“I want to become something to you.”

He confuses people again.

I let go of my feelings along with the alcohol I drank after being rejected.

So I won’t be shaken anymore by a single word or look from my senior.

Even at the moment I made that resolution, I was being shaken.

Shin Joo got up from the bed. This time, she quickly stepped back so Nam Do Hyun couldn’t grab her.

Shin Joo, who had moved a step away, replied in an iron-clad tone.

“No.”

“……”

“Don’t try to become anything to me anymore. Don’t ask anything of me.”

Nam Do Hyun’s eyes wavered for a moment like a candle placed in front of the surging sea.

“You were the one who said you wouldn’t stay by my side.”

You were also the one who said you wouldn’t accept my heart.

You were the one who told me to give up because you’re leaving soon.

It was all you, senior. So wanting something from me itself was a selfish desire.

“You’re very drunk, senior. Go to sleep.”

Shin Joo, who came out after closing the bedroom door, went into her room.

Lying on the bed after turning off the lights, Shin Joo tossed and turned, staring intently at the white wall.

Was it a drunken truth spoken in liquor?

Or was it nonsense spoken in liquor?

Either way, it was enough to turn her quiet heart upside down again.

The night had already come long ago and it was late.

She had to go to bed because she had to go to work tomorrow, but sleep had run away.

She clenched the fingers she had placed on Nam Do Hyun’s chest.

The trembling heartbeat was transmitted to her palm as if she held his heart in her hand.

“Stay with me for a bit.”

It’s strange.

Why are you asking me to stay with you?

“I want to become something to you.”

Why…

Why are you talking as if you like me?

I thought you cared about me because I looked pitiful and hopeless, but that wasn’t actually it?

“Go to sleep. No more useless thoughts, just sleep.”

It didn’t matter how Nam Do Hyun changed his mind.

Shin Joo forcibly closed her eyes tight and called for sleep that wouldn’t come.

***

Shin Joo, who had a simple breakfast of cereal, was doing the dishes at the sink.

The doorknob of Nam Do Hyun’s bedroom turned, and Nam Do Hyun came out looking fine, unlike yesterday.

Shin Joo turned off the faucet and shook the water off her hands.

“You’re awake?”

“Yeah.”

Does he not remember what happened yesterday?

Nam Do Hyun looked no different than usual.

Shin Joo took out the hangover drink she had bought early in the morning from the convenience store and placed it on the island table.

“Drink this. You drank a lot yesterday.”

Nam Do Hyun walked over to Shin Joo’s side and drank the hangover drink without a word.

After finishing the bottle, Nam Do Hyun opened his mouth.

“You worked hard moving me to my room yesterday.”

“It was Team Leader Kang who worked hard.”

The amount of sweat he shed carrying that large body to the house could fill a bowl.

Shin Joo, lost in thought, opened her eyes wide.

“Do you remember everything from yesterday?”

“What’s there to not remember?”

“From where to where do you remember?”

“From you taking off my clothes to me hugging you.”

He remembers everything!

Even though he was too drunk to even stand properly, his mind was clear.

“We both come home drunk every other day. Let’s agree to drink in moderation from now on. So that neither of us makes mistakes.”

“Mistakes? What mistakes?”

Nam Do Hyun looked like he had no idea what she meant.

If he remembers everything, does he not know what he did wrong?

“You hugged me yesterday while drunk.”

“Why do you think that? That it was because I was drunk.”

“……”

“It wasn’t a mistake. I wanted to do that.”

Nam Do Hyun’s gaze that continued steadily contained not a shred of lies.

It felt like the body Nam Do Hyun had hugged would melt away like cotton candy touched by water.

Shin Joo, enveloped in confusion, lowered her eyes, not knowing what to do.

“Don’t do that again.”

The moment Shin Joo hurriedly tried to avoid the situation,

Nam Do Hyun spoke.

“Shin Joo, I have something to say to you.”

Her heart pounded as if she had dynamite in her chest.

“I didn’t want to say it like this, but…”

“No. I don’t want to hear it.”

Shin Joo cut Nam Do Hyun off before he could finish his sentence.

She didn’t want to know what he was going to say.

She didn’t want to hear his words and have her heart flutter, get excited, attach meaning to them, and fall into delusions.

“I don’t know what it is, but I don’t want to hear it right now.”

“……”

“I’m going to work.”

Shin Joo quickly moved her legs and left the house, passing by Nam Do Hyun.

Shin Joo stood in front of the front door after slamming it shut.

“Haa.”

Nam Do Hyun acted as if he was going to confess or something.

Now she understood his changed attitude.

It wasn’t something like sympathy.

He really liked me… So that’s why he cared.

“It can’t be.”

She didn’t want to be shaken anymore, she didn’t want to be confused anymore.

Love felt like remnants, with that emotion remaining like specks of dust.

She didn’t want to get excited about feelings of love again with a single breath from Nam Do Hyun.

But Nam Do Hyun always acted contrary to her wishes.

***

Nam Do Hyun walked to the office where the PR team was located during lunchtime.

Looking inside the office through the glass door, Nam Do Hyun searched for Shin Joo.

No matter where he looked, Shin Joo was nowhere to be seen, probably having already gone down to the cafeteria.

Having no choice but to turn around, Yang Mi, who had been watching Nam Do Hyun from inside the office, came out.

“Hello, CEO.”

“I don’t see Shin Joo.”

As Nam Do Hyun asked as if he had been waiting, Yang Mi’s eyes widened.

“Oh, you don’t know. Shin Joo went on a business trip to Yeosu today.”

“Did the entire TF team go on the trip?”

“No, just Shin Joo. I heard the CEO of JIN is also going down to Yeosu, so they’re going together.”

Why is Seo Jin Won suddenly mentioned?

It felt like someone had forcefully hit the back of his head with a hammer, almost making him faint.

“You mean… just the two of them?”

“Yes! Just the two of them with the CEO.”

At Yang Mi’s lively answer, Nam Do Hyun’s insides felt hot as if he had swallowed fire.

Not knowing Nam Do Hyun’s feelings, Yang Mi fanned the flames diligently.

“CEO Seo Jin Won is so handsome. It’s worrying that they’re going on a business trip to Yeosu alone. But what could happen when they go down there?”

“When a man and a woman are alone together, you think nothing will happen?”

Yang Mi, who had been blabbering, trembled down to her bones at the words Nam Do Hyun muttered through clenched teeth.

Belatedly reading Nam Do Hyun’s expression, Yang Mi apologized.

“I, I spoke carelessly.”

Leaving behind the shrunken Yang Mi, Nam Do Hyun turned and got on the elevator.

Only after the elevator carrying Nam Do Hyun went down did Yang Mi spit out her dissatisfaction.

“He looks like he’ll burn down a house with his eyes.”

Will he really only burn down one house?

It would be fortunate if Seo Jin Won doesn’t get burned.

***

When Shin Joo had just left Yeosu City Hall, she received a call from Nam Do Hyun.

Wondering about the sudden call, Shin Joo brought the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

[Where are you right now?]

Suddenly asking where I am.

Did something happen at the company?

“I’m in Yeosu right now.”

[Where in Yeosu?]

Shin Joo turned her toes and looked up at the city hall building behind her.

“Yeosu City Hall. Did something happen at the company?”

[I have something to see you about.]

“Is it urgent? If not, can we talk about it tomorrow?”

[It’s urgent. Wait there.]

If he leaves Seoul now, it will be past 11 o’clock at night by the time he arrives.

How long does he expect me to wait here?

“How can I wait here? Hello? CEO? …Senior!”

Shin Joo, quite flustered, called out to Nam Do Hyun, but the call had already ended.

She was curious about what was so important that they had to talk face-to-face right now.

“What the hell, all of a sudden.”

It was when Shin Joo raised her gaze that had been looking at her phone with a dejected face.

A black car quickly entered the city hall and stopped in front of Shin Joo as if sliding.

Shin Joo knew the owner of that car.

The driver’s door opened and out came Nam Do Hyun, who should have been in Seoul.

“H… how are you here?”

Was there some means of transportation invented that could travel faster than light between Seoul and Yeosu without me knowing?

If not, there was no explanation for Nam Do Hyun appearing in front of her as soon as he hung up the phone.

“Why are you here?”

“I came here for resort promotion.”

Last time when they had lunch at Jin Won’s acquaintance’s restaurant, Shin Joo had implicitly mentioned that she had to go on a business trip to Yeosu.

Remembering those words, Jin Won had called this morning and asked how about going together since he also had business in Yeosu.

Since Jin Won said he had something to do in Yeosu, Shin Joo agreed to get a ride in Jin Won’s car without burden.

As soon as they arrived in Yeosu, they stopped by media outlets to distribute materials for a major promotional campaign, and until just now, they had been at city hall discussing the direction of an event planned in collaboration with Sunshine Resort.

When asked why she was here during working hours, as if she had come to Yeosu to hang out, she couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Then why are you here for what business, CEO?”

“I came to see you. All the way here.”

Upon hearing the news that Shin Joo had gone down to Yeosu with Jin Won, Nam Do Hyun canceled all his schedules and came down to Yeosu.

He thought she would be with Jin Won, so seeing Shin Joo alone put him at ease.

“Why did you come to see me?”

Rrrrr―

Before hearing Nam Do Hyun’s answer, Shin Joo’s cell phone rang.

It was a call from Jin Won, whose work had just finished in time.

“One moment, please.”

Shin Joo asked Nam Do Hyun to wait and answered Jin Won’s call.

“Yes, CEO.”

[I just finished my work, does Shin Joo still have work left?]

Although she lowered the phone volume, Nam Do Hyun standing in front of her heard the entire conversation.

“I also just finished.”

[That’s good. Then I’ll come pick you up. Where should I go?]

Under normal circumstances, she would have gotten a ride in Jin Won’s car like when she came to Yeosu.

But with Nam Do Hyun’s unexpected appearance, she didn’t know what to do.

As the silence grew longer, Jin Won’s voice came from the other end of the phone.

[Hello?]

Shin Joo glanced at Nam Do Hyun standing in front of her with her eyes and opened her mouth.

“I’m here at Yeosu City…”

Before finishing her sentence, Shin Joo looked at her empty hand.

The cell phone that should have been in her hand was somehow in Nam Do Hyun’s hand.