AER-06

CHAPTER 6

In the end, Hye-joo kissed Muhyuk in one corner of the parking lot.

More precisely, she simply couldn’t bring herself to push him away when he leaned in to kiss her.

“……Mmm.”

Their hot breaths mingled, and Muhyuk slipped his thigh between Hye-joo’s slender legs.

As his hand slowly moved higher along her thigh, Hye-joo’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.

The hand that had been slipping beneath her skirt soon came to a stop.

After breaking the kiss, Muhyuk gently straightened Hye-joo’s skirt, which had ridden up slightly.

“……Why?”

“I don’t want to strip a woman I’m interested in out in public.”

Hye-joo pressed his cheek once before nodding, and Muhyuk gestured toward the gopchang restaurant with a tilt of his head.

“Go inside first. I’ll follow you. I need to grab my things.”

Hye-joo still couldn’t tell whether he really intended to spend the night with her, as Muhyuk playfully raised his thick eyebrows with that enigmatic smile still on his face.

‘Well, since things have already come this far, I might as well do it one more time. I’ll make sure I have the worst night ever. Then this will never happen again, right?’

Thinking that, Hye-joo desperately tried to suppress the rapid pounding of her heart.

‘……He smells pretty good.’

A little while later, Hye-joo casually rejoined the table and pulled a fresh glass toward herself.

The alcohol had worn off somewhat after kissing Muhyuk, so she poured soju generously into her beer glass.

Yeon-soo and Ji-yoon, who were already quite tipsy, welcomed Hye-joo back.

“Where did you go? We were wondering where you’d disappeared to.”

“Exactly, Senior Hye-joo. Senior Yeon-soo and I were looking all over for you. Come to think of it, Mr. Sun-woo hasn’t come back either.”

“I just went out for some fresh air. Kang Sun-woo probably went to the restroom, don’t you think?”

“Guess so. Then shall we have another drink with whoever’s left here?”

“Sounds good, Yeon-soo.”

When Hye-joo raised her glass, Yeon-soo and Ji-yoon raised theirs as well.

They clinked their glasses with a cheerful sound before tossing the drinks down in one go.

Hye-joo’s hand was busy pouring the next drink.

Just as she felt herself getting hotter and fanned her blouse before picking up her glass, Muhyuk finally returned to his seat.

He sat down beside Hye-joo, leaned slightly toward her, and whispered.

“I believe you said you don’t have a habit of getting drunk and doing things you normally wouldn’t.”

Hye-joo suddenly felt another hiccup coming and covered her mouth.

Then she quickly glanced around.

‘Thank goodness. Everyone’s so drunk that they don’t seem to be paying any attention to us.’

At that moment, Muhyuk boldly reached beneath the table and took Hye-joo’s hand.

Startled, Hye-joo looked at Muhyuk and blinked awkwardly.

“……Let go. What are you doing?”

“I want to leave with you as soon as possible.”

Hye-joo barely managed to hide her surprise at Muhyuk’s words and turned her head slightly toward him.

Under the table, Muhyuk’s large hand was gently but firmly holding hers.

Hye-joo squeezed her eyes shut once before opening them again, then somehow managed to pull her hand free.

Had it not been for the loud chatter around them, someone might have overheard their conversation.

Hye-joo maintained a composed expression as she picked up her glass, took a sip, and looked around.

The empty bottles densely filling one side of the floor seemed to signal that the gathering was reaching its peak.

As the tipsy employees once again raised their glasses, Hye-joo also picked hers up, deliberately avoiding Muhyuk’s piercing gaze.

—

Before long, the company dinner was drawing to an end.

The employees who had finished preparing to go home began getting to their feet one by one.

In front of the restaurant, Manager Yang staggered around and spoke in a tipsy, playful voice.

“What’s with you guys~? I’m not drunk yet! We’ve gotta go somewhere for round two. Round two! Let’s go for round two!”

“Good work today.”

“You all worked hard. Get home safely, everyone.”

With the drunken Manager Yang leading the way, the employees gradually left the gopchang restaurant one by one.

They barely managed to get Manager Yang into a car while he excitedly shouted about going to a karaoke room for round two.

The remaining employees also exchanged their goodbyes and began scattering in different directions.

The only ones left were Yeon-soo, Ji-yoon, Muhyuk, and Hye-joo.

“Hye-joo, if you’re okay with it, should the four of us go somewhere for round two?”

At Yeon-soo’s question, Hye-joo nodded, even as she staggered and tried to steady herself.

“Sounds good, round two……”

Before Hye-joo could even finish mumbling in her tipsy voice, Muhyuk stepped in front of her.

“I think it would be best if we all went home for tonight. Everyone’s had quite a bit to drink.”

At Muhyuk’s words, Yeon-soo clicked her tongue in disappointment.

Hye-joo suddenly popped her head out over Muhyuk’s shoulder and said,

“Why? Even after our company dinners, we usually go for a second round, third round, and even the last round at my place, you know?”

Checking the time on his phone, Muhyuk whispered quietly enough for only Hye-joo to hear.

“We have something else to do separately, remember?”

At Muhyuk’s words, Hye-joo instinctively swallowed hard.

The sound was so loud that Yeon-soo and Ji-yoon both turned their eyes toward Hye-joo.

“Hye-joo, are you okay?”

“I’ll take Senior Kwon Hye-joo home.”

“Ah, no! Let’s all go for round two together.”

Unlike her earlier resolve, anxiety began creeping up inside Hye-joo.

As if trying to avoid the suggestive atmosphere with Muhyuk somehow, Hye-joo shouted loudly.

Muhyuk said nothing and simply stepped forward in front of Hye-joo.

Then he gave Yeon-soo and Ji-yoon a slight bow.

Just as Hye-joo was about to squeeze herself back into the conversation, Muhyuk’s hand suddenly reached behind his broad back, briefly taking Hye-joo’s hand before letting go.

‘Huh? W-what is this?’

Hye-joo opened her palm to see what Muhyuk had given her, and her eyes widened.

There was a small, round object in her hand that Muhyuk had slipped to her.

Hye-joo frantically darted her eyes around, then clenched her hand tightly and shoved it into her pocket.

“You two get home safely, too.”

Hye-joo hurriedly covered her mouth as if she were about to hiccup again.

“Yeah, looks like she’s about to gag. Your stomach must be upset, huh? Get home safely. Muhyuk, please take good care of Hye-joo.”

Muhyuk smoothly wrapped things up and gave Yeon-soo another brief bow.

Then he strode after Hye-joo, who was already walking away with unsteady steps.

“I told you to drink in moderation.”

“Th-this—what is it? Why do you have this?”

Hye-joo looked at Muhyuk incredulously as she asked.

He merely shrugged as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

“I-I mean……”

“What? Are you talking about the blouse button?”

A handsome smile spread across Muhyuk’s lips.

Hye-joo shook her head several times as if trying to clear it.

Muhyuk then slipped his hand into the pocket where Hye-joo had put the blouse button.

“You lost it and left without it, so I wanted to return it.”

Whether it was the alcohol or the heat, Hye-joo’s cheeks flushed bright red.

That was because the memory of that night suddenly came vividly back to her.

‘This won’t do. Why do I keep letting that man sway me? If I sleep with him again, I’m really going to be in trouble…….’

Hye-joo forced her unsteady steps to straighten out and walked ahead, passing Muhyuk.

They had just entered a quiet street where there were no more noisy voices or familiar faces when Muhyuk grabbed Hye-joo by the wrist and pulled her toward him.

Her staggering body fell right into Muhyuk’s arms.

“But do you even know where you’re going? Do you know where your home is?”

“I-I’m very good at separating business from pleasure.”

“……?”

Muhyuk twitched one eyebrow as if he had no idea what Hye-joo was talking about.

Hye-joo looked up at Muhyuk and spoke.

“I’m an adult woman. That one-night stand really meant nothing to me.”

“You were acting like you wanted to sleep with me again earlier.”

“Exactly. That’s why I don’t think we should sleep together again.”

This time, Hye-joo felt that she had to make a firm refusal, so she spoke up.

Hye-joo knew all too well that a relationship that developed this naturally and effortlessly could eventually turn into something like love or dating, just as it had with Kang Young-moo.

And she also knew exactly how disastrous that ending could be.

Of course, several seasons had passed, but Hye-joo still had absolutely no intention of getting involved in dating or love.

“I think it would be better if we kept business and pleasure separate. You know I don’t really like office romances. If we break up, we’ll both end up losing.”

It felt as though warning lights were flashing inside Hye-joo’s head, accompanied by a persistent buzzing.

Muhyuk listened silently before reaching out and gently gripping Hye-joo’s shoulders.

A brief, hollow laugh appeared at the corner of his lips before disappearing.

“Are you already thinking about dating me?”

“……Th-that’s not what I meant. If we keep sleeping together, we might end up dating.”

“Don’t date me. I’m not interested in love either.”

Hye-joo had been the one to reject him first, but she was also the first one to feel hurt.

Something in a corner of Hye-joo’s heart was strangely unsettled.

“Then what are you suggesting we do?”

“Just sleep together?”

At Muhyuk’s answer, Hye-joo blinked several times with her eyes widened in surprise.

“I said we should keep business and pleasure separate. Just sleeping together…….”