Chapter: 02
Lover…… Lover…….
Her scream-like cry echoed through the narrow alley. Team Leader Kang stared blankly at her sudden declaration, but soon his face flushed red and contorted with anger.
“You have a lover? When on earth did that happen!”
The moment Team Leader Kang shouted,
Eunjae let out a gasp and quickly turned around and began walking away. It was a reaction that came before she could even think. The desperation of not wanting to be tormented anymore and the anxiety that she might be harmed drove her to run away.
“Stop right there! I’m asking when you two started dating!!”
Of course, Team Leader Kang was a man who never knew when to give up, and he followed closely behind her, demanding answers. Eunjae walked as fast as she could, but her stride was shorter than his. Instead, her mind was racing at lightning speed.
When should I say we started dating?
If she said they had only been dating for a short time, he might tell her to wait. If she said they had been together for a long time, he would probably pester her, asking if they were getting bored with each other. Whichever answer she chose, it seemed like she would only get another leech-like response.
“Oh, at the beginning of this year…… No, since last year…….”
Eunjae mumbled with a tearful expression, while Team Leader Kang huffed like the Hulk chasing its prey.
“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“What?! No, I— I’m not, not, uh, not really.”
She answered so hurriedly that she even bit her tongue, causing a few tears to well up in her eyes. In the process, she ended up passing the bus stop.
As luck would have it, it was dangerously close to the last bus, and the subway station was a fair distance away.
She didn’t even have an umbrella, yet the raindrops were growing heavier.
“Stop for a second. Let’s talk!”
“I…… My, my lover is coming to pick me up…… so I have to go first…….”
Perhaps because she was becoming increasingly anxious at the thought of missing the last subway?
Han Eunjae made a fatal mistake. For a moment, she forgot just how petty and persistent Team Leader Kang was.
“Oh, really?”
Having followed her all the way to the end of the alley, Team Leader Kang gave a sly grin as though he had discovered her weakness.
Eunjae, who had been planning to take the subway once Team Leader Kang returned to the company dinner, let out a silent scream. She realized what he was thinking.
That bastard would never return to the dinner until he confirmed the identity of her lover…….
“Te, Team Leader! People will be waiting. Please go back quickly.”
“I’ll smoke a cigarette and go in late. Whatever.”
“No, but still…… Um…….”
“Let’s see Han Assistant Manager’s lover’s face before I go in. You’re not lying, are you? Right? Hm?”
Team Leader Kang sneered as he fired the words at her, and her heart sank. Naturally, she didn’t have a lover. She didn’t even have the more common male friends. She barely had any female friends, so how could she possibly have something like that?
‘This wasn’t part of the plan!’
Her mind began stuttering like a program suffering an error at Team Leader Kang’s reaction, one her personal psychological counseling AI had never told her about.
‘Fuck!’
Eunjae once again poured out a curse she couldn’t say aloud inside her head, then, with no choice but to grit her teeth, she began running toward the nearest taxi stand.
The taxi stand was near the company, so if there was still a security guard who hadn’t left work, she could ask for help. In fact, as long as anyone could help her, anyone would do!
Just then, a cold raindrop struck the bridge of Eunjae’s nose. When she looked up at the sky, she saw dark clouds covering the moon.
The sky was filled with pitch-black clouds, as though rain could pour down at any moment, yet Team Leader Kang still didn’t stop. He had an unabashed expression, as if he intended to chase her all the way to the front of the company.
The moment Eunjae finally reached the bus stop across from the company, she began stamping her feet anxiously in place.
‘What should I do?’
But as if the heavens themselves were indifferent to her plight, the traffic light was still red, and the company lobby had already been swallowed by darkness. There was no one left.
The sound of Team Leader Kang’s footsteps, having caught up with her, echoed close by.
At that very moment, a taxi arrived in front of her. As the taxi door opened, someone got out while unfolding an umbrella.
The instant he straightened his body, she didn’t have time to think and jumped beneath the umbrella. Then, with her voice raised as much as a completely frantic woman’s could be, she shouted,
“Da, darling!”
Judging by the size of the umbrella, she had expected the person to be large, but the man was quite big indeed. His startled face was obscured by the shadow of the umbrella, making it difficult to see clearly. Regardless, Eunjae began pouring out words without stopping.
“Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry I’m late, the company dinner wouldn’t end! And who would’ve thought it would suddenly rain? I’m completely out of it, haha!”
“…….”
“You’re angry, aren’t you? Of course you are. If I were you, I’d be angry too, yeah…….”
The man gave no answer whatsoever. Perhaps he was wondering whether to call the police. At the moment, Han Eunjae probably looked like a crazy person, or a drunk causing a scene.
The taxi that had dropped the man off slowly drove forward. It seemed to be waiting for its next passenger. Eunjae glanced at the taxi before whispering to the owner of the umbrella, her voice trembling with self-loathing.
“I’m really sorry, but…… could you please pretend to be my lover…… just this once?”
“…….”
“I’ll pay you as much as you want for helping me, so it’ll only be for a moment…… I’m really not a strange person…….”
Her entire body began trembling from embarrassment and fear. As she desperately pleaded and lightly placed her hand on his forearm, the man flinched and finally reacted. Despite the chilly winter weather, the man’s body temperature was remarkably warm.
“Let’s see!”
It was then.
Team Leader Kang, who had followed them all the way to the umbrella, shouted triumphantly and suddenly stuck his face forward.
“So you’re really Han Assistant Manager’s lover?”
There was a danger that the entire act would be exposed. Honestly, even this much was already an insane thing to do by Eunjae’s standards, but apparently it wasn’t enough to make her team leader give up.
Then she had no choice but to do something even crazier…….
‘I’m sorry.’
After offering a silent apology in her heart, Eunjae squeezed her eyes shut and rose onto her tiptoes. Her thick, soft lips barely brushed the man’s chin.
The man, who had remained silent the entire time, let out a startled breath for the first time. Since he would have every right to report her to the police for sexual harassment, Eunjae trembled, hoping that Team Leader Kang would finally give up at this point.
“Mmph……!”
Then something astonishing happened.
Suddenly, a powerful arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. Startled, she opened her eyes wide.
And met a pair of intensely shining eyes.
The lips that had clearly touched his chin were now pressed against the man’s lips, as though they had somehow found their proper place.
The moment she made a startled “Ah,” a hot breath slipped through the gap. His thick tongue invaded her cramped mouth, sweeping swiftly across her even rows of teeth.
‘I—I was only planning to pretend to kiss him!’
While she froze, unable to even put up a single protest out of sheer bewilderment, Eunjae’s upper body gradually collapsed backward. She couldn’t withstand the forceful kiss being pressed upon her.
“Mm, mmm…….”
A faint moan slowly escaped her lips. A large palm gently stroked down her delicate back while supporting her waist, and as he tilted his head diagonally, their lips pressed together even more tightly.
The man swallowed her lower lip lingeringly, then threw the umbrella onto the ground altogether and devoted himself to the kiss.
“Gasp!”
Only then did Team Leader Kang recoil in horror. It was an entirely natural reaction after an explicit kissing display had suddenly unfolded right before his eyes.
Who could have imagined that the first kiss of her life would be this passionate?
Eunjae even forgot that she needed to apologize to the man, swept away by this primal kiss.
By then, thoughts of Team Leader Kang had long since vanished from her mind. Her cheeks gradually reddened as she became immersed in this hot and unexpected kiss.
“Ha…….”
It was only when the rain grew heavier and her face began to grow damp that the man reluctantly pulled his lips away. Then he turned toward Team Leader Kang, who had been silently watching the entire time, and barked,
“Stop bothering someone else’s woman and get lost.”
It was a threatening warning that was completely at odds with the sweet kiss they had just shared.
Frightened by him, Team Leader Kang ran across the street without even looking back and disappeared in an instant.
Still held in the man’s broad arms, Eunjae watched Team Leader Kang disappear with a dazed expression. The sight of him running disgracefully through the rain looked almost comical.
‘Am I…… dreaming right now?’
It was a scene that looked like something straight out of a dream. For an instant, she even wished that it really was one.
But when she absentmindedly raised her gaze, Eunjae froze completely without even being able to make a sound.
The man who had just kissed her so passionately that she felt as though her waist might break was now looking down at her with an expression as if he had just killed someone.
“Um, excuse me…….”
“I’m sorry. I’ll explain, so…… I mean, it’s just…….”
The longer the man remained silent, the more fear crept over her. He was quite large, and his taciturn appearance reminded her of an Alaskan brown bear.
He had an incredibly handsome face, with a thick yet sharp jawline and delicate features that formed a perfect harmony, but his expression was so fierce that her heart sank coldly.
“Tsk.”
While she trembled like an aspen, frightened, the man clicked his tongue softly and reached out his hand. Worried that he might hit her, Eunjae instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
Tap.
But there was no violence.
Instead, something soft touched Eunjae’s lips and gently wiped around them. His touch was extremely careful and delicate, as though he were handling a feather.
Eunjae opened her eyes slightly and discovered the man diligently wiping her lips with a handkerchief. At a glance, the area around his own mouth was also a complete mess, smeared with lipstick.
“Ah! I’ll wipe it, mmph, mmm…….”
The man narrowed his brows and whispered in a low voice,
“It’ll smear more, so stay still.”
