Chapter 76
Chapter 76
“He asked if I would not consider going on a blind date.”
‒So what?
A cold tone, as if this information did not change the facts.
“What man would ask the woman he likes if she is interested in dating his friends?”
‒Surprisingly, just right there.
“Oh come on!”
‒He is sounding you out.
“Ah really, I told you it’s not like that…!” roared Na-Yool, almost stomping her feet in frustration. Did she have to justify herself everywhere she went over this matter? And why the hell did Seung-Jae not actively clarify things before it took such proportions? Because of this, Seung-Jae’s reputation was being protected by Na-Yool’s outraged struggle alone.
“He has got standards, too. What nonsense are you…”
‒What’s wrong with his standards?
“There are so many pretty girls around him, does it make sense that he would choose to like me among them?”
‒It does.
“……”
‒It does, that’s why.
It simply was a short, honest reply, with no sign of teasing or mocking. Na-Yool stiffened on the spot, then awkwardly opened her mouth to answer back. Or at least, she tried, when…
‒You’re pretty, after all.
“……”
Had her ears finally gone crazy?
Si-Jin’s fathomless but genuine tone shortly bewitched Na-Yool. She violently shook her head to snap out of it and blurted out:
“That… you are teasing me, right?”
‒Which part?
“All of it, from start to finish. From Lee Seung-Jae’s issue to…”
‒What would I gain from doing that?
“Isn’t your pervert self actually planning on enjoying misleading me into foolishly misunderstanding things? Am I wrong?”
Na-Yool eloquently put forward her conspiracy theory. A low chuckle was heard from the other side of the phone.
‒You’re more of a pervert, for making such an assumption just because of one compliment.
“Then why are you praising me, Mr. President?”
‒Because you’re pretty.
“… This is fishy, way too fishy…”
‒If you want to be suspicious, do it at night and stop roaming alone. How many times do I have to tell you to be careful for the time being?
“I was careful…! Gosh, nothing ever happened, but now I am scared every time I leave work because of you…”
‒As I want it to be. To make sure you will be on guard.
“What should I do when I get off work now?”
‒What do you think? Go back in my car, of course.
“But that is just a temporary solution. Now I am scared of everyone, not only Lee Sang-Hoon.”
‒Then keep on riding in my car and be more careful.
Not only was he shouldering the responsibility to be her driver despite his busy schedule, but he was even doing so with such nonchalance.
But… what? ‘Keep on’?
‒Beware of Lee Seung-Jae too.
“…Him, what is there to be wary of?”
‒Start by fixing that lack of sense of danger.
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“If I started doubting him, that would not be doubt, but misunderstanding. I don’t want to make an ugly scene. And who is as harmful to me as you are, Mr. President? If I was to be careful, it would be of you. Sexually harassing me as soon as you open your mouth…”
‒Your body thinks differently though.
“See! Again, speaking like a lecherous old man…”
‒I don’t do anything you don’t like.
A shameless reply. But not quite wrong either. Na-Yool frowned and sheepishly averted her eyes towards the wall. As if Si-Jin stood in front of her.
“…Though you always torment me.”
‒Because the more I torment you, the wetter you get.
“……”
‒You’re a pervert who gets wet while weeping, you.
“I’m hanging up.”
‒And who prefers I bite her nipples rather than suck it.
“I’m hanging up, for good.”
‒And more than just touching, who prefers I pinch and twi-
Si-Jin’s words cut off as Na-Yool hung up. She typed on her phone with a bright red face.
[Drop it, and go do your things instead] 11:29 PM
[You, sleep] 11:29 PM
Why is his reply so…
Sharp like a knife, as if no flirting had happened just seconds ago. All the lewd thoughts his low and depraved voice made her mind bring forward quickly faded away with that single two-word-long reply.
Seriously, why did he keep confusing her? The lewd thoughts soon were all gone, but Si-Jin’s face still floated around in her head.
Na-Yool focused hard to bury the afterimage of his handsome face by recollecting their conversation from Sunday. He had clearly drawn a ‘there is nothing more than this between us’ line in their relationship. And it was also a fact that Na-Yool herself felt relief from that line.
So why should she care? Was she in the wrong for being confused since he himself was acting in a misleading way? Hence there was no need to worry. Rather, it was fortunate that she had been busy the past few days. Time had passed with no room for further dwelling about their relationship, and now she had become dull.
Since there were no feelings to begin with, the matter is over.
Yes. That is all there will be to it. It must…
While removing her makeup, Na-Yool avoided her own eyes in the mirror. Like pretending to be ignorant of her own shallow wishes.
Just a little longer, even in this form, just a little longer…
As much as she can, she wants to be someone different in his eyes. To be more special than others, even in a superficial way.
Maybe she knew it instinctively. That the moment she would like him, everything would change.
The current tickling in her heart too, and the irrepressible smile that seeing him brings to her face, it all would end up weighing heavily on her.
Chapter 19 – Thursday afternoon 3:50 p.m.
Fumbling through his pocket in search of a pack of cigarettes, Seung-Jae forced his heavy eyelids which kept on lowering down to stay open. His fingers were numb, and he failed a couple of times to grab on the cigarettes. Just as a casual swearing was about to escape his throat, he held it back as part of his resolution to act more mature this year. Even after sleeping on his desk during the whole lunch break, sleepiness was still wrapped around him.
He should not have checked his work emails yesterday night at home. At all hours, Ethical communications was always filled with people working, even from night to dawn, like wandering ghosts with unfinished business. Seung-Jae could have pretended to unfortunately not see the emails and slept early by pushing back the issue. But since he ended up opening it, he had to deal with it.
Is there anything more bothering than receiving an email and leaving it unread? Opening them with that thought in mind, most people would deal with it right away. Besides, how busy with work must have been the sender to send it only at such a late hour? It had therefore only seemed proper to answer back at once.
Hence, torn between that thought and his desire to lie down and sleep, Seung-Jae had painfully pondered over what to do.
The answer was obvious. He would have to take care of it when he went to work anyway, and even if not for that issue, he most likely would work overtime. So the longer he delayed his task, only he would suffer since it would only make him work until an even later time. At this point, it had felt better to stay at home and quickly go through it.
But his body was the problem. For him who slept more than anyone else, staying awake right now after spending half a night working was torture. Like a day in which every hour before returning home is slow and painful.
Na-Yool, as his senior, often answered Seung-Jae’s complaints with a dry “That’s how things are” opinion. Along with the lukewarm advice that life would be easier if he just gave up and focused on work. From Seung-Jae’s point of view too, there was no other answer, so she was definitely a good senior.
He recalled her words engraved in his heart as he stood by the window, looking like a zoo monkey to people passing by outside the building.
If you want to trap smokers like criminals, you better drive them in a corner…
However, standing like an item displayed in a show window quite fit Seung-Jae’s style. To the point he believed that the walking-by women who occasionally glanced at him were seeing him as something more than just a smoker smoking like a monkey trapped in a glass cage. Such was the by-product of living the life of a good-looking guy.
… But it is not like there was any profit to it anyway.