Tae Hong’s room was on a different level from where Hae Jin was staying. Even though it was on the same floor, right across from her room, his place was of a different class.

He told her to wait and entered another room. As he disappeared, Hae Jin looked around the room once and approached the window as if enchanted.

Wow, it was a magnificent view that elicited an exclamation. The floor-to-ceiling windows played a part, but she thought.

What would it feel like if there was a terrace here, she mumbled to herself as Tae Hong approached.

“It should be fine.”

“Oh my!”

Startled, Hae Jin turned around abruptly, and Tae Hong’s chest came into full view.

The distance was too close, but above all, the workout clothes that fit his upper body perfectly were the problem. His upper body muscles were revealed like a silhouette.

Thump thump.

Her oblivious heart started beating rapidly. Yes, Hae Jin. This is the awe of seeing a well-sculpted statue like a work of art. There’s no other meaning.

But even the words she affirmed like a mantra evaporated in an instant.

“Even at dawn, Manager Jung Hae Jin’s face is white.”

A strange feeling enveloped her whole body from the closeness where she could feel his breath and the place. She didn’t even realize she was breathing unnaturally.

She wasn’t sure if her eyes were dazzled because of the dawn sunlight or because of his gaze.

What was certain was that she couldn’t look at him properly. She hid her head to conceal her face that seemed to be burning more and more, but it was blatantly revealed to him as he lifted her chin.

That she was embarrassed, that she was confused about what emotions this situation was evoking.

She was trapped in his arms. His hot gaze was fixed on her. From her forehead to the tip of her nose, and then to her lips, it slowly reached her entire face.

Every part felt like it was burning hot as it received his pouring gaze.

“If I make you cry, will the tip of your nose turn red?”

The tip of her nose, where Tae Hong’s fingertips first touched her when she was crying in the pantry.

It felt like the feeling she had then at the tip of her nose was reviving. The tip of her nose had turned red from crying. Could it be that everything he had done until now was because he wanted to make me cry? She was curious.

“Do you want to make me cry?”

“Is that a provocation?”

It wasn’t a provocation, but a curiosity stirring in her mind, she should have said, but in front of him, her head and actions kept playing separately. This time too, her lips moved on their own.

“Why don’t you try to make me cry?”

She couldn’t take back the words she had already uttered. Even if it was a mistake, there was also a feeling of how could he possibly make her cry.

A provocation that wasn’t a provocation. That’s about where it was, but her thoughts went astray. She didn’t know that she had touched a desire that shouldn’t have been awakened, with a provocation that shouldn’t have been made.

Tae Hong slowly lowered his face towards her. Their noses touched. As if not satisfied, he slowly tilted his head to the side, still staring only at her.

Tae Hong lightly brushed his lips against hers. When Hae Jin’s eyes widened in surprise, Tae Hong pressed his lips against hers again. The trembling tip of her lips gradually calmed down.

Although her eyes were closed, the touching lips boiled like lava. With only his shoulders to hold onto, she barely accepted the intense surge.

As her trembling legs seemed about to collapse, his thick arm lightly wrapped around her waist. Naturally, her chest touched his.

Through the thin workout clothes, she clearly felt it. That his heart was beating just like hers.

**

It seems they kissed around 6 AM, but the time they left the room together was approaching 7 AM. In other words, they had been kissing for nearly an hour.

“There’s another way to make the tip of your nose red without making you cry.”

That was Tae Hong’s first words that flowed out between their lips, which had been pressed together and were now slightly apart, covered in each other’s saliva. At his words, her face burned again, and he trapped her in his arms once more.

Hae Jin hit Tae Hong’s chest with her weakened hand before he finally let go.

“Your stamina is quite lacking. Let’s go exercise.”

The gym after a kiss. Not just a dawn kiss, but dawn exercise. It was a series of moments that should never exist in Hae Jin’s life.

“Team Leader. Do we really have to go to the gym?”

“Don’t you know that a gym is one of the ways to attract customers to a hotel?”

We even kissed, do you have to speak so pushingly? Meanwhile, she didn’t forget to take notes.

“You have to see and try it yourself, checking the flow of exercise equipment is important.”

“That, if we leave it to the team in charge.”

“Then why did you say you’d skip it three times?”

She was at a loss for words. Yes, she gave a soulless answer and was dragged to the gym. Although she walked on her own two feet of her own free will, this was certainly no different from being dragged.

Unlike Tae Hong, who was exercising and sweating, Hae Jin was just dabbling here and there carelessly. But her eyes were following Tae Hong.

Why did it feel like she was the only one conscious of Tae Hong?

She couldn’t concentrate on exercising. She intended to wait until he finished his workout. Then a man who looked like he had done a lot of gym work approached Hae Jin.

“Did you come alone?”

“Pardon?”

She had barely managed to lift one weight when she heard the question and hurriedly let go. Thump, the sound of it falling to the ground was quite loud. Of course, Tae Hong, who was exercising, glanced at Hae Jin.

“You don’t seem familiar with the gym. Shall I show you?”

The man approached her and tried to adjust the equipment, momentarily blocking Tae Hong from her view.

“It’s okay.”

Hae Jin strongly declined, but the man didn’t budge.

“Ah, you’ve put on too much weight. Just this much weight is fine.”

The man’s excessive kindness felt burdensome to Hae Jin. She just wanted to get away quickly.

“Hae Jin.”

It was clearly her name, but there was no one here who would call her like this.

But when the overly kind man in front of her stepped aside for a moment, wasn’t Tae Hong standing right there behind him?

“Hae Jin, what are you doing here?”

His voice was cold, and there wasn’t even an expression on his face. It meant he didn’t like this situation.

“What? Oh. Oh. This person said he would show me how to exercise.”

Tae Hong was already right next to Hae Jin. And he placed his hand over the exercise equipment she was holding.

“She’s with me, who are you?”

Tae Hong’s fierce gaze turned to the man. The man looked back and forth between them, then scratched his head embarrassedly and disappeared with an apology.

Only after seeing him exercising on the opposite side did Tae Hong move away from Hae Jin.

“It seems Manager Jung Hae Jin doesn’t stop men from approaching.”

His voice was full of perfect sarcasm and mockery. The words of gratitude she was about to say were swallowed back.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just, that’s how it looked to me.”

Damn. I feel like I’m about to let out a bit of steam now. Who is he to say such things?

“You’re being rude.”

Hae Jin finally stood up and faced Tae Hong.

“If I were that kind of woman, would I have kissed you for an hour?”

The moment she shouted, she realized. This place was not the private room where only the two of them were, but a public exercise place, the gym.

She left the gym faster than light, covering her face with a towel. Even as she fully felt people’s gazes on the back of her head, Tae Hong laughed for a long time looking at her back.

**

Throughout the entire journey to the next business trip destination, Hae Jin didn’t speak to Tae Hong. She only answered briefly to questions Tae Hong asked.

Would he think it’s strange that I timed the kiss? What if he thinks I’m a woman who just kisses anyone?

All sorts of thoughts came to her mind. Even while driving, even while Tae Hong was asking questions, her mind was full of the kiss.

“Manager Jung Hae Jin.”

Unlike her, Tae Hong was still rational and acted as if nothing had happened. Maybe that irritated her more.

Am I the only one who’s anxious? Am I the only one who’s embarrassed? We kissed together, did I kiss alone? She even felt wronged, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to bring it up first.

Hae Jin was the first to mention the kiss, and he hadn’t said anything about it.

“This company needs a bit more attention. It’s a place where we need to solidify the platform base.”

Tae Hong was explaining the importance of the company in detail, but there was no particular response from Hae Jin.

“Manager Jung Hae Jin?”

Hae Jin only responded when Tae Hong called her again.

“Are you listening to what I’m saying?”

“I’m listening.”

“What did I say?”

Hae Jin bit her lower lip. Honestly, she couldn’t remember what he had said. The kiss that filled her mind was too busy deflecting words.

“I’m sorry. I was momentarily lost in thought.”

Hae Jin had no choice but to confess. Tae Hong put down the documents he was holding.

“Were you thinking about the kiss we had for an hour?”

You don’t need to specifically mention the time and action. The more you talk about it, the more it keeps coming to mind.

“It’s not exactly that.”

Hae Jin evaded the question. If she said yes, she felt wronged. We did it together, why is the embarrassment only my share?

“Team Leader. I’m asking because I don’t quite understand.”

So she had to ask. To properly conclude this business trip, to properly carry out the project with him, it was clear that with this mindset, nothing would work out.

“I mean, that action we did in your room at dawn.”

“The kiss.”

“Yes, that’s right. That kiss.”

Tae Hong was still calmly observing her.

“It wasn’t just me who did it, so why am I the only one thinking deeply about it?”

It’s unfair. It takes two to clap.

“Aren’t you affected at all, Team Leader?”

They had just arrived at their next destination. Was it just her imagination that his expression seemed to crack slightly?

“Do I look unaffected to you, Manager Jung Hae Jin?”

“Yes.”

At her short answer, Tae Hong let out a mocking laugh. She hoped he would say something, but a heavy silence followed.

Clack, as if trying to relieve the frustration, he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Manager Jung Hae Jin.”

Tae Hong’s low bass voice resonated. Hae Jin couldn’t bring herself to turn her head towards him. She was worried about what he might say.

What if he says it was a mistake? What if he says it was just an accident? If he says that, would she be able to brush it off lightly?

Could she really act as if nothing had happened?

“It wasn’t an impulsive action on my part.”

The gentle voice that came softly carried sincerity. It might seem funny to talk about sincerity after just one kiss, but looking at his eyes and expression, how could such words come out?

He was more serious than ever.

“I’m the one who feels the most embarrassed.”

He was showing his honest self openly and completely.

You’re not the only one who felt it, we clapped together.