Hyun casually uttered those tremendous words with a smile.

When Ye Rin looked surprised, Hyun finally smiled mischievously.

“It’s a joke, just a joke.”

Whew.

As Ye Rin let out a short breath, Hyun tapped her cheek lightly with his index finger, finding it so adorable.

“Director, can we stop being apart now?”

When she called him that in confusion, his eyebrows raised slightly.

“Miss Han Ye Rin, aren’t we spending personal time right now?”

“Ah…”

“I’m here as your boyfriend, not as the director of Jiseok Electronics.”

The softly spoken words tickled Ye Rin’s heart.

“So you should call me by my name.”

As Ye Rin slowly nodded, Hyun smiled with satisfaction.

Hyun took a step back and held out his hand.

When Ye Rin just stared blankly, he waved his hand in the air once more.

“We don’t want you falling again like before, so take my hand.”

Unable to resist the magical temptation, Ye Rin stretched out her arm.

Her small hand was swallowed up by Hyun’s large one.

“I never knew doing laundry could be this enjoyable.”

Ye Rin also laughed softly at his quiet murmur.

“Indeed.”

Though it was simple manual labor, for some inexplicable reason, smiles kept blossoming.

It seemed to be because the spring sunlight was so pleasant.

If not that, it might have been because of the fluffy clouds rising from their clasped hands.

Unlike the two bathed in pink, Hyun Jun’s face was full of storm clouds.

Having changed into shirts of the same brand after getting food stains in the cafeteria, the two looked unmistakably like a couple to anyone who saw them.

With eyes full of jealousy, Hyun Jun stomped on the blanket irritably.

‘That place next to Cha I Hyun used to be mine.’

Now that he had lost it once, he desperately wanted it back.

[This is the timeline separator]

Arriving in Seoul and coming out after a hot shower, her whole body felt languid.

She hadn’t realized how tired she was while with Hyun, but now that the tension was gone, fatigue hit her belatedly.

Ye Rin collapsed onto the bed and fiddled with her phone.

[Miss Han Ye Rin, you must be tired, so get some good rest.]

Seeing the message from Hyun, Ye Rin couldn’t hide her smile as she quickly replied.

[You too, Hyun. You worked hard today.]

Then, worried about Na Ri who had gone to Seoul earlier today, Ye Rin called her.

After a few rings, Na Ri answered.

“Can you talk?”

-Yeah. Are you home now?

“Yes. I just finished showering. How’s your finger?”

-There were some small pieces of glass stuck in it. I’m really glad I went to the hospital like Hyun Jun said.

“Hyun Jun?”

At that question, Na Ri let out a shy laugh on the other end.

-I mean Secretary Choi.

Ye Rin, who had been lying down, sat up abruptly and asked.

“Wait, when did you two get so close? Close enough to use first names?”

-Come to think of it, we’re not even professionally connected, so isn’t it weirder to keep calling him Mr. Kim and Secretary Choi?

“And it’s not weird to be calling each other by name so familiarly now?”

At Ye Rin’s point, Na Ri countered with a question of her own.

-Then what about you two hugging in the changing room when you went to change clothes?

“Ah, that…”

Hearing that, Ye Rin was reminded of what happened in the changing room earlier today and felt hot.

She got off the bed and opened the window wide.

As the cool spring breeze came in, the heat seemed to subside a bit.

“I was trying to save time by undoing a few buttons on my blouse. But then Secretary Choi suddenly came in, and the director tried to cover me, and that’s how it happened.”

After explaining the whole story, Na Ri laughed as if amused.

-I told you to follow your heart, and you’re doing great, Han Ye Rin.

At those words, Ye Rin chewed on her lip.

-That bastard Park Hyun Jun following you there today was annoying, but thinking about it now, it seems like it turned out well.

“What do you mean?”

-He must have seen how close you and Director Cha I Hyun are all day today.

“That’s true.”

-I hope he gives up now. I wish he’d just disappear from your life.

Thanks to Na Ri expressing the same feelings as her own, Ye Rin laughed loudly.

-You worked hard today, get some rest.

“Okay. You too, Na Ri.”

After ending the call, Ye Rin turned off the lights and lay down on the bed.

Even with her eyes closed, the events with Hyun today kept flickering before her eyes, driving her crazy.

“Ah. I need to sleep.”

That night, Hyun dominated Ye Rin’s thoughts for a long time.

[This is the timeline separator]

Seo Yun stared blankly at her silent phone late into the night.

“So did he go to the orphanage today? Or not?”

With no word from Hyun Jun, she was dying of curiosity.

After waiting and waiting, Seo Yun contacted Hyun Jun first.

-Yeah, what is it.

“Where are you, elder brother?”

-Home, of course.

Hearing his dry voice, it seemed things hadn’t gone well today either.

“Did you go to the orphanage?”

-Haa.

A sigh followed.

-Hey, why didn’t you tell me Cha I Hyun was coming there too?

“What did you just say?”

-I’m telling you, Cha I Hyun came to that orphanage today, even bringing his secretary.

At those words, Seo Yun asked incredulously.

“Why?”

-How would I know that!

“No, he says he’s busy when I ask to meet, but now he’s going to do some volunteer work?”

Seo Yun let out a deep breath.

“So? You didn’t just stupidly come back without doing anything, right?”

-…

With no answer coming back, Seo Yun became more anxious.

“Elder brother, what’s the use of me telling you about a good opportunity if you can’t take advantage of it like this?”

-There was no room to squeeze in at all. Those two, when did they get so close?

Seo Yun felt like she was going crazy.

It was just a month ago that she had stolen Hyun Jun, who was Ye Rin’s boyfriend.

Hyun and Ye Rin must have met a little before that or even more recently.

But when did they become so close?

-Still, I can’t just let my woman be taken like this. I’m thinking of visiting the company.

That was welcome news.

“That sounds great! Why don’t you buy a bouquet of flowers and go when it’s time to leave work?”

-Flowers? I should, right?

“Elder brother, I hope you have a beautiful romance.”

On the surface, it seemed like she was supporting Hyun Jun’s romance, but that wasn’t the case at all.

She just needed Hyun Jun to quickly get Ye Rin away from Hyun’s side so that she could take her place.

[This is the timeline separator]

It was now past 10 PM.

Today again, Hyun had told Ye Rin she could leave first since the meeting would end late, but she stayed until the end.

Ye Rin left the company with Hyun, who had finished the marathon meeting.

“Director, I’ll drive you home.”

However, Hyun took back the car keys Ye Rin was holding and opened the passenger door.

“It’s more efficient to stop by Miss Han Ye Rin’s house before going to mine.”

As Hyun gestured with his chin for her to get in, Ye Rin had no choice but to climb into the passenger seat.

Come to think of it, she had rarely driven Hyun’s car except when moving during work hours.

Hyun started the car smoothly.

Ye Rin checked the schedule she had written in her notebook once more and spoke up.

“Director, there’s a family dinner at Jinheonjae tomorrow. You know that, right?”

“Is that already tomorrow?”

It was a schedule he had momentarily forgotten due to so many other appointments.

“If you find it difficult to wake up early in the morning, should I give you a wake-up call?”

At that suggestion, Hyun slowly shook his head.

“No, not a wake-up call.”

“Then…”

“I’d be really grateful if you could come wake me up in person, like last time.”

At those words thrown out as if to tempt her, Ye Rin let out a small laugh.

“Ah, of course, I want to make it clear that I have absolutely no other intentions. I’ll probably only be able to sleep for about two hours after I go home and deal with the work that’s piled up.”

That’s why he especially might not hear the alarm, Hyun added.

“If it’s inconvenient, that’s okay.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll come to your house early tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’ll be able to sleep soundly.”

By now, Hyun’s car had arrived near the house where Ye Rin lived.

As they entered the narrow alley, Ye Rin thought.

She could always come home comfortably thanks to Hyun like this, so what would be hard about going to his house in the morning to give him a wake-up call?

Helping Hyun get through his daily schedule without any problems was also a virtue of a secretary, so there was no reason to refuse.

Hyun’s car had now arrived in front of Ye Rin’s house.

As Ye Rin was about to unfasten her seatbelt to get out of the car, she noticed many more people than usual standing in front of the house and tilted her head.

“Huh? What’s that?”

At those words, Hyun also raised his head and then refastened the seatbelt Ye Rin had undone.

Click-

That sound echoed in the quiet car, and Hyun opened his mouth.

“It looks like the police are there too.”

As Hyun said, police cars and ambulances had entered the narrow alley.

“What could have happened?”

And residents living in the area were gathered in one place, murmuring.

Sensing something was not right, Hyun said to Ye Rin.

“I’ll go check it out, so don’t get out and wait here for a moment.”

“Okay, I will.”

Hyun got out of the car and approached the murmuring residents.

“What happened?”

“Oh, young man. There’s been a murder in this villa.”

At the words ‘murder case’, Hyun’s face instantly hardened.

“They say a woman living on the third floor died…”

Those words sent chills down his spine.

Since Ye Rin lived on the 4th floor rooftop, the resident living on the 3rd floor would be right below her.

“Has the culprit been caught?”

“No. It doesn’t seem so yet.”

Then it becomes an even bigger problem.

It could be a crime committed out of grudge, but there’s also a possibility of a random crime.

Since it was a villa that had been easily entered once, there’s no guarantee that the culprit won’t appear again.

It was already very annoying that Park Hyun Jun kept coming to Ye Rin’s house and lurking around, and now there’s this unexpected murder case.

He quickly decided that he could no longer let Ye Rin stay in this house.

Hyun used his long legs to return to the car and started the engine again.

“What happened?”

“Listen without being surprised.”

At those words, Ye Rin bit her lip and slowly nodded.

“They say there’s been a murder on the third floor.”

“What?”

Ye Rin’s lips slowly parted.

“The third floor… do you mean that college student woman?”

It was someone she had seen in the morning a few times while coming and going.

“This can’t be happening.”