Chapter 23
Tap, tap.
Just around the time for people to get off work, a heavy rain started pouring down. It showed no sign of letting up, almost as if monsoon season had arrived.
“Ah, I don’t have an umbrella. This is bad.”
“We don’t have any spares, either.”
The employees bustled about, flustered by the sudden downpour.
“Ms. Han, do you have an umbrella?”
“No. I don’t either.”
“Oh no, how will you get home? The bus stop is pretty far.”
“I’ll give you a ride.”
Sunyong interjected again, out of nowhere.
“……”
Both Seoha and the staff openly expressed their discomfort, but Sunyong didn’t seem to care as he turned to Seoha.
“I’ll drive you home, Ms. Han.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to go through the trouble.”
“It’s no trouble at all. It’s something I ought to do.”
And why exactly is it something you ought to do?
“Our houses are in the same direction anyway, so you don’t need to decline.”
“How do you even know where I live?”
She had never told this man her address.
When Seoha asked suspiciously, Sunyong scratched his cheek, visibly flustered.
“Ah, well…”
He was even stammering. Seoha narrowed her eyes.
The other employees were also giving him doubtful looks, prompting Sunyong to awkwardly explain,
“I, uh, went to the director’s office and happened to see the staff list. Your address was on there. It was just a coincidence, really.”
Seoha could bet her entire fortune that it wasn’t a coincidence but that he’d looked on purpose.
But without concrete proof, she couldn’t press him further and turned away.
“You really don’t need to drive me. I’ll just call a cab.”
She spoke firmly, trying to shut him down for good, but the clueless man didn’t seem to get it.
“It’s dangerous for a woman to take a taxi alone at night, especially in this kind of rain. Just take my car.”
Sigh. A deep breath of frustration rose from within her.
“Looks like I’ll have to say it plainly for you to get the message, Dr. Cha.”
Seoha had tried to avoid conflict, since Sunyong was the son of Jin-hyuk, whom she respected as a mentor, and also because they were colleagues who’d be working together whether she liked it or not.
That was the reason she had defended him when Jinseong asked her about him earlier.
But if he kept acting clueless and pushy like this, she’d have no choice but to draw a hard line.
“I’d rather get drenched in the rain than ride in your car.”
Sunyong’s eyes widened, shocked by her blunt words.
“Oh my.”
“She finally snapped.”
The other employees watched with popcorn-worthy curiosity.
Seriously, what a mess. All because of this guy.
Clicking her tongue, Seoha turned her back. She didn’t want to be anyone’s spectacle anymore.
“Aren’t you being too harsh?”
But Sunyong wasn’t done. He grabbed her wrist and shouted loudly, as if to make sure everyone heard.
“I was just trying to do something nice as a fellow colleague! This is too cold.”
“A kindness that the other person doesn’t want isn’t kindness—it’s just meddling.”
“What, what did you say? Unbelievable.”
“And this, for the record, is harassment.”
Seoha yanked her wrist free and said coldly,
“If you touch me again without my permission, I’ll report you to the police.”
*
Night duty at the animal hospital ran from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The hospital was closed from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m., but a vet was always on call to monitor the animals staying overnight.
“Hello, Dr. Han.”
“Welcome. Here’s the list of animals admitted today.”
Thirty minutes before 10 p.m., Seoha handed the list over to the on-duty vet as he arrived.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Don’t worry. Get home safe. It’s pouring outside.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Geez, I thought the sky had a hole in it. I drove over and still ended up soaked.”
The vet laughed dryly, shaking the water off his shoulders.
By the time she’d finished handing everything over, it was already past closing time. The other employees had gone home long ago.
“Sorry to keep you so long. Please head home, Dr. Han.”
“Sure. See you tomorrow.”
After gathering her coat and bag, Seoha stepped outside and stared up at the downpour.
The on-duty vet had said it felt like a hole had been punched in the sky—and he wasn’t wrong. The rain was absolutely torrential.
“I guess I’ll just call a cab here.”
She’d thought about going to a convenience store to buy an umbrella, but she’d probably get soaked just walking there.
Seoha used her app to call a cab, but the rain was so heavy that it was taking forever to get one.
“Maybe if I call the taxi company directly, I’ll get one faster.”
She was searching for a company number online when a blinding light fell across her phone screen.
Looking up, she saw a mid-sized sedan with its headlights blazing. It was Cha Sunyong’s car. She’d seen him driving it after work dinners before.
She thought he’d left already—had he stuck around?
If the engine was on, he should’ve just left. Why was he still here?
It was strange, but she quickly brushed it off.
Whatever Sunyong was doing had nothing to do with her.
She looked back down at her phone, but then heard a car door open—and footsteps in the rain approaching her.
“Dr. Han.”
So he hadn’t gotten the message earlier, huh?
Seoha let out an audible sigh and looked up at him.
“Let’s talk.”
That word “let’s” had never sounded more irritating.
“Go ahead.”
Her curt tone made Sunyong frown.
“Do you really hate me that much?”
“It’s not that I hate you. I just find you annoying.”
And honestly, a bit creepy.
“What do I have to do for you to like me?”
“Nothing. Doing nothing might actually make you a little more tolerable.”
Not that she’d ever see him as anything more than a coworker.
“If you’ve got nothing else to say, I’ll be going now.”
She was about to call another cab but figured she might be better off just walking to a convenience store. The longer she stayed, the more Sunyong would cling.
“Wait!”
He tried to grab her wrist again as she walked past him.
Smack—
But before he could touch her, another hand darted out and intercepted him.
“They say pretty flowers attract the most bugs. Looks like that’s true.”
The smooth English, the familiar voice—it struck her ears like a bell. The familiar scent that enveloped her made her look up instinctively.
“You…”
Didn’t he say he’d be gone for a while? Why was he here?
Her eyes widened.
The gray eyes that met hers curved gently. A droplet of water slid off the black umbrella that matched his hair.
Ethan, having practically flung off Sunyong’s hand, wrapped an arm around Seoha’s shoulders.
“Why else would I be here?”
His soft voice mixed perfectly with the sound of the pouring rain.
“I missed you.”
“Who the hell are you?”
Sunyong’s sharp voice sliced through the moment. His eyes blazed as he glared at Ethan.
Though Sunyong was tall, Ethan was taller—forcing him to look up.
Maybe that bruised his ego, because the veins in his neck popped, and his grip on his umbrella started to tremble.
“I said, who are you?!”
“Asking someone else who they are before introducing yourself? That’s bad manners.”
“Speak Korean, damn it!”
“If you insist.”
When Ethan replied in fluent Korean, Sunyong paused, clearly shocked.
Ethan smirked. At that mocking grin, Sunyong’s face flushed red with fury.
“You bastard—!”
He lunged at Ethan, fists clenched, but—
“Ugh!”
He didn’t get far. Instead, he got knocked down hard and tumbled across the wet pavement.
His umbrella flew off in the distance. The heavy rain pelted his sprawled body mercilessly.
Ethan looked down at him with cold eyes and curled his lips.
“You’re weaker than you look.”
“That’s enough.”
Seoha grabbed Ethan’s arm, trying to stop him. He looked down at her with slight disbelief.
“You’re taking his side?”
“No, I’m taking your side. But this could turn into a family matter.”
Sunyong was human trash, but his father Jin-hyuk was a member of the powerful Cha family—specifically, the half-brother of family head Jinseong.
If Jin-hyuk made a fuss about this, things could get messy.
One punch could be considered self-defense, but anything more couldn’t be justified.
“So please, stop here.”
“……”
Ethan stared at her with reluctant eyes, then turned away.
At that moment, the headlights illuminating them shifted, followed by the roar of an engine. The mid-sized sedan vanished down the road.
“He ran off.”
“Yeah… guess he was really scared of you.”
“Shall we go?”
“I think I’ll just call a cab.”
“I brought a car.”
“You can drive? Wait, you have a car in Korea?”
“I borrowed one. From Mikhail.”
Mikhail’s a foreigner too, but he has a car in Korea?
“Let’s go.”
Ethan grabbed her waist and pulled her under the umbrella.
His sudden closeness made his scent invade her lungs, and Seoha instinctively pushed him away.
“Hey, back off.”
“The umbrella’s too small.”
Now that she thought about it, it really was too small for the two of them.
If he was coming to get her, why did he bring only one umbrella?
Grumbling to herself, Seoha walked alongside him.
The parts of her body touching his felt overly noticeable, making her shoulders tense up.
“Where’d you park?”
“Back alley behind the clinic.”
“Why there? You could’ve parked in the clinic lot.”
“The front lot was blocked by that guy’s car, and the back lot gate was closed.”
Oh, right.
The front was for employees, and the back was for clients—and that entrance was locked when the clinic closed.
“This way.”
Please don’t let it be too far, Seoha prayed as she followed Ethan.
Just as they were about to enter the alley behind the clinic—
A car suddenly shot out of it at high speed.
“……!”
Ethan instantly pulled Seoha into his arms. Her body spun, and her cheek slammed against his chest.
What just happened?
Seoha blinked, stunned, and looked up at him—just as a massive splash of dirty rainwater flew at them like a tidal wave.
