CHAPTER 3
“Let’s clean things up. Properly. I said I’d help the company—not that I’d pick up trash.”
For someone who had just fired a person, his voice was remarkably calm.
After lashing out at the PD, Kang Taeyoon lowered a chilling gaze on Seo Jeongha, who stood frozen amid the tension.
A pale, rounded forehead. Bloodless cheeks beneath it. Pupils gone rigid. Lips drained blue. She looked like she could collapse at any moment.
Right. There’s no way you should be fine.
Her trembling fingers clutched the hem of her insignificant skirt like it was a lifeline.
Taeyoon found it a little amusing. The sight was quite something.
It was almost a picture worth taking—something he could hang on a wall and admire for a lifetime.
“It’d be shameless of me to ask how you’ve been, even by my standards.”
“……”
“Do you have the courage to work while looking at me?”
“……”
“You shouldn’t. Not if you have any sense of decency.”
Following Jeongha’s gaze, Taeyoon’s eyes slid downward as well.
Lower. Deeper. As if plunging into an abyss where even light was swallowed—somewhere down there, it felt like he could bury a woman without hesitation.
She was shaking so badly the tremor seemed to ripple through the air itself. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
Still, not a face worth looking at any longer.
Turning his back on the woman enduring the hostility, Taeyoon quickened his steps. After walking a short distance, he let out a shallow sigh and tilted his head with irritation.
He closed the distance he had deliberately created—step by step, slowly.
A cold whisper dropped over the crown of Jeongha’s head like a shadow.
“Should I say thank you? Since you’ll take the hint and disappear on your own.”
The woman still stood there, dazed, enduring it all—teeth clenched, shoulders trembling.
“Let’s go.”
Urging his party forward, Taeyoon strode away as if nothing had happened.
The encounter was brief.
Only after even the secretarial staff had left did the people, who had been too intimidated to speak, begin to murmur.
“What was that…?”
“What is this atmosphere?”
“Wow, I thought I was going to get eaten alive. Look—goosebumps all over my arm.”
As First rubbed his arm, Jiseon grabbed Jeongha’s stiff shoulder and pulled her attention back.
“Jeongha. You really don’t know him, right?”
“Unni, I—I’m a bit… out of it right now…”
Jeongha rubbed her forehead, temples, and eyelids in a disordered way, trying to steady her trembling.
“Do you really have something with CEO Kang Taeyoon? Did you know him before? Did you do something wrong? Otherwise, this doesn’t make sense. It’s shocking enough that Kang Taeyoon is the investor, but what even is this situation?”
“But isn’t the way he talks way too harsh? Calling someone trash right in front of them—that’s too much, isn’t it?”
“You be quiet for a second.”
Jiseon shot First a look before letting go of Jeongha’s shoulder. Her tone softened slightly.
“You won’t tell me either? I need to know something to help you, Jeongha.”
“……”
“Yeah, this isn’t the place. Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk, okay?”
“Later… later. I’ll tell you later.”
Forcing her heavy eyelids open, Jeongha barely managed to speak.
Even First, who had been muttering non-stop about how awful Kang Taeyoon was, clamped his mouth shut.
Jeongha bowed briefly and hurried away.
—
Taeyoon left the murmuring behind, stepping into the elevator and then into the car with his usual composed demeanor.
But both Driver Oh and Manager Han, who had served him for years, noticed his rigid mood and spoke only when necessary.
“I’ll take you to Itaewon-dong.”
The car, ready to depart, left the parking lot. By then, the sky had turned entirely orange, and heavy snow was falling thickly.
“Sir, it’s snowing.”
Leaning his heavy head against the headrest, Taeyoon opened his eyes. Countless white flakes drifted into his dark pupils.
“It is.”
“This might be the last snow of the year.”
After Manager Han’s almost wistful remark, silence filled the car. Taeyoon lowered the window and slowly took in the scenery outside.
He liked snow.
It hadn’t always been that way. He used to hate it—the slushy roads it left behind.
But at some point, he began to like it.
Thinking back… he couldn’t quite remember when that change had happened.
“By the way, you have a child, right? I think you mentioned making a snow duck before.”
“You remember that?”
“Go home early today. I’ll head to Cheongdam-dong.”
“You don’t have to do that because of me…”
Just then, a young girl who had gotten out of a taxi came running toward a building.
“Is your child about her age?”
“Yes, she’s starting school this year.”
Wearing a pom-pom hat and a white padded jacket, the child looked like a little snowman, wobbling slightly on the thin layer of snow.
She might fall at this rate.
The concern felt unfamiliar, but Taeyoon couldn’t take his eyes off her unsteady steps.
“Mom!”
Her loud voice burst into the car.
The woman who spotted her crouched low and lifted the running child into her arms. Though the momentum pushed her back a couple of steps, she quickly regained her balance.
Brushing the snow off the child’s hat, she said something and pulled the hat down snugly. The child then suddenly took it off and placed it on her mother’s head instead.
That is…
Through the falling snow, a yellow butterfly swayed.
A few snowflakes stung his cheek before melting away.
“Stop the car.”
As the car halted, the scene sharpened.
His darkened gaze tore through the figures of the mother and daughter.
The woman looked familiar—her airy smile, her light gestures, and something about her that cut off his thoughts entirely.
Seo… Jeongha?
The child, who had just been in Jeongha’s arms, landed on the ground in navy fur boots and grabbed her hand tightly.
An older woman finally caught up, panting, and held an umbrella over the two.
Jeongha shifted the bouquet and her bag to her left arm and took the umbrella. The laughing child soon grabbed the older woman’s hand and bounced along excitedly.
The three of them lingered at the edge of his vision, growing smaller, then disappearing into the thickening snowfall.
“Hah.”
Resting his arm on the window frame, Taeyoon let out a dry laugh.
She got married?
“Until Kang Taeyoon forgives me, I won’t live well. I won’t live smiling.”
“…Ha. What the hell.”
So this is how you break a promise?
You’re not supposed to be happy. You’re not supposed to. At the very least, you shouldn’t smile in front of me.
Taeyoon clenched his jaw.
“Let’s go.”
The black car sped quietly into the blue-lit night.
—
“We’re here!”
The silver sedan pulled into the apartment parking lot as night fell.
“Wake up, Yuna.”
Jeongha gently shook the sleeping child’s shoulder.
“Are we home already?”
“Yeah, we’re home.”
“Ugh… I want to sleep more.”
“At home, okay? You can lie down comfortably. If you sleep here, your neck will hurt. What if you can’t go to taekwondo?”
Click. Jeongha unbuckled the car seat.
Meanwhile, Haein got out of the driver’s seat and stretched.
“Unni, it’s snowing so much!”
“It really is. It’d be perfect for building a snowman.”
Jeongha glanced outside for a moment as she tried to wake the child.
“We used to make so many snowmen together. Unni, should we have a snowball fight for once?”
“I’d like to, but Yuna looks too sleepy.”
“Moms really have it rough. You love snow so much, but you can’t even play.”
Clicking her tongue, Haein held out her hand to her drowsy niece.
“Yuna, let’s go. I bought you a present.”
“A present?”
“Yep. I met a friend in Hongdae earlier and bought some character goods you like.”
“Our Yuna must be excited. Let’s hurry inside and open it. Grandma’s curious too.”
Joohee chimed in. As the sturdy Haein pulled Yuna’s arm, the child was easily tugged along.
“Auntie, is that my school entrance present?”
Fixated on the word “present,” Yuna kept talking as she got out of the car.
“Why?”
“I was just wondering if there’s more.”
“Look at you. Your greed is bigger than your aunt’s belly.”
“No, it’s not! Your belly is way bigger!”
“Oh my, you little—hey, your greed is bigger!”
“There they go again. Haein may be big, but she’s still a kid.”
Joohee clicked her tongue with a smile.
“Yuna, Mom will buy your bag.”
Jeongha stepped in, grateful yet slightly apologetic that Haein indulged her.
“Really?”
“Yeah. School supplies and clothes too.”
“No, unni. I already picked out a bag for Yuna. I know her taste better than you.”
“A bag? One with the Pangpang character I like?”
“Oh? I was looking at a kangaroo one. Do you like Pangpang more?”
“Yeah. Pangpang.”
“Forget it. Why spend all your hard-earned part-time money on her? Save it and go travel.”
“It’s not like I spent everything. And she’s Yuna—of course I’ll spend it on her.”
“Go argue inside. It’s cold. Let’s go, my baby.”
Joohee took Yuna’s small hand and led the way.
