2. Reunion

“I heard someone from Kwonseong came. Did you see him?”

“Wasn’t he supposed to come tomorrow? Why did he suddenly come today?”

“I don’t know either. But I heard Vice President Kwon Dohun came.”

By the time Yunkyung wiped up the water she had spilled on the floor and returned to her desk, news of Dohun’s visit had already spread throughout the entire company.

The sound of people whispering was irritating enough, and Dohun’s name and that of Kwonseong Group could be heard everywhere.

It was an unexpected visit from an unexpected person.

Yunkyung didn’t know exactly why Vice President Kwon Dohun of the parent company, ‘Kwonseong Group,’ had come, but the fact that he had personally shown up without notice meant it probably wasn’t anything trivial.

As Dohun’s name continued to come from people’s mouths without pause, Yunkyung withdrew her gaze from them and put on her headphones.

Of everyone here, she was the least able to concentrate because of Dohun’s appearance, but she forcibly pushed the thoughts from her mind and tried to focus on her work. If she couldn’t push them away, she would have to work while thinking about Dohun.

What she needed to do right now wasn’t worry about Dohun. It was to do the work she had been assigned.

Repeating that to herself like a mantra, Yunkyung tried to cut herself off from everything unrelated to her work. Even from Jihyun’s gaze as she stared at her from beyond the partition.

If there was anyone as surprised by Dohun’s visit as Yunkyung, it was undoubtedly Jihyun.

The moment she heard that Dohun had arrived, she had rushed to the CEO’s office.

And despite having rushed there, she returned to her desk almost immediately.

Judging by her expression, it seemed she hadn’t even managed to have a proper conversation with him. If Dohun’s personality, which strictly separated his personal and professional lives, hadn’t changed much in the past three years, that was only natural.

She had bragged about talking to him every day, yet apparently she hadn’t known Dohun would be coming here today.

Yunkyung gave Jihyun, who was staring at her, a mocking smile.

She hadn’t wanted it, but she had lived in the same house as Jihyun for ten years.

After living under the same roof for so many years, she knew things even when she didn’t want to, and saw things even when she didn’t want to see them.

Jihyun had been watching and worrying constantly, afraid that Yunkyung might meet or run into Dohun.

Yunkyung simply found Jihyun’s anxious behavior amusing for someone who called him her fiancé and claimed to talk to him every day.

Yunkyung adjusted the brightness of her desk lamp and fixed her glasses.

Her time was too precious to waste paying attention to Jihyun.

“You’re not leaving?”

“I’m just going to send this first.”

“Staying late isn’t going to make them pay you more. Why stay at a company that hasn’t paid overtime in ages? What’s so great about it?”

Manager Kim from the marketing team yawned as he organized his things, telling her to just send it tomorrow.

“No, but isn’t Vice President Kwon Dohun incredibly handsome?”

“Exactly! I happened to pass by with Junghyun earlier and saw him. He looks insane in person.”

“You two aren’t even men. What’s the point of liking him?”

When Manager Kim threw cold water on their excitement, the female employees clicked their tongues at him, accusing him of being jealous.

“Could they be giving us some huge project or something?”

“Ugh, I hate getting more work.”

Without even saying goodbye to Yunkyung, who was on the same team, they packed up and left the office.

After diligently typing, Yunkyung pressed the final Enter key and removed her headphones. A sigh filled with exhaustion escaped her lips.

“He couldn’t have come here to say anything good.”

Yunkyung shook her head and muttered.

Three years ago, when Kwonseong acquired KD Health, could they have imagined that the sales graph would plummet this badly?

The results were bad enough that it wouldn’t have been strange if they regretted the acquisition.

Putting aside the employees who were incompetent and lacked motivation, the biggest problem was the CEO’s poor management skills. The company was even losing the advantages it had once possessed.

Perhaps the reason they had suddenly collected all the employees’ laptops was because they wanted to know what was happening inside the company.

If Dohun was in charge, he would have started by examining the inside of the company to find the cause.

Whatever the reason, the fact that Dohun had personally taken action meant it wasn’t something to take lightly.

“Oppa, are you finished?”

Jihyun, who normally would have left work long ago, was still at the company.

As Yunkyung stretched, she suppressed a laugh at Jihyun’s childishness as she deliberately spoke loudly on the phone, making sure Yunkyung could hear.

“Of course I waited for you, Oppa.”

Yunkyung’s face twisted at Jihyun’s nasal, cutesy tone.

She had a fairly strong stomach, but no matter how many times she heard that particular tone from Jihyun, she could never get used to it.

‘You should try it too.’

‘Try what?’

After Jihyun left, Yunkyung finally leaned her upper body against the back of her chair.

‘Girls’ voices get all cutesy when they act adorable.’

‘Is that your type?’

‘A cutesy Kang Yunkyung is definitely my type.’

She hadn’t even had time to calm herself after seeing Dohun for the first time in three years.

Yunkyung slowly exhaled a deep breath, trying to settle the turmoil that had surfaced too late, and gradually opened her closed eyes.

The silence of the empty office no longer felt awkward.

Through the distant windows, she could see the dark evening sky.

Yunkyung stared blankly at the darkness of the evening. When the office lights suddenly went out, she let out a deep sigh.

“Seven o’clock hardly counts as working late.”

Was it really appropriate for them to turn off the lights at this hour?

Her eyes began to ache from the light coming from her monitor.

“…I’m sick of this.”

The amount of work Yunkyung had been given and the severity of her ostracization had increased after Jihyun returned from the United States six months ago and began working here.

Of course, the environment hadn’t been particularly good even before that, but employees hadn’t openly ignored and avoided Yunkyung the way they did now.

Yunkyung knew what the employees were afraid of.

The moment they fell out of favor with Jihyun, the CEO’s younger sister, they would probably have to endure endless harassment.

Considering that, even Yunkyung sometimes found herself strange for continuing to come to work despite being treated this way.

“Because there’s something I have to protect.”

People who had something to protect were stronger than those who didn’t.

They had to become strong.

Yunkyung stretched out her arm and touched the dented tumbler with her fingertips.

The cold back that had ignored her and walked away from her, just like the fallen tumbler, came to mind.

While Yunkyung was touching the tumbler with her fingertip, her phone rang. She turned her head and checked the caller.

“……”

Three letters appeared on the screen, but Yunkyung simply stared at the ringing phone without moving.

The long vibration finally stopped, and the screen that had gone dark lit up again.

<Why haven’t you read it? You did check it, right?>

At the message from the sender, Yunkyung reached out and picked up her phone.

She sent a brief reply confirming that she had checked it, then remained seated for a while before getting up.

Thinking that this was enough, Yunkyung tidied her desk and left the office.

“You’re leaving late again today.”

The security team leader standing by the gate greeted Yunkyung warmly when she came down to the first-floor lobby.

“I guess I am. Take care.”

“Get home safely.”

Yunkyung bowed politely to him before passing through the revolving door.

“Is this really what late March weather is supposed to be like?”

It was far too cold to call it a late cold snap.

The moment she stepped outside, a strong gust of wind hit her, and Yunkyung quickly sniffled. She hunched her shoulders and walked straight ahead.

Yunkyung stopped in front of the exit leading outside and raised her head.

Perhaps because the temperature was lower than usual, there wasn’t even a single flower bud visible on the apricot tree.

“And then it’ll suddenly bloom overnight as if nothing ever happened.”

Yunkyung muttered while looking up at the bare branches.

Having an apricot tree in front of the company building and a flower shop in the neighboring building were two of the few advantages of this company.

“It’s really cold.”

Unable to bear her freezing hands, Yunkyung opened her bag to put the tumbler inside.

The tumbler would probably stick out because of the lack of space, but her hands came first.

“Why is the weather like this?”

“Exactly.”

A response came to her muttering.

Startled, Yunkyung turned her head toward the voice.

“The weather is really…”

Dohun murmured quietly with his hands tucked into his trouser pockets.

“……”

It was Kwon Dohun.

He was standing right before her.

As if it were a lie, he had appeared directly in front of Yunkyung’s eyes.

The Dohun who had turned his back on her and walked away from her three years ago—and again today.

It was him.

Dohun’s head, which had been facing forward, slowly turned to the side.

The person who had suddenly appeared before her didn’t seem real.

Yunkyung wondered if she was seeing things, but the moment their eyes met, she knew.

“…Ah.”

This wasn’t a dream.

It was really Kwon Dohun.

Realizing that she was facing reality, Yunkyung dropped the tumbler she was holding, just as she had in front of the elevator.

The fallen tumbler struck the toe of the dress shoe Dohun was wearing.

Dohun bent down and picked up Yunkyung’s tumbler.

“This…”

Dohun frowned.

The tumbler had broken while its lid remained closed, without coming apart.

“I think it’s broken.”

“…Th-thank you.”

Yunkyung lowered her head and hurriedly snatched the tumbler from Dohun’s hand.

She did it to keep herself from looking at him.

Otherwise, she felt like she would cry in front of him.

Three years.

It had been three years since she had seen him.

It was only three years.

Yet those years had passed painfully slowly, like an eternity.

Yunkyung forcibly swallowed down the heat rising into her throat along with her longing.

Dohun had not returned to her.

Her inability to forget him was purely her own lingering attachment and foolishness.

There had never been an end to the waiting in the first place.

She knew.

The Dohun she remembered no longer existed, and the reality standing before her was the Dohun who had forgotten her.

Yunkyung’s hand trembled as she gripped the tumbler.

If she ever met Dohun again, she had wanted to face him with at least a smile.

But as expected, nothing ever went according to plan when she was in front of this man.

“Then…”

“This tree.”

Yunkyung, who had been trying to step away and put some distance between them, looked at him.

“Do you know what kind of tree this is?”