CHAPTER 9
What Muhyuk told Hye-joo wasn’t exactly a lie.
It was true that, unintentionally, he had been staying at a hotel ever since joining the company.
Of course, it wasn’t the kind of motel Hye-joo had imagined.
Thinking that Hye-joo’s ever-changing expressions were quite adorable, Muhyuk gave her a playful smile.
“……S-so what! Still, living together is a bit much, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“I mean, we did sleep together and all, but that still doesn’t mean we should live together.”
“And even if we were just sleeping together, we haven’t known each other for very long, you know?”
When Hye-joo lowered her voice, afraid someone might hear them, Muhyuk let out a quiet laugh.
Then he lowered himself slightly and whispered into her ear.
“I don’t think you ever answered my proposal from that time, though, so I can take this as a definite answer, right?”
“……What proposal?”
“Work and private life?”
Muhyuk whispered beside Hye-joo’s ear and chuckled.
“Ugh!”
As if she were about to get the hiccups again, Hye-joo hurriedly covered her lips with her hand.
By now, both of Hye-joo’s cheeks had turned as red as strawberries.
‘She’s pretty…….’
Muhyuk muttered inwardly.
He wanted to kiss her so badly that he could do it at any moment.
Muhyuk forced himself to remain composed as he looked at Hye-joo.
Startled by Muhyuk moving closer, Hye-joo panicked and instinctively stepped backward.
Just as Hye-joo’s head was about to hit the wall, Muhyuk gently caught the back of her neck.
“……You can’t.”
Hye-joo quickly covered her lips and shook her head.
Muhyuk gave a little laugh, lowered himself a bit more, met her gaze, and whispered.
“Did you think I was going to kiss you?”
“But as you can see.”
Muhyuk gestured with his head toward somewhere on the ceiling.
Hye-joo, who had been keeping her head lowered as though trying desperately to hide her flushed face, followed Muhyuk’s gaze.
At the end of that gaze was a CCTV camera.
“It’s thrilling even in a place like this, but we’ll do things like that in private.”
With a wide grin, Muhyuk left the pantry first.
—
After returning to her desk in the office, Hye-joo couldn’t concentrate on her work at all.
The word ‘motel’ kept floating around in her mind even while she was working.
‘Does he really have that little money?’
‘Even so, he went to an expensive hotel in that expensive car that day.’
Muhyuk’s behavior that day had clearly been anything but unfamiliar.
He had acted as though he frequently visited hotels like that.
‘Could there be some circumstances with his family?’
But Hye-joo soon shook her head.
The car and hotel she had seen that day.
No matter how she thought about it, they were not the lifestyle or appearance of someone who was struggling financially.
‘……Could he be a car poor?’
Hye-joo’s hands moved busily.
She pulled up a list of upcoming exhibition schedules and opened a real estate agency website in a small window on the side.
“Hye-joo, here are the materials you asked for.”
Muhyuk handed Hye-joo a list of selected artists, looking like a man without a single worry in the world.
A few hours later.
“How about we all grab a drink before heading home?”
As quitting time approached, Manager Yang raised his head over the partition and spoke.
“I already have plans, so I’m sorry, Manager.”
Yeon-soo smiled awkwardly and watched Manager Yang’s reaction.
Ji-yoon nodded in agreement.
“I have a blind date.”
At that, Hye-joo let out a small laugh.
She remembered Ji-yoon saying not long ago that after seeing nothing but impressive men like Muhyuk and Muhyuk, her standards had gotten too high, so she had given up on dating and blind dates.
“I have something to take care of today too, so I don’t think I can join you.”
Hye-joo gave a vague excuse and turned her gaze back to her computer screen.
“You’re all so responsible.”
“Do you all go straight home early?”
“Don’t tell me you’re all getting together for drinks without me.”
Despite Manager Yang’s sarcastic tone, no one even bothered to respond, as though this wasn’t the first or second time he had said something like that.
Just then, a notification window from the company messenger popped up in the lower-right corner of Hye-joo’s computer screen.
It was a message from Yeon-soo.
[Hye-joo, we didn’t get to have a proper after-party yesterday, so how about the four of us—Ji-yoon, Sun-woo, you, and me—grab a drink?]
Hye-joo immediately typed out a reply.
[I’m sorry, Yeon-soo. I’m really busy today. I have things to do even after I get home. Let’s have a drink next time.]
‘If I can quickly find somewhere for Muhyuk to live, maybe I won’t have to deal with him privately anymore.’
Leaving Yeon-soo’s disappointed reply behind, Hye-joo glanced at Muhyuk.
“Maybe I was worried for nothing.”
As soon as six o’clock arrived, Muhyuk left work without saying a word.
Watching his back as he walked away, Hye-joo also began preparing to leave.
—
After arriving home and taking a shower, Hye-joo immediately sat down at her desk.
She turned on her laptop and dug up memories of when she had first looked for a place to live on her own during college.
She opened several real estate websites and compared the prices when her cell phone began ringing.
The name displayed on the lock screen belonged to Lee Seo, Hye-joo’s closest friend and the person she could confide all her private circumstances in.
“Lee Seo!”
Hye-joo called out Lee Seo’s name in a delighted voice, happy that she finally had someone to ask for advice.
“―Kwon Hye-joo, is it really okay to disappear for this long without contacting me?”
“―At least let me know whether you’re alive or dead.”
“You used to contact me every single day without fail.”
“……No, it’s just that I’ve been busy lately because some new employees joined the company.”
“―It’s strange.”
“There was a point when Kwon Hye-joo suddenly became less communicative.”
“When was that again, last year?”
“……I told you, I was busy.”
Unable to bring herself to confess that she had wandered around clubs because she wanted to lose herself and ended up having a one-night stand, Hye-joo continued talking to Lee Seo with an awkward laugh.
“―You answered the phone right away today.”
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened, it’s just……. There’s something that’s been bothering me…….”
Leaving out the one-night stand, Hye-joo hesitated as she wondered how to start telling Lee Seo about Muhyuk.
“―You really don’t have something going on, do you?”
“It’s not that……. I told you a new employee joined the company, right?”
“Somehow, I happen to know him a little…….”
“―Huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“If he’s a new employee at your company, isn’t it natural for you to know him?”
“I mean, you know the day I broke up…….”
The moment Hye-joo brought it up, Lee Seo spoke in an agitated voice.
“―Are you talking about that bastard Kang Young-moo?”
“Just hearing that name makes me so angry I could die.”
“That bastard, how could he do that to you…….”
“No, I’m not talking about Kang Young-moo.”
“It was the day I broke up with him, but…….”
Holding her phone, Hye-joo shook her head and barely managed to squeeze out the words in a timid voice.
“Actually, I did something a little rebellious that day.”
“―Rebellious?”
“What kind of rebellion would someone like you even do?”
“Even if you tried to rebel, what would you do?”
“You’d probably just drink yourself senseless, right?”
“……Actually, I met a really handsome man that day!”
“―Oh, and?”
“……And?”
“Well……. He was one of our company’s…….”
“―Don’t tell me he’s one of the new employees?”
“This isn’t some drama.”
“……That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“How could something like this happen?”
Lee Seo let out an incredulous laugh.
Hye-joo found the situation just as absurd.
“―But are you sure you didn’t mistake him for someone else?”
After hearing the whole story, Lee Seo burst out laughing.
“No, I’m not.”
“He even remembered me.”
“―Wow, Kwon Hye-joo.”
“They say even the quietest cat climbs onto the kitchen stove first.”
“I’m so proud of you, my friend.”
“I’m genuinely moved that you finally met a man after Kang Young-moo.”
Hye-joo waved her hand dismissively and was about to continue when Lee Seo spoke again.
“Anyway, that new employee is really bothering me.”
“I don’t know whether it’s okay for me to help him or whether our relationship is even…….”
Just then, as Hye-joo scrolled down the real estate website open on her laptop and tried to finish her sentence, she heard the sound of the doorbell.
“Ding-dong.”
“There’s no one who should be coming over.”
“Who could it be?”
“―Make sure the security chain is fastened and check first.”
“Don’t just open the door right away.”
“Okay, I’ll call you back.”
Hye-joo tilted her head in confusion, ended the call with Lee Seo, and walked toward the entrance.
“Who is it?”
But there was no answer from the other side.
“Ding-dong.”
The doorbell rang again.
“This house is so inconvenient without a peephole.”
Hesitating, Hye-joo fastened the security chain securely and cautiously opened the door.
Standing outside was Muhyuk, smiling and waving at her.
