Yeongin hurriedly finished preparing and went to work. While walking from the parking lot to the elevator, her phone vibrated in her hand.
The caller was Seonghyuk.
Looking at the screen with a blank expression, she found herself in front of the elevator without realizing it.
It was at that moment she heard a familiar voice nearby.
“You’re not answering my calls again?”
Yeongin’s shoulders twitched. Turning her head, she saw Seonghyuk standing with a frown.
“…No.”
Perhaps it was due to the lingering effects of last night. His neat suit concealed a sturdy and masculine body, which seemed more awkward and embarrassing than just an hour ago.
Whether it was because she had intensely personal thoughts in such a public place or for some other reason, she didn’t know.
“But why are you just standing there?”
“I was about to answer.”
“Seems like you don’t want to answer my calls again, just like last time.”
“Well, that’s not true.”
Yeongin, who had to swallow the thought that, compared to the day after they kissed, today might require not just ignoring calls but changing her number, mindlessly pressed the elevator button repeatedly.
While scrutinizing her, Seonghyuk suddenly raised his right hand.
“Do you have a fever?”
His large hand pressed against her round forehead.
Surprised, Yeongin moved away from his hand touching her forehead, looking around quickly.
“Why are you doing this? Someone might see.”
Seonghyuk casually tilted his head as if he couldn’t hear anything.
“Why is your face so red if you don’t have a fever?”
Yeongin, biting her lip, couldn’t say out loud that she couldn’t deny thinking about his lustful gaze and sensual expression from last night.
“Is it too much all of a sudden? Do you have any pain, specifically?”
“No, I don’t.”
Despite his worried tone, his fresh expression made the words sound ironic.
It was just a slight muscle ache and fatigue. Perhaps you could call it a not unpleasant aftereffect.
When Seonghyuk let out a chuckle, Yeongin felt her phone vibrating in her hand. Glancing at him, she confirmed the name ‘Ahn Haeyun’ and answered the call.
“Oh, Haeyun.”
-Team Leader, where are you now?
“Parking lot. Wait at the elevator. What’s up?”
-There’s a dating news that just came out. Haven’t you seen it yet?
“I haven’t. Who are the subjects of the dating news?”
-It’s Team Leader.
“Me?”
Yeongin’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.
Did someone catch her going into Seonghyuk’s senior’s house last night and coming out this morning? Maybe someone saw her being embraced by Seonghyuk senior in front of the pub? Could it be from the day they commuted together on the subway?
While reviewing the past situations, she didn’t even consider other names. She was convinced that the dating partner was, of course, Cha Seonghyuk. However, an unexpected name was heard.
-Sunbae Seojingyo.
The fact that there was a dating rumor itself was more bewildering for her than the rumor itself.
“Seojingyo sunbae?”
Only then did Yeongin remember who she was currently with and turned her head abruptly.
As expected, Seonghyuk’s face was deeply wrinkled.
“No, Ms. Kim. It’s really not true.”
Yeongin held onto her mobile phone and had been repeating the same words for over an hour. Of course, the callers were all different.
Kim Reporter, Park Reporter, Im Reporter, Yoon Reporter.
Handling these repeated calls for explanations was impossible, and that’s why Yeongin had to mechanically respond with an expressionless face.
In fact, as a manager, such situations were not at all unfamiliar. Receiving confirmation calls like these when the assigned actor is surrounded by dating rumors was routine.
The only difference this time was that she was the subject of the dating rumor.
Ideally, she wanted to turn off her phone altogether or not answer calls. However, she knew that if she avoided journalists’ calls, it could lead to trouble for her actors under the “guilt by association” principle, and she had to bear with it.
“We’ll send out a press release soon. Yes, go ahead. Okay, please go in.”
Receiving dozens of phone calls, a drained Yeongin, who hadn’t even opened her laptop yet, pushed it aside and collapsed onto the desk in the small conference room.
To avoid disrupting the work of other team members due to the incessant phone calls, she had left the office and escaped to the small conference room.
After a few seconds with closed eyes, the sound of the door opening penetrated her ears.
Turning her head 180 degrees while still lying down, Yeongin saw the face of the person involved in the dating rumor.
“I’m here, sunbae?”
Jingyo smiled and closed the door.
“I thought you might be dying. I brought coffee, so drink it and pull yourself together.”
He put a takeout coffee cup in front of Yeongin and took a seat in the adjacent chair after pulling it out.
“What’s with this leisure? Is this your first dating rumor since your debut?”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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