Sun Woo, along with Jae Seok, conducted a comprehensive management review of You&I Fashion, starting from the design department and moving through planning, sales, and finance departments.

And finally, they returned to the conference room in the design department.

The space was spacious.

It seemed they were using a large area compared to the number of employees, probably due to frequent meetings with clients.

“How does it look?”

Jae Seok asked Sun Woo while checking You&I’s financial statements.

But Sun Woo’s gaze was directed outside the conference room rather than at the work in front of him.

“What’s there to say? He’s probably going crazy wanting to devour her right now.”

Jae Seok sighed and followed Sun Woo’s gaze outside.

Reflected in the conference room window was Young Hwa, wearing clothes with small fabric patches, fitting in front of a large full-length mirror.

Thwack-!

Jae Seok’s hand struck the back of Sun Woo’s head.

“Ow!”

“You crazy bastard!”

Sun Woo came to his senses, clutching the back of his head as he looked up.

“Hey!”

“Get a grip, will you?”

“How can I be any more focused? I’m barely holding back from going crazy right now. In my head, I’ve already grabbed her wrist and left.”

Sun Woo’s eyes were half-crazed. So the words he uttered must have been sincere.

“Sigh. I knew you were a crazy bastard, but this is the first time in 20 years I’ve seen you so reckless. What are we going to do with you?”

They met in middle school and went through high school and study abroad together. Ironically, their connection grew even longer when Jae Seok joined The K.

So Jae Seok was nothing short of a living witness to Kang Sun Woo’s history, having seen him through his timid phase, his zombie-like studying phase, and his rebellious phase as he grew angrier at his father and birth mother.

So he felt sorry for Sun Woo’s twisted mentality. Moreover, it was a shame that his management skills and outstanding talent were undervalued, hidden behind his reputation as a notorious scoundrel known through the media.

Perhaps he hated his father’s wrong choices and resented his birth mother who destroyed the family in the name of love.

Yet, his longing and respect for his father’s legal wife, who had to live as a perfect housewife without a single complaint, mixed chaotically to make him who he is today.

Before being a colleague at the same company, Jae Seok was Sun Woo’s closest friend.

And as the person who had known him the longest, he was also the one who knew him best.

“Am I telling you to live righteously, or even just pretend to?”

“Why are you nagging again!”

Sun Woo rubbed the back of his head, which felt like it was swelling up.

“If this blows up, it really can’t be fixed. What are you going to do?”

Jae Seok was truly shocked the day Sun Woo told him about Young Hwa.

Even when Sun Woo asked him to look into Young Hwa, he thought it was just to learn more about In Ha’s family background.

But the story coming from Sun Woo’s mouth was truly the worst of the worst.

Sun Woo had been involved in many scandals until now. Most were brief encounters. Sun Woo showed an aversion to deep relationships due to his trauma regarding his parents.

Because Sun Woo enjoyed drinking and meeting friends, most of the women he met were from the entertainment industry.

Thanks to his background and eye-catching looks, most people who approached him, even outside those circles, were often those with frequent media exposure.

As a result, it was common for women to spread stories to the media when they couldn’t accept the end of a short relationship.

Most of them were people he hadn’t even agreed to date.

Even with just one or two meetings, or even just exchanging contacts, women painted Sun Woo as a scoundrel and a prodigal.

Sun Woo didn’t deal with it. He just grinned and let it pass, thinking rumors would die down eventually.

“Don’t you feel wronged?”

It was rather Jae Seok who felt his insides burning.

“Who am I to feel wronged? If I do that, it’s a sin.”

The mother who raised him.

While longing for his father who had a mistress, she poured all her love on Sun Woo, who was that woman’s child. Sun Woo was paying for his sins against his mother in that way.

Like someone who could only live by being hurt.

So Jae Seok couldn’t stop Sun Woo.

He couldn’t stop him when he said he liked someone for the first time.

Even knowing it would be a difficult path, Jae Seok wished for the happiness of this scoundrel-like guy.

He hoped Sun Woo would choose a path to true happiness, letting go of all his burdens.

Jae Seok’s gaze shifted back to Young Hwa.

Why did someone like you catch Sun Woo’s eye?

It would be nice if she were a more comfortable person who could embrace that guy.

It would be nice if she were a warm person who could only give him smiles.

Jae Seok laughed audibly.

I don’t know, but you probably reached Sun Woo because you’re all twisted up too.

Outside the conference room, Young Hwa was lifting her arms and walking to see if the movement of the outfit she was fitting was comfortable.

A silk pin that had been rolled up and sewn at the hem scratched Young Hwa’s calf and fell to the floor.

A long scratch appeared on her calf, and blood beaded up and flowed.

“Ah-!”

Sun Woo, who was watching, tried to reach out but bit his lip. Young Hwa was the one hurt, but Sun Woo’s expression crumpled as he fidgeted restlessly.

Young Hwa, on the other hand, nonchalantly pulled out a tissue, wiped the flowing blood, and stood in front of the mirror again.

A red dot appeared on the white tissue, and blood began to bead up on Young Hwa’s calf again.

“Damn it.”

Sun Woo cursed roughly and clenched his fist.

Young Hwa’s words echoed in his head.

“Is that so? I have many scars from paper cuts.”

In fact, there wasn’t a single day Young Hwa went without getting hurt.

Every day was a wound.

***

After everyone had left work, Young Hwa was the last to leave the office.

She turned off the lights and activated the lock.

It had been an especially tiring day. It seemed to feel that way because of the unsettled atmosphere in the company.

It was quite a walk to the subway station, so Young Hwa quickened her pace.

It was midsummer.

So even though the night was deep, the heat persisted.

Sweat ran down her spine with just a little walking.

“Just getting off work?”

Sun Woo suddenly popped out from an alley on the way to the subway station past the office.

“Oh my god.”

Young Hwa clutched her startled heart.

“Please stop scaring me. I might lose the baby.”

Sun Woo narrowed his deep eyes.

“Whose baby? Of course it would be mine. Let’s have it. I’ll raise it well.”

Even knowing it was obviously an empty joke, Sun Woo acted shamelessly.

“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Young Hwa walked briskly.

Sun Woo followed beside her with his hands in his pockets.

“I’m going to take the subway.”

“Okay.”

“I’m not riding in your car, Mr. Sun Woo.”

“Don’t ride then. Who said they’d give you a ride? Your dreams are quite ambitious.”

“Then why are you following me?”

“I’m not following you. I’m just going my own way.”

Young Hwa carefully looked around. Although she wouldn’t run into employees due to the company’s location away from the station, she was still inwardly concerned.

“Where are you going?”

“The subway station.”

“Didn’t you bring your car?”

“I did.”

“Then why are you taking the subway?”

“You said you’re taking the subway.”

“I thought you said you weren’t following me.”

“Right, I’m not.”

Who am I talking to right now?

Is this wall next to me?

It was frustratingly impossible to communicate.

Young Hwa looked at Sun Woo and smiled brightly.

I think I’m going to lose my mind.

Let’s stop talking.

As they went down into the station, it was as bright as day.

“Sit over there.”

Sun Woo’s chin pointed to a bench inside the station.

In front of it were lockers provided in the subway. She was planning to retrieve her drawing book before taking the subway.

“Why?”

It was clear that Sun Woo would persistently insist if she didn’t listen to him anyway.

Young Hwa obediently sat on the bench Sun Woo had indicated.

Sun Woo bent his knees and sat in front of Young Hwa.

“What- what are you doing?”

She was wearing wide summer linen pants. The pants had slits on the outside, making it even easier to roll them up.

Despite it being summer, Sun Woo’s fingers felt cold.

“Ouch.”

Then she saw it. Sun Woo was holding a pharmacy plastic bag in his hand.

Sun Woo, with an unfamiliarly serious face, applied disinfectant to cotton and wiped her leg.

His movements were so careful, as if handling a small child, that Young Hwa laughed.

“What are you doing? It’s a scratch that’s barely visible.”

Sun Woo didn’t even pretend to hear Young Hwa’s words.

“If you hurt my body one more time, you’re dead, you know.”

Young Hwa had trouble understanding Sun Woo’s words at once.

“What did you say?”

Sun Woo applied ointment and put on a bandage that wouldn’t leave a scar, then rolled down the pants he had lifted.

Only then did he show a grin.

Sun Woo’s long fingers lightly pushed Young Hwa’s forehead.

“This is mine, you know.”

“Huh?”

“So it’s my body. Don’t carelessly hurt it. I don’t like it.”

Young Hwa let out what might have been a laugh or a sigh.

Ring-!

At that moment, Sun Woo’s phone rang.

“I said I’m coming. I’ll be there, okay?”

Sun Woo frowned as soon as he answered the phone.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m going first. That bastard Jae Seok says he’ll leave without me if I don’t come right now.”

Sun Woo muttered as if talking to himself and quickly disappeared.

Young Hwa watched his retreating figure, laughing, then straightened her back and looked around.

“It’s hot.”

She felt like her face was heating up for no reason. She stopped by the convenience store to buy a drink.

Then she opened the locker and took out her drawing book.

A shadow on the stairs opposite the locker was watching Young Hwa.