“Can’t I see it in my eyes?”

“No, can’t I? Can’t I?”

Soeun didn’t get angry or feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, she smiled slightly.

“I know too. I was really foolish.”

Soeun knew herself well. When a situation arises, she can’t say a word and later regrets her personality that reflects on it. The lingering attachment. But…

“But what can I do? I have to live with myself like this forever.”

That’s why the 27-year-old who was able to protect herself. Without being stained somewhere, the me I protected. I’m not as naive as Choi Hyun-ji said, but still, I go straight on the path I go with honesty.

“Talking like this makes me feel like I’m belittling myself. That’s not it. There probably won’t be anyone who loves an idiot like me, maybe.”

Soeun loved that part of herself.

“If I don’t love myself, no one will love me, right? I just feel small and shy about that, love is amazing.”

Now was a good time to confess. It was good to be able to confide in someone who loves me like I love myself.

Soeun thought it was enough to be happy like this.
“Anyone can have a traffic accident in their life. If you think about it that way, that’s it. I had surgery because of a severe traffic accident, but the surgery went well, so I recovered neatly, so it’s okay. Still, unlike a traffic accident, I did one good thing, so I proudly consider it. So, I’m fine now because I no longer dwell on it.”

The moment she finished speaking, the pot of soup boiled. Before Soeun could reach for it, Taehoon raised his long sleeves and pressed the induction switch. The other hand that had held her waist climbed up her smooth back and reached her head. The hairband he had given her came loose as if it were his.

“I need to take a shower.”

“…”

“Let’s go together. I’ll cut your hair.”

The sweaty smell, as if he had just come in, seeped lightly into the T-shirt he was wearing.

Taehoon had prepared a space for Soeun in the dressing room. He judged that he needed to prepare clothes in case she suddenly visited his house bare-bodied like she did this weekend. He had ordered it in the morning and received the delivery in the afternoon, but there were more clothes than he thought, so Soeun shook her head.

It’s enough to have a few T-shirts, underwear, and pants to wear on the weekend.

“All of them are summer clothes.”

“You can buy autumn clothes later.”

“No, you bought too much for summer, and it’s already passing.”

“We can wear them next year.”

Taehoon answered casually.

What will we be doing next year? Will we still like each other like we do now?

Soeun was full of thoughts, but Taehoon, while emptying the wardrobe, mumbled that he could clear the entire dressing room.

Soeun’s fingertips, organizing the clothes, caught underwear. While thinking about what to do with this, the phone she had placed nearby rang. It was an incoming call from an unsaved number.

“Hello.”

“Um, are you Chief Han Soeun?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“I’m Jaeyoung from the reception team.”

“Oh, yes, yes.”

She was a veteran employee from the reception team. Although she didn’t know her well, they exchanged greetings when passing by.

“Chief, did you happen to check ‘Blah Blah’?”

“Huh? No.”

“Would you like to check it once? There’s a post up. I’ll send you the title as a message.”

Jaeyoung’s call was quickly disconnected. Soeun stared blankly at the phone screen, and Taehoon, showing interest, asked.

“Who was it?”

“A colleague from the company. She asked me to check ‘Blah Blah.'”

Blah Blah was a dedicated site famous for an anonymous community for office workers. Since it was a community that could only be joined with a workplace email address, the identity of the members could be 100% guaranteed.

A message arrived shortly afterward. The title Jaeyoung sent was stimulating enough on its own.

Soeun’s lips dried up.

Is my relationship with the director exposed? Did someone recognize us?

“What’s wrong?”
Taehoon stopped what he was doing and sat down next to Soeun. Unconsciously, Soeun turned her body to the opposite side. She hoped he wouldn’t read the post. As she searched for and pressed the Blah Blah app, her fingertips trembled. Finding the post that Jaeyoung had mentioned was easy; the views on the bulletin board overwhelmingly supported the post.

Swallowing dry saliva, Soeun clicked on the title.

The line post starting with ‘A month-long vacation in April at Central Headquarters’ made Soeun shudder. It wasn’t what she expected, but it was surprising nonetheless.

「An employee who took a month-long vacation in April at Central Headquarters. He lied, saying he was going on an overseas trip and was hospitalized, but it turned out he went to visit his boyfriend’s mother. If you just know this much, it’s not that heart-wrenching a story.

But, you see, the problem is, though he sweetly proposed marriage, once he mentioned marriage, she lied and demanded alimony. It turns out she already had another boyfriend. She targeted him to extort money because his family was well-off. There are even these ruthless flower snakes in the world. Everyone needs to be careful.」

Taehoon took Soeun’s phone from her. When his eyes, which had read a few lines, began to lose balance and shake, the vibration rang again.

Soeun took her phone back from Taehoon and answered the call.

“Chief, have you read it?”

“Yes.”

“Is this possibly about you, Chief?”

Soeun couldn’t answer. Her heart trembled as if it had turned into a piece of paper.

On the other end of the receiver, Jaeyoung’s rough sigh could be heard.

“In fact, I took a month-long vacation in April too. I really went on a trip to Europe. Due to this post, a few colleagues contacted me. Could you maybe guess who posted this?”

“No. I’m not good at guessing…”

“Then, is what this says true?”