Chapter 73

A full grin broke on smooth talker Lee Seung Jae’s rather good-looking face. Na-Yool answered along with a giggle.

“Got it. Next time if I’m in trouble, I’ll be in your care.”

“Don’t be polite. How many times have you taken care of me already…”

Seung-Jae’s expression darkened again as he remembered the incident. They soon reached their office and sat down at their respective desks.

“And in the first place, you also broke up because of me…”

“Hey. I told you people would misunderstand if they heard that.”

“But it’s true. That it is my fault.”

In an instant, his previously dejected face filled with willfulness. Na-Yool laughed in bafflement and ignored it.

“My ex-boyfriend… I really don’t think we’ll ever see each other again. But as you said, who knows…”

“Do you know how worried I was on Friday night? The phone call was cut off by a drunk jerk, and except for a text message saying you had something going on and was sorry, you didn’t say anything after that… I even thought you were in a situation in which you could not speak. Plus, your ex did not seem in a normal state.”

Although short, it seemed like the “Are you the bastard?!” had been quite impactful. Seung-Jae’s face was genuinely full of worry. Na-Yool suddenly felt sorry and embarrassed that all that had happened afterwards was her getting drunk and going to Si-Jin’s house. She swiftly avoided his gaze and turned on her computer.

“I am not just saying this. If something really happens, you have to tell me.”

“I know. I get it.”

“And be careful when you go home late too. Or should I take you home for the time being?”

“Rather, just make sure to go home early yourself.” Na-Yool playfully jested, as she mindlessly clicked her mouse around. The mailbox inadvertently opened up, and her expression turned sour in an instant.

Five e-mails with Na-Yool in CC, two guideline documents transferred to her…

“Ms. Na-Yool?”

“……”

The sender, of course, was all Si-Jin. Since the responsibility had shifted to her, she naturally had to accept it, but to think she would get buried under work right after enjoying some leisure coffee time at the break room… How could someone be so spiteful… Her unblinking gaze moved from the mailbox to the office messenger slightly opened at the edge of the monitor.

[Submit the first draft by noon]

[and]

[be quiet]

Unbelievable, really!

[T/N: Yes yes, the be quiet/behave from the novel title, the very same from Si-Jin’s previous famous message 😉 ]

Chapter 18 – Wednesday night 10:51 p.m.

From Monday, it was Na-Yool’s 3rd consecutive day of working overtime. Ethical Communications did not think much of it, but there was no other weekday she was as short of energy as Wednesday. Because on Thursday, there is at least the expectation of the next day being Friday, and Friday also carries the hope that if you close your eyes and open them, it will be Saturday.

But there were no dreams or hopes on a day like today. Na-Yool forced herself to get up with sleepy eyes, looking forward to going home and diving into her bed after roughly washing just her face and feet.

“Ms. Na-Yool, are you leaving now?”

“Yes, I was thinking of going home. You?”

“Me too, I just got the proposal approval from Park PD and was about to leave. That’s great!” Seung-Jae folded his laptop and shoved it in his backpack, eager to leave. “Let’s go together, Ms. Na-Yool.”

“Ah…”

Na-Yool puzzlingly stared at the cellphone right in her hand. Her finger, which lowered Si-Jin’s compromising message window in a haste, definitely moved by instinct rather than consciousness.

Although they had not laid a finger on each other during the 3 days of overtime, surprisingly, he had been driving her home every day. Even going back to the office after dropping her off. They had not particularly made any promise to leave work together, but Si-Jin had naturally asked Na-Yool to call him at the end of her shifts, and when she did, he ‒ who was twice busier than her ‒ would squeeze some time to come drive her.

His perfectionism, which subtly transpired through his attitude at home or at work, shone through this action as well, in how it reflected his disposition to unconditionally do what he had decided to. And also, his unique watchfulness of refusing to let Na-Yool go home by herself, as the situation was unreliable…

Thanks to him, she was enjoying a somewhat preferential treatment. However, the more she witnessed it, the more she wondered how he could lead such an exhausting life.

“Ms. Na-Yool, is anything wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

Caught in a tight spot, Na-Yool quickly snapped out of it. Since Seung-Jae and her had to go in the same direction halfway through, and had sometimes left together until the transfer station, she could hardly avoid his invitation. Nothing good would come out from futilely arousing the suspicion of someone she had to face all day.

As soon as this rational conclusion was drawn, she automatically remembered Si-Jin’s annoyed face.

“I’ll just send a message first.”

“Ah, yes. Take your time.”

[I will leave first today. Don’t mind me.] 10:54 PM

“All done, let’s go.”

She had only taken two steps, when a brisk “ti-ling” notification came up. She held the phone at an angle that would not be visible to Seung-Jae and checked the message.

President Kwon Si-Jin.

[Why] 10:54 PM

Short and fast. Na-Yool did not lose and sent a quick reply.

[Somehow, Lee Seung-Jae and I decided to go back together] 10:54 PM

[And so, why] 10:55 PM

[We finished working at the same time, and we live in the same direction] 10:55 PM

[Since when did you two leave together] 10:55 PM

[If our timing is similar, we often get off work together for some time now…] 10:55 PM

For some reason, his replies that came back almost at the same time her messages were sent, did not come back at the end. When Seung-Jae and Na-Yool took the elevator, she could not help but glance with a great leery feeling at the President’s office, which could not even be seen from here.

“Say, Park PD told me that, you know, that slightly balding middle-aged man who came to the meeting for the new medicine advert… That person is actually…”

When Seung-Jae began to narrate all sorts of lousy stories heard from Park PD as was his habit, Na-Yool shook her head and forced herself to concentrate. Still, from time to time, she could not resist glancing at her phone with unsettled eyes… Ah, whatever. Thinking about it, it was nothing worth pondering over. To begin with, he probably would not even care, and it was ridiculous to ruminate over a confrontation that had not yet happened.

Why did she keep acting like someone in a romantic relationship for the first time?

And we’re not even in one…

This was the only fundamental reason that wrapped Na-Yool in skepticism at the moment. Her guilty conscience for keeping on misunderstanding their situation and feeling elated on her own.

“… so my friend was completely humiliated by his girlfriend. It was in front of all of us so he was too ashamed to even talk back to her, and just stood there listening. Then when we laughed after the girlfriend left, you have no idea how much he cursed that he would kill us all if we dared to laugh!”