Chapter 24
Lee Yeon glanced toward the office manager’s desk as she entered the law firm.
“The manager isn’t here.”
She couldn’t just wait idly for the manager, who was away from his desk.
She had to find the documents he had asked for.
Lee Yeon opened the cabinet door and began taking out the binders one by one.
The sound of the metal drawer moving and the faint smell of paper subtly permeated the air.
Just as she was about to place one binder on the desk, a low, soft voice came from behind her.
“Manager Yu.”
She turned her head to see Song Ju-ho standing there.
His jacket was off, draped over one arm, and one of his shirt buttons was loosely undone.
His eyes held a mix of fatigue, hesitation, and subtle regret.
“You’re here.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.”
Her answer was short and calm.
Ju-ho bit his lip and took a step closer.
“Yeon-ah, let’s talk. That day, I was too emotional.”
“Attorney Song, I came here even though I’m on leave because the manager asked me to.”
“Just for a moment.”
“I don’t even want a moment.”
At Lee Yeon’s firm refusal, the tips of Ju-ho’s fingers trembled slightly.
But her bewilderment didn’t end there.
“Did you get home safely last night?”
A familiar low voice naturally seeped into the air.
Lee Yeon looked up in surprise.
Woo-kyung was walking into the office with a relaxed gait.
“I saw you get into a taxi and wondered if you had collapsed again.”
His tone seemed ordinary, but Lee Yeon soon noticed the intent behind it.
In an instant, Ju-ho’s expression hardened.
“What? Were you two together last night?”
A short silence passed.
Flustered, Lee Yeon thought she needed to handle this situation first.
She took a breath and spoke.
“Attorney Song.”
Lee Yeon held out the binder she had taken from the cabinet.
“These are the documents the manager was looking for. Please pass them on.”
Ju-ho was momentarily speechless.
Meanwhile, Lee Yeon turned her head toward Woo-kyung.
“Attorney Cha. Let’s step out for a moment.”
Once in the hallway and the office door closed, Lee Yeon asked in a low voice,
“Why are you unnecessarily provoking Attorney Song and escalating things?”
“I didn’t provoke him; I sorted things out.”
Woo-kyung’s reply was relaxed.
“Sorted things out?”
“Yeah. I let the person who still has feelings for you know it’s time to give up now.”
Lee Yeon’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Why is Attorney Cha worried about that?”
Woo-kyung let out a short laugh.
“If I’d known it would be like this, I should have said everything back then.”
Lee Yeon’s gaze wavered.
“…What do you mean?”
“If I had told you then, at least you wouldn’t have ended up with someone else.”
A short stillness flowed, and his gaze pierced through her.
“Yoo Lee Yeon.”
He took a step closer.
“I haven’t even started yet.”
For a moment, her breath caught, a suffocating tightness gripping her throat.
“So,” Woo-kyung continued softly.
“Brace yourself.”
The once calm air had somehow become strangely heated.
Lee Yeon barely steadied her breath and opened her mouth.
“…Attorney Cha. What you just said, you’re joking, right?”
“I wish I were.”
The corners of his lips curved slowly.
“But aren’t you off today?”
Lee Yeon fiddled with the hem of her shirt with her fingertips.
Only then did she notice what she was wearing.
A cardigan, jeans, hair tied back tightly, a face without makeup.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should have at least changed my clothes…’
As Lee Yeon raised her hands to re-tie her hair tie, Woo-kyung added,
“If you’re wondering, you look prettier without makeup.”
Lee Yeon’s eyes widened.
“What kind of thing is that to say all of a sudden?”
“Well, I don’t know either. The situation just keeps flowing that way.”
“The situation?”
“Yeah.”
Woo-kyung’s gaze softened and deepened.
“When I see you, those kinds of words just come out first.”
Lee Yeon’s breath shook briefly.
“…Why?”
“Isn’t it strange? I don’t know the reason either.”
With a bewildered face, Lee Yeon quietly caught her breath. But somewhere in her chest felt oddly ticklish.
Woo-kyung glanced down at his wristwatch and turned to leave.
“I have a meeting, so I’m going in.”
His retreating back disappeared down the end of the hallway.
His scent faintly scattered in the air he left behind.
Lee Yeon remained standing there.
Her fingertips trembled subtly, and her breathing wouldn’t calm down easily.
‘Haven’t even started yet?’
That one phrase kept circling in Lee Yeon’s head for a long time.
***
Lee Yeon leaned her head against the bus window and watched the slowly passing cityscape.
‘Why did he suddenly say he wanted a divorce?’
Woo-kyung’s voice, which had suddenly crossed her mind, came back to her.
When she heard those words, Lee Yeon couldn’t say anything.
Only her fingertips gradually grew cold.
What on earth could she have said to explain?
She had believed that divorce announcement, spat out without knowing the reason, was the right choice for both of them.
Looking back now, it was a clumsy and foolish decision.
‘Well, it’s understandable.’
Lee Yeon let out a short breath and muttered as if talking to herself.
But back then, he had accepted the documents calmly and just nodded without a word, and now he was reappearing, complicating everything.
‘Yoo Lee Yeon, I haven’t even started yet.’
His last words from the hallway brushed against her ear again.
“…I’m such a fool.”
A deep sigh escaped her lips.
As the bus stopped, Lee Yeon got off immediately.
The cool early evening breeze brushed past her cheek.
Just as she turned the corner and the villa entrance came into view, a truck was parked in the distance.
Large boxes were stacked up, and moving company employees were busily going in and out.
“Moving in all of a sudden?”
She hadn’t heard anything about someone moving in until recently.
Who could be moving into this small villa complex so suddenly?
Perhaps a new tenant had moved into the unit next door, which had been empty for a while.
Thinking about how the owner had been struggling with it, Lee Yeon tilted her head.
But dismissing it as unimportant, she was about to move on when she suddenly thought of the inside of her refrigerator.
“I should stop by the supermarket.”
After visiting the supermarket, Lee Yeon returned with her arms full of shopping bags.
Just as she was entering the villa entrance, an elderly man was bent over, sorting recyclables.
“Hello, Grandpa.”
When Lee Yeon greeted him brightly, the old man with furrowed brows looked up.
“Ah, you’re here, young lady. Are things a bit quieter these days?”
“Yes, it’s a little better these days.”
As Lee Yeon smiled brightly, the old man grumbled as if he had been waiting.
“See the person who moved in today? They just threw all this away without sorting the recyclables.”
The old man, irritated, pointed at the pile of boxes with the tip of his foot.
“Boxes aren’t flattened, plastics are all mixed up. Really, no common sense.”
“Ah, you must mean the person who moved in earlier.”
“Yeah, they’ve been moving noisily since noon. But I heard they’re next to you, young lady.”
“Next to me?”
So her guess was correct.
Lee Yeon’s eyes widened slightly.
“Yeah. Next to your place. They said they moved in there. Have a word with them, like before. Everyone listens well to you, young lady.”
Within the villa complex, Lee Yeon’s name was quite well-known.
After rumors spread that she worked at a law firm, neighbors often asked her to mediate minor disputes or problems.
This time was no exception.
“Me?”
“Yeah, as a greeting too. Young people should be polite to each other.”
An awkward laugh escaped Lee Yeon’s lips.
After hesitating for a moment, Lee Yeon eventually nodded.
“Then I’ll try to say hello at least.”
“Good, it’ll be sorted out quickly once you go.”
As the old man brushed off his hands, looking satisfied, Lee Yeon said goodbye and went into the villa.
When Lee Yeon arrived at her floor, one fluorescent light was flickering, emitting a weak glow.
Placing the supermarket bags in front of her entrance, Lee Yeon pressed the neighbor’s doorbell without hesitation.
*Ding-dong.*
She waited for a moment, but there was no response.
“Are they not home?”
She muttered softly and pressed it once more.
Again, it was quiet.
“Guess they haven’t come in yet.”
Just as she was about to turn away in resignation.
*Tap, tap.*
The sound of low, solid footsteps echoed up the stairs.
Thinking they might have returned, Lee Yeon turned around, and a familiar silhouette came into her view.
The man, dressed in a neat suit, had a key ring dangling from his hand.
As his face, bathed in the light, became clearer, Lee Yeon’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Cha Woo-kyung, what on earth are you doing here?”
Woo-kyung stopped walking, leisurely raised the corners of his mouth, and asked,
“I was about to say the same thing.”
“Huh?”
“What business do you have at my house?”
At those words, Lee Yeon’s fingertips instinctively clenched around the shopping bags.
