What Ye Rin picked up was a soft cushion.

Since it was a cushion filled with fluffy cotton, if she touched I Hyun with it, at least it wouldn’t hurt.

Ye Rin lightly struck I Hyun’s arm with it.

“Director.”

As Ye Rin tapped his arm a few times with the cushion, I Hyun turned over to lie on his other side, as if it was uncomfortable.

“Ah, really…”

Covering him up to his neck with the blanket had been of no use.

I Hyun, seeming uncomfortable, pulled his arm out of the blanket and pulled it down to his waist again.

His sculpted abs were revealed even more clearly.

‘Ugh.’

Ye Rin squinted her eyes as she looked at I Hyun.

The blanket was once again precariously placed around his waist.

The only thought that came to mind upon seeing this was that she needed to wake I Hyun up quickly.

Ye Rin began tapping I Hyun’s arm with the cushion in earnest.

It looked like she was having a pillow fight with a friend, but there was no helping it.

She couldn’t touch him directly with her hands.

“Director.”

“Hmm.”

“You need to wake up.”

Even after touching him for a while, he only slightly furrowed his brow with little reaction.

‘Should I just go up and really hit him with my hand?’

Thinking that, Ye Rin quickly changed her method.

She pulled out a tissue from the box next to the bed.

She rolled it up lengthwise and brought it to I Hyun’s face.

“You must be ticklish, right?”

Ye Rin rubbed the well-rolled tissue near I Hyun’s nose.

“Director, please wake up. If you wake up, I’ll really do anything you ask.”

That’s how desperate she was.

By now, 5 minutes had passed trying to wake the deeply sleeping I Hyun.

In other words, the two of them only had 25 minutes left.

Just as she was thinking that if this didn’t wake him up, she’d have to pull him out of bed, I Hyun slowly lifted his eyelids, seemingly ticklish.

Too excited, Ye Rin unknowingly let out a loud voice.

“Are you awake?”

“Secretary Han?”

“Yes, Director. It’s me. We don’t have much time now…”

“You said you’d do anything.”

“Pardon?”

I Hyun grabbed Ye Rin’s wrist, which had been tickling his nose with the tissue, with a sharp sound.

Feeling the unexpected strong force, Ye Rin momentarily lost her balance.

Ye Rin’s body swayed, pulled by I Hyun’s strength.

Her slippers slid smoothly as if on an ice rink, showing how thoroughly the marble floor had been polished.

Where her body ended up was.

On the bed, or more precisely, on I Hyun’s chest.

“Huh?”

Ye Rin was so surprised she nearly stopped breathing.

On the other hand, I Hyun just smiled slightly and stared up at her, as if greatly pleased.

I Hyun reached out his hand and caressed Ye Rin’s cheek with a sleepy voice.

No, wait a moment.

Could it be he was awake?

Since when?

Without even realizing that I Hyun’s hand had touched her cheek, Ye Rin asked.

“Director, did you perhaps wake up and pretend to be asleep on purpose?”

“I was just about to wake up when I miraculously heard Secretary Han say those words.”

Ye Rin narrowed her eyes.

Their gazes intertwined at a very close distance.

I Hyun, seeming to wake up more, slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“Secretary Han clearly said she would do anything.”

Since she had said it herself, she couldn’t take it back.

If she said she wouldn’t, I Hyun might insist on not going to the breakfast meeting and sleeping more.

“Only within what I can do…”

“Of course. You don’t think I’d ask Secretary Han to buy me an island in Hawaii, do you?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a joke. I’m just using it as an example. I’m not actually going to do that.”

Why did she feel relieved at this moment?

“I’ll think about what to ask for later.”

I Hyun stared intently at Ye Rin, who was on top of him.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Ye Rin belatedly realized how close she was to I Hyun and quickly raised her body.

Then, straightening her crumpled blouse, she erased the expression from her face again.

“Director, now that you’re awake, you need to get ready quickly.”

“Huh.”

I Hyun chuckled as he looked at the tissue that had tickled his face and the cushion that had hit his arm several times.

“Secretary Han, you’re quite strong.”

“If it hurt, I apologize.”

“No. Thanks to you, I’m wide awake now.”

I Hyun didn’t throw away the tissue but placed it on the drawer next to the bed.

“If you give it to me, I’ll clean it up.”

“No. I’ll use it next time Secretary Han comes.”

“Pardon?”

“When you come to wake me up.”

I Hyun tilted his head and asked.

“You’re not going to come wake me? You don’t care if I’m late?”

“No…”

Why did she foolishly think she would only have to wake him up today?

I Hyun stared intently at Ye Rin, who was in his bedroom, with his lips tightly closed.

“By the way, when did Secretary Han arrive?”

“Not long ago.”

Checking her wristwatch, Ye Rin replied in a businesslike tone.

“Director, you need to leave in 20 minutes. It might not be enough time to shower and get ready, but…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll shower quickly and come out.”

As I Hyun was about to get out of bed, Ye Rin quickly turned her body away.

She wasn’t sure if he was dressed or not.

“Then I’ll go downstairs. Please get ready on time.”

“If I’m late.”

“Yes?”

“It would be very troublesome for Secretary Han, so I shouldn’t do that.”

He was truly a man who could lift her up and put her down with just one word.

Soon, the sound of I Hyun putting on his slippers was heard.

“Then I’ll prepare clothes suitable for today’s breakfast meeting in the dressing room.”

And Ye Rin quickly left the bedroom as if she had no lingering attachment.

Closing the door, her legs gave out, and she leaned against the wall in the hallway, barely able to exhale.

“Haa.”

It had truly been an incredibly difficult morning.

Her heart was beating wildly for some unknown reason.

I Hyun turned on the hot water and stayed under it for a long time.

His feelings were quite strange.

Hearing Ye Rin’s voice in his half-asleep state, he thought it was a dream at first.

After spending the night with her, Ye Rin had visited him in his dreams every single night, tormenting him.

There had been more than once or twice when he felt dejected after opening his eyes and realizing it was just a dream.

Today too, when he saw Ye Rin’s face, he thought it was really a dream at first.

So he almost naturally tried to kiss her, as he always did.

“If I had done that, I would have been slapped.”

Then suddenly, he belatedly remembered that starting today, Ye Rin, not Secretary Choi, was supposed to wake him up.

That’s when he started to become more alert.

If he had kept thinking it was a dream…

“That would have been a close call.”

Yes, it would have been.

In his dreams, he wasn’t a gentle man who cared for Ye Rin.

A wild beast.

That was the perfect word to describe I Hyun in his dreams.

Even though he was being hit by the water stream, he didn’t know why Ye Rin’s scent kept emanating from him.

I Hyun was also very surprised when he faced Ye Rin.

The memories of that day came back so naturally that he tensed up, but he pretended to be nonchalant.

In reality, he was more nervous than anyone.

Seeing Ye Rin in his arms with her eyes wide open made him feel as if he had returned to that day.

He kept grinning involuntarily.

“She’ll think I’m crazy.”

Well.

He was crazy.

Crazy about Han Ye Rin.

After quickly finishing his shower, I Hyun came out covering his lower body with a large towel.

When he entered the dressing room, the suit and tie that Ye Rin had already taken out were placed on one side.

“She really knows my taste well.”

As he was putting on the suit jacket, Ye Rin’s urgent voice was heard from outside.

“Director, you really need to leave now.”

I Hyun put on the clothes Ye Rin had taken out, and holding the tie in one hand, he abruptly opened the dressing room door.

She must have been very anxious, as a bright smile spread across Ye Rin’s waiting face.

“Are you ready?”

Then, seeing his empty neck, Ye Rin asked.

“Director, I also prepared a tie. Did you not see it?”

“Here.”

I Hyun naturally held out the tie to Ye Rin.

“I’d like Secretary Han to do it.”

“You’re not going to do it yourself, Director?”

“I need to button up.”

Only then did the half-exposed dress shirt come into full view for Ye Rin.

“What are you doing? You said we don’t have time.”

“Ah, yes.”

Ye Rin put her bag down on the floor and took the tie from I Hyun’s hand.

“And to be honest, I’m not good at tying ties.”

“…”

It was a complete lie.

Then who had been tying the neatly knotted ties he had been wearing until now…

As if reading Ye Rin’s thoughts, I Hyun spoke.

“Until now, I’ve been asking Secretary Choi, even though it was awkward.”

“Is that so?”

That meant that Ye Rin, as Secretary Choi’s successor, would now be in charge of tying I Hyun’s ties.

“I’m just not very good with my hands.”

I Hyun slowly began buttoning up his shirt, as if it was nothing special.

He also smiled slightly, as if to say it was to save time since he only had two hands.

‘This is just work.’

Telling herself that tying a superior’s tie was one of the basic duties of a secretary, Ye Rin stood on her tiptoes.

I Hyun bent his knees to match her height so that Ye Rin could tie the tie comfortably.

Their breaths could be felt very close to each other, but neither of them spoke first.

She was so nervous that it felt like her whole body might explode at any moment.

Trying to ignore I Hyun’s gaze that was hot on her face, Ye Rin put the tie around his neck.

Her fingertips trembled with nervousness, but she moved deliberately, pretending to be calm.

A moment later, after tying the tie neatly, Ye Rin stepped back.

“It’s done, Director.”

“Then let’s depart.”

The tense atmosphere surrounding the two showed no signs of dissipating.