“Ah…… Yes…….”

Yeon-seo let out a long sigh unconsciously after receiving a call while she was working. It was from the Executive Director’s secretary, informing her that her case would now be overseen by the Executive Director’s office.

A hint of bewilderment spread across her usually impassive face. Unable to respond immediately, Yeon-seo finally spoke after a moment.

“Yes, I understand. Should I share all the relevant materials with you, then?”

—”Yes. I sent you a link, so please upload everything there. Also, the Executive Director would like to see you. Are you busy at the moment, Attorney Shim?”

“No. I’ll come up right away.”

After ending the call, Yeon-seo immediately uploaded the files through the link. Then she gathered the paper documents and rose from her seat.

As she stepped into the elevator, a long sigh escaped her before she could stop it.

“Whew…….”

Yeon-seo took a moment to calm her suddenly agitated mind before reaching the Executive Director’s office. The secretary promptly opened the door for her.

Hee-dae, who had been sitting on the sofa, looked up.

“Welcome, Attorney Sim. Have a seat.”

Hee-dae gestured towards the sofa opposite him. Recalling his remark about not being accustomed to looking up at people, Yeon-seo walked over and took a seat with perfect posture.

When she put the heavy stack of documents on the table, Hee-dae raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve brought quite a load with you. I doubt it’s a gift.”

“These are the materials related to Choi Dae-sik’s lawsuit. I thought you would need to review them, so I brought them with me.”

“I had LASEK surgery not long ago, so I can’t read for extended periods, Attorney Shim. Unless, of course, someone were to read them aloud to me. Sweetly.”

“Then I’ll condense the materials into a summary and submit it to you.”

When Yeon-seo picked up the file and started to rise, Hee-dae snatched it toward himself as though taking it from her.

With the corners of his mouth turned downward, Hee-dae rapidly flipped through the pages.

“Why is there so much? When am I supposed to read all of this? I’ve never worked past six in my life.”

“…….”

“You do realize that if I work overtime, you’ll be working overtime too, don’t you?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve never left work at six in my life.”

At Yeon-seo’s reply, Hee-dae tossed the file onto the table.

“So, how does it feel to be in the same boat as me?”

At Hee-dae’s question, Yeon-seo slowly closed and opened her eyes. She appeared to choose her words before continuing in an even voice.

“I’m not sure. We’re only just beginning.”

She wasn’t sure. There it was again.

Hee-dae stared intently at Yeon-seo as she subtly avoided his gaze. Her eyes remained fixed on some part of the file lying on the table, so Hee-dae tapped the tabletop.

“Attorney Shim. Even artificial intelligence doesn’t sound that soulless these days. When a person is speaking to you, the least you can do is look them in the face.”

Hee-dae spoke in a petulant tone, prompting Yeon-seo to raise her gaze slightly. The moment their eyes met, his Adam’s apple bobbed visibly.

He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat for no apparent reason. Shim Yeon-seo frustrated him when she looked at him, yet he was equally frustrated when she refused to meet his gaze.

Yeon-seo stared directly at him as if processing a command, while Hee-dae restlessly tapped his fingertips. Her emotions remained perfectly steady while his swung helplessly from one extreme to the other. It was enough to drive him mad.

“Attorney Shim, you know our company has a horizontal organizational structure, don’t you?”

At times like this, he needed to throw his weight around.

“You don’t have to feel uncomfortable simply because I’m an Executive Director. While we’re working, we’re merely partners, so let’s treat each other comfortably. Communication is less likely to lead to misunderstandings when we can speak freely, don’t you agree?”

Hee-dae laced his fingers together and leaned forward.

“Let’s save time. While we’re working together, I’ll set aside my rank and work in step with you, so let’s produce results.”

“Yes. Thank you for your consideration.”

“It isn’t consideration. I’m doing this for my own sake.”

Yeon-seo looked as though she was lost in thought, wondering what important goal he could have in mind that would make him suggest setting aside his rank while they worked together.

Hee-dae gazed into her unreadable eyes. Unable to endure his intense gaze any longer, Yeon-seo lowered her eyes and picked up the file.

As Hee-dae absently followed her movements, his lips slowly parted.

He was being pulled back into the past.

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. The image of a bench beside the school field, bathed in the brilliant glow of the setting sun, resurfaced in his mind. For a moment, it felt as though the girl who had lowered her gaze that day — just as Yeon-seo was doing now — had appeared before him once more.

Ah. What was this?

Where had these memories been buried inside him all this time? The details of those days — days he had thought had left no trace — suddenly came flooding back: The strawberry milk you loved. The mechanical pencil you always used. Your red pen. The hair tie you always wore around your wrist. The trainers you rarely replaced.

Even his old habit of reading her every emotion from her expression and the look in her eyes came rushing back.

“I’ll organize the materials and return them in a format that’s easier for you to review. I’ll have the summary ready by tomorrow…”

“You haven’t changed at all.”

Yeon-seo’s hands stilled.

Then she slowly raised her gaze and looked at Hee-dae.

Startled that the words had slipped out without conscious thought, Hee-dae rubbed his temple.

“I said you haven’t changed at all.”

“I’m not sure what you mean. Was that a compliment?”

“Who knows? Depending on how you take it, it could be an insult.”

What on earth am I saying right now?

As if surrendering to his fate, Hee-dae lowered his hand, which had been rubbing his temple. His burning ears felt so hot that they were driving him insane.

Without changing her expression at all, Yeon-seo picked up the file and stood up.

“I’m not sure if I should say this, but you haven’t changed either, Executive Director.”

“Of course it wasn’t a compliment. It was an insult, wasn’t it?”

“…….”

“What am I supposed to think when you fall silent like that? You may go. The meetings and overtime begin tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Executive Director.”

Once Yeon-seo opened the door and left, Hee-dae exhaled a long “Whew……” Then he sprawled across the sofa like a blanket laid out to dry and stared up at the ceiling.

“God, seriously. She’s going to bleed me dry. Completely dry.”

“Ha…… I don’t want to lose…… I absolutely refuse to lose……”

Groaning repeatedly, Hee-dae lamented how he felt as though he lost every time they met.

“You haven’t changed either, Executive Director.”

“Still, it seems she hasn’t forgotten absolutely everything.”

Before he knew it, his desperate desire to defeat her had vanished, leaving him fixated on trivial questions.

What kind of person was he in Shim Yeon-seo’s memories?

Did she have even a single good memory of him?

“Maybe I shouldn’t have called it a horizontal structure. I should’ve said it was f*cking vertical. I don’t stand a chance against a lawyer in a war of words.”

Of course, there was no chance of that.

***

“Why did you come all the way here? You should’ve gone home and rested. You must be tired.”

When Yeon-seo entered the convenience store, her mother, Lee Hong-sin, who was sitting behind the counter, looked up and her eyes widened. Without saying anything, Yeon-seo went straight into the storeroom and sat down in front of a pile of boxes that still needed organizing.

Hong-sin approached her daughter. Yeon-seo had started tidying up the storeroom as soon as she arrived, her experienced hands moving with the deftness of a seasoned part-time employee.

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes. What about you, Mom?”

“Some items will be marked for disposal soon, so I was planning to eat one of those.”

At the word “disposal,” Yeon-seo glanced up. Hong-sin hurriedly waved her hands and continued as though making excuses.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with the food. It would be a waste to simply throw it away. But I can’t exactly give it to anyone else.”

A few years earlier, Hong-sin had opened a convenience store near their home. She had paid for it with the money she had painstakingly saved while living in a single room in someone else’s house, which she had then combined with Yeon-seo’s contribution.

On the day Yeon-seo started at the law firm, Hong-sin took her reluctant mother out of the room and the two of them moved into a modest apartment. Hong-sin naturally left her job as a live-in employee to become the proud owner of her own convenience store.

Although the prolonged economic downturn meant that the store’s sales were less impressive than they seemed, the mother and daughter finally had some light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in her life, Hong-sin was called ‘boss’ — a title she had once thought would never be hers.

After quickly organizing the storeroom, Yeon-seo stepped behind the counter and opened the POS system. She reviewed the sales records, checked the inventory, and drew her mother’s attention to several items.

When Yeon-seo looked around for something else to do, Hong-sin took her wrist.

“That’s enough. Stop now. Mom will take care of the rest.”

Her daughter’s tendency to constantly search for work, unable to remain still for even a moment, always left Hong-sin anxious. It felt as though she had never taught her child how to let her heart rest.

“How is the company you transferred to?”

“It’s all right. Hectic, as expected.”

“Have you seen anyone from that family?”

“……Only the Executive Director.”

When Yeon-seo calmly told her that she had seen Hee-dae, Hong-sin swallowed hard. When she first found out that her daughter was transferring to Baekmun Motors, she had wanted to stop her, although she didn’t show it.

Burdened with countless questions, Hong-sin hesitated. Yeon-seo turned her gaze towards her.

“Mom. I won’t be able to come here for a while. I have too much work.”

“All right. Don’t worry about the store. Being an attorney must be exhausting enough.”

“Hire someone for the night shift. Don’t stay up all night.”

“An employee? Goodness, that would cost a fortune. I can just handle it my—”

“Mom.”

When Yeon-seo’s voice dropped, Hong-sin glanced up cautiously. Yeon-seo raised the inner corners of her brows slightly before speaking.

“Mom, I don’t want you to think you can make up for every expense by sacrificing your health. You don’t have to live that way anymore. I don’t want you to.”

“All right. I understand. I’ll look for someone.”

“And don’t eat food marked for disposal. Okay?”

“Fine. I understand. I’ll listen to you. Goodness, what a nag.”

Hong-sin, who would wake from a deep sleep if her daughter asked her a question, narrowed her eyes. Yeon-seo let out a quiet breath. She took out a bottle of warm soy milk and handed it to her daughter.

“Do you think you’ll be very busy? What will you do if there’s that much work?”

“I have to try. What will I do if I can’t even manage this? After everything we’ve endured to get here?”

It’ll be all right.”

Yeon-seo smiled faintly as she opened the bottle of soy milk.