TSIS 5

Chapter 5

Doyoung spotted Danbi and draped the umbrella over his shoulder before speaking.

“Are you heading home now?”

“Don’t tell me you were waiting for me?”

Doyoung slowly nodded, and Danbi’s lips fell open in a round little “O.”

The rain was pouring so heavily it sounded as though the sky itself had split open, the relentless downpour roaring in her ears.

A single streetlamp illuminating the bus stop cast its light over the two of them.

Doyoung fixed his dark eyes on Danbi and gestured with one hand.

“Come here.”

He was telling her to come under the umbrella.

His voice traveled through the air and reached her ears, impossibly gentle.

Danbi tried to calm her heart, which was bouncing wildly in every direction like raindrops splashing off the pavement, and stepped up beside Doyoung.

“How did you know it was going to rain? It’s only been ten minutes since it started pouring.”

“The sky looked gloomy.”

“Then why did you only bring one umbrella?”

“Are you planning to stand here and keep asking questions?”

It wasn’t exactly the right place for her to interrogate him about every little thing.

“Ah.”

Danbi started walking, and Doyoung immediately matched her pace.

“Were you home all day today?”

“Yeah.”

Danbi stole a sideways glance at him.

He was still dressed in the same loungewear he had been wearing that morning.

She remembered something Doyoung had said a long time ago.

My grandfather has a business addiction. A few of the businesses he started happened to take off, that’s all. He’s nothing but a nouveau riche with no pedigree.

Even while they were living together as a contract-married couple, Danbi had never asked what exactly Doyoung’s family did.

She had been afraid it might be rude. And she had assumed there was a reason he had always given her such a vague explanation.

Now that she thought about it, there was no doubt he came from a wealthy family that could afford to let him laze around even after returning from studying abroad.

Then again, this was the same family that had forced Doyoung into an arranged marriage while he was still a university student in order to expand their business.

“Sunbae, your shoulder’s getting soaked. Come over this way.”

Doyoung had tilted the umbrella almost entirely toward her, leaving one of his shoulders thoroughly drenched.

As though he had been waiting for her to say that, Doyoung stepped closer.

With every step they took, her shoulder lightly brushed against his solid chest.

For an instant, Danbi remembered the broad pectoral muscles she had seen beneath his bathrobe, and her face immediately flushed hot.

“Your company is garbage.”

Doyoung looked displeased as he spoke of the company that had made Danbi work overtime starting on Monday.

Danbi puffed out her lips indignantly.

“It’s the only major corporation that was willing to take me in. Don’t badmouth it.”

“You’re acting like you’d give them your liver and gallbladder, too.”

“I was prepared to make that kind of commitment when I joined.”

“I hope the chairman recognizes all of Hong Danbi’s hard work.”

Danbi let out an incredulous laugh.

The chairman and an entry-level employee like herself were worlds apart. She had never even met him, and he was someone she wouldn’t dare so much as look directly at.

“To be precise, it’s not the company that’s garbage. It’s my team leader.”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow.

“What does he do?”

Perhaps because she had relaxed a little, Danbi began freely venting her frustrations about her team leader.

“Every time he sees me, he openly looks me up and down. His eyes are practically dripping with lust, and he stares at me in this disgusting, suggestive way. It gives me goosebumps. Once, I came to work wearing a skirt that came down to my knees, and he kept telling me to stand there because he liked looking at my smooth calves. I’ve worn nothing but slacks ever since. And one day I wore a white blouse, and he said it was sexy when my underwear was faintly visible through it. Then he said he’d buy me a set of underwear as a welcome-to-the-company gift.”

“…What a lunatic.”

“Right? He’s completely insane, isn’t he? And then he casually asked me what size underwear I wear.”

“What a pervert.”

Danbi flinched.

She had never heard Doyoung swear before.

But now that she had started badmouthing the man, she wanted to get everything off her chest.

“Last week, what was it he said…? He told me he wanted to date a young woman with a body like mine and asked if I knew anyone he could meet.”

“He’s single?”

“What? No! He’s married, with a wife and kids.”

“He doesn’t sound like he’s in his right mind.”

Danbi nodded and let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t the other employees say anything?”

“What can they do? Everyone else is really nice, though. It’s just that one bastard of a team leader who ruins the entire atmosphere.”

“What team are you in?”

“Strategic Planning.”

His sudden question about her department felt a little out of nowhere, but Danbi had no time to dwell on it.

Doyoung’s gaze, fixed straight ahead, had become frighteningly sharp.

He remained deep in thought for some time afterward.

His cold face radiated such an intimidating air that Danbi found herself unable to continue the conversation.

She hurriedly changed the subject.

“You know what, Sunbae? You probably don’t know this, but not just anyone can get into the Strategic Planning Team.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You could call it one of the pillars of our company. It’s basically the organization’s core. Even among existing employees, only people with outstanding performance can get in. New hires almost never make it. They handpick only people with really impressive qualifications.”

Danbi smiled brightly and puffed out her chest.

She was, of course, one of those highly qualified new employees who had been specially selected.

As though he had caught on to what she was getting at, the corner of Doyoung’s mouth curved upward.

His eyes crinkled as he smiled, and his warm gaze settled on Danbi.

“That’s impressive, Hong Danbi.”

“It’s a little embarrassing to say it myself, but these days, you have to know how to promote yourself.”

“And you know how to read the trends, too.”

“Trends are one of the key words in our Strategic Planning Team.”

Our company. Our Strategic Planning Team.

The word our was one that fostered solidarity and a sense of belonging.

It was also a clear indication of Danbi’s loyalty to her company.

“Do you enjoy your job?”

“Except for my team leader.”

“Yeah. That bastard definitely seems to have a problem.”

Seeing Doyoung get angry on her behalf made a small laugh escape her lips.

“You should find a job soon, too, Sunbae. Aren’t you supposed to take over the family business?”

Doyoung pressed his lips together and said nothing for a moment.

“I suppose I am.”

“Is it because it’s not the field you want to work in?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then why… Eeeek!”

A furious gust of wind slammed into them, flipping the umbrella inside out.

Danbi was pushed backward by the force of the wind and cried out in surprise. She would have fallen if Doyoung’s chest hadn’t firmly caught her from behind.

With a perfectly calm expression, Doyoung turned the inverted umbrella back into shape.

But the wind kept changing direction unpredictably, and rain came flying at them from every angle.

There was no point in using an umbrella in weather like this.

“The weather’s gone crazy.”

“Yeah. Just like your team leader.”

They didn’t get a chance to catch their breath until they reached the apartment lobby.

It had only taken five minutes to walk from the bus stop, but it felt as though they had been out in the rain for half an hour.

“Are you all right, Sunbae? You’re soaked.”

“You look like you’re in more trouble than I am.”

Only then did Danbi look down at herself.

Her thin blouse was completely drenched and clinging tightly to her upper body, revealing the sensual curves beneath it.

Doyoung took off his outerwear and draped it over her shoulders.

A subtle fragrance mixed with the smell of rain wafted from the garment as it wrapped around her upper body.

It smelled distinctly like a mature man.

“You’ll feel uncomfortable being wet, but bear with it for a little while.”

The moment they stepped into the elevator, two men came running into the lobby and hurried inside.

If Doyoung hadn’t given her his jacket, the situation would have been incredibly embarrassing.

The elevator rose in awkward silence, then stopped at their floor.

With his long, elegant fingers, Doyoung pressed the keypad on the digital door lock.

His neatly trimmed nails were as immaculate as his personality.

As they stepped inside, the sensor lights came on.

Then the front door slammed shut with a loud bang, making Danbi’s shoulders jolt.

She quickly pulled off the jacket Doyoung had draped over her, then suddenly huddled in embarrassment.

Doyoung looked at her.

“Go into the bathroom. I won’t look.”

With that, he immediately pulled off his wet shirt.

Danbi pretended to cover her eyes with both hands while secretly peeking at him.

“Did you take it off so I could look again?”

Doyoung gave a quiet chuckle at her silly joke before casually tossing his wet shirt and jacket into the laundry basket.

“I’ll bring some clothes for you from your room.”

Danbi answered vaguely, unable to tear her eyes away from the body that looked as though it had been sculpted with painstaking care.

“Ah… okay.”

Apparently intending to change into dry clothes first, Doyoung strode toward the master bedroom.

Danbi immediately dashed into the bathroom.

“Ugh, this feels awful.”

She wanted to get out of the wet clothes clinging to her body as quickly as possible.

As she filled the bathtub with water, she slowly unbuttoned her blouse one button at a time.

Just as she finally popped open the clasp of her slacks, there was a knock on the bathroom door.

“I left some clothes outside the door. I’m going to shower in the master bathroom, so take them inside.”

Danbi pressed her ear against the bathroom door.

Doyoung’s footsteps gradually faded away, followed by the heavy sound of the master bathroom door closing.

She cautiously opened the bathroom door, crouched down, and reached one hand through the gap.

As soon as her fingers caught hold of the clothes on the floor, she quickly pulled her hand back and shut the door tight.

Danbi checked that the lock was properly secured, then stripped off her wet clothes.

“Oh my…”

Only afterward did she examine the clothes Doyoung had brought her.

They were the pajamas she had casually tossed onto her bed before leaving for work.

So far, so good.

But then an opaque plastic bag, apparently retrieved from somewhere else, slipped onto the floor with a soft thud.

The word UNDERWEAR was printed in large letters across the surface of the bag.

Danbi’s reflection in the mirror went deathly pale.

“Danbi, this is a new product our company has put a lot of effort into. I’ll give you a set for free, just for you. Try it on and tell me how comfortable it is.”

It was promotional lingerie that a friend who worked for a lingerie company had given her, asking her to provide feedback.

The fishnet material looked as though it would tear the moment she pulled on it with any force.

And the part that actually mattered was practically split wide open, making the underwear almost completely useless for its intended purpose.

She hadn’t had the heart to throw it away, so she had carefully put it back into the plastic bag and left it forgotten somewhere.

“Don’t tell me…”

Danbi picked up the fallen plastic bag with her trembling index and middle fingers.

Doyoung couldn’t exactly rummage through someone else’s drawers without permission. He must have simply noticed the packaging labeled UNDERWEAR and brought it along.

But Danbi knew exactly what was inside.

Her face turned bright red.