mood gets even better. Today you’re just quiet.”

“Ah…”

Hwa Young, after responding briefly, turned his gaze back to the lights outside the car window.

The question he then asked was quite meaningful.

“Do I look pitiful?”

“Pardon?”

“Do I look pathetic in your eyes too, Yang?”

Secretary Yang observed Hwa Young once more before answering.

There was no trace of sadness on Hwa Young’s face in the small rearview mirror.

After a moment’s consideration, Secretary Yang spoke in a firm voice.

“No. How could you be?”

“Hah, why not? Because I was born with a vibranium spoon?”

“It’s not about riding in this nice car and wearing those nice clothes. Especially not in front of me, who’s driving you home drunk at this hour while paying off my apartment loan.”

Hwa Young smirked, raising the corner of his mouth at the seemingly sincere answer.

“I knew you’d answer like that. There’s no way I could be pitiful.”

And then silence fell again.

Sensing something was still off, Secretary Yang asked Hwa Young once more.

“Did someone say you were pitiful?”

Hwa Young answered easily, still looking out the window.

“Yeah. They just said my life was pathetic and pitiful. They even cried. Right in front of me.”

“What did you talk about to get such a reaction…”

“Old stories. Very, very old stories.”

Old stories that would elicit a pitiful reaction.

It must have been a story hidden deep in Hwa Young’s life.

For example, a life not accepted as it was, harsh standards set by others, or time forcibly spent trying to meet those standards.

Even Secretary Yang had never heard this directly from Hwa Young.

He had only figured it out by closely observing the relationship between him and Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria.

Secretary Yang had seen Chairwoman Choi Yu Ria repeatedly paint over Hwa Young’s new colors, saying she didn’t like them, whenever he showed them.

He had also witnessed her boldly cutting off new branches whenever they grew, saying they were out of line.

The task Chairwoman Choi had entrusted to Secretary Yang was to monitor whether he was showing any other colors, whether any other branches were growing from him.

So he was doing his best with the task at hand, but…

He had never thought this method was right.

Because Hwa Young, who talked so well about other things, would clam up tight at the moment his light disappeared and his branches were broken, sometimes seeming pitiful and pathetic.

“…It seems you’ve met someone special. Is it a woman?”

At Secretary Yang’s casually thrown question, Hwa Young let out a childlike giggle.

“Secret.”

“I don’t know who it is, but it’s better not to talk about personal matters. Director Do’s story is also LU Group’s story.”

“I know, I know.”

It wasn’t at all the attitude of someone who knew, but he wasn’t the type to listen even if pressed further.

In fact, there was a part of him that felt relieved seeing Hwa Young confide his frustrations to someone.

Secretary Yang, deciding to end the conversation here, changed the subject to the bag Hwa Young had been holding.

“That’s a bag I haven’t seen before. Did you buy it recently?”

It seemed he thought so because the bag Ji Wan had left didn’t look like a women’s handbag.

Hwa Young briefly shifted his gaze to the bag, then after a moment’s thought, put it down by his feet and said,

“I’m just holding it for a bit.”

Then he slid the bag under the passenger seat in front.

No matter how close they were, Secretary Yang was still someone employed by the family, so Hwa Young was worried he might tell the family about Joo Tae Sung’s divorce.

Knowing that Yi Young’s lingering feelings hadn’t been resolved yet, Hwa Young wanted to keep the news of his divorce to himself as much as possible.

He didn’t want to give her any reason to rekindle false hope, knowing how much pain she had gone through after being jilted by Joo Tae Sung.

‘Still, it’s not something I can hide forever, so it would be good if she met a new boyfriend in the meantime…’

Hwa Young thought to himself as he glanced towards the bag.

He noticed a document that had fallen out of the bag as it tipped over when pushed under the passenger seat, one he hadn’t seen before.

Hwa Young’s eyes froze for a moment as he checked that thin paper, then suddenly widened.

* * *

Big trouble.

“Ahhh! What do I do! Ahhh!”

The bag was gone.

The important bag she had taken to work yesterday, specifically the one containing the divorce papers and contract, was gone.

“I must be crazy! I must be crazy! Ahhh! I really can’t live like this!”

Was it because she drank too much yesterday, or because she went through too great an ordeal, or anyway because it was a situation where she just couldn’t maintain her sanity?

From the bar to home, getting ready for bed, tossing and turning for a while until falling asleep, she hadn’t realized the absence of the bag at all.

And all the important things were in it…

“Ah, Do Hwa Young!”

The moment Hwa Young came to mind, chills ran down her spine.

If she had left it at the bar, surely Do Hwa Young would have it.

The divorce papers being discovered wasn’t a big deal, but the contract termination agreement was something he absolutely must not see.

“Business card! Business card! Where did I put that business card!”

Ji Wan searched the entire house for Hwa Young’s business card, postponing her preparations for work.

She was worried it might be in the wallet inside the lost bag, but fortunately, Hwa Young’s business card was among the receipts she had collected to throw away.

“Ah, thank goodness! Thank God!”

Ji Wan dialed the number on the card, offering infinite thanks to the heavens.

There was a notification on her phone screen that a message had arrived from Tae Sung, but Ji Wan’s situation was too urgent to pay attention to such things.

Rrrrr― Rrrrr―

―Yes, this is Do Hwa Young.

After a long ring, Hwa Young’s voice came through the phone.

Feeling anxious, Ji Wan skipped greetings and got straight to the point.

“My bag… perhaps yesterday… at the bar…!”

But perhaps because she was too anxious,

Her words came out all jumbled and unclear.

She was so busy it was driving her crazy.

―Right, it’s about time you called. You realized your bag was missing when you were about to go to work, huh?

Hwa Young asked in a sly voice, having figured out the purpose of the call without being told.

Ji Wan spoke pleadingly, clutching the phone desperately with both hands.

“You have my bag, right? Can’t you send it by quick delivery? My wallet and car keys are all in there.”

―Then it would be dangerous to send by delivery. I’ll come to the newspaper office at lunchtime.

“No, it’s fine. Why come when you’re busy? Just send it by quick delivery. It’s all safe these days, so don’t worry…”

―You know the drinks were expensive yesterday, right? The Honey Badger has to buy lunch?

Hwa Young speaking like that seemed determined to see her face and give her the bag.

Seeing him volunteering for a troublesome task, there must be some suspicious ulterior motive.

“Um… you didn’t open my bag, did you?”

Ji Wan asked in an uneasy voice.

Hwa Young burst out laughing and answered cunningly.

―You think I would rifle through that cheap bag?

Hearing this, it seemed he hadn’t looked…

―At least I didn’t take or steal anything.

But the addendum made it seem like he had secretly looked…

Unfortunately, this was a problem that could only be resolved accurately by meeting in person.

After taking a deep breath to prepare herself mentally, Ji Wan opened her mouth with a solemn expression.

“Alright. I’ll see you at lunch. Don’t come to the front of the company, it’ll draw people’s attention.”

―Then?

“I’ll send you the location separately. We only have an hour for lunch, so don’t be late.”

With this, she had made yet another appointment with Do Hwa Young.

Why did she keep getting entangled with someone she shouldn’t be involved with?

Ji Wan wanted to blame others this time too, but anyone could see that she was the cause.

A deep frown etched itself between Ji Wan’s brows as she worried about a man who wasn’t even in her stars.

* * *

It had been three hours since he sent the message

There was still no reply from Ji Wan.

It was almost lunchtime now and the unread notification had disappeared, but for some reason she wasn’t showing any reaction.

The more this happened, the more he was bothered by Hwa Young’s remarks from yesterday.

‘When I asked if she was abandoned by Joo Tae Sung, she cried.’

‘She said it was heartbreaking. She said it was upsetting. She was drowning her sorrows in alcohol, overflowing with lingering attachment to Joo Tae Sung who wanted a divorce.’

Ji Wan had said those words were unrelated to the truth, but he couldn’t believe that.

‘Frankly speaking, what kind of relationship do we have for me to have lingering feelings?’

‘Hwa Young, you don’t know anything about us. Don’t read meaning into something said arbitrarily by someone like that.’

Her voice that had trembled as she said those words.

‘Don’t be so serious, I didn’t cry because of Tae Sung!’

The look in her eyes that was so shrunken compared to her voice.

All of it seemed similar to the emotions Hwa Young had pointed out.

“Hmm…”

Tae Sung’s brows furrowed deeply as he recalled the past events.

Ji Wan had been hurt, and that hateful expression she had resented so much had become clear without him even realizing it.

Just then.

“Prosecutor. Aren’t you going to have lunch…?”

Officer Choi came to the office to call out Tae Sung, who still hadn’t come out even though it was lunchtime.

Opening the door carefully, she was startled to see Tae Sung’s face frozen in a serious expression and asked,

“Oh my, did something happen? You look very upset.”

Hearing those words, Tae Sung rubbed his brow to forcibly relax it as he answered.

“It’s nothing. Go have your meal. I’ll eat separately.”

Officer Choi, who had been quietly observing him, suddenly asked again with a brightened face.

“Or is there some happy news you’re feeling shy about?”

“Pardon…?”

“Well, you only frown like that when you’re angry or shy, and it doesn’t seem like you’ve had any reason to be angry recently…”

Tae Sung looked perplexed at Officer Choi’s words.

“Do I… frown when I’m shy?”

“Yes, that’s why you frown hard when an article praising Prosecutor Joo’s achievements comes out or when juniors say they see you as a role model.”

“I had no idea.”

“Even though you’re putting so much strength into your brow right now?”

Only then did Tae Sung’s gaze turn to the small mirror on his work desk.

His features were naturally so chilly that he consciously tried to smile, but with his brow furrowed like this, he looked no different from a contemptuous expression at a glance.

This must have been the expression Ji Wan had mentioned yesterday.

‘Then was I shy yesterday too…?’

Tae Sung’s expression turned fierce again as he thought this.

Officer Choi Sook Hyang flinched unconsciously, but soon realized he was just deep in thought and let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew, I’m still startled even though I know. Anyway, we’ll go eat first. Don’t skip lunch!”

Officer Choi who had said goodbye to Tae Sung left the office.

Considering the backlog of work, Tae Sung should have quickly gone to eat too, but he didn’t get up from his seat for a while.

What he couldn’t take his eyes off was his own fierce expression in the mirror.

If this expression was a shy one, why on earth had he been shy yesterday?

Tae Sung is seriously pondering this at the moment.

So seriously that he’s put aside all the complex work and still unresolved assault cases.