Chapter 32
Seo Isu’s low voice rang in Seungeon’s ears like a warning, leaving no time to react.
“Don’t turn around.”
Just as Seungeon instinctively began to move her head, Seo Isu’s voice stopped her with a firm shake of his tone.
“It’s Team Leader Seo, right?”
“Looks like it.”
“Team Leader! What brings you here?”
While she hesitated, familiar voices rose from behind her one after another.
The sound of approaching footsteps grew closer, making Seungeon’s shoulders shrink slightly.
Rustle.
‘……!’
At that moment, she felt Seo Isu’s large hand cover her back.
Startled, she tried to lift her head, but his hand pressed firmly against her, holding her in place.
Thump, thump.
The pounding heartbeat echoed in her ears, rattling her head, and Seungeon froze stiff as stone.
Twice in just one day.
For someone who supposedly had “issues” with physical contact with the opposite sex, she felt no resistance at all.
On the contrary, her heart—very much alive and well—pounded so violently it felt like it might leap out of her chest, making her breathing come shallow.
Whether he knew of her turmoil or not…
Laughing casually, the employees of Development Team 3, who had walked up to them, kept talking to Seo Isu.
“We just dropped by the mart before heading to the baseball stadium nearby. Never thought we’d run into you here, Team Leader!”
“Oh, really? Team Leader, if you’ve got time, why don’t you join us? We’ve even got an extra ticket.”
“Yeah! Let’s cheer together! It’s a big match today, they say it’s been sold out for ages!”
“But…”
One by one, the employees who’d been talking so freely suddenly fixed their gaze somewhere.
She didn’t need to see their faces to know.
Their eyes had turned toward—
“Who’s the person you’re with?”
The question that most of them wondered about, but didn’t dare to ask, finally slipped out of the youngest member’s mouth.
Hadn’t he only graduated half a year ago?
“Joo, Joo-yeon, you can’t just blurt that out….”
“Why not? Did I say something wrong?”
The conversation flowing from behind made Seungeon’s breathing unstable. She wanted to whirl around and say, ‘That’s your boss’s private life. You should just pretend you didn’t see anything.’ But with Seo Isu blocking her, she couldn’t move. And then—
“Besides, that back looks really familiar.”
……What?
“Team Leader isn’t the type to be with just anyone. It’s just, the back looked like someone I know, so I asked. Was I wrong?”
The youngest’s words, thrown out so innocently, left the other employees glancing at each other in discomfort.
“Well, if you put it that way….”
“I mean, it’s not really a big deal, is it?”
“It is a big deal. Whoever the Team Leader sees has nothing to do with us—”
“But if it’s someone we do know, does that change it?”
That was when it happened.
Seo Isu, who had been silently watching the employees waver, finally opened his mouth.
The chatter stopped at once.
Glancing briefly at Seungeon’s cap-covered face, Seo Isu then turned to the youngest.
“You’ve interrupted my personal time. Han Joo-yeon, even if you think you recognize someone in a situation like this, the right thing to do is pretend you don’t.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Well… if that’s how you see it, then I must’ve been wrong. Sorry. My mistake.”
Honestly, Seungeon wanted to warn the thoughtless junior employee herself.
But somehow… she couldn’t move.
“Th-then, we’ll be going!”
“See you next week at the office, Team Leader!”
“Goodnight!”
The tense air was defused with just one remark from Seo Isu, and the Development Team 3 members dragged their overly curious junior away in a hurry.
Even as their footsteps faded into the distance, Seungeon still couldn’t lift her head or make a sound.
Then—
“President.”
Seo Isu’s warm voice, breaking her daze, slipped into her ears just as dizziness made her press her lips together.
“They’re gone.”
“…What?”
“I said, they’ve all left.”
It took her a few seconds to register the meaning. Instinctively tugging her cap lower, Seungeon muttered,
“If you’ve got everything, then l-let’s go.”
“Like this? Am I doing it right?”
“Yeah. Looks like it.”
“No, I don’t trust you, sis. Isu-hyung! Is my sister doing it properly?”
“Mm. She’s doing fine.”
“See? Even Isu-hyung says so. How dare you doubt me, brat? I can do anything.”
“My sister’s amazing!”
“Of course. But Woojin-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“This… doesn’t taste good.”
Pfft—!
All weekend long.
They sat crowded around the kitchen table, making rice balls, kimbap, and even inari sushi.
Woojin’s small white face was speckled with grains of rice, yet he kept grinning ear to ear, happily stuffing the rice balls and kimbap he made into Seungeon’s mouth, while chomping down the inari sushi himself.
“Sis, I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“What the kids at school said. They told me cooking together with family would be super fun! With Mom and Dad!”
“…!”
“Well… it wasn’t with Mom and Dad exactly, but still. Sis, I had so much fun. Let’s do it again next time, okay?”
At bedtime, lying in bed and smiling brightly, Woojin spoke. For a moment, Seungeon couldn’t answer.
If it had been the old her, what would she have said?
‘We don’t have time for that. There won’t be a next time.’
She might have crushed him with cold, blunt words.
“…Yeah.”
But the Seungeon of now leaned down, kissed his forehead softly, and promised,
“Let’s do it again.”
‘Sis, you know what? I liked the old you, but now… I like you even more!’
Spending the whole weekend together, Woojin had shouted those words just before Seungeon closed his door.
Silently smiling back, she walked out of the room, though a sharp sting pricked her chest.
‘Was I too harsh before?’
Though she hadn’t given birth to him, Woojin had never been apart from her since the moment he was born.
Even now, in her memory, Woojin was still that eight-year-old boy who had just started grade school. Yet here he was, standing before thirty-four-year-old Seungeon.
‘He grew up without parents as it is.’
Back then, even at just eight years old, Woojin had spoken with a strangely mature tone.
“I’m going to study.”
“Study?”
“Yeah. I’ll work really hard so I can become someone good. Then you won’t have to do anything. I’ll get into all the schools you want me to, and I’ll help out with Dad’s company as soon as I can. So just wait a little longer, okay? I’ll grow up fast!”
How reliable he had sounded.
He had been the kind of younger brother who never once caused her trouble.
For someone like him, Seungeon could marry even a stranger without hesitation.
‘I have to find that man somehow and protect Woojin’s share.’
There wasn’t much time left.
With only about three months remaining until the will had to be fulfilled, Seungeon steeled herself once again.
Closing Woojin’s bedroom door gently, she turned toward her own temporary room.
“I’m doing my best.”
Since her guest room in Seo Isu’s house was near the entrance, she had to pass through the living room.
Just as she stepped through, she saw Seo Isu standing on the balcony, talking on the phone.
“I told you already. This will take time. I’m doing everything I can, so don’t worry too much. It’ll be resolved soon.”
His tense voice drifted through the half-open balcony window. He sighed, then turned—and his eyes met Seungeon’s.
“I’ll call you back.”
Maybe it was the look on her face that caught him off guard, but Seo Isu quickly ended the call and stepped inside.
“You’re still up?”
“Oh… yes. I was just talking with Woojin.”
“And Woojin?”
“He went to bed early. He has school tomorrow.”
Seo Isu glanced at the wall clock. Not even 10 p.m. yet.
“Kids should sleep early.”
Seungeon only smiled in response. When he turned to leave, she finally spoke up.
“Thank you.”
His steps halted.
She had wanted to say it, but the timing had always slipped away. Now the words finally came out.
“I usually hate showing weakness, so I tend to refuse help. But… given the circumstances, I keep accepting yours.”
Her smile was awkward.
“Thank you for looking out for us. Thanks to you, Woojin’s doing well, and… anyway. Really, thank you.”
Why was it so hard to say something so simple?
Her face flushed as she forced the words out, staring straight ahead.
And there, she saw him smiling faintly.
Caught off guard by that unfamiliar expression, she froze.
Seo Isu’s voice came, gentle and reassuring.
“I know you’re not weak. You’re strong.”
Seungeon stopped breathing.
“You can overcome anything on your own. I know you’re capable of that.”
“……”
“But when the day comes that it gets too hard… you’ll need someone to lean on.”
Had he ever spoken this much before?
His gaze stayed steady on her.
“That’s why I’m glad.”
He said,
“I’m glad… that when you need someone, that person can be me.”
Truly—
“…I’m glad.”
