The next morning.

On her way to work, Se Hee checked the team members’ coffee orders in the group chat and bought drinks from the cafe.

“Good morning.”

Seeing Se Hee’s heavy hands as she entered with a bright greeting, Sun Ah and Manager Hong immediately stood up from their seats.

“Hey, I told you to contact us. Did you carry all this by yourself?”

Sun Ah approached with an apologetic expression.

“Really, how could you carry it all alone when we have the strong and healthy Manager Kim? Tsk tsk.”

Manager Hong also quickly took the coffees from Se Hee’s hands while joking around.

“It’s fine.”

Se Hee smiled brightly as she neatly arranged the coffees on the table with the two of them.

However, it seemed a bit too much for one person to handle all the drinks, as one of them had slightly spilled over.

And as luck would have it, that happened to be Manager Byun Woo Seok’s drink.

“What’s this?”

Manager Byun glared at Se Hee once, his expression twisted as if in a bad mood.

“I’m sorry, Manager. It must have shaken a lot on the way here.”

Se Hee quickly apologized.

“Hey, just drink it.”

Manager Byun’s lips twitched unpleasantly at Manager Hong’s words, but he only made a disgruntled face before returning to his seat with his coffee.

Sun Ah shrugged her shoulders as if surprised.

It seemed Kyle’s warning from yesterday had worked.

“Well then, the CEO’s coffee and card are for our warrior, right?”

Sun Ah handed Se Hee a cup of Americano, steaming hot despite the midsummer heat.

“Ah, yes.”

While the team members pushed Se Hee, saying she was the only one brave enough to enter the CEO’s office with the card, Kyle had specifically pointed to Se Hee last night.

Although things had become very uncomfortable with Kyle, Se Hee had no choice but to head to the CEO’s office with the coffee and card.

After taking a deep breath in front of the door, Se Hee knocked on the CEO’s office door.

Kyle’s voice from inside told her to come in.

Just hearing his voice made her heart sink.

She couldn’t help but sigh.

Taking another deep breath, Se Hee slowly opened the door and entered the CEO’s office.

Even before the knock was heard, Kyle’s gaze was already fixed on the door.

As the door opened, Se Hee entered with coffee, wearing a sky blue blouse and a dark navy H-line skirt.

Her long, glossy straight hair swayed with each of her movements.

Kyle watched Se Hee walking slowly towards him with a wistful heart.

His gaze kept being drawn to Se Hee’s red lips, which looked especially moist today.

The sound of Kyle’s heartbeat was gradually getting louder.

Se Hee was still beautiful.

She was standing within arm’s reach.

The situation where he couldn’t embrace her was tormenting Kyle.

He thought it would take a little more time to recover from the deep wounds, but enduring that time was extremely painful.

Se Hee approached right in front of the desk and placed the hot coffee on it.

Although he hadn’t ordered separately, Se Hee had prepared warm coffee as if remembering his preference well.

Kyle’s gaze couldn’t leave Se Hee.

“Good morning, CEO. I’ve brought your coffee. And here’s the card. Thank you for letting us use it.”

Se Hee spoke politely as she handed the card to Kyle.

As her white, slender hand approached right in front of his face, Kyle felt a strong urge to pull her into his arms.

Fighting against that impulse while looking at the card, before Kyle’s contemplation could end, Se Hee placed the card on the desk.

The opportunity had vanished.

A sigh of frustration escaped Kyle’s lips.

Kyle looked at Se Hee with a regretful expression, but ignoring his gaze, Se Hee quickly bowed and turned away.

Kyle’s expression crumbled completely, disappointed by Se Hee’s attitude.

However, he just couldn’t let her go like this.

“Assistant Manager Lee Se Hee.”

Kyle hurriedly called out to Se Hee as she was about to leave.

Se Hee stopped at his call.

“…Don’t you have anything else to say?”

Kyle’s voice was desperate as he asked.

“No, I don’t.”

But Se Hee was firm again as she answered, slowly turning around.

“…I think you should have something to say to me?”

Kyle’s eyes seemed to be saying that there must absolutely be something as he asked again.

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t have anything.”

“At least I, Se Hee, have something I must say to you.”

“As I said before, I don’t think I have anything personal to discuss with you, CEO.”

Se Hee said, maintaining her cold emotions.

“Are you saying you won’t even give me a chance to clear up the misunderstanding?”

“No. I’m saying there’s no misunderstanding to clear up.”

Kyle’s voice sank coldly at Se Hee’s resolute answer.

“I see. So you’re saying it’s useless even if I give you time and wait. Then from now on, I’ll have to show my sincerity my way. Even if by force.”

Kyle stood up from his seat and approached Se Hee.

“What?”

Se Hee immediately stepped back in confusion, but Kyle didn’t stop.

Driven by his momentum, Se Hee’s back was pressed against the wall with nowhere else to retreat.

Kyle’s face came so close to Se Hee’s that they almost touched.

“I feel like I’ll go crazy if I wait any longer.”

Kyle’s eyes, dark as the deep sea, rushed straight at Se Hee.

“Th-this is a c-company, a public space, CEO.”

Se Hee stammered, overwhelmed by his oppressive aura.

“…Ha. Right. This is a public space.”

Kyle’s rough breath was transmitted directly to Se Hee’s ear.

Se Hee’s face immediately flushed hot.

Barely suppressing his emotions, Kyle stepped back from Se Hee.

“You may leave now.”

His arrogant eyes coldly stared at Se Hee.

Se Hee, who had been blankly staring at him, stumbled out of the CEO’s office.

After Se Hee left, Kyle concentrated on his thoughts.

A public space, huh.

After closing his eyes and pondering for a while, Kyle suddenly opened his eyes as if a good idea had struck him.

“It will be an extremely public space.”

With a very satisfied expression, Kyle stroked his chin, his gaze directed at Se Hee working at her desk.

* * *

Sihan Group Vice President’s Office.

Today again, Seong Jae was buried in approval documents.

He had only been away briefly due to the Yangyang Hotel project he had been fully immersed in, but piles of documents were waiting for Seong Jae.

In fact, it had more than doubled due to his father, Chairman Ban’s intentional postponement.

Now that he was officially going around saying he wanted to entrust everything to his two sons, the burden on Seong Jae, the second son, had become even heavier.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

With the sound of knocking, a pretty female secretary entered carrying an elegant coffee cup on a tray.

The secretary approached with careful steps and placed the coffee on Seong Jae’s desk.

“Thank you.”

Seong Jae smiled gently.

The secretary blushed shyly at his smile.

“But, Secretary Han. You really don’t have to do this.”

Seong Jae didn’t like having the secretary run coffee errands.

He was an enlightened boss who thought he could easily prepare coffee himself.

So he had even made a point of mentioning about coffee, but…

“It’s fine, Vice President. I do it because I want to.”

Seong Jae just smiled at the secretary who was insisting.

Seong Jae had no intention of making employees uncomfortable.

But if she considered it her joy, there seemed to be no need to stop that either.

“It tastes good.”

Seong Jae took a sip of coffee and smiled brightly.

Only then did the secretary answer with a bright smile and leave the Vice President’s office.

As the door closed, Seong Jae sighed.

Even in the midst of being swamped with work, he couldn’t help but keep thinking about it.

Lee Se Hee.

That face floating around in Seong Jae’s mind.

When he went to Yangyang on business and saw her there by pure coincidence, he thought the goddess of fortune had raised his hand.

The blue Yangyang sky looked so pink that the joy didn’t even last a full day.

It crumbled inevitably the next day.

Kyle Graham Evans.

A bulldozer-like man.

Or should I say a stealth aircraft?

How could he swallow up SY Hotel so suddenly without a sound?

The former SY Hotel owner had clearly said he would sell the headquarters and branches separately, so Sihan Group had also jumped in to acquire the branches, but he appeared and overturned the situation.

With its tremendous financial power, Evans Group absorbed not only the headquarters but also all the branches.

Many domestic companies had jumped into the sale of SY Hotel branches, but they all got properly beaten.

Seong Jae sighed.

He thought he might start a sweet romance with Se Hee after wrapping up this project well.

But such an opportunity was never given to him.

Just then, the Vice President’s exclusive phone rang.

−Vice President. We received a call from the Whalens CEO’s office.

“What? Whalens?”

Seong Jae’s brow furrowed.

Why would Whalens contact him?

They were a group that had fallen out after working underground to acquire SY Hotel’s headquarters when Evans came in.

Of course, there was bad blood with Seong Jae before, but there was no business contact point with Sihan Group at all.

But why?

Seong Jae pondered at the unexpected contact.

* * *

As it was nearing the end of the work day, Kyle summoned Se Hee.

It was very burdensome, but no employee could refuse the CEO’s summons.

“What did you call me for?”

Se Hee entered the CEO’s office with an uncomfortable expression after receiving Kyle’s call.

“I have something to discuss regarding an official work schedule. Please have a seat first?”

Unlike in the morning, Kyle treated Se Hee in a very businesslike manner.

“There’s an official economic gathering for Evans Korea this weekend, and it’s a partner accompaniment schedule. But coincidentally, all the secretarial staff are men.”

Kyle began.

“S-so?”

Could he be asking me to be his partner for the gathering for such a reason?

Se Hee looked up at Kyle in bewilderment.

“It’s Evans Korea’s first official event, so we can’t attend with just anyone. We decided to select from the TF team, which is the next department under the secretarial team’s jurisdiction. You, Assistant Manager Lee Se Hee, seemed to be the right person for this official event.”

Kyle deliberately emphasized the word ‘official’.

“M-me?”

Se Hee asked again as if it was a bit difficult to understand.

“I heard that Assistant Manager Lee Se Hee is also fluent in Japanese and Chinese. You’re just the talent we need for this schedule. You can think of this official event as an extension of your duties as an Evans Korea employee accompanying the CEO.”

While thinking it was childish himself, Kyle focused on maintaining a solemn expression so as not to be caught.

“Of course, since it’s an official external schedule, all necessary preparations will be handled by the secretarial office. That’s all I have to convey. Any questions?”

Kyle asked with a look that said there probably wouldn’t be any.

Because Se Hee’s questions had been completely blocked.

Se Hee stared at Kyle with a blank gaze.

Is this what he meant by his own way?

Or is it an official revenge for asking him to refrain from private words and actions?

Se Hee was perplexed by the sudden official event work directive.

Looking at Se Hee’s dumbfounded expression, Kyle gave a relaxed winner’s smile.

There’s no reason not to follow an official work order, right?

“Then, I’ll see you at the official event.”