Chapter 01
Thin rays of light pierced through the curtains, slowly spilling onto Yiyeon’s face. Eventually, bathed in the pouring sunlight, Yiyeon frowned and tossed restlessly. Her mouth felt cottony, and her head was heavy and fuzzy, like waterlogged cotton.
As she slowly opened her neatly lined eyelashes, the first thing that came into view was an unfamiliar ceiling.
“Ugh, where am I this time?”
Swooosh—
At the sound of water coming from the bathroom direction, Yiyeon’s eyes, which had been languid, snapped wide open.
It was the sound of water pouring down, as if someone had turned on a shower.
Yiyeon clutched the blanket and sat up.
As the soft sheet that had been covering her touched her bare skin, cold and without a single thread of clothing, Yiyeon hurriedly straightened her startled body.
Moreover, the sheet was noticeably crumpled only where Yiyeon had been lying, and on the table, she could see an unopened water bottle and a folded hotel card key.
While blackout drunk, she had somehow managed to get to a nearby hotel on her own, and she had felt relieved. But as fragmented, patchy memories of conversations they had exchanged came back to her, it complicated Yiyeon’s thoughts.
‘Do you like it here?’
‘Uh, no. I don’t.’
‘Haah, I’m going crazy. You started it, and you’re so calm about it.’
What did he look like?
Piecing together the fragmented memories with difficulty, she saw herself clinging to a man, who was letting out sensual moans and engaging in blunt, honest conversation without hesitation.
“Ha, Yoo Yiyeon, you’ve really gone and done it now.”
As she fell into self-loathing and tugged at her hair, a faint sound of the water stopping came from the crack of the bathroom door.
“Ugh, what can I do about spilled milk now?”
Snapping back to her senses, Yiyeon put her feet down on the floor below the mattress. Among the underwear and clothes scattered messily under the bed, she picked up the blouse that had fallen to the floor—relatively intact—and put it on.
Frantic, she even put on her skirt and, holding her breath, sneaked out of the bedroom as if running away. At that moment, Yiyeon didn’t yet know that she would come to regret this very instant.
It was the first morning that felt different for Yiyeon, who worked as a third-year legal assistant at the law firm Beop-hyeon.
Since she had an appointment with a client in the afternoon and couldn’t even stop by home, Yiyeon had quickly washed up in the shower room provided at the law firm. As she came out, she suddenly looked down at her oddly empty top.
“No matter how rushed I was, this is insane.”
Even if the drunken mistake was one thing, in her hurry to get dressed and leave, she only realized while washing up that she wasn’t wearing a bra. She let out a deep sigh, acutely feeling the empty sensation where it should have been. She wondered if she should be grateful that at least the clothes she managed to put on weren’t a complete mess.
If it weren’t for the trial tomorrow, she would have taken at least a half-day off, but she was so pressed for time she didn’t even have that luxury.
Not knowing when she might have to meet a client unexpectedly, she chose the darkest colored jacket from the ones she kept in the office and put it on. It was the best she could do to hide the outline.
When she returned to the office, the diligent office manager was already at work.
“Assistant Manager Yoo, you’re here?”
“Good morning.”
“Aren’t you hot?” the office manager asked, looking at Yiyeon, who had neatly buttoned her jacket tightly, concerned about the somewhat high indoor temperature.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Yiyeon replied with an awkward smile.
Then the office manager abruptly asked about her whereabouts from the previous night. “By the way, did you go there yesterday? My regular wine bar—the owner said he saw you.”
Last night, Yiyeon had gone to a wine bar alone for the first time. Once inside, she realized it was the bar her colleagues had recommended before, saying firm employees frequented it. But it was her first time going alone.
“Ah… my plans got canceled, so I stopped by briefly.”
‘Plans? What plans?’
Yiyeon glossed over it with a lie.
Smiling to smooth over the situation, Yiyeon made an excuse about having urgent documents to process and sat down at her desk, avoiding the office manager’s gaze. Just then, the sound of brisk, irritated footsteps approached her desk from the entrance.
“Assistant Manager Yoo, can you see me for a moment?”
It was Lawyer Song Ju-ho, the managing partner of Beop-hyeon Law Firm.
“Right now?”
As Yiyeon hesitated with an uncomfortable expression, Ju-ho narrowed his sharp eyes behind his thin, sleek glasses.
“It’s urgent because of the trial tomorrow. Bring the documents and come to my office.”
Adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose with a nervous gesture, Ju-ho threw out the words curtly and went into his room.
“What’s wrong? Is something going on?” the office manager mouthed, asking if something had happened, given Ju-ho’s unusually prickly attitude since morning.
“He must be sensitive because of the trial he’s handling this time,” Yiyeon said with a bright smile, brushing it off calmly as if it were nothing. She gathered the files containing the trial materials and entered his office.
“What the hell is this?” Ju-ho shouted at Yiyeon, tossing a shopping bag he was holding onto the desk without preamble.
“Please watch your language in the office.”
“Yoo Yiyeon, are you really okay with ending things like this with me?”
“Haven I been clear from the very beginning?” she replied.
This man, who acted as if he held all the power and knew how to get under her skin, was, until just yesterday, someone she could have called her boyfriend.
‘Why did you open my case file without permission? If there’s something you need, Assistant Manager Yoo, I can help you. But in return, if I help you, what will you give me, Ms. Yiyeon?’
As luck would have it, the lawyer handling the case Yiyeon was looking for clues on was Song Ju-ho.
In fact, even aside from the case, since becoming work partners a month ago, Ju-ho had said he was drawn to Yiyeon’s honest and accommodating personality. But the reality was different. He was a man with an extremely picky preference for looks.
The long, narrow eyes that curved beautifully when he smiled within his delicate facial features, the high bridge of his nose, the small, full lips that looked like they were painted with bright red cherry color against her fair skin, the slender, long limbs, and the smooth, curvaceous lines with just the right volume—all passed his fastidious standards.
‘I like you a lot, Ms. Yiyeon. Are you interested in dating?’
After much consideration, Yiyeon accepted. She thought that becoming a little closer to him might make it easier to get his help, and as a work partner, he wasn’t a bad person, so it seemed like a decent proposal.
‘I’m not getting married. If you’re okay with a light, casual relationship… then let’s give it a try.’
But perhaps because it was her first attempt at a relationship in several years, her expectations were too high. His shallow true nature, which pretended to be considerate on the surface, was revealed before long.
‘Do you want to stay over? I booked a hotel room.’
He seemed dissatisfied with Yiyeon’s repeated refusals and had been quiet for a while. Feeling somewhat sorry about that, Yiyeon had tried to at least maintain the facade of a couple, but her shallow romantic feelings were completely shattered last night in his lit-up office.
He had postponed their date, citing overtime work after a business trip. So, Yiyeon bought him a shirt and tie and went to his office.
As expected, the hallway was dark, with everyone having left work. The only light seeped out from under the crack of his office door.
Just as Yiyeon reached out to grab the handle, an unexpected, long moan flowed out from the slightly ajar door.
‘Turn around.’
‘Haah, Lawyer Song, do you often have this kind of relationship with clients?’
‘Uh, is that really something to say in this situation?’
‘Ahh~ I like it.’
‘Dating is too bothersome. It’s easier to just enjoy things as they come.’
Exposed defenselessly to the wet moans of the two people, lost in their excitement, Yiyeon momentarily lost her senses and froze on the spot. After hesitating for a moment, Yiyeon even took off the necklace she had received as a gift at the start of their relationship, put it in the shopping bag, left it in front of the door, and turned away.
“Even so, is this really necessary? To end things like this?” Ju-ho’s pressuring voice gradually changed, losing its dignity and becoming increasingly desperate.
“My previous relationship with Lawyer Song was more comfortable.”
“So you’re really ending it with me? Yiyeon, I love you.”
Loosening his tightly knotted tie in haste, he poured out his emotions, which were close to a desperate outcry.
“I never loved you, Lawyer Song.”
She thought she would feel relieved, but the sting was probably because of the feelings she had invested until now. Yiyeon let out a hollow laugh with a wry face.
“You knew I was divorced and still asked to date me. That means I cherished you that much.”
“I never thought my divorce was a flaw. And you were the one who understood that, Lawyer Song.”
“No, that’s not what I meant—”
“I believe I’ve made my position clear. I’ll take my leave now. I’ll organize the trial documents you mentioned by this morning.”
“Hey, Yoo Yiyeon!”
“We no longer have a personal relationship, Lawyer Song. So, please don’t speak to me like that.”
Pretending not to hear Ju-ho’s raised voice, Yiyeon left the office. The office manager wasn’t at his desk. Yiyeon made an effort to compose herself and returned to her seat.
Soon after, Ju-ho, unable to contain his anger, followed her out, fuming. He immediately approached Yiyeon’s desk, looking down at her obliquely over the partition and raising his voice.
“Do you really have to go this far over one mistake?”
“Isn’t that your issue, Lawyer Song? Why don’t you just stop worrying about me and date whoever you want, like you always do? I don’t see what the problem is.”
“You still need me, don’t you?”
Instantly, Yiyeon’s face turned cold. At Ju-ho’s brazen use of his last resort, Yiyeon scoffed.
Why was he pretending to be so attached? Just as Yiyeon’s patience reached its limit and she finally lifted her cold gaze towards him, the office manager’s hearty voice came from the entrance.
“Ah, here you all are.”
But then, the face of the man entering the law firm office with the office manager caught Yiyeon’s eye.
Once she recognized the person, Yiyeon, with a dazed expression, struggled to steady her wavering gaze. However, the man, who had approached her nonchalantly, abruptly held out a shopping bag.
“Long time no see. Yoo Yiyeon.”
Poking out from the open top of the bag she received absentmindedly was the underwear Yiyeon had left behind that morning.
