ENED 03

CHAPTER 03

Manager Jo made a huge fuss as though the world were about to collapse over what had just happened.

“No…! What are you doing, Assistant Manager Kim Sahyun? You’ve ruined Executive Director Yoo’s expensive designer pants!”

“I-I’m terribly sorry…”

Apparently in a hurry, Manager Jo cut Sahyun off and hurried out of the room, saying he would bring an employee over.

Sahyun also picked up the wet towel in front of her and carefully dabbed at his pants. Rather than making excuses about not wearing her glasses, her priority was to prevent the expensive clothing from being stained any further.

Since the liquor was clear and Ha-joon’s pants were black, she couldn’t tell exactly where the wet spot was. Nevertheless, she began repeatedly wiping the general area where the alcohol had fallen.

A few seconds passed like that.

Then a low voice came from above her.

“You didn’t spill it there.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean that that part of mine is perfectly fine.”

That part?

Sahyun narrowed her eyes and looked more closely at the place her hand was touching.

Her hand, still clutching the napkin, was resting between his firm thighs.

“……!”

Startled, Sahyun immediately pulled her hand away and bit down hard on her lower lip.

Because she wasn’t wearing her glasses… she must have touched the wrong place.

And of all places, somewhere she absolutely shouldn’t have touched.

“Ah…”

Ha-joon had been calmly observing her mistake, but now his gaze seemed to pierce straight through her.

“I’m sorry, Executive Director.”

“……”

“I-I really didn’t know, Executive Director.”

The heat that had risen in an instant spread all the way to her earlobes. Her eyes felt hot, and her stomach churned. She had no idea how she was supposed to fix this situation.

“If you didn’t know, why were you so diligently rubbing it for so long?”

“No, I wasn’t—when did I…”

“Assistant Manager Kim Sahyun. Are you playing around with me?”

His icy reprimand immediately silenced her.

…Come to think of it, she had even lingered for several seconds while trying to figure out exactly what she had touched.

From his perspective, it really could have looked as though she had deliberately and thoroughly rubbed the spot.

Oh, no. What am I supposed to do?

Sahyun’s face crumpled in embarrassment.

Considering things from Yoo Ha-joon’s perspective, it was only natural that he would be angry.

Of course it was. He had called her there to commend her for doing a good job on the report, only to be subjected to something like this.

Right now, all she could do was bow her head and sincerely apologize.

“I’m sorry, Executive Director. I didn’t do it intentionally. I really couldn’t see properly because I couldn’t see what was in front of me…”

That was when the door suddenly flew open.

Manager Jo came rushing in with an employee following behind him.

“Executive Director! I brought towels!”

“What on earth did I just do…?”

After fleeing back to her original seat, Sahyun drained one shot of soju after another.

Even though she had already drunk far more than she had intended, her throat was unbearably dry.

Her heart seemed to be pounding all the way up to her ears, and her fingertips tingled. She couldn’t erase what had just happened from her mind.

Making excuses that it had been an accident, that she simply couldn’t see properly, would be useless.

The fact remained that her hand had touched her overwhelmingly senior superior in a place it absolutely shouldn’t have, and that he had been offended by it. That alone was enough to make the situation an absolute disaster.

How am I supposed to clean up this gigantic mess?

While desperately trying to think of a solution, she heard a noisy cheer from somewhere nearby.

“To Executive Director Yoo Ha-joon!”

“To him!”

Apparently their conversation had ended, and Ha-joon and Manager Jo had returned to the area where the other employees were gathered, joining in on the festivities.

Unlike Sahyun, whose insides were burning with anxiety, Ha-joon’s voice remained perfectly steady whenever she heard it.

Moreover, he was moving from table to table under Manager Jo’s guidance.

Before long, he would reach Sahyun’s table as well.

Ah… I don’t think I can face him.

Sahyun whispered to Yoonjeong.

“Yoonjeong, I’m going outside for a little while.”

“The stairs going outside looked pretty steep. Should I go with you?”

“It’s okay. I’ll be right back.”

In the end, Sahyun slipped away as though she were running from something.

When she pushed open the thick glass door, a spacious courtyard came into view beyond the second-floor railing.

The cold air did nothing to sober her up. If anything, her head spun even more, probably because of the soju she had continued drinking after what happened with Ha-joon.

Sigh.

A groan escaped Sahyun’s lips along with a muttered complaint.

“I’ve only been an assistant manager for a year… I can’t just quit…. And I still have quite a bit left to pay on my loan.”

Thinking about the large sum she had borrowed right after joining the company to help cover the deposit on the home she shared with her aunt made everything go dark before her eyes.

The best thing she could do right now was somehow smooth things over with Yoo Ha-joon and pretend that none of this had ever happened.

…To do that, she would have to sincerely apologize.

It would probably be better to apologize face-to-face.

She could even get down on her knees and beg for forgiveness if necessary.

At that thought, Sahyun’s expression darkened again.

At twenty-five, Sahyun had never been in a relationship with a man, but she had her own romantic ideal.

She wanted to meet a man whose irresistible charm would make her fall for him at first sight and experience a passionate love.

She wanted to become so completely captivated by someone that, even if only for a fleeting moment, she could forget everything else.

Someone she could never hope to reach, someone who possessed an aura simply by existing.

To put it plainly, a man like Executive Director Yoo Ha-joon.

Even if all she could ever have was an unrequited love.

…But what had she just done to a man like that?

I recklessly touched a private part of the man I like—and he’s my superior, too…

Realizing that she had not only made a serious mistake with her superior but had also left a terrible memory with the man she secretly admired, Sahyun bit down hard on her lower lip.

Her steps, which had been heading back toward the company gathering, turned in another direction.

Right now, she simply didn’t have the courage to face him.

Ha… Think. I need to think.

Trying to clear her head from the aftereffects of her disastrous mistake and the alcohol, Sahyun went down the stairs and crouched in a corner of the courtyard for a while.

But even after several minutes of cool air brushing against her skin, she still wasn’t sobering up.

Her gaze drifted toward the other side of the courtyard.

The company dinner was being held on the second floor of a converted house. Downstairs, there was a small courtyard, and across from it stood a separate party room.

She remembered that during a farewell party some time ago, they had briefly rented that room to comfort a departing employee who had been crying his eyes out.

Maybe I could go hide over there…

Sahyun stood up and headed toward the party room.

She couldn’t stay out here forever, but she also couldn’t bring herself to go back inside where Ha-joon was.

“Why is it so dark?”

Creak—

The room was extremely dark.

Sahyun groped along the wall, searching for the light switch, when she suddenly sensed someone behind her.

Her balance gave way.

The next thing she felt was the sensation of colliding with something, followed by firm warmth.

“……!”

She spun around in shock, but things only went from bad to worse.

Her cheek pressed against a hard bridge of a nose, and her lips met something soft.

A smooth, gentle sensation.

The moment Sahyun realized it was someone’s lips, she instinctively stumbled backward and straightened herself.

“First you touch me there, and now you’ve gone for my lips.”

Click.

A dim daylight-colored light came on in the dark room, and at the same time, a low voice filled the air.

Sahyun’s mouth fell open when she realized who the “someone” in the room was.

Yoo Ha-joon.

Apparently, Sahyun had stumbled directly onto Executive Director Yoo Ha-joon, who had been sitting on the sofa, and their lips had accidentally met.

Even through her blurred vision, she could make out his glossy hair, smooth forehead, dark eyebrows, and brownish eyes one by one.

His sharply defined nose and straight-set lips, pressed together as though he were angry.

Once she had taken in each of his features, his entire face came into focus.

As always, even now, Sahyun couldn’t help thinking how handsome he was.

But when she saw the deep furrow between his brows, her mind suddenly snapped back to reality.

What on earth is wrong with me today?

Ever since joining the company, she had been an exemplary employee, working diligently without causing the slightest trouble.

And yet, of all people, she had managed to make an embarrassing mistake in front of Executive Director Yoo Ha-joon.

Twice.

Ah. What kind of cruel joke is fate playing on me?

As expected, his scolding voice soon followed.

“I thought you were the quiet type.”

“……”

“You have a rather unusual way of making advances, Assistant Manager Kim Sahyun.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here….”

“I was feeling a little drunk, so I was about to rest here for a while before heading back out.”

At Ha-joon’s explanation that he had come to the party room for the same reason she had, Sahyun’s voice became barely audible.

“Executive Director… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“……”

Why did it have to happen now?

And why, of all people, did the person inside this room have to be Yoo Ha-joon?

Feeling the heat that had risen to her earlobes spreading all the way to her eyes, Sahyun finally managed to speak.

“What happened earlier, and what just happened now… both were clearly accidents.”

“You seem to have a lot of accidents.”

Though he called them accidents, his question clearly implied something else:

Could the fact that she had touched a private area earlier—and then kissed him just now—possibly have meant that she was trying to seduce him?