He said he felt embarrassment, not a misunderstanding. It wasn’t a solitary applause, but the sound of two hands clapping together. Like lips that had met for an hour.

With one word, tension filled the previously uncomfortable atmosphere. When he expressed his emotions properly and said words that shook Hae Jin, she was defenseless.

“Did I upset you?”

His question was cautious. It didn’t suit the great Moon Tae Hong to be so considerate. Yet, she didn’t dislike this considerate Moon Tae Hong.

What kind of feeling was this?

“I wasn’t upset.”

One thing was certain: she wanted to show the same honesty he had shown her. Without hiding, just as she had felt it.

“If I was upset, it would have been for a whole hour.”

She let out a deep sigh mid-sentence. Her mind had already returned to dawn, and parts of her body were uncontrollable as they grasped at the edges of memory. Fearing her imagination might become reality, she needed to wrap this up quickly.

“Anyway, I didn’t dislike it either.”

She thought it ridiculous that grown adults would be so anxious over a kiss, but then again, the other party was her superior, Moon Tae Hong. As the heir to Yeonchang, perhaps it was understandable.

Hae Jin couldn’t keep her lips still. She pressed her teeth into her lips here and there, trying to shake off the sensation, but it only made her feel it more intensely.

Focusing on her lips, she didn’t even notice that his gaze was fixed on them.

It started to sting from biting too much. Just as she was about to lower the sun visor to check her lips, his long arm suddenly reached out in front of her.

Tae Hong gently held her chin and turned her face towards him. Would it be too presumptuous to think his eyes had turned affectionate when they met hers again?

While her mind wandered, distracted by his eyes, Tae Hong moved his hand a little higher. His destination was her swollen lips.

“Why look in the mirror? I can check for you.”

The gaze she had thought affectionate wavered once at her eyes, then lowered past her nose, finally settling on her lips. It felt hotter and more intense than when Hae Jin had been biting her own lips.

“They’re quite swollen.”

The brief look of concern that flashed across his face was fleeting and powerless. Tae Hong didn’t stop caressing her lips. He gently traced their outline, then pressed firmly on the swollen parts.

Feeling a strange sensation, thinking about the kiss would surely warrant a red card in her mind.

“It’s, it’s fine.”

Unable to push away the touch on her lips, she leaned her head back. She glanced at his withdrawn fingers, but quickly averted her gaze as he was still leaning his upper body towards her.

As if another step was needed.

“You clearly said that the hour-long kiss with me wasn’t bad, Representative Jung Hae Jin.”

He knew exactly which points to emphasize. ‘The hour-long kiss with me’ was the key point of that sentence.

She leaned back as far as she could, but couldn’t escape his gaze. It seemed he had no intention of letting her escape anyway.

“If you didn’t dislike it, then again…”

Just as Tae Hong was about to say more, a meeting official was seen walking towards the car over his shoulder.

“Team Leader, next time! Whatever it is, next time!”

Hae Jin quickly unlocked the door and got out. Tae Hong glanced at the approaching official, and with a hint of disappointment, turned back to his original position, one corner of his mouth lifted.

Both of them put on their professional smiles as the meeting began.

**

Even during the client meeting, Tae Hong’s gaze was constantly on Hae Jin. Hae Jin was busy concentrating, moving her hand, determined not to miss any of the meeting content.

When a somewhat difficult topic came up, she tensed the corners of her lips. Tae Hong didn’t miss even the wrinkles on her lips.

He wanted to taste those lips again, the ones that had been endlessly tormented at dawn.

He had playfully said 6 o’clock, but was leisurely preparing, expecting her to be about 30 minutes late. The diligent Jung Hae Jin really came at that time.

When he opened the door, her scent piercing through the dawn made him dizzy. He thought the high ponytail and her scent matched quite well, but her face was clear and even puffy.

He was about to check room service to order coffee when he glanced at her, and had to put down the phone he was holding. Enchanted by the neckline and shoulder line visible through her tied hair, he walked over.

He stood behind Hae Jin, who was brainstorming ideas by the floor-to-ceiling window. He casually threw out a comment because it was a good idea, but when she turned around, her hair tickling his chest finally ignited the fire.

What was it about her charm that went beyond ‘just right’ and couldn’t help but catch his eye? Her neckline, her hair, or her scent. Had the great Moon Tae Hong ever been so captivated by such simple things?

But you know what, Moon Tae Hong? You’re already captivated. Funnily enough, you can’t even say you’re not.

A chuckle escaped his lips, and the meeting suddenly fell silent.

“Team Leader. Is there a problem?”

The client employee tactfully paused his presentation and asked. The room fell silent due to Tae Hong, who was just twirling his pen without saying anything.

“Team Leader.”

Only when Hae Jin gently shook Tae Hong’s arm did the spinning pen stop. Their eyes met.

Jung Hae Jin’s flustered look wasn’t bad either. Of course, he preferred when she had that startled rabbit look in the car earlier.

“I’m sorry. Please continue.”

Tae Hong gestured for them to resume. The meeting started again, but Hae Jin looked at him with a slightly worried face.

Jung Hae Jin, don’t look at me like that. You’re the reason I’m losing my mind.

Whether she knew it or not, unlike him, Hae Jin focused on the meeting again. That was pretty too.

Throughout the meeting, he may have looked unfocused, but he had already grasped the content. Thanks to this, the meeting naturally concluded, and as always, ended with words of goodwill.

After dissuading the official who offered to accompany them to the parking lot, the two walked alone to where the car was. Hae Jin felt incredibly awkward walking half a step behind Tae Hong in this moment.

She even thought how nice it would be if this were a relay meeting instead.

Hae Jin, who got into the driver’s seat, quickly opened the notebook she was holding.

She moved quickly to the next location, finished another meeting, moved again, finished, and so on. She acted swiftly, hoping that by the time she finished, it would be time to return to her room.

For some reason, Tae Hong didn’t mention the kiss after that until the schedule was over.

Yes, it’s best to move on as if nothing happened. Of course, she knew this wasn’t the answer. But it was clear that she couldn’t think straight in her exhausted state.

And that thought was shattered in an instant as they rode the elevator up to their rooms after all the schedules were finished.

“Are you tired today too?”

“Pardon?”

Although she fully understood the intention behind his words, she had to pretend not to know as much as she could bear. It would be barely enough to talk about this with a clear mind, let alone when she had woken up at 6 AM.

“The meetings were reduced compared to yesterday, are you tired?”

“Ah, yes. Tired.”

As if she just understood, she put on a clumsy act. Although the meetings were reduced, she had spent all her remaining energy from the day’s meetings on him.

“Of course. I’m tired.”

On top of that, the early morning rise added fuel to her fatigue. With the cause right in front of her, her awkward acting gained more momentum.

“Do you know what time I woke up?”

Though she wasn’t wearing a watch on her wrist, she mimed as if she was.

“As early as 5:30 AM, I tell you.”

She looked up at Tae Hong with her eyes tightened, but there was no change in his face. She needed to act a bit more exaggerated.

“Ah, I’m so tired.”

Hae Jin slipped into the elevator that had just opened, mimicking a yawn with her hand. Tae Hong stood askew with one hand in his pocket.

He followed her into the elevator and pressed the button for their destination floor. Hae Jin continued to act tired, massaging her shoulders.

“You must be very tired.”

“Yesterday, today. I’m drooping.”

She even started punching her shoulders that she had been massaging.

“Team Leader, you must be more tired than me. You should rest early.”

She acted out one last yawn as if to drive the point home. Hae Jin exited the elevator first, and Tae Hong followed her without a word.

Now, if she could just enter her room in the middle of the corridor, Hae Jin would be today’s winner.

With the goal in sight, Hae Jin’s steps quickened. She trotted along, but the distance between her and Tae Hong didn’t widen.

Tae Hong, with his long legs, walked steadily behind her, maintaining a constant distance.

And finally, she stood in front of her room. How long had she waited for this moment? Hae Jin tapped her key card. With a beep, the door opened, and now she just had to enter.

“Team Leader, thank you for your hard work today. Then, I’ll knock on your door again at 6 AM tomorrow.”

She should have turned around and gone in after saying this, that should have been the end.

“Representative Jung Hae Jin.”

Tae Hong’s voice flowed over Hae Jin’s head as she turned around.

I haven’t even turned the doorknob yet, she thought about turning it while ignoring his words, but her hand no longer listened to her.

“Don’t you remember what you said earlier?”

“Wh-what?”

Why is my voice trembling here? If it does, you lose, Jung Hae Jin.

“Think carefully. You said something earlier, didn’t you?”

What did I say, I must have said hundreds of words today, what answer does he want?

She quickly rewound the day’s events in her mind. And there was one scene that stuck out.

It was clearly in the car before the meeting. When Tae Hong’s touch caressed her lips, pressing and rubbing them, saying he would check instead of a mirror, at that moment when she saw the client employee approaching, what I said was. That is, those words.

Hae Jin’s subtly moving facial muscles froze all at once. Tae Hong didn’t miss it and his eyes sparkled. She had remembered.

“Looks like you remembered.”

In the end, her clumsy attempt to avoid the situation came back twofold. Along with a painful lesson, the words that flew at her stiffened her entire body. She remembered very clearly.

“Team. Lea. Der. Next. Time. What. Ever. It. Is. Next. Time.”

He, with his good memory, mechanically spat out each syllable of what Hae Jin had said. She clearly thought it was words to escape a crisis situation.

“I’m thinking of listening to your words about doing whatever next time, but what exactly did you want to do next?”

However, that was just her own thought.