Left alone with Lee Daeri, Ina smiled and greeted him as well.

“Well, I should get going now too. See you tomorrow, Lee Daeri.”

“Where are you going?”

“Pardon?”

“You said you had an appointment? Which direction are you headed? I’m going this way.”

“Ah, I’m also going that way, but…”

“Really? Then let’s walk together.”

Lee Daeri’s face lit up as he grinned broadly.

Unable to refuse after seeing his smiling face, Ina nodded with an awkward smile.

As they walked together, Lee Daeri asked with a smile.

“Are you meeting a friend?”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried you might be going home alone.”

“Oh… Thank you for your concern.”

“Of course I’d be worried after what happened earlier…”

As he spoke, Lee Daeri suddenly looked startled and stared at Ina.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up, right? I apologize if I upset you.”

“Oh no, it’s okay. I would have been worried too if I saw someone in that situation. Thank you for your concern.”

Lee Daeri still looked embarrassed.

As they walked in awkward silence, they soon reached the spot where Juwon was waiting.

At the same time, inside Juwon’s car.

Juwon, who had been waiting for Ina, narrowed his eyes.

Ina was walking with some man.

He saw Ina with an uncomfortable smile and the flushed expression of the man beside her.

Seeing the man’s expression, Juwon’s eyes narrowed even further.

There are various reasons why someone’s face may flush.

Anger, excitement, embarrassment… or being next to someone they’re attracted to…

Seeing the man’s irritating gaze directed at Ina, there was no doubt it was the last reason.

Somehow, that thought made Juwon feel strangely uncomfortable.

She probably didn’t sleep well last night because of that trash, so who was this man looking at Ina with such lustful eyes?

Juwon stared at the two with narrowed eyes before sighing and getting out of the car.

At that moment,

As Ina was about to say goodbye to Lee Daeri, he suddenly spoke with a serious expression.

“Excuse me, Seo Daeri. This might be out of line, but… I’m just so worried about you.”

“Pardon?”

“That bas… no, that man’s eyes looked really bad earlier… I’m worried he might try to harm you, Seo Daeri. So I was thinking… would you let me accompany you on your commute for the time being?”

“…Sorry?”

When Ina asked with a surprised look, Lee Daeri carefully said.

“Ah, I guess it’s too sudden. But I’m just really worried about you.”

“Oh, I really appreciate your words, but… the friend I’m meeting now is already helping me out.”

“Oh… I see.”

The moment Lee Daeri replied, Juwon walked up and stopped in front of them.

Surprised by Juwon’s sudden appearance, the two simultaneously looked up at him.

“Oh, Juwon.”

At Ina’s words, Lee Daeri looked up at the tall man who had suddenly appeared before him.

Seeing the sculpture-like handsome man with fair skin staring at him intently, Lee Daeri flinched.

‘Wh-what? Who is this man?’

As he stared at the statue with wide eyes, the statue turned to Ina and asked in a gentle voice.

“Who is this person?”

“Huh? Oh, he’s a manager from my company.”

“I see. Hello.”

Juwon gave a slight bow to Lee Daeri while observing him.

Lee Daeri also bowed awkwardly while glancing up at Juwon.

Seeing the man standing so naturally next to Seo Daeri, a question mark floated in Lee Daeri’s mind.

The person she called a friend… was this man?

“Your friend… is a man?”

Lee Daeri asked with a forced smile, but Juwon caught the disappointment written all over his face.

Feeling strangely uncomfortable again at that expression, Juwon placed his hand on Ina’s shoulder and answered instead.

“Yes. As you can see.”

Seeing Juwon smiling and holding Ina’s shoulder as if embracing her, Lee Daeri’s eyes widened.

Ina also looked up at Juwon with round eyes.

“You two seem very close.”

Lee Daeri blurted out his thoughts in his confusion.

And the moment he said it, Lee Daeri immediately regretted it.

He thought he had gone a bit overboard with that comment, as he wasn’t even that close with Seo Daeri.

And sure enough,

“Yes. As you can see.”

Although Juwon gave the same answer, his expression had changed.

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not.

Flinching at that expression, Lee Daeri cleared his throat and avoided eye contact.

Sensing the strange atmosphere that had been building, Ina quickly said goodbye to Lee Daeri.

“Well then, Lee Daeri. We’ll get going now.”

“Ah, yes. Please go ahead.”

Lee Daeri waved his hands, gesturing for them to go.

“Alright. See you tomorrow, Lee Daeri.”

After Ina said goodbye, Lee Daeri bid farewell to her and gave a slight bow to Juwon as well.

Juwon responded with a cool expression and headed towards the car, still holding Ina’s shoulder.

As he watched their retreating backs, Lee Daeri swallowed nervously for no reason.

When they reached the car, Juwon finally removed his hand from Ina’s shoulder and opened the passenger door for her.

“Oh… thanks.”

After getting in, Ina glanced at Juwon as she put on her seatbelt.

“But… Juwon.”

“Yeah?”

Juwon turned his head to look at Ina as he buckled his own seatbelt.

“What was that just now? Why did you put your hand on my shoulder?”

Juwon, holding the seatbelt with one hand, stared at Ina silently before answering.

“Red alert.”

“…Huh?”

Ina tilted her head and asked.

“Literally. The alarm that goes off when the enemy invades.”

Ina blinked and looked at Juwon.

“What do you mean by that?”

Juwon placed his arms on the steering wheel and gazed at Ina.

“You know that guy is interested in you, right?”

“…What?”

Ina’s eyes grew wide.

“His eyes were full of ulterior motives when he looked at you.”

“What? No… What are you talking about? You must have seen it wrong.”

“No, that gaze was 100% attraction.”

“I told you it’s not! Why are you making such a strange misunderstanding?”

Ina’s face turned red in embarrassment.

Juwon stared at her for a moment before removing his hands from the steering wheel and asking.

“Tell me. Do you have even the slightest bit of interest in that man?”

“What?”

Ina immediately furrowed her brows.

“Doesn’t seem like it. Judging from your reaction.”

“Of course not. Lee Daeri is just a colleague at work, nothing more and nothing less.”

“Yeah. I figured as much, that’s why I sounded the red alert.”

“What? No, why do you keep saying strange things?”

“To warn him not to get his hopes up and struggle in vain.”

Ina looked at Juwon with puzzled eyes as he spoke incomprehensibly, then said.

“I think you’ve severely misunderstood something. Actually…”

Ina hesitated for a moment before sighing and opening her mouth.

“Earlier today… Park Jeonghun came to the company and caused a scene. At that time…”

“What?”

Before Ina could finish, Juwon furrowed his brows and asked.

“That bastard came to your company?”

When Juwon asked with fierce eyes, Ina nodded with a dejected expression.

“Where? To your office?”

“No, I was leaving the company’s main entrance during lunch break, and there…”

“So? What did that bastard do? What did he say to you?”

Unable to bring herself to utter the filthy words Park Jeonghun had said, Ina bit her lip.

Seeing her expression, Juwon sighed deeply.

“Ina. It’s okay, tell me. What did that bastard say?”

Ina hesitated before slowly speaking.

“Well… he yelled that I was two-timing, just like last night’s repertoire.”

“…In front of all those people during lunch break?”

Instead of answering, Ina fiddled with her fingers, and Juwon’s expression turned icy.

“That son of a bitch… he’s beyond redemption.”

Ina slowly raised her eyes to look at Juwon.

She could feel the chilling anger in his gaze.

Juwon ran his tongue over the inside of his mouth and brushed back his bangs.

Then he quietly stared at Ina and asked.

“Are you okay? People must have all been staring… How did you endure that situation?”

“Well, I was so shocked that my vision went white for a moment, but thankfully my coworkers helped me out, and that bastard ran away without looking back.”

“…Your coworkers, including that man from earlier?”

“Yeah. Lee Daeri was there too. That’s why he said he wanted to help me as we walked together earlier, but I think you misunderstood that.”

“Help you? How?”

“Um, he said he’d accompany me to and from work. But I’m not close enough with Lee Daeri to accept that kind of help, and you’re already helping me anyway.”

Juwon’s face changed from an expression of chilling anger because of Park Jeonghun to one of discomfort.

“He offered to accompany you to and from work even though you’re not close?”

“Well, Lee Daeri was there earlier too… Park Jeonghun caused quite a scene, so I think he was just worried.”

Juwon silently gazed at the naive little lamb ‘Seo Ina’ before speaking.

“Seo Ina. Men are simple. They don’t go around helping everyone just because they’re worried. He wants to help you, even accompanying you to and from work, because he’s attracted to you.”

“I told you it’s not like that. Why do you keep embarrassing me? You’re overestimating me. I appreciate it, but it’s really not like that.”

Juwon sighed as he watched Ina underestimate her own charm and placed his hands on the steering wheel.

“Well, let’s go eat dinner first. You probably couldn’t even have a proper lunch after that shock. Is there anything you want to eat?”

Normally, Ina would have excused herself to Juwon and gone straight home to rest.

But seeing the warm gaze in Juwon’s eyes as he worried about her, she felt a comforting feeling, as if she was receiving solace for her mind and body.

“No, not really… Let’s just eat whatever you want today.”

‘Ina doesn’t want to eat anything…’

It was more than evident how much stress she had been under because of Park Jeonghun.

“Hmm… There’s a sushi place I often go to. Wanna go there?”

“Sushi? Sure, sounds good.”

Juwon soon started the car.

After driving for about 30 minutes, Juwon’s car stopped in front of a Japanese restaurant.

After parking, the two got out of the car and entered the restaurant.

“Welcome!”

A male owner who appeared to be in his mid-50s greeted Juwon with a bright smile.

Ina thought he must really be a regular customer, but then the owner glanced at her standing next to Juwon.

He winked at Juwon and whispered.

“You always come with men, but today you brought a beautiful lady.”

Those words reached Ina’s ears as well, and her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

As Ina lowered her gaze to her feet, Juwon smiled and replied.

“I know, right?”

At Juwon’s response, Ina lifted her head to look at him.

Juwon gazed at Ina with a smile like a gentle spring breeze.