After Kangwook left the house, he ended up having a simple lunch with Yunjoo and taking reports by phone before saying he would head out for a bit in the afternoon, and it was truly three o’clock before he finally made it into the office. And that only because Yunjoo had nagged him out the door. Who would ever believe it? It was yet another reason to see Choi Kangwook in a new light.

Even at the office, Kangwook kept catching Yunjoo’s scent and hearing her voice, laughing to himself one moment and sitting in a daze the next, until he couldn’t help but laugh at his own state.

‘Cha Yunjoo has gotten me properly hooked. She’s a drug.’

Having come in late, Kangwook couldn’t get his head into his work. He read the same document over and over, and kept drifting off in the middle of reviewing approval papers. Deciding that sitting there any longer wasn’t going to get anything done, Kangwook pushed back from his desk and headed out, and Team Leader Moon rushed over.

“Is something the matter?”

“I’m heading home.”

“Pardon?”

The surprise was understandable. He had been on edge all day over Kangwook coming in late, and now he was suddenly saying he was leaving. He had to wonder if he had heard right.

“Head home yourself when you’re done.”

“Sir, do you have another company somewhere?”

“What?”

“Well, don’t you? The president leaving during working hours is something that…”

“I’m going.”

Kangwook cut Team Leader Moon off and walked out without looking back, leaving the secretarial staff staring after him in horror. His destination was home. Lately the secretarial office had been in a constant state of confusion over an unpredictable Kangwook. They would almost have preferred the days when he was so consumed by work he couldn’t leave, or when he walked around expressionless like a time bomb no one knew when would go off.

This was more unsettling. Team Leader Moon in particular had been losing considerable sleep over Kangwook’s erratic behavior lately. Today alone, the announcement that he would be coming in late had sent him scrambling to reschedule and cancel the entire morning, and the moment Kangwook walked in, he simply said he was leaving and walked straight past the secretarial office without a backward glance.

Team Leader Moon called out urgently after him, but when no answer came back, his face crumpled badly. If Kangwook weren’t his superior, he would have chased him down and given him a thorough piece of his mind.

* * *

After Kangwook left for work, Yunjoo hesitated briefly before heading to the theater company. The play would be over in two days, and once the next production was decided, her life would get busy again. So this quiet stretch was her rest period. Walking toward the office, thoughts of Kangwook came flooding back and her face flushed for no reason, and she smiled to herself. 

Anyone who didn’t know her would have thought she looked exactly like a woman who had lost her mind. She was smoothing the grin off her face as she walked when she heard Sangyun calling her.

“Ms. Yunjoo!”

“Yes, Mr. Sangyun.”

“Just getting here now?”

“I’ve been coming in pretty late lately, haven’t I?”

“No, you don’t have much to do right now, Ms. Yunjoo. Rest while you can. Do you have plans tonight? If not, let’s eat together.”

“Sure, I was meaning to see Jeongeun anyway…”

“Tell Ms. Jeongeun to come too. We can all eat together.”

“Is that all right?”

“Of course.”

She had been planning to meet Jeongeun since she kept saying she never got to see her face, so this worked out even better, and Yunjoo smiled quietly to herself. They were both people she genuinely cared about. Sangyun’s steady, thoughtful nature seemed like a good match for Jeongeun’s quirky, bright personality, and it was a relief that Sangyun didn’t seem particularly opposed to the idea either.

She was turning all of this over in her mind and had just sat down in the office and opened her sketchbook when her phone rang. It was Kangwook. Yunjoo looked at the phone with a puzzled expression.

‘Huh, he left late so he should be tied up. What’s going on?’

The moment she pressed the call button, Kangwook’s voice came through loud.

“Mr. Kangwook, what the…”

– Where are you?

“Me? I’m at the theater company. Where are you?”

– I’m home.

He had raised his voice out of nowhere, and she couldn’t figure out why he was already home. She worried something might be wrong, that a man who had left late was already back.

“What? Why? Are you feeling sick?”

– I’m fine. Come home.

“I’m afraid I can’t. I have plans.”

She couldn’t cancel her plans just because Kangwook had come home. On top of that, he had come home without any warning. It was only natural that she had made plans, so she held her ground.

– What! Why do you think I came home early? Are you really going to do this?

“Well, you left late so I thought you’d be late. That’s why you should have told me you were coming home early.”

He had assumed she would come home without much fuss once he told her he was there, so hearing that she had plans left him at a loss. He had come home because he missed her and couldn’t focus on work, and yet she sounded completely unbothered.

– Ha, Cha Yunjoo! Does that make any sense to you? Get home, now!

“I can’t. I’ve already made plans with Jeongeun.”

– You’re meeting Ms. Jeongeun?

“Mr. Sangyun is coming too.”

– No. Come home. Or I’m coming with you.

The mention of Jeongeun had made him think he might be able to join, but hearing that Sangyun would be there, he told her to come home instead. It wasn’t a one-on-one meeting, but he didn’t like it. He was going to push regardless. He figured that if she didn’t want him coming out, she would agree to come home.

“You can’t! Mr. Sangyun doesn’t know, that you’re my husband.”

– That’s exactly why I said no. He’s a man who doesn’t know that Cha Yunjoo is Choi Kangwook’s wife. Decide quickly. Come with me, or come home?

“Mr. Kangwook, this is completely stacked against me.”

Both options were a problem. Yunjoo’s smooth forehead creased.

– Negotiations are always about pulling things in your favor. Hahaha, and for the record, that happens to be my specialty. Don’t waste your energy trying to find a way to win. Just decide. You have two choices.

“Ugh, how can you be like this?”

– Like this.

“You know you’re infuriating, right?”

The laugh coming through the phone when he was being infuriating was especially grating. At first she had thought he was just saying it to get her to come home, but when she realized Kangwook actually intended to come out, she started worrying about how to explain it to Sangyun. She went quiet for a moment as her thoughts tangled up, and Kangwook called to her.

– Yunjoo.

“Don’t call me like that. Honestly!”

He knew. He knew that was the way she liked him to call her most, and that it made her helpless. A man as sharp as he was couldn’t not know. So whenever things weren’t going his way, he called her name with extra sweetness.

“Fine.”

– Which is it?

“Come out. Then you’re paying. Something very expensive and impressive.”

– Obviously I’ll pay.

The loud, triumphant laugh that followed made Yunjoo’s eyes narrow. It was a good thing he wasn’t beside her, because if he had been, she would have fixed him with a withering glare.

‘Infuriating. Honestly.’

“Let’s do Daluna. I’ll head over there. Seven o’clock.”

She ended the call with Kangwook and phoned Jeongeun. She needed to pass along the new time and place, and also tell her that Kangwook would be joining. She explained that Kangwook was coming and that Sangyun didn’t know about her marriage.

Jeongeun had gotten off on the wrong foot with Kangwook from the start, but after seeing a different side of him, she didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable, and having received an invitation from him once before, she had warmed up considerably. She said she was happy to come, calling it a friendship of sorts, and even joked about whether he was going to treat them to something expensive. Yunjoo had known she would say something like that, but Sangyun was the one she was worried about.

When Yunjoo said she was worried about Sangyun, Jeongeun told her to take it one step at a time and work things out from there, and not to stress about it. Lately Yunjoo found it easy and comforting to be able to tell Jeongeun everything.

She used to watch every word she said, twice over. The people she met in this world showed one face in front of you and another behind your back. She had first discovered that in a bathroom. Her legs had been aching and she had wanted a moment alone, so she had gone into a stall and sat down.

She still remembered the shock of what she overheard. A woman who had been impossibly kind and warm to her face had turned around and was saying everything there was to say and more. And not just that, she was spinning things that weren’t even true into something entirely convincing, while the woman listening along was the picture of sympathetic agreement.

After that, Yunjoo kept her mouth shut and stopped going to the gatherings she attended about three times a year. Jeongeun, who asked for nothing in return, spread no malicious stories, cast no envious glances, and simply treated her as a friend, was showing her again what a friend really was.

Kangwook had also come to know a different side of Jeongeun from his first impression, and said it was a relief to have someone like her in Yunjoo’s corner, welcoming her warmly. 

Whatever happens, happens, Yunjoo thought, shaking her head, and went to find Sangyun. She told him the new meeting place and time, and they left the theater company and were on their way in Sangyun’s car when Yunjoo’s phone rang. It was Sihyeong. She hesitated briefly over whether to answer, then picked up.

“Oh, Mr. Sihyeong.”

– Where are you? I came by the theater company and they said you went out with the director.

“Yes, I have some plans.”

Sangyun glanced over at Yunjoo on the phone and let out a quiet smile. It was partly because Yunjoo didn’t look entirely at ease, and partly because he could see that Sihyeong had feelings for Yunjoo and was trying to approach her seriously. He had a feeling Yunjoo was at least somewhat aware of how Sihyeong felt.

– Is it somewhere I shouldn’t come?

“Well… it’s a bit…”