Chapter 7. A Place Both Familiar and Unfamiliar  

Nari sat across from Lee Hyun, her expression one of curiosity.  

“Word has it you’re looking for the list of attendees from that party?”  

“That’s correct.”  

“It’s a matter of personal information, so it’s a bit difficult for us to hand it over freely.”  

Seeing Nari draw a line, Yerin cheered inwardly.  

‘Yes, keep refusing to give it no matter what.’  

Lee Hyun, however, wasn’t one to back down easily.  

“Women in their mid-to-late twenties, short, blonde bobbed hair. Can I at least see the list of women fitting the description I provided?”  

“May I know the reason you’re searching for her?”  

Yerin swallowed nervously.  

Lee Hyun tilted his head slightly as he spoke.  

“There’s an unfinished conversation I have with her.”  

“What kind of business do you have with her?”  

“Not something I’d discuss with you, CEO Kim Nari.”  

Hearing Lee Hyun’s cold tone, Nari took a step back.  

“And there’s something I need to get from her.”  

“Did she cause you financial harm by any chance?”  

“You could say that.”  

Hearing Lee Hyun’s nonchalant reply, Yerin’s eyes widened in shock.  

Financial harm?  

We had only spent one night together.  

She had left the suite room quickly without even touching any of his belongings—what harm could she have caused?  

She almost blurted out in frustration, “I didn’t do anything like that!”  

Nari glanced at Yerin and spoke softly.  

“Then we’ll first seek consent from the attendees before handing over the list.”  

Lee Hyun merely stared at Nari coldly, as if dissatisfied with her response.  

“Just hand it over. If any issues arise, we’ll handle them on our end.”  

“No, as it concerns personal information, we cannot simply hand it over.”  

“CEO Kim Nari, do you perhaps know who this woman is?”  

“Pardon?”  

“I’m asking because it seems like you’re trying to hide her.”  

Unintentionally, Nari glanced at Yerin, who was standing behind Lee Hyun.  

“The list of attendees for the charity bazaar that day has already been made public through news articles.”  

“Yes, that’s true.”  

Since the event was meant to be a show of goodwill, companies had been eager to release press materials highlighting their participation.  

Group photos of attendees at the event had been prominently featured in articles, and the list of attendees had also been disclosed.  

Lee Hyun was requesting the list to cross-check and see if anyone had been left out.  

Nari cautiously asked,  

“Was the woman you’re looking for not in those photos?”  

“She wasn’t there.”  

“….”  

Of course.  

Yerin hadn’t ‘really’ attended the bazaar, so there was no way she’d appear in the group photos.  

Lee Hyun slowly rubbed his eyebrow with his index finger, as if finding it all very strange.  

“Why was she the only one missing?”  

Startled, Nari quickly spoke.  

“She must have stepped away briefly when the group photo was taken.”  

“Then I’ll take it that you’ll hand over the list.”  

Lee Hyun stood up, as if his business was concluded.  

He then addressed Yerin, who was standing behind him.  

“Secretary Han, get the list and start contacting people immediately.”  

After Lee Hyun left the conference room, the door closed with a loud click.  

Nari looked as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.  

“I’ll explain everything later. You know my name, right?”  

“Yes, of course.”  

Quick-witted Nari must have realized right away that the woman Lee Hyun was searching for was Yerin.  

She was genuinely curious about what had happened that day to make Lee Hyun so desperate.  

“For now, I can’t keep the Director waiting, so I’ll go.”  

“Got it. Call me later.”  

Even after leaving the Chetto headquarters, Yerin couldn’t shake her uneasy feelings.  

If anything, her anxiety only grew stronger.  

***  

Late at night, when everyone else had left work, only Yerin and Lee Hyun remained in the office.  

Unable to focus, Yerin hadn’t made any progress on the report Lee Hyun had asked her to summarize.  

“Still, it’s my first task, so I should at least do this properly.”  

After all, she wouldn’t be able to find the woman Lee Hyun was so determined to locate.  

Yerin glanced at the tightly shut door of the Director’s office and began to focus.  

Time passed.  

Someone knocked lightly on Yerin’s desk.  

When she slowly lifted her head, Lee Hyun’s face filled her vision.  

“Director?”  

“You didn’t seem to hear me calling you.”  

“Oh, I’m sorry.”  

Yerin quickly stood up from her seat.  

“Do you have any instructions for me?”  

Lee Hyun, with his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, tilted his head slightly.  

“Are you working on an empty stomach?”  

Caught off guard, Yerin couldn’t respond immediately, like a malfunctioning robot.  

“Secretary Han, was my question difficult?”  

“No, I haven’t had dinner yet…”  

“Let’s go.”  

“Pardon?”  

Lee Hyun let out a quiet sigh.  

“I’d rather not hear that you quit because I starved you on your first day.”  

“That won’t happen.”  

Whether he heard her or not, Lee Hyun left the secretary’s office on his own.  

With no other choice, Yerin followed him.  

***  

Although Yerin offered to drive, Lee Hyun didn’t even acknowledge her and took the wheel himself.  

It was her first time riding in a car driven by her boss, and it felt both strange and uncomfortable.  

She thought they were heading to a nearby restaurant, but his car was driving farther and farther away from the company.

“Director, aren’t we going to eat?”

“That’s correct.”

After driving for quite a while, Lee Hyun’s car entered a very familiar place.

‘Why here…?’

Yerin unknowingly gripped her seatbelt tightly.

As Lee Hyun entered KK Hotel, he handed his car over to the valet staff and headed toward the lobby.

‘Of all the places, why here?’

KK Hotel was the very place where Lee Hyun and she had spent a heated time together.

‘He wouldn’t have come here on purpose, would he?’

There were plenty of hotels near the company, even if not this one.

There were also countless other places to have a meal. 

Without fully grasping why Lee Hyun had chosen this place, Yerin quickly followed him.

Pressing the elevator button, Lee Hyun turned his body slightly and gazed intently at Yerin.

“Why do you think I came here, Secretary Han?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I first met her here.”

“……”

The elevator arrived just in time, and the two stepped in.

Perhaps because it was late, there were no other passengers in the elevator.

Being together like this naturally brought back memories of that day.

That night, when they were so close in the elevator that they could feel each other’s body heat.

Recalling that night brought with it a flood of accompanying thoughts and sensations.

That was the day she first realized how such cold eyes could hold such intense desire.

It was also the day she learned that a mouth that only uttered cold words could speak so tenderly.

Ding—

The elevator carrying the two arrived at the rooftop restaurant.

“This place…”

It was the very space where she and Lee Hyun had first met.

Although the tables had been rearranged for the after-party that day, making the atmosphere different, the space itself brought a wave of tension.

Seeing Yerin’s unsettled demeanor, Lee Hyun looked amused.

“Have you been here before?”

“No?”

She hadn’t realized how difficult lying could be.

Yerin tried her best to act nonchalant as she stepped out of the elevator first.

Behind her, she could feel Lee Hyun’s intense gaze sticking to her.

As she walked into the rooftop, Yerin tightened her legs. Then, as if her foot caught on something, her body wobbled.

‘Ugh, how embarrassing would it be if I tripped here of all places?’

Just as she thought that—

She naturally assumed her body would hit the cold floor, but instead, she felt a warm sensation around her waist.

And a very familiar scent brushed past her nose.

‘No way.’

Slowly, Yerin lifted her eyelids.

As expected, Lee Hyun’s sculpted face was right in front of her.

“Director?”

Lee Hyun, with his arm wrapped around Yerin’s waist, gazed at her with unreadable dark eyes.

Thump, thump—

Her heart began pounding fiercely.

Perhaps because of the close proximity,

Or because of the familiar scent coming from him,

The night they had spent together came rushing back so naturally.

‘How can you be this beautiful?’

‘You’re making it impossible to look away.’

‘You’re the one who made me this way, so I think you should take responsibility.’

His low voice, which had whispered above her that night, seemed to echo in her ears.

Yerin unknowingly squeezed her eyes shut.

It had only been one night, but it was a night she couldn’t forget either.

She took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes again.

Lee Hyun was still gazing at her with his deep eyes.

“Director, you should let me go…”

“Secretary Han, no matter how much I think about it, I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

There it was again, that statement.

Yerin pushed him away with her arms and straightened her posture.

“As I’ve said before, it’s most likely that we’ve passed by each other at the company…”

“No. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere else.”

“……”

At Lee Hyun’s words, her heart started pounding like crazy.

To hide her trembling gaze, Yerin lowered her head toward the floor.

Fortunately, he didn’t sound certain. It was more of a probing tone.

‘He must think I look like someone else…’

That’s why she needed to respond more firmly here.

Without meeting Lee Hyun’s gaze, Yerin spoke.

“I have a common face, so I often hear that.”

There was no response.

As she wondered how she could continue denying it if he kept pressing, Lee Hyun spoke.

“If you say so, Secretary Han, I suppose that’s the case.”

He left first, as if he had no lingering doubts.

Sigh.

Yerin let out a deep breath and walked toward the rooftop restaurant again.

Inside, the table arrangement was completely different from that day.

A staff member guided them to a corner table.

‘It just has to be the same spot where I drank champagne with the Director.’

It was probably a coincidence, but even such a trivial detail made her nerves stand on edge.

As Yerin stood nearby, Lee Hyun, already seated, called her in his pleasant, low voice.

“What are you doing, not coming over?”

Lee Hyun’s lips curled into a lazy smile.

Just like that day, when he had seduced her.