ENED 05

CHAPTER 05

Mijeong raised Sahyun very strictly.

She was especially strict when it came to relationships with the opposite sex, to the point of checking even her text messages and call history once Sahyun got a cell phone. Even though Sahyun attended a coeducational school, she never once had the common “guy friend,” all because of Mijeong’s influence.

After Sahyun became an adult, Mijeong stopped checking her phone, but her concern and restrictions toward Sahyun remained.

“A woman should preserve her purity. There’s no harm in waiting until after marriage to have a relationship. Remember that, Sahyun.”

Mijeong often brought up the example of Sahyun’s mother, whose relationships with men had been complicated. She would say that Sujeong had not only become a single mother but had even abandoned her own child because she had become obsessed with alcohol and men.

“Ugh, no, this just won’t do. It doesn’t taste like anything.”

While Mijeong got up to fetch some salt, Sahyun’s thoughts drifted back to the previous night.

…If Auntie finds out what happened between me and Executive Director, she’ll give me the scolding of a lifetime.

She needed to forget it as quickly as possible, but her kiss with Ha-joon had been far too intense.

It had been her first kiss, and the first time she had ever experienced such overwhelming warmth.

Ah…

She could feel her face heating up again.

How was she supposed to deal with the aftermath of that passionate kiss?

Sahyun tried to clear her thoughts and stared down at her bowl of soup with bloodshot eyes.

Soon, it would be time to go to work—to the very company where Yoo Ha-joon worked.

“Here, this is yours, Yoonjeong.”

“Thank you, Assistant Manager. I’ll enjoy it.”

Sahyun handed Yoonjeong a vanilla latte. With a bright smile, Yoonjeong accepted the cup and took a long sip. Sahyun also took a small sip of the same coffee through her straw.

“Ah, hangover coffee really does need to be sweet.”

“I added an extra shot of syrup.”

“You really know me, Assistant Manager! Ah, I finally feel like I’m alive again…. That wine I had at the end really lingered. How are you feeling?”

“My head hurt a little this morning, too. I guess I drank more than I realized.”

“I see…. Come to think of it, you didn’t look too good yesterday. It was really a good thing you didn’t go to the third round at the wine bar.”

Yoonjeong scrunched up her nose and lowered her voice so that only Sahyun could hear.

“When you came back after stepping out for a while, I thought you looked awfully pale.”

Sahyun had spent quite a long time kissing Ha-joon before finally pushing him away and barely managing to escape the party room. She then returned to the company dinner, collected the bag containing her belongings, and quietly left.

“I’m sorry I left first, Yoonjeong. I was feeling really sick….”

“Why are you apologizing? You must have had such a hard time yesterday, especially with your glasses and everything. I’m the one who feels bad for not being able to take you home.”

“Don’t feel bad. I’m the one who left without saying anything. Were you okay getting home, Yoonjeong?”

“Of course. Executive Director paid for everyone’s taxi fare yesterday, so I got home comfortably.”

“Oh… I see.”

At the mention of Ha-joon, Sahyun’s voice grew quieter.

“Yes. He even made sure all the employees had their taxi fares covered, and he personally thanked the team leaders for their hard work. Seriously, isn’t Executive Director basically perfect? Not to mention his looks. He’s rational when he’s working, and then incredibly considerate when he takes care of people.”

Clearly completely smitten with Ha-joon, Yoonjeong’s eyes sparkled as she continued.

“But you know what’s even more surprising? About Executive Director yesterday.”

“What?”

“They said he was drunk.”

“Drunk? Executive Director?”

Sahyun’s eyes widened.

“Yes. He’d just gotten back from an overseas business trip and was already exhausted, so apparently he drank enough to completely black out.”

“He… blacked out?”

As Sahyun repeated the words, Yoonjeong leaned closer and whispered.

“You didn’t know either, right? I had absolutely no idea. His face didn’t change at all, and he didn’t look the slightest bit out of control.”

It was unbelievable.

Just as Yoonjeong said, Ha-joon had shown absolutely no signs of drunkenness to Sahyun either.

His voice had sounded completely normal, and there had been nothing sloppy or unsteady about his behavior.

“But how did you find out that Executive Director was drunk?”

“From his secretary. I ran into her at the subway station earlier, so we came in together. She said he wasn’t feeling completely well because he’d drunk enough to black out yesterday. She even called ahead and told them that he might be late, and asked them to make an excuse if the Chairman came looking for him early.”

“Ah.”

“Come to think of it, it makes sense that he would’ve blacked out. Apparently there were fifteen bottles of alcohol piled up in the room where Manager Jo and Executive Director were! Five people had been called into that room, so even if they split it between them, that’s enough to get anyone drunk.”

Her explanation made sense, and Sahyun’s fingertips paused for a moment.

So he really had been drunk yesterday, despite looking perfectly fine.

Drunk enough to black out, at that.

If that was true, then yesterday’s incident suddenly made sense.

The way he had acted differently from usual, the things he had said to her, even the kiss.

Couldn’t all of it have simply been mistakes made under the influence?

“Let’s say I make one mistake, too.”

Maybe that was what he had meant when he said those words before kissing her.

As Sahyun reached that conclusion, relief washed over one corner of her heart.

If what Yoonjeong said was true, perhaps Yoo Ha-joon didn’t remember what had happened yesterday.

And even if he remembered part of it, it had all happened while he was drunk. They could simply dismiss it as a “drunken incident” and move on.

Clinging to that hope, Sahyun took a long drink of her coffee. Just as she smiled, feeling the warmth settle comfortably in her stomach, the elevator coming up from the basement stopped.

Sahyun’s eyes widened.

Inside the open elevator… stood Yoo Ha-joon.

After hesitating for a moment, Yoonjeong stepped in first, and Sahyun followed behind her.

Sahyun lowered her eyes and gave a quiet bow as Yoonjeong greeted him.

“Good morning, Executive Director.”

“Yes.”

Ha-joon nodded, and soon the elevator doors closed.

“…….”

The elevator was silent.

Ha-joon’s gaze lingered briefly on Sahyun standing beside him. Their reflections appeared on the elevator doors. Ha-joon, holding a briefcase in his immaculate suit, wore an expression devoid of emotion.

Perhaps because of that, the brief silence felt unbearably heavy to the two ordinary employees, whether Ha-joon felt the same way or not.

Unable to endure the silence, Yoonjeong spoke.

“Executive Director, did you get home safely yesterday?”

“Yes. I did.”

“We also got home safely, thanks to you looking after us, Executive Director.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Sahyun stole a glance at his reflection in the elevator doors. The smooth, glossy metal reflected Ha-joon’s figure with startling clarity.

Every button was perfectly fastened, and his tie was neatly arranged above it. His shirt and suit were immaculate, without a single wrinkle, giving him an even more flawless appearance.

And it wasn’t just his clothes that were as perfectly composed as usual. There wasn’t even a trace of fatigue around his eyes. None of the heat or loss of composure that had enveloped her the night before remained.

As though nothing had ever happened.

By contrast, Sahyun was a complete mess. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face slightly swollen, and even her lips were noticeably puffy from the intensity of the previous night.

“…….”

Sahyun lowered her head, trying to hide her lips.

Unlike him, who looked perfectly put together, she felt embarrassed by how disheveled she was.

At the same time, she found herself desperately hoping that Ha-joon had been so drunk that he had blacked out.

Desperately.

A week passed.

It seemed Sahyun’s desperate wish had come true.

Executive Director Yoo Ha-joon clearly didn’t remember what had happened that day. He had neither summoned her to the twenty-fifth floor where his office was located nor happened to run into her by chance, as he had in the elevator.

Sahyun quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe he really doesn’t remember. Or, even if he does, he decided to pretend it never happened. Yes. Let’s just forget about it now.

Just as she steeled herself and focused on her afternoon work—

“Hey, Assistant Manager Kim Sahyun.”

Manager Jo Woo-jong of the Overseas Sales Division was standing on the other side of the partition, looking at Sahyun with a flushed face.

“Yes, Manager.”

“Go up to the Executive Director’s office. Director Yoo is looking for you.”

“The Executive Director’s office?”

Why? What for?

Why was Yoo Ha-joon calling for her?

Suppressing the uneasiness rising inside her, Sahyun waited for an explanation. Manager Jo spoke.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say what it was about. He just told me to send you up. Go on.”