“Nam Yoo In.”

“Yes?”

In the elevator going up to the restaurant.

Yoo In, who had been staring at the rapidly changing display board, looks up at Ki Yeon.

Ki Yeon unconsciously clenched his molars. Whenever he looked at those soft eyes, he felt like he would keep getting mesmerized.

Seeing her staring blankly as if it was strange that he called her name but said nothing, Ki Yeon deliberately smiled with his eyes curved.

“Now you don’t say anything about me speaking informally.”

“…You wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”

“That’s true. Then shall we just speak comfortably?”

Her eyes that were wide open narrowed as she glanced at Ki Yeon.

“Director, why is everything so easy for you?”

“You think so?”

“Yes.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“…”

Her face, suddenly tinged with embarrassment, stiffly turned forward.

Ki Yeon laughed softly at Yoo In’s honest reaction. Surely, in that small head of hers, she must be thinking hard about what exactly he meant by asking if she disliked it.

How strange. Why is she so transparent and honest about everything?

Ki Yeon found each and every one of Yoo In’s reactions delightful and pleasing. Nam Yoo In, filled only with reactions caused by him, was beautiful. And that made him want her even more.

Ding-.

With a clear sound, the curved elevator doors opened, and the entrance to the restaurant with plush carpeting came into view.

Ki Yeon led Yoo In towards where the staff was standing and whispered softly.

“So do you dislike it?”

“W-what?”

“Me speaking informally.”

Ki Yeon’s low voice and hot breath touched her soft earlobe.

Yoo In retreated, fidgeting, and rubbed her ear, saying he could do as he pleased.

Seeing this, Ki Yeon once again etched a willing smile across his face.

“Welcome. Please follow me this way.”

The staff immediately recognized Ki Yeon and guided the two to a window seat.

This high-rise restaurant Ki Yeon brought Yoo In to today was one of his preferred places.

The walls were all glass, offering an open and refreshing view whether day or night, creating quite a nice atmosphere.

The food was delicious and the luxurious interior played a part, but what especially appealed to Ki Yeon was that it was the tallest among the surrounding buildings, allowing one to look down on everything.

“What do you want to eat?”

Ki Yeon opened the menu in front of Yoo In across from him, but Yoo In skimmed through it with disinterested eyes.

He had noticed before, but Nam Yoo In didn’t seem to have much interest in eating. Her slender wrist flipping carelessly through the menu looked like it would break if just lightly touched.

“Um… mango juice please.”

“Why juice? We’re here for lunch now.”

Yoo In looked at him as if to ask what was wrong. Ki Yeon let out an incredulous laugh.

“Fine. Just eat what I order.”

Having finally ordered to his own taste, Ki Yeon took off his jacket, casually draped it over the chair next to him, and leisurely propped his chin.

Yoo In, who had no objections to the arbitrary order, took a sip of water while looking out the window and set the glass down.

Ki Yeon, who had been intently staring at her slightly wet lips from the water, her neck as she swallowed, and her white fingers putting down the water glass, asked in a monotone voice.

“Why did you try to postpone our appointment?”

Yoo In’s gaze, which had been directed out the window, slowly turned to Ki Yeon.

Her moist lips, which had been moving several times, were tightly sealed instead of answering. Seeing this, Ki Yeon’s face changed to a displeased expression.

“Why? Is it something you can’t talk about?”

“No… it’s not that.”

“Then why can’t you say it?”

As her slightly parted lips closed again, a clear crease formed between Ki Yeon’s brows.

“Nam Yoo In. What is it?”

“I… don’t know.”

Even her fingers fidgeting with the water glass were tinged with hesitation.

Although it was a fragmented sentence with the beginning and end cut off, Ki Yeon understood immediately.

His dark eyes with a hint of black quietly looked at Yoo In for a moment, then he straightened up.

“So. You think you’ll understand if you avoid it?”

“…”

“Nam Yoo In. I told you to follow me well, I don’t think I ever told you to avoid me like this. Don’t you remember already?”

Yoo In took a deep breath at Ki Yeon’s words, which sounded like a rebuke. Along with it, her puppy-like eyelids drooped downwards.

That sight looked endlessly pitiful. What is this, like an abandoned puppy? Ki Yeon had to resist the urge to reach out his hand, along with a wry smile.

“I’m… different from you, Director.”

“That’s obvious.”

“It’s not… that simple for me… It’s difficult.”

“I know it’s difficult. That’s why I said I’d wait, didn’t I?”

Knowing she was already a type that was very afraid when it came to relationships, and on top of that, hearing she had never dated before, he was prepared to some extent.

The fact that it would take a long time and needed to be coaxed carefully like fragile porcelain.

But that was only possible if Nam Yoo In faithfully kept her place, so he couldn’t let her think about running away like this.

“…If you don’t wait.”

“No, that won’t do.”

“Director. I, no matter how I think about it-”

Yoo In pronounced carefully as if she was about to spill out the complexity she had been harboring for the past few days.

However, Ki Yeon cut off her words mercilessly by saying, “Ms. Yoo In.” It was obvious that whatever she was going to say would be useless.

Her eyes, swirling with a mixture of slight resentment towards Ki Yeon, intense confusion, chaos, and anxiety, were still moist and damp, and sparkling.

See, you’re determined to enchant me. Ki Yeon swallowed the saliva pooled under his tongue inconspicuously and spoke as politely as possible.

“What’s the rush? What’s the problem?”

“…”

“Whether I’m sincere or not, whether I’ll change soon or not, Nam Yoo In can slowly observe that. Are you worried about Nam Yoo Jin? Then I’ll take care of that too. And what else is there? Tell me now.”

Ki Yeon leaned back, crossed his arms, and tilted his head askew.

He spoke with the intention of doing everything Yoo In said for now, but for some reason, Yoo In just looked at him quietly with a more subdued gaze than before.

Ki Yeon didn’t miss the timing.

“Nam Yoo In, you don’t dislike me. Do you?”

As his deep voice spread over the table, her thick eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Her lower lip was caught between her teeth and chewed vigorously, and ripples once again appeared in her large eyes that had been numb.

Ki Yeon realized once again. That Nam Yoo In was also attracted to him. No, this time he was certain.

If that wasn’t the case, she should have jumped up and left long ago, like the day she came to find her phone, but today she didn’t.

Ki Yeon’s lips curved upwards in a smooth arc. It was a very satisfied smile.

“There’s only one thing I want from Nam Yoo In. Not to avoid until you face your feelings. To stick close to my side until then.”

“…”

“It’s not that difficult, is it? Right?”

Ki Yeon smiled confidently.

Having confirmed very well that there was a place for him inside that seemingly infinitely small interior, he felt this was enough for today.

Once you firmly plant the roots, it’s easy to grow in size. Whether it’s business or a person’s heart.

“Why no answer? Is this difficult for Nam Yoo In too?”

Instead of answering, Yoo In took several deep breaths. Whether it was pride or if she was really confused, she seemed to dislike expressing it in words.

To this, Ki Yeon deliberately left her alone without probing further. He was already in the best mood.

At that moment, a staff member approached and popped the soap bubble where only the two of them existed.

“Excuse me.”

Bread, salad, and soup for appetizers were placed on the plain white tablecloth, and as Ki Yeon expected, Yoo In nibbled at the food.

Even after the barely eaten appetizers passed and the main dish of steak came out, Yoo In was no different.

She might have eaten one piece of the sliced meat. She pushed the rest to one side and only picked out the roasted potatoes and tomatoes to put in her mouth. Even that, she ate very little and glanced around, to which Ki Yeon laughed dejectedly.

“Can you even move your body like that?”

“I move just fine.”

“I remember Nam Yoo Jin had quite a good appetite.”

“Just because we’re sisters doesn’t mean we’re all similar. Rather, I’m so different from my elder sister that it’s a problem.”

Yoo In replied indifferently as she chewed on a small piece of tomato.

Well, Ki Yeon had long felt that the difference between Nam Yoo Jin and Nam Yoo In was not just worlds apart, but they didn’t even seem like sisters anymore.

Nam Yoo Jin was cunning to the point of being irritating, but Nam Yoo In was foolishly gentle, soft, and endlessly tender. They were in completely different categories from the start.

But there was one thing in common. They didn’t like people much and didn’t trust them easily.

Because of this, he had quite a hard time when he first met Nam Yoo Jin. He understood because there were understandable reasons, but he remembered not being able to empathize.

Among the reasons Nam Yoo Jin had, would Yoo In’s reasons be among them too?

Like with Nam Yoo Jin, would he fail to empathize again? Would Nam Yoo In be disappointed, or would she not care at all?

While these idle suppositions continued in Ki Yeon’s mind…

“Director?”

Ki Yeon had already put down the knife he was holding and was blankly staring at Yoo In.

His dark eyes, quickly regaining focus, habitually traced over the one who had called him.

On her face as white as if flour had been sprinkled, down her slightly concave forehead to her small, straight nose, below that the short philtrum and plump, tightly closed bright red lips.

The protruding collarbones and fair nape of the neck. There wasn’t a single part that didn’t make him impatient. There wasn’t anything he disliked.

Maybe that’s why. Even with the reality in front of him, his mind was still full of her.

Nam Yoo In, who appeared as a perfect taste, like clothes made to fit perfectly for him, in a desolate and empty heart with nothing whole.

How could I let you go?

“Why did you call?”

“Ah, you were just staring without eating, so…”

Yoo In mumbled while carefully looking at Ki Yeon. She seemed to want to ask if there was a problem but was hesitating.

Perhaps because they were sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows with the sun high in the sky, a faint blush had risen on her clear cheeks.

Ki Yeon smiled, narrowing his eyes with their long, single eyelids.

“What shall we do after we finish eating?”

“…Do we have to do something else?”

“Shall we go for a drive?”

Yoo In frowned slightly but didn’t explicitly refuse. It meant she was hesitant but not opposed.

Ki Yeon laughed softly.

It was a moment when he clearly realized that Nam Yoo In’s tail was one that was bound to be caught from the beginning.