A Rin hugged Ji Yun before entering the arrivals hall.

“A Rin, I’ll be on your side no matter what. So don’t struggle alone, okay? You have me and our mother by your side. You’re never alone.”

“…Thank you, Ji Yun.”

Tears welled up in A Rin’s eyes. Ji Yun slowly patted her back as if to say it was okay.

The display board showed that boarding had begun for her flight.

“Go. It’s time for your flight. Let’s talk about the rest this weekend when I come down. Okay? Let me know by Friday if you need anything.”

Ji Yun said after releasing A Rin from her embrace.

“…Okay.”

“Don’t cry too much. Got it?”

“…Okay.”

A Rin walked inside, receiving Ji Yun’s send-off.

When she turned around, Ji Yun was waving and smiling. A Rin’s heart swelled as she remembered what Ji Yun had just said.

It was an unexpected future, but it wasn’t all frightening. With Ji Yun watching over her, and Ji Yun’s mother who cared for her waiting in Jeju Island, she was no longer lonely.

She felt like she could manage well even after leaving Jae Hyuk.

A Rin clenched her right fist tightly and waved at Ji Yun with her left hand, smiling. Ji Yun waved back, making a heart shape with her hands in response.

After sending off A Rin, Ji Yun returned to the parking lot but couldn’t leave for a long time. She let out a deep sigh, gripping the steering wheel.

‘What happened?’

Ji Yun recalled A Rin’s dark expression and thought she should go to Jeju Island this weekend to ask her in detail and comfort her.

To her, A Rin was more than a friend. Although they were not related by blood, she was no different from family.

Requesting time off in the morning after receiving A Rin’s contact was a wise decision. Even if she prepared tightly from now on, it seemed like it would take a little more time to get ready for work.

As soon as Ji Yun started the engine, she drove off. The roads were not congested in the morning. She hurried her steps upon arriving at the parking lot. It was the moment she entered the building.

“Manager Seo.”

A large shadow fell in front of her. She stiffened her expression upon confirming the face of the man blocking her way.

“…Vice President?”

Ji Yun was startled.

She had expected that Jae Hyuk might come looking for her, so his appearance wasn’t surprising. What surprised her was Jae Hyuk’s expression.

Ji Yun found Jae Hyuk’s urgent and somewhat anxious expression unfamiliar.

It was an expression she had never seen even once after joining the PR team at VAN Group.

“What brings you here?”

“She’s here, isn’t she?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ji Yun feigned ignorance for now. It was because she thought she must never let him find out where A Rin was.

“A Rin is here.”

“She’s not.”

Although he was her superior at work, he was also the husband of her closest friend. And now, he was just A Rin’s ex-husband.

Ji Yun spoke in a cold and firm voice, not liking the man who had made A Rin cry.

“Manager Seo.”

Jae Hyuk’s expression hardened.

“I’m sorry. I need to get ready for work, so I’ll be going in now.”

Ji Yun knew instinctively that it wouldn’t be good to prolong the conversation. It might be rude to say Jae Hyuk was impolite, but Ji Yun had shown the minimum courtesy in her own way.

She bowed her head briefly to Jae Hyuk and coldly passed by him.

Jae Hyuk blankly watched Ji Yun disappear into the building.

“Where on earth are you?”

There were two places A Rin was expected to go. He had received word that she wasn’t at the other place.

Then she should have been here.

He was confused whether she really wasn’t here or she was here but they said she wasn’t.

In fact, it didn’t matter.

Ji Yun was the only one he could rely on right now.

Jae Hyuk clenched his fist. Of course, with his wealth and power, it wouldn’t be difficult to find out where she was.

But it would take time to find her, and even if he found out where she was, there was a high possibility that they would miss each other.

If he never saw that angelic face again… It was horrible just to imagine.

Jae Hyuk hurried after Ji Yun into the building. It was an action he would never take under normal circumstances.

Jae Hyuk, who never held onto things that were cold to him, could not think of anything else but the thought that he had to follow Ji Yun right now.

“Manager Seo.”

Fortunately, Ji Yun was standing in front of the elevator on the 1st floor.

She turned her body, unable to hide her startled look at his voice.

“Please give me a moment.”

Just then, the elevator arrived on the 1st floor.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Jae Hyuk let the elevator leave as it was. She belatedly pressed the up arrow button, but the elevator had already departed.

Ji Yun glared at Jae Hyuk with an angry face.

“What on earth are you doing?”

“I’m sorry, Manager Seo.”

“…”

“This is the only place A Rin could go, so I was in a hurry. Please understand.”

Inside the company, Ban Jae Hyuk was known for his fame as a being made up of cold logic without blood or tears.

− Emotion is just a luxury.−

That was said about Jae Hyuk.

“Why are you doing this?”

She couldn’t keep her mouth shut at his unfamiliar attitude. Ji Yun clenched both fists and looked up at Jae Hyuk.

Honestly, it was absurd. If Jae Hyuk had not just watched until things got this bad in the first place, her friend would not have left.

She pushed away the assumption that had been slowly raising its head in her mind, which she could not have even imagined until now.

“That’s right, you’re being a nuisance.”

Ji Yun crossed her arms and looked up at Jae Hyuk.

“I know, but A Rin wouldn’t go looking for my family.”

“You know that so well…”

Yet you left her until she became like this?

Ji Yun had words that rose up to her throat that she wanted to say to Jae Hyuk. However, it seemed like crossing the line for her to say what even A Rin had never said.

She swallowed the words she couldn’t say and pressed her lips tightly together.

After composing her expression, Ji Yun said,

“A Rin is not here.”

“Manager Seo.”

“It’s true. She’s not here.”

Jae Hyuk’s eyes were trembling roughly. Ji Yun also couldn’t hide the uneasiness in her expression.

It was unfamiliar to see Jae Hyuk, who always had a poker face and never showed his emotions, unable to hide his feelings…

Jae Hyuk continued speaking with a frustrated and resentful expression.

“They said she’s not at home either. Then she should be here. But you’re saying she’s not here either? Are you telling me to believe that now?”

“Vice President.”

She didn’t want to clash with her superior at work, especially knowing Jae Hyuk’s personality, but she couldn’t stand it.

It was incomprehensible. A Rin left because of Jae Hyuk.

Yet, now Jae Hyuk came and boldly asked for A Rin’s whereabouts, which felt brazen to her.

Ji Yun clenched both fists and glared at Jae Hyuk.

“You made her suffer enough.”

“It’s just a misunderstanding. If I explain it well to A Rin…”

It was unbelievable.

Misunderstanding? He calls that a misunderstanding?

Ji Yun cut off Jae Hyuk’s words.

“Misunderstanding? Are you even in a position to have misunderstandings?”

Jae Hyuk’s eyes shook roughly as if shocked by Ji Yun’s sharp words.

“I didn’t want to interfere in relationships between men and women if I could help it, but I can’t stand it. Do you really not know? The thing that made A Rin suffer the most was not the lady of the house or anything else.”

As she spoke, her emotions became heated.

“The one who made A Rin wither away was none other than you, Vice President.”

Ji Yun got even angrier at Jae Hyuk’s expression for some reason.

Subjectively, he was the villain tormenting her friend, but objectively, Ban Jae Hyuk was a capable man. He was a man praised as a born businessman, showing unwavering judgment in any urgent situation and unexpected situation.

But does it make sense that he didn’t know a single person’s heart?

Ji Yun thought Jae Hyuk was lying.

“Do you really not know? You watched right beside her how much A Rin was struggling. Yet you really didn’t know?”

Resentment and anger were evident in Ji Yun’s eyes as she looked at Jae Hyuk.

“I apologize in advance for saying this. I’m sorry, but I have to say something. Stop hurting A Rin. Please stop making her cry.”

“…What?”

Jae Hyuk was at a loss for words. He felt numb as if he had been hit on the back of the head.

“It was practically the same as pushing her away and telling her to leave. A Rin didn’t ask for much. If you had cherished her even a little, she wouldn’t have left like she was running away. So please let her go. Isn’t it time you granted at least one thing A Rin wants?”

Jae Hyuk found Ji Yun’s words strange.

“What on earth are you talking about? Let A Rin go? What did I do?”

Wait a minute.

Jae Hyuk’s mind was in turmoil.

Why did he do nothing until it came to this?

Doing nothing, yet why did he think A Rin wouldn’t leave him?

Two words flashed through his mind.

‘Arrogance…’

He had been complacent that she would not leave him no matter how harshly he treated her.

Jae Hyuk was choked up by his own recklessness. But he couldn’t just blame himself right now.

“You’re right, Manager Seo. So please tell me where A Rin is. I’ll explain it to her myself.”

He had to find out from Ji Yun’s mouth where she was before she ran off somewhere else again. That was the quickest and best way to find her.

“I don’t know.”

“Please, Manager Seo.”

Ji Yun couldn’t hide her bewilderment at Jae Hyuk’s use of the word “please.”

“Please, you say?”

“Yes, I’m asking you.

Ji Yun’s eyes trembled finely.

She was confused by the fact that the great Ban Jae Hyuk was searching for A Rin even using the word “please.”

However,

‘No, that can’t be. He’s someone who did nothing until the situation became like this. Yet what useless thoughts am I having?’

Shaking her head fiercely to brush off the distracting thoughts, Ji Yun said coldly,

“I’ll tell you honestly. I know where A Rin is. But I won’t tell you, Vice President. This is A Rin’s request.”

“…A Rin said that?”

“Yes. She asked me not to let you know where she is.”

Thud.

His heart sank.

‘Were you really thinking of leaving me? Have you sorted out all your feelings for me?’