A Glance in the Darkness
The woman's eyes, which had been desperately trying to maintain her composure until then, trembled terribly. Strangely, it gave Woo-jin a strange sense of satisfaction.
"That's my private matter."
Yu-won took a deep breath and spoke, and Woo-jin swallowed another laugh.
"Ah, my private life."
Mocking her words, his lips curled into a smirk, and Yu-won's face flushed even darker. Tears fought to stay in her eyes, and her voice trembled.
Even he didn't understand why he was pushing her so hard.
Whether she met a bastard or not, whether she cried or not.
It should have been ignored, or pushed aside if it annoyed him.
He had calculated efficiency and inefficiency dozens of times in his head, but in the end, reason yielded to instinct.
"Do you have a masochistic tendency?"
"President!"
"Or are you just stupid? I'd rather the former, though."
"......"
"Which is it?"
The rigid eyebrows, which looked about to snap under his teasing, trembled faintly. "I don't understand why you're treating me like this."
"I told you—because it bothers me."
Her voice cracked as he pressed the wound, and a faint resistance flickered in her eyes.
"Is this because of that night?"
"What?"
Woo-jin's eyebrow twitched briefly.
"I said I wouldn't do it again once, and you agreed, right?"
Yu-won kept speaking in her trembling voice. Woo-jin let out a cold scoff.
"So you're doing it."
"......"
"Want to see what I really want?"
Woo-jin slowly lowered his face toward Yu-won's flushed earlobe. The warmth of his breath made her white earlobe bloom crimson.
He vividly remembered how sweet the sounds had been coming from her lips when he had bitten there.
"You can take it, so you're doing this?"
"......"
Yu-won didn't answer. But Woo-jin didn't care. Just watching her trembling shoulders was enough.
Finally, Yu-won bowed her head, her face etched with despair.
"Please, President. Treat me like before."
Yu-won, raising the white flag of surrender, whispered pleadingly.
"I was in a terrible state that night. My mind was blank... just forget about it."
"..... ,"
"If I bother you... if it bothers you."
"If it bothers you?"
"You can fire me."
Yu-won's resolute declaration almost made Woo-jin burst out laughing.
She didn't know that firing one secretary was nothing to him.
Far less that he could keep her completely out of his world.
Instead, her desperation twisted his judgment even further, something she would never have imagined.
Every time he faced a woman who was desperately trying to keep her distance, something inside him collapsed and refused to function properly.
"Let's pretend that night never happened."
"Yes."
"Treat me like before."
"Yes."
"Good. Then let's do that."
He walked to the desk and pointed at the coffee cup Yu-won had set down with the tip of his finger.
"Change the beans and make it again."
Yu-won's fingertips trembled as she picked up the cup. The door closed softly behind her, and he tightened the tie he had loosened.
The soft sensation of her mouth lingered stubbornly on his fingertips as he adjusted the knot.
Sensations foreign to him, his mind slipping the reins of reason, beat wildly.
Damn it. He swallowed the curse again and spun his chair around in a nervous gesture.
***
Today, with so many external schedules, his legs felt swollen from wearing heels. On top of that, his left ankle, which had been twisted during the beating by Kim Seung-ju a few days ago, still throbbed painfully.
But Yu-won walked with her back straight, determined not to show any weakness. After all, Woo-jin wasn't even looking at her.
The final schedule, the initial lot inspection at the factory, was reaching its end.
Under the premium direction Woo-jin had set from the start, the first thing had been to upgrade the perfume. It was the day the first prototype arrived.
Woo-jin's judgment in putting the perfume front and center to escape the roadshop image was startlingly sharp. Yu-won felt more and more how reasonable his decisive decisions truly were.
The schedule, which had seemed like it would end quickly, dragged on longer than expected because of his constant scrutiny of the tiny differences between samples and prototypes.
Yu-won turned her head when she noticed the long fingers of the man testing the pump pressure.
The person who had appeared in front of her right after the beating by Kim Seung-ju was, of course, not Woo-jin.
The man was a middle-aged landlord who had come to check the room because the renter was moving out, his belly protruding.
It was impossible to mistake him for Woo-jin, but in that moment of terror, she had confused the middle-aged man with Woo-jin. It was bewildering.
And then the bewilderment turned into humiliation. She had realized painfully how dangerous his gentleness truly was.
"Don't touch me or I'll call the police!"
When the uncle pulled out his phone, Kim Seung-ju spat on the ground and released his grip on Yu-won's hair.
At that moment, the breath she had been holding for so long burst out, and she screamed without realizing it.
"Help me!"
One by one, lights flickered on in the dark alley windows.
People leaned out of the windows.
"Is that the police? We're reporting a crime!"
With more eyes watching, the uncle's voice gained strength.
Kim Seung-ju, realizing the situation was turning against him, bit back his curses and retreated.
He warned them with his fingers—look at Yu-won and the others—then disappeared into the shadows.
When they returned after talking to the police who arrived shortly after, it was past midnight.
Her body was exhausted, but she couldn't stay home for fear of what would happen.
Yu-won hurriedly packed a few clothes and headed to her mother's hospital.
She spread the folding bed and lay down, but sleep wouldn't come.
Still, she couldn't leave her mother alone.
Yu-won pressed down on the bundle of misery and shame that filled her chest all night.
Just before dawn, exhaustion finally pulled her under.
Since it was the first time going to work after the hospital, the route was unfamiliar, and she arrived late compared to Woo-jin's usual time.
And he was waiting, his eyes sharp, making the situation even more miserable.
"Do you have a masochistic tendency?"
"Or are you just stupid?"
The sharp reprimands she had received in his office days ago still stung her chest like glass shards.
The word "stupid" hurt less than "bothers me."
It was her own contradictory reaction that annoyed her.
The man's answer—forget everything, just as she had requested—had been a painful relief at the same time.
After all.
She couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"It's our company's business. President, you make me sigh until the floor collapses."
"I'm sorry."
Yu-won apologized with a mix of embarrassment and a sigh.
When he waved his hand dismissively and laughed, "You don't have to apologize for a joke like that. You should know how picky this president is. I never imagined you'd be this picky over a simple pump pressure."
"This one was especially important... you know that too, Factory Manager."
"Ah, I know. I just follow orders. A young person like you shouldn't have that much guts. You're amazing."
The factory manager whispered to Yu-won while glancing at Woo-jin.
Woo-jin was standing a little apart, talking with the perfume team leader.
Yu-won noticed the man's eyebrows slightly raised and wondered what had ruffled his mood.
The perfume team leader bowed deeply, signaling the end of the long schedule.
Leaving the factory manager's sincere farewell behind, Yu-won headed to the parking lot.
As always, she walked silently behind him, a shadow half a step back.
For days, he hadn't spoken a single word to her. He only looked at her with that probing gaze when she was about to deliver a necessary report.
Maybe now he really wants to get rid of me because he finds me so annoying.
Yu-won didn't notice her own steps slowing.
What would happen to her mother if she left Moment?
What about the hospital bills? And the Ian factory?
If she couldn't see Woo-jin, would her heart finally heal?
Just as Yu-won stopped walking, a large shadow fell over her, blocking the afternoon sunlight.
It was Woo-jin, who had been walking ahead, now turning back on the same path.
"Ah, I'm sorry."