A Desk Too Close

Thankfully the air had turned crisp and cold, chilling the heat that kept welling up inside her. Wednesday—the make-or-break day of her week—was her first day reporting to the chairman's office. And there, in front of that door, Jae-kyung deliberated right up to the very last second over whether to run.

She might not have been able to read her husband's face, but Managing Director Jin Hee-yeon's expression and voice on the last day she'd left that house remained vivid as yesterday. If she could just clear up this misunderstanding about the penalty or whatever it was... but what if Managing Director Jin found out? Could she really stay hidden for three months without being caught? She could have shaken the woman who had signed those papers in a fit of temper the moment yesterday's meeting ended. Instead, Jae-kyung leaned her forehead against the wall.

"Waiting out here in advance—very diligent of you. So when exactly were you planning to open the door?"

The cool voice behind her froze Jae-kyung to the spot. She turned to find Yu-gam staring steadily at her.

"Since when... have you been standing there?"

"I followed you from the school gate, so about twenty minutes now?"

Which meant he had watched her entire performance—pacing back and forth across the yard, agonizing. Her face burned. Yu-gam walked right past her, pressed his thumb to the fingerprint reader, and opened the door.

"Get in. Stand at that door much longer and it counts as tardiness."

"I already logged into the work network, so it doesn't."

She had been up since dawn at the jjimjilbang, familiarizing herself with the job through the work account he'd given her the day before.

"And are you going to keep refusing the car I send?"

"I'll manage my own commute, thank you."

"For how long, exactly? The moment word spreads that the chairman's secretary sleeps at a jjimjilbang, I intend to bill you for a breach of the decorum clause."

"Are you going to threaten me with penalties every single time?"

She had already felt uneasy turning away the car he'd sent to the jjimjilbang. So it had been a threat all along.

"And about those rumors concerning me—"

"Rumors?"

"No. Never mind."

Telling him that photos of the two of them were circulating among the teachers would only work against her.

The chairman's office she followed him into was even more spacious and luxurious than she had imagined. A wall of towering bookshelves lined one side, and through the huge window the morning sun poured in, flooding the room with light.

"Over there."

Without once taking his eyes off her face, Yu-gam jerked his chin toward the seat across from the desk bearing the CHAIRMAN plaque.

But that seat was far too close. Two desks set face to face, close enough that an outstretched hand could touch.

"It's a little too close, don't you think?"

"To keep you under watch, I'd say close is only natural."

A sigh escaped her before she could stop it. What kind of secretary sat practically on top of her boss?

"Would it be all right if I moved my desk?"

"Why? Hoping to come sit next to me?"

"There's plenty of space in here. I'd rather move it toward the entrance."

"Why would a secretary sit far away from me?"

"It's just... I feel suffocated. It's uncomfortable."

Yu-gam tilted his head, studying her.

"So being around me takes your breath away, hm?"

"...Yes."

"I'll take that in a good way."

"In what way is that good?"

"We shared a blanket for ten whole months—of course you'd feel stifled. I'll take it as proof that I'm still on your mind."

Face-to-face at arm's length, Yu-gam wasn't smiling in the least; he was perfectly composed. Unable to tell whether the man was joking or serious, Jae-kyung flushed to the tips of her ears with embarrassment.

"What on earth are you saying? I asked you not to bring up personal matters. And our marriage was clearly—"

"This conversation could run long, so let's stop here. Do you have that many questions for me? Hold them in, and we'll find the time after work."

Watching the man she simply could not get through to, Jae-kyung shook her head. Ten months of marriage without a single long conversation—no wonder she hadn't known—but he was an absolute iron wall of a man.

"I have no questions."

Ignoring her answer entirely, Yu-gam opened a work laptop and handed it across.

"Work comes first. Check the schedules you were sent."

The moment he leaned in her direction, their shoulders knocked.

"Sorry—"

He came closer still.

"You don't even know that this much distance is basic for a secretary? Close attendance is mandatory. Distance control, I'll handle myself."

His hand closed over hers where her fingers gripped the mouse. Their hands lay stacked one upon the other. It lasted only an instant, but her fingertips prickled as if jolted by static.

Her rigid body stopped dead where it stood, and Yu-gam drew in close behind her back as if to fold her into him.

"I'll show you once. So focus."

The screen lit up; the mouse darted across it. At the warmth of his breath grazing her ear, Jae-kyung didn't even dare breathe. Even the air in the room fell silent.

"This is the proposal for reviewing the Uitae Foundation's financial management. Going over it again from the very beginning—that's your job, Seo Jae-kyung. Without a single gap, one through ten. Investigate, then report to me. There's nothing difficult about it."

"Yes, sir."

"Three months, starting today. Let's untangle everything one thing at a time—the work and the marriage both."

Where his hand wrapped around hers, heat spread through her whole body. Any closer, and he would hear her heartbeat for himself.

"I—I'll go get some coffee. Will you have some too, Chairman?"

"Go ahead. If you're going to pay off a debt, you'd best try your hand at whatever suits you."

Did he have to put it in exactly those terms? Avoiding his gaze, she slipped out of the office and into the pantry down the hall.

With Yu-gam coolly keeping her on edge, her heart refused to settle even as she brewed the coffee.

"Oh! Namsan rooftop. You're the new secretary, right?"

Midway through steadying her breath, Jae-kyung turned at the bright, cheerful voice.

"Hello. I'm Seo Jae-kyung."

"Kwon Woo-bin. Everyone calls me Chief Kwon. Did your date with your boyfriend go all right Monday night?"

He murmured it like the sharing of some tremendous secret. A chief secretary who knew her private schedule—his true identity was suspect.

"Ah... yes. Would you like a coffee?"

"Gladly. That was pretty rough on you, wasn't it? I told the Chairman flat out not to go crashing anyone's date, and off he stormed anyway. As for you, Secretary Seo—I dug up your file myself."

Piece by piece, his words fit the abrupt events of three days ago together like a puzzle.

If he wasn't like the cases she'd seen on the news—men who resurface years later to obsess over and stalk their exes—then perhaps she could worry a little less.

"This coffee is good, you know? You could open your own café."

"That's a relief. I worked at a café for years."

"You're even a trained barista? By the way—are you and the Chairman already acquainted?"

Chief Kwon tossed the questions out with the easy familiarity of a longtime coworker.

"No."

Chief Kwon, sipping away, paid her flat denial no heed whatsoever; he even closed his eyes to savor the aroma, sighing in admiration.

"The acidity is spot-on, too. Now I see why you were scouted. This machine was air-freighted in from Europe, you know. Matching the Chairman's coffee preferences is no small feat. I got chewed out so many times I gave up and took a barista course. Now that you're here, Secretary Seo, I might actually survive."

"I should get back to the Chairman now."

Having swiftly tidied up the pantry as well, Jae-kyung lifted the two cups of fresh-brewed coffee to leave; Chief Kwon nodded, his face reading pure relief.

"I can leave the Chairman's coffee to you from now on, then?"

"Ah... of course. I'll make yours too, Chief Kwon."

"Well, well. Quick-witted and diligent to boot. I do love a person who's good at their job. Anything ever gets difficult, you call me anytime."

They had exchanged numbers on the strength of his effortless friendliness and were just heading out when—

"What are you two huddled up whispering about?"

Yu-gam stood at the entrance, regarding the two secretaries, heads bent together, with an icy stare.

"Chief Kwon was showing me how the pantry works."

Just as she began to explain, not wanting to provoke the man whose brow was creased and whose eyes were knife-sharp—

"Why does our Chairman look so murderous first thing in the morning? A regular Lion King of the savanna."

The way Chief Kwon handled the glacier-cold Yu-gam—teasing and coaxing him with the doting warmth of a big brother—marked him as no ordinary man.

She had spent the entire morning sorting through years' worth of financial documents, yet could see no progress at all.

Yu-gam called out into the hallway the woman who had kept her head bowed and her face hidden all day.

Working face-to-face in a single office was bad enough, but now he had her trailing after him on site inspections as well—there wasn't a moment's rest to be had.

Jae-kyung was following Yu-gam through his inspection of the foundation's separate elementary, middle, and high school buildings, noting down the important points, when—

"Oh my. Teacher Seo! Are you all right?"

Kim Joo-young, who had texted her that morning, came hurrying over, eyes wide with surprise.