BR - 36

And to top it off, it’s hangover soup with plenty of beef blood and intestines. He’s probably screaming in his head, wanting to bolt out of here right now?

Everyone was taking a spoonful, but Seok-kyung, unsure of what to do, and Eun-chae, who was watching him, remained still.

Then, Seok-kyung’s bewildered gaze turned to Eun-chae.

She briefly met his gaze, then took a spoonful of rice and put it into the earthenware pot of hangover soup.

She soaked the rice in the broth, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.

Seok-kyung, who had been looking at her with a slightly frightened face, did exactly as she did, soaking the rice in the broth and scooping it up to eat.

As his slightly tense face relaxed with the taste of the hangover soup, which he was trying for the first time, and he began to eat it deliciously, Eun-chae finally felt relieved.

Thank goodness. No, thank goodness for what? Stop caring, Lee Eun-chae.

She couldn’t understand why she kept caring about Seok-kyung, who deserved her hatred, and she felt pathetic.

“Does it suit your taste?”

“Yes. It’s very good. I feel like I’m alive again.”

“This place is a famous restaurant near our company.”

“Thanks to you, my stomach feels much better. I’ll treat everyone to this meal.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

Section Chief Park waved his hand with a smile, but Seok-kyung had already called the restaurant staff and handed over his card.

“Eun-chae, you’re so lucky. You, who always brings lunch boxes, didn’t bring one on the day you had lunch with the CEO?”

Assistant Manager Yang, sitting across from Eun-chae, glared at her.

“I don’t know if it’s luck with food or luck with money?”

“Don’t say that. Eun-chae told me about the CEO’s hangover.”

Why did he have to say that here...

At Section Chief Park’s words, defending Eun-chae, everyone’s eyes turned to her. Seok-kyung’s gaze too.

“If it weren’t for Eun-chae, we wouldn’t have had lunch paid for by the CEO today.”

“Really? Wow, thanks to Eun-chae, we had a great lunch.”

Hyun-woo smiled brightly and greeted her, but Eun-chae shrank back with an awkward expression.

Assistant Manager Yang, who had been sneering, snorted.

“What, what? How did you know about the CEO’s hangover?”

On the way back to the office, Hyun-jung linked arms with Eun-chae and asked.

“I ran into him in the elevator this morning.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He smelled a bit like alcohol. And his expression wasn’t good.”

Eun-chae answered, looking at Seok-kyung’s back as he walked ahead.

He must feel much better now that he’s eaten the hangover soup deliciously. His expression when he came here and now are completely opposite, which is a relief.

Another feeling was the urge to hug that broad back.

Did I drink the alcohol? I need to be careful.

Eun-chae smiled bitterly at the absurd thought.

“Excuse me, I need to get in!”

Suddenly, a delivery driver pulled a cart full of packages into the elevator.

The department members, already in the cramped elevator, scattered and stood against the walls.

And unfortunately, Eun-chae ended up standing next to Seok-kyung.

“It tastes so good every time I eat it, doesn’t it?”

“We’d be in big trouble if that restaurant disappeared, you know? I crave it sometimes, even if I’m not hungover.”

“It’s not a chain, is it?”

“No, it’s not. That’s why it’s more precious. You can’t find it anywhere else.”

Eun-chae chuckled at the department members’ chatter. But her smile didn’t last long. It was because Seok-kyung had subtly grabbed her hand.

Surprised, she tried to pull her hand away, but Seok-kyung held it tightly and wouldn’t let go.

What if we get caught?

Eun-chae turned her head and looked around the elevator. Fortunately, the packages filling the center blocked the view of their hands from others.

But still...

As the elevator doors closed and slowly moved from floor to floor, Seok-kyung scratched and rubbed Eun-chae’s palm with his fingers.

Eun-chae held her breath at the ticklish movement. When she glanced up at Seok-kyung, he smiled gently.

‘Thank you.’

That smile seemed to say so.

I should push him away, but I keep getting drawn back. Every time Seok-kyung pushed her away, she approached him again.

And he didn’t just push her away, he came right to her when she pulled him in, which she liked helplessly.

Like now.

Eun-chae lowered her head to hide her blushing face.

“I’m getting off.”

As soon as the delivery driver moved to take out the packages, Eun-chae quickly pulled her hand away from Seok-kyung.

She put her hands together tightly in front of her legs and stood with her back to him until she got off.

She didn’t want him to see the smile spreading across her lowered face.

________________________________________

“Sales have increased by 5% in a month. I sent you there well, didn’t I?”

Chairman Baek’s laughter was clear over the phone.

“It’s because of your excellent insight, Chairman. It’s nothing new.”

“You rascal, there’s no one else around. Why are you calling me Chairman?”

“Sorry, it’s a habit.”

“Don’t draw a line with this old man. I’ll be sad.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”

After saying he would visit soon, Seok-kyung hung up the phone.

Everything had been difficult, like walking through fire, until this morning, but it changed from lunchtime.

Thanks to Eun-chae, he ate hangover soup and cleared his head, and he felt energized after seeing her blushing face.

And he was praised by his grandfather for the increased sales of Studio FIRST.

He couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Of course, Joo-eun’s call ruined everything.

“Company?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m nearby, can I come up for a moment?”

“Huh?”

Seok-kyung was flustered.

Why was Joo-eun nearby, and why was she trying to come to the company? More importantly, what if she ran into Eun-chae?

“What’s going on?”

“You left your watch at the hotel.”

“Watch?”

At the mention of the watch, Seok-kyung checked his right wrist. Strangely, he was wearing a watch.

“What do you mean, watch...”

“Were you that hungover? I’m almost there, I’ll give it to you.”

Joo-eun cut off his attempt to ask her to give it to him later.

I’m giving it to you today, now. Don’t argue.

Her tone was full of unspoken words.

“There’s a cafe on the first floor. Wait there.”

“Can’t I come up?”

“I’m coming down because there’s an executive meeting and the office is crowded.”

-Hmm, okay. I’ll be there in ten minutes.

Seok-kyung replied okay and hung up.

There was no way there was an executive meeting. He was just trying to get Joo-eun out of the building somehow.

________________________________________

Eun-chae thought it was a good thing she had a hearty lunch as she moved the heavy luggage.

She was on her way to borrow camera equipment from the production team for a brief experiment in the planning department.

She was told there was no space in the department and to go to the warehouse to get it, so she packed her things and crossed the first-floor lobby.

“Lee Eun-chae?”

Someone called Eun-chae.

Turning around, she was surprised. It was Seok-kyung’s fiancée, Joo-eun. She was more surprised at how she knew her name than at her being there.

“You were the one at the hotel last time, right?”

Why, how does she know me?

“Don’t you know me? I’m Ha Joo-eun. We went to film arts high school together.”

“Oh, really?”

“Well, I guess the princess wouldn’t have been interested in anyone else around her? You must have been busy playing the piano every day.”

Joo-eun used Eun-chae’s high school nickname, “princess.”

She seemed to be a classmate, but Eun-chae didn’t remember Joo-eun at all.

Moreover, it was strange that she was so welcoming, even though she clearly knew Eun-chae was Seok-kyung’s ex-wife.

“But what’s going on at Studio FIRST? What are all these equipment?”

“Oh, that’s...”

She needed an excuse.

She absolutely couldn’t let it slip that she worked at the company Seok-kyung managed.

“Huh? What’s going on...?”

Just as Joo-eun’s eyes narrowed as she watched Eun-chae’s eyes wander, unable to find an excuse,

“Eun-chae, what are you doing? The team leader is looking for you, go up quickly. Don’t tell them you saw me here, okay?”

Assistant Manager Yang greeted Eun-chae as he walked into the first-floor cafe and passed by.

“You work at this company?”

A cold question flew at her in the suddenly hostile atmosphere.

“That’s...”

“The ex-wife works at the company where the ex-husband is the CEO? Do other employees know?”

“No, no. They don’t know.”

“You’re working here without anyone else knowing? That’s even more of a problem, isn’t it?”

“A problem?”

Eun-chae widened her eyes and shook her hand.

“Isn’t it a problem that people who were married meet at this company without anyone knowing?”

“We’re just boss and subordinate now.”

“You know I’m Seok-kyung’s fiancée when you say that, right?”

“......Yes.”

Eun-chae replied, avoiding her sharp gaze.

“Are you really not seeing each other? I don’t have to worry, do I?”

“N-no. We’re really not seeing each other.”

“Then why does Seok-kyung, standing behind you, have that expression?”

When she looked up at Joo-eun, who she had been avoiding, she was looking not at her but behind her.

Turning her head to where the cold, sharp gaze was directed, she saw Seok-kyung standing there, looking at the two women with an anxious face.

“Well, isn’t it awkward for the ex-wife and the current fiancée to meet?”

“Just that?”

Eun-chae nodded.

Please, please. Let her not know anything.

She absolutely couldn’t let Joo-eun know about her relationship with Seok-kyung. She desperately prayed to God to make her believe that they just happened to work together at the same company.

“I told you to wait at the cafe.”

Seok-kyung approached Joo-eun and said. He didn’t even look at Eun-chae.

“I was just feeling stuffy. I was going to go up to the CEO’s office, but I ran into a familiar face.”

“A familiar face?”

“Eun-chae and I, we’re high school classmates.”

“Oh......”

A briefly bewildered gaze lingered on Eun-chae before moving to Joo-eun.