Indoor bar.

The night breeze blowing through the wide-open folding doors was quite cool.

The pub with an orange awning on its concrete exterior was quite charming.

“So? Did you get her contact?”

“Of course, who am I? I’m Lee Jae Han, the master of love. We promised to contact each other in Korea, for sure!”

“What’s the use of promising? There’s been no contact yet. Throughout the trip, Jae Han did all the talking, but Choi Eun Hyeok got all the contacts. Do Eum, you should have seen it.”

Min Seung teased Jae Han, who had been acting boastful.

“It’s not news that Eun Hyeok is popular, don’t you know that after going on vacation together every year? It’s just that Eun Hyeok is the comparison, but you guys aren’t pushovers either. Have some confidence.”

Jae Han pretended to be sick, leaning on Do Eum’s shoulder, calling that a consolation.

“Right? As expected, Do Eum, you’re the only one who cares about us.”

Eun Hyeok, who had been listening silently, pushed away Jae Han’s head that was resting on the woman’s shoulder.

“Acting all hurt when you’re not affected at all. Do Eum, how have you been all this time?”

Eun Hyeok, with short hair and deep double eyelids, had a quiet and mature side to him, perhaps because he was born into a military family.

“Me? I’m always the same.”

As she mumbled vaguely, the sharp Min Seung cut in.

“Come to think of it, Do Eum, you seem strange. For over a month, you’ve been hard to reach, you seem to have lost more weight, and hey, your dark circles are gone.”

The embarrassed woman emptied her innocent glass of alcohol.

“You, are you secretly dating without telling us?!”

Startled by Jae Han’s sudden outburst, Do Eum almost fell off the backless chair, but the agile Eun Hyeok caught her back.

“Lower your voice, you’re scaring her.”

With a pretend fierce look, Jae Han lowered his voice.

“You, if you date without telling your oppas, we won’t let you off easy. No dating for Kang Do Eum without our permission.”

This wasn’t something Jae Han should say, given he was busy dating different people every time except for church-going Sundays.

“You know, I have something to ask you guys.”

The three men simultaneously looked at the woman who was taking her time to speak.

“It’s not about me, it’s about my friend. You’re the only ones I can ask.”

Do Eum casually dropped the words, emboldened by alcohol.

“What is it? Tell us.”

The faces of those who had been joking around suddenly turned serious.

“It’s someone I always see, but it’s awkward to call them a friend. Anyway, a man who had no feelings suddenly, well, out of the blue…”

“Out of the blue?”

“Kissed her, she said.”

For a moment, silence fell.

“They weren’t dating or even in a flirting stage?”

At Min Seung’s question, Do Eum was about to say ‘If we’re being specific, they’re married,’ but she hesitated.

“Yeah, seems so. It was raining, the mood was good, so it just happened, but she didn’t ask why he did it…”

“That’s a player.”

At Jae Han’s confident answer,

“Yeah, he’s testing the waters. If the response isn’t good, he’ll apologize and back off quickly.”

Min Seung chimed in.

“What does ‘response isn’t good’ mean?”

Do Eum’s follow-up question was quite cautious.

“Like if the woman just puckered her lips. Or if she kept her eyes wide open without closing them. As if the other person was like a log only good for firewood, you know what I mean?”

“Hey!”

Without realizing it, Do Eum stood up and shouted.

Come to think of it, those were all things she had done that day.

It was true that she had kept her eyes wide open and just offered her lips.

But even so, to call her a log only good for firewood.

“W-what? Don’t tell me this is about you?”

Min Seung raised his head and asked at Do Eum’s heated reaction.

“No, I told you it’s about my friend. Still, she’s not like that, not a log! She’s dated a lot. She even closes her eyes when kissing.”

Eun Hyeok, who had been looking up at her, pulled Do Eum’s hand and made her sit back down as she blurted out words without even sitting, flustered.

“I’m telling you this because our Do Eum seems not to know, but you’re supposed to close your eyes when kissing. Got it?”

At the mockery disguised as kindness, Jae Han and Min Seung, except for Eun Hyeok, giggled.

Beyond the folding doors in the darkness,

A black sedan was watching the four’s casual interaction, that spot alone being an even deeper darkness.

*****

The inside of the car was silent throughout.

Every time the woman surrounded by three men laughed, the killing intent emanating from Ji Wan in the back seat was so strong that Mr. Park, the driver, and Woo Seok in the front seat were on pins and needles.

The man who constantly made Do Eum laugh with big reactions was one thing, but when Do Eum threw her head back laughing and Eun Hyeok occasionally supported her back to prevent her from falling, Mr. Park the driver finally intervened.

“D-did you see that just now? If it weren’t for that quick young man, our madam would have fallen backwards several times already. Don’t you agree, Director Han?”

The look seeking agreement was desperate, almost pitiful.

“Oh my, that’s right. That was an unavoidable touch, otherwise our madam would have fallen on that, that raw concrete floor and seriously injured herself!”

All concrete is the same concrete.
What’s this about raw concrete.

Knowing full well that they were watching his reaction while hiding their obvious intentions.

One word saying that such skinship didn’t bother him at all would end it, but strangely, Ji Wan couldn’t open his mouth the whole time.

Something was tightly blocking his throat, making it seem like no sound would come out, and more than anything, it wasn’t that it didn’t bother him.

It wasn’t holding hands or kissing, but the man’s occasional glances and touches towards the woman were quite irritating.

In the deep darkness inside the car.

The chill of a season not yet arrived engulfed the three people.

The air conditioner wasn’t on, so the source was clear.

The man fixated on the window outside, constantly shooting lasers.

The chill emanating from him spread like an aurora.

“Looking at this, they’re really good friends, aren’t they? Haha, there’s a reason they say classmates are the best. Through life and death, only your classmates understand your heart, that’s why in the military, your enlistment buddies, and in companies, your entry-year colleagues are the best…”

While the three men took turns acting cute or preparing snacks with Do Eum in the middle, the conversation between the two in the front seat went on and on.

Not hiding his displeased expression, Ji Wan raised his left wrist to check the time.

“Still no contact?”

It was well past midnight.

“Should I go out, sir?”

A brief silence passed.

“No, let’s just go. She seems to be having a lot of fun.”

Just as Ji Wan was turning his head while rolling up the car window, it happened.

Eun Hyeok followed Do Eum, who had gone out to the outdoor deck with her phone.

Do Eum’s hair fluttered in the gentle breeze.

Under the bright yellow light of the terrace, the two laughed brightly.

Had that woman ever laughed like that?

Or did she seem more excited because she was with friends?

Just as Eun Hyeok reached out to remove a strand of hair stuck to Do Eum’s face.

A dazzling sound of tapping on the armrest in the back seat was heard.

Tap, tap, tap.

It was Ji Wan’s long-standing habit of being cautious even about the smallest decision.

Who would have thought he’d see this behavior, usually reserved for negotiation tables where billions were at stake, here on the street over one woman surrounded by three men.

Woo Seok gulped dryly.

The momentary hesitation wasn’t about whether to go out or not.

It was just a calculation of how to deal with that bastard, assuming he would go out.

Even if it meant wringing his neck.

Suddenly.

The back door of the black sedan finally opened.

“Let’s go, Director Han.”

Once he made a decision, he was a man who would see it through, and Woo Seok hurriedly followed behind.

*****

Do Eum’s brightly smiling face turned her eyes towards the dark energy approaching from a distance.

Striding past the blinking signal, purposefully.

Without needing to look left or right, the steps heading straight towards her were angry and relentless, making her unconsciously take a couple of steps back.

Cutting through the darkness, an even deeper darkness was walking towards her.

Oh my God, why is the CEO here.

Having observed for 4 years, Eun Hyeok, who had never seen Do Eum this flustered, instinctively hid her behind his back.

“Is he, someone you know?”

The two stood as if confronting the darkness approaching from afar.

She was about to say ‘He’s my husband,’ when suddenly she remembered seeing a scene like this in a morning drama.

A husband appearing conspicuously in front of his wife who had committed adultery.

That dog fight would only end when someone’s blood was spilled.

To the woman who was tense even though she hadn’t committed adultery, tick-tock.

Ji Wan, who had walked up close, gestured with his elegant fingertips for her to come closer.

It was clear that these steps wouldn’t be good if they went all the way there, so she should come on her own.

The quick-witted Do Eum quickly came down from the deck and stood in front of the man.

“CEO, how did you come all the way here…”

“You saw, I walked.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. I told Director Han that I would get home safely, did you perhaps come to pick me up? Why, did something happen?”

The concerned question seemed to be directed more towards Woo Seok, who was following Ji Wan, rather than towards him.

Woo Seok, who shook his head lightly, glanced at the men inside the pub, the source of all this trouble.

“You said you’d come home safely, that’s your words, and whether to believe it or not is my choice. I didn’t believe it, so I came to get you.”

“Eun Hyeok was going the same way, so I was going to catch a ride. I was just about to contact you about being late, just now. Right now.”

Do Eum hurriedly showed the phone in her hand.

“You weren’t doing it.”

“I was just about to do it when you appeared.”

Just like the grim reaper.

Swallowing the last words, Do Eum turned around and glanced at Eun Hyeok standing far away.

“Instead of making the call you were supposed to, you were doing other things.”

Ji Wan glared fiercely once at the woman’s hair fluttering in the wind,

And once again at the man who casually removed it.

“If your outing to meet friends wasn’t for a day but for an overnight stay, you should have said so in advance. If I had known, I wouldn’t have waited.”

It was a tone subtly mocking that a day had passed like that, past midnight into the early morning.

“What is it?”

Eun Hyeok, who had been standing at a distance, approached with big strides sensing the unusual atmosphere.

Ji Wan coldly looked over the quite handsome face with a solid build that seemed to work out quite a bit.

“Do Eum, who are these people?”

At the gesture of constantly hiding Do Eum behind his back, Ji Wan’s eyebrows raised fiercely.

“Come here.”

The voice, chilling even when heard in a good mood, mixed with twisted emotions, was cold enough to give goosebumps.

“Ah, yes.”

Understanding perfectly that he meant to come obediently while he was asking nicely, Do Eum was about to quickly move to Ji Wan’s side when,

Grab.

Eun Hyeok caught Do Eum’s wrist.

It was a tense tug-of-war between the men on either side with Do Eum in the middle.