The office, with its owner absent, was enveloped in silence.

The only noise was the mechanical hum of the ceiling-mounted air conditioning system.

Nam Yoo In, rolling her eyes to scan the surroundings, rubbed the silk necktie the office owner had given her before leaving. Why did that man give her this?

The vest Do Ki Yeon had taken off before the tie lay strewn across the desk.

As she stared blankly, her gaze naturally landed on the crystal nameplate at the edge of the desk.

“Executive Director… Do Ki Yeon.”

Yoo In pronounced it slowly as if reading unfamiliar letters.

After mulling over the man’s name a few times, she carefully rose from her seat.

Looking around, the very large office, befitting his position, felt quite empty.

A long horizontal desk, a bookshelf covering one wall, the leather sofa where Yoo In had been sitting, and a tea table with cooling peppermint tea. That was all.

As if trying to fill that emptiness, the man’s scent permeated the floating air.

“…”

The necktie in her hand and the scent of his cologne.

Looking down at the silk material with a faint luxury brand logo, Yoo In thought she might vaguely understand why Ki Yeon had given her this.

Just as she was about to smile at his unexpectedly childish and delicate behavior, there was a knock from outside.

Yoo In immediately took her hand off the crystal nameplate she had been touching and straightened up like a meerkat.

“Oh, were you looking around?”

The young-faced man Ki Yeon had called Secretary Kim appeared.

Feeling caught like a thief, Yoo In awkwardly smiled. Even though all she had done was run her hand over the man’s name engraved on the nameplate once.

Whatever he made of Yoo In’s smile, Secretary Kim didn’t seem inclined to comment on it.

“I’ll leave a blanket in case you’re cold. Oh, don’t you like peppermint? Should I change it to a different tea?”

The man spoke, noticing the untouched mug. Yoo In replied awkwardly.

“No, it’s fine. Um… thank you for your consideration.”

“It’s nothing. If you need anything, I’m in the office across the hall, so just call. Please make yourself comfortable.”

After showing kindness that seemed almost excessive, the man gave one last diligent smile before leaving.

Yoo In, who had been frozen like a rooted statue, only relaxed when she heard the click of the door closing.

Then she returned to the sofa where she had been sitting before. It seemed better to sit quietly, not knowing who else might come in.

A blanket identical to the one she had seen in Ki Yeon’s car was neatly placed on the table, but she just glanced at it without touching it.

How long had she spent killing time, sunk into the plush sofa, blankly staring at the ceiling?

“…My phone!”

Remembering her nearly dead phone, she dug it out of her bag.

The shattered screen was held together by the attached film.

However, the touch still didn’t work, and parts of the display were cut off and hard to see.

Yoo In didn’t give up, trying everything she could think of – turning it on and off, pressing hard, even hitting it.

But in the end…

“Ah, forget it.”

She decided to give up and send it for repair.

The device she had used for over 3 years, too lazy to replace, was now useless and tossed aside.

The fallen screen seemed to change a bit, but since it couldn’t be operated anyway, she completely ignored it.

Now Yoo In’s next worry was ‘When should I go buy a new phone?’

Just then, the previously quiet hallway outside the office became quite noisy, involuntarily drawing her attention.

The sound of many people coming and going. Murmuring voices. Among them, the most audible was an angry shout.

“…That Bang Jin!”

“…Enough…please.”

“…Anyway, you’re… useless, useless!”

As she was straining to hear up to ‘useless’, the door to Ki Yeon’s office burst open with great force.

Startled by the sound, Yoo In almost fell as she stood up, and a man’s amused voice sounded behind her.

“What are you doing? Trying to make me laugh as soon as I arrive?”

She lifted her head to see Ki Yeon entering and closing the door, wearing only a white dress shirt.

Upon seeing the familiar face, criticism came before welcome, due to her flustered state.

“Ah, you startled me.”

“Why are you startled? What were you doing?”

“I wasn’t doing anything. It was just noisy outside and then the door suddenly opened, so I was surprised. I thought it might be another stranger.”

“Another?”

Approaching Yoo In as he asked, the man picked up the ruined phone and frowned.

“What happened to this? Did you throw it out of boredom?”

“I didn’t throw it. I dropped it earlier before meeting you, sir. That’s why I couldn’t answer your call.”

“It wasn’t because of Nam Yoo In’s friend?”

The calm baritone voice, using ‘friend’ despite knowing her name, was full of certainty.

Yoo In just shook her head, not wanting to explain in detail.

Ki Yeon looked at the phone and Yoo In suspiciously, but soon tossed the device onto the table.

“Looks like you’ll need a new one.”

The man leaned his broad shoulders back against the backrest and smiled leisurely.

It was a suspiciously relaxed smile, but since she did need a new phone, Yoo In glumly replied, “I suppose so.”

As Ki Yeon answered a timely vibration, Yoo In unwrapped the necktie still wound around her hand.

“Oh…”

The thin silk was already wrinkled. It had been fine until just now, when did this happen? Her wavering eyes instinctively began to check Ki Yeon’s reaction.

The man who had ended his call lifted his gaze from his phone.

“This.”

Her flustered hands fiddled with the wrinkled part. Ki Yeon chuckled as if in disbelief.

“I guess I shouldn’t put anything in Nam Yoo In’s hands.”

“…”

“It’s not just once, is it?”

As he said this, he gently took back the necktie.

Despite his chiding tone, his face was spread with mischief.

“Dry…”

Yoo In was about to say she’d really get it dry cleaned this time, but couldn’t continue.

She quietly watched as his hand, looking even bigger today, held the soft fabric and waved it above her head.

The tie, swaying like a dance, settled on both her shoulders. Just as she thought ‘Why this?’, Yoo In’s neck was suddenly pulled forward.

She drew in a sharp breath and bit her lip.

“What dry cleaning?”

The husky voice drawled lazily, touching her nose bridge.

She stared at the handsome features filling her vision, unable to breathe or blink, as he came right up to her face.

The nimble hunter slowly examined the small animal in distress, then bumped foreheads once before retreating with a grin.

“You need to breathe.”

At Ki Yeon’s words, like a signal, Yoo In’s sealed lips parted, exhaling the trapped oxygen with a “Whoa.”

Even with deep breaths, her heart still painfully raced, not satisfied. Irritation surged. She was annoyed that her heart kept aching despite doing only what she was told not to do.

“Sir, please stop these jokes for real.”

“Wasn’t it fun?”

“Fun? Maybe for you, sir, but how is this… Ah, really! I said stop it.”

Discovering the necktie loosely tied in a ribbon below her neck as she spoke angrily, Ki Yeon laughed like a mischievous elementary school student.

“It’s pretty.”

Pretty, this? At the nonsense, her insides burned with anger. It felt like talking to a wall.

Giving up on words that didn’t seem to get through, she tried to untie it immediately, but Ki Yeon interfered.

“Stay still. I’m telling you it’s really pretty.”

“Ah, come on!”

When her hand tried to rise, he blocked it, and when she calmed down thinking it was over and tried to untie it, he caught on like lightning and stopped her. They squabbled like children for a while.

Ki Yeon kept laughing, finding it funny how Yoo In was dying of annoyance.

As Yoo In, irritated to her limit and tired from wrestling with the man, leaned her head back on the sofa with a thud, a hateful laugh sounded.

“I told you to leave it alone. You really don’t listen.”

“…”

Ignore it. Ignoring is the answer. As Yoo In, wearing the silk ribbon, glared into space, thinking to herself without Ki Yeon knowing, it happened.

Knock knock!

Another knock sounded. Yoo In, startled, straightened her head and met Ki Yeon’s flashing eyes.

Ki Yeon, withdrawing the leisurely attitude he had maintained until now, very nimbly untied the knot. As the fabric slipped out like a snake, quickly unwinding and wrapping around Ki Yeon’s fingers, the office door opened.

“Sir, I’ve brought the items you mentioned.”

This time, it was the polite man she had encountered in the hallway.

Ki Yeon, who had stuffed the necktie, now more wrinkled from being tied, into a corner of the sofa, spoke in a stern voice without a trace of playfulness.

“Bring it here.”

Yoo In, saved from an embarrassing situation thanks to Ki Yeon’s quick response, glanced at the man.

The expressionless man was also looking at Yoo In. His stoic eyes winked, visible only to her.

Anyway, these people were experts at playing with others.

The corners of her mouth tickled, but Yoo In moistened her dry lips and turned her head away from Ki Yeon.

“Are you leaving work right away?”

The man asked Ki Yeon as he came closer and set down two shopping bags.

Ki Yeon shook his left hand to check his watch before answering.

“About 30 minutes. You’re monitoring in real-time, right?”

“Yes. There’s nothing unusual.”

“Have everyone leave in an hour.”

“Understood.”

After this very dry and businesslike exchange, the man left as quietly and politely as his appearance suggested.

With the intruder gone, Yoo In relaxed her shoulders, releasing the tension. She felt so uncomfortable and nervous around strangers that being alone with Ki Yeon seemed the most comfortable.

“Is he also your secretary?”

Ki Yeon, who had been rummaging through the shopping bags, suddenly turned to Yoo In with fierce eyes.

“Why are you asking that?”

“No, just… I was curious.”

Was this the same man who had been teasing and laughing just moments ago? His coldly hardened face was nothing short of beastly.

As Yoo In’s round eyes wandered, intimidated without knowing why, he sighed, showing his displeasure.

Ki Yeon silently took out the contents of the shopping bag with rough gestures.

“Don’t worry about such things, just give me your hand.”

“Huh…?”

What lay on his palm, suddenly seeking her hand, was a small box she had seen many times before.

The mint-colored box that young women supposedly love. The box everyone posts on SNS for validation.

As the man opened the lid and removed the covering wrapper, a clean silver chain lay sleeping, shimmering brilliantly.

“Your hand.”

Along with the urging, he took Yoo In’s right hand at will.

With a gentle tinkling sound, the delicate chain left the box and settled on her white skin, and with a click, the lock was fastened.

As her arm returned, heavy after completing its task, Yoo In blinked blankly and raised her wrist to examine the bracelet closely.

The design was quite simple. The twisted chain and the small padlock charm in the center, studded with tiny cubic zirconia, sparkled, and above all, it fit perfectly on her wrist, which was thinner than most.

As if custom-made.

“Do you like it?”

Ki Yeon asked, tilting his head askew, the cold light on his face somewhat diminished.

“Isn’t this… expensive?”

“I asked if you liked it, and that’s your answer?”

Clicking his tongue softly at Yoo In, who was still staring blankly at the bracelet, Ki Yeon opened the remaining shopping bag.

And he thrust the box he took out from there into Yoo In’s arms as well.

“Here, the second presentation ceremony.”

Seeing the item that landed on her lap, Yoo In silently opened her mouth in a round shape.

The second gift the man had given her was a new mobile phone.