I hoped it wasn’t true……

A dark shadow settled on Jeho’s face as he tilted his head and slowly blinked.

Did everyone figure it out after all?

Perhaps they had already noticed when he came to Jeju Island in the middle of the night. They just didn’t want to admit the truth and were desperately denying it.

Today, he realized it could no longer be denied. She knew everything.

Yuri tried hard not to show it, even acting more enthusiastically than usual, but she couldn’t completely hide the light of distrust in her eyes.

The loving gaze with which she used to look at him was nowhere to be found. Yet provocative words flowed from her lips.

“Don’t hold back.”

“I feel like I’m going crazy, just like you, Jeho.”

“Hah.”

A short laugh escaped Jeho’s mouth as he recalled the situation from earlier.

If you’re going to act, do it properly.

Despite trembling, she whispered softly in a seductive manner.

When he reached for the glove compartment to see how long she could endure, a look of terror instantly appeared on her face. It wasn’t confusion or embarrassment, but clearly fear.

Even if she hadn’t pushed him away, he had no intention of going all the way. Unless he was crazy, on the morning commute, in the company parking lot no less… But Yuri sincerely misunderstood that he would cross the line.

Her reaction was proof that she no longer trusted him.

“How amusing.”

Why? The thing he feared had finally become reality, yet he felt nothing. There was discomfort, like food stuck in his throat, and a tightness in his chest, but it wasn’t as painfully heartbreaking as he expected.

He just felt dizzy and his limbs went weak as if his senses had dulled.

What does she want?

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter much. If she wanted something, he would just hand it over to her.

Yes, go ahead and play with me.

I’ll gladly play along with your act.

Jeho gently closed his eyes as he leaned back in his seat.

[This is the timeline separator]

She didn’t know how time had passed. Trying not to be conscious of Jeho sitting next to her, Yuri fixed her gaze on the monitor and busily moved her hands. Fortunately, there was quite a bit of work that had been postponed during her sick leave.

Yuri whispered to herself that she wasn’t intentionally avoiding him, just concentrating on work.

But no matter how hard she tried to focus on her work, every time she drew a line or specified a color, the morning’s events kept popping into her mind.

He must be crazy. Otherwise, in the car on the way to work…..

Though she was partly responsible for provoking him without backing down, still.

Yuri shook her head quickly and bit her lip.

She would have to change her approach. He was a much stronger opponent than she had anticipated. In fact, that’s why he had gotten what he wanted, even going so far as to sleep with a woman he didn’t have feelings for.

But the most perplexing thing wasn’t his reaction. It was herself. The intense kiss in the car had set fire to dry kindling. The intoxicating sensation kept coming back to her, making her body heat up.

It was her own body, but she couldn’t understand it.

How could this be? To still be physically attracted to someone who had played with her emotions.

Even if the body and mind are separate, it was absurd.

As much as she hated to admit it, maybe she still loved him. The fact that she hadn’t been able to sort out these vain emotions meant she wasn’t in her right mind. Yuri despised herself for being so foolish.

Of course, emotions don’t appear and disappear overnight.

Was this how her father felt? Hating and loving his wife who couldn’t forget an old lover at the same time.

Did he hold on until the end, craving even the smallest kindness from his wife?

She couldn’t absolve the congressman who had committed adultery as if in revenge. But it was uncomfortable to think she could understand her father’s feelings. She resented Jeho anew for making her think such thoughts.

Yuri unconsciously glared sharply at Jeho sitting next to her.

But oh!

When had it started? Jeho was resting his chin on one hand, his body turned towards her, staring at her intently as if observing her.

“Hah.”

Startled, Yuri inhaled sharply and quickly averted her gaze, but that didn’t erase the fact that she had glared at him. It would be silly to force a smile now.

With no other choice, Yuri abruptly stood up and headed for the archives.

The archives were just a space in the corner of the office with temporary walls, lined with cabinets and bookshelves. Without a door, it wasn’t a completely independent space.

Still, apart from the director’s office, it was the only place in the office where she could completely hide from Jeho’s gaze. Yuri opened a cabinet door, pretending to look for documents she didn’t really need.

She soon realized she had made a big mistake.

As she reached up to pull out a file from the top shelf, a large hand suddenly appeared and grabbed the file first. Yuri’s eyes widened as she sensed the faint citrus scent.

He had followed her to the archives. He seemed to have misunderstood that she had signaled him to come to the archives. But that wasn’t it, she had come here to avoid him…..

Unintentionally, she had become like a rabbit that had entered the fox’s den. Jeho gently placed the file on the side table and embraced Yuri from behind, lowering his head.

“I’m sorry about earlier. Are you still angry?”

A whisper in her ear sent chills down her spine. Yuri squeezed her eyes shut, trying to suppress a moan that threatened to escape. This was clearly an aftereffect of the intense kiss.

When she didn’t say anything, the hand on her waist began to slide downwards. He was repeating exactly what she had done to him in the car that morning.

At least the car was an enclosed space, but this place only had temporary walls and no door, it was an open area.

After lunch, most people had gone out on business, so only Seonyoung and a couple of employees were in the office now.

Their desks were closer to the entrance and quite far from the archives. Still, she couldn’t help but feel nervous.

But instead of pushing his hand away, Yuri gritted her teeth and pressed her body even closer to him. No matter how out of his mind he was, he wouldn’t cross the line in the office. She could accept a kiss.

“Hah.”

Suddenly, with a laugh, her body was turned around. Jeho’s brightly smiling face filled Yuri’s vision. Then their lips locked, briefly but very deeply.

“If your intention is to torment me, you’re doing a good job right now.”

He whispered lowly as he reluctantly pulled his lips away.

“I can barely breathe trying to hold back.”

Stroking Yuri’s hair with his large hand, he tilted his head in the other direction and pressed his lips to hers again. Even deeper and more intense than before….. Very persistently, without making a sound, until she was gasping for breath.

Even after his lips pulled away, Yuri couldn’t open her eyes. Clinging to his shoulder, she quietly caught her ragged breath.

Was it because of the unfulfilled desire building up? The precarious situation, not knowing when they might be caught, excited her more than usual.

When he tried to kiss her again, Yuri quickly turned her head away.

“That’s enough now. I’m having a hard time.”

“You’re having a hard time?”

When Yuri nodded in response, Jeho spread his arms and hugged her warmly.

“I’m sorry. You’re not even fully recovered yet….. I’ll restrain myself from now on.”

She felt relieved at his words about restraining himself in the future, but also anxious. She worried that he might use this as an excuse to break up with her, thinking she was no longer useful.

“Don’t restrain yourself too much though.”

“Hah.”

He laughed briefly, seeming to like her words.

“Tell me. What do you want?”

“……Well, what should I want?”

Yuri tilted her head back and stared up at Jeho.

I wish you would hurt as much as I’ve been hurt.

But the words just swirled in her mouth, unable to be spoken aloud.

Just then, Seonyoung’s voice was heard from beyond the temporary wall.

“Yuri, are you in the archives?”

Startled, Yuri broke away from Jeho’s embrace just as Seonyoung walked into the archives. Yuri quickly hid behind an open cabinet door like a child caught doing something wrong.

As Jeho slowly turned to face Seonyoung, she tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh? She’s not here either?”

Yuri covered her mouth with her hand and held her breath, pressing herself against the inside of the cabinet to avoid being seen by Seonyoung.

She didn’t have the courage to face Seonyoung with a calm expression. Her lips must be swollen, and her face flushed red. Unlike Jeho, who didn’t have a hair out of place.

“What’s the matter?”

Jeho stood in front of the cabinet door with a calm face, shielding Yuri with his body in case she might be seen.

“There’s a quick delivery for Yuri.”

“Yuri went to buy coffee just up ahead.”

“Ah, then I’ll sign for it and leave it on her desk.”

As Seonyoung left the archives, Yuri carefully stepped out from behind the cabinet door where she had been hiding.

“I’ll go out the back door and buy coffee.”

Fortunately, there was a back door right next to the archives, so she could sneak out without being caught. But before she could take even a few steps, Jeho grabbed her shoulder.

When Yuri looked at him questioningly, he silently gathered the front of her blouse and buttoned up the open buttons. He also tidied her disheveled hair.

When everything was done, Yuri quickly started walking again. But this time too, she was stopped after just a few steps, her arm grabbed by him. This time she glared at him with an annoyed look.

Jeho raised the corner of his lips as he looked at Yuri’s sulky expression.

“Were you planning to get it on credit?”

“Ah, right.”

She had left both her phone and wallet at her desk…..

“Please get me an iced americano.”

Jeho took out his wallet and placed a black card in Yuri’s hand.

Then he picked up a file in one hand and signaled for her to follow him. He seemed to want to shield her with his body as she went to the back door, just in case.

With Jeho’s help, Yuri safely escaped the office and bought not only the iced americano he had asked for, but also plenty of coffee and drinks for the other employees.

Fortunately, no one seemed to know what had happened in the archives. Yuri let out a sigh of relief and took a long sip of her iced coffee.

On her desk was the quick delivery box that Seonyoung had signed for and received. It was something sent by Congressman Chae.

What was so urgent that he sent it by quick delivery?

She couldn’t wait until after work to satisfy her overwhelming curiosity. Yuri quickly opened the box. Inside was a single book. As she absentmindedly looked at the book cover, Yuri’s eyes suddenly widened.

She put down the book and immediately called Congressman Chae. But he didn’t answer. Just as she was about to hang up, her phone rang. It was a call from Chief of Staff Kim.

[There’s a social gathering of key figures from both parties this evening.]

“This evening? I hadn’t heard anything about it.”

[It was a suddenly decided meeting. I’m sorry for the short notice.]

“Even so…..”

As she was about to refuse, Chief of Staff Kim asked a question first.

[Did you receive the quick delivery well?]

“Yes. I was just about to contact you about that. Why did you send this?”

[I thought it would be helpful for you to read it before attending the gathering.]

Yuri frowned as she picked up the book. The book cover was adorned with a photo of a man with a gentle smile. The man had eyes that exuded warmth just by looking at them.

Did Mom fall in love because of these eyes?

Yuri stared blankly at the man in the photo. The book in her hand was the newly published autobiography of Congressman Jung Taehyuk.

[You can decide for yourself whether to attend or not. The congressman said it’s a request, not an order. Today’s gathering is to celebrate the publication of Congressman Jung Taehyuk’s autobiography.]

Listening to Chief of Staff Kim’s words, Yuri carefully opened the book.