CHAPTER 49…………………………….
After lunch, Haru returned to her desk but, even with her work window open, her mind was elsewhere.
The faint brush of hands in the elevator, the whisper that tickled her ear—
it almost made her feel like she was having a secret office romance.
No, maybe not almost. Even if it was a contract, love was still love.
A relationship that began just for show—but one that had to stay hidden from everyone at work.
The contradiction of it all left her speechless.
What if someone finds out? Would I have to quit this company?
The thought made her uneasy.
Since Seung-jae and Da-in—who knew about their relationship—weren’t the type to spill secrets,
there was no chance anyone else would find out unless Byeol-na herself said something.
But would Byeol-na, who wanted them to break up, really go out of her way to expose them?
Haru shook her head.
She was worrying over nothing. Turning back to her monitor, she tried to focus again.
Just as she grabbed her mouse to start working, someone placed a cup of coffee on her desk.
She looked up—and saw Woo-jin.
“I bought it while getting mine.”
“Oh, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
As he turned to leave after her thanks, Haru called out to stop him.
“Wait a second.”
When Woo-jin paused, she handed him a sheet of paper filled with neat handwriting.
He glanced at it—and his eyes widened.
“Huh? This is…”
“It’s a list of good restaurants nearby.”
Haru had promised before to tell him about the best places to eat around her neighborhood.
Looking over the sheet—with signature dishes and her personal ratings for each—Woo-jin couldn’t hide his admiration.
“Wow, even star ratings? Are you sure it’s okay for me to have this?”
“You just bought me coffee, didn’t you?”
“I feel bad taking this in exchange for just a cup of coffee.”
Woo-jin’s eyes darted quickly over the page.
Haru smiled softly.
“It’s nothing, really. Just some restaurants I could think of. No need to feel pressured.”
“Still, you went to all these places and tested them out yourself. That’s effort.”
All she’d done was jot down a few memorable places, but his gratitude felt a bit much—it almost startled her.
“I can’t just take this for free. Even if we don’t go to one of these, let me buy you a meal.
Actually, I know some great spots around the office. I used to work nearby.”
“Oh…”
Haru nodded.
But she didn’t immediately agree to the offer of dinner.
Sensing her hesitation, Woo-jin asked again:
“Does it make you uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s not that.”
It’s just one meal, that’s all.
Refusing might actually seem ruder.
They were coworkers, after all—and she’d already turned down his previous dinner invitation when she’d gone to pick up her diary from him.
Refusing again would seem impolite, so after a brief pause, she nodded.
“Sure, then. Let’s have dinner together.”
“Great. Let’s go after work.”
As soon as she agreed, Woo-jin’s face brightened.
Haru turned back to her desk and resumed working.
After work, Lee Han rolled up his sleeves again.
He was reminded of how Haru had enjoyed the pasta he’d made last time.
Tonight, he planned to make a different kind of pasta—and some steak too.
When the food was finally ready, he checked the time.
Even if she’d left work a little late, she should’ve been home by now.
He called the contact saved as “Director Dan.”
But the dial tone rang endlessly.
Eventually, he heard the recorded message saying the call couldn’t be answered.
Lowering the phone, Lee Han stared blankly at the perfectly plated meal before him.
He didn’t want to eat alone, so he decided to wait a little longer.
Thirty minutes later, when the food had gone cold, he reluctantly picked up his fork and knife.
His face was expressionless as he chewed the perfectly cooked pasta and steak.
“See you at home later.”
He could still picture her flushed face when she’d said that.
Then it hit him—she’d meant it as an invitation to have dinner together again tonight.
He realized now what his own words had implied.
They’d only shared dinner twice, purely by coincidence, yet somehow it had started to feel… natural.
Coming home from work, cooking for her—or finding that she’d cooked for him instead.
Just two dinners. And yet he’d already gotten used to it.
Without realizing it, it had started to feel like a given.
A wry, helpless laugh escaped him. Was he actually feeling hurt by her absence?
The emotion was so foreign it irritated him.
His pasta had never failed before—and tonight was no exception. Yet, strangely, it tasted like nothing.
After a few bites, he cleared away the food and left the table.
Time passed—an hour, maybe more, though it felt even longer.
Finally, he heard the sound of the door lock. Haru came in.
“You’re home late tonight.”
“Oh, yeah. Something came up last minute—dinner plans.”
“Met a friend?”
“No, not a friend.”
Her hesitant tone caught his attention. His brow twitched without him realizing.
“There’s a new guy in the Global Content Team. Turns out he used to rent the place I lived in before.”
“You mean… the one who came to see the house that time?”
“Right! Come to think of it, you saw him too, didn’t you?”
Lee Han’s head tilted—then the realization hit.
So that was why the man who’d picked Haru up in front of her office had looked familiar.
The man he’d run into after viewing Haru’s house was now working with her on the same team.
But what puzzled him was how brightly she smiled while saying it, as if it were some happy coincidence.
“Oh, by the way—I saw you called earlier. I missed it. Was something up?”
When she asked about the missed call, he replied casually:
“It’s nothing.”
“What, did you call me by mistake?”
He didn’t answer.
Haru, oblivious to his irritation, walked further inside.
“Didn’t you tell me to see you at home? In the elevator at work.”
“I did.”
“But since you were late…”
“You said ‘see you later at home,’ not when later.”
Technically, he wasn’t wrong.
“Did you have dinner together?”
“Yeah.”
Her calm tone and indifferent answer only sharpened his voice.
“One of the contract terms was ‘no seeing other people,’ remember?”
Haru froze, then turned to look at him.
“Are you saying I went on a date with another man?”
“Then what—was it a woman?”
The exchange was getting increasingly childish.
“I told you, he’s just a coworker. And the new tenant of my old place.”
“If someone who knows about us happens to see you two together, it’ll make me look ridiculous.
I’m just asking you to be a little careful.”
“What did I even do? We just had dinner and coffee, that’s all. But seriously—”
Haru let out an incredulous sigh.
“Why do I even have to explain myself to you?”
That one sentence hit hard.
He had no right to forbid her from meeting another man,
no right to tell her not to have dinner with someone else.
And she had no reason to justify herself to him.
“Why are you getting so worked up?”
“Me? Worked up?”
He let out a short, hollow laugh.
There was no reason for him to be irritated—
or so he told himself.
“Of course not.”
He shrugged it off.
“Then that’s fine.”
But it wasn’t just her imagination—he had reacted more sharply than usual.
Still, since he denied it, she couldn’t press further.
So Haru dropped the matter and walked toward her room.
