RB - 3

Seoyeon hesitated to order directly, so she handed her card to Jinhyeok and said,

“One latte, one iced Americano. What would you like to drink, Jinhyeok?”

After speaking, Seoyeon suddenly turned her head, sensing a blatant stare. The security guard was glaring at her, with a look that seemed to question why she was making a new employee run an errand for coffee.

Seoyeon quickly pulled back the hand that had been holding the card and forced a nervous smile.

“Of course, I’ll go get it. You two should sit down for a bit; you’ve both worked hard.”

Jinhyeok frowned slightly, as though displeased, and his calm but restrained voice came through.

“Let’s go together, Assistant Manager Han.”

Seoyeon stepped a bit closer to him and muttered, almost like a ventriloquist. Her words were clipped, sharp.

“Just sitting still is helping. Look at that cold look the security guard is giving me. I don’t want to become the enemy of the cleaning ladies.”

There was no argument to be made. Jinhyeok gave a wry smile and quietly complied.

At the counter.

The only one feeling anxious was Seoyeon, and it was maddening. Her ex, Shin Jinhyeok, treated her as if she were a stranger.

His smooth, natural smile as he took the orders made Seoyeon briefly question if maybe he was just someone who looked like him.

But no, he wasn’t just pretending not to know her. That smile was unmistakably relaxed.

Shin Jinhyeok—no, the man who might be Shin Jinhyeok—prepared the drinks with his neat hands.

“Here are the three drinks you ordered. Enjoy.”

Seoyeon took the tray, gave a small nod, and started to turn, but the man spoke.

“Would you like me to stamp your card?”

“No, that’s fine.”

The man, who might have been Shin Jinhyeok, clicked his tongue. Seoyeon instinctively froze.

“If you buy ten drinks…” he continued with a leisurely smile, “One is free. Han Seoyeon.” He punctuated the sentence with a clear, sharp note.

Her body stiffened, freezing like ice. Damn it... It was really him, her ex, Shin Jinhyeok.

Seoyeon had always thought of herself as tough and a bit shameless, but today, she felt nothing like that.

The harsh words from ten years ago echoed in her ears. Why do bad memories have so much strength? The wretched trauma, the damn thing, made her eyes well up with tears.

This was the worst situation. Seoyeon struggled to maintain her composure and scanned her surroundings. She could see the worried look on the new employee’s face from a distance, and beside her, there was her ex, wearing an oddly unreadable expression.

If Shin Jinhyeok was the “public,” this man was the hidden “private.” Damn it, if she cried now, both the “public” and “private” would be ruined.

Seoyeon’s mind went blank. If she could buy teleportation powers, she would break her savings to get them.

Her hands trembled, and the coffee tray she was holding shook along with them. The self she had carefully built up over the past ten years fell apart at the mere words of her ex.

“…Assistant Manager Han.”

Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and took the tray from her. When she looked up, she saw Jinhyeok’s sharp jawline. His expression was cold, as though he was angry, but Seoyeon didn’t have the mental space to care about that.

The memories that followed were hazy, as though covered by fog. Jinhyeok had expressed concern about her health, saying, “It seems like you’re overworking.” The security guard had kept complimenting the richness of the latte.

The only thing Seoyeon clearly remembered was the bitter taste of the Americano, which made her heart ache.

A few days later, late in the evening, after everyone else had already left the office.

In the quickly darkening night, the office lights shone unusually brightly. Having spent the entire day working overtime, Seoyeon muttered to herself as she prepared to leave.

“Money-hungry Han Seoyeon, you’ve lived hard enough today.”

A little while later, Seoyeon arrived at the first-floor lobby and fell into deep thought. Just a few days ago, after that embarrassing incident at Café Le Amant where she almost shed tears, she had been desperately avoiding Shin Jinhyeok’s café at the main entrance.

“...Do I really have to do this again today?”

The problem was that the morning bus stopped at the back entrance of the building, but the evening bus stopped at the front entrance.

What else could she do? It was an age-old truth that the one who’s lacking digs a well. Seoyeon bitterly accepted the wisdom of the ancients and had been taking the long detour to the back entrance for the past few days.

When Seoyeon reached the back entrance, she stood in front of a flower bed between the buildings. It was the only shortcut to the front entrance.

“Ugh... I’m so uneasy, so uneasy.”

After rolling up the hem of her H-line skirt a bit, she glanced around. Thankfully, it was already late at night, and there were hardly any pedestrians. This was her chance!

Seoyeon lifted one leg over the flower bed fence, and as she raised her other leg, she lost her balance and stumbled.

“Ugh, what’s this?! This useless body!”

Just as Seoyeon was about to fall to the side, someone grabbed her—none other than Shin Jinhyeok.

He pulled her arm toward him. Honestly, it would have been better to tumble onto the gravel. Seoyeon glared at him with a complicated expression of resentment and contempt. Her breath became heavier, and her chest rose and fell.

Jinhyeok didn’t flinch. He held her gaze with his cold expression, his face untouched by any emotion.

Why did he look so smug, so arrogant? Seoyeon’s composure cracked, and she quickly averted her gaze, her emotions mixed. After catching her breath, she spoke coldly.

“...Could you let go of me? You son of a bitch.”

Crack, thud.

After months of calm, the winter sky finally began to shed raindrops. The rain rattled against the building’s outer walls, and the intermittent wind blended with the sound of the rain, creating a rhythm.

Seoyeon’s heart plummeted along with the rain. At the same time, fragments of memories surfaced, revealing their raw essence.

The next morning.

Seoyeon mechanically turned on her laptop after arriving at work. Her body felt cold, so she touched her forehead and found she had a slight fever.

The trouble had started the night before, when she’d been caught in the rain and clashed with Shin Jinhyeok. Seoyeon quietly scolded herself.

“...The only thing I have is this body. What am I going to do if it gets sick?”

She had grown up in an orphanage, graduated from college while taking out loans, and was thrown into the world with empty pockets. Seoyeon wasn’t ashamed of being a “money-hungry woman.” It was her will to survive, an instinct that even God couldn’t criticize.

Thankfully, all she had was her body, but it was a body that served her well. She was visibly beautiful and unusually smart.

She needed to work even harder, using this body to earn more money. The mortgage was far from paid off, and she had family to support. Self-pity was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

Seoyeon quickly took some cold medicine she had bought a while ago, but her fever continued to rise. She was thinking about going to the doctor during lunch when—

Tap.

Someone placed a takeout cup in front of her. Looking up, she saw Jinhyeok. The steaming paper cup had “Café Le Amant” printed on it.

Jinhyeok silently nodded at her and then returned to his seat.

Seoyeon could feel the stares from everyone around her. Among them, Kim Mina from the finance department was blatantly staring at her. Damn it, her headache seemed to get worse.

‘He seems to have a girlfriend. Why is he making things awkward? This is what they mean by “face value.” That clueless new guy.’

Not long ago, during a meeting, Jinhyeok’s phone had rung. Seoyeon had seen that the caller was saved under “Queen.” Such an extravagant nickname! She briefly speculated that he might be dating an older woman.

It was an uncomfortable situation, but she had to carry on with her professional life. Seoyeon hesitated for a moment, then began typing rapidly on her keyboard. It was an internal message for Jinhyeok.

―Jinhyeok, thank you for the yuja tea. I’ll drink it well.

―Assistant Manager Han, it rained a lot yesterday. Did you get caught in the rain? You stayed late at work again, didn’t you?

―It was just for a day or two. It’s nothing serious.

―Cold, overtime, rain. You know those aren’t the best words for an office worker, right?

Seoyeon chuckled softly. Look at this? What does a new employee know? Just focusing on their looks. She suppressed her smile and resumed typing on the keyboard.

―Jinhyeok, could you either offer comfort or lecture me, but not both? The sentence is a bit complicated.

―I have a meeting with the client company after lunch. Will you be okay with that, Assistant Manager Han?

―Even if I’m not okay, I have to go. Don’t worry about me. I grew up tougher than you might think.

―Let’s go to the doctor during lunch. We can quickly go in my car and come back.

What was he doing? Jinhyeok had crossed a line. The smile faded from Seoyeon’s face. Letting out a small sigh, she sent her response.

―Jinhyeok, please offer your kindness to someone else. If this keeps up, I’ll misunderstand it as a green light.

There was no reply from Jinhyeok, and Seoyeon thought that was a good thing. She began calculating the date for the dissolution of the project team.

As expected, the creator above the landlord, meeting Daniel Shin would solve everything. Seoyeon sent another message.

―Hello again, Daniel Shin. This is Assistant Manager Han Seoyeon from JB Company, sending you my 17th greeting. I know you’re busy, but I really want to meet you. Please reply whenever you can.

After sending the message, Seoyeon looked at the yuja tea Jinhyeok had left behind.

It had cooled to the perfect lukewarm temperature, just right for a cold. The only thing that bothered her was that it came from “Café Le Amant.”

Damn Café Le Amant, Seoyeon thought, recalling the tragic incident that had unfolded in the rain yesterday.