She quickly moved to the break room and answered the call.

“I told you not to call during work hours.”

Even if he was out on business, he was still technically working.

—Why? Too busy smiling at the new guy?

Anger colored the voice coming through the phone.

“What? When did I…”

—I watched you do it all morning—are you going to deny it? Why are you stuck to him like that?

“Because I’m in charge of training the new employee.”

—Training?

Gunwoo muttered through the phone, but Hyena didn’t catch on.

“I was just giving him a professional smile.”

What came back to her excuse was a scoff.

—When you smile at other people for work, your left corner lifts a bit more. Without any emotion in your eyes. Courtesy, you could say?

Gunwoo was calmly explaining a habit she didn’t even know she had.

—Other times when it’s genuine, it’s the right corner. Your eyes get slightly warmer toned.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t tell what the difference was.

—And when it’s really genuine…

Gunwoo paused briefly, then continued.

—You smile so beautifully it drives me crazy.

Enough to want to pin you down right then and there.

Goosebumps rose at the words added lazily.

—I warned you not to smile at other bastards. What’s in guys’ heads is all the same.

“You think all men in the world are like you?”

—Of course they’re different from me. I’m the only one in the world who gets hard only for Yoon Hyena.

At his low, sunken voice, her core impossibly clenched. Hyena squeezed her eyes shut.

‘I’m really far gone too.’ 

Just as she was thinking that—

—Are you wet?

Gunwoo whispered. Her entrance twitched, reacting to his voice.

“No.”

She denied it quickly, but there was no way it would work on Do Gunwoo, who could determine truth from voice alone.

—Want to come down to the parking lot? I’ll f*ck you.

At the obscene voice brushing her eardrums, Hyena flinched and pressed her thighs together against the dampness spreading below.

“You’re crazy.”

—You’re just realizing that now? I’ve been crazy over you for a long time. Now I feel like I could come just from your voice.

“…”

—I’m rock hard right now.

His thick voice poured into her ear without restraint.

She could practically see it playing in real-time—Gunwoo m*sturbating while thinking of her, his massive c*ck gripped in his hand. Hyena shook her head roughly, trying to shake off the lewd thoughts.

“Deal with it yourself.”

—This can’t be dealt with. Not until I f*ck you and come inside you.

He spoke obscenely without restraint in a tone like casual conversation.

Ironically, in that moment, she imagined his c*ck bulging above his pants. Something that size could never be hidden by clothes—there was no way it wouldn’t be noticed.

—If I go up to the office like this, everyone will be shocked, right? Might even get rumors about being a pervert…

His voice held not a trace of humor.

“This is the office.”

Hyena pleaded, hoping he’d find his reason.

—I’ll calm it down myself, so just say one thing.

She knew what Gunwoo wanted. He constantly sought confirmation of her love. Saying he still couldn’t believe Hyena loved him.

She knew that expressing love was the best medicine for soothing the wounds inside Gunwoo that still hadn’t fully healed. So she tried to say it as much as possible. At least in private spaces.

But saying it at the office was too much.

—Hurry, before I enter the parking lot.

Gunwoo urged her.

“Later at home…”

—I just entered the parking lot.

A familiar sound came through the phone, proving his words. That was definitely the barrier alarm sound from the underground parking lot.

—30 seconds until I park.

Her nerves sharpened involuntarily at the unpleasant noise scraping the floor.

-Guess I’ll just have to go up to the office like this.

He really seemed about to go out in that state. The problem was she didn’t doubt it at all. In the end, Hyena hastily raised the white flag.

“Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll do it, okay?”

—When? After I go up to the office?

Even the completely non-threatening urging made her heart tremble. Finally, Hyena opened her mouth to give the answer Gunwoo wanted.

“I like you.”

—Guess I’ll just go like this.

Thud, thud. Unusually loud footsteps brushed her ears. She couldn’t tell if it was really audible or if she’d created it from tension, but Hyena’s anxiety peaked.

“I love you.”

—I know.

“…”

—I’ll hear your answer in bed.

Click—he hung up mercilessly. Only then did her tense body relax.

“At this rate, I won’t live to see old age.”

Hyena muttered and turned around, then froze stiff. Manager Lee stood before her eyes.

“Yoon, you’re dating someone.”

A brighter smile than ever sat on his face. It meant this wasn’t a situation that could be passed over with clumsy excuses. Cold sweat trickled down her back.

Watching Hyena at a loss, Manager Lee opened his mouth again.

“Could it be <Do>?”

Her eyes widened involuntarily.

“I have pretty good dynamic vision. Last time when you dropped your phone, I saw the number under the caller ID. 4876. Isn’t it really strange? That it’s exactly the same as our team leader’s last digits.”

“…”

“Or is it actually the team leader?”

Her breath caught at the tightening pressure. Hyena forced a smile.

“You must have seen wrong.”

“Really? Then show me your phone. I’ll believe you.”

“Why should I show you? This is a clear invasion of privacy.”

At her strong pushback, Manager Lee’s lips curled up.

“When we went on that company outing, I couldn’t sleep at night so I took a walk nearby. And there was a car parked alone in the parking lot, shaking like crazy. Just like someone was doing it inside.”

Her brow furrowed involuntarily at his cheap words.

“The only car parked there was the team leader’s.”

“…”

“He was hooking up with a female employee. One from our team, at that. Using his power to easily seduce her—how is that different from s*xual ass*ult?”

It was absurd logic.

“You’re making wild assumptions.”

“Other people will judge that. Especially with the adopted label attached to him.”

There were still people whispering behind Gunwoo’s back about him being adopted. Gunwoo didn’t care, but Hyena did. What if this got twisted and flowed in a bad direction?

Her vision spun.

At that moment, the break room door opened.

“Manager, you were here. The team leader is looking for you.”

“If he’s looking, I should go.”

Manager Lee answered with a creepy smile, not taking his eyes off Hyena. He was still smiling as he entered the office.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“Didn’t I tell you to assign the new employee’s training to Deputy Manager Woo?”

“Rather than the slow Deputy Manager Woo, friendly female employees would be better…”

“Slow Deputy Manager Woo? Isn’t that a personal attack?”

“…”

“And what’s with ‘friendly female employees’—what were you thinking making such a sexist remark?”

“I was just stating the facts as they are.”

Manager Lee, who’d been lying low since the last incident, pushed back hard. He seemed to have something to rely on. Hyena licked her parched lips with her tongue.

“Ah, facts…”

Gunwoo trailed off and lowered his voice.

“That’s just like Manager Lee, who can’t do anything properly but is packed full of ‘back in my day’ mentality.”

“How can you say something so harsh?”

“I’m just stating the facts as they are—why are you so worked up?”

Manager Lee, having his own words thrown back at him, huffed.

“I can’t stand this anymore. I’m going to report you to the HR grievance committee right now…”

“Go ahead.”

“…”

“Feel free to do it. If it’s unjust, I should receive punishment for it. But Manager Lee first.”

A cold gaze swept over Manager Lee.

“You seem relieved that the last incident was passed over thanks to Deputy Manager Woo’s leniency, but that matter isn’t completely finished yet. There’s a saying—what goes around comes around.”

Manager Lee, who’d been completely cowed, suddenly curled his lips up.

“Hearing ‘what goes around comes around’ reminds me of something. I made a bet with someone recently.”

“A bet?”

“An employee who was very negative about office romance said if they ended up in an office romance themselves, they’d post it on the company bulletin board. And I caught evidence of exactly that. Right, Assistant Manager Yoon?”

The employees’ gazes instantly converged on Hyena. Employees who clearly knew about the bet with Manager Lee buzzed.

“Then you should keep your promise.”

Gunwoo spoke bluntly and stared at Hyena.

“Should I post it for you, Assistant Manager Yoon?”

“What?”

“Since I’m a party to it anyway, it doesn’t matter who writes it, does it?”

Employees who didn’t understand the exchange widened their eyes. Heejin, the first to collect herself, cautiously spoke.

“Are you saying…”

“The person dating Assistant Manager Yoon is me.”

It was a blunt confession, like casual conversation.

“Wow.”

Hearing someone’s exclamation, Hyena just opened and closed her mouth. She felt like she should say something, but no sound came out.

“Since we’re posting on the company bulletin board anyway, let’s include the past. How we went from being like siblings thanks to our best friend mothers to becoming lovers. How hard I worked to make Yoon Hyena mine.”

“…”

“That way there won’t be ignorant people running their mouths carelessly, right?”

Gunwoo’s gaze as he spoke had turned to Manager Lee at some point. Cornered, Manager Lee could neither advance nor retreat, only rolling his eyes.

Breaking the tension-filled silence, someone entered the office. Two men dressed in suits.

“We’re from the audit team.”

At the sudden appearance of the audit team, the employees’ faces colored with confusion once more.

“Which one is Manager Lee Byeongseon?”

Gunwoo looked at Manager Lee in front of him and said.

“He’s right here.”

“Why does the audit team want me?”

Gunwoo whispered to the flustered Manager Lee.

“Coercion using performance evaluations as leverage.”

His small voice filled the space.

“I think there were several other cases besides that…”

At Gunwoo’s words, Manager Lee’s face turned pale.

“The investigation will take quite a while, so you’d better prepare yourself mentally.”

Gunwoo whispered quietly and added as he passed the rigidly frozen Manager Lee.

“This is what ‘what goes around comes around’ means.”

Manager Lee couldn’t return to the office that day. Evidence had been revealed of all kinds of s*xual harassment and stalking using contract employees’ evaluations as leverage. There were five known victims alone.

The rumors spread instantly. The team members who heard the news all became solemn.

Even gathered in the conference room, sighs continued endlessly.

“I had no idea Yeongju went through something like that.”

Hyena agreed with Heejin’s words. She’d always been an employee who acted as a mood maker with a smiling face, so she couldn’t have imagined she’d had such pain. She regretted not paying more attention.