ST - Prologue

Her eyes are red. I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere before, what was it? Ah, right, a rabbit. Her red, bloodshot eyes are like those of an adorable white rabbit.

“Assistant Manager Song Hee-jin, do you have the simulation data for the Battery Business Division’s strategy report?”

JK Motors’ Corporate Strategy Division Planning Team Leader Cha Shin-woo urged Song Hee-jin to bring him documents he didn’t even need right away, intending to see her face a little closer.

She’s even prettier up close. I wish I could get just a little closer.

“Here you go, Team Leader.”

Even the hand handing over the stack of documents is pretty. Looking closely, there’s not a single unlovely thing about her. They’re small, white hands that make me want to put all sorts of things in them.

Did she cry all night? Do people’s eyes get that red from crying? Her skin is as white and clear as a snowflake, so any change in her complexion is especially noticeable.

Should I ask if she cried? If I do, those big eyes filled to the brim with tears might just spill over.

“Don’t go.”

“Pardon?”

“Wait there for a moment.”

Hee-jin, who was about to turn away after handing over the documents, flinched as if she had done something wrong at Cha Shin-woo’s words and met his gaze. Even with the documents in his hand, Cha Shin-woo’s eyes were still fixed on Song Hee-jin’s face.

The moment their eyes met lasted three seconds.

Looking into Song Hee-jin’s deep, clear eyes, a thrilling current spread from his heart.

Fuck. Why does the tear in this woman’s eye turn me on so much?

Swallowing his embarrassment at the heat rising in his lower body, his gaze drifted down to Song Hee-jin’s nape, and he noticed her red, flushed earlobe.

Cute. I’m certain that this precarious sensation flowing through my capillaries isn’t something I’m feeling alone.

“If there’s anything you need me to do…”

Shin-woo glanced at his watch, confirmed that lunch break wasn’t over yet, and then stood up. He had become a bad superior who couldn’t even guarantee Song Hee-jin her work hours, all because he was observing her.

“How are you this weekend?”

“Pardon?”

Song Hee-jin looked around, startled like she’d seen a ghost, and he barely suppressed a laugh at her cuteness.

Looking at her like this, she’s not like a rabbit, but more like a meercat, busy looking around to guard against predators.

What are you looking at? The bastard who’s dying to devour you is right in front of your nose.

“Let’s have dinner together at the J Tower restaurant.”

Only after confirming that no one was in the office did Hee-jin, who had been looking around left and right with an anxious air, stop and nod, her face flushed peach.

This time, she looks like a puppy that would obey its owner no matter what. Fuck, yeah. You just go ahead and be all cute and adorable by yourself.

“Yes.”

Song Hee-jin’s unexpectedly easy answer was surprising, but he liked the fact that it wasn’t a rejection.

Women who come easily aren’t fun, but right now, he didn’t have much patience left to wait for a difficult refusal.

“Is work interesting?”

He deliberately dragged out the conversation, wanting to exchange even one more word with Song Hee-jin, even though he knew the answer. He barely suppressed a laugh at her cute, trembling hands, as if she was frightened.

It’s strange. He keeps laughing in front of Song Hee-jin.

“……”

The obvious question didn’t elicit the obvious answer. She seemed troubled in many ways due to recent events.

“I find it interesting.”

“Pardon?”

Every day is interesting because I get to see you.

“Ah, yes. I find it interesting too.”

At Song Hee-jin’s action of biting her lip, as if she thought it was a mistake, heat surged through his lower body again.

Why does everything this woman does feel so sensual? It’s fun. There are so many things I want to do with those lips too.

“We have a lot in common, don’t we?”

As he took a step closer to Song Hee-jin, a gentle smile playing on his lips, she lowered her head and took a step back, securing a safe distance.

“Give me your address.”

“My address?”

“I’ll pick you up near your house on Saturday evening.”

The moment he closed the distance between them again and took another step towards Song Hee-jin.

“If you’ve finished reviewing the documents, I’ll get back to my seat.”

With a sharp pinprick, she burst the taut tension and disappeared back to her seat as if fleeing.

Her retreating figure was exactly like a small, vulnerable animal running away, and he couldn’t take his eyes off Song Hee-jin’s back.

The window seat at the J Tower restaurant had been booked in advance. He had been waiting three months to eat a meal in a nice place, and unusually, he had even used his connections to barely move up the reservation.

It’s all because of Song Hee-jin. All to try and meet Song Hee-jin once. Surprisingly, he had enough conscience to want to show her something nice, treat her to something good to eat, before doing anything else.

He had hesitated for over a month before asking her out.

He was even trying to romanticize the tedious process of booking their first date location, which had been quite annoying.

[Team Leader, I’m sorry. I had a prior engagement this weekend, I completely forgot earlier. Let’s have a meal at the company cafeteria sometime later :D]

He received a text message from Song Hee-jin while stuck in traffic on his way home.

“Haa…”

So, this is how I get rejected. She makes up a ridiculous excuse about a prior engagement and firmly draws a line by suggesting they eat at the company cafeteria sometime later, making sure there’s no promise of a future.

Shin-woo stared at the first text message he had ever received from Song Hee-jin and then tossed his phone listlessly onto the passenger seat.

If she’s going to draw such a cold line, then maybe I should just cross that damn line.

Had the signal changed already? The car behind him honked loudly.

The rabbit, just within reach, slips through his fingers. The more that happens, the hungrier he gets…

The starving beast is gradually going wild. The adorable little rabbit that had been hopping around in his head had somehow moved to his heart, his blood vessels, and now even down to his lower body.

Damn it, it really knows how to get around.