Having downed a bottle and a half of soju on an empty stomach, his insides couldn’t possibly be fine.

Groaning, Joo got up from the bed and tried to recall yesterday’s memories.

He remembered conversing with Jin Won at the street stall, but he couldn’t remember how he got home.

Given that he was lying on the bed unscathed, it didn’t seem like he had crawled in on all fours.

No matter how deeply he wracked his brain, there was no end to his memories.

“Ah. I can’t remember.”

Joo grabbed his head roughly with both hands.

Even when he had drunk wine heavily with Do Hyun, he hadn’t lost his memory, but this time, he couldn’t recall at all how he had gotten home.

Frustrated, Joo grabbed the cell phone placed on the nightstand.

He had to check if he had caused any trouble for Jin Won.

When he turned on the phone, there was a message from Jin Won that had come late last night.

[Just give me a call when you wake up in the morning.]

Did he vomit refreshingly on Representative Seo’s clothes?

Or did he throw a tantrum about not going home?

Barely suppressing his pounding heart, Joo pressed the call button.

The longer the ringing tone sounded in his ear, the drier his mouth became.

[Hello.]

At Jin Won’s voice, Joo bent his upper body forward.

“Yes, Representative. I saw your message asking me to contact you, so I called.”

[You drank quite a bit yesterday. Is your stomach alright?]

“I guess I drank a lot. My stomach does hurt.”

[I have a meeting near your company with the employees today. Do you want to come out at lunchtime and have a hangover cure?]

Since he had no separate lunch appointment, there was no reason to refuse Jin Won’s suggestion.

“With the employees too?”

[Yes. I’ll try my best not to talk about work.]

“That’s fine with me. Work talk is welcome too.”

Maintaining a more intimate relationship with external companies was also helpful for Joo.

He also wanted to take advantage of the comfortable dining setting rather than a rigid meeting room to converse with the JIN employees.

[Then see you at lunch.]

“Yes.”

After the conversation ended, Joo opened his mouth while scratching his cheek.

“Umm… Representative. I caused you trouble yesterday. I’m sorry.”

[I was there because I wanted to be. It wasn’t troublesome at all.]

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have drunk to the point of being so drunk… Making you go through the trouble of taking me home, I’m really sorry.”

[It was Representative Nam Do Hyun who took you home.]

He had thought it was thanks to being with Jin Won that he had gotten home safely.

But hearing that it was Do Hyun who had dropped him off at home.

The hair on his head stood up.

How did Do Hyun know he was at the street stall?

Did he drunkenly contact Do Hyun and cling to him in an unsightly manner?

“I didn’t call my husband, right?”

[No. It seems Representative Nam Do Hyun was in that area.]

“Ah. I see.”

He was relieved that he hadn’t asked Do Hyun to come by calling him.

Joo ended the call with Jin Won and got out of bed.

Grabbing the door handle and pulling it open, Joo’s eyes met Do Hyun’s, who had just come out of the room across the hall.

Joo wanted to close the door he had opened again.

“Is your stomach alright?”

Do Hyun, who had already finished getting ready for work, asked first.

Joo, who was standing awkwardly, crossed the doorframe.

Joo hurriedly ran his hand through his disheveled hair, not wanting to show his current appearance.

“Yes. More or less.”

Lying that his stomach hurt after drinking until he was incoherent seemed like it would make him look like a troublemaker, so he told a lie he hadn’t even told Jin Won.

“Drink this before you wash up.”

Do Hyun brought a brown bottle from the kitchen refrigerator and placed it on the living room table.

Joo glanced at Do Hyun and picked up the bottle placed on the table.

“You should drink a hangover cure to come to your senses a bit. You drank a lot yesterday.”

Am I still half asleep?

He stared at Do Hyun with a dumbfounded face.

‘Why is he acting so kindly?’

Speaking warmly.

Giving sympathetic glances.

These were things he could rarely see from Do Hyun.

Usually, he would have been thrilled, but instead, his heart sank heavily.

‘He’s taking care of me because he pities me.’

I must have looked pathetic, getting drunk right after being rejected.

So he’s looking at me like an abandoned puppy on the street.

I can only ever receive pity and sympathy from him instead of love.

“I’ll drink it well.”

Joo twisted off the cap of the cold hangover cure and brought it to his mouth.

Gulping it down without leaving a drop, Joo made a refreshed expression.

“Things weren’t going well at work yesterday, so I drank a bit, but I guess I couldn’t control myself. It won’t happen again.”

Joo was implying that he didn’t drink because of his senior.

From now on, he didn’t want to show even a hint of his true feelings.

He wanted to hide it, even if it meant using lies.

“And please forget about the confession I made before. I’ve gotten over my feelings for you now.”

Do Hyun’s ears still vividly remembered Joo’s sobbing voice.

“What do I do? I guess I still haven’t gotten over my feelings.”

He knew it was a lie that Joo drank because things weren’t going well at work.

Was him saying he had gotten over his feelings another one of his lies, or was it the only truth within the lies?

Did he shake me off with those few drinks? Can he really shake me off? Me.

“So please forget the confession I made and treat me comfortably like before. Like a junior, like an employee. I’ll do the same.”

Having finished what he wanted to say, Joo placed the empty bottle on the living room table and bowed slightly.

“I drank it well.”

Joo, who had neatly wrapped up the conversation, went into the bathroom.

Do Hyun couldn’t move from that spot for a while, looking at the closed bathroom door.

It seemed like he had something he wanted to say, but seeing Joo looking relieved, he suddenly forgot it.

Do Hyun pressed his hand between his furrowed brows and clenched his back teeth tightly.

***

That day, lunchtime.

The representative of the meeting company suggested having lunch together, but Do Hyun declined and was on his way back to the company.

Kang, the chief secretary sitting in the driver’s seat, observed Do Hyun’s face through the rearview mirror.

Having watched Do Hyun for a long time, Kang could tell at a glance.

He didn’t know what had happened, but unlike yesterday, the atmosphere was oddly subdued.

“Representative, what would you like to do for lunch?”

“I’ll take care of it myself. Chief Secretary Kang, please go in and have your meal.”

“Yes. I understand.”

As the car stopped at a red light, Do Hyun turned his head toward the window without much thought.

Joo was walking out of the company entrance across the street.

Without time to check who was around him, Do Hyun draped the black trench coat he had placed beside him over his arm.

“I’ll get off here.”

Chief Secretary Kang promptly placed his hand on the door trim.

As soon as the rear door lock was released, Do Hyun got out of the backseat.

The crosswalk signal had just turned red, and cars passed in front of Do Hyun.

Joo hadn’t noticed Do Hyun yet, absorbed in conversing with the JIN employees.

Do Hyun took out the cell phone in his jacket pocket and dialed Joo’s number.

At the sound of the ringing cell phone, Joo slowed his steps for a moment and answered the call.

[Hello.]

“I called to see if you wanted to have lunch together.”

[Ah.]

Joo let out a small sigh as if in a difficult situation.

Even from a distance, it was visible that Joo was rolling his eyes in bewilderment.

[I already have a prior lunch engagement, so I’m outside.]

Do Hyun’s gaze, which had been fixed on Joo, shifted to the back.

Seo Jin Won, who had been hidden behind the employees, finally came into view.

“I’m near your company. If it’s an engagement you can break, cancel it and eat with me.”

He wasn’t unaware that it could put Joo in a difficult position. However, he wanted Joo to break the prior engagement and spend time with him, to be away from Seo Jin Won’s side.

[No. For me, the prior engagement takes priority.]

An answer without a moment’s hesitation came back immediately.

When the glimmer of hope shattered in an instant, the shock was considerable. Do Hyun, dumbfounded, became a mute who had eaten honey.

Joo was standing right across from him with the employees.

Despite Do Hyun’s persistent gaze, Joo only looked into the distance. Instead, his eyes met with Jin Won, who was standing behind Joo.

[If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up.]

“…Okay.”

The voice barely came out.

Joo, who had waited as if on cue, ended the call and slipped the cell phone into his handbag.

The cars that had been traveling slowly stopped, and the signal in front changed to green.

It was when Do Hyun stepped one foot out of the sidewalk to approach Joo.

Jin Won, who had been aware of Do Hyun from the beginning, stuck close to Joo’s side and blocked the way to the crosswalk.

Completely obscuring the opposite side of the crosswalk, there was no way Joo could see Do Hyun.

Jin Won made a new suggestion to the employees who were about to cross the crosswalk.

“Shall we have Chinese instead of kimchi stew? A friend of mine runs a Chinese restaurant near here. Do you all know Sanhae Jinmi?”

“It’s popular, so it must be fully booked, right?”

“He’s a long-time friend, so he’ll give us a room.”

The employees bounced up and down in place, making a fuss.

“Awesome. We’d love that.”

“I wanted to go there, so this is perfect.”

“I heard the gongbao chicken at Sanhae Jinmi is famous. I’ll finally get to try it.”

While everyone was licking their lips, Jin Won spoke to Joo.

“Sorry for suddenly changing the menu.”

“No, I eat anything well.”

For a brief moment, as Jin Won stepped back, Joo’s face, which had been hidden, was revealed.

Although brief, Joo’s expression was deeply etched in Do Hyun’s mind.

Joo’s eyes curved into crescents as he showed a transparent smile.

A pure white smile that made even those looking at it smile along.

Do Hyun’s straight eyebrows slowly distorted.

He knew Joo had a pretty smile.

But when that smile was directed at Jin Won, his heart began to twist.

Jin Won turned to the right, where their destination was, leading the group, not toward the crosswalk.

Do Hyun, who had already set one foot on the crosswalk, couldn’t pull back the foot behind him.

The cars that had been stopped at the changed signal began to move.

At the sound of car horns, Do Hyun, who couldn’t follow or stop Joo, moved his foot back.