“Vice Chairman, may I ask a question?”

Woo Joon carefully asked Tae Un, whose face now looked unapproachable, unlike his earlier youthful and innocent appearance.

“What is it?”

“You’re not thinking of changing it, are you? It’s Lee Han. Lee Han! He’s the actor with the highest stock price right now.”

He knew it best without being told.

In his head, he knew all too well how popular the actor “Lee Han” was right now.

He knew how desperately every company wanted him as their model, but he was angry.

Why was he lingering around Ba Ha when it was a love he had ended with his own hands?

Why was he wavering?

If that wasn’t his purpose, shouldn’t he have avoided our company on his own?

Tae Un wanted to use all the power he had to crush him so he could never set foot within the boundaries of Daehan again.

“Tell them to push the deadline back as far as possible and bring it back again. With candidates other than Lee Han.”

“What? Vice Chairman, are you really going to kick away this stroke of luck when Lee Han’s side is saying the modeling fee doesn’t matter?”

That made him even more uneasy.

Just a few days ago, he was the man pushing Ba Ha away.

Why now?

And the current top actor doesn’t care about money when he should be busy raising his price?

Is this just a contract looking only at the company?

Unless he’s lost his mind, he wouldn’t be doing this without any purpose.

He won’t just stand by and watch.

I don’t know what you’re thinking, Lee Han, but the more you try to dig in and shake things up now, the more tightly I’ll hold onto Ba Ha and never let her go.

“So what? What is Director Jang trying to say?”

Tae Un narrowed his brows and looked at Woo Joon with squinted eyes.

The earlier words about being perceptive were all lies.

Did he lose all his sense today? He’s usually not very perceptive, but he should have understood after being told this much.

Seeing Woo Joon keep mentioning Lee Han today, Tae Un let out a deep sigh.

“Lee Han! It’s Lee Han! Don’t tell me… Vice Chairman, are you anti-Lee Han?”

“Yes. I’m anti. Anti! Get out. Director Jang, let’s not see each other anymore today.”

[This is the timeline separator] [ Where are you, Vice Chairman? ]

With his nerves on edge because of Lee Han, Tae Un deliberately finished work to match Ba Ha’s quitting time as she came to mind.

The car was quiet, and Tae Un was leaning on the steering wheel waiting for Ba Ha.

How much time had passed?

As soon as a vibration sound was heard in the quiet car, Tae Un reflexively picked up his phone, looked at the KakaoTalk message from Ba Ha, and a smile spread across his face.

Ba Ha quietly went along with his suggestion to leave work together this time.

Without saying it was uncomfortable.

Just that alone seemed to make Tae Un’s daily fatigue disappear.

[ Come to where I dropped you off last time. ]

A place a bit far from the company. After work, Ba Ha walked towards Tae Un, cutting through the biting wind to meet him.

Ba Ha’s ears quickly turned red from the cold wind she faced while walking, and she hurried her steps.

The cold wind seemed to refresh Ba Ha’s heart, which had felt blocked lately.

Knock knock knock.

Upon spotting Tae Un, Ba Ha knocked on the window of his black sedan and gave him a faint smile.

Tae Un smiled gently at Ba Ha, who was smiling with a bright red face.

“Ah… it’s warm.”

He met Ba Ha in a season when the days had gotten much shorter, and it had become very cold.

Tae Un turned the heater on full blast as soon as he got in the car. So that the inside of the car would warm up quickly and she could get warm soon.

As if she understood Tae Un’s feelings, Ba Ha’s meaningless words as soon as she got in the car made Tae Un’s heart flutter.

“Drink this.”

Ba Ha warmed her hands on the hot herbal tea and smiled shyly.

She was a sensitive person.

On their first day commuting together, she brought two drinks, when he was sick she made food herself. And now she prepared warm tea in case he was cold.

Ba Ha seemed to be gradually melting into Tae Un’s warmth, who always thought of her first.

“I’ll start driving.”

Breaking the silence, soft music that wasn’t loud began to play. The two in the car were silent again today.

Tae Un drove, and Ba Ha looked out the window.

Though only the sound of music filled the car, the silence flowing between Tae Un and Ba Ha wasn’t awkward today.

“Were you very busy today?”

“Hmm… a little? But it was okay.”

“Don’t overwork yourself.”

At Tae Un’s worried words, Ba Ha smiled faintly while looking out the window.

“What about you, Vice Chairman?”

“Hmm… I had a tough day today.”

Ba Ha turned her gaze from the window to look at Tae Un.

It was the first time hearing him say it was tough.

Only then did she see his face.

A face that somehow looked bright but also dark.

“Vice Chairman, I don’t know what happened, but if it’s tough, don’t do it. There must be other ways.”

“…”

“You must have had a really tough day, good work.”

Tae Un smiled gently at Ba Ha’s words.

“And… don’t wait for me from now on.”

“Why? Is this uncomfortable too? If you say that, I think today will be even tougher.”

Tae Un leaned on the steering wheel during a red light and looked at Ba Ha with an expression of utter exhaustion.

So that the soft-hearted Ba Ha couldn’t refuse.

He spoke while pretending to be as tired and pitiful as possible.

Though his words about having a tough day weren’t a lie.

“No, that’s not it…! I just meant don’t wait on purpose.”

It worked.

Why was Ba Ha’s flustered expression at his tired face so cute?

He wanted to keep teasing her.

That flustered expression made Tae Un’s heart flutter.

“Han Ba Ha, I want to hold your hand right now, but I can’t, right?”

“Vice Chairman…!”

As Ba Ha looked towards the window with a reddened face, Tae Un stepped on the accelerator again with a gentle smile.

I like your smiling face.

I wish you would just keep smiling.

I hope the tears flowing from your eyes are no longer from sadness.

“Don’t worry. I can solve everything.”

[This is the timeline separator]

It was too cold.

It was still the season when chilly winds blew. Ba Ha wished this cold would quickly retreat and warmth would approach. She was returning to the company after having lunch with Doo Na, facing such chilly winds.

“Senior, aren’t you cold?”

“I am. I feel like I’m freezing to death.”

“Of course you’re freezing, holding an iced drink! Senior, give it to me. Hold mine instead. You shouldn’t drink that!”

Seeing Ba Ha’s bright red hands, Doo Na hurriedly switched her warm coffee with Ba Ha’s drink while nagging, making Ba Ha chuckle.

“Doo Na, don’t you know about ice addicts? Ice even if I freeze to death!”

“You’ll really freeze to death like that, Senior!”

“Doo Na, Doo Na, you’ll get scolded by a million ice addicts at this rate! Want to get scolded? Quickly go inside before you do…”

Ba Ha paused as she was about to go in with the grumbling Doo Na beside her.

As the familiar silhouette in the distance grew closer, Ba Ha’s heart painfully tightened, freezing her in place.

“Senior! Senior! Isn’t that Lee Han over there?”

Indeed, the owner of that familiar silhouette was Lee Han.

She could recognize him at a glance even if she didn’t want to. As if by habit, her eyes immediately recognized him, and Doo Na’s excited exclamation of “Lee Han” beside her made Ba Ha’s expression gradually harden.

Memories and emotions she had been trying to forget came rushing back, tormenting Ba Ha.

The comfortable expression on Ba Ha’s face had completely disappeared, replaced by nausea.

“…”

Ba Ha stood still.

She wanted to ignore him and pass by as if nothing was wrong.

She could have just passed by like usual.

She could have just passed by pretending not to know him, like when they had shared their secret love.

But once her feet stopped, they refused to move again.

Her feet wouldn’t take even a single step towards him in the distance.

After that day, Ba Ha didn’t seek out Lee Han.

Not wanting to run into him even by chance, she avoided any place remotely related to him. She didn’t even look for the only way to see him – through brightly lit screens – not wanting to see him.

After that day, Ba Ha still loved him but hated him so much.

“Why did he come? Ah! Could it be because of that?”

“What… are you talking about? Why is that… person here?”

Ba Ha stood rooted behind him, staring at him, and asked Doo Na in a trembling voice, shifting her gaze from Lee Han.

“Senior, you didn’t know? Didn’t I tell you? Lee Han made it to the final round for the Motors ad model, but now the Vice Chairman’s side is blocking it!”

“The… Vice Chairman?”

Indeed, rumors spread quickly.

Even in a major corporation shaking South Korea, a small rumor within the company spread in an instant, and it involved none other than Lee Han and Tae Un.

This interesting and exciting gossip wouldn’t stay contained just because Tae Un was being careful.

And today Lee Han himself showed up, so it was bound to get noisy.

It would be even louder tomorrow.

“I just don’t understand why he’s doing this! Everyone’s going crazy trying to get him, so why is our company the only one doing this?”

Ba Ha knew. That the reason was because of her.

Her heart ached so much.

It hurt to know that he, famous for perfectly completing every task, was trying to discard the best option because of her.

The heart he was showing made her feel so sorry.

“Senior! Should we go get an autograph?”

Doo Na’s eyes sparkled as she patted Ba Ha’s arm, seeing Lee Han before them, while tears welled up and sparkled in Ba Ha’s eyes, flowing down her cheeks as soon as she saw him.

As soon as she saw him, the feelings she had tried so hard to lock away burst out, and she silently shed endless tears while looking at him.

“Senior? Huh? What… are you crying? Are you crying?”

Doo Na was shocked to see Ba Ha standing still without a single retort to her excited bouncing, not knowing what to do.

“Hic…”

Lee Han and Tae Un.

The emotions for both men swirled in Ba Ha’s heart all at once, tormenting her.

Lee Han, who was still the biggest presence in her heart, and Tae Un, who kept looking at Ba Ha in that same place even though she tried to push him away each time due to her unstable heart after Lee Han left.

Confused by the collision of emotions for the two men, Ba Ha cried for a long time in Doo Na’s arms.