“Where are you gooooing?”

“I still haven’t finished the production work order that’s due tomorrow.”

“Ugh, Yeonsu, you’re really intense. You’re probably the only one who goes back to the office after a company dinner.”

Her speech was slurred, indicating she was already drunk.

While others were quick to call her cold-hearted behind her back, Team Leader Oh’s words didn’t feel unpleasant.

Instead, they conveyed warm affection. The corner of Yeonsu’s mouth curled up slightly.

“You should go home early too, Team Leader. You seem drunk.”

“I want to drink more. It’s not like I have anything to do at home. Take care, Team Leader Seo.”

Yeonsu said goodbye to Team Leader Oh and left the restaurant.

She looked up at the night sky that had grown dark.

It was past eleven o’clock.

Even if she returned to the company now, she wasn’t sure if she could focus on work.

Yeonsu had a low alcohol tolerance. Especially for mixed drinks.

Her face was already flushed as the effects of alcohol began to set in.

Others said they could sleep well after drinking.

For Yeonsu, alcohol tended to make her more alert.

She needed to go to the company even just to fall asleep. If she exhausted her body, sleep would come.

She straightened her head from looking at the sky. And just as she was about to take a step forward, she came face to face with a man walking toward the restaurant.

“Team Leader Seo Yeonsu.”

It was the man who had tested her countless times today.

He had paused briefly but started moving again. Even his walk toward her was elegant without any unnecessary movement.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes, it’s getting late.”

Yeonsu looked up at Seonjae who was now right in front of her.

“We meet again like this.”

“Right. I thought that day would be the last.”

Yeonsu truly believed that lunch would be their last meeting.

At first, she wondered why they kept running into each other. Now, understanding the reason, her gaze lowered.

“Is that so? I thought we would meet again. The first meeting might be coincidence, but when encounters overlap about three times, isn’t that fate?”

Yeonsu’s expression hardened at the word “fate” reaching her ears.

She wanted to ask if he had engineered this fate, but she swallowed her words.

He was a man who wanted to pretend not to know her.

If he wanted to erase their shared past and memories, she should comply.

And Yeonsu also wanted this connection to end now.

The energy and emotions she wasted in these encounters were becoming too much.

“Not all meetings have meaning. Many are meaningless.”

His brow furrowed slightly at Yeonsu’s words dismissing their reunion as a meaningless encounter.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Yeonsu gave her greeting. And just as she turned—

Thud.

Her hand was grabbed, and the momentum pulled her body backward.

“What are you doing?”

He had turned her around with such force that Yeonsu’s nose almost touched his chest.

Her eyes instantly turned sharp.

Just as she was about to say something, something hard was placed in her hand.

“It was buy one, get one free.”

Seonjae gestured toward Yeonsu’s hand with his chin.

When she looked down, she saw a hangover remedy in her hand.

“This is for you, Team Leader Seo.”

“Why… this?”

Yeonsu, who had been staring blankly at the bottle, looked up and asked.

“You seemed to be drinking quite a bit.”

They had only made eye contact a couple of times.

She had deliberately avoided looking in his direction, yet he could say this—which meant he must have been watching her too.

Was it because of the alcohol? Her mood kept rising and falling like a roller coaster.

One moment she foolishly thought his actions might mean he hadn’t forgotten her, but then remembering how coldly he cut contact five years ago, her heart would turn icy.

A bitter laugh escaped through her lips.

She hated herself for feeling this way.

Sensing her lips might tremble, she bit her lower lip.

“Thank you.”

Yeonsu finally managed to speak.

She wanted to leave quickly, not wanting him to notice how he affected her.

“Aren’t you coming this weekend? To the dinner at Chairman Hong’s house.”

But Seonjae’s voice held her back.

Staring at her intently, he seemed to be waiting for her answer.

Dinner gathering.

No matter how close she was with Sehee, Yeonsu had no reason to attend that gathering.

It had been two years since she left Chairman Hong’s house in Seongsu-dong to live alone.

Moreover, Sukgyeong hadn’t invited her.

But there was no need to explain these details.

“It’s not a place for me to attend.”

“I heard you lived there for a long time. According to Managing Director Hong Sehee, Team Leader Seo Yeonsu is like the second daughter of that house.”

A sneer crossed Yeonsu’s lips at the mention of “second daughter.”

She simply couldn’t hide her uncomfortable feelings toward Seonjae.

While he tried to ignore their past as lovers, why was he showing so much interest in her?

“Isn’t that reason enough to attend?”

“No, it’s not enough. I know which places I should join and which I should avoid.”

Yeonsu clenched her fist tightly. The hard bottle was crushed inside.

“I won’t be going. I don’t want to go either.”

Seonjae’s brow furrowed slightly at Yeonsu’s words drawing a line.

※※※

Seonjae re-entered the restaurant.

Despite approaching midnight, the restaurant was as lively as early evening.

Filming staff, studio employees, Taeseo Group cast members and executives.

It was impressive how many people had been mobilized for the group channel filming.

He scanned the interior of the restaurant before returning to his original table.

As if they had been waiting for his return, Seonjae’s empty glass was filled again.

“Sir, may I pour you a drink?”

“Sure.”

Seonjae accepted the glass poured by an employee who had been sitting at another table.

As he tilted his glass, he turned his head at the familiar name reaching his ears.

“Has Team Leader Seo Yeonsu left?”

“She left earlier.”

“Again?”

An empty table came into Seonjae’s view.

The designer who had been with Yeonsu was now mingling at another table.

“She should have stayed, especially with the CEO here. Does she think everyone stays because they want to? This is all part of company life.”

“She’s always been good at work but lacks social skills.”

“Seungji Apparel people are already outsiders in the company. Why is she acting like that when she’s a team leader?”

Despite the market-like noise, perhaps because it was about Seo Yeonsu, the conversation clearly reached Seonjae’s ears.

He emptied the glass he was holding.

Then he picked up his jacket placed beside him and stood up.

“Are you leaving, sir?”

Seonjae gestured for the employees, who had hurriedly stood up with surprised faces, to sit down.

“It would be uncomfortable if I stayed. Please drink and enjoy yourselves.”

Seonjae left the restaurant amid numerous farewells.

As he exited, his secretary approached him.

Seonjae asked while putting a cigarette from inside his suit to his mouth.

“What about Seo Yeonsu?”

The lighter clicked, sparking a flame that lit the cigarette.

Greenish smoke rose from the cigarette held between his long fingers.

“She returned to the company.”

After a brief silence, a hollow laugh caught on his lips.

What kind of person would think of returning to the company at this late hour?

It was simply incomprehensible by his standards.

He asked, removing the cigarette from his lips and holding it between his fingers.

“She went back to the company at this hour?”

“Yes. She was confirmed entering the headquarters. She seems to have a monotonous life. Apparently just the company and her officetel.”

Seonjae thought of Yeonsu.

A woman obsessed with work.

He was well aware of the rumors about Team Leader Seo Yeonsu, who broke reorder records every year.

Despite being a high-end brand, 3rd and 4th reorders were standard.

That wasn’t all. She also boasted a high fix rate at product evaluations.

Most of the clothes for brand DINE’s annual advertising shoots came from Seo Yeonsu’s hands.

But his interest in Yeonsu wasn’t because of her competence.

Yeonsu was his former lover who had reappeared before him after five years.

And as a completely different person. Her eyes, which had always sparkled and shone, had lost their strength and seemed lifeless.

Hadn’t she abandoned Lee Seungjae, whom she thought was just a poor international student, all for the sake of marriage?

Then why was she living like this, being disrespected?

In truth, he could simply not care, but all his nerves kept focusing on the woman.

And more strongly with each encounter.

Seonjae took a deep breath, held the smoke, and slowly exhaled.

The thick cigarette smoke scattered around, carried by the wind.

“Should I find out more?”

The secretary carefully asked, seeming to gauge Seonjae’s mood.

With half-closed eyes staring at the opposite roadside, he remained silent.

No matter how much more the secretary investigated, he wouldn’t find a reason that would satisfy Seonjae.

Unless he found out why that woman left.

At the end of that continued silence, Seonjae looked down at his half-burned cigarette.

Strangely, lately smoking didn’t improve his mood.

Finally, Seonjae crushed the cigarette on the ground.

“No, forget it.”

With those words, he walked toward his car.