In an instant, his breath came in.

Jae Yi twisted her body and tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge. Rather, he tightly embraced her waist and strongly kissed her lips.

The strength in Jae Yi’s hands pushing him away gradually weakened.

Her fists that were hitting him suddenly loosened, and Jae Yi just firmly grasped the lapels of his suit.

Though she knew in her head that she should push him away, she couldn’t.

The managing director has a girlfriend.

To a man like Cha Geon Hak, she would just be one of many employees.

Why, why keep doing this.

Before she knew it, Jae Yi also started moving slowly, and he chuckled and burrowed in deeper.

She thought, “What if someone sees us like this?” but didn’t want to separate.

She had missed him so much.

When she couldn’t see him, she wanted to see him and desired him even more.

‘What are we to each other?’

In an instant, one sentence that subdued Jae Yi.

That one sentence made Jae Yi’s mind snap back to reality.

Jae Yi pushed Geon Hak’s body, which was constantly exploring her lips, with all her might.

With a strong friction sound, their lips parted. As his red lips glistened, he wiped them with his thumb and looked at Jae Yi.

An expression full of annoyance appeared on his face.

“What are you doing now?”

“Managing Director, what are you doing?”

“It’s because Ms. Han Jae Yi makes people go crazy. You said you like me.”

“……”

“But when I see you smiling at another guy, wouldn’t I be bewildered? Come to think of it, Ms. Han Jae Yi really has a talent for driving people crazy in many ways.”

Jae Yi bit the inside of her lip. As she looked up at him with swollen lips, Geon Hak felt like he was going crazy.

He wrapped his arm around her waist again and tilted his head slightly, causing Jae Yi’s head to turn sharply.

“What’s this? You were enjoying it earlier when you welcomed it.”

“Stop it, Managing Director.”

“I’m pretty sure I told you to call me by my name. Don’t you remember?”

She wanted to call him.

When they were alone, she wanted to call his name like before.

“You have a girlfriend, it’s unpleasant that you keep doing this.”

“Unpleasant? Between us who’ve already crossed the line?”

At his words that came rushing in, Jae Yi firmly pressed her lips together. Geon Hak chuckled and tapped her reddened cheek with his finger.

“Come to my house this weekend, Ms. Han Jae Yi.”

He smiled with his eyes and whispered to Jae Yi in a rather affectionate tone. She almost fell for it and was about to answer yes.

“No, I don’t want to.”

At her refusal, Geon Hak simply nodded and released his arm from around her waist.

Ding―

As the elevator doors opened, Geon Hak adjusted his tie and got off.

Then he slightly turned his head to look at Jae Yi’s face once before walking away.

Clack. The elevator doors closed just like that.

She had no idea what had just happened. As the tension suddenly dissipated, Jae Yi’s legs trembled.

“What on earth… really.”

Jae Yi’s heart started pounding and trembling like a vibration. Jae Yi put strength into her shaking legs and looked in the mirror. Her lipstick was smeared, and due to the intense kiss with him, her lips were swollen and the area around them had turned red.

Just looking at her own lips made her feel like she knew what she had done.

‘Come to my house this weekend, Ms. Han Jae Yi.’

The image of the managing director seducing her wouldn’t leave her mind.

When she said no, he let her go immediately without showing any regret. However, his eyes were clearly filled with certainty. His face showed that he knew she wouldn’t be able to refuse.

Bad man.

Really terrible man. Cha Geon Hak.

Nevertheless, her heart kept pounding without slowing down.

* * *

Geon Hak, who had gone straight to the managing director’s office, plopped down on the leather sofa and tugged at his tie.

Then he rubbed his face.

“Ha, now I’ve really done it.”

Geon Hak leaned his body against the back of the sofa and rested his head, seemingly dumbfounded at himself. He raised his arm to cover his eyes.

He wasn’t an animal.

“Why are you doing this, Cha Geon Hak.”

‘That’s sexual frustration.’

He met Su Ah on a business trip to America, but it wasn’t as pleasant as Geon Hak had thought.

She burrowed into Geon Hak’s arms as soon as they met. When he didn’t hug her tightly like before, Su Ah peeked her head up and stared at Geon Hak.

‘Are you very busy with work these days?’

‘Just the usual.’

‘But why are you like this? Why are you hugging me like this? It’s not like you’re too tired from the long flight to hug me properly.’

Sulking, Su Ah pushed Geon Hak away and sat down.

That’s right.

Geon Hak also brushed up his hair and sat across from her.

‘Did you perhaps meet a woman?’

‘No.’

‘Then why are you like this? Are you sexually frustrated? Do I need to satisfy your desires for you to hug me tightly like before? You’re not the same as before.’

‘Are you worried I might have a woman?’

‘No. I’m the only woman in your life, right?’

Geon Hak didn’t answer Su Ah’s words. In the past, he would have smiled and said yes to her words, but strangely, those words wouldn’t come out.

‘Geon Hak, I love you the most in this world.’

It was his favorite thing to hear.

Even though their bodies were apart, he really liked hearing the assurance that her heart was still directed towards him.

But damn it, did he like Han Jae Yi’s confession more than those words?

‘I… I like you, Managing Director.’

Han Jae Yi’s confession felt more genuine than Yoon Su Ah’s. Her confession moved Geon Hak’s heart more.

Thinking he’d feel better if he went to America, that it would be okay, but wondering what Han Jae Yi was doing now.

Was she doing well after he left like that?

Or was she wandering the lobby every time, missing him? He had all sorts of crazy thoughts.

Geon Hak intended to keep doing this until he was sure of his feelings.

‘Come to my house this weekend, Ms. Han Jae Yi.’

‘No, I don’t want to.’

“What do you mean you don’t want to? Your face looked like you’d come.”

Geon Hak muttered softly.

Knock knock. Even at the knocking sound echoing through the managing director’s office, he didn’t answer. Knowing he’d surely have something to say about leaving Kim Do Yoon on the first floor and running off like a madman, Geon Hak didn’t open his eyes.

Rather, he gave silent pressure. Seeing his eyes closed, just say what you need to and leave.

“Managing Director. They say the two of them met.”

Geon Hak’s heavy eyelids slowly lifted.

* * *

Seminar room.

As Jae Yi opened the door slightly and entered, coffee was set up at each seat.

“Kang team leader must have done it all and left.”

Jae Yi muttered softly.

She was grateful to Seung Woo, who had taken time to do this for her even though it wasn’t his job.

Jae Yi placed one copy of the meeting file on the desk at each seat. Thanks to Seung Woo’s help, it felt like the work was done faster than expected.

“I wonder if this is enough.”

Jae Yi looked with satisfaction at the perfectly set up scene.

Thinking she should buy Kang team leader a coffee or something, Jae Yi opened the meeting room door to leave, when she bumped into a woman entering.

Jae Yi hurriedly bowed her head in apology.

“I’m sorry.”

“Han… Jae Yi?”

At the familiar voice in front of her, Jae Yi’s head slowly rose. Her eyes began to shake frantically at the sight of the woman in front of her.

No way…

Jae Yi’s whole body started trembling.

She couldn’t believe that Park Ga Yeon was right in front of her eyes.

H-how is she here…

“Ha, we meet here of all places.”

When they met at the department store, there was at least somewhere to run, but in this enclosed space, there was nowhere to escape.

“It was you at the department store that time, right?”

“……”

Park Ga Yeon looked with interest at Jae Yi, who had turned pale and couldn’t move an inch. She scanned her up and down and opened her lips.

“You seem to have made something of yourself after running away from home. Working at such a respectable place. Our Jae Yi has grown up a lot.”

“……”

“See, Jae Yi? Even if you run away like this, we meet again.”

A smile slowly spread across Park Ga Yeon’s lips and the color of her eyes began to change gradually.

“That’s why I told you repeatedly. No matter how much you run away, you can’t escape from me.”

Unlike Ga Yeon who kept talking in front of her, Jae Yi kept her lips firmly shut and only took shallow breaths. She furrowed her brow sharply.

“Hey! When someone’s talking to you, why don’t you answer?!”

As her hand naturally shot up, Jae Yi’s eyes squeezed shut. Her hand stopped precisely in front of Jae Yi’s face, and Ga Yeon looked at Jae Yi and grinned.

“You’re still the same, our Jae Yi. Well. What’s the use of just changing your outer appearance? You still cower in fear just from seeing me. I guess we have an unusual connection.”

“……”

“Ah, I’m counting on you, Jae Yi. This contract is the first job I’ve taken on. It’s a really important contract for me. If you go around saying unnecessary things about me, you’ll be in trouble with me.”

Ga Yeon lowered the hand she had raised onto Jae Yi’s shoulder with a thud.

“Relax. Oh right. Tae In is still looking for you. That guy is so persistent.”

As Jae Yi painfully met her eyes, Ga Yeon smiled as if she found this situation amusing.

“I’m warning you. If you keep looking at me like this every time you see me, I might just tell Park Tae In.”

“Mmph…!”

As she felt the urge to retch, Jae Yi covered her mouth. Then she painfully moved her body and left the meeting room.

Seeing Jae Yi rush out with a pale face, Team Leader Im, who had arrived at the seminar room, called out to her.

“Jae Yi… Huh, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Team Leader Im tilted his head in confusion.

As he entered the meeting room, Ga Yeon, who had been casually drinking the coffee in front of her, smiled brightly and stood up.

“Hello. I’m Park Ga Yeon, team leader from Wooyeon Entertainment.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you. Ah, our employee just rushed out urgently. Did something happen?”

“What do you mean? She seemed to feel sick and left while dry heaving. Oh right. I’ll enjoy the coffee, thank you.”

* * *

Jae Yi, who had hurriedly entered the women’s restroom, opened a toilet and dry heaved.

“Ugh.”

She kept feeling nauseous.

“Urgh…”

After throwing up everything in her stomach for a while, Jae Yi slumped down on the floor. Her forehead and back were drenched in sweat.

“Haa. Haa.”

Jae Yi wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and exhaled deeply.

‘I don’t want to do this either. But mom says not to ruin the family atmosphere and to take it out on you instead. I guess I’m surprisingly obedient to my stepmother, Jae Yi.’

As the old memory surfaced, tears that she had been holding back flowed down.

“Hic…”

All the walls she had carefully built up over time crumbled in an instant.

Meetings with people she had hoped never to see again were starting to happen one by one.

Jae Yi’s small shoulders shook continuously, looking so sad.