Returning straight to her seat and collapsing into the chair, Lee Ha Jun smoothed out her disheveled clothes with trembling hands. Then she took out a mirror and examined her face and hair.

She patted powder on her flushed face to cover the redness and fixed her hair to hide all traces of what had just happened. Just as she finished, the door opened and Heo Yeon A entered.

Carrying a yellow paper bag with sandwiches, her cheeks were flushed red as if she had been running, and she was panting heavily.

“Phew… The director said he really wanted sandwiches from this place… Hah, if you go during lunchtime, the wait is no joke. But I hurried and didn’t have to wait too long. Here, this is for you, Ha Jun.”

“Thank you.”

Ha Jun, who had already returned to her usual expressionless face, accepted the large sandwich with “chicken” written on the wrapper.

Yeon A passed by Ha Jun, immediately knocked on the executive director’s office, delivered the sandwich to Yi Hyun, and came out to sit at her desk.

“This place is really delicious. Having lunch at the company cafeteria on your first day is good too, but this is also nice.”

Ha Jun nodded as she looked at the brightly smiling Yeon A.

Such an innocent and cheerful young lady. Always smiling, lively, and enviable…

Just then, the door to the executive director’s office opened and Kim Yi Hyun appeared.

Ha Jun’s heart, which had briefly calmed down thanks to Yeon A, began to pound fiercely again. However, Yi Hyun casually looked at the two women and stated his business.

“This is a shrimp sandwich, but I’m not really fond of crustaceans. Is there anything else?”

“Oh! Really? I’m so sorry. But mine is shrimp too…”

Yeon A trailed off, looking troubled. Ha Jun checked the writing on the sandwich in her hand and stood up.

“This is a chicken sandwich. I’ll exchange it with you.”

“Thank you.”

As Yi Hyun took the sandwich, one of his fingers gently grazed Ha Jun’s palm.

However, despite that intentional touch, Ha Jun merely paused for a moment before calmly handing over the sandwich and taking Yi Hyun’s. She sat back down with her usual expressionless face.

Yi Hyun watched this for a moment, seeming amused, before going back into the executive director’s office.

The sandwich was indeed delicious, as Yeon A had promised. That’s probably why Ha Jun was able to taste it a little, at least.

Because of Yi Hyun occupying the executive director’s office, Ha Jun was now feeling terribly uncomfortable.

“Oh! It’s almost 1 o’clock!”

Yeon A, sensitive to time due to Executive Director Oh Se Ra’s influence, suddenly stood up and knocked on the executive director’s office door. Yi Hyun’s relaxed voice called out from inside, “Come in.”

Yeon A quickly went inside, and a moment later, the office door opened again and Yi Hyun finally came out, followed by Yeon A.

“Thanks for letting me rest well today. Let’s see each other often from now on.”

“Yes! Have a good day, Director.”

“Have a good day, sir.”

Seeing Ha Jun’s polite greeting, Yi Hyun felt another wave of subtle heat rising and smiled amusedly.

His steps as he left the executive director’s office and headed to the parking lot were incredibly light.

Has there ever been a time in Lee Ha Jun’s life when she felt so flustered and her heart pounded so fiercely that it felt like it would crumble?

The answer was no.

Ha Jun, who had managed to stay at her desk until closing time with tremendous concentration, collapsed onto her bed as soon as she got home.

“Kim Yi Hyun…”

Director… The second son of the Jaein Group chairman.

Ha Jun gently traced her lips with her finger. Her slightly swollen lips still seemed to retain the heat he had transmitted.

“I must be crazy…”

Yes, she had gone mad. How else could she have done such an embarrassing thing at work?

Her head was spinning. Kim Yi Hyun, the man who had taken up a corner of her mind, was like a dizzyingly steep cliff.

To calm her dizzying feelings, Ha Jun closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But sleep didn’t come easily as she hoped.

Just then, noisy footsteps were heard, and the door burst open. It was her younger sister, Seo Hyun.

“Hey! If you have any money, hand it all over!”

Ha Jun slowly sat up as she looked at Seo Hyun, who was shouting without preamble.

“I don’t have any money.”

Seo Hyun frowned at the immediate refusal. But somehow, Ha Jun’s face looked paler than usual.

Although her expression was always the same… Seo Hyun looked Ha Jun up and down, sensing something off about her.

Is she really sick somewhere?

“Haven’t you been working part-time lately?”

“…No. I’ve been busy with work at the company.”

Huh? Her voice has completely dropped too?

Seo Hyun felt irritation rising. How can she afford to be sick? She needs to work herself to death to pay for her sins!

“You’re no help at all, no help! When are you going to work part-time?”

“I don’t know.”

Seo Hyun’s face contorted.

“With your measly salary, you can’t even go on a proper hotel vacation with friends! What’s the point of having fun? You got rejected at a blind date, so at least work part-time. Got it?”

Seo Hyun stomped out just as noisily as she had come in. Ha Jun stared blankly at the door before lying back down on the bed.

Her eyes closed involuntarily from the helplessness enveloping her entire body.

She just wanted to… disappear like this.

Despite his greeting to see each other often, Kim Yi Hyun didn’t appear for a while after that. And somehow, Ha Jae Suk and Lee Seo Hyun were quiet too. Thanks to that, Ha Jun was comfortably adjusting to her new job.

Choi Hyun Ju, who was checking the day’s schedule, looked up at Ha Jun.

“Ha Jun. There’s a bakery called Freny Bakery in the basement of Seoyoung Department Store.”

“Yes.”

“The director from J Media who’s coming to the meeting today likes their eclairs. He’s scheduled to visit at 3 PM today, so buy some on your way back after lunch. Get some other pastries too. Take the corporate card.”

“Yes, Manager.”

Ha Jun sat down after responding respectfully. After giving various work instructions, Hyun Ju went into the executive director’s office with approval files, and Yeon A and Ha Jun started their work at their respective desks.

A moment later, Hyun Ju came out of the executive director’s office and smiled at the two of them.

“For today’s regular executive office dinner, the executive director is treating us to flower-patterned sirloin as a welcome party for Ha Jun~!”

“Wow~!!”

Yeon A cheered at Hyun Ju’s words. Then she danced in front of the still expressionless Ha Jun.

“Ha Jun~ It’s flower-patterned sirloin~ You should smile~~”

Ha Jun finally burst into laughter at the cute aegyo.

Seeing that, smiles spread across Yeon A and Hyun Ju’s faces as well.

“You’re so pretty when you smile~ Hehe~”

“That’s right, Lee Ha Jun is really beautiful. At first, when we heard the name was Lee Ha Jun, we thought a handsome male secretary was coming, but we were shocked when such a beautiful woman arrived.”

Yeon A nodded at Manager Choi Hyun Ju’s words.

“That’s right. The moment I heard the name, I thought ‘handsome male secretary!’ I totally wanted that. But I like beautiful women too. I guess it’s similar for men and women, just looking is enjoyable. Hehe~”

Ha Jun made an awkward expression at the two’s compliments. In fact, Ha Jun herself didn’t have much awareness or interest in her appearance.

“Alright, let’s stop chatting and get to work.”

“Yes.”

“Yes! I’ll focus on work from now on!”

A very small smile appeared on Ha Jun’s lips at Yeon A’s energetic response.

She was gradually getting used to working life with good people, laughing and talking together, rather than just doing her assigned work diligently and being isolated like before.

Ha Jun’s colorless world was very slowly, still faintly, but gradually being dyed with beautiful colors.

After having lunch with Yeon A, Ha Jun went with her to the department store two blocks away to buy bread.

“Ah~ Coming to the department store makes me want to shop! I want to go to the luxury brand section and swipe my card like crazy. How nice would it be if there was a 100-month interest-free installment plan?”

“I know, right.”

100-month installment… That was my witty joke!

At the calm response without any hint of laughter, Yeon A stared intently at Ha Jun walking quietly beside her.

“Ha Jun, do you know something?”

“What is it?”

“You have the weakest reaction to my jokes. Ah~ I’m definitely going to make you burst out laughing someday. Really! Just wait and see. Hit!”

Ha Jun inadvertently let out a “pfft” at the cute determination. However, Yeon A, already marching ahead while swinging the bread bag vigorously, didn’t notice it.

Instead, someone else saw that and gaped in surprise.

“Lee Ha Jun? What’s she doing? Why is she grinning here at this time?”

Lee Seo Hyun, carrying lots of department store shopping bags, followed Ha Jun’s disappearing figure with a dumbfounded expression. The Seongjin Distribution where Ha Jun worked was in a completely different neighborhood, thirty minutes away across the river from here.

So even if it was lunchtime, she couldn’t have made a round trip from there to here in Gangnam.

Seo Hyun, who had followed all the way to the Seongjin Group headquarters building, tried to follow Ha Jun as she entered through the employee-only entrance using her employee card, but was stopped by the security guard at the entrance.

“What’s this? Why won’t it open?”

“Are you an employee? Where’s your ID?”

“I’m not an employee.”

“Then do you have a scheduled appointment?”

“Do I need that to enter? What is this place anyway?”

Seo Hyun, who had never even worked part-time let alone in a company, was ignorantly bold. The security guard looked at her with a bewildered expression.

It’s written in huge letters at the building entrance, how can she not know?

“This is the Seongjin Group headquarters.”

“Huh? Headquarters?”

Seo Hyun tilted her head. Wasn’t Ha Jun supposed to be working at Seongjin Distribution? Why is she entering the Seongjin Group headquarters?

“What on earth is that girl up to…?”

Seo Hyun gathered the shopping bags she was holding onto one arm and hurriedly took out her phone.

“Mom! Mom! It’s me, you won’t believe what I just saw in Gangnam!”