If someone came to use the company library, Bo Mi could be discovered…

It was just past 7 AM on a holiday morning. It’s unlikely that someone burning with curiosity would come to the library at this hour.

What should I do? I need to call someone.

“Yeon Ga Young… Really.”

Ga Young would surely deny it?

Bo Mi searched her pockets for her phone, feeling wronged. Ah… I showed it to Deputy Kang Sun Young and put it in my bag.

The phone was in the bag she had left with Su Young. Only the car keys Ga Young had given her jingled in her pocket.

“I’m such a fool. Really.”

Feeling dejected, Bo Mi slid down with her back against the door.

At this rate, she might not make it to the presentation on time.

What time did the security guard make their rounds? She could only hope they would start patrolling from early morning on weekends.

“Hah…”

Bo Mi rubbed her face and suddenly stood up.

Right, there was a laptop in here. She realized she could contact someone by email.

Opening her email on a public computer felt a bit uncomfortable, but if someone saw the email, they would come. Bo Mi thought of people who might be at the company now and could rescue her.

Ha Su Young, Do Jae Kyung, Kang Ji Hee, Kim… Yeon Ga… No. This person wouldn’t be helpful even if she sent a message. Su Young would have left with the advance team, so he might only notice the email after arriving at the exhibition hall. Bo Mi decisively clicked on Jae Kyung’s name.

[This is the timeline separator]

Half an hour before Bo Mi got trapped, Jae Kyung was hurriedly walking to the underground parking lot.

“This morning, you have friendly golf and lunch scheduled with Chairman Hwang Min Jun and the new candidate replacing Congressman Shim Young Chul of the National New Party. You should be able to attend the metaverse exhibition presentation in the afternoon. After that, your schedule is…”

Secretary Kim was walking close to Jae Kyung, explaining the schedule.

Having come to work since dawn for an overseas meeting, Secretary Kim was just sleepy.

It didn’t have to be today…

Did they really need to have that meeting on such a busy day when it wasn’t even urgent?

It wasn’t easy to cater to the whims of a capricious boss.

Moreover, since it overlapped with the presentation schedule of the Paradisus project’s augmented reality team, the entire floor with the director’s office was bustling despite the early hour.

Secretary Kim swallowed a yawn and opened the car door while watching Jae Kyung’s expression.

Jae Kyung didn’t like the upcoming golf entertainment, but coming to the company since dawn was worth it. He was satisfied that he could see Bo Mi’s face, even if briefly.

It was just the other day that he had personally called Representative Han Bo Mi to the director’s office under the pretext of checking documents.

‘I hope we don’t interfere with each other outside of work relationships.’

Even though it was work-related, to send Yeon Ga Young instead…

Even I would be hurt by this. It didn’t matter that Ga Young couldn’t answer any of Jae Kyung’s questions. It was becoming increasingly burdensome to maintain composure in the face of Bo Mi’s rejection.

‘Don’t worry about me or Yeo Reum.’

If only he could do as she said, it wouldn’t be this difficult.

Bo Mi felt the same emotions towards him, yet she kept rejecting Jae Kyung until the end.

It’s difficult. Han Bo Mi. Isn’t love supposed to be simple when two people like each other?

He touched his pocket out of habit, then removed his hand.

The ring… I lost it. Only emptiness lingered at his fingertips.

In his dream, she wore the same ring. A cheap-looking, clunky ring. As the white hand wearing the ring overlapped with Jae Kyung’s, the face that had always been hidden by light became clear.

Han Bo Mi…

‘My spring.’

That’s what Jae Kyung in the dream called her.

Not Representative Han Bo Mi or Ms. Bo Mi, but a phrase fitting her smile that warmly caressed Jae Kyung’s heart like a spring day, ‘My spring’.

Jae Kyung unconsciously frowned at that unfamiliar resonance.

Where did he lose the ring? It didn’t seem to be at home…

Since he had the ring from the moment he woke up after the accident, he had grown attached to it.

“Shall we depart?”

The driver turned his head, waiting for Jae Kyung’s signal to leave.

“No… Wait a moment.”

Jae Kyung watched as the augmented reality team’s advance party came down from the elevator and headed to their car. He looked for Han Bo Mi but couldn’t see her. He saw Ha Su Young getting into the car carrying the bag Bo Mi had been wearing in the morning.

“Let’s leave after the augmented reality team departs. We still have some time.”

Even after several vehicles assigned to the augmented reality team disappeared, Bo Mi didn’t appear.

It seemed ominous that Han Bo Mi, today’s presenter, wasn’t among her colleagues. Thinking it might be needless worry, Jae Kyung tried calling Bo Mi. The phone just kept ringing without her answering. If she had been left behind due to work…

He thought of her, always taking on an excessive amount of work alone.

It’s probably nothing.

“Let’s go.”

Why am I so concerned about this?

About a woman who so coldly rejected him…

Jae Kyung leaned his head deep into the seat, recalling Bo Mi’s words asking him to draw a line.

[This is the timeline separator]

Tap tap tap. The sound of typing echoed in the dark reference room.

[Director Do Jae Kyung.]

Clinging to a ray of hope found in despair, Bo Mi was writing an email to Jae Kyung.

How ironic that Do Jae Kyung was the person Bo Mi wanted to rely on most at this moment…

She knew well how contradictory her actions were.

[This is Han Bo Mi. I’m trapped in the reference room. Please help.]

Even though there was no guarantee he would come, she hoped it would be Do Jae Kyung who opened that door and rescued her.

No. I should send an email to Su Young instead.

Bo Mi deleted the email she was about to send to Jae Kyung and clicked on Su Young’s name.

This was the right thing to do from the beginning.

Even if Su Young saw it after arriving at the exhibition hall, he would somehow take care of it. It might take time, but it was better than being trapped in here all day.

As Bo Mi was about to press the send button on the email, there was a sound at the door.

Beep beep.

The sound of the door lock being released, someone was opening the door.

Bo Mi’s face lit up. It seemed a company employee with business in the reference room had come.

“I can get out!”

Bo Mi closed the laptop, cheering. She felt like she could even do the Gigatron robot dance of joy right now.

As the door opened, light stretched long into the reference room.

“Haa…”

The man looking at her, exhaling, was backlit so only his silhouette was visible, but she could tell clearly.

“I came to get you.”

“Jae Kyung.”

Jae Kyung smiled, his dimples deeply etched, in front of the dazed-looking Bo Mi.

“Why…”

Bo Mi’s eyes grew hot with tears, seemingly relieved to see Jae Kyung.

“Are you not happy to see me?”

Could this be a dream? Why is he here?

“How did you…”

Bo Mi was just glad to see him, as if she had forgotten the past few days when she was hurt by Jae Kyung’s coldness.

‘Stop the car.’

Jae Kyung suddenly ordered as they were leaving the parking lot. He was indeed concerned.

‘When you can’t make a decision, act first. The result will become your decision.’

It was something his grandfather, Jun Seok, now hospitalized, had told him.

Rather than worrying all day about what Han Bo Mi was doing, he decided to check for himself.

‘− Yes, this is security.

‘Please check the CCTV and gate records.’

Jae Kyung, who got out of the car, headed for the elevator.

‘Augmented Reality Team. Narae Creative Representative Han Bo Mi. Security ID is O53*****. Please share the gate passage record.’

− We’ll send you the information as soon as we confirm it.

Jae Kyung, who got on the elevator, first planned to check the Augmented Reality team’s office himself. After confirming the message sent from security, Jae Kyung pressed for the first basement floor.

There was a record of the door lock being released in the underground library reference room ten minutes ago.

I don’t know what she’s doing here alone, but the person I want to see, I should go see.

Jae Kyung was certain his decision was right as he watched Bo Mi, unable to hide her joy.

Jae Kyung’s large hand gently cupped Bo Mi’s cheek.

Warm fingers tickled Bo Mi’s eyes, wiping away her tears.

Bo Mi felt strange, her heart achingly ticklish.

“Were you scared?”

A soft voice resonated in Bo Mi’s ear. Bo Mi slowly nodded.

“Are you happy I came?”

Bo Mi looked up at Jae Kyung, her cheeks turning red.

“Yes.”

“Did you think of me?”

“Yes.”

As Bo Mi answered obediently, Jae Kyung pulled her close with one arm.

Bo Mi’s moist cheek touched Jae Kyung’s chest. The sound of his heartbeat flowed through her skin. As Bo Mi twisted her body slightly, the strength in Jae Kyung’s arm weakened.

Bo Mi stretched out her arms and gently embraced his broad back.

She never thought she would lean on and depend on someone like this again. The large, comforting resonance on Jae Kyung’s back, as if there was a heart there too, was reassuring.

He thought she had lost feelings for him after he had pushed her away so coldly…

The fact that Jae Kyung was the one who came to find Bo Mi made her so happy.

To the point where the time she had turned away from him felt wasteful.

“Bo Mi.”

Jae Kyung found Bo Mi’s intense reaction unfamiliar.

As he headed to the reference room, he had received a report along with the CCTV footage that the door was currently malfunctioning and couldn’t be opened from the inside. Wouldn’t she be scared, trapped alone?

Wouldn’t she, with her single-minded sense of responsibility, be blaming herself for being late to the exhibition?

In that short time heading towards her, all sorts of worries about Bo Mi came to Jae Kyung’s mind.

Truly, he couldn’t let go of thoughts about Han Bo Mi for even a moment.

Since he couldn’t give up, was there no choice but to beg her to look at him again?

Do Jae Kyung’s pride had long since fallen to the ground in front of Han Bo Mi.

When he opened the door, she looked at him with round, frightened eyes.

Han Bo Mi. My spring. Her large eyes were brimming with tears, and her slender shoulders were trembling.

Impulsively, he pulled her into his arms, and her soft body entwined in his embrace.

The touch of her hands on his back felt unreal.

She’s not mistaking me for that guy again, is she?

‘Won Il.’

If that man’s name flows from between her soft lips again, how miserable will I become?

“Han Bo Mi.”

As Jae Kyung called Bo Mi’s name softly, her round head moved.

Her moist eyes looked up at Jae Kyung, sparkling.

“Who do you think I am?”

Bo Mi’s long eyelashes fluttered gently.

“Tell me. Who am I?”

Bo Mi’s cherry-red lips quivered. A sweet scent sweet enough to make Jae Kyung want to bite into it confused his heart.

“… Director Do Jae Kyung.”

She called Jae Kyung in a clear, calm voice.

“Jae Kyung.”

She repeated that name, now fully engraved in Bo Mi’s heart.