BYB 21

Chapter 21

Startled, Jiwoo’s eyes widened.

Their softly pressed lips burned hot. He pulled his head back just as quickly as he had leaned in.

“I want to see you.”

“Ah, you said you didn’t like informal speech, didn’t you.”

He smiled coolly and held Jiwoo’s gaze as he spoke.

“I want to see you, Manager.”

As if urging her to answer, his eyebrows twitched and his expression crinkled slightly. That raw, unfiltered face looked devastatingly sexy. When Jiwoo subtly swallowed, he grinned without hiding his confidence.

“It wouldn’t be bad. In many ways.”

And yet he acted like this was their first time. With all this ease in kissing and sweet-talking.

Feeling a little dizzy, Jiwoo focused her eyes. *Don’t give in.* No matter how she thought about it, meeting a man in her current situation didn’t seem like a good idea.

“I did… happen to respond to the kiss, though.”

Jiwoo opened her mouth as if indifferent.

“Happen to?”

The man caught her words with amusement.

“It’s true that Chunsam-ssi made my heart flutter a little, but that doesn’t mean I want to do anything about it.”

The man’s eyebrows slowly rose. Seeing the look in his eyes that clearly asked ‘Why?’, Jiwoo replied stiffly.

“It’s ridiculous to start dating just because of one kiss.”

“Just one kiss?”

The man repeated her words and chuckled quietly. Then, in a cool low voice, he slowly retorted.

“After stealing a man’s chastity, you call it ‘just’?”

“!”

“Cha Jiwoo, you’re quite brazen.”

Flustered, Jiwoo’s eyes trembled.

“St-steal?! Who was the one who pounced first!”

“You were the one who used your tongue better.”

Eunho replied calmly.

“You played around inside my mouth. Cha Jiwoo.”

Her face flushed all the way to her neck in an instant, and Jiwoo looked up at him with a shocked expression. It was true that she had accepted his kiss, but she hadn’t been skilled enough to say she ‘played around’ with him. The man certainly knew that fact as well.

“Wh-when did I ever!”

Why did he have to say it like that? The man, looking at her reddened earlobes with amusement, was so infuriating that she felt the urge to punch him. But it was obvious that even if she threw a punch, he wouldn’t feel a thing.

So Jiwoo decided to fight with words instead.

“Anyway, that kiss that day was just an accident. Just like Chunsam-ssi said.”

Jiwoo retorted firmly and tried to push him away, but he studied her face carefully, as if trying to read her hidden intentions. Then he was silent for a moment. Jiwoo, who had dropped the bomb, subtly swallowed and waited for his answer.

“An accident?”

He asked slowly.

“Yes. So let’s just forget about it.”

Even though she was pushing him away, she somehow felt like she was being pushed back, but Jiwoo forced herself to ignore it.

After a long moment, the man curled only one corner of his mouth in a dangerous smile.

“Fine.”

“……”

“If that’s how you feel, then there’s nothing I can do. Do as you wish, Manager.”

He stepped back and said.

“But I don’t want to.”

“……”

“I’m going to shake you.”

As if declaring war, the man replied with gravity and tapped Jiwoo’s cheek twice with his finger. Then, looking at Jiwoo, who couldn’t hide the bewilderment in her eyes, he wrinkled his nose as if she were cute.

“Hold out. If you can.”

*Thump thump.*

Just then, Minhyuk, who had finished cleaning the bathroom, came back noisily.

Eunho turned around nonchalantly, picked up some tissues as if nothing had happened, and walked to the table to fill the empty spots.

Jiwoo, who had tried to strike the man but ended up getting hit instead, could only blink and stare at him. *What just happened?*

The cheek he had tapped belatedly grew warm.

Good heavens, he’s a total pro, isn’t he?

Jiwoo touched her cheek and forced down her pounding heart. Not wanting to admit that she was already more than halfway gone, she frowned for no reason. As she did, the memory of that incident—when she had vowed never to date again—flashed through her mind like a lantern slide.

Three months ago.

Nothing was going right.

The moment Jiwoo stepped into the office, her colleagues parted like the Red Sea, scattering to avoid her. The way they hurriedly turned away, as if they might get splattered with filth if they came too close, was quite a sight.

Her heart grew cold, but Jiwoo maintained a stoic expression and walked tall. She had endured this humiliation countless times over the past week. Enduring it one more time was hardly difficult.

“Good heavens. How could she have an affair with a married man? And she even has a boyfriend.”

“Look at her, shamelessly coming to work. Isn’t that just infuriating?”

She knew they were whispering loudly on purpose for her to hear. Still, she forced herself to ignore them and sat down. Jiwoo checked her schedule in her diary and prepared for the morning meeting.

“She doesn’t even bat an eye for someone who’s a homewrecker. Impressive.”

“Poor Kim Daejin.”

The naked mockery struck like daggers into her heart. Sorrow welled up. Still, she suppressed it and maintained a calm expression. To protect her daily life, Jiwoo was desperately holding on.

It had only been two years since she had joined HK Ilbo as a reporter after beating fierce competition. It was Jiwoo’s lifelong dream job. She couldn’t just walk away because she had been falsely accused. Jiwoo put strength into her fists.

*If I hold on, won’t things get better? Rumors burn fast, but they also fade away silently.*

Perhaps this outcome had already been destined when she finally published the <HK Food Waste Illegal Dumping Report> that senior reporter Ahn Inseok had strongly advised against. Jiwoo’s eyes wavered briefly as she thought back to that time.

*—Cha Jiwoo! How dare you write an article that exposes our own affiliate company? Are you out of your mind?!*

*The department head, the bureau chief, and the CEO—all screaming with veins bulging in their necks. The office in shambles. Even while receiving arrows of criticism, Jiwoo silently began to explain.*

*—HK Food illegally dumped over a thousand tons of waste. Because of that, a rural village was turned upside down by the stench. Someone had to let the world know…*

*—Shut that mouth of yours! Why does our newspaper have to be the one to expose that?!*

After that day, Jiwoo’s life became a mess.

A photo of her entering a hotel with senior reporter Yoo Myungho from another newspaper, edited maliciously with a time gap, was posted on the company bulletin board. Not only that, a post from someone claiming to be Yoo Myungho’s wife was also made public—a lengthy appeal about suffering because of a homewrecker.

To correct the misunderstanding, Jiwoo immediately began explaining, but no one believed her. As time passed, the rumors only snowballed. Even when Yoo Myungho’s wife personally came forward and stated that she had never written such a post, the rumors didn’t die down.

When her once-peaceful daily life was shaken to its roots, Jiwoo didn’t know what to do. It felt like standing barefoot on broken glass.

“Reporter Cha, let me see you for a moment.”

As Jiwoo’s thoughts continued, Kim Daejin—who had been dating Jiwoo in the office for half a year—tapped on the partition. Looking at his noticeably dark-rimmed eyes, Jiwoo nodded briefly and followed him out. He had been asking for time to think ever since the rumors started; it seemed he finally had something to say.

Kim Daejin went up to the rooftop where the smoking area was and lit a cigarette. Then he exhaled a long breath and frowned deeply.

“Jiwoo, let’s break up.”

“……”

“I didn’t know you were that kind of woman. I think you’re… dirty.”

Jiwoo gazed thoughtfully at the man, visible through the haze of cigarette smoke. He was the one who had pursued her for a full year, even though she had said she wasn’t interested in dating.

He had said things like: *You don’t have to have feelings for me—just date me and I’ll make you fall for you*, *I’ll treat you so well*, *I like you so much, just let me stay by your side.*

He hadn’t really felt like a man to her, but he seemed like a good person, so she had started dating him. On the day she accepted his feelings, he had been so overjoyed that he’d shouted cheers loud enough to shake the entire office.

Jiwoo slowly opened her mouth.

“…Sunbae, I explained everything to you. The reason I went to the hotel with Myungho sunbae that day was to receive documents while avoiding people’s eyes. His wife was also at that hotel. I even let you speak to her directly on the phone. It’s all a false accusation.”

“No, I don’t believe you.”

But Kim Daejin revealed his true nature all too easily.

“Fuck, I can’t even hold my head up, it’s so embarrassing.”

At that moment, Jiwoo’s face—which she had desperately kept calm—cracked.

“Hey, if I’d known you were such a promiscuous person, would I have chased after you? I feel completely scammed right now.”

“Fine, let’s say the hotel photos were a misunderstanding. But, you know—where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right? This was bound to happen sooner or later, which is why those rumors spread in the first place.”

“That’s because I was being targeted by the higher-ups…”

“Look at you talk. Isn’t she just hilarious?”