“Is this how it ends?”

Thinking there might be something written on the back, I flipped it over, but it was clean.

The message left by the disappeared woman was truly concise and simple.

“It was fun.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, finding it absurd.

Since it was I Hyun’s first one-night stand too, he couldn’t know if this was how things usually went, but what was certain was that he felt quite awful about it.

Well.

It would be strange to wake up the sleeping person to say goodbye and tell them to sleep more before leaving.

Being left alone in this hotel suite also felt crappy.

It really feels like I was used and discarded.

I Hyun sat on the bed, alternating his gaze between the ring and note the woman had left behind.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been a welcome situation if the other person had clung on wanting to continue the relationship either.

But leaving so cleanly without any lingering feelings didn’t feel good either.

“After all the service I provided.”

The woman also seemed very clumsy, as if it was her first one-night stand too.

Ah, she had said it was her first time with this kind of relationship, not just a one-night stand.

Of course, that was the same for I Hyun, so it was something they didn’t need to apologize to each other for.

Even so, still.

This went against common decency.

“Shouldn’t she at least say thank you?”

Is that weird too?

Tilting his head, I Hyun picked up his phone.

Forgetting it was 5 AM, he called someone.

“Hey, it’s me.”

−Do you know what time it is right now?

“Five-thirty in the morning.”

−Sigh. Director, I’m sure you know that’s not why I’m asking.

Secretary Choi, who had been asleep, answered I Hyun’s call clearly showing his displeasure.

He wasn’t like this before.

Hyun Jun, who had been I Hyun’s longtime friend and good partner, recently suddenly submitted his resignation saying work was too much and difficult.

I Hyun, facing the crisis of losing both a friend and secretary, tried hard to hold onto him, but Hyun Jun’s resolve was very firm.

He said not to contact him at all unless a replacement was found.

I Hyun was not likely to remember such a warning.

−I’m sure you didn’t find my replacement at this hour.

“That’s not it, but there’s someone I’d like Secretary Choi to find.”

−I’m not a private investigator, you know.

“A woman disappeared.”

−What?

Hearing words unlikely to come from I Hyun’s mouth, Hyun Jun seemed to have fully woken up.

−What do you mean, a woman? What are you talking about?

“I met a woman yesterday.”

−And?

“When I woke up, she was gone.”

−……

There was a moment of silence.

Knowing it couldn’t be true, Hyun Jun asked very carefully.

−Did you perhaps have a one-night stand?

“Yeah.”

−……

At I Hyun’s confident reply, Hyun Jun seemed to be at a loss for words again.

−So, you’re saying when you opened your eyes, the woman you spent the night with was gone, right?

“Exactly. This is why I treasure you, Secretary Choi.”

−Director, listen to me carefully.

“Okay.”

I Hyun waited expectantly for a moment.

He got excited briefly, thinking the clever Secretary Choi had already come up with a perfect way to find the missing woman.

−I think it would be best not to look for that woman.

“Why?”

−Sigh. Because that’s the unspoken rule of one-night stands.

I Hyun, displeased, slowly rubbed his eyebrow with his index finger.

After pondering for a while, I Hyun opened his mouth.

“I never made such an agreement with that woman.”

−No, it’s not about agreements. It seems the woman wasn’t very satisfied with you, Director.

“What?”

I Hyun’s face twisted angrily.

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

Then his brow quickly smoothed out again.

−How can you be so sure?

“I saw it directly.”

Her face drowned in pleasure.

Unable to share such detailed stories, I Hyun cleared his throat.

“She was a woman who attended the Brand Chetto charity bazaar after-party.”

I Hyun slowly recited information about the lost woman as if telling Secretary Choi to write it down.

“She was about chest-high to me, with short blonde hair, and pretty.”

It’s a bit much to say he fell in love at first sight, but it seemed like that might have been the case.

Hiding those words, I Hyun urged him to find the woman.

−I’ll try, but there’s something more urgent than that.

“What is it?”

−My replacement…

“Please handle it quickly, Secretary Choi.”

I Hyun hung up without properly listening to Hyun Jun’s words.

Slowly closing his eyes, the moment he first saw that woman on the rooftop last night came to mind.

When she bumped into him and widened her eyes in surprise, his first thought upon seeing that face was ‘beautiful’.

Of course, he had seen his fill of objectively beautiful people until now.

She was a woman who exuded a unique atmosphere incomparable to such standardized beauty.

Even then, he had just brushed it off.

While talking with his group at a table a little distance away, there was a blatant gaze that kept landing on his face.

Thinking it must be another woman desperate to seduce him somehow, I Hyun turned his head with an indifferent expression.

The one looking at him was that woman he had bumped into earlier.

What was unexpected was that she wasn’t openly trying to seduce him.

When their eyes met, she deliberately turned her head and pretended she hadn’t been looking.

What is this?

It was strange and curious.

Is this some new seduction technique?

He probably thought that too.

She was an interesting woman.

So I Hyun deliberately stared at her a few times.

The woman pretended not to look while glancing at I Hyun from the corner of her eye, and their gazes met in mid-air a few more times.

Each time, she deliberately avoided his gaze and acted shy.

Why is she being so shy just from exchanging a few glances?

Once curiosity about her began to arise, it felt like he had to find out.

It was absolutely the first time he had become interested in another person.

So he deliberately approached her and pulled the trick of asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend.

The corners of her mouth stiffening in surprise at his presence were very charming.

It was even more refreshing how she seemed to hide her true feelings, but then suddenly blurted them out like a bursting bubble at unexpected moments.

To his blatant question of whether she liked him, she answered without avoiding it despite being shy.

Seeing her ultimately do everything, I Hyun became curious about what more there was to her.

What her real face looked like under the thick makeup.

What expression she would make when intensely stimulated.

So he proposed a one-night stand for the first time in his life.

To conclude, that woman was unlike anyone I Hyun had ever met before.

Just the fact that she disappeared without a trace after such a meaningful night together.

Usually, most women were desperate to cling to him and get whatever scraps they could.

But that woman truly seemed to have only been interested in his body, not bringing up any other topics.

She didn’t even tell him her name, which was common, making him even more curious.

The usual women who approached I Hyun couldn’t wait to brag about who they were, after all.

There was another unusual situation the woman had left behind.

Though it was I Hyun’s daily routine to fall asleep and wake up alone, today for the first time he felt dejected and lonely.

It seemed ridiculous to feel this way just because a woman he had only spent a few hours with was gone.

“To stimulate my interest to the very end like this.”

I Hyun carefully gathered the note and gold ring, the only clues to find the woman.

“I’ll gladly search for you.”

That woman probably doesn’t know.

That I Hyun has never let go of or lost something that has come into his possession.

Also, that he is a man who successfully completes anything he sets his mind to, no matter what.

Rumble boom−

Thunder struck once again.

As if cheering on I Hyun’s firm resolve.

A week had passed since that hot night with that woman.

Secretary Choi seemed to have no intention of looking for that woman, as if openly protesting against I Hyun.

There were too many things to handle for him to take action himself.

Knock knock−

There was a knocking sound, then the half-dead Secretary Choi appeared.

“Secretary Choi, have you found that woman?”

“Director, now is not the time to look for that woman.”

“Finding that woman is the most important thing to me right now…”

Secretary Choi cut off I Hyun’s words.

“The new secretary who will be coming as my replacement would be perfect to continue the search for that woman you fell in love with at first sight, Director.”

Secretary Choi’s eyes sparkled, as if urging I Hyun to quickly look at the secretary candidates he had brought.

It was true that he was smitten at first sight, but he hadn’t fallen in love.

Secretary Choi was clearly misunderstanding.

I Hyun opened his mouth, wondering where to start correcting the wrong statements.

Then he promptly closed it again, as if even that was bothersome.

Instead, he shifted his gaze to the file Secretary Choi was holding out.

“Director, this is information about the secretaries who will be coming as my replacement.”

I Hyun roughly flipped through the documents Secretary Choi had handed over, then narrowed his eyes upon discovering one person’s resume.

Seeing that I Hyun seemed interested, Secretary Choi excitedly continued his briefing.

“That person was the secretary for Vice President So-and-so. Both her experience and abilities are outstanding.”

“Han Ye Rin…”

“Do you like her the most?”

A deflating sound escaped I Hyun’s lips.

And that laughter gradually grew.

Secretary Choi watched I Hyun’s expression as he inexplicably laughed while looking at the secretary’s resume.

“If you don’t like her…”

“I like her very much.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Where on earth did you find her, Secretary Choi?”

“I didn’t find her myself, the HR team selected suitable candidates.”

Relieved that I Hyun seemed to like Ye Rin, Secretary Choi made the brightest expression since entering the office.

“Then I’ll tell HR to have her assist you as soon as possible.”

“Good. Quick work.”

I Hyun smiled at Secretary Choi, pulling up the corners of his mouth for the first time in a while.

After sending Secretary Choi out, even when trying to focus on work, I Hyun couldn’t help but smile like a madman as the corners of his mouth kept rising to the sky.

“The reason she tried so hard not to tell her name, could it be.”

Because they work at the same company?

If so, that means Ye Rin approached him knowing who he was.

Then why did she run away so completely in the morning?

He was so curious about her true intentions.

“To think she was this close.”

He was very much looking forward to working hand in hand with the new secretary from now on.