“Hey! What’s that sound? What’s going on!”

Startled by the sound of something breaking, Do Soon shouted loudly.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just dropped the teacup I was drinking from.”

“You, you, do you know how many times you’ve made my heart drop because of you!”

“I know. I’ll be more careful. Sorry.”

So Yeon comforted the startled Do Soon and hurriedly began cleaning up the messy floor with disposable wipes. Suddenly, besides Do Soon’s voice, another person’s voice was heard through the phone.

“Yeo Do Soon, lower your voice! People are staring at us!”

“What’s the big deal. They must want to look.”

“Still, this is!”

“Huh, want me to hit you?”

“Mom, did you see this? She’s being so rude to me!”

“Both of you be quiet! Do Soon, Do Young and I will go into the luxury goods section first, so follow us as soon as you finish your call. We all need to attend Assemblyman Cheon’s dinner party tonight, so don’t wander off, got it?”

“I won’t, don’t worry.”

So Yeon, listening to the conversation between the three women, let out a small laugh. She could vividly imagine Do Soon’s blank expression, unmoved by whatever anyone said.

Somehow knowing she was lounging around in her rented apartment, Lady Ji Myung Sook had called Do Soon out to the department store to strip off her tomboyish clothes and change her into a proper dress.

Do Soon, who had been forcibly dragged along by her mother and sister, contacted So Yeon as soon as she finished her call with Team Leader Joo from the Planning Department.

Thanks to Lady Ji Myung Sook taking her eldest daughter away, Do Soon spoke in a much more relaxed tone.

“So Yeon, there’s even more surprising news.”

“What is it?”

“Oh my god, my brother got the role of Nam Joo Gi Cheon Yul! You and Tae Seo Jun are in the same project! Wow, this is huge, isn’t it?”

Although it wasn’t particularly new information since she had already learned about it in the lounge, So Yeon shared the same excitement as the elated Do Soon.

“Are you that happy?”

“Of course! You’ve been through so much. Now it’s time for you to bloom, Eom So Yeon! You can do it, right?”

“Of course.”

After ending the call, So Yeon stared at the pantry wall for a while.

Just minutes ago, she had firmly resolved to face things head-on, but already that momentum had waned, and her pale face grew increasingly dejected.

The conscience within her heart rattled, telling her not to continue hiding what she had concealed until now for the distant future. Saying that the longer she deceived, the more her heart would ache and be devastated.

However, revealing the truth to Tae Seo Jun and those around her was not an easy task either. In the worst case, the impact of that fact could be substantial beyond imagination.

Since knowing him, she had developed a strong heart. A heart further tempered by giving birth to and raising a child. But faced with Tae Seo Jun, for whom she could find no solution, the clamp that had tightly gripped her heart was now loose and ineffective.

Seeking a compromise between her past, present, and future self, So Yeon couldn’t come up with any particular plan. All she gained was a head full of turbidity and the realization that, although she didn’t know what to do, now was not the time to speak up.

“Sigh…”

As her worries piled up to an unbearable weight, So Yeon looked down at her finger, feeling a stinging sensation.

While hurriedly cleaning the floor, she had slightly cut her hand on a sharp piece of glass. Now, looking at it, bright red blood had seeped through the hastily wrapped tissue.

Though not a severe pain, it still stung.

Thinking she should finish cleaning up the mess she had caused, So Yeon wiped the floor clean and then bent her knees and waist to pick up the last piece of glass under the display case.

That’s when it happened.

Someone entered the pantry.

Following the sound of the door opening and closing, footsteps approached and stopped right in front of her. So Yeon’s eyes quickly scanned up from the shiny shoe tips to the exceptionally long legs. And that gaze stopped abruptly on the face looking down at her with lowered eyes.

The owner of that arrogant face, with even a smile on red lips, was…

Tae Seo Jun.

“Ah!”

So Yeon let out a short scream unconsciously as she hastily straightened her legs and waist.

Her right elbow was sharply scraped against the protruding edge of a drawer. She had taken out a knife from the cabinet to cut lemons for the tea, and not closing the drawer tightly then was a mistake if anything.

Though she thought it was fine due to the long sleeves, red blood quickly spread on So Yeon’s clothes.

“Your arm and even your hand…”

Finding the injured spots with an eerily accurate gaze, Seo Jun twitched one thick eyebrow and slowly spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“You’re quite a mess, Ms. Eom So Yeon.”

His voice, criticizing her, was as cold and sharp as a dagger made of quartz.

“…”

So Yeon stared blankly at Seo Jun and bit her small, plump lips.

It was I who left the drawer open, and cutting my finger was my fault too. She had nothing to say about her own foolish actions.

With movements neither slow nor fast, Seo Jun opened the pantry door and stepped outside.

“What are you doing?”

Just when she thought he was leaving, he spoke without looking back.

“Not following me out.”

“Where to…”

As So Yeon asked with wide, innocent eyes, his large, graceful body finally turned around. His lips, slightly curved to one side, seemed to be smiling a little.

“You’re bleeding, shouldn’t we stop it?”

“…”

Seo Jun cast a shallow glance telling her to follow and began walking ahead.

It was a bold attitude suggesting she could refuse if she wanted, but how could she ignore it? It was a strong temptation that anyone would be captivated by.

So Yeon followed him without a word.

Sitting next to Seo Jun on the sofa in the director’s office, So Yeon couldn’t help but feel tense.

It was understandable, with a man she liked yet feared, wanted to be close to but couldn’t, sitting right next to her.

“…!”

At some point, So Yeon pulled her hand towards herself.

She was just blankly watching a band-aid being placed on her fingertip when his warm body temperature seeped into her palm.

“Ms. Eom So Yeon is a genius, isn’t she?”

Seo Jun, gripping her fidgeting hand even tighter, smiled and said while applying medicine to her rolled-up blouse sleeve at the elbow.

“Slipping away when I let my guard down.”

“When did I ever?”

“Anytime.”

“…”

Though it might have been her imagination, it sounded like he was bringing up something from long ago. So Yeon pursed her lips primly. After all, hadn’t they shared even secret parts? Her face quickly turned rosy as she suddenly recalled the embarrassing things they had done together that winter night.

A gauze was applied to the broadly scraped skin, but that wasn’t the end. Seo Jun wrapped a pressure bandage from the first aid kit around her elbow and asked about his concern.

“Have you had your tetanus shot?”

“Last year.”

As So Yeon gave a satisfactory answer, Seo Jun raised his eyebrows roundly and nodded slightly.

But his eyes were tinged with an unsatisfied coldness.

Even if she was too surprised yesterday, wasn’t she again in a hurry to run away today? As if she didn’t want to include a person like him in her life at all.

Seo Jun was in the midst of ruminating on that unpleasant emotion, finding it extremely irritating that it was hard to even hear Eom So Yeon’s voice once. Unaware of this, So Yeon quickly shifted her gaze to her elbow, afraid of being caught staring at his face.

Though it was just a quick glance, the afterimage of his distinct features remained. But it was useless. So Yeon’s heartbeat had already far exceeded the normal range.

What to do about this awkwardness.

“Thank you, Director. I’ll be going now.”

The treatment was finished anyway. So Yeon lifted her bottom from the sofa.

“Ah, and congratulations on getting the lead role.”

“That’s not really…”

It wasn’t particularly something to be congratulated on. For him, being the lead was just one of the most natural things. But Seo Jun changed what he was saying and answered briefly.

“Thank you. You may go.”

Seo Jun leaned back on the sofa, crossing his legs indifferently.

“Pardon?”

“I said you may go.”

“Ah, yes.”

It was true that she had gotten up to leave, but now that he told her to go, she didn’t want to. Suddenly feeling pushed away, So Yeon moved to the door with a dazed gesture, not feeling particularly good about it.

Just as So Yeon, with her hand on the doorknob, turned to look at him and was about to ask what she really wanted to ask, that moment came.

“Um…”

“Ms. Eom So Yeon…”

Seo Jun called out to her.

As they both tried to speak at the same time, Seo Jun tilted his sharp chin up slightly, as if telling her to go first.

“I heard you were injured at the deployment site, are you alright now?”

“…”

He asks so quickly.

It was a somewhat rapid movement. Seo Jun, who had straightened up from the sofa with a stiff expression, approached her with long strides.

“Were you actually worried about my well-being?”

“Of course.”

“…”

Was it this one word, this voice that I had been so desperate to hear? Why are my ears and heart so tickled by this woman?

It was clear that Eom So Yeon had genuinely worried about him.

The deep pupils surrounded by clear light brown trembled slightly, and the large, soft eyelids shimmered as if covered in dew.

Seo Jun grinned.

His face, which had been expressionless until now, finally radiated a bright glow.

It was a smile like winter-frozen hearts melting gently at the touch of spring breeze.

“Ms. Eom So Yeon, do you like chicken?”

“Well, I…”

He asked about chicken suddenly after inquiring if she was okay.

Unable to miss Seo Jun’s expression changing from cold to warm for some unknown reason, So Yeon pondered briefly before answering.

Although it was an abrupt development, eating generally had a positive connotation, so he must be indirectly saying there were no health issues, and asking if I liked it meant he wanted to eat together sometime?

If that was really the case, So Yeon, who would definitely say ‘Yes’, blinked her wide eyes slowly and stammered a response.

“I do like it. Not just like, I love it tremendously.”

“Would you believe me if I said I cried every night in the Middle East thinking of Korean chicken?”

Tae Seo Jun? Just because of chicken? It must be a joke, but So Yeon’s heart started thumping. She seemed to be captivated by his gentle smile.

“It’s been quite a while since you returned, haven’t you had any yet?”

“…”

Seo Jun burst into silent laughter.

Using the ridiculous excuse of crying for chicken to impulsively hold onto Eom So Yeon. While it was absurd that he had been irritated at not receiving her attention, he didn’t feel too bad about it at this moment.

“If I say not yet, will you go with me?”

“Shall we?”

Does he need someone to eat chicken with?

So Yeon nodded readily. It was a quick answer without going through the process of ‘thinking’, due to the excitement of possibly spending more time with him.

“I haven’t had lunch either. Is now possible?”

“Oh my, what time is it now… Let’s go quickly. Actually, I skipped lunch too.”

So that was it. Confirming that her guess wasn’t wrong, So Yeon filled her eyes with excitement.

“Then we should go even faster.”

Is it okay to make such pretty eyes over mere chicken?

Seo Jun, who still remembered Eom So Yeon from when they first met, stretched his arm towards his outerwear hanging on the coat rack and widened his smile.

Because he really liked her expression with those innocent eyes and smile.

So much that he couldn’t help but smile.