Si Heon showed no sign of backing down even an inch. No, does he not understand the meaning of the word ‘hurt’? So Yi chewed her lip slightly before opening her mouth again.

“Still, wounds left by words tend to linger for a long time…”

“Wounds must remain for growth. You’ve been living with only stimuli that left no traces until now, so you’re still stuck there.”

Si Heon spoke nonchalantly as he picked up his fork and knife. His expression was confident as he cut the steak into small pieces and put them in his mouth. So Yi wanted to refute but couldn’t find the right words.

So that’s why he doesn’t post an apology even when such articles come out. Swallowing the bitterness in her mouth, So Yi resumed eating as well.

“We can kiss in front of your house later.”

So Yi swallowed a cough with a gulp. She quickly picked up her water glass and drank as she wheezed quietly.

“Isn’t that what couples usually do when parting?”

“That’s for people who are really dating.”

“We have to act like we’re really dating, so think of it as practice.”

Unlike Si Heon who spoke with an indifferent expression, So Yi was busy waving her hands and trying to cool her face.

Seeing this, Si Heon let out an involuntary chuckle.

Her blushing cheeks with a flustered expression were quite cute. It was the same that night too. As soon as they entered the room, he showered her with kisses, and she blushed bright red with a bewildered look, not knowing what to do.

Her visible changes in expression were unfamiliar to him. Was that why? The reason he couldn’t let go of Jin So Yi all night long.

Si Heon’s smile quickly stiffened at the sudden memory of that night. The hot sensation bubbling up in his stomach spread throughout his body in an instant.

‘What on earth is this now…’

He barely held back a laugh of disbelief. The arbitrarily heated body temperature felt very awkward.

Si Heon picked up his wine glass again and drank all the remaining wine.

Thinking that the sudden racing of his heart and rapid contraction and expansion of blood vessels were solely due to the wine, he pushed the wine in his mouth down his throat.

“Are you nervous?”

When they were almost at So Yi’s house, Si Heon asked. He seemed to have noticed her chewing her lip the whole way. So Yi glanced at the designated driver sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Normal couples don’t use formal speech like that.”

So Yi said in a voice small enough for only Si Heon’s ears. Si Heon burst out laughing.

“Are you nervous?”

Si Heon asked again. So Yi’s heart raced even more at his voice that sounded calm yet affectionate.

“Why ask such a thing?”

It seemed like he knew everything, which made her feel annoyed for no reason. Si Heon seemed unbothered, but her heart had been pounding like crazy since earlier.

The driver slowly came to a stop in front of So Yi’s house. Si Heon got out of the car first and extended his hand to help So Yi out.

As she glanced back, she caught sight of a car that seemed to have been following Si Heon quickly turning off its lights in the distance. It appeared to have followed them all the way to her house.

“We’re here.”

Si Heon, still holding So Yi’s hand, turned her body to face him as they walked to the front of her house. He almost laughed at So Yi’s extremely nervous face.

“Relax. After doing more intense things, why are you so nervous about just a kiss?”

Si Heon’s voice, whispering softly, came closer and closer. He gently pushed down So Yi’s shoulders that kept rising with tension as he leaned his face closer to hers.

“If you’re too nervous, you can grab onto my clothes.”

His voice, sweet like chocolate, touched her lips. So Yi squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. Si Heon’s lips, gently overlapping hers, were warm. His breath tickled her nose like a feather.

While So Yi felt like her heart was about to burst, Si Heon tilted his head even more as if nothing was wrong. His warm hands dug into the nape of So Yi’s neck.

So Yi tightly grasped Si Heon’s collar. Her head was spinning dizzily. She squeezed her eyes even tighter, fighting the urge to reach out and cling to his neck.

The desire for the kiss to deepen kept rising. Her pulse raced vigorously, and her blood vessels felt like they would burst from the heat.

A moment later, Si Heon calmly pulled away from the firmly pressed kiss and grinned.

“Sleep well.”

Si Heon bid farewell in a relaxed voice. So Yi tried her best to smile casually before turning around. The thought that she would have trouble falling asleep tonight made her vision go dark.

Si Heon, who had finished showering, took out a bottle of water from the mini bar. He gulped down the water with his hair still damp. Even though he had lowered the water temperature a bit while showering, the heat showed no signs of cooling down.

“Am I crazy?”

The wine clearly wasn’t excessive. There’s no way that amount of wine could raise his body temperature, but the heat that had risen at some point made him feel unnecessarily irritated.

Was it since the night he spent with So Yi in Venice came to mind?

His pulse, which had started racing quickly, showed no signs of slowing down. Si Heon let out a laugh of disbelief.

When he kissed her in front of So Yi’s house, he barely managed to stop himself from deepening the kiss.

Even though their lips had only touched, he felt like every cell in his body was tensing up. He barely held back the urge to open his mouth and shower her with reckless kisses while lifting her up.

Si Heon ran his hand down his neck and exhaled deeply. To end things cleanly a month later, they shouldn’t progress to a deeper relationship.

There’s a chance that Jin So Yi might cling to him, refusing to break up, or even blurt out that they had a fake relationship in violation of the contract, so he needs to keep his distance as much as possible.

Si Heon finished the remaining water and shook his wet hair as he headed to the bedroom.

“Sir, the director said she wants to have lunch together this afternoon,” said Jang Woo as he opened the door after knocking.

“Mother?”

Si Heon looked at his watch. There was a meeting at the headquarters this afternoon. It seemed she wanted to eat together before the meeting.

“Yes. You have to go to the headquarters meeting anyway, right?”

Judging by the lunch invitation, it seemed the report from the person who had followed him yesterday had come in.

“Alright. By the way, Jang Woo.”

Jang Woo, who was about to leave the office, turned around.

“It seems Heo Jang Woo’s report was a bit sloppy.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Mother had someone else follow me. I think your report might have been a bit lukewarm.”

“It’s not that my report was lukewarm, she just didn’t believe me. She thought I might be saying what you told me to say since we’re close…”

Jang Woo, who had been chattering away carelessly, suddenly clamped his mouth shut.

“Why are you suddenly flustered? I knew everything anyway.”

Si Heon looked up from checking his schedule on the tablet Jang Woo had handed him and smirked.

“Ah, no. It’s just…”

Jang Woo, who had been called to the CEO’s office at headquarters after work yesterday, had definitely answered Yu Kyung with the facts as he knew them.

Since the article had already come out and Si Heon didn’t seem to be trying to hide his relationship with Jin So Yi, he said they seemed to be dating well.

He even said that although it was hard to believe, Si Heon even called her ‘my girlfriend’, so they really seemed to be dating. Yu Kyung had narrowed her eyes.

She didn’t believe him, asking if Si Heon had told him to say that. But he didn’t know she would go as far as to have someone follow him.

“It’s okay, you did well. Keep reporting everything as it is from now on, without hiding anything. It’s fine to say things like ‘Cha Si Heon is properly falling for Jin So Yi’ too.”

“Ah, brother. I’m not reporting, I’m just answering when she asks.”

“Alright, you can go now. Go look up the dictionary definition of ‘report’ while you’re at it.”

Jang Woo, who had been wearing an aggrieved expression, blinked for a moment before speaking again.

“But brother, why are you telling me to report to the director that you’re head over heels for Jin So Yi?”

“So we can get married.”

“What?”

“You know our mother. She was desperate to match me with Yeon Ri Na, so what do you think she’ll say if I suddenly say I want to marry Jin So Yi?”

“Ah…!”

As if feeling sorry for Si Heon trying to overcome Yu Kyung’s opposition to the marriage, Jang Woo nodded with a serious expression.

“Don’t worry. I’ll explain it well. I’ll make sure to tell her that you really have sincere feelings for Jin So Yi.”

Jang Woo left the office with a solemn expression, his fists clenched tightly. It wouldn’t matter when he later tells her they broke up, as he’ll say it was because Jin So Yi’s feelings changed anyway.

Si Heon pushed the tablet aside and turned his gaze to the monitor. A popup for a new approval item appeared over the in-house approval processing program.

It was an approval item from Jin So Yi, manager of the Compensation Support Team.

For a moment, his eyes were drawn to the photo next to Manager Jin So Yi’s name.

The straight hair hanging down on both sides of her ears, revealing her round forehead clearly, suits her well. The corners of her mouth are slightly raised in a smile.

He thought her large round eyes with deep double eyelids looked quite cute on her small face.

Then his gaze immediately moved to the prominent collarbone and shoulder line below her slender neck that looked like it might break. She has quite a pretty neckline, so why isn’t she wearing a necklace?

Si Heon, who had been quietly looking at So Yi’s photo, pressed the button on the phone on his desk.

− Yes, sir?

“Jang Woo. Go to the department store.”

− What? Now?

“Would I call now if I wanted you to go tomorrow?”

− Why the department store now…

“Go and buy a necklace. Any pretty one will do.”

− A necklace?

“Get it wrapped nicely too.”

− Who are you giving it to…

As Jang Woo asked again in a voice that seemed to wonder what on earth this nonsense was about, Si Heon replied with a grin.

“Who do you think?”