Seo Hee returned to her studio apartment and plopped down on the sofa, feeling the tension drain from her body. She sat still, lost in thought as the warm afternoon sunlight of early autumn streamed through the living room window.

She couldn’t believe what had happened to her today. How had she ended up completely revealing her heart to Kang Mo?

The situation now, having returned to this sofa, was a complete 180 from this morning when she had sat here tormenting herself with self-blame. She could hardly believe how the day had unfolded in a completely unexpected direction.

Just one bolt being unlocked from the door she had locked her heart behind, and suddenly the long period of suffering alone with a heavy heart seemed like a distant memory.

Sighing softly, she closed her tired eyes. Kang Mo’s image naturally appeared on the white darkness veiling her retinas. She couldn’t easily forget the way he had looked at her with burning eyes all throughout lunch.

‘Why do you keep staring? Hurry up and eat too, Kang Mo.’

‘It’s just amazing.’

‘That’s random. What’s so amazing?’

‘Just watching you eat makes me full. I want to put everything in your mouth. You have no idea. When you eat, you look so insanely, devastatingly pretty.’

Cough. She let out a cough.

The movement of her jaw, busily chewing, slowed considerably. She never knew what to make of Kang Mo saying such things so casually without his expression changing at all.

Why was embarrassment always her lot? Her face felt hot. She was mortified, but then she heard him laugh.

‘Sorry, I’ll make Baek Seo Hee choke. Hurry and eat. I’ll keep my mouth shut.’

Seo Hee gave him a look, not really annoyed. Seeing his tightly closed lips twitching, it was obvious he was suppressing laughter.

Kang Mo seemed to be in an unusually good mood, so she had to try hard not to laugh along with him.

Strangely, her chopstick movements were slow and careful. Even though his mouth was closed, she had a feeling his gaze was still fixed on her, so uncharacteristically, Seo Hee picked at her food.

Tsk, she thought she heard an amused sound escape Kang Mo’s lips, and then suddenly a plump abalone was thrust in front of her. The abalone, beautifully scored and roasted golden brown in butter, exuded a rich aroma.

‘Ah.’

‘…Why are you being ticklish like this? I’ll eat it myself.’

‘Ah, I said.’

He seemed determined to hold it up until she ate it.

Seo Hee figured it would be faster to just accept it and get it over with, so she quickly swallowed the remaining food in her mouth and swiftly took it in one bite.

The abalone filling her mouth elicited exclamations with its rich flavor and chewy texture.

‘Mm, it’s delicious. You should try it too.’

Seo Hee chewed busily, picking up the remaining abalone and bringing it to Kang Mo’s mouth. The satisfied smile on his lips slowly spread.

Kang Mo, gazing at Seo Hee with even deeper eyes, snatched the abalone. His eyes wouldn’t leave Seo Hee until the abalone had completely disappeared from his mouth. It felt like the flow of invisible air had stopped.

Captured by that gaze, Seo Hee quickly lowered her eyes at the sight of his Adam’s apple bobbing largely. It was a familiar sight, but strangely it felt different. An inexplicable, strange sensation brushed across her lower abdomen. It was like soap bubbles popping one after another, or something boiling and bubbling. Ticklish yet sharp, stinging but a unfamiliar sensation different from pain.

It was a sensation she usually only felt when she and Kang Mo kissed, so she was quite baffled to feel the same thing now just from seeing his deep gaze and the everyday sight of him swallowing food.

Feeling embarrassed for some reason, she couldn’t lift her head, but then food approached right in front of her again. Kang Mo doing things he normally didn’t felt unfamiliar, but she had to match his pace since it was a special day.

Seo Hee firmly suppressed her shy feelings and put on a thick, transparent iron mask. She had to try hard to press down the swelling emotions as she obediently accepted the food he offered.

With hardly any conversation, the meal, during which she wasn’t sure if she was eating through her mouth or nose, ended in a strange atmosphere and dessert was immediately served.

Seo Hee smiled seeing the bowl with a round sorbet like a shine muscat grape. The sorbet topped with a fingernail-sized herb was so dainty it seemed a shame to eat it.

Staring at it intently, it seemed like little arms and legs might pop out at any moment like a scene from an animation, making her laugh spontaneously.

‘What are you thinking that’s making you laugh by yourself?’

‘Nothing, nothing. But isn’t this too cute? How can I eat this when it’s such a waste?’

‘Says the one who’s going to gulp it down in one bite.’

‘Bingo.’

Kang Mo, grinning, put his serving in front of Seo Hee as well.

‘Eat this too.’

‘What about you? Ah, you don’t eat sour things. Guess I’ll have to eat it all.’

Thanks to the unremarkable dessert, the atmosphere that had been strangely tense with unknown tension was refreshed in an instant. It was just then, as Seo Hee smiled with a much more comfortable heart and popped the grape-like sorbet into her mouth in one bite.

Kang Mo, leaning on the table with one hand, suddenly lifted his upper body and pressed Seo Hee’s cheeks with his other hand.

Seo Hee, who found herself pouting her lips without knowing why, gasped as she felt a hot sensation suddenly sweeping through her mouth. The sorbet, leaving only a cold trace, disappeared from Seo Hee’s mouth in an instant.

Kang Mo, sitting back down, brazenly licked his own lips.

‘Maybe because it was in your mouth, but this is sweet. Very.’

This sly fox, really.

Kang Mo must have been a fox with ninety-nine tails in his past life. As soon as the thought ended, it seemed as if ninety-nine luxuriant tails spread out like a fan behind Kang Mo.

Seo Hee abruptly stood up from the sofa, remembering Kang Mo’s captivating gaze as he licked his lips.

“Baek Seo Hee, you’re crazy, crazy. You must be crazy.”

Recalling the look that had utterly enchanted her, a hot flush rose in her body. Even shaking her head, the afterimage imprinted in her mind wouldn’t easily disappear, persistently clinging and stimulating Seo Hee’s latent desires.

Just the fact that Seo Hee had been there made the office air feel different to Kang Mo.

When he took the elevator back to the company after lunch, when he walked down the long hallway of the office, a faint smile played on Kang Mo’s lips as he retraced Seo Hee’s path, feeling like even the air was different from before.

The space that had felt hard now no longer seemed desolate just from the mere fact of having strolled together with her.

Kang Mo felt dizzy again realizing the extent of Seo Hee’s influence on him, recalling a breathtaking moment. How much he had agonized until just this morning, not knowing what words would come out of her mouth. Everything that had looked utterly bleak and ashen now looked quite different, making him grin.

Sitting at his desk, Kang Mo looked at the envelope Seo Hee had brought and smiled, opening the long drawer. The envelope containing the certified copy of register for the villa they would move to was clearly an important document, but not one that urgently needed to be reviewed right away.

He felt bad for deceiving her out of a selfish desire to see her, but he was so thankful to have learned her usually hidden thoughts as a result.

The documents that had played a big role in drawing Seo Hee in were no longer needed, so he tossed them into the drawer, when the intercom on the table rang.

― Executive Han, the Chairman is looking for you.

“I’ll go right away.”

― Yes, understood.

At the Chairman’s summons to come by briefly instead of postponing lunch, he grabbed the files he needed to report and immediately left the office. He was walking down the office hallway for a while when he heard murmuring voices from somewhere. It seemed to be coming from the supply room.

Kang Mo’s steps, ignoring it and passing by as usual, gradually slowed. It was because a certain part of the conversation had caught his ear. The ripple effect of Seo Hee’s visit to the company didn’t seem to be limited to just him.

“Did you see the woman next to Executive Han earlier?”

“Of course I did. My eyes were automatically drawn to her. I thought she was a model for our company’s advertisement.”

“I thought so too. She was totally on par with a model. But is she really just an ordinary person? She was oozing with grace.”

“I know, right. Well, birds of a feather… She must be from a chaebol family too, right?”

“Probably?”

“Are the two of them lovers?”

“Obviously, what else would they be? Would he wrap his arm around her waist like that if she wasn’t his girlfriend? Plus, did you see the way Executive Han was looking at her? His gaze was dripping with honey, not just sweet. It was practically announcing ‘this is my woman’.”

“True, the two of them really did look good together.”

“Who says they didn’t? They were a picture-perfect couple. Honestly, famous celebrity couples have nothing on them, right?”

At the words of a few female employees, someone sighed and chimed in.

“Was it to that extent? Ah, I had to be away right then so I didn’t see. I’m dying of curiosity. What about the woman? Is she really that pretty?”

“What’s the point of saying it? Putting aside that her face is a typical beauty, her figure, phew.”

The curious employee who had asked urged the other to speak quickly when she trailed off.

“Why, why? Is it that nice? Is she slender?”

“Slender? That’s an understatement. She’s an hourglass. No, a Coke bottle? Her body line is so pretty, I couldn’t take my eyes off her out of envy. And her legs, they were so sleek, she was wearing heels but you couldn’t see any bulges on her calves at all.”

Sighs of envy burst out simultaneously from here and there.

“Sigh… You’d have to be that beautiful to date a man like our executive, I suppose.”

Now the subject of the conversation shifted from Seo Hee to Kang Mo.

“Now I know for sure. The reason our executive has been looking at women like stones all this time.”

“Right? With a girlfriend like that by his side, would he even notice any other women?”

“Exactly. It’s not that he’s been looking at other women like stones, it’s just that with his high standards, ordinary people don’t even register. Well, I guess it’s only natural to have high standards with those looks and abilities?”

Voices of agreement were heard from all around. Then someone spoke up with a laugh.

“Ah, then the rumors will die down now.”

“What rumors?”

“There have been quite a few nasty rumors going around that our executive treats women like someone else’s dog, that he’s asexual or practices abstinence. But seeing him today, it’s a total plot twist.”

Kang Mo’s brows furrowed for a moment.

No matter how uninterested he was in other women, how could such rumors circulate? Deciding he didn’t need to hear any more, Kang Mo shook his head in disbelief as he started walking again, unable to believe the rumors surrounding him.

Just thinking of someone makes desire surge up so much it’s hard to bear, but what? Asexual? Ha! When he looks at Baek Seo Hee, he can hardly stop himself from devouring her, but abstinence? Ridiculous.

It’s so absurd he’s at a loss for words.

Baek Seo Hee, because of you I’ve been living with these kinds of rumors too. Do you know? Sigh… This is something Baek Seo Hee should have heard, not me. What a shame. Such a shame.