“How long are you going to follow me?”

Seo Ha asked while pressing the smart key she had snatched from Seung Oh. The footsteps that had been audibly following her drew closer and stopped right behind her.

“I’m just on my way to get my car. Young lady Yoon Seo Ha, are you being overly self-conscious? Or do you have paranoia?”

“Before I chop you with an ax, why don’t you get in Secretary Ryu’s car?”

“You talk well. You should have done that to your husband earlier.”

Seo Ha turned around and glared at Kyung Jun.

“Don’t you have anything better to do on a pleasant weekend? Sitting in a cafe eavesdropping on others’ private lives?”

“I wasn’t eavesdropping, I was sitting there and overheard. In such a quiet place, how could I not hear when you’re openly acting out a drama about adultery and whatnot?”

“Your sentences are getting shorter. Did you bite your tongue while gawking at the drama with your mouth open?”

“Let’s talk after you wipe your tears. Santa Claus might make a U-turn with your gift.”

The handkerchief Kyung Jun carelessly tossed landed on Seo Ha’s head. Seo Ha wanted to smack herself for thanking this person last time.

“I wasn’t crying.”

“Is mascara under the eyes a new makeup trend these days?”

Seo Ha rubbed her face with the handkerchief on her head. There was no moisture or mascara stains, just cleanliness.

“Are you joking right now?”

Kyung Jun caught the handkerchief she threw back in mid-air.

“You don’t even know if you cried or not. That’s why you get played by trash.”

Kyung Jun waited for another sharp retort. But Yoon Seo Ha, who had been glaring at him fiercely, said nothing.

This isn’t right.

Yoon Seo Ha turned away, opened the car door, and got into the driver’s seat. Somehow, Kyung Jun felt that if he let her go like this, it would leave him feeling uneasy. He quickly ran and opened the passenger door, swiftly getting in.

“What are you doing? Get out right now!”

“Let’s go together. I have nothing better to do on this pleasant weekend.”

He had already brazenly fastened his seatbelt. He didn’t forget to adjust the passenger seat that was too narrow for him to a wider setting.

“Get out. Do you want to be reported?”

“If you report me and I go to jail, who will assist the CEO? It’ll be hard to find a secretary as good as me.”

“……”

Seo Ha decided to end this meaningless argument. She had no energy left to fight after expending too much on Lee Seung Oh and Lee Ji Soo.

She did feel a bit relieved that she didn’t have to be alone and pathetic. Just a tiny, very tiny bit.

Seo Ha’s car, which Seung Oh always used to ride in, left the hotel parking lot. Seo Ha turned right onto the eight-lane road. It wasn’t a time for such heavy traffic, but the car wasn’t moving well, and there was a commotion up ahead.

“What’s going on? Did an accident happen……”

Seo Ha’s gaze, which had been examining the source of the commotion, stopped on the opposite side of the road.

Lee Seung Oh was running across the median strip to the other side.

Drivers honked their horns and hurled insults at him as he tightly embraced Lee Ji Soo and engaged in a passionate kiss with a fervor Seo Ha had never seen before. It was a strange sight – pathetic and shameful, yet angering and sad.

“Wow. What an ultimate idiot.”

Kyung Jun accurately voiced what Seo Ha wanted to say, then covered her eyes with his large hand.

“Don’t look. You threw the divorce papers at him so coolly. Although you’re a bit unlucky and ill-mannered, you’re way too good for such an idiot.”

It was offensive, yet strangely comforting.

“You’re not so lucky yourself.”

Seo Ha pushed Kyung Jun’s hand away. Glancing sideways, she saw that Lee Seung Oh and Lee Ji Soo were still at it.

“I said don’t look.”

Kyung Jun grabbed Seo Ha’s head with both hands and made her look straight ahead.

“Step on the gas. We need to move forward.”

Seo Ha put her foot on the accelerator as Kyung Jun instructed. The car passed by the century’s couple still lost in their passionate embrace and entered the straight lane.

“You drive well.”

Kyung Jun grinned and pressed the radio button. A song that was popular in her distant middle school days started playing.

“Where’s your house, Secretary Ryu?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I need to drop you off so you can get out.”

“You’re going to take me all the way home? You’re kinder than I thought.”

“I’m tired, so tell me quickly.”

“Eulwang-ri.”

“Pardon?”

Seo Ha turned to look at him, thinking he must be joking. Surprisingly, Kyung Jun’s expression was serious.

“I said I live in Eulwang-ri. Let’s go quickly. Didn’t you say you’d take me?”

“You commute from Eulwang-ri to Gangnam? Every day?”

“I stay in an officetel near the company on weekdays, and in Eulwang-ri on weekends. Today is the weekend.”

It sounded plausible. But still, Eulwang-ri was too far.

“It’s too far. I’ll drop you off here, so you can−”

“Let’s go a bit further. I helped you, didn’t I?”

“How did you help me?”

“I watched over you. In case you cried again.”

“Don’t cut me off. And who was crying?”

“I could see you holding back tears. I watched the whole time, whether you cried or not.”

“Why were you staring at that? Are you a pervert? A stalker?”

“If you cried, I was going to go and drag you out.”

Seo Ha was at a loss for words. Ryu Kyung Jun had indeed been quite helpful. Thanks to his gaze at the moment she was about to lose her reason and become pathetic, she was able to maintain her dignity.

“Why?”

“I told you, didn’t I? No matter how unlucky you are, you’re too good for that idiot. It felt like neglecting my duty to leave our CEO’s daughter like that.”

Kyung Jun, looking out the window for a moment, added as if talking to himself.

“But you did well. That idiot, even just seeing the back of his head, he seemed to have gotten a good beating.”

He was truly a strange man. Despite being the most rude and ill-mannered person Seo Ha knew, his casual words were comforting and refreshing.

She thought it might not be so bad to just drive him to Eulwang-ri, since she’d only feel unsettled if she went home alone anyway.

It took a full three hours to reach Eulwang-ri through the congested roads. During that time, Kyung Jun reclined his seat all the way back and slept very comfortably before waking up.

“Ah, I slept well.”

Seo Ha looked at Kyung Jun incredulously as he stretched languidly.

“How can you sleep so openly like that?”

“I sleep when I’m sleepy. Don’t you sleep when you’re sleepy, young lady Yoon Seo Ha?”

Seo Ha was about to flick his forehead, which was now fairer from the good sleep and smiling broadly, but she restrained herself.

“Where’s your house?”

“Go straight and turn right. Yeah. Keep going straight… Right. Now turn left there. Enter here and go straight again.”

Kyung Jun pointed directions with his finger like a navigation system. Following his instructions, they arrived at a seaside clam roast restaurant.

“There. Pull into the parking lot.”

“Secretary Ryu, do you run a clam roast restaurant?”

“Just park for now. The car behind us is honking.”

Seo Ha, pushed by Kyung Jun and the urging of the car behind, reluctantly parked in the clam roast restaurant’s parking lot. As soon as the car stopped, Kyung Jun quickly got out and came around to the driver’s side, flinging the door open.

“Get out.”

“Why?”

“Did you come all the way to Eulwang-ri not to eat clam roast?”

The savory smell of butter-roasted scallops wafted into the wide-open car.

It smells delicious.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t eaten properly for days. As soon as she realized this, her stomach began to growl loudly.

“Geez. Why are you spacing out?”

Kyung Jun suddenly leaned his upper body in and fumbled for Seo Ha’s seatbelt. A refreshing scent suddenly wafted from his nape. It smelled like a grassy field after rain, or the unexpected scent of the sea in early winter.

“Secretary Ryu.”

Kyung Jun, who was searching for the seatbelt button, turned to look at Seo Ha.

“What perfume do you use?”

The eyes that always looked down at Seo Ha coldly from above blinked slowly a couple of times.

“…Soap.”

“What?”

“I use soap.”

Click, the seatbelt finally unbuckled. In the space where Kyung Jun had risen without hesitation, a fresh soap scent lingered.

“Ah. Soap.”

Seo Ha got out of the car and slammed the door shut. Kyung Jun had already gone ahead and was entering the clam roast restaurant.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and come! Ah, table for two. By the window, please.”

Seo Ha, chased by his urging, ran and sat at a window table on the second floor. The unobstructed view of the sea spread out through the large window, filling her eyes.

“Wow. It’s the sea!”

She had been too busy to even think of looking at the sea, but now that she saw it, it was lovely. A bright smile spread across Seo Ha’s face as she pressed both hands against the window and exclaimed in delight.

Kyung Jun leaned back in his chair and watched her.

It was the first time he had seen her smile in a non-business way. She was already quite pretty, but when she smiled brightly, she was truly beautiful. Although he subjectively found her annoying, he had to admit that much from an objective point of view.

This is much better than crying.

Although it was for ‘business’, sitting in that hotel cafe seemed like a rather nice coincidence. It would be a bit troublesome to go home without a car, though.

Well, I’ll think about that after we finish eating the clam roast.

“Your food is here.”

Charcoal fire and well-prepared various clams appeared on the table. There was also the butter-roasted scallop that had tempted Seo Ha earlier.

“……”

“……”

The two sat staring blankly at each other with those things between them, then spoke simultaneously.

“Aren’t you going to grill them?”

“Aren’t you going to grill them?”

“……”

“……”

After a second of silence, their voices overlapped again.

“I can’t grill these things.”

“I can’t grill these things.”

What kind of person is this?

Seo Ha repeated the same thought she had when she first saw him.

“Secretary Ryu, you suggested coming here. Hurry up and grill them.”

“I’ll pay, so young lady Yoon Seo Ha, please grill them.”

“Do I look like someone who can’t afford clam roast and has to pay with my body? Who drove all the way here?”

“That’s true.”

The tongs for grilling clams ended up in Kyung Jun’s possession. Since he had them, he did his best to grill and turn the clams. Although a staff member soon came running due to the rising smoke, the clams were cooked appetizingly nonetheless.

“Do you drink?”

Kyung Jun asked, shaking the newly arrived soju bottle.

“Will you pay for the designated driver?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Call.”

Seo Ha waved her hand at a passing staff member.

“Excuse me. Can we get a bottle of beer and two beer glasses?”

Kyung Jun’s hand, which was about to open the soju bottle, paused.

“…Somaek?”

“Somaek.”

“You know more than you look.”

“I studied abroad, you know.”

Seo Ha poured half a glass of beer into each of the two glasses, dropped a whole shot of soju in, then covered the mouth with a napkin and pushed it forward.

“One shot. To the idiot.”

It was an absurd situation. On the day her lifelong beloved husband had an affair and she threw divorce papers at him, she was in Eulwang-ri grilling clams and mixing somaek with a man she despised.

“Why toast to the idiot? It doesn’t feel good.”

Kyung Jun took the glass Seo Ha offered and tapped it to create a whirlpool.

“One shot. To the idiot’s ex-wife, Yoon Seo Ha.”