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“Don’t do this at the company.”
She said, hiding her flushed face with her hair.
“Seeing you makes me anxious. I keep losing my composure.”
Seok-kyung said, tucking Eun-chae’s hair behind her ear with his finger.
His face, with slightly more furrowed brows than before, gave no indication of what he wanted to say.
“Why? What do you want from me?”
“What do I want?”
“Yes. What meaning do I have to you, other than being your ex-wife?”
Please tell me what meaning I have. No, tell me that I have any meaning to you at all.
Eun-chae was desperate.
She wanted to hear that this reckless relationship had some meaning, that it was something special enough to risk breaking off his engagement.
For a moment, there was no word, and their gazes crossed in the air.
Finally, Seok-kyung straightened up and stood upright.
“Nothing.”
It was a moment she wished she had misheard.
“It has no meaning.”
He drew the line again.
Tears welled up in her eyes. It felt like the clear blue sky had suddenly filled with dark clouds.
Is this how a fish living only in a tank feels? The world in front of you seems to be yours, but all you really have is a small tank.
Eun-chae turned her head away just before the tears fell. Even though Seok-kyung saw the tears rolling down her cheek, she didn’t care.
What would change if he saw her tears in a meaningless relationship?
“If there’s nothing more to say, I’ll go.”
Eun-chae brushed past Seok-kyung as if pushing him away, opened the door, and entered the building.
While going down the emergency stairs, she straightened her disheveled clothes and wiped the tears from her face.
When she returned to the department, her face was no different from when she left.
Except for the cleanly wiped lips and the purplish bruised skin under her blouse.
________________________________________
After drinking all the canned beer in the refrigerator last night out of frustration, she looked terrible the next day.
Her eyes were swollen from crying, and even makeup couldn’t hide it well.
She wished she could wear a hat, but since she couldn’t, she let down the bangs she usually swept back or to the side.
Moreover, her stomach was burning from drinking on an empty stomach.
When she arrived at the planning department office, Eun-chae’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t close her mouth.
The office was full of flowers. From roses to ranunculus, peonies and hydrangeas, daisies and chrysanthemums, calla lilies, and so on. It seemed like all kinds of flowers were there.
The office was filled with the fragrance of flowers, as if someone had moved a flower shop into it.
“Oh my, the main character has arrived.”
Yang Deputy poked her unpleasant face out from among the piles of flowers.
“What’s with all these flowers in the office? Shouldn’t you receive these at home or pick them up yourself? Are you showing off your relationship?”
“Me? Are you talking to me?”
“Well, is there another Lee Eun-chae here?”
Yang Deputy snapped irritably and threw a small card envelope onto Eun-chae’s desk.
[To Lee Eun-chae of the Studio FIRST Planning Department.]
It was a very simple message printed on a computer.
Who on earth...?
When she looked up from the note with her face turning red, she met Hyun-woo’s eyes.
“Someone must really like you, Eun-chae-ssi.”
Looking at Hyun-woo’s faint smile, Eun-chae realized.
Manager Kang sent them.
No one else would make such a confession. Besides, there was that smile.
It felt like cheating to express his feelings this way after saying he would wait.
But after hearing from Seok-kyung yesterday that she meant nothing to him, the bright flowers made her feel better.
She would thank him at lunchtime.
“I’m sorry. I’ll move them to one side.”
Eun-chae apologized to Yang Deputy and bowed her head.
“Who is it? Are you dating?”
Hyun-jung asked while moving the flowers to the window together. Her eyes sparkled, showing she wouldn’t back down easily.
“No. I don’t have time to date.”
“Then what are all these flowers?”
“I don’t know either. I don’t know what’s going on.”
“You’ve changed your style of dressing and makeup lately. Are you really not dating?”
Hyun-jung put down the flowers and poked Eun-chae’s side, asking again.
“No, really.”
“Really? Then what is it? Did you enter some kind of event?”
“Maybe, I did?”
Eun-chae quickly glossed over it.
It would be troublesome if the department members found out that Hyun-woo sent the flowers.
Fortunately, Hyun-jung didn’t ask any more questions and returned to work after moving all the flowers.
Eun-chae occasionally looked at the flowers lined up by the window while working.
Even though she couldn’t accept Hyun-woo’s feelings, she didn’t want to hide that she felt good.
Flower gifts.
Suddenly, she remembered the bouquet of flowers Seok-kyung sent to the concert hall when she was preparing for their wedding, saying he couldn’t attend due to work.
[To pianist Lee Eun-chae.]
It was a bouquet of pink roses sent with a very simple message, like this time.
Could it be...?
Due to the similarity of the messages, Eun-chae momentarily suspected that Seok-kyung might have sent the flowers.
No, that’s impossible.
Surely he, who said with his own mouth that she meant nothing to him, wouldn’t do such a thing.
Eun-chae shook her head.
________________________________________
“I’ll just make copies of these and come quickly.”
“Okay. I’ll go ahead and order the menu.”
“Thank you.”
Eun-chae said goodbye to her colleagues with the documents to be copied in her hand and quickly turned around.
She wanted to copy the documents for the afternoon meeting and then quickly join her colleagues at the restaurant to get some hangover soup.
“Oops!”
However, as soon as she turned the corner, Eun-chae bumped into someone and dropped all the documents she was holding.
“I’m sorry...”
Eun-chae, who was bending down to pick up the documents from the floor, trailed off.
It was none other than Seok-kyung who handed her a document.
“Be careful.”
He said in a dry voice that didn’t convey displeasure or concern.
Eun-chae snatched the document from his hand and walked past him without saying thank you or sorry.
She didn’t want to see him today.
No, if she could, she wanted to cut Baek Seok-kyung out of her life.
Even if it left a big hole in her heart.
She quickly finished making the copies and went to the restaurant. After eating the hangover soup that her colleagues had ordered for her, Eun-chae finally felt a bit clearer.
Her phone, in her pocket, rang continuously, but she pretended not to notice. Seok-kyung had called and messaged her several times since they met in the hallway earlier.
“Did you drink last night?”
Hyun-woo asked with a smile as they left the restaurant and headed back to the office.
“Yes. I had some beer...”
“Alone?”
Eun-chae nodded.
“Drinking alone, how romantic. But it would be nice if you called me next time, right?”
“Ah... well.”
At Hyun-woo’s words, Eun-chae slowly stopped walking. The colleagues who were following behind them hesitated for a moment, slowed down, and then walked past them.
“Was that also a bit burdensome? I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not that...”
“Then?”
“The flowers.”
“Flowers?”
“Yes. The flowers, thank you.”
Eun-chae bowed deeply to Hyun-woo. Although she felt burdened, she wanted to thank him for making her feel better.
“No, well...”
Hyun-woo waved his hand at her with a flustered expression.
“I didn’t send those flowers, Eun-chae-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“I think you misunderstood something. I didn’t send them.”
Manager Kang didn’t send the flowers? Then who?
Eun-chae’s mind went blank for a moment. If it wasn’t Hyun-woo, there was only one person who would do such a thing.
Baek Seok-kyung.
“Eun-chae-ssi? Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
No, she wasn’t fine at all. Was he concerned because of the cruel words he had said yesterday?
“Don’t you know who sent them? Should we report it to the police...”
“No. I know who it is.”
“You know?”
“Yes.”
Eun-chae bit her soft inner lip and forced a smile.
“I’m sorry. I was rude.”
Anyway, she had shown Hyun-woo an embarrassing side, so Eun-chae’s face turned red.
“No, I like that you thought of me first.”
His positive view of a potentially unpleasant situation was just like Hyun-woo’s usual personality.
“Let’s go back now, shall we?”
“Yes.”
As if trying to escape the awkward situation, Hyun-woo took the first step.
The two didn’t have any more conversations until they caught up with the colleagues who were walking ahead of them.
________________________________________
The afternoon meeting attended by the planning department, the management support department, and Seok-kyung lasted nearly two hours.
It was a meeting to select items to be selected for the government support project ordered by Seok-kyung.
“I think the International Joint Production Project for Broadcasting and Video Content would be a good idea.”
Team Leader Park said, distributing materials to the people in the meeting room.
“International Joint Production Project for Broadcasting and Video Content?”
Seok-kyung checked the title of the report and read it to himself as if talking to himself.
“It’s a project promoted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to promote international exchange and cultural enhancement. It involves jointly producing and broadcasting content with overseas companies. It seems perfect for receiving support for the online streaming media we are planning to produce with U Studio in the United States.”
“What is the support amount?”
“It’s 300 to 500 million won per episode, and up to two projects can be supported.”
“How many episodes are produced?”
“It’s more than two episodes per project, based on 50 minutes per episode.”
Seok-kyung pondered for a moment and nodded. It was not a bad support project.
“Let’s check if it meets the criteria and submit the application. What’s the deadline?”
“The end of this month.”
Hyun-woo answered.
Seok-kyung stared at Hyun-woo for a moment. He didn’t take his eyes off him until the others, feeling awkward about the silence and gaze, wondered what was going on.
“Is there something wrong...?”
“The management support department should prepare together with the planning department.”
Hyun-woo also looked puzzled and tried to ask what was going on, but Seok-kyung cut him off.
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