It was noon.

Although the kiss this morning had softened the atmosphere considerably, she still hadn’t heard from him about how much he would cooperate in bringing the child over.

But what could be more urgent than that?

Soyeon, who came out of the room, approached Seojun, who was sitting on the sofa looking at his laptop, and tapped his back.

“Um…”

“What.”

Even though her heart was pounding as if it would burst at his still cold expression, it was much better to be a seductress enticing Tae Seojun than to grovel. Soyeon smiled as prettily as possible while caressing his neck as if tickling him.

“I have something to tell you.”

Seojun seemed to know what intention this woman had in trying to melt him softly. He grabbed the hand on his shoulder and pulled it onto his firm thighs.

“Oh my!”

The moment Soyeon let out a short gasp at the sudden force applied, Seojun grabbed her waist tightly with one hand. Like a tiger capturing fleeing prey in one fell swoop with its front paws.

“I know Eom Soyeon is smart. You’re laying the groundwork because of Hyunwoo, aren’t you.”

“Groundwork? What do you take me for?”

Soyeon, who was a bit displeased that this man treated her as a mere fisherman when she clearly pretended to be a seductress, raised her eyebrows like a mischievous cat on a stove.

“We have a shoot in Yangpyeong next week, right? Let’s go after that’s done.”

“Go where…?”

Soyeon’s heart fluttered. Her heart knew the meaning of his words before her head did.

“To Canada. To see Hyunwoo.”

“Then, you…”

“Of course I have to see him as a father. We’ll tell your parents about our relationship honestly and bring Hyunwoo over.”

“!”

The movement of her large, clear eyes suddenly stopped. Her fiercely pounding heart was so full it wouldn’t be strange if it burst at any moment.

“Did you think deeply about Hyunwoo all morning while pretending not to?”

“If I’m doing this much, you must have something to do too, don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Soyeon, who couldn’t not know what Seojun meant, hesitated for a moment. Rather than urging him, a sincere apology came first, but she hadn’t conveyed those words yet.

Although she was immediately sorry for deceiving the laws of nature, it was inappropriate timing to bring it up now.

“…I do. But I don’t want to say it now.”

“Then when.”

“I have to go out soon. I have to go to the broadcasting station at 3 o’clock today. It’s not a live broadcast, just recording an interview, so I’ll be done around 5, could you wait until then?”

It was a cute tone. Soyeon, who wrapped her arms around Seojun’s neck, whispered in his ear in a meaningful voice. As if she was going to do something big.

In fact, Soyeon was thinking about what would happen after bringing Hyunwoo over. Whether the three family members could live together or not. But she wasn’t too worried.

Just by him saying that he would stand in front of Hyunwoo as a father, she already felt in her heart that Tae Seojun would protect her and the child.

“If I wait?”

“I’ll be good to you. Very much so.”

“…”

She’s getting cocky after I gave in a little. But what can I do. She’s my woman now, for better or worse. Seojun stared at Soyeon’s face with a skewed gaze for a while. As if her words were not trustworthy at all.

“What’s with that look? Don’t you trust me?”

“I’ve been fooled a few times.”

“You know my first love is Tae Seojun.”

Even if she was seen as a bad woman, Tae Seojun was the only man for her. When Soyeon spoke part of that fact, Seojun’s eyebrows rose crookedly for a moment.

“For now.”

In a previous interview, Eom Soyeon said she loved the child’s father. Seojun, reminded of that, waited for her answer with his black eyes full of expectation. No, he was clinging to it as if betting everything on that one thing.

“I’ll answer that later too.”

“I might want more later.”

“Wanting more isn’t a sin.”

“Really, you’re good with words. Do you know you drive me crazy?”

“Don’t go crazy.”

“…”

Seojun’s long fingers that swept down Soyeon’s temples grabbed her delicate chin. The transparent gaze that looked squarely at him. The clean voice that sounded like the ringing of a silver bell. The gently smiling expression. Everything about her was lovely.

But it was she who kissed him, not he.

Smooch!

Her moist and soft lips quickly visited his cheek.

As if knowing what she did was embarrassing, Soyeon, who blinked her eyes brilliantly, flushed her cheeks red. The gaze of the black eyes roaming that innocent face was hot.

“You know our situation is a bit funny, right?”

Because Seojun, who was excited about the apology, and her attitude that made him expect it, weren’t exactly a normal flow.

“Of course I do, oppa.”

“Heh…”

Seojun smirked.

She suddenly calls me oppa. Her mischievous act of clenching and releasing his heart was hateful, but Eom Soyeon, who exuded sexiness and cuteness at the same time even in moments like this, looked dazzlingly radiant.

When Seojun laughed, Soyeon also laughed brightly. Because his low chuckle was too attractive. This smile naturally escaped because this expression was something only she could see.

“What did you do well to smile so prettily? Though…”

This is how Eom Soyeon should be. This is why I can’t come to my senses because of you.

After staring at Soyeon’s face, which became as bright as a blooming sunflower, for a while, Seojun captured her rose-colored lips in an instant.

This sudden and passionate kiss was not his fault.

It was the fault of Eom Soyeon, who touched him first with her lips while he was still.

It was also her fault for constantly turning him into a scarecrow without substance.

Around 5 p.m., a luxury sedan entering the outdoor parking lot of the broadcasting station parked in a suitable spot. Right next to it was the familiar company car that the two women had ridden in.

Seojun, who turned off the engine, leisurely waited for Eom Soyeon, who would come out of the broadcasting station after finishing work, while looking out the car window from the driver’s seat.

“Sigh…”

Seojun let out a long sigh without realizing it.

My son is on the other side of the earth.

Although it was still awkward to accept that fact, thinking of Hyunwoo made his heart ache. Also, although it was shocking that Eom Soyeon had hidden the child’s existence until now, he was thrilled to have a clear reason to make her his woman.

But what was this anxious feeling that still lingered? Like holding it in his hand but not seeming to. Feeling like it was his, but not his. Because of that uncomfortable feeling. Well, it’s not like it was the first time Eom Soyeon had rejected and hurt me.

As he was deep in thought due to the untrustworthy Eom Soyeon, two women coming out of the broadcasting station’s main gate entered Seojun’s field of vision, which had been concentrating.

“Get in this one, Eom Soyeon-ssi.”

As Soyeon and Dosun approached the company car, Seojun, who had opened the driver’s door wide, snapped a finger at Soyeon.

It meant to quickly get into his car.

“…!”

Soyeon, who was stunned as soon as she saw Seojun, hurriedly closed the car door and looked around. The wide outdoor parking lot was quiet, but it made sense since it was near the broadcasting station where reporters looking for scoops were crawling.

However, as if Soyeon’s concern was of no importance, Seojun even got out of the car and brought his lips close to Soyeon’s ear.

“…”

According to Seojun’s whispering, he came to pick her up in case Eom Soyeon ran away.

Dosun must have heard the joke Seojun was playing on Soyeon, and she shot an unkind gaze at him.

“What is it? Don’t you care about Hyunwoo who will only be waiting anxiously for his mother in Canada? We need to quickly reach an agreement and go get the child. Do you know how much our Soyeon is agonizing over that, and you as a father are being petty! Huh?”

As Dosun’s words poured out like a machine gun from her mouth, defending her friend like a mother hen, Soyeon hurriedly spoke in a difficult situation.

“Dosun-ah, I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier. I decided to go to Canada together with the director. There’s still something I haven’t sorted out with the director, so I was going to tell you everything tomorrow, but…”

“Well, that’s a relief then. Anyway, there won’t be any more problems now, right?”

“Of course.”

In fact, Dosun’s head was so noisy that she couldn’t think of anything else. Just Gu Wonhoo suddenly barging into her life was enough to drive her crazy.

“Okay then. Anyway, I’ll pick you up in Nonhyeon-dong matching the schedule tomorrow. Bye until then! Director, please go in carefully too!”

Dosun, whose nose was three inches long, drove out of the parking lot as soon as she finished speaking.

Soyeon couldn’t take her eyes off until Dosun’s car disappeared from view. It was because the image of Dosun, whose eyes were unusually dark and dazed today, kept bothering her.

“What should I do? I think Dosun is in a bad mood.”

“Why, did something happen?”

“You know Dosun is a fan of Tae Seojun, right? But now that this happened with you and me, she must be so upset even if she can’t say it.”

When Soyeon spoke worriedly, Seojun said with a smirk.

“I get what you mean, but I don’t think it’s because of that. Dosun-ssi isn’t the type to hold back what she wants to say. Especially to Eom Soyeon.”

“Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

The sun was already slowly setting in the west.

Seojun hurried on his way home.

The important thing that must be done before today passes. That important thing was Eom Soyeon, so he was excited, and that’s why his heart had to be impatient.

“Tomorrow, you say?”

– Yes, it’s tomorrow. You must go to that arranged date no matter what. It’s best not to even think about escaping like an eel as soon as you meet, like last time.

Cha Yeojin’s voice commanding her son was persistent and resolute.

“An eel? Last time I had an urgent matter so I had no choice.”

– Be quiet! You think I don’t know my own son? But it’s different this time. She’s from a family that lacks nothing, so pay special attention.

“…”

– Keep in mind that this is an arranged date your father personally made happen, so it’s a match that really needs to lead to marriage this time.

“…”

– Why aren’t you answering?

“Do we have to go that far?”

– You talk too much. Just answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

“Yes… I understand.”

Wonhoo, who ended the call with Cha Yeojin, pressed his temples with two fingers and spit out a voice mixed with half air and half resignation.

“To hell with it, let’s do it.”

If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it, they say.

Isn’t marriage the same? Since my parents want it that much, if I just do that, I can focus only on work without any problems. That damn marriage, there’s no particular reason I can’t do it…

But why does an unpleasant face keep flickering in my mind!

“Ha, I must be going crazy!”

The aftereffects of moving my body wrong must be this severe. The cracks in his smooth forehead were because of Yeo Dosun, who ran around in someone else’s head as she pleased without permission.

Her appearance is passable, but she has a personality like a head servant and is stiff as a board without any charm. There’s no way a woman like that is my type. Wonhoo, who repeatedly shook his head, furrowed his brows even more annoyingly at one point.

This afternoon, I ran into Yeo Dosun briefly in the company hallway. But why did she slowly back away as soon as she saw me? Displeased by that, I chased after her and asked, and what did she say?

“Why are you running away? Am I dirty?”

“What? Ah, yes!”

With that short answer, Yeo Dosun practically ran and disappeared from my sight. Even yesterday when eating hangover soup, she kept looking at the distant mountains until we parted, and today, she doesn’t even want to exchange words with me?

“Wow, I…!”

So you’re saying I’m really dirty?

Wonhoo abruptly got up from his desk in the CEO’s office because a thousand angers suddenly rose from his heart. He took long strides to the window and huffed and puffed, making his chest heave.

The sky visible through the window was burning red with the sunset glow. Wonhoo, who finally realized that the sky was no different from his heart, calmed his excited emotions with exhaled breaths through pursed lips. But there was something else that came to mind again.

“I’m really going to go crazy!”

The graceful curves of Yeo Dosun’s slender body and the elastic feeling that fit in his palm vividly came to Wonhoo’s mind, and he shouted as if denying reality.

“Okay, let’s not even think about it at all! Like that woman said, it’s an accident! She’s not my style anyway!”

That’s when it happened.

His cell phone on the desk rang with a buzz.

– CEO!

“Yeo… Dosun-ssi?”

As soon as he answered the phone, the voice was very loud. The background noise was also very noisy, as if she was in a place like a pub.

– Tch, I’m not your style either, CEO!

“!”

How does she know what I just said…!

Isn’t this enough to make a ghost wail? Wonhoo, whose heart sank with a thud, quickly swept his eyes around the CEO’s office.

– Who’s running around in my head recklessly.

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

– I think my heart keeps pounding because of you, CEO! So let’s meet just once. I’m not saying to take responsibility, so don’t be scared, I just want to check why my heart is acting strange.

“…”

Are you drinking alone again?

Trying to cause trouble again?

She said just once… I suddenly want a drink too…

Wonhoo, who fell into contemplation for a moment, was already running to where Yeo Dosun was in his heart. Even though his head was still thinking about what to do.

“So where are you?”

Wonhoo, whose legs moved on their own, was already out of the CEO’s office with his car keys.

– At the indoor street vendor near Apgujeong intersection.

“There are so many street vendors there!”

– If you don’t want to, then don’t, why are you getting angry! Never mind, don’t come!

“No, I wasn’t angry, I just need the exact location…”

Beep beep beep…

“H-hello? Yeo Dosun-ssi!”

The call suddenly disconnected.

Even if he tries to call again, she won’t answer.

Telling me to call first and come, then saying no later!

Wonhoo, who drove his car onto the road without a plan, called Dosun several times. But her phone seemed to be completely turned off.

“I’m not here to be made a fool of! What the hell is up with this woman?”

Properly pissed off, Wonhoo muttered to himself and sharply turned the steering wheel towards Apgujeong-dong.