ITLW 05

Chapter 5

Do I Like You?

“It’s lunchtime. We should go eat.”

“But why aren’t you putting on your jacket……………?”

“We’re going to the company cafeteria. Why would I dress up?”

“T-The company cafeteria?”

Why was he going to the cafeteria now, when he had never once gone there before?

“Are you not coming? If you have plans, you can eat separately.”

“I-I can do that…………… No. I’ll come now.”

………………She had been rejected.

Without even getting to confess.

Sob, sob.

How many nights had she stayed awake crying?

Dan-ah looked up from her work and saw Yoonseo and Jihoon making what looked like some kind of hand signal before heading outside.

Ah.

So that had been their signal.

How had she only noticed it now?

You jerks!

My pain! My wounds!

Her wounds hadn’t even begun to heal, yet she still had to eat with the two of them.

She had considered going out and eating somewhere else by herself.

But seriously, why of all days did the cafeteria have to serve braised back ribs when she had absolutely no appetite?

Look at that beautiful, glossy brown color.

And that tender meat that practically slid right off the bone with one bite.

Well, since things had turned out this way, she might as well nourish her wounded body.

Dan-ah was tearing into a rib when she heard someone exclaim softly.

“It’s the CEO!”

Then came the whispers.

“The CEO? Did they say the CEO?”

“It really is the CEO!”

“No way! What’s the CEO doing in the company cafeteria?”

Dan-ah raised her head.

Did someone turn on a spotlight?

A face so radiant it almost hurt her eyes.

Seductive eyes.

Alluring lips.

A being so beautiful even the god of beauty might feel jealous had entered the company cafeteria and was calmly filling a tray with food.

But why?

Not another executive.

The CEO himself was in the company cafeteria.

It seemed to be the first time he had done so since she joined the company.

Ah, maybe he had been busy.

Judging by the fact that he was wearing only a dress shirt without his jacket or tie, he must have come straight down from work.

He really did look like the protagonist of a comic.

He had everything—looks, physique, aura.

He was born into the Lion Group family, and he was the CEO.

He was smart and good at his job, too.

What kind of life did someone with absolutely nothing lacking live?

Someone like that probably never experienced the pain of heartbreak.

Dan-ah had always believed that an ordinary life was the best kind of life.

But today, she found herself envying him.

She had been watching the CEO with nothing more than the simple curiosity one might have when looking at a celebrity when, as he looked around, his eyes met hers.

Had she imagined it?

Probably.

He was sitting quite far from her.

But the fact that he was walking in her direction didn’t seem like a figment of her imagination.

And she was right.

The CEO sat down at the table directly beside Dan-ah’s.

Well.

Everyone had the freedom to sit wherever they wanted.

Dan-ah was about to return to her meal when she noticed that Jihoon and Yoonseo were staring at her with the fascinated expressions of people watching a dating show.

“Why……………?”

Yoonseo and Jihoon kept glancing toward the table beside them.

They even exchanged little smiles.

Why? What? What is it?

Confused, Dan-ah followed the direction of their eyes and turned her head.

And her eyes met the CEO’s.

Oh my goodness.

He really is handsome.

Even when she already knew, seeing him this close was still astonishing.

It wasn’t her cafeteria, but she still couldn’t understand how someone so distinguished had ended up in a humble place like this………………

Wait!

Suddenly, she felt as though she had forgotten something.

Along with that realization came an ominous feeling.

What? What is it? What did I forget?

At the strange sensation that suddenly washed over her, Dan-ah looked away first.

Then Yoonseo suddenly placed her hand over Dan-ah’s and whispered,

“I’m jealous, Dan-ah.”

Jealous of what?

“You get to stare at the face of the person you like while you’re eating.”

What are you talking about?

Who is the person I like………………

Gasp!

“Crazy!”

Dan-ah barely managed to cover her mouth with her hand before the words almost slipped out.

Oh, right.

I like the CEO, don’t I?

She had completely forgotten.

She had completely forgotten who she had lied about loving—and who she had said it to.

Once she finally understood the situation, her face grew hot.

At first, she had simply assumed the CEO had come down because he was busy.

But could it be that the CEO had come to the company cafeteria because he had heard her confession and something had changed in his feelings?

No way.

That was far too self-important.

This company belonged to the CEO, not her.

Where the owner chose to eat was entirely up to him.

Still, as a member of the Crisis Management Team—

If, just in case, just in case, this situation had happened because of that ridiculous confession, how was she supposed to fix it?

“Um, CEO. What I said recently wasn’t sincere.”

“Who are you?”

Haha.

Of course.

Why would the CEO even know who she was?

He might not have heard her.

It wasn’t as though she had been close enough for him to hear.

Although………………

She had spoken pretty loudly, hadn’t she?

Loud enough that even someone standing inside that enclosed emergency exit could have heard her.

No.

Maybe his hearing was bad?

Even someone as perfect as the CEO had to have at least one flaw, right?

Adding one thought on top of another, Dan-ah subtly covered her face with her hand and peeked sideways at Leeheon.

She flinched.

For some reason, it felt like their eyes had met again.

She immediately looked away.

Damn it.

Should she apologize right now, even if she had to kneel and beg for forgiveness?

“Um, CEO. The truth is, I don’t like you.”

“And?”

“Huh?”

“What do you want me to do about it? It’s not like you’re the only woman who likes me.”

……Yeah.

That sounded about right.

He looked so aloof that he seemed impossible to even approach.

“But seeing the CEO this close for the first time, he really is handsome.”

Jihoon, sitting across from her, whispered in an extremely low voice.

Yoonseo, sitting right beside him, widened her eyes and whispered back.

“Even you think so, Jihoon?”

“Yeah. He’s tall, and his skin is so nice it practically glows.

He’s probably more handsome than most actors. His proportions look like something out of a webtoon. A company CEO looking like that is such a waste. What a waste.”

“He’s good at his job, too. Our company’s stock has gone through the roof lately.”

“Exactly. He’s handsome, he’s capable. A woman who marries a man like that must be pretty extraordinary………….”

Tap.

Yoonseo elbowed Jihoon while subtly checking Dan-ah’s expression.

Jihoon seemed to realize his mistake and gave Dan-ah an awkward smile.

“Dan-ah. You know you’re pretty, too, right?”

Really……………?

She almost fell for Jihoon’s sudden compliment before coming to her senses.

If you knew I was pretty, why did you date Yoonseo?

Obviously, you must have thought I wasn’t as pretty as her.

You jerk.

You could’ve at least told me beforehand.

Yoonseo, you’re no different.

Dan-ah was mentally hurling curses at both of them when—

Jihoon quietly placed a piece of braised rib onto Yoonseo’s plate right in front of her.

Yoonseo discreetly glanced around.

Then, with a small smile, she picked up the rib and began eating it.

Han Jihoon. Kim Yoonseo.

Are you two seriously flirting right in front of me?

Come to think of it, she should have been depressed watching the two of them.

…………But for some reason, the CEO sitting right beside her kept distracting her so much that she couldn’t even properly feel heartbroken.

It was strange.

She felt as though she had somehow gotten caught in an invisible web.

No.

Everything was just in her head.

It was all in her head.

Right now, she needed to focus on the pain of her heartbreak.

Be sad!

Come on, feel the pain!

But it wasn’t easy.

The very person who had heard her confession was sitting right beside her.

And that confession had been completely ridiculous.

Worse, he was someone to whom she couldn’t even offer an explanation.

Meanwhile, Yoonseo and Jihoon continued their lovey-dovey behavior right in front of her without even realizing what they had driven her to do.

She didn’t even have time to be sad.

Her head was simply too cluttered.

The current algorithm running inside Dan-ah’s brain:

CEO.

Fake confession to the CEO.

Explain herself to the CEO.

What am I supposed to say to the CEO?

The CEO isn’t interested in me.

But I’m not interested in him either.

It’ll probably resolve itself with time.

The braised ribs are delicious.

Should I go get some more?

……That was about it.