Ignoring the groaning Ji Soo, the two women grabbed the child, not knowing what to do.

“Seo Hoo, I told you not to run out suddenly.”

“You said we would go to the playground, but we didn’t.”

“That’s because…”

The temperature outside is over 35 degrees!

The woman biting her lips belatedly turned her gaze to Ji Soo.

“Oh my, what was I thinking. By the way, are you okay?”

“N-no.”

I think my back is already split in two…

“You’ll get in big trouble if you run around at work. Look, this person here is hurt too.”

The tone scolding the child was somewhat awkward. As if she was being deferential, like towards a workplace superior.

“I didn’t do that!”

You’re the one who did it. So are you saying I stood still and hit my back on the cabinet by myself?

Dumbfounded by the child’s blatant lie, a hollow laugh escaped. No matter how young the child is, this is too much.

“We need to go home now, so let’s get up. Miss, I’ll apologize on his behalf. I’m really sorry.”

She repeatedly bowed her head in place of the child. Though my insides were boiling at the child’s rude attitude, I didn’t lose my composed smile.

Because he’s a child. Just a young child who looks to be only five or six years old at most. How many things will there be to get angry about in life? I didn’t want to live getting angry at a child too. Still, I thought I should properly teach him that what he did was wrong.

“Little one, you mustn’t run into people from now on. Both of you could get very hurt if you do that.”

Even I thought it sounded quite mature. Ji Soo stroked the child’s hair. At that moment-

Ptooey!

The child made a gesture as if spitting on the floor. Checking the floor, it wasn’t just a gesture – he had really spat.

What…?

Frozen in shock, and the guardian whose face had turned pale with fluster. The air flowed in silence.

“Did you… just… spit…?”

Though her eyes were gently curved, her molars were clenched.

“Waaaaah!”

Ji Soo had only asked in a low voice. She had only slightly gnashed her teeth. The child suddenly burst into tears. While the flustered Ji Soo stood dumbfounded, the woman scooped up the child. As if disliking being in her arms, the child kicked and flailed with all his might.

“Let go! Let go! I said let go!”

He was so strong too. The woman’s body swayed back and forth.

“Sorry about today. I think we need to get going now.”

“Yes, you should hurry inside.”

It was a child she would never see again anyway. She had no intention of sitting this precious child of someone else’s down for a lecture, nor any desire to scold him. She also had no expectation of receiving a sincere apology from this young child.

So she could only rush them off.

But unfair was unfair. Not only had her lunch break been taken away, but her back was hurting and she didn’t even get an apology.

Still, I’m a mature adult. A mature adult. I’m a mature adult alright.

As if chanting a spell to calm her agitation, the child suddenly reached out to Ji Soo. Her employee ID hanging around her neck was ripped off with a snap.

“Hey! You can’t do that!”

My precious employee ID. In exchange for my long college years, it’s the greatest achievement of my life.

Ji Soo’s hand shot out, but the child deftly waved his arm.

“Hey! This is really-!”

“You need to give that back. Hurry!”

On the verge of exploding. Ji Soo’s ID fell to the floor with a plop. By the time she put the ID back in its plastic case and lifted her head, the three of them were already walking towards the elevator.

It was bad karma. Let’s really never cross paths again even in dreams.

Ji Soo roughly ran a hand through her disheveled hair. What was in an even worse state than her hair was her shrimp-like curved back.

***

Ji Soo was explaining what happened to her today, spittle flying. Sitting across from her was Cha Young Joon, her boyfriend of 3 years.

“…So I think I cracked my spine. I’ll need to go to the hospital tomorrow.”

“I see.”

“The bone isn’t broken, right? I wouldn’t be able to walk if it was.”

“I see.”

“I wonder if it will hurt even more after sleeping.”

“I see.”

Staring intently at Young Joon who could only say “I see” like a malfunctioning robot, he was busy pressing the keypad on his phone held in both hands.

“Should we break up?”

“I see.”

Ha, really.

As she glared at him in disbelief, he finally lifted his head, realizing the gravity of the situation.

“What are you doing? You haven’t been able to put your phone down this whole time.”

“Stocks, stocks.”

“Isn’t the market closed?”

“I also do German stocks. I do stocks all over the world.”

“Making money is good, but shouldn’t we talk when we’re meeting for the first time in a month?”

Young Joon was the co-pilot for ACS Airlines. Before and after flights, he needed to rest so they couldn’t meet. If he did a long-distance flight, a week would easily pass. Meeting twice a month was a lot.
Today was a day they were meeting for the first time in a whole month.

“So… you couldn’t even properly scold that kid?”

She thought he wasn’t even half-listening. Seemed he heard quite a bit. Ji Soo’s stiff expression brightened again.

“Yeah, how could I scold someone else’s child.”

“Must be a kid who didn’t receive proper home education.”

“We can’t know that. Maybe he was in an especially bad mood that day.”

“Is a kid who spits when in a bad mood normal? You’re always too nice and get taken advantage of.”

“But he’s still a young child.”

The child’s appearance vividly came to mind. Come to think of it, that child looked just like Eun Soo. With those big eyes, the plump round face shape and protruding lips. Earlier she was so heated that even seeing the child’s face, she didn’t recall it.

His smiling face resembled Eun Soo even more.

Ji Soo’s mouth turned bitter as she unconsciously fiddled with her lips.

“And Ji Soo, I’m going to the US for a week for vacation.”

“What…? Why?”

“There’s a pilots association seminar in the US that I’m attending. I’ll leisurely meet up with relatives who immigrated too.”

“Ah, I see.”

This time too, Ji Soo was not part of his plans. That fact pricked at her like a sharp needle today.

***

Following Jae Ho’s advice, Ji Soo quietly continued her work life doing errands for her senior secretaries.

The secretarial office was so still it felt desolate. Feeling like she had to do something, Ji Soo headed to the break room. She stocked beverages in the fridge and organized snack bags. After emptying the capsules filled up inside the coffee machine, she inserted new capsules. As quitting time approached, she felt drowsy without having done much and thought she should borrow the power of caffeine.

Just then, the break room door flung open and Jae Ho appeared.

“Ji Soo! What are you doing here!”

As you can see, I was organizing the break room.

“Come out quick, hurry.”

“Did something happen?”

No matter what happened in the secretarial department, it always seemed to pass by unrelated to her. Jae Ho looking so flustered today was extremely unusual.

In the end, dragged out of the break room by Jae Ho’s insistence, Ji Soo headed straight to the executive office.

“I don’t know the reason, but Executive Director is looking for Ji Soo. So get your head on straight!”

“Why is the Executive Director looking for me?”

“Didn’t you make any mistakes?”

Ji Soo tilted her head. In the past month, the number of times she faced Joo Hyuk could be counted on one hand. Even then, she was often so busy bowing her head when she encountered him that she couldn’t properly see his face. She wasn’t even touching any work related to Joo Hyuk. So what connection could there be?

“Anyway, go on in. As soon as Executive Director came back from his outing, he started looking for Ji Soo.”

Jae Ho knocked and opened the heavy office door for her.

Joo Hyuk was half-leaning back in his executive chair. Even at the sound of the door opening, he didn’t direct his gaze towards it at all.

“Hello, Executive Director. I heard you were looking for me.”

Only then did Joo Hyuk rise from his chair and gesture at the sofa. Ji Soo took a seat on the sofa without a word. As always, she put her knees together and placed both hands neatly on her thighs.

Joo Hyuk’s face up close radiated a glow that made one gasp. Smooth skin without a single blemish, a jawline that looked soft yet strong, a tall nose bridge, and deep-set eyes without double eyelids. His looks were superior to any male actor commonly seen on TV.

Ji Soo placed a hand on her heavily throbbing heart and let out a low breath. Unlike Ji Soo whose face was flushed and looked unstable, there was not a hint of agitation on Joo Hyuk’s face.

“It’s been a little over a month since you joined the company, Ji Soo?”

“Yes! That’s right. Executive Director.”

“How is your work life going?”

“I’m extremely satisfied.”

There was a sense of belonging in college too, but it was on a different level from a company. For one, you had to pay to attend college, but wasn’t a company a place that paid you?

“I see. That’s good to hear.”

“Yes…”

To personally summon a contract worker who’s been here barely a month to ask about their well-being…?

No matter how she thought about it, there seemed to be another reason, but Joo Hyuk was saying as little as possible.

“I think a contract worker’s salary is quite low to live on.”

“It’s alright. We’re a two-person family so there aren’t many things to spend money on.”

“Hmm.”

Joo Hyuk rubbing his smooth jawline was like a painting.

“It must be low.”

“…?”

“So I wanted to introduce a job to you, how about it?”

“A j-job? Where would I be working?”

“Our house… that is.”

Too shocked, Ji Soo froze like someone who forgot to breathe. Jae Ho’s warning momentarily flashed through her mind.