Chapter 22
Don’t Go, Lee Hye-won
After the site inspection and the executives’ meeting, there was a company dinner.
Shin-woo ended up attending the dinner as well. It was due to a heartfelt request from the chairman of Jaerim Construction, who wanted him to boost employee morale ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Media City construction project.
Since most of the staff had long experience on construction sites, their drinking capacity was no joke. Shin-woo kept accepting one drink after another, and before he knew it, he had overdrunk compared to his usual limit.
He had completely lost track of time, forgetting to check even when the clock had long passed midnight.
Supported by Assistant Im, he collapsed into the car, thoroughly intoxicated.
Maybe it was because he had drunk soju, which he normally avoided. How much had he had? The splitting headache made him naturally irritable.
“Assistant Im, did I drink a lot?”
“Don’t even ask. You didn’t drink like this even back in college.”
A half-reproach, half-concern comment from Assistant Im brought a small smile to Shin-woo’s lips. It seemed he had drunk quite a bit.
“Then why didn’t you stop me?”
“You always blame me at moments like this. Why didn’t you just maintain your usual courtesy and decline the drinks? Was there something bothering you?”
“Hmm, maybe I just felt like drinking.”
Shin-woo lowered his eyelids as he replied.
Why had he done that? Acting so unlike himself…
Thinking it over, he realized the root cause was Lee Hye-won.
Her indecisive hesitation, the peppermint tea she shyly offered as if remembering his frequent drinking habits—it all kept nagging at him.
He had never concerned himself with someone he didn’t care about before, so he had to admit it by now.
Lee Hye-won mattered to him. There was still some lingering resentment inside him regarding her.
And now what? Did he have the heart to forgive her and let her back by his side?
“…No way.”
He would not be swayed again. It was the alcohol’s fault.
The fact that he was seriously thinking about something he wouldn’t normally even consider showed how shaken he was.
Even if he returned to the first time they had met, he had no intention of rekindling any feelings toward Lee Hye-won.
Shin-woo deliberately stopped himself from thinking further.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“Nothing. I’ll just rest my eyes for a bit.”
“Alright. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
Leaning his head on the headrest, Shin-woo felt no need to fret over emotions that would disappear once he sobered up.
It would just be a waste of unnecessary feelings.
“The director’s coming home really late…”
The clock now pointed to 3 a.m.
Hye-won, who had been glancing repeatedly at the clock and the front door, heard the door lock disengage and quickly got up.
She hurried to the entrance and met the eyes of Assistant Im, who was carrying Shin-woo inside.
“Assistant Im?”
“Oh, Hye-won. You’re still awake?”
“Yes… But how did Director get this drunk?”
Hye-won placed his arm around Shin-woo’s opposite shoulder and asked.
“Apparently, after the site inspection, an impromptu dinner was arranged. He usually drinks moderately and leaves early, but tonight, for some reason, he overdrank.”
Was something troubling him?
Shin-woo rarely showed such a disheveled side, so Hye-won couldn’t help but worry.
“I see. Ah, I’ll take him to his room, so you can leave now, Assistant Im. It’s really late.”
Hye-won told the sweating assistant as she helped Shin-woo lean against the sofa.
“That’s very kind of you, but are you sure you can handle it alone, Hye-won?”
“If necessary, you can sleep here, too.”
She patted the sofa jokingly, causing Assistant Im to smirk and say he’d leave it to her, quickly heading out.
After seeing Assistant Im off, Hye-won returned to the sofa and shook Shin-woo awake.
“Director, please wake up for a moment, alright?”
“……”
Shin-woo didn’t stir, seemingly in a deep sleep.
“This is troublesome. Maybe I should have brought him upstairs with Assistant Im after all.”
Seeing Shin-woo frown in discomfort, she sighed.
She carefully raised his arm to remove the tight jacket. At that moment, Shin-woo opened his eyes.
“Oh? Director, you’re awake?”
“……”
He didn’t answer, only staring at her.
Why was he staring so intensely?
Embarrassed by his persistent gaze, Hye-won tried to turn her head and rise.
Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed, and she was pulled forward.
By the time she realized it, she was straddling Shin-woo.
“Are you alright, Director?”
Startled, she tried to sit up, but Shin-woo’s arms held her in place, making it impossible to move.
The harder she tried to escape, the tighter he held her.
“D-Director, at least… your hands!”
“Don’t go. Lee Hye-won.”
His earnest voice pierced her ear.
“D-Director?”
Her heart sank.
When she called him hesitantly, his confused eyes slowly shifted toward her.
They looked both bewildered and delighted to see her.
Hye-won, flustered by the unfamiliar expression and gaze he had never shown since their reunion, froze.
Gradually, Shin-woo’s face drew closer, and their lips met.
“……”
“……”
Was this a dream?
The touch of his lips was so vivid it could not be a dream.
Pulling away slightly, Shin-woo smiled faintly.
“I’ve searched for you so much. Now, please… don’t go anywhere. Stay by my side…”
Their eyes met awkwardly across the narrow gap.
With a face painfully sad, Shin-woo pressed his lips to hers again.
It was a gentle kiss, as if to say that his previous harshness was never his true feelings.
When he woke, it was the dim early morning.
Shin-woo groaned, grabbed his aching head, and stretched to wake his stiff body.
‘Did Assistant Im carry me to the sofa?’
He remembered falling asleep in the car, but nothing after that.
The hangover from the heavy drinking had erased his memory.
Shin-woo headed straight to the bathroom.
The moment the water hit him in the shower, the dream from the previous night came to mind.
A dream of Lee Hye-won.
Once, he had wished to see her in dreams every night. She would run somewhere, and he would chase after her endlessly, a hopeless, endless pursuit.
At the time, he had been grateful for any chance to see her.
But once he realized dreams were no different from reality’s hell, dreaming itself became painful.
After that, he had relied on sleeping pills or alcohol to fall asleep, avoiding dreams.
After deciding to forget Hye-won, the frequency of the dreams had decreased dramatically. Lately, he barely dreamed of her at all.
Perhaps it was because he was entangled with her again. The dream he had this time was slightly different.
‘The woman who had never been caught was not only in my hands, she gave herself to me and even kissed me.’
Shin-woo recalled the vivid dream, lightly touching his lips with his hand.
The sensation returned so vividly that his lower body involuntarily tensed.
“…This isn’t even about sexual frustration.”
They say dreams are based on desire. Could it be that he had wanted to kiss Lee Hye-won?
Through the pouring water, he vaguely heard her voice, almost like a hallucination.
‘Are you alright, Director?’
‘D-Director, at least… your hands!’
What was that memory? Could it really not have been a dream…?
“Ha, maybe I’m still drunk.”
Shin-woo chuckled at the ridiculous assumption he had made unconsciously.
Feeling a fleeting thrill from something that would disappear upon sobering up wounded his pride.
What was the heart with which he had cut her off? Hadn’t he vowed never to feel anything for Lee Hye-won again?
It was just a brief residual effect of the hangover.
The best way to clear unnecessary thoughts was to work. Shin-woo quickly finished his shower.
