BTUB 11

Chapter: 11

Nightmares always came on days when you least expected them.

“Ugh, ugh… No!”

Eunjae woke up with a short scream. The moment she opened her eyes wide, the pale ceiling was the first thing she saw. Cold sweat had gathered in beads across her forehead as she struggled to catch her breath.

“W-What? A dream?”

The moment she managed to utter those words, an intense headache suddenly struck her. Eunjae let out a short cry of pain and clutched her forehead. As last night’s hangover hit her, her stomach began to ache as well.

“Ugh, my stomach feels awful….”

Eunjae struggled to sit up, climbed out of bed, and headed straight for the bathroom. Only after staggering over and rinsing her face with cold water did she slowly regain her senses.

Her reflection in the mirror looked absolutely dreadful. Her hair was completely disheveled, her eye makeup had smeared terribly because she had fallen asleep without fully removing it, and her eyes were swollen….

‘Just how much did I drink?’

She clearly remembered drinking alone with Joo Taegeon last night. However, her memory had disappeared somewhere along the way, and she couldn’t remember what they had talked about.

At least, judging by the fact that she had safely made it home and gone to sleep, it seemed that he had somehow helped her get home.

“If I ever drink again, I’m a dog. A dog….”

Woof, woof. Eunjae swallowed the response to a vow she would probably fail to keep and looked for her phone.

Perhaps because she had been with Joo Taegeon, she had dreamed that she was being chased by a bear for over an hour. In the dream, she had transformed into a small, precious rabbit and desperately begged the merciless bear chasing her.

“I don’t taste very good! Please spare me! I’m serious!”

Of course, the bear had chased after her without mercy and pounced on her, and she had only managed to wake up at the exact moment she came face-to-face with its enormous mouth.

Last time, she had dreamed that she was a bee trapped inside a huge honey jar and being targeted by a gigantic brown bear, and this time, she had another ridiculous dream.

For Eunjae, who normally relieved stress by sleeping deeply without dreaming at all, waking up like this was bound to feel extremely unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

“Why do I keep having dreams like this lately? Seriously….”

Fortunately, her phone was lying peacefully beneath the bed alongside her bag. However, the moment she checked her phone, her face went completely pale.

[Eat this when you wake up.]

It was a text from Joo Taegeon, whose number she had exchanged while she was thoroughly drunk the previous night. A hangover remedy that he had probably put into her bag was sticking out from inside it.

Eunjae hesitated before carefully picking it up. Then she flopped completely back onto the bed and stretched her hand toward the ceiling, examining the hangover remedy from this angle and that.

“…I didn’t do anything embarrassing, did I?”

Outside the window, dawn was beginning to break, and the morning sunlight slowly entered the room. As she stared up at the increasingly bright ceiling, bits and pieces of the conversation she had shared with Joo Taegeon the previous night came back to her.

And finally, she remembered the words that had been etched most deeply into her memory, words she absolutely could not forget.

“So, I’ll take responsibility.”

“Huh?”

“Just as Han Eunjae is taking responsibility for me, I intend to take responsibility for you as well.”

Yes. Joo Taegeon had definitely said that.

That he would take responsibility for her.

“First, let’s get that damaged health of yours back in shape.”

But from that point onward, her memory became unclear.

“You’re going to fix my health?”

Just how?

Eunjae tilted her head in confusion and opened the cap of the hangover remedy. As she gulped it down, her aching stomach seemed to gradually settle.

“He even gave me an expensive hangover remedy in the middle of all that.”

She bitterly smiled as she once again realized the difference in their financial circumstances.

A peaceful week passed, to the point that her worries about what she would do if she ran into Joo Taegeon again seemed completely pointless.

Marketing Team 1 was running around frantically under the direction of their new Team Leader, Woo Seokhyun.

There was a mountain of work that the previous team leader had failed to deal with before leaving, but fortunately, Team Leader Woo seemed accustomed to situations like this and handled everything without hesitation.

“…So, this project will inevitably involve frequent meetings. Please keep that in mind, everyone. That concludes the meeting. Let’s all go get something to eat.”

After the grueling meeting ended, everyone in Marketing Team 1 was completely exhausted and dragging their feet.

Only Woo Seokhyun leisurely pushed up the frame of his glasses and smiled. He looked quite satisfied, as though all the meticulous instructions he had given regarding meeting preparations had paid off.

“Team Leader, around what time should I upload the meeting summary?”

Assistant Manager Moon, who had been sitting closest to him, carefully asked the question. Organizing the contents of meetings and putting them into documents was her responsibility.

“You need to report it to the higher-ups, so please have it done by three.”

Three o’clock? Assistant Manager Moon’s expression twisted sadly. She was going to have to organize the contents of the meeting in only two hours after lunch.

“I guess I’ll have to give up on the salt bread.”

After Team Leader Woo left the conference room, Assistant Manager Moon muttered dejectedly. Seeing her like that, Eunjae gave an awkward smile.

“Is the salt bread really that important?”

“Of course! It’s been a huge sensation on social media lately. Apparently, they coat the salt bread in chocolate, freeze it, and then put ice cream on top.”

Assistant Manager Moon smacked her lips as though merely imagining it was enough to make her ecstatic. The salt bread in question was something she had been talking about nonstop for the past few days, saying she wanted to go out during lunch and buy it. Unfortunately, it had been sold out every time, making it a tragically unattainable treat.

The meeting had ended earlier than expected, so this was the perfect opportunity to hurry out and buy the salt bread. The problem was that the work deadline was earlier than she had anticipated.

“There’s nothing I can do. I guess I’m simply destined not to eat it in this lifetime….”

“Won’t you have another chance later?”

“It’s a seasonal event item, so I won’t be able to buy it starting the day after tomorrow.”

“Oh, dear.”

Eunjae clicked her tongue sympathetically. Seeing Assistant Manager Moon so depressed made her feel sorry for her. She had never met anyone else who was as serious about desserts as she was.

“Then, should I write up a draft of the meeting summary?”

“What?”

“If I at least prepare the draft, it’ll cut down the amount of time you need considerably. So hurry and go.”

Eunjae smiled warmly. Assistant Manager Moon’s expression became filled with overwhelming emotion this time. She even grabbed both of Eunjae’s hands and shook them up and down while letting out a joyful cry.

“Really? Are you really okay with that?”

“Of course.”

“Wow! I’ll buy some bread for you too, Assistant Manager Han. I heard this place is really famous for how delicious it is. If you post it on social media, everyone around you will be jealous.”

Eunjae almost replied that she didn’t even use social media where she could post such things, but swallowed the words and merely smiled. There was no need to babble about how she didn’t have many close friends either.

Assistant Manager Moon happily packed her bag and immediately left the conference room.

Eunjae stared blankly at her retreating figure. It was strangely fascinating to see someone capable of being so passionate about something.

‘Would life be a little more fun if I had a hobby too…?’

A hobby. Something everyone seemed to have at least one of, yet Eunjae had none. Whenever she had free time, she had always spent it studying or working.

It had been the same when she was very young. Hobbies had been a privilege reserved only for her older brother, and back then, she had simply accepted it as normal. With their parents’ support, he had grown up enjoying all sorts of hobbies, including taekwondo, art, jump rope, cycling, and more.

Every time, Eunjae had quietly watched her older brother running around happily.

Whenever she showed that she was envious and hurt, their parents would sweetly coax her by saying they would let her do those things someday too.

Of course, they had never kept that promise.

As a result, whenever she looked back on those memories, all she could remember was watching her friends attend various academies and feeling envious of them.

‘No. Don’t start feeling depressed again.’

The sense of deprivation that had taken root deep within her heart would sometimes plunge her into depression.

Eunjae shook her head vigorously, picked up her laptop, and opened the conference room door.

Or rather, she tried to open it.

“…Huh?”

Click. Click.

The door was clearly designed to be locked from the inside, and she hadn’t locked it, yet it wouldn’t open. Flustered, she placed her belongings on the table before returning to the door. Even when she forcefully pushed down on the doorknob, nothing happened.

“Why….”

Why won’t it open?!

Eunjae’s startled face instantly turned deathly pale.