“Ah, yes. Actually, my nephew should be getting married, but he doesn’t have a girlfriend yet.”
The team leader said, looking over Si Hyun’s shoulder.
“I told him to have dinner with Ms. Kang later. Haha.”
Patting Si Hyun’s frozen shoulder, the team leader even winked.
“I gave him your phone number so he’ll call in a bit. Have a good weekend!”
Bowing to Tae Ha, the team leader whistled as he returned to his seat.
“……”
A moment of silence passed. Si Hyun glanced at Tae Ha.
“Well, I think I should go out first.”
She was about to say that she’d refuse and come right back when Tae Ha suddenly smiled.
“Have a good time.”
Although he sounded calm, Si Hyun quickly noticed he was forcing himself to act indifferent. His smiling lips were slightly hardened.
“It’s going to rain heavily tonight, so don’t come back too late.”

((()))

“What, a blind date?”
Upon hearing the news, Mi Joo was delighted.
“I’ll just apologize and get up.”
“What are you talking about? You should make a good impression since you’re meeting him anyway!”
“How can I meet someone when I’m just divorced?”
“It hasn’t been that long since your divorce. That’s why you should meet a new man to show them! He’s the same age as you and capable. Perfect, just perfect.”
Even after being refused, Mi Joo brought out a new lipstick and applied it while fussing.
“Oh, you look pretty. You have to do well today, okay?”
Si Hyun sighed. Well, Mi Joo didn’t know about Tae Ha.

Anyway, since they’d already made the appointment, it seemed polite to at least meet and speak directly to him for the sake of the team leader.

Having made up her mind, no call came from the other party even long after the time to leave work had passed.

Sitting alone at her desk waiting, Si Hyun eventually set out to find the team leader. She planned to ask what she should do since there was no contact.

Looking around, Si Hyun discovered the team leader standing alone by the window of an empty meeting room.
“Um, team leader……”
As she approached calling him, the team leader suddenly raised his voice.
“Hey, you jerk, I’ve already arranged everything, what should I do if you say you can’t meet now?”
Looking again, the team leader was on the phone. Si Hyun felt her heart drop.
“What’s wrong with being thirtythree? You’re the one who’s been chasing after young girls even at thirtythree, aren’t you? You’re pathetic.”

Her face began to heat up gradually.
“Actually, that friend has been with me since I joined the company, and they’re truly a gem of a person. Men thrive in life when they meet such women. …… So what if they don’t have parents! Is it their fault?”
The team leader seemed genuinely angry. Feelings of gratitude and embarrassment mixed together. Why did you do something I didn’t ask for?
“Team leader.”
When she called him quietly from behind, the team leader was surprised and quickly hung up the phone.
“Ah, ah. Si Hyun. You haven’t left work yet?”
“I’m really sorry, but I really don’t have the time to meet anyone right now. It’s your precious nephew, but I think it would be disrespectful if I met him.”
Si Hyun bowed her head.
“Please apologize to your nephew for me.”
“That, is that so? Then I can’t help it. I’ve interfered unnecessarily.”
She greeted the team leader, who was blushing and nodding his head, and Si Hyun left the company.

She was considering going home, but Si Hyun headed towards a nearby restaurant. Tae Ha clearly knew she had a dinner appointment, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him she had been rejected even before they met.

Si Hyun went into the restaurant alone and purposely ordered her favorite steak. But she couldn’t taste it well.

She was planning to reject him anyway, but after being rejected, her mood sank endlessly. As she forced down a piece of meat that felt like a rubber lump, Si Hyun thought.
‘Am I that bad?’
Of course, if he was that capable, he would naturally want to meet younger women with better conditions. She understood this logically, but she couldn’t help feeling bitter.
‘But Tae Ha likes me……’
As soon as she realized that she was using Tae Ha’s existence as a consolation, Si Hyun felt pathetic about herself. She had said herself that he wasn’t a man, but what was this selfish feeling?

In the end, Si Hyun couldn’t even eat half of her food and left the restaurant. As she left, it was drizzling.

While hailing a taxi, Si Hyun thought.

Since when did Tae Ha like me?
[I don’t remember. It’s been too long.] The moment Tae Ha’s words came to mind, she remembered something.

During the winter vacation when Tae Ha was in the first grade of high school, he used the money he earned from a flyer parttime job to buy Si Hyun sneakers.

They were expensive sneakers, costing nearly 200,000 won, so Si Hyun had been very angry.

[“Who asked you to buy this? You don’t even study!”] Eventually, she remembered going to the department store to get a refund and buying a whole pile of workbooks for Tae Ha to use.
[“Here, solve these. If you buy useless things again, you’re really in trouble.”]