Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
Overtime wasn’t exactly a new experience for her, but still…
The rustling of even the smallest sound made her skin crawl with goosebumps.
“Should I just go home and do this…”
Joo-eun muttered under her breath as she cautiously scanned the dimly lit office.
It didn’t help that she’d just heard about the petty theft on the neighboring team the day before—her nerves were on edge.
No. That wasn’t it.
Shaking her head firmly, Joo-eun steeled herself.
“Let’s see who wins this battle.”
She resolved to finish everything tonight, no matter what, before leaving work.
With fire in her eyes, she began typing at an incredible speed.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
Despite not budging from her seat and focusing intently, creating a single document in just a few hours was proving far more difficult than she had anticipated.
Slam!
Frustrated, Joo-eun smacked the keyboard with her palm and stomped her foot.
“This is ridiculous… ‘I can’t guarantee you won’t get overwhelmed,’ ‘Are you confident you won’t be affected?’ Ugh, messing with my emotions like that and then dumping this complicated paperwork on me with a deadline of tomorrow—what’s the context here, seriously?”
Was his confession genuine? Or was his indifferent expression about whether she overworked herself to death by tomorrow also sincere? She couldn’t tell.
As midnight approached, suspicion crept in that perhaps the latter was closer to the truth.
Her eyelids grew heavier with each passing moment, and groggy mutterings escaped her lips involuntarily.
“This week… whenever I have time… so many beautiful phrases, yet they say ‘by tomorrow.’ What a merciless, awful person…”
Muttering half-heartedly with half-closed eyes, her head suddenly drooped forward, startling her awake.
“Oh no, no… Eyes, don’t close… If I fall asleep here, I lose. I need to make it to assistant manager first before quitting, okay?”
Reminding herself of the upcoming promotion opportunity, she tried once again to shake off sleep.
Determined, she widened her eyes and resumed her furious typing session.
But alas, the heaviest thing in the world is said to be the eyelids.
Before long, her head slumped forward again without her even realizing she was dozing off.
Ah… this is my limit…
Resting her arms on the desk as a makeshift pillow, she finally gave in to sleep.
For survival. Out of sheer necessity.
---
“Haaaahhhm… Hic!”
A security guard, yawning so wide it looked like his jaw might unhinge, froze in terror as if he’d seen a ghost.
Though he had seen him for the first time this morning, there was no mistaking it—the man now entering the lobby was definitely Jeong Min-hyuk, director of the company and son of its chairman.
Min-hyuk gave the stunned guard a casual nod.
“You’ve been working hard. Has anything unusual happened at the company?”
“Eh? Unusual…?”
The guard floundered, unsure if something had occurred that he wasn’t aware of.
“I heard there was a petty thief on the sixth floor yesterday. Was the culprit caught?”
“Ah, not yet…”
“Please hurry up and resolve it. And patrol more frequently.”
“Ah, yes… I’ll do that.”
“Then, I left some documents here, so…”
Though the guard’s expression clearly questioned why Min-hyuk would personally come to retrieve documents at this hour, Min-hyuk ignored it and brushed past him.
Suppressing the urge to sprint up the stairs, he pressed the elevator button instead.
“Sigh… Why isn’t anyone answering their phone?”
He murmured wearily.
Despite calling every five minutes, no one had picked up, leaving him increasingly anxious.
Judging by the guard’s reaction, it seemed nothing serious had happened at the company—but still, the unanswered calls gnawed at him.
Stepping into the elevator, he repeatedly jabbed at the close-door button.
Had the doors always been this slow?
Even the previously unremarkable closing speed now grated on his nerves.
Staring intently at the changing numbers, he quickly headed toward the marketing team’s office as soon as he reached the sixth floor.
His hurried footsteps echoed through the darkened hallway.
Pushing open the slightly ajar door of the dimly lit office, he immediately scanned left and right, searching for her.
There.
Under the faint glow of a desk lamp in the distance.
She was there.
There she was, fast asleep with an impossibly beautiful face, looking so peaceful.
“Haa…”
A deep sigh escaped him involuntarily.
How worried he had been the entire way here.
Relief and anger swirled together in a strange mix.
He had clearly told her not to work overtime, yet here she was—both her for staying late and her team leader for allowing it deserved a piece of his mind.
He made a mental note to have words with both of them later. But honestly, right now…
His breath caught in his throat.
It was because of that innocent face, sleeping soundly with her hands neatly folded under her left cheek.
Her lips, softly glowing under the desk lamp, looked more beautiful and tempting than anything else in the world.
Every inch of her seemed to beckon him for a kiss.
“Ha. What am I even thinking right now… I’m completely bewitched.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, muttering under his breath.
His heart ached so much he couldn’t deny that at least ten screws had come loose in his head.
Her shoulders, rising and falling rhythmically with her soft breathing, kept drawing his gaze.
The memory of burying his lips against those delicate shoulders one night, losing himself halfway, came rushing back, and before he knew it, his body felt unbearably warm.
You’re insane…
He shook his head slightly.
“See? Just thinking about you makes me like this all the time.”
First things first—he needed to calm down and catch his breath.
Trying to shift his focus, he placed his hand on the mouse.
As the screensaver deactivated, the document she had been working on appeared.
“She’s done quite a bit. Poor thing.”
It seemed close to completion. How exhausted must she have been to fall asleep like this?
A sharp pang of guilt pricked at his chest.
This won’t do.
Crack.
He cracked his knuckles, producing a sound akin to breaking bones.
Then, sitting awkwardly beside her, his typing resumed with the precision of a professional stenographer.
---
It had been sleep as sweet as honey.
Joo-eun slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them with the back of her hand.
How long had she slept…?
She fumbled around for her phone to check the time when a faint silhouette sent shivers running down her spine.
Had she seen wrong?
Fully sitting up, she rubbed her eyes again with both hands.
The more she rubbed, the clearer the dark figure became, and Joo-eun let out a shocked scream.
“MOMMY!”
Startled nearly to the point of falling off her chair, she barely managed to steady herself.
“D-Director! Why… why are you here?”
Her voice trembled like a goat’s bleat.
Leaning back with his arms crossed, he slowly spoke.
“I heard someone wasn’t answering their phone and was worrying everyone, so I came to check—and found you sleeping peacefully.”
She hadn’t heard a single ring. What phone call?
Staring at him, she reached for her phone, only for her eyes to widen in disbelief.
Seven missed calls.
Had she really slept through all of them?
Should she get her hearing checked? All sorts of thoughts raced through her mind.
But what astonished her more was that he had rushed here in person after failing to reach her.
Was he giving her poison and then offering the antidote?
She couldn’t bring herself to ask that. Instead, she stared at him seriously, only for him to smirk, raising one corner of his lips.
“You look exhausted. Let’s call it a day.”
“No… I just need to finish up. Please don’t worry about me and go ahead.”
“It looks pretty well wrapped up to me.”
He gestured toward the monitor with his chin, and Joo-eun’s gaze slowly shifted to the screen.
Blink, blink.
Her eyes widened and blinked rapidly, as if unable to believe the reality before her.
“Why is this... all done?”
“Does it meet your satisfaction?”
“Did you... do this, Director?”
“If I hadn’t, wouldn’t that be even scarier?”
“How did you manage to do all of this…?”
“It seemed like you weren’t going to leave until it was finished.”
Of course, Director, it’s because you set the deadline for tomorrow.
Rather than gratitude, disbelief took precedence.
“Thank you. But please don’t do this again. It was my responsibility.”
“If you pull another all-nighter like this in the future, I won’t just stand by and watch.”
What kind of logic was this—giving her a mountain of work and then telling her not to work overtime?
Anger simmered inside her, unspoken but palpable.
“It’s best we leave now. Being seen together in the office at this hour is just asking for misunderstandings.”
Flash!
A sudden burst of light pierced the darkness.
“Is anyone working overtime there?”
Startled, Min-hyuk quickly ducked down, nearly collapsing into a vertical drop.
“Are you still working?”
Joo-eun, frozen stiff by the security guard’s question, stammered out a response.
“Uh, yes, I was working late, but... I’m done now. I-I’ll leave soon.”
“Has the director left?”
No, he’s right here next to me…
Why does he suddenly hide and leave me flustered like this?
Her mouth went dry.
“Well, I was so focused on work, I d-didn’t see him. He must have left already…”
“Really? I didn’t see him leave. Anyway, it’s midnight. Finish up quickly.”
“Yes… understood.”
As she bowed her head, the security guard moved away, shining his flashlight elsewhere.
“Haa…”
Exhaling deeply, she glanced downward and gestured urgently for him to get up.
Min-hyuk extended his hand as if asking to be helped up.
Good grief, how exasperating.
As much as she didn’t want to help him up, refusing a superior’s request for assistance wasn’t easy.
Reluctantly, Joo-eun reached out to take his hand—but in an instant, he firmly grasped her wrist and pulled her down with unexpected force.
“Ah…!”
Thud.
She landed squarely on his lap.
Stunned, her eyes bulged wide open as Min-hyuk gazed at her with a faint smile.
“What are you doing? I asked you to help me up.”
He spoke as if he hadn’t pulled her at all, leaving Joo-eun’s face flushed crimson.
“You yanked me too hard!”
Flustered, she tried to push herself up using the armrest—but the chair’s wheels rolled backward instead.
“Eh, eh…?”
Losing her balance, she tilted precariously and plopped back down onto his firm thighs.
“…!”
The overwhelming pressure of his rock-solid thighs froze her in place.
He wiped the playful smirk off his face and looked at her intently.
“This time, it was quite convincing.”
“T-this was truly an accident! You saw the chair sliding because it rolled. Please don’t misunderstand.”
“If these kinds of 'accidents' happen anytime, I’m always welcome. But…”
His large hand gently brushed her tousled hair back, cradling her neck.
“It wasn’t an accident.”
“…”
“I’m not the kind of man who makes mistakes with women.”
His eyes gleamed in the dimness, breathtakingly lethal.
Joo-eun’s heart began pounding wildly, as if it had been waiting for this moment all along.
Could she really remain unaffected by this man? Doubt crept in, growing stronger—and more frightening—with each passing second.
“When you stare at me silently like that, there’s only one thought I can have.”
His fingertips lightly grazed through her hair.
Google Sites
Report abuse