Because it was too difficult to hide any longer.

“I think I don’t have to do unrequited love anymore.”

So I said it all.

“I’ll accept your feelings, senior.”

My uncontrollable heart.

“Yes. I know very well.”

Do Hyun hoped she would hurt just as much as he had hurt.

But behind that feeling, he was hoping to be happy with her.

Feelings of affection don’t disappear in an instant.

He had only hidden his heart for a moment to cover Do Hyun’s eyes.

That heart had already been peeled away by one breath from Do Hyun, and easily melted by one glance, quickly revealing itself.

“You succeeded, senior.”

“I’ve completely fallen for you, senior.”

The ‘time’ Do Hyun spoke of.

The time when Do Hyun said to come to him was now.

I thought I would be happy, but no sound came out from outside the phone.

Thinking the call might have been disconnected, I was about to take the phone away from my ear.

The elevator door stopped at the 19th floor opened, and the long shadow of the person standing in front of it covered my face.

Surprisingly, Do Hyun was standing in front of the elevator. With a phone in his hand, just like Joo.

“Seo…”

It was the moment when I was about to call Do Hyun, hesitating awkwardly and happily.

Do Hyun stepped inside and cupped Joo’s cheeks with both hands.

As I looked up at Do Hyun, who had reached right in front of me in an instant, his lips overlapped with my slightly parted ones.

My wide-open vision was filled with Do Hyun, who had already closed his eyelids.

The elevator door behind Do Hyun’s back slowly closed, leaving only the two people kissing in the enclosed space.

As the head tilted, the lips interlocked more deeply.

When Do Hyun’s hand supported Joo’s waist, body heat flowed down her spine.

Do Hyun’s knee bumped against Joo’s thigh, and her legs stumbled under the full weight of his body.

Joo quickly exhaled at the sudden pressure, and Do Hyun persistently delved into the gap between her parting lips.

As Do Hyun pressed his body so close that not even a palm could fit between them, Joo’s back, which had been stepping backward, hit the elevator wall.

“Uh.”

Before her head could touch the wall, Do Hyun cradled the back of Joo’s head.

Do Hyun swallowed Joo’s plump, swollen lips without giving up even a single step. The breath pouring over her lips was hot.

Do Hyun’s hand on Joo’s back gripped her trench coat.

Do Hyun’s arm, wrapped around her slender waist, was so full of heat that it seemed to make Joo’s body quickly warm up too.

The narrow elevator was filled with the sound of lips meeting wetly and heated breaths.

Although it was well past office hours, it wouldn’t have been strange for someone to get on at any moment.

Do Hyun would know better than anyone that this shouldn’t be happening.

Joo raised both hands and placed them on Do Hyun’s chest.

‘I should push him away…’

But no strength entered her hands.

Her mind, which had been racing just moments ago, came to a complete stop. Her consciousness became hazy, and she couldn’t think of anything anymore.

The fingers she had placed on Do Hyun’s chest curled inward.

Her half-closed lips slowly parted.

Her fluttering eyelids closed, and her arms wrapped around Do Hyun’s neck.

Her blocked breath suddenly cleared, and her chest swelled greatly.

Her lips were filled with a completely soft sensation.

Do Hyun, who had been sucking on her lower lip, seemed to move away for a moment, but then, as if regretful, he came back, leaving his trace once more.

Ding.

The elevator, which had been gently descending, came to a stop.

At the sound of the notification hitting her ears, Joo quickly unwrapped her arms from around Do Hyun’s neck.

Just as she turned her body forward, the elevator doors opened.

“Hello.”

The employees who were about to step inside hesitated and bowed.

The employees entered through the sultry air.

Joo, who had been awkwardly twisting her body, tried to move away from Do Hyun towards the corner.

But Do Hyun, seemingly unconcerned about the employees’ eyes, grabbed Joo’s hand.

‘The employees are watching…!’

With no time to pull her hand away, Joo had no choice but to stick close to Do Hyun’s side due to the gentle pulling force.

The employees tactfully pretended not to see and looked at the elevator doors.

Joo, with reddened cheeks, looked down at the hand Do Hyun was holding.

Do Hyun’s hand, which had been holding just the tips of her fingers, seemed to let go for a moment before slipping between Joo’s fingers.

As Do Hyun interlocked their fingers, Joo lifted her head.

When their eyes met, Do Hyun raised the corner of his lips.

Her head felt dizzy because of the pounding sound of her heart.

The place on her lips where Do Hyun had passed tickled and then tingled.

‘What should I do? What if my heart stops at this rate?’

It really wouldn’t have been strange if her heart stopped for a moment, so Joo struggled to straighten her wavering mind.

The elevator stopped at the first floor, and as the employees exited, the elevator carrying Do Hyun and Joo descended to the underground parking lot.

As Do Hyun stepped out of the elevator first, Joo, whose hand was held, had no choice but to follow.

Do Hyun went to the car parked underground and opened the passenger door.

With his arm resting on top of the door, Do Hyun said to Joo,

“Get in. I’ll take you home.”

“Didn’t you have unfinished work?”

“I have time to take you home.”

After hesitating for a moment, Joo pushed her body into the open passenger seat.

Do Hyun, after closing the passenger door, came around the hood to the driver’s seat.

As Do Hyun started the car, Joo fidgeted in her seat, highly conscious of him.

Glancing sideways at Do Hyun, Joo pulled her head back at the suddenly closing distance.

Thud.

She hit the back of her head on the window, but Do Hyun didn’t stop approaching.

“Mmph.”

Thinking their lips would collide again at this rate, Joo quickly covered her mouth with her palm.

Do Hyun chuckled at Joo, who was wide-eyed and holding her breath. His laughter scattered over the back of her hand covering her lips.

Do Hyun reached back with his left hand, pulled the seatbelt, and connected it to the part attached to the side of the seat.

At the sound of the buckle locking, Joo dropped the hand that had been thoroughly covering her lips.

“Were you expecting something?”

“Not at all. I wasn’t expecting anything at all.”

Joo blurted out a strong denial without even realizing it.

Do Hyun straightened his body and grabbed the steering wheel.

The parked car passed through the steep exit and merged onto the dark road.

Perhaps because it was long past rush hour, the road was only desolate.

Not long after starting, the car stopped at the stop line, caught by a red light.

“How was Busan? Did you eat a lot of delicious food?”

“The lunch boxes Manager Kang brought were all delicious.”

“You only ate lunch boxes brought by Manager Kang for four days? What about grilled hagfish or sashimi?”

“I didn’t have time to go out to eat because of work.”

Had he been so cooped up in the office that he couldn’t even grab a meal outside?

She felt sorry for having inwardly resented Do Hyun for not contacting her for four days.

“Is that why you didn’t have time to contact me?”

“If I heard your voice, I thought I’d want to come to Seoul right away.”

“…”

“So I endured it, but now I can’t do that anymore.”

Even in the most tightly packed schedule, time to send regards could be made if one wanted to.

Suddenly, thoughts of you would surge, and each time, I wanted to at least hear your voice and picked up my phone.

But the reason I didn’t actually press the call button was because I felt like I would throw everything away with just one phone call.

And the moment I heard Joo’s voice through the phone, the burning thirst instantly transformed into a longing for Joo.

It was surprising that I managed to endure for four days.

“It seems like I won’t be able to leave you here.”

Though the four days were undoubtedly busy without rest, they felt dull and boring.

There’s another business trip scheduled for next month, and just thinking about leaving Joo behind again was already making my heart complicated.

If it weren’t for the CEO, I would have been tempted to quit work for a while.

“But you still have to work.”

“That’s why I’m having a headache. Even now, I’m sending you home alone.”

Joo felt the same disappointment. She wanted to at least have dinner together, but couldn’t be childish since he seemed busy with work.

Joo, who had turned her gaze to the window, tilted her head at the familiar scenery passing by.

The car turned left, leaving the apartment right on the right side.

“Senior, if we go this way, we’ll have to take a detour.”

“Let’s go around a few more times.”

Do Hyun’s hand came over the console box and grasped Joo’s hand resting on her thigh.

At the warmth of Do Hyun’s hand overlapping on the back of her hand, Joo turned her head towards him.

A smile had been hanging on Do Hyun’s lips as he drove.

Joo tightly closed her lips, feeling as if some happy laughter was about to burst out.

Like that, only after circling three more times in front of their destination did the car finally stop in front of the apartment.

As Joo unfastened the seatbelt crossing her chest, Do Hyun spoke.

“It doesn’t look like work will end quickly, so I can’t tell you to wait.”

I could wait…

Do Hyun spoke to Joo, who was still sitting in the passenger seat.

“You must be tired, go on in.”

“Someone is holding my hand tightly and won’t let go, so I can’t go in.”

The culprit who had even interlocked fingers to prevent escape belatedly let go of her hand.

Joo clenched her empty hand and opened the passenger door to get out of the car.

As soon as her feet touched the sidewalk, the passenger window behind her lowered.

“It’s late, so wash up and go straight to bed.”

“Don’t work too late, come home early.”

“Okay. Go in first.”

Joo didn’t want to go in either.

Unable to hide her regretful face, Joo lingered before entering the apartment.

Joo got on the elevator and went up to the penthouse.

She should have washed up right away, but entering the house made her head fuzzy. She couldn’t remember any of the conversations she had with Do Hyun in the car.

Sitting on the sofa, she raised her hand while looking at the empty space with dazed eyes.

She touched her reddened, heated lips with her fingertips and then placed her hand on her cheek.

Even though she hadn’t drunk any alcohol, the heat on her face wouldn’t subside.

Her ribs tickled as if someone was teasing her.

“I wish tomorrow would come quickly.”

She waited for the morning sun to rise, pushing away that night.

Is dating always this exhilarating?

How long has it been since I looked forward to tomorrow?

Joo pulled a cushion close and hugged it tightly, as if it were Do Hyun.

Joo, who had been tapping her feet so much that her slippers almost came off, flopped sideways.

“I’m so happy.”

I like it.

I like you so much, senior.

Enough to believe this is love.