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A brief silence passed, chilling and tense.
The man opened his mouth slowly, as if savoring the quiet.
“I wasn’t going to mention it, but since you’ll find out eventually… I have a meeting scheduled with GB Group tomorrow.”
Jang-wook, who had been silently observing their exchange, clenched his teeth in anger.
So, all that talk about not wanting to work right now and needing a break—it was about money after all.
Minhyuk must have been somewhat surprised, yet...
His expression didn’t change one bit.
“Is that so?”
He responded simply, without any inflection.
The man smirked faintly and wrinkled his nose.
“You’re not surprised? That’s disappointing.”
“I am a little surprised. GB Group has nothing to do with media, after all.”
“What can’t you do with money? They’re planning to start an OTT business, or so I’ve heard.”
“I’ll need to stay on guard, then.”
“Perhaps.”
“So, does this mean we’re now friendly competitors?”
“Hmm.”
“Let’s meet in the ring, shall we?”
“Hey, let’s at least finish listening to what I’m saying in Korean.”
Minhyuk, who had started to turn away, stopped mid-motion and shifted his gaze back.
“You say there’s a meeting scheduled, but breaking it wouldn’t be hard. Since my heart is starting to waver, let’s get into more specifics, shall we?”
Caught off guard by the sudden shift in tone, Jang-wook blinked rapidly, his eyes darting between them.
Minhyuk’s expression remained unchanged.
“Fine. Tell me your specific requirements.”
“Should we stand while we do this?”
“If you have something in mind, let’s sit. If you’re just testing the waters, let’s end it here.”
The man raised both eyebrows slightly, signaling for Minhyuk to sit as he took his own seat.
Minhyuk gave a small nod and sat down across from him.
With the two men seated opposite each other, the nearly deserted café grew more solemn than a conference room.
“W-what’s going on here…”
Jang-wook, thoroughly flustered, stumbled as he moved toward Minhyuk’s side.
________________________________________
‘Director Min…?’
Joo-eun’s neck stretched longer in curiosity.
Not him again. She’d been so sure this time.
Her shoulders slumped with disappointment.
‘What could be going on…?’
Minhyuk hadn’t shown his face since morning, and her growing concern made it impossible to focus on work.
Her hand instinctively reached for her phone.
Should she send a text? Or not?
After hesitating for a long moment, her fingers slowly began tapping the screen.
• Director Min, your errand seems to be taking a while. Is everything okay? I’m a bit worried…
But before she could finish, guilt struck her like lightning, and she slammed her phone facedown with a loud thud.
‘If Director Min’s errand is taking long, so what? If something’s wrong, so what? What gives you the right to ask?’
She shook her head vigorously, her long hair swaying with the movement.
She needed to pull herself together. Every time she let her guard down, her emotions ran wild, leaving her bewildered.
After staring at the entrance all afternoon without moving, her head was spinning.
She needed some fresh air—this wasn’t working.
Stepping into the hallway, Joo-eun headed toward the storage room, avoiding clusters of chatty colleagues.
“Ah, this is nice… comfort is truly the best.”
Though the air in the storage room was stale, nowhere else felt as peaceful.
In the dimly lit corner, she collapsed onto a pile of boxes and stretched lazily. Her body relaxed, and she thought, A nap would be perfect right now.
Just five minutes. Just five minutes of rest.
Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes briefly when suddenly—
Bzzz. A vibration startled her.
Slowly shifting her limp body, Joo-eun checked her phone, her eyes widening instantly.
—Come to the storage room.
Director Min? But the message seemed strange.
Frowning, she questioned the sender.
Why was he asking her to come to the storage room when she was already there?
Had his phone been hacked?
Before her thoughts could spiral further, another message arrived.
—Don’t wear lipstick. You’ll eat it anyway.
“Wha—what…”
She nearly jumped out of her skin.
This guy… honestly…
If his phone wasn’t hacked, she’d be deeply disappointed. How could he become so blatant?
Yet, despite feeling disappointed by his boldness, why was she laughing nervously?
Uncertain whether she was annoyed or amused, Joo-eun snorted softly and fanned herself with her hand.
Suddenly—
Clunk.
The storage room door opened.
“…!”
Startled, she instinctively curled up and shifted her position.
Hidden deep in the corner, she hoped he wouldn’t spot her.
Thump, thump. Her heart pounded violently.
It had only been a fleeting moment, but she was almost certain it was Director Min.
The door closed, and silence returned.
Had he left?
Slowly turning her head to check behind her, she saw his sharply defined silhouette illuminated by the glow of his phone screen in the darkness.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and with a chiseled profile—handsome even in the shadows.
For a moment, she stared blankly, mesmerized, until the sight of him texting snapped her back to reality.
‘I need to switch it to silent mode…!’
Panicking, she fumbled to mute her phone just as—
Bzzz.
Another text arrived, accompanied by the dreaded vibration sound.
“Oh no…”
A shadow loomed over her, creeping closer.
Terrified, she froze, feeling like the protagonist of a thriller movie.
“D-Director Min…”
A faint crease appeared on Minhyuk’s otherwise smooth forehead.
“You’re not hiding, are you?”
His piercing gaze scanned the room like a predator stalking prey.
“It just looked… dangerous over here.”
Dangerous? The word amused him, and he stretched one corner of his lips into a sly smile.
“I see clearly now. I am quite dangerous right now.”
Why, why was he doing this? Couldn’t he see her heart was about to explode?
While she pleaded with her eyes, his gaze only grew more intense.
If she didn’t stop this, she’d be swept away by his momentum again.
“Hmm, did you return from running errands far away? I didn’t see you all day.”
Even though he noticed her attempt to change the subject, Minhyuk calmly went along with it.
“Were you waiting for me all day?”
“H-hah… No, why would I?”
“Why else? Because I missed you, obviously.”
“The new director has been assigning so much work that I’ve been overwhelmed. I haven’t had time to think about anything else.”
“It sounds like you’re throwing a tantrum, demanding I make time to think about you.”
Joo-eun huffed under her breath.
“Interpretation is free, isn’t it?”
“But what can I do? I might assign even more work from now on.”
“More?”
“I just met with Choi Dae-sik.”
Joo-eun tilted her head, trying to recall the name, then brightened.
“Ahh…! The core member who founded Netfolly?”
“He’s going to be our savior, the relief pitcher for DK Media’s crisis.”
“Phew, thank goodness. I was worried something bad had happened to delay you…”
“Worried?”
“…Not exactly…”
“You’re such a fox.”
“E-excuse me?”
No one had ever described her that way before, so she was genuinely taken aback.
“Are you trying to seduce me?”
“No, absolutely not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Honestly, I don’t even know how to flirt or what it means. And I’m not interested. I should probably go—I’ve been away from my desk too long.”
“Stay a little longer.”
She hesitated.
Even though he hadn’t physically held her back, she couldn’t bring herself to move an inch.
“People sometimes pass through here…”
“Invite them in. I’m so focused on you that I’m not thinking about anything else.”
Despite the dim lighting, his dark eyes sparkled beautifully, as if catching light from somewhere unseen.
“All I could think about today was you. I was going crazy wanting to touch you.”
Touch her?
Where? Not here…!
Oh no, her hand.
While she panicked, Minhyuk gently took her hand and began massaging her wrist, just as he had the day before.
Her wide, startled eyes quickly calmed under his touch.
Though technically, being touched at work was inappropriate, she couldn’t help but feel flustered by her earlier thoughts.
“Is your wrist feeling better?”
Minhyuk turned her wrist over, examining it carefully.
“Yes.”
“No contact from that guy, right?”
“No…”
“If you sense anything strange, tell me immediately.”
“I will.”
“My heart aches to think someone dared to harm this beautiful wrist. I wanted to break his arm.”
“I appreciate how well you’ve restrained yourself.”
He smirked faintly, raising an eyebrow playfully.
“You tend to express gratitude only in words.”
“If I don’t use words, you’ll start making strange demands again.”
“Caught me. Since you’ve figured it out, let’s do it. I regretted not finishing yesterday.”
“You know I’d never agree to that.”
“I know, but I still throw out bait, hoping you’ll bite. Who knows? Maybe you will.”
“That won’t happen. I should go—”
Before she could finish, Minhyuk clamped his hand over her mouth and roughly pulled her back.
Her wide, startled eyes trembled wildly.
He pressed a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet, then pressed his body against hers.
“Ugh, why do they want me to find it? How am I supposed to locate the company brochure among all these boxes?”
A distant mutter froze both their expressions.
The pile of boxes where they were hiding bore a label: Company Brochure.
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