“Hah.”

With one sigh, his deadly gaze flashes before my eyes.

“Hah.”

With one sigh, I recall him approaching, saying it wasn’t a mistake.

“Hah.”

With one sigh, I hear his voice saying my lips were the evidence.

Ugh, this won’t do. Hae Jin kicked off the blanket and got up. Whether her eyes were open or closed, it was him who was wreaking havoc on her thought circuits.

Just how many sighs had it been? As if that would solve anything.

Judging it futile to force sleep any longer, she sat up. Leaning her back against the headboard, she pulled the blanket up a bit more. Naturally, her gaze drifted to the room door.

Just hours ago, he had been here with her. And they had kissed. It was their second kiss.

More importantly, could Hae Jin say with 100% certainty that both times were mistakes? But she couldn’t.

“The problem is that it wasn’t a mistake.”

She wanted to brush it off as a mistake, pretend it never happened, but that was impossible. Emotions had begun to seep through the cracks, and hadn’t he already declared his intentions?

“This isn’t right, is it?”

Dating a superior. That’s what they call office romance, right? But I can’t do that. She was the one put in place to prevent any office romance or scandal.

“Jung Hae Jin, get a grip. If you’ve taken the money, you need to do the job.”

She shook her head vigorously, chastising herself. But no matter what, the nagging sensation persisted, and she pulled the blanket over her head and lay down again. Even if she slept now, she’d only get two hours of rest.

**

She barely managed to wake up on time. Current time: 5:50 AM. In front of Tae Hong’s room door.

As soon as she got up, she stared at the person in the mirror for a long time. Who are you? Her face was puffy from last night’s drinking.

On top of that, she hadn’t slept well, so it was to be expected. Though she was concerned about her appearance, knocking on his door without being late took precedence.

She pressed the doorbell. Just as she was adjusting her clothes, the door opened.

“Team leader?”

Her voice cracked in surprise. They had been together until late last night, and both had been drinking, yet why was she the only one with a puffy face?

As she stared intently, wasn’t Tae Hong staring right back at her? Now she felt like her face would flush just from him looking at her.

“You’re not late.”

Tae Hong’s voice was nonchalant. It felt as if he was saying, “Did anything happen between us yesterday?”

“Of course. How could I be late?”

Hae Jin also artificially lifted the corners of her mouth as if nothing had happened. She wondered if his feelings might have changed overnight.

“Come in. I’m almost ready.”

This was the root of the problem. Hae Jin subtly stepped back.

“It’s fine. I’ll, here, this place. I’ll wait right here.”

She firmly planted her feet, making it clear she absolutely would not enter this room. Hae Jin’s eyes were filled with determination.

“Suit yourself.”

But contrary to her unwavering resolve, the response was deflating. Tae Hong shrugged and closed the door.

Click, the room door firmly shut in front of Hae Jin’s eyes.

What kind of situation is this? Her rolling eyes fixed on the closed door. Shouldn’t he have insisted one more time, at least for courtesy’s sake? Above all, Jung Hae Jin’s pride was severely hurt.

Of course, she was the one who had refused, but Tae Hong had shut the door so abruptly, without a hint of emotion. It was her fingers that weren’t cooperating as she wished.

She had already pressed the doorbell again of her own accord. She had something to say to him anyway.

“Is something wrong?”

At his still nonchalant voice, Hae Jin felt like something was about to boil over.

“I’ll wait inside.”

This time, Hae Jin answered while looking directly at Tae Hong, without rolling her eyes. Tae Hong bent down to face Hae Jin.

Hae Jin slightly leaned her head back at the approaching face, but her feet remained firmly in place.

“What do you think will happen if you come in?”

Though he was smiling casually, his tone was threatening, unlike his curved eyes.

“Don’t worry.”

What was she not to worry about? His even more curved eyes were urging Hae Jin to answer.

“I’ll manage well on my own.”

As she brushed past him, Tae Hong let out an incredulous chuckle. He shook his head and closed the door.

Hae Jin stood in the spot where they had shared their first kiss, looking down at the view through the clear glass.

“What’s this, you want to do it again? Was this Jung Hae Jin’s way of implying it?”

Looking again, she really thought they could make a terrace here.

Of course, she hadn’t come in to see this, but implying it? Wasn’t this just him thinking what he wanted to think?

Hae Jin turned away from the view. He was standing a few steps away, observing her actions.

“I don’t intend to cross any more lines with you, Team Leader.”

Hae Jin stared directly at Tae Hong with a firm voice and resolute expression. This time, it was Tae Hong who was taken aback.

“What exactly did we do?”

Unlike Tae Hong’s incredulous voice, Hae Jin’s expression remained unchanged. Tae Hong still seemed relaxed.

“Fine, okay. Let’s say we did something. But why are you doing this?”

Tae Hong stood askew with his arms crossed. His voice conveyed urgency rather than tension.

Hae Jin could tell that he didn’t like this situation.

“I thought we needed to make things clear.”

However, for Hae Jin, the current situation was more important than Tae Hong’s feelings. They were on a business trip now, and a major project was waiting for them.

If personal emotions got involved, especially with the heir of Yeonchang Group, would it be manageable?

“Make what clear?”

“Our relationship.”

Tae Hong’s brow furrowed slightly. The creases deepened and then smoothed out. He uncrossed his arms and rubbed his furrowed brow.

“What kind of relationship do we have?”

Tae Hong took a slight step towards Hae Jin. But Hae Jin moved to the side. She was already aware of the glass wall behind her.

“You’re my superior and I’m your executive assistant. That’s the extent of our relationship.”

Hae Jin didn’t avoid Tae Hong’s gaze. But the morning sunlight coming through the glass wall once again made his face dazzling.

“Just that kind of relationship, huh.”

Tae Hong moved his hand from his brow to his lips. It felt like he was reminding her of what they had done. But after last night filled with sighs, she had barely managed to pull herself together.

Get a grip. She couldn’t let herself be swayed by emotions that were nothing more than a fleeting infatuation. It was a job she had struggled to get. She wanted to be useful to him, but it had started with Jun Tae’s proposal after all.

Moreover, didn’t she know that he had a great interest in his son’s marriage? So how could she rashly start any kind of relationship with him?

From the very beginning, it was a relationship that had started on the wrong foot.

So the line she had decided to draw needed to be scratched out firmly and in one go.

“I’m the Chairman’s parachute appointment. So this is inappropriate.”

In the end, Hae Jin brought up Jun Tae, and she could tell from his expression that this was the most effective method. He looked at her as if he was looking at someone he couldn’t stand.

“That’s all you can say.”

Even though he growled, Hae Jin didn’t even blink. It was the final method to cut off the emotions between him and her.

“Because it’s the truth.”

She drove the wedge in. As you said, we didn’t do anything, so this should end as a mere happenstance for both of us.

“Alright. I understand Jung Hae Jin’s feelings well.”

The atmosphere changed. An extremely businesslike tone and dry voice. The playful situation from before was nowhere to be found.

“Let’s go exercise.”

Tae Hong turned away from Hae Jin just like that. Hae Jin followed him, not even having time to collect her thoughts. Then he suddenly stopped.

Tae Hong irritably ran his hand through his hair. His usually smooth forehead was visibly creased.

“The funny thing is, no matter how I think about it.”

A sarcastic voice, a gaze that blatantly disregarded the other person. These were the emotions Hae Jin read from him.

“Isn’t this an overreaction for just two kisses?”

Hae Jin bit the inside of her lip without him noticing. He must know that two kisses could eventually spark the next step.

“It’s not like we slept together.”

Because there was clearly that possibility, so it was like admitting that her feelings were like that. A slightly more lascivious voice and gaze flitted across his face.

“This makes me feel too wronged, you know.”

It was the moment when Jung Hae Jin’s strategy to smother even that small spark before it showed signs of igniting crumbled clumsily.

“I’ve heard Jung Hae Jin’s opinion well.”

Tae Hong’s long arm stretched out towards Hae Jin.

Of all things, why did she have to be standing just at that distance?

It seemed ridiculous to dodge, so Hae Jin stood still and watched his arm extend. The long arm grabbed Hae Jin’s shoulder again. His grip kneaded her shoulder.

“Relax. You look like someone’s going to eat you.”

You’re someone who’s fully capable of that, she thought.

“If you’re this tense, it makes everything you said seem like a lie.”

As the hand on her shoulder pulled her forcefully, her unprepared upper body tilted. Not missing that opening, Tae Hong’s lips touched her ear.

More precisely, his lips touched her earlobe, and his breath entered her eardrum.

“That line you mentioned, watch it carefully.”

Was this a declaration of war?

Her thoughts quickly became tangled. A mess of knotted threads filled her thought circuits.

Tae Hong released Hae Jin very slowly. His two fingers caressed her earlobe where his lips had touched. The redness that started from her ear spread to her face.

She had denied it in front of him, but her body completely disagreed. She was at a loss for what to do in the face of this uncontrollable reaction.

There was no way to explain why she turned red at just one touch from him when she had verbally expressed dislike. Her only thought was to hide the fact that her body and mind were operating separately as much as possible.

She approached him, maintaining her restrained emotions as much as possible at his gesture.

She thought he was waiting for her to follow, but with a rather serious face, Tae Hong raised his fingers in a scissors shape.

“Can Jung Hae Jin protect her parachute strings well?”

The finger scissors he made in front of her eyes mimicked cutting, repeatedly joining and separating.

“If the parachute strings are the obstacle in Jung Hae Jin’s heart, I could cut them for you.”

It was a statement that swept away everything Hae Jin had said.

If your concern is Jun Tae, it meant that he would cut that off for you as well.

All the words she had uttered came back like a boomerang.

Moon Tae Hong was not someone who would ever let emotions slide.