Sunjae

I put down her resume as she left my office. The moment the door clicked shut, Taeho folded his arms and glared at me. "What was that for?"

"What?"

"Why would you intimidate her on her first day? Were you planning on firing her just because of what she did on Saturday? Or perhaps because it's her first role in management?"

Ignoring him, I opened the folder on my desk. Truthfully, I had been completely taken aback when I saw her, and that familiar curiosity sparked again. I thought our first encounter would be our last, but here we were.

She had no idea she was walking straight into my territory, and I knew things were about to get dangerously complicated.

"Sunjae," Taeho called out, snapping my attention back to him. He narrowed his gaze, trying to read my face. "Did you really have that bad of a first impression?"

I sighed, "What are you talking about? Whatever happened outside of work remains outside of work."

He furrowed his brows as I waved my hand to dismiss him. "Get back to work."

"Get back to work."

He rolled his eyes but finally turned toward his desk.

My mind drifted to her shocked face when I challenged her. I caught myself subconsciously thinking about her name, "Kim Juri." I instinctively mumbled, and Taeho hummed in response as he turned towards me.

"Did you say something?" he asked, and I shook my head, "Can you send me the KPI Tracking from our previous campaign?" I said, changing the topic, and he nodded.

Hours passed, and my eyes felt strained from staring at the monitor for all that time. My fingers slowly tapped on the desk, making a rhythmic echo in my office.

Taeho glanced at me, "Why don't we call it a day? It's already past five."

"You can leave, I said, and his brows furrowed. He pointed a finger at himself and then at me, "I said we."

"I still have things to do," I said, as I reached out for another folder.

He nodded in defeat, "I know you hate attending your family's dinners, but your grandfather personally insisted that you attend this one. It's been a long time since you've been there, so please attend this once. I don't want to get into any trouble with Chairman Lee," he pleaded.

My jaw tightened as I paused.

He continued, "It's taking place in less than two hours." he then bowed and left.

My mind wandered because the thought of going there physically drained me. There was a reason why I moved out of my family home.

A soft knock on the door snapped me back, and I glanced up.

Mrs. Min walked up to my desk, "We are now heading home," she said, and I nodded.

She sighed and spoke up again, "Ms. Kim did an excellent during her first day. You might think she's unqualified, but just give her some time to prove herself."

I glanced up at her, "I look forward to seeing if you are right."

Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled, "Don't forget to eat dinner. I'll see you tomorrow, Sunjae," she said and left.

I wasn't sure when we had started being on firstname basis, but she always called me by my first name whenever there was no one was around to remain professional. I've been working with Mrs. Min for almost a decade it almost felt calming to be around her.

After another hour, I found myself repeatedly clicking my pen subconsciously. The clicking sound echoed in the room as my mind started wandering again.

As I glanced at my watch again, there was a notification sound outside my office. Quickly turning my head to the sidelights, I saw a figure flinch and quickly step away from my view.

I thought I was the only one left in the building.

Confused, I quickly rose to my feet, walked up to the door and opened it. As I glanced around the empty hallway, my eyes caught a glimpse of someone with long curly hair turning the corner.

What on earth was Ms. Kim doing?

Sighing, I made my way to the staircase. Once I turned the corner, my eyes landed on her darting down the stairs as if she had seen a ghost. She was practically flying.

I cocked my head, "Ms. Kim," my voice rang out cold, echoing in the empty showroom.

At the sound of my voice, she froze mid-step on the staircase. Turning back towards me, she panted, her wide eyes blinking rapidly in shock. She snapped out of her daze and immediately bowed, her movement was stiff with nerves.

"Why are you still here?" I asked.

She straightened up and pushed back a loose lock of her curly hair behind her ears, "I didn't want to fall behind on work, sir."

Was she trying to win my approval?

"Are you finished, sir?" she spoke up again, "I'd like to close up the store."

My eyes narrowed as I replied, "So the reason you were spying on me was because you were in a hurry to close?"

She bit her lower lip.

"It's not that. I was...um."

Before she could manage an excuse, headlights swept across the room. A car pulled up outside the bay windows. She turned toward the glass just as a man stepped out into the night.

My brows slightly furrowed as the street lamp illuminated his face. I recognized him instantly from earlier, having caught a clear glimpse of him while heading up the restaurant stairs. He was, without a doubt, the man Juri had been spying on.

Her adulterous boyfriend, to be exact.

He waved through the glass and stepped inside, "Wow, it looks like I came just in time." he said, approaching Juri with a warm smile.

Juri hurried down the stairs, "What are you doing here?" she whispered, completely unaware that I could hear her.

When he walke up to her, he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek as I scrutinized her , tracking her reaction. She cringed. I almost scoffed.

So she hadn't done a single thing after catching him? True, I had stopped her from causing a scene that day at the restuarant, but letting the entire weekend pass without taking action was just foolish.

What was she up too?

"Are you done with work?" he asked.

Juri shot an awkward glance at me before nodding. She offered me a polite smile, but it looked entirely forced. Again, I almost scoffed. She wasn't fooling anyone.

And I certainly hadn't forgotten about that scene of her trembling perfusly or the memory of her trembling profusely. I had to admit, she was incredibly good at hiding her feelings. But not from me. I could see the tension lingering in her eyes, and the way her fists clenched as she averted her gaze from my piercing look.

I glanced back down at my watch and tightened my jaw, mentally detaching myself from the two of them. My family dinner was far more important than her personal drama. I always dreaded going to that estate, which was why I had been making up excuses all this time. The fact that Grandfather had personally called Taeho to drag me there could only mean one thing.

He had news, and I wasn't going to like it.

Catching my own tense expression, I quickly smoothed my brows and flattened my tone before finally speaking up.

"Don't forget to close up." 

I brushed past them, momentarily catching a glimpse of Juri's surprised expression as I walked out of the store.

Once I made it to my car, I took out my pen and began clicking it. The rhythmic sound slowly quieted my racing thoughts.