“My whole body hurts.”
As soon as she woke up, Suin groaned involuntarily.
Her pelvis felt as though it had been split in two and sohow put back together, her hip joints creaked, and her calves ached as if they had been stretched to their limit.
Not to ntion the soreness in a much more sensitive area.
“Seo Jaehee, you’re going to kill .”
“What did you say?”
Her grumbling was overheard by Jin Sukyung, who had been in the kitchen.
“Just talking to myself!” Suin quickly shouted back, startled.
“You said Jaehee is killing you?”
Before she could co up with a proper excuse, Sukyung ca charging after her, brandishing a spatula as if she were ready to strike.
“Is he giving you a hard ti or sothing?”
Well… in a way, yes.
Though not in the way Sukyung probably ant.
“It’s just the usual gripes of a working woman. Why are you so on edge?” Suin deflected.
“Because it’s getting harder and harder to even see your face. You ca ho so late last night, too.”
“…You weren’t asleep? I thought you were.”
“I woke up when I heard you co in.”
Suin had tried her best to sneak in quietly, but it seed her friend’s sharp hearing had caught her anyway.
Sukyung looked at her sympathetically. “How much is Jaehee overworking you that you’re only coming ho at dawn?”
“It’s just how things go sotis…”
“You get absorbed in work, the night flies by, and before you know it, it’s morning.”
“Exactly.”
Her perfectly tid interjection made Suin stifle a laugh. Biting her lip to stop herself from giggling, she gave Sukyung a light push on the back.
“I need to get ready for work.”
“Fine, fine.”
As she was being ushered out, Sukyung suddenly stopped and turned back.
“Oh, Suin, about last night—I almost forgot because you ca ho so late. Deputy Baek called and asked if we could fulfill an order for two sites.”
“Two sites? What’s the macaron order like?”
“Eight-piece sets.”
“Eight different flavors, I assu?”
“Of course.”
That sounded like an incredible amount of work. Given the handcrafted nature of their macarons, each batch made with care and precision, it was no small feat.
Suin paused her makeup and turned around to face Sukyung.
“With two sites, that’s about 3,000 macarons. Can Mom handle that on her own?”
“Not really. That’s why I told him I’d think about it.”
“There’s nothing to think about. Just take one order.”
“But I talked to Aunt Namsook, and she said she’d help.”
“Even with two people, it’s still too much.”
“If we work for two days straight and pull an all-nighter, we can manage.”
“Do you really want to go that far?”
“It’s for your company.”
“What does it matter that it’s my company?”
Knowing it was pointless to argue against her mom’s devotion, Suin held back any further protest and instead softened her tone.
“If you’re going to do it, hire so temporary help. It’s for the company’s anniversary, after all. I’ll help too.”
“Really? You’ll help?”
“Can anyone ever win against Madam Jin’s stubbornness?”
“Oh, this is great! I’ll call Aunt Namsook right away. You let Deputy Baek know.”
“Got it.”
With Suin’s reluctant approval, Sukyung practically floated out of the room, already dialing her phone.
Suin watched her with a small, fond smile before closing her bedroom door.
Click.
As she turned back, her eyes fell on the corner of her bookshelf, where her diary was tucked away.
“I’m hopeless…”
Ever since Seo Jaehee reappeared in her life, she had found herself pulling it out repeatedly, only to stash it back in the sa spot as if she were trying to hide it from herself.
With a self-deprecating sigh, she retrieved the diary.
“…If I ever have my first kiss, I feel like it would be with Seo Jaehee.”
…
How awful.
Suin stared at the words scribbled in her own handwriting, equal parts mortified and resigned.
“Kissing was bad enough, and now I’ve gone and done sothing much worse.”
Suin couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by how much she had crossed the line she had set for herself in that diary written by her younger self.
She let out a quiet laugh and flipped to the last page.
The number of tally marks recording Seo Jaehee’s relentless acts of affection filled the page. She couldn’t decide whether to laugh at her childishness or marvel at how absurd her dilemma was.
“How many more marks should I add?”
Even her chuckles carried a hint of giddiness.
“Back then, and even now, I’ve always wanted you.”
“For the past ten years, and even before that, Lee Suin, you’ve been my first love.”
How could soone remain so unwaveringly fixated? His all-consuming love, bordering on obsession, didn’t weigh her down but instead filled her with a fluttering excitent. Maybe it was because her feelings weren’t so different.
Her cheeks ward at the thought.
“It’s not like he confessed to
directly,” she muttered, shaking off the lingering remnants of the past.
She set the pen down with a decisive motion.
Wanting and loving were fundantally different.
Even if his desire stemd from affection, their relationship was one that could never be openly acknowledged. She tried to put a stop to her racing heart before it could lead her astray.
But sitting in front of the mirror, gazing at her flushed reflection, she couldn’t stop herself from rembering the way Seo Jaehee had locked eyes with her so intensely, his lips grazing hers, his touch searing.
She shivered at the vivid mory.
She had no right to mock Yoo Ahjin anymore.
After all, wasn’t she the true moth drawn to the fla?
“Look at this,” she muttered to herself, watching the corner of her lips betray her and curl upward into a smile.
***
Sohow, seeing Jaehee at the office made her feel slightly embarrassed, but Suin put on her usual calm and composed deanor as she arrived at work.
Jaehee and Jongin were attending a breakfast eting for executives at a Korean restaurant near the Hyesung Group headquarters, leaving her with a quiet morning to prepare schedules.
“…Yes, Director Seo has an appointnt at the hospital at 5 PM for his hand injury.”
[Then would it be possible to move the strategy briefing to tomorrow morning? So adjustnts need to be made to the proposal he previously rejected.]
“He’s free at 11 AM tomorrow. I’ll schedule it for then.”
[Thank you, Chief Lee.]
“Take care, Deputy.”
After finishing the call and updating the schedule, a ssage popped up on her work chat.
―If you’re not too busy, let’s grab coffee. My treat today.
It was from Ihyeon.
She glanced at the clock and saw she had about 30 minutes to spare. Given her mother’s workload and the macarons, a conversation with Ihyeon seed necessary.
―Where should we et?
―I’ll grab coffee and wait in the garden lounge.
―Alright. I’ll be down soon.
Replying while still on her feet, Suin hit the print button for so docunts and headed to Jaehee’s office to drop off a stack of approval papers. She arranged them neatly on his desk, double-checked their order, and left the room.
―Intern Kwon, when do you think the breakfast eting will end?
Suin texted Jongin as she stepped into the elevator, trying to ti her break accordingly.
Jongin’s reply ca just as she reached the lobby.
―The breakfast eting just ended. Director Seo has just arrived at the lobby.
“Already?”
Turning the corner from the elevator hall, Suin saw Jaehee striding across the lobby with Jongin trailing behind him.
Like the rest of the female staff frozen in place, captivated by his overwhelming presence, Suin found herself montarily stuck in her tracks.
He radiated confidence, his sharp physical features commanding attention as if the entire space existed solely to highlight him.
Today, he seed even more dazzling than usual. His silver-gray eyes carried a magnetic allure that made her heart pound.
“...”
That man was completely naked with
last night…
The mory of his sculpted physique and the way he had overwheld her flashed through her mind, and her face burned red.
“Lee Suin.”
His eyes locked onto hers. His gaze softened instantly, lighting up like a puppy spotting its owner, and he strode toward her without hesitation.
“Good morning, Director Seo,” she said, bowing politely to compose herself and shaking off the montary fluster.
“Did you co to greet ?”
“No,” she replied firmly, imdiately deflating his enthusiasm.
“I’m eting Deputy Baek Ihyeon in the garden lounge. We have so work matters to discuss.”
She made sure to sound professional, hoping he wouldn’t misunderstand.
“Baek Ihyeon?”
“Yes.”
To her surprise, instead of his usual fiery jealousy, Jaehee nodded calmly.
“Go ahead.”
He even pulled out his wallet and handed her his card.
“Here, take my card. Get so nice snacks while you talk.”
What was this? A display of confidence from the victor?
It felt as if he was silently proclaiming, I already have her.
Suin struggled not to grin at his smug yet oddly endearing deanor. She maintained her composure, her tone polite but firm.
“Thank you, but I’m fine.”
“Alright. Go ahead, then.”
He stepped aside with gentlemanly grace, making way for her.
Feeling as though an unspoken truce had been reached, Suin inclined her head in acknowledgnt and turned toward the garden lounge.
Then it happened.
Jaehee’s fingers lightly brushed against hers.
The sudden, fleeting contact made her heart skip a beat. Her fingertips tingled, and she felt a shiver down her spine, though she managed to keep her expression neutral.
Amid the bustling lobby, their small, secret touch lingered in her mind as she walked away, leaving her subtly exhilarated.
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