The rustling sound was coming from the inner storage room. Kyung Jun put down his briefcase anywhere and quietly passed through the design room to approach the storage.

“Ah. So tiring.”

From inside the storage room filled with rolls of fabric standing upright to the door, a sound of something being put down heavily along with a groaning voice leaked out.

“Just go back to how it was. I’ll use up a whole roll of fabric and roll you up in it.”

It was a voice he had heard many times before. Just as Kyung Jun was about to peek through the door crack while thinking where he had heard this voice.

“Eek!”

The person inside suddenly opened the door and screamed, falling backwards onto their bottom.

“Wh-wh-what!”

Kyung Jun, who nearly hit his head on the door, was equally startled. He blinked his eyes three or four times before coming to his senses.

“Jo Seo Ha?”

“Why is Secretary Ryu here at this hour?”

Jo Seo Ha looked even more disheveled than usual.

Her hair was messily tied up, her worn-out sneakers were discarded somewhere, and she was wearing slippers with loose threads. The work gloves on her hands and the dirt smudged all over completed today’s fashion.

“What about you? Why are you here like this at this hour?”

“Can’t you see I’m working?”

Seo Ha, who was trying to get up from the floor, let out a groan of pain.

No matter how hard she had worked on rehabilitation, her body was still much weaker than the average person. She seemed to have slightly twisted her back when she fell just now. Or maybe it was from moving the heavy fabric earlier.

‘Heavy… fabric?’

Seo Ha had a cunning thought and groaned.

“Help me up. I can’t get up.”

“Oh, geez.”

Kyung Jun knelt down on one knee and lowered his posture. Seo Ha grabbed his hand and acted as if she was carefully trying to get up while leaning on his shoulder.

“Ouch!”

“Get up slowly. I’ll call an ambulance once we get outside.”

“It’s fine. I need to rest a bit and finish organizing the rest.”

“Are you out of your mind, Jo Seo Ha?”

Kyung Jun asked, dumbfounded. She could barely get up, yet she wanted to organize the fabric storage of all places?

“You think I want to do this? I’m doing it because I was told to.”

“How can you do all this alone?”

It seemed the plan was working. Seo Ha just raised an eyebrow and came out of the storage leaning on Kyung Jun.

“You can go now. I’ll rest here a bit and finish up the storage.”

Normally, when an injured person says this, one would reply, ‘No. You got hurt because of me, so I’ll help you.’ That’s exactly what Seo Ha was aiming for.

However, Kyung Jun was indeed not an ordinary bad guy.

“Alright then, good luck. Fighting.”

He sat Seo Ha down on any visible chair and picked up his briefcase.

“Wait a moment, Secretary Ryu!”

Seo Ha called out urgently, and Kyung Jun, who had already taken a few steps, turned back.

“Are you really leaving? Leaving me here like this?”

“You said I could go.”

“That was just lip service. You should have asked once more.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Even though Kyung Jun was getting annoyed, Seo Ha didn’t back down.

“Please help me.”

“With what?”

“Organizing this place.”

“Why should I?”

“I got hurt because you suddenly came in, didn’t I? Don’t you know I was in the hospital until a few months ago?”

“…”

Since there was nothing wrong with what Seo Ha said, Kyung Jun frowned but threw his briefcase back down and took off his jacket.

“What should I do first?”

“Ouch ouch.”

Seo Ha awkwardly rolled her chair to the front of the storage.

“The fabrics were all mixed up, so I was sorting them. Denim here, linings there, summer fabrics there, winter fabrics here. All the furry ones go over there.”

Fabric rolls are very heavy. Especially denim and winter fabrics were like iron bars.

“You did all this alone?”

“Until you came, yes.”

Kyung Jun looked up and down at Seo Ha, who was awkwardly leaning on the wheeled chair. He couldn’t imagine her small body dragging those heavy fabrics around.

“You’re strong.”

He muttered and rolled up his sleeves to his forearms.

“Where does this go?”

“Right corner. The thick fabrics should be in front of the thin ones.”

Was this how Cinderella felt when she got the toad’s help? Seo Ha was very pleased to see the storage being organized three times faster than when she had been struggling alone.

“Damn. This is hellishly tiring.”

The toad who finally finished organizing complained while straightening his back. Seo Ha saw the beads of sweat on his smooth forehead and his thoroughly dirtied shirt, and felt slightly guilty before shaking her head.

What’s there to feel sorry about? Ryu Kyung Jun is a spy. As soon as I get the company back, I’ll kick him out immediately.

“Thank you. I was planning to pull an all-nighter alone.”

Still, there’s such a thing as surface-level courtesy, so she thanked him. Kyung Jun nodded with an indifferent face, then patted the dust off his shirt and held out his hand to Seo Ha.

“Here.”

“…?”

“Take it. You need to get up and go, don’t you?”

He seemed to think Seo Ha was in too much pain to walk alone. To live up to that expectation, Seo Ha let out another groan as she grabbed Kyung Jun’s arm and stood up.

“Ouch ouch ouch…”

“Be careful.”

Both the subway and buses had stopped running long ago. Whether they liked it or not, Kyung Jun had to take Seo Ha home, and Seo Ha had to get a ride in his car.

At this late hour, there were hardly any cars on the road. Seo Ha desperately pushed up her increasingly heavy eyelids as she looked outside.

“Sleepy?”

Kyung Jun glanced at Seo Ha and asked.

“Yes.”

“Endure it. I’m a director, and you’re an intern.”

“…”

What a heartless spy.

Seo Ha once again vowed to kick Kyung Jun out as soon as she regained her position, while slightly lowering the window.

At that moment.

– Screech!

With a spine-chilling sound, their bodies were strongly thrown forward.

Seo Ha reflexively squeezed her eyes shut. The image of Jo Seo Ha jumping in front of the car holding a red brick flashed vividly in her mind.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh, huff…”

Seo Ha opened her eyes at Kyung Jun’s voice. She belatedly realized she had been holding her breath.

“What was that?”

Kyung Jun put his right hand, which had been holding Seo Ha, back in place.

“Jaywalking.”

A man in black clothes with his hood pulled up bowed apologetically in front of the headlights and passed by.

“But this is an 8-lane road? With a median strip?”

“Must have been frustrated he couldn’t die. This is the second time I’ve seen someone like this in my life.”

“You’ve seen it twice?”

Kyung Jun didn’t answer and stepped on the accelerator again. His glance towards the opposite road somehow seemed a bit lonely.

“We’re here. You can get off there.”

Seo Ha broke the awkward silence and pointed to a steep alley.

“You go up there?”

“Yes.”

Kyung Jun parked the car in front of the alley that looked similar to the neighborhood where he lived with his mother when he was young.

“Be careful on your way.”

“Thank you for giving me a ride… Ouch ouch ouch!”

As soon as she tried to turn her body to get out, a scream burst from Seo Ha’s mouth. This time it really hurt a lot. Too, too, too much.

“Ah, ugh…”

“Does it hurt?”

Seo Ha barely managed to nod.

“Looks like something went wrong when I slammed on the brakes earlier. Let’s go to the hospital.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have money for hospital bills. Jo Seo Ha is dirt poor, you know.”

Kyung Jun looked at Jo Seo Ha, who was talking about her poverty as if it was someone else’s business, with an incredulous expression.

“I’ll pay with my card first, and you can file for industrial accident compensation later.”

If I say I’m filing for industrial accident, Lee Ji Soo would be so thrilled, wouldn’t she?

Seo Ha imagined that scene and shook her head firmly.

“No. I can’t trouble you any further.”

“You don’t even look like you can walk home right now.”

“I can. Goodbye!”

Seo Ha got out of the car awkwardly and grabbed the railing of the alley. By the looks of it, she’d probably reach home just in time for work.

What does it matter to me?

Kyung Jun ignored that sight and got back in the car. As he drove a little and looked in the rearview mirror, Jo Seo Ha had still only taken two steps.

“Damn. Why did I have to check if the lights were on.”

In the end, Kyung Jun didn’t even drive ten meters before backing up to where he was before. Seo Ha was just about to take her fourth step.

“Here.”

Kyung Jun suddenly walked up briskly and sat down in front of her, showing his back. Seo Ha frowned.

“What do you mean ‘Here’?”

“Get on my back. How else are you going to get home like that?”

“It’s burdensome.”

“That’s not my problem. Just get on quickly.”

Seo Ha looked up at the steep alley once. It certainly seemed daunting to climb up there.

“Well then. Excuse me.”

As Seo Ha put her arms around Kyung Jun’s neck, her body floated up.

“Hold on tight.”

Kyung Jun, who looked slim and lean, surprisingly had firmly built muscles. His broad shoulders made it comfortable to be carried. Despite sweating a lot while organizing the storage earlier, he smelled refreshing.

It was like the scent of a grassy field after rain, or the smell of the sea that suddenly visits in early winter.

“Secretary Ryu.”

“Yes.”

The shadows of the two people stretched long behind the flickering streetlight with its worn-out bulb.

“What perfume do you use?”

“I use soap.”

Kyung Jun answered monotonously. Seo Ha recalled that when they went to Eulwangri beach sometime, Kyung Jun had given the same answer to the same question, and she unconsciously muttered.

“Right. You said you use soap.”

Kyung Jun’s feet, which had been moving at a steady pace, stopped abruptly.

“What did you say?”

I made a mistake.

Seo Ha closed her mouth in panic.

She shouldn’t let him know she’s Yoon Seo Ha here. She shouldn’t appear to have any relationship with him. It would be easier than eating cold rice for a spy who has seized control of the company to kick out one intern.

“I asked what you said.”

“… I said the soap smell is nice.”

“That’s not it.”

What should I say?

While Seo Ha was frantically thinking of something else to say, a sound like a savior echoed through the alley.

“Woof! Woof woof woof!”

“Min Ji?”

As soon as she called, the Chihuahua came running determinedly and bit Kyung Jun’s foot.

“Min Ji, no!”

Of course, the Chihuahua’s mouth was too small and weak to pierce through the sturdy leather shoes.

“What is this? Jo Seo Ha’s dog?”

Kyung Jun frowned and pointed at ‘this’ with his chin.

“It’s not my dog. It’s our landlord’s…”

“Kim Min Ji!”

Before she could finish speaking, Jae Wook came running down and stopped in front of Kyung Jun and Seo Ha.

“Jo Seo Ha? What happened to you?”

Seo Ha, still on Kyung Jun’s back, gave an awkward smile.

“I hurt my back. I couldn’t walk well, so my superior carried me.”

“Superior? From Kang Yoon Company?”

A clear look of distrust and wariness appeared on Jae Wook’s already somewhat rugged face.

“Ms. Jo Seo Ha twisted her back because of me, so I carried her here. This isn’t the situation for introductions, so let’s go up. Ah, please remove this from my foot.”

Kyung Jun didn’t bother being polite either and wiggled his foot. Min Ji was still fiercely gnawing on Kyung Jun’s shoe like a chew toy.

“Kim Min Ji, come here.”

Jae Wook called Min Ji half-heartedly and turned his back.

“Get on, Jo Seo Ha.”

Kyung Jun’s arms tightened as he held Seo Ha more firmly.