BTNF 12🔐

Chapter 12 …

A short while later, the Malaysia business trip was officially confirmed during the team’s regular meeting.

Uju felt a sudden emptiness, and for a moment, her vision blurred—but she kept her expression neutral and helped tidy up after the meeting ended.

“Wow! It’s been ages since we left on time!”

In contrast, the team members’ faces were bright. Just moments ago, Haebum had said they could leave on time today.

“Manager Yu.”

As everyone hurried out of the conference room, a deep, steady voice called after her.

Uju turned back, unsure if it was the same man who had recently wiped her tears in front of everyone. But the man standing there, Haebum, looked at her with calm, composed eyes.

“I reviewed the report you submitted this morning, and there are numerous errors in the figures. Please revise it and submit it again tomorrow.”

“Ah… yes. Understood.”

Errors in the numbers—just like that? She hadn’t made such mistakes even as a newcomer. What was going on?

Her puzzled look caught the attention of the remaining team members, including Kyungsoo.

“Manager Yu, ever since your mental state went off track, you’re making mistakes you never used to.”

Kyungsoo patted Uju’s shoulder reassuringly.

“It’s okay. As long as you’re confident, that’s what matters. You know how these silly rumors die down quickly as if they never existed.”

“Yes…”

“No one in our team cares, so don’t stress too much about it, okay?”

Uju gave a bitter smile and nodded.

After the incident at the café with Giuk, the rumors had spread through the entire company in an instant. Uju had become, in everyone’s eyes, a woman involved with her superior—and, to make matters worse, her fatherless private life had also become gossip.

But she was more worried about Haebum than herself.

If he were to suffer any damage or be inconvenienced simply for helping her that day, it would be unfair.

If Haebum ends up harmed because of me…

She didn’t even want to imagine it.

Though she had brushed the incident aside awkwardly, from that day onward, it became more difficult for Uju to interact with Haebum.

More accurately, she couldn’t ignore the attention of others. Haebum was someone from a completely different world. Even if this hadn’t happened, she would have had to be careful now.

Back at her desk, Uju started handling the remaining tasks. Since Haebum had said they could leave on time, there wouldn’t be additional work, and she intended to lightly check the report that had so many errors.

“I’ll leave first. I’ll turn off the lights by the entrance. See you all tomorrow.”

“Good work today! See you tomorrow!”

After six in the evening, team members gradually left the office.

But Uju stayed behind, accessing the shared server. Even though she had been given until tomorrow, finishing tasks the same day was a habit she couldn’t break.

Opening the report, Uju furrowed her brows.

What… this is really strange.

Even to her eyes, the numbers in the report were completely off. With errors this obvious, there was no way she wouldn’t have noticed while organizing the data—it made no sense.

Originally, this task had been Uju’s responsibility, but by instruction of Section Chief Ok, it had been passed to Somi.

Since the handover had been abrupt, Uju had meticulously transferred all the data she had compiled, and Somi had prepared the report based on it.

I’m sure. There was nothing odd when I handed over the data.

Then it must have been Somi who made the mistake—but the errors were far too numerous and absurd to be simple mistakes.

As Uju tilted her head in confusion and opened the backup folder to review her own organized data, a sudden presence startled her.

“You’re not leaving?”

Turning around, Uju saw Haebum leaning casually against the partition.

“Even though I let you leave on time.”

“I’m just checking the errors in the data.”

“I told you it’s fine until tomorrow.”

He moved closer, resting a hand on her desk and leaning over.

An unfamiliar scent suddenly reached her nose. Uju’s face flushed at the sudden closeness. She quickly grabbed the mouse, trying to maintain composure.

“Ah… I’m sure the numbers were correct when I sent the data…”

“So the person compiling it messed up?”

“……”

“Not true?”

Uju glanced around the dim, empty office and only then spoke.

“We don’t know yet. That’s why I’m checking.”

Somi wasn’t the type to make such mistakes since joining the company. So a careful review was necessary—and Uju didn’t want to blame the junior for something like this.

Haebum, arms crossed, silently watched her, then pulled a chair beside her and sat down.

“Let’s do it together.”

Uju tensed, frozen, as the distance between their shoulders narrowed. Before she could fully comprehend the situation, Haebum took the mouse and began reviewing the data with clicks and scrolls.

Feeling as though her homework was being inspected, Uju nudged him with her elbow.

“What are you doing? Go away. I’ll do it myself.”

“You’re staying late because of me.”

“No, it’s not because of you. I just…”

She trailed off, stopped by the familiar scent hitting her again.

Uju looked at Haebum with a strange expression. It wasn’t ordinary body scent, nor perfume—it was distinctly his natural scent.

And it faintly reminded her of the alumni reunion she so vividly tried to recall.

She had even checked the karaoke photos recently uploaded in the group chat. Haebum wasn’t in any of them. In the fragments of her recovered memory, there was no image of him singing.

So that meant he hadn’t gone to the karaoke—it meant he had deliberately waited outside for her.

“Ji Haebum.”

Uju could no longer hold back.

“Why didn’t you go home that day, even though you said you were tired?”

If she didn’t clarify now, she feared being swept away by the past all over again.

If it hadn’t been Haebum who walked her home, he would have questioned her—and she would have had to claim it was someone else, that it was Bae Jiseung who brought her home.

But Haebum, cutting straight to the point, understood her unspoken question perfectly—and calmly shattered her wish.

“I was picking up the deputy anyway.”

After answering, he looked into her eyes.

The office was silent enough to hear their breaths. Their gazes locked, and her heart started pounding.

It seemed trivial, escorting a childhood friend home, but she remembered the group chat from that day.

Are you guys okay? My throat is dead lol

They had spent three hours at the karaoke. That meant Haebum had waited outside for three hours just to walk her home.

Oblivious to the storm in her mind, Haebum cast a teasing look at her.

“You remember? I thought you’d blacked out.”

Uju, not in the mood to indulge him, asked in a low, controlled voice:

“What about Hajung and Jiseung? Did you take them home too?”

“They were going the opposite way.”

“Where do you live now?”

Regardless of where Haebum stayed, along the route from the karaoke to Uju’s home, Hajung’s officetel was definitely on the way.

His inconsistent answers were uncharacteristic of meticulous Haebum.

Only then did he realize she was probing him, and he gave no further reply.

As the quiet gaze lingered, Uju’s palms began to sweat.

Haebum’s special treatment was familiar. But that had ended twelve years ago. Continuing it now, she thought, only made her feel foolish.

As silence stretched, she felt suffocated.

She didn’t even dare swallow—his calm gaze seemed to hide something important, and her heart raced.

Should I tell him I still have hazy memories like a dream? That I leaned on him to sleep, that he held my hand, that he whispered he missed me?

“Uju.”

Then, for a brief moment, his eyes shimmered strangely. And just as that light seemed to fade…

“Guess you don’t remember everything.”

Haebum lowered his gaze and gave a small smile.

That simple gesture caused all of Uju’s senses to sharpen instantly.