* * *

Standing in front of the LJ Electronics building, Inha took a deep breath and pressed her hand to her chest.

“Let’s show them everything we’ve prepared.”

“Yes, manager.”

They were there to present a proposal for an advertising campaign that LJ Electronics had requested a few days earlier.

“Let’s do it! We’ve got this!”

“We’ve got this!”

Seol-ah echoed.

With their cheers, the two entered the building. Since everything had been arranged beforehand, they bypassed the usual procedures and went straight to the meeting room.

“Oh, I’m nervous. Even though we do this all the time, I always get irritable bowel syndrome from the stress. Ugh, my stomach hurts. I’m going to the toilet.”

“Take your time, we still have plenty of time before the presentation starts.”

“I got it. Ugh, my stomach.”

Clutching her stomach, Inha left the meeting room. Seol-ah sat down, thinking it would be a good opportunity to go over the materials they had prepared. She pulled out her tablet and started to go over the storyboard for the commercial when the door suddenly opened. To her surprise, Lee Jung-jae walked in.

“What are you doing here?”

Seol-ah froze for a moment at the sound of Jung-jae’s voice – the last voice she wanted to hear again.

‘Seriously,’ she thought, ‘we must have been enemies in a past life. No matter what happens, we keep running into each other.’

Seol-ah took a deep breath, steeling herself, then lifted her chin confidently.

“Don’t you see? I’m here to present an advertising proposal.”

“Ha, damn it. Can you stop being such a pain? I understand that I’m a hard guy to let go of, but do you really have to go this far? Don’t you have any pride?”

Seol-ah sighed in frustration.

“I’m asking you to stop jumping to conclusions. Do you really think I came here because of you? I’m here because it’s my job and I only realized you were involved when you came in.”

She tried to concentrate on her tablet again, determined not to get involved any further. But suddenly Jung-jae grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Seol-ah shouted, yanking her arm away.

“Come with me.”

“Go where? If you have something to say, say it here.”

She tried to shake him off, but Jung-jae’s grip was stronger than she expected.

“Ouch, that hurts! Let me go!”

With a burst of strength, she pushed Jung-jae hard. He stumbled back, bumped into a chair, and fell over. Embarrassed to be knocked down by a woman, Jung-jae quickly stood up and raised his hand as if to slap Seol-ah.

Thud!

Just as Jung-jae was about to slap Seol-ah’s cheek, someone grabbed his wrist. Irritated, he quickly turned his head to see who it was.

“Who the…?”

His words trailed off as he saw Hwi-gang, who froze in shock. He immediately bowed his head in panic.

“Sir… Senior Executive.”

“Lee Jung-jae, are you the kind of person who beats women now?”

Hwi-gang asked, his voice cold and firm.

“N-no, sir. It’s not like that…”

Jung-jae stammered, trying to explain himself.

“If it’s not what it looks like, then where was that hand going? Because from what I can see, it was definitely pointing that way.”

“Ah, w-well… Sir, it’s-ah! Senior Executive, it hurts!”

Jung-jae stammered as Hwi-gang tightened his grip.

“Oh, it hurts?”

Hwi-gang asked in a mocking tone. Jung-jae frowned and nodded desperately, fighting against the pain. But instead of letting go, Hwi-gang only tightened his grip. Jung-jae’s face contorted in agony, sweat dripping from his forehead.

“A person who can’t even handle this kind of pain doesn’t seem to understand when others are hurting, do they?”

Hwi-gang remarked, his voice cold and unforgiving.

“I’m sorry. I was just angry and raised my hand, but I didn’t mean to hit her, I swear.”

Jung-jae pleaded, his tone desperate and humiliated.

Hwi-gang suddenly released his grip on Jung-jae’s wrist, causing him to stumble backward before regaining his balance.

“What are you waiting for?”

Hwi-gang said coldly.

“Huh? W-waiting for what?”

Jung-jae stammered, still shaken, as he looked up at Hwi-gang in confusion.

“If you made a mistake, you should apologize.”

“What?”

Jung-jae’s eyes widened in surprise. Hwi-gang’s sharp gaze bored into him as he repeated more sternly.

“Apologise to team leader Jin Seol-ah.”

“!”

Jung-jae’s pride boiled inside him, but he couldn’t refuse the executive’s order. Reluctantly, he gritted his teeth and bowed deeply to Seol-ah.

“Team leader Jin Seol-ah, please forgive my rudeness. I sincerely apologize.”

Seol-ah looked at Hwi-gang who gave her a small nod. With that, she accepted Jung-jae’s apology, but not without a hint of irritation.

“I accept your apology, but I’m still upset. Please be careful in the future. And maybe do something about the unjustified confidence you carry around with you.”

“My apologies. I misunderstood.”

Jung-jae was seething inside, even though he had no choice but to lower his head under Hwi-gang’s sharp gaze.

“Employee Lee Jung-jae.”

“Yes, Senior Executive.”

Jung-jae replied, trying to stay calm.

“Go get some orange juice.”

“What? M-me?”

“Well, you’re the most junior person here, aren’t you? Who else should go? Should I ask the person in charge of our advertising proposal to do it? Or maybe I, as the Senior Executive, should go myself?”

‘Damn it, he’s speaking so casually.’

Jung-jae thought, fuming silently.

Clenching his teeth, Jung-jae responded through gritted teeth.

“I apologize. I’ll go get it right away.”

With a sour expression on his face, Jung-jae left the room and as soon as he was gone, Hwi-gang moved closer to Seol-ah, standing right next to her.

“Why are you standing so close to me?”

Seol-ah asked nervously, looking towards the door. She was tense, afraid that Manager Inha might walk in at any moment. After all, she hadn’t told Inha about Hwi-gang’s true position in the company. If she walked in now, it might be awkward.

Smack!

“Hey, we’re in the office.”

Seol-ah whispered nervously.

“So?”

Hwi-gang replied with a teasing grin.

Smack!

This time he kissed her deeper, lingering longer on her lips. With only two kisses, Seol-ah’s lips were already slightly swollen.

“I told you to stop.”

Smack, slurp!

It suddenly dawned on Seol-ah that the more she told Hwi-gang to stop, the more insistent he became. Her tone became softer, almost pleading.

“Seriously, what if someone comes in?”

“Nobody’s here yet.”

Hwi-gang said calmly, wrapping his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer, their bodies pressed tightly together, so close she could almost hear his heartbeat.

“Let me go.”

Seol-ah whispered, feeling the heat rise between them.

“I don’t want to.”

Hwi-gang teased.

“Ugh, fine, what do you want? I’ll do whatever you want, just tell me quickly,” Seol-ah said nervously.

“Really?” he asked with a grin.

“Yes! Please, just hurry. Someone might see us.”

Seol-ah pleaded, her eyes filled with worry. Hwi-gang looked down at her panicked expression and smiled as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, deliberately blowing softly.

“Stay here after the meeting.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

Seol-ah quickly agreed and tried to move away. But just as she stepped back, Hwi-gang grabbed her arm again.

“I’m not done yet.”

“What is it? Just say it now!”