His usually tight lips were unusually loose, forming a deep, attractive smile. Even his cold demeanor seemed softened.

“Um… the car, are you waiting for the manager?”

As Kang Hyun nodded, opening the sliding door, Ji An felt a distant sensation.

“Yoon Ah.”

Kang Hyun’s voice, which had once flashed through her mind so vividly, returned, causing her toes to curl under the table.

Could I have imagined Kang Hyun calling Han Seo Yoon in that way?

Since she had heard stories about milk, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

“Ji An.”

Ha Joon, who hadn’t moved, called out to Ji An, still staring blankly at the door.

“…”

“Seo Ji An.”

Before Ha Joon could reach out to touch her shoulder, Ji An abruptly stood up.

“Just a moment, Ha Joon. I’ll see the executive off.”

Ha Joon looked at his fallen hand and sighed. Kang Hyun’s assertion that the delusion was on his side seemed to take on an ominous reality in his mind.
“Executive!”

Ji An rushed out of the restaurant, catching up to the departing Kang Hyun.

Startled to see Ji An without her coat, Kang Hyun immediately took off his own.

“Why come out in the cold?”

Seo Yoon was particularly susceptible to cold and often caught colds in winter. Kang Hyun disliked winter for that reason, but Seo Yoon loved it for the snow and the crisp air.

Several times Seo Yoon had changed her reasons for loving winter, eventually confiding the real one.

“I love it because you come to see me the most in winter.”

Kang Hyun had nonchalantly brushed off her comment at the time, but now it came back to him clearly.

“You’ve had too much to drink. Let’s stay together until the manager arrives. You wear the coat.”

Ji An, trying to shrug off the heavy coat she had been wrapped in, was stopped by Kang Hyun’s large hand.

Seeing her hands already cold despite having been outside for just a short time, Kang Hyun hesitated for a moment before enveloping her smaller hands in his and blowing warm breath on them.

“Are you really trying not to like me?”

Ji An, pouting, glanced at Kang Hyun, who was unusually affectionate.

“You told me not to try.”

“When have you ever listened to me?”

“I don’t recall a time I haven’t.”

“And you’re going to keep speaking informally?”

“From now on, yes.”

Every action since seeing Ji An with another man in front of the company felt impulsive.

Perhaps it was a sense of crisis, fearing that Ha Joon might completely take Ji An away.

“Thinking about you gives me a headache, executive.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Creating memories that don’t exist confuses me.”

“That too, I’m sorry.”

Without giving a definitive answer, Kang Hyun clutched Ji An’s hand as if it were a lifeline.

The thought of seeing her holding hands with, kissing, and sharing love with another man filled him with fear.

“Don’t stay out too long.”

“What?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t, but it’s not an order.”

Unable to bear the thought of seeing her with someone else, he felt shamelessly cowardly but couldn’t help approaching her.

Love that sets free seemed a luxury for a madman like him.

Arriving at Choi Jun Young’s villa, Kang Hyun exhaled a long breath filled with the smell of alcohol and rubbed his aching chest.

“How much did you drink?”

Seok Won, stepping out of the driver’s seat, opened a bottle of water and handed it to Kang Hyun.

“Just a little.”

“It doesn’t seem like a little.”

“I drank it quickly.”

“I thought you only had dinner with Ji An.”

“There was also a friend who’s a cop. No comments from the executives.”

“I told the chairman’s secretary you forgot about an important appointment. They seemed to accept it, but there must have been talk behind your back.”

Having missed a company dinner to meet Ji An, Kang Hyun knew there would be repercussions.

Swallowing water hastily, he grimaced at a sudden pain in his solar plexus.

“Please take care of yourself. Have you slept well recently?”

“Enough, I slept well at the workshop.”

The conversation ends there, with Kang Hyun’s health and well-being still a concern.
Actually, the workshop might have been the most comfortable day I’ve had in a while.

Although my fevered body felt heavy, I had a pretty sweet rest while Ji An took care of me.

“I’ll contact Dr. Han to schedule a check-up.”

“No need. What did Choi Jun Young say?”

“He wants to negotiate with you… Wait, where did you leave your coat again? You wore it when you left the office.”

Seok Won, noticing the suit jacket fluttering weakly in the harsh wind, caught up with Kang Hyun’s stride and nagged him for not taking care of himself.

“Seo Yoon took it, she was cold.”

“And you’re not cold, executive?”

“I was in the car anyway.”

Responding indifferently to Seok Won’s worried look, Kang Hyun entered the villa to find Choi Jun Young.

The guards, already informed, were keeping Choi Jun Young on his knees.

Kang Hyun casually entered the living room and stopped in front of Choi Jun Young.

“You wanted to negotiate.”

Choi Jun Young, having not stepped out of the villa for over a fortnight, looked up from staring at his black shoes with a haggard face.

His eyes, devoid of light, trembled anxiously. Trapped, he had kept thinking he might die of old age here, unable to endure without reaching out.

Feeling suffocated and trapped, he thought he might go mad.

“I’ll tell you everything about who ordered me, just let me out. I said I’d pay a hefty price for my words.”

“If it’s worth it.”

Kang Hyun, smirking at Choi Jun Young’s offer, sunk deeply into the sofa as the delayed effects of alcohol hit him and coldly watched Choi Jun Young biting his lower lip.