“I heard from Secretary Ryu.”

Lee Seung Oh, standing in front of the mirror, said dryly with a sigh. His attitude suggested that even thinking about it was tiring.

“Oh, brother. Secretary Ryu misunderstood.”

“It seems too accurate to be a misunderstanding. Hitting Jo Seo Ha.”

Ji Soo hesitated for a moment, then busily moved her hands again. The tie knot was perfectly placed on the collar of Lee Seung Oh’s pristine white shirt.

“Cufflinks.”

The cufflinks she had selected in advance were fastened to Lee Seung Oh’s outstretched wrists.

“Jo Seo Ha hit me first. Brother, don’t you believe me?”

“It’s not about whether I believe you or not. Let’s say Jo Seo Ha hit you in the bathroom as you claim. Was there anyone who saw it? Is there CCTV? Is there even a possibility that people would believe such a story?”

“……”

“We need to have a three-way meeting, even if it’s just a formality. I’ll go to work first, so come up to the CEO’s office as soon as you arrive at the company.”

Lee Seung Oh put on the jacket Ji Soo had draped over him and left through the front door first.

“…… Crazy bitch.”

Muttering a curse into the air, Ji Soo waited a moment before leaving and starting the car. Not wanting to even stop by her office as soon as she arrived at work, she went straight up to the CEO’s office.

Two photos placed on the desk greeted Ji Soo. In the photos, the red handprint on Jo Seo Ha’s face was clearly visible.

“With photos like these, there’s really nothing that can be done.”

Lee Seung Oh, seemingly tired, rubbed his eyes and slightly raised his voice towards the outside.

“Secretary Ryu, bring her in.”

The door opened silently, and Ryu Kyung Jun entered. With Jo Seo Ha, who deserved to be strangled, in tow.

“Hello…… CEO.”

Jo Seo Ha, covering one cheek with her hand, timidly greeted and then lowered her head abruptly upon seeing Ji Soo. Her acting was so natural and detestable that Ji Soo’s lips were trembling.

“Come here.”

At Lee Seung Oh’s gesture, Jo Seo Ha hesitantly approached the desk.

“Remove your hand.”

Jo Seo Ha looked at Lee Seung Oh, glanced sideways at Ji Soo, and finally looked at Ryu Kyung Jun as if seeking permission before carefully removing her hand. A slightly swollen cheek and faint nail marks were revealed.

“Tsk.”

Lee Seung Oh clicked his tongue in disapproval and gestured with his eyes to Ji Soo as if to say ‘look at this’.

“Team Leader Lee Ji Soo. Do you have anything to say?”

She had said enough. Ji Soo looked resentfully at Lee Seung Oh, who was asking her to speak even though it wouldn’t make a difference, and shook her head.

“Then we’ll consider this three-way meeting concluded. The HR department will make a decision, so everyone please leave. Ah, Ms. Jo Seo Ha, please stay for a moment.”

Kyung Jun’s eyebrows twitched slightly before quickly returning to his usual expressionless face.

Seo Ha stood with her head lowered, counting the floor tile patterns. Ji Soo’s gaze, glaring at her until the moment the door closed, pricked her back.

Click.

As the door closed, Lee Seung Oh stood up from his seat.

“My, you hit her quite hard.”

“It’s fine now.”

She hated this space with just the two of them so much it gave her goosebumps. How could someone who had been a lifelong source of rest and excitement become this horrible? No, how could she have considered such a horrible person as rest and excitement?

“Why did she hit you? What’s the reason? She wouldn’t have just come and hit you for no reason.”

“I’m not sure. Just, because of that incident…… I think.”

“That incident?”

Incident, it was. For reasons unknown, Lee Seung Oh was Jo Seo Ha’s grudge, and Yoon Seo Ha’s grudge. Seo Ha maintained the most pitiful attitude possible while softly reciting the prepared scenario.

“While preparing for the evaluation, my pattern was omitted from the pattern room. When I contacted them, they said the schedule was full and it couldn’t be done, so I went to Dongdaemun and personally had a pattern made. Yesterday, I was making a sample with that pattern when she suddenly came and hit me…… I guess she didn’t like that I had a pattern made personally.”

“It’s a rather absurd reason. But I suppose it could happen.”

Lee Seung Oh probably knew. Why only Seo Ha’s pattern hadn’t arrived.

Lee Seung Oh, who had approached close without notice, reached out his hand towards Seo Ha’s cheek. Genuinely startled, Seo Ha reflexively stepped back and bumped her leg against the sofa armrest.

“Ah…!”

As her body was about to fall backward, Lee Seung Oh’s arm strongly wrapped around her waist. Thanks to that, she didn’t fall. Though it might have been better if she had just fallen.

“Th-thank you.”

Seo Ha awkwardly thanked him and turned her body to push Lee Seung Oh away. But this crazy bastard didn’t let go of his hand.

“It’s still a bit swollen.”

Lee Seung Oh’s face drew closer and closer. Just like that night long ago when they had their first kiss under the pine tree.

But the feeling was so different from then.

You trash. This is sexual harassment. It’s workplace sexual harassment, you bastard!

Seo Ha’s hand instinctively fumbled to the side. Something long and cold was felt on top of the table. It was a flower vase.

As Lee Seung Oh’s face came within a span’s distance, Ryu Kyung Jun’s face overlapped with his. Ryu Kyung Jun looking at Seo Ha with slightly furrowed brows and an arrogant expression.

Please. Be outside.

Seo Ha swung her hand with all her might and knocked over the flower vase.

-Crash!

The vase was thrown to the floor and shattered into pieces. Almost simultaneously, the firmly closed door burst open.

“What’s going on…!”

A silence fell. Cold eyes swept over Seo Ha’s face, Lee Seung Oh’s hand around her waist, and the fallen vase on the floor in order.

Seo Ha didn’t miss that moment and pushed Lee Seung Oh away with all her strength.

“Excuse me. Thank you for catching me, CEO.”

Having overcome the crisis, Seo Ha quickly bowed and ran past Kyung Jun, darting out. He stood still for a moment, glanced at the corridor where Jo Seo Ha had disappeared, then just reached out his hand and closed the door with a thud.

“The timing was bad. Or was it good?”

The voice wasn’t particularly loud and the tone was low. Yet when Kyung Jun opened his mouth, a strange pressure weighed down on Lee Seung Oh.

“I can see what kind of misunderstanding you’re having, but it’s nothing. I just caught Ms. Jo Seo Ha when she was about to fall.”

“Caught her when she was about to fall.”

Kyung Jun repeated lowly. Lee Seung Oh, pretending to be nonchalant, shrugged his shoulders and roughly gathered the scattered vase pieces with his foot.

Crunch.

A piece of the vase that had bounced far away crumbled like a cracker under Kyung Jun’s shoe.

“I’ll believe you since you say so. However, I should remind you that your current reputation regarding women isn’t exactly positive.”

“So, I-”

“You should also remember that your mother-in-law, CEO Kang, is missing, and your wife, Yoon Seo Ha, is on oxygen. Reputation isn’t such a simple issue, you know.”

Kyung Jun nodded his head very perfunctorily and turned around. Left alone, Lee Seung Oh looked at the scattered flower petals and vase pieces, then cursed, “Shit,” and trampled the flower petals with his heel.

“Arrogant bastard. Who is he to meddle in others’ love affairs? Until now, he didn’t even care…”

Wait a minute.

Lee Seung Oh’s eyes narrowed.

Until now, Ryu Kyung Jun really didn’t care about Seung Oh’s love affairs. Whether he spent all night drinking with women at room salons or messed with a low-level secretary office employee.

The points he had indifferently overlooked came to mind one by one. The fact that he had given his office to Jo Seo Ha to use, of all people.

Kyung Jun, who had been contemptuous of Lee Ji Soo, suddenly going down to the design room yesterday and telling them to bring her. Even the cold gaze he had just given him.

“Interesting.”

Lee Seung Oh’s lips twisted crookedly.

“From Yoon Seo Ha to Jo Seo Ha.”

Kyung Jun’s phone was still kept deep in the drawer, enclosed in an envelope. At this point, it was suspicious if he wasn’t making a Seo Ha collection.

“A Seo Ha collection, huh.”

Reminded of a sudden memory, Lee Seung Oh chuckled and then cursed, “Shit,” and put a cigarette in his mouth.

“The disciplinary decision has been made. It’ll be announced tomorrow, so just keep it in mind.”

Kyung Jun, who had come to see Hae Sun, said stiffly.

It had already been a week since the day the vase broke. He had completely stopped eating dinner in the rooftop room or lounging on the wooden platform chatting. Seo Ha found that oddly concerning.

“How did it turn out?”

“Six months’ salary reduction and two months’ suspension.”

Some would say it’s too much, others would say it’s not enough. Meanwhile, the two-month suspension part really appealed to Seo Ha.

“That’s just right. Thank you, Secretary Ryu.”

Kyung Jun looked at the brightly smiling Seo Ha for a moment, then bowed to Hae Sun.

“I’ll be going now. I’ll see you tomorrow, CEO.”

“Alright. Good work.”

Kyung Jun’s expressionless lips curved slightly before returning to their original position.

He raised his head and left the rooftop room. His spotless, clean shoes passed the wooden platform in the yard and stepped down one step onto the gray cement stairs. That’s when it happened.

“Secretary Ryu.”

Seo Ha’s voice, who had somehow followed him out, stopped him.

“Have a beer before you go.”

Kyung Jun turned around with a frown.

“Do I look that free to you? To drink beer while chitchatting with Jo Seo Ha.”

“I’m not that free either. But I do have time to chitchat and have a beer with Secretary Ryu.”

“Then use that time to chitchat and drink beer by yourself.”

“That’s pathetic.”

Whether it was pathetic or pitiful, he was obviously going to just leave her. Obviously.

…… So why am I sitting here again?

Kyung Jun opened the can of beer that had been thrust into his hand.

-Hiss.

The foam overflowed and ran down his hand. He unconsciously raised his hand to swallow the foam into his mouth and then took a gulp of the canned beer. The feeling of thick carbonation scratching his esophagus as it went down wasn’t too bad.

Whoosh, the wind blew. The widely opened bag of potato chips rolled with the wind. Kyung Jun’s hand, which naturally reached out to catch it, caught not only the potato chip bag but also Jo Seo Ha’s slightly cold and soft fingers.

“Ah!”

Jo Seo Ha jerked her hand away as if burned.

It was a natural reaction. But it strangely made him feel dirty.

And Kyung Jun wasn’t the type to tolerate feeling dirty.

“You look like you just touched a bug.”

At his blunt words, Jo Seo Ha frowned and looked at him.

“I was just surprised. If it had been a bug, I would have slapped it away.”

“If you were going to be so easily startled, you should have slapped Lee Seung Oh away first?”

He shouldn’t have said this. When Kyung Jun belatedly realized this fact, Jo Seo Ha was already snorting with a more crumpled face than before.

“Is that why? Why you’ve been looking at me like I’m less than dirt for the past week?”

“What are you talking about.”

“That day! That day!”

That day, that scene came to mind again. The shameless Lee Seung Oh with his arm around Jo Seo Ha’s waist, the two faces too close together, the broken vase.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Whether Jo Seo Ha kisses Lee Seung Oh or dances the samba with him, what does it have to do with me?”

This was really something he shouldn’t have said, even if someone held a knife to his throat.

“…… I didn’t mention Lee Seung Oh.”

Jo Seo Ha snorted. Kyung Jun drained half the can of beer in his hand in one go to blame his suddenly flushed face on the alcohol.

“Ms. Jo Seo Ha. You seem to be seriously mistaken.”

“Who’s making what mistake?”

“……”

He was at a loss for words. Unlike him.

The wind blew again. Whoosh.

The wind was cold, and his face was hot.