Chapter 8

“I’m sorry. I got caught in the rain yesterday, and my phone stopped working.”  

“Oh my, look at you making excuses now. You.”  

Director Cha Heeyoung laughed loudly, as if she found it amusing.

“Did you throw your phone into the water on purpose so you wouldn’t have to answer my calls?”  

“No, I didn’t.”  

My phone stopped working, and I’m more inconvenienced by it than anyone else.  

“Director, if it’s not too much trouble, please let me know now if there’s anything you’d like me to do.”  

Cha Heeyoung wrote something on a notepad and then handed it to Leeyeon with a flick.  

“Stop by there, pick up the item, and come to S Hotel by noon.”  

“Yes, Director.”  

***

The item Cha Heeyoung asked her to pick up was a luxury bag.  

After receiving the bag, Leeyeon headed to S Hotel.  

She went up to the restaurant on the 12th floor. Upon mentioning Cha Heeyoung’s name, a staff member guided her to a room.  

It seemed Cha Heeyoung had already met her appointment as cheerful voices could be heard from inside the room.  

“Artist Bae Yerin, it’s so nice to see you after such a long time.”

“Indeed. It’s truly an honor to be able to sit down and have a meal with someone as busy as you, Director.”  

“Hahaha. The pleasure is all mine. I’m so happy to spend time with our rising star, Artist Bae Yerin. Let’s meet often to discuss your works.”  

It was fascinating to see Cha Heeyoung being so warm and friendly to someone.  

Leeyeon knocked on the door from outside.  

The conversation paused for a moment before someone told her to come in.  

“Director, I’ve brought the item you requested.”  

“You’ve worked hard.”  

The smile Cha Heeyoung had shown to Yerin just moments ago disappeared in an instant, replaced by a cold gaze. She gestured with her chin, indicating for Leeyeon to leave the item behind and go.  

Her attitude, steeped in condescension, was deeply ingrained in her every move.  

As Leeyeon placed the bag down, her gaze briefly met Yerin’s face.

It was the first time she came face to face with the woman who had been moaning in pleasure in Junho’s arms at the office, and it left her extremely flustered.  

The fact that she had mentioned her that day meant Yerin also knew about her existence.  

However, Yerin didn’t show any sign of it and kept smiling brightly.  

“Secretary Han?”  

“Yes, Director.”  

“What are you doing standing there without leaving!”  

“Oh, I’m sorry.”  

Leeyeon bowed her head in apology and moved outside.  

As soon as the door closed, laughter erupted again from inside the room.  

Leeyeon decided to go downstairs to the first floor and wait there, so she started moving.  

At that moment.  

The door of the room next to her opened, and a very familiar face emerged from within.  

“Oh?”  

The other person also seemed surprised to see Leeyeon.  

It was Dokyeom, whom she had seen at the Jicheol Construction headquarters just a few hours ago.  

There had been a message from Dokyeom in the meantime, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to respond, so meeting him here felt a bit awkward.  

Leeyeon tried not to show it as she lightly bowed her head in greeting and attempted to pass by Dokyeom.  

From behind her, a pleasant, deep voice stopped her.  

“Han Leeyeon.”  

“Yes, Director.”  

Since Director Cha Heeyoung was dining in a nearby room, Leeyeon lowered her voice as much as possible when answering.

“Where are you rushing off to?”  

She didn’t have a destination in mind, but at least her goal was to leave this place as quickly as possible.  

Leeyeon smiled faintly and briefly wondered why he would even ask that.  

Dokyeom seemed to realize what was on her mind and walked past her.  

As he did, he whispered softly.  

“Follow me.”  

***

The place where Dokyeom’s footsteps stopped was a café on the first floor of S Hotel.  

He asked about Leeyeon’s coffee preference and also bought a simple sandwich for them to share.

It was truly puzzling why the man who had suddenly disappeared, claiming to be busy, was now having lunch with her.  

She was also worried that Director Cha Heeyoung might come looking for her and find her sitting with Dokyeom.

Unaware of Leeyeon’s concerns, Dokyeom remained completely at ease.  

“Eat up. Slowly.”

“Director, I can take this out and eat elsewhere……”  

“Where? In the lobby?”  

She hadn’t thought that far ahead, but at the very least, she hadn’t planned to sit and have a meal with Dokyeom like this.  

“Cha Heeyoung probably still has a long way to go before finishing her meal anyway.”  

“That’s true, but……”  

“Wouldn’t it be better to eat quickly and leave rather than wasting time dawdling?”  

That was also a valid point.  

She hadn’t eaten anything since morning, and she was indeed hungry.  

Reluctantly, Leeyeon unwrapped the sandwich.  

Seeing her do so, a faint smile briefly appeared on Dokyeom’s lips.  

Quickly erasing the expression, Dokyeom began to speak.  

“Han Leeyeon, you like to be precise.”  

“Yes, Director.”  

“Since I bought lunch today, make sure to treat me next time.”  

At Dokyeom’s words, Leeyeon smiled slightly.  

“What’s so funny?”  

“This situation is just… unusual.”

Unusual.

Yes, even Dokyeom found this situation highly unusual.  

To save time during meals, he usually ate something simple while on the move.  

Today, too, he had scheduled a meeting at the restaurant but planned to finish quickly, return to the office, and review the documents he hadn’t been able to check in the morning.  

That is, until he ran into Leeyeon upon stepping out of the room.

Seeing her pale face trying to act normal, even paler than in the morning, for some reason, he didn’t want to just let her go.  

So he made an unusual suggestion—having a meal together.  

He could see Secretary Choi flinch in surprise upon hearing the suggestion but pretended not to notice and turned his body to head down to the first floor.

Leeyeon, who had refused to eat, was now enjoying the sandwich so much that it made her earlier rejection seem meaningless.  

Dokyeom, who was observing her, asked.  

“Is the phone I gave you working well?”  

“Yes. It’s so light and nice, probably because it’s such a good new model. Thank you.”  

“Then why don’t you reply to my messages even after reading them?”  

“Cough, cough.”  

Leeyeon coughed as if choking, struggling to swallow the sandwich that hadn’t gone down her throat.  

“Oh dear.”  

It wasn’t a question meant to make her uncomfortable.  

Dokyeom, who was about to offer her the coffee in front of her, instead opened a bottle of water with a screech and handed it to her.  

After taking a sip of water and calming down, Leeyeon smiled faintly.  

“I was busy going somewhere. I’m sorry.”  

In truth, the messages Dokyeom had sent were unlike him.  

[Is the phone working well?]  

[How are you feeling?]  

[I’m worried, so please reply when you see this.]  

Worried.

When she first saw the message, she wondered if it had been sent by mistake.  

It didn’t seem like something Dokyeom would say.  

“Where were you coming from in that condition?”  

Just as he had expressed in his messages, Dokyeom genuinely seemed concerned about her.  

‘Right, he’s just looking out for me because if I’m sick, it might interfere with keeping an eye on Cha Heeyoung.’  

Now that they were business partners in the same boat, he was just taking care of her.  

Thinking that, Leeyeon tried to suppress the uneasy feelings that were starting to bubble up.  

“Director Cha Heeyoung instructed me to go to the department store and pick up a bag.”  

As she said that, Leeyeon thought.  

Would I always have to report back on everything whenever and wherever I met Dokyeom like this?  

Because they hadn’t drafted a detailed contract, she still didn’t know the procedures or methods for reporting.  

Seeing her expression, Dokyeom seemed to read her thoughts and briefly said something.

“I would like to receive reports face-to-face.”  

“Face-to-face?”  

There’s phone calls, and at the very least, one could send a long message.  

If that’s difficult, in this day and age, there are multiple video conferencing platforms, so it would even be possible to report while facing each other through those.  

Looking at Leeyeon’s surprised face, Dokyeom added an explanation.  

“So I can see if you are lying, Han Leeyeon. To check if you’re hiding anything from me. I need to see for myself to be sure.”  

He was a man who liked everything to be certain.  

Fine, if it was a place she could go to, she didn’t mind meeting him there, given how busy he was.

However, she didn’t know what to do on days when he wasn’t in Seoul or even in Korea.  

“Will I need to report to you daily?”

“No.”  

Dokyeom took a sip of coffee and continued speaking.  

“On the days I’m on a business trip, I’ll receive reports via calls.”  

“Understood.”  

“Does Director Cha Heeyoung call for you even on weekends?”  

“Yes, that’s correct.”  

Weekends, nights, or days—whenever something was needed, Cha Heeyoung sought out Leeyeon.  

Dokyeom, seemingly unaware that Cha Heeyoung used Leeyeon this much, licked his lower lip in discomfort.  

“If it’s not urgent, I won’t ask for reports from you on weekends, Han Leeyeon.”  

“Oh… okay.”  

It was a relief not to be burdened, so she should have been happy.

But for some reason, the thought left Leeyeon feeling a little disappointed.