Even the sound of cats meowing couldn’t be heard in the quiet officetel corridor, and the lights had gone out.

One waiting for permission, and one hesitating to give it.

The sensor light turned on with Hae Jin’s small movement. It illuminated the darkness between the two. Tae Hong didn’t miss the chance to wedge into that gap.

“Have you finished thinking?”

The time for contemplation wasn’t long. She merely hesitated to voice the answer that needed to be spoken. Instead of replying, her eyelids blinked slowly.

If she refused, would he leave quietly? Well, knowing he wasn’t so easily deterred, she shook her head.

“I suppose I could offer you a glass of water.”

Hae Jin caught a noticeably satisfied look in his eyes.

“Let’s go up.”

As Hae Jin tried to pull her suitcase that had been pushed to one side, he once again grabbed the handle.

The fingertips that brushed against him were hot. She really needed to cool her increasingly heated feelings with cold water, just as he had said.

“I’ll do it in one go.”

He extended his hand, urging her to lead the way. Hae Jin quietly exhaled a short breath and took the lead.

Even the short walk to her home with him was tense. It felt like the back of her head was tingling. What did her back view look like, her mind was busy with all sorts of thoughts.

7th floor, where Hae Jin’s home is. Tae Hong had been looking around since earlier. Well, he probably never had a reason to visit such an old officetel.

She understood, but it felt a bit bitter to show her humble circumstances. When they finally reached the apartment at the end of the corridor, Tae Hong stood close behind Hae Jin.

“If it’s a passcode, cover it.”

Aren’t you the one I should hide it from the most? But Hae Jin turned around with a smile.

“It’s fingerprint.”

As Hae Jin pressed her thumb, the fingerprint-recognizing door lock disengaged. With a bright smile towards Tae Hong, she opened the door and went in.

“That’s a shame.”

Opening the door and rushing in, Hae Jin hurriedly surveyed the inside of her home.

Fortunately, she had cleaned up everything before leaving for the business trip.

“Please come in.”

“Then, excuse me.”

As Hae Jin took off her shoes and entered first, Tae Hong followed her into the house, still not letting go of his wary gaze.

Click, the door closed. He looked around inside the house as well. This small home might be a first in his life.

“Please sit down.”

Hae Jin gestured to the small two-person dining table. Living alone, it was a small table. But with Tae Hong sitting there, she wondered if that table had always been so small.

“I really don’t have ramyeon. I’ll get you water.”

She then took out a new bottle of water from the refrigerator. And poured it into a glass. Tae Hong didn’t miss a single one of those actions.

This was the second time an outsider had entered this house. The first was Jun Tae. Come to think of it, only the Moon father and son. The only difference was that Tae Hong was the only one Hae Jin had chosen to bring in.

“Please drink.”

She put down a clear glass of water in front of Tae Hong. Hae Jin sat across from him. Just in case, she also placed the remaining water bottle beside him.

“It seems perfect for living alone.”

“Yes. Fortunately, debt collectors have never come to this officetel.”

He didn’t ask, but Hae Jin wanted to talk. It’s really strange that you’re the only one I can talk to openly.

“What were you planning to do if you didn’t have even this place?”

Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t take the reason too seriously. Just like now.

She had never really thought about it. She was grateful to have even this place. But if the debt collectors had taken even this house.

“I guess I would have gone to a goshiwon.”

“A goshiwon, huh. We should protect this house then.”

At his casually thrown words, he wore a serious expression. It seemed like he was really considering that method, his pupils reflecting different thoughts.

Suddenly, his appearance overlapped with Jun Tae’s. He had sat in that seat too. He was the one who had attached a string to the parachute, and also the one who had created the class.

Class, come to think of it, even when she had possessions, she was of a lower class among them. Now, when she had nothing, she was low because she had nothing.

Tae Hong sitting in this house didn’t fit at all. He was high, and she was low.

That’s right. This officetel is her reality. Moon Tae Hong should only be thought of as Team Leader Moon Tae Hong. Because he and I are of different classes. One shouldn’t even look at a tree they can’t climb.

But why does it feel so sad?

“I’m very satisfied and happy with my current situation.”

Is that really so?

“I don’t want to lose this satisfaction and happiness.”

He nodded as if he understood. No, he shouldn’t have nodded.

“I see. I’m glad that Manager Jung Hae Jin is satisfied and happy.”

He says he understands, but someone who has never fallen to the bottom can never truly know.

“I don’t want to lose what I have now.”

Now she understood why she had hesitated. In the face of harsh reality, liking someone alone wasn’t enough.

That’s how survival at the bottom was. Like attracts like, and even if they meet, cutting ties when things go wrong was not uncommon in their world. That’s why Hae Jin could decide.

To stop looking up, knowing that the higher the tree, the more painful the fall.

“I think we should end it here.”

Tae Hong’s face, which had been listening quietly, contorted.

“No, we must.”

Even while confirming that his expression was changing in real-time, she finally put a period to her words.

“What do you mean?”

He didn’t seem to want to understand. Or rather, it was more accurate that he thought he didn’t need to understand. He asked while knowing everything. He was telling her to try to persuade him, not explain.

“As I said before, I’m a parachute who came in on the Chairman’s recommendation.”

“I told you I’d cut the string.”

Tae Hong pushed the glass aside and placed his arm with bulging veins on the table.

“No. There’s no need for that.”

She must be firm. She mustn’t waver. Ending it here without showing any more pathetic sight was the best option.

“I want to work as much as I’m paid for. I don’t want to put any personal feelings into that.”

Finding a place that fits one’s station, meeting people of the same class. That’s how she had lived, so that’s how he would live from now on.

She had already tasted it, but she had slipped down in that world. Knowing that everyone has a predetermined match, she shouldn’t be greedy.

He was that kind of person.

“Honestly, I like you.”

This was the minimum courtesy for his feelings of liking her. She knows that expressing her honest feelings as she felt them is not trampling on his heart.

“All the actions I shared with the Team Leader had emotions. It wasn’t impulse or mistake.”

“Then what exactly is the problem?”

He was maintaining his composure as much as Hae Jin. Of course, she wasn’t unaware that the protruding veins were getting darker. But everything visible on the surface was calm.

“But it’s time to wake up from the dream.”

The business trip was like a midsummer night’s dream. The last night, sitting on the bench, looking up at the night sky, came to mind. Looking at the countless twinkling stars, she had wondered if this was reality or a dream.

“The moment you entered my house, I knew. It was time to wake up from the fantasy.”

So she hoped that with this cold glass of water, his feelings would be pulled down to the depths of his heart. She hoped to extinguish the embers trying to burn hot.

“Manager Jung Hae Jin.”

Tae Hong’s voice had cooled as cold as the chilled water.

“Is that all you amount to?”

She could tell that he too was suppressing something rising.

“And here I was, expecting a bit more since you’re the daughter of Sion Group.”

Usually, she would have retorted word for word, but now she couldn’t say anything to his words.

“You know well how things work in this field.”

It was because she knew well that she had come to this conclusion.

“You also know it’s not easy to meet a man like me.”

“Of course, I know.”

“Knowing that, you’re going to let go of the opportunity that rolled in?”

“Yes. Because I know well, this is why I’m doing this.”

Hae Jin finally confessed.

“Sion is a company that can’t be compared to Yeonchang. Now that it’s bankrupt, it’s not even that anymore.”

“So.”

At his words, crossing his arms and telling her to continue, Hae Jin gritted her molars and continued speaking.

“In this field, relationships are formed like mergers and acquisitions. And I’m already a person who failed in that bidding process.”

Tae Hong’s eyebrows twitched. He didn’t like what she just said.

“I will cherish it as a good memory. From this moment on, I won’t have any feelings.”

After pouring out everything, Hae Jin felt a sense of emptiness wash over her. Tae Hong quietly looked at Hae Jin. Then he brought the glass of water he had pushed aside and drank it all at once.

“So that’s why you said you’d give me water.”

Tae Hong’s voice seemed gentle, but she quickly realized that was a big mistake.

“First, I admit that Manager Jung Hae Jin has a peculiar ability to make people thirsty.”

Tae Hong pushed the empty glass aside again, and placed his interlocked hands on the table. His upper body, half-leaning towards Hae Jin, felt particularly threatening.

“Second, Manager Jung Hae Jin is not a product.”

Her eyes, which had been fixed on Tae Hong, shook unable to find their bearings. He was more serious than ever.

“It seems the eyes can’t lie.”

Since she couldn’t hide her gaze, she was caught. Could he see everything in her eyes, forcibly pulling down her emotions and avoiding them?

“Third, this is a bit funny.”

Tae Hong shook his head from side to side.

“I had no intention of forming a deep relationship with Manager Jung Hae Jin. When a man and woman have mutual attraction, confirm it, it can gradually deepen over time.”

Unlike Hae Jin’s reddened face, Tae Hong’s face seemed to be gaining more confidence.

“But my thoughts have changed a bit.”

What does that mean?

“I’m thinking of deepening things with Hae Jin.”

“Team Leader!”

Hae Jin called out to him urgently. But Tae Hong seemed to have no intention of answering her.

“I spoke quite nicely, didn’t I?”

The corners of Tae Hong’s mouth turned up sharply. Then he made a scissors motion with his fingers again.

“I should have said ‘I will cut it,’ not ‘Shall I cut it for you?'”

Does this mean he won’t act like a considerate gentleman anymore?

“Alright. Manager Jung Hae Jin, you try to protect yourself well.”

He was saying that he won’t give up.

“I’ll try my best to cut it well.”

In the end, he was saying that he had no intention of yielding to her feelings towards him.

“And Hae Jin, catching me is maintaining happiness.”

He was saying why did she alone not know the principle that everyone else knew.

“I enjoyed the water.”

Tae Hong tapped the table twice, showed a sweet, fake smile, and rose from his seat without any lingering feelings.

It didn’t disappear like a midsummer night’s dream. He was saying he would make it reality.