TNS 12

Chapter 12

“You have nine minutes left, Director. I trust you know better than anyone what will happen to the Vice President’s reputation if you’re late.”

With those final words, the heavy door of the Director’s office slammed shut with a thud. In the sudden silence that followed, Jun-hyung breathed heavily, unable to contain his rage.

“Did these crazy bastards take drugs together or what? Fuck!”

Careless of ruining the hair he had painstakingly styled all morning, Cha Jun-hyung ruffled his hair wildly and ground his teeth. The neatly organized stack of documents arranged by Ha Yoon-seo looked just like Cha Sun-jae’s face sneering at him, so he kicked an innocent chair and huffed for a long time.

As soon as the Director’s office door closed, Cha Jun-hyung’s voice, which had been shouting loudly enough to echo through the space, was instantly cut off. As the thick door absorbed every last bit of that vulgar noise, the hallway was quickly wrapped in a strangely cold silence.

Yoon-seo paused for a moment to catch her unsteady breath. The lingering sensation of Cha Jun-hyung’s desk at her fingertips and the cool touch of Sun-jae’s hand pressing heavily on her shoulder still felt like a vivid, burning mark stamped upon her skin.

Just as Yoon-seo was about to walk back to her desk, a familiar back standing in front of the giant floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the hallway caught her eye. It was Cha Sun-jae. She had thought he would have already returned to his executive office, but he stood completely motionless, gazing at the cityscape outside as if waiting for someone. Although the deep green foliage of early summer filled the view outside, his silhouette felt endlessly cold and solid, detached from the season.

Click.

A sharp metallic sound broke the silence of the corridor. Sun-jae had pulled a silver case from his pocket and flipped the lid open with his thumb. Having recently quit smoking, he threw a mint into his mouth out of habit and slowly rolled it around. Soon, the sharp crunching sound of the mint shattering struck Yoon-seo’s ears like a crisp warning.

“How does it feel to have a new master?”

Sun-jae asked softly, looking steadily outside without turning around. Even though she had tried her best to walk noiselessly, she couldn’t fool Sun-jae’s keen senses, so Yoon-seo stopped, keeping a deliberate distance.

“I will collect the risk data from the scheduled executive meeting and report back to you.”

Yoon-seo delivered her businesslike report, but Sun-jae’s gaze remained fixed outside. After chewing on the remains of the mint for a long while, he slowly turned his head. Perhaps because of the backlighting, his eyes looked much deeper and darker than usual. Sun-jae slowly stepped toward Yoon-seo. With each approaching sound of his dress shoes, it felt as if the air pressure in the hallway was dropping. When he finally stopped right in front of her, the strong scent of peppermint drifted from him.

“Your acting is top-tier.”

As Sun-jae slowly reached out his hand, Yoon-seo raised her eyes to meet his gaze. Expecting him to push her harshly, Yoon-seo flinched slightly, but his touch was surprisingly gentle. With a delicate brush of his hand, Sun-jae removed a stray eyelash from Yoon-seo’s cheek. Then, he gently tucked the strand of hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear. As his fingertips grazed her earlobe, leaving behind a trace of warmth, Yoon-seo’s eyes shook visibly.

“I asked how you felt. Who asked for a report?”

Sun-jae whispered in a low voice. Even as he deceived himself into believing this was a wicked ploy to tame Yoon-seo to his liking, he was terribly obsessed with the texture of her skin against his touch. The fact that Ha Yoon-seo had slipped away from his side into the vulgar space of Cha Jun-hyung nagged at him so much that he hadn’t been able to leave.

At the unexpected warmth, Yoon-seo’s face flushed red in an instant. A sense of fluster that she would normally never show was clearly revealed. Sun-jae stared intently at her blushing face, a faint, satisfied smile touching the corners of his mouth. Soon after, he casually pulled back his sleeve to check his wristwatch. It was a thoroughly rational gesture, calculating the time remaining until Cha Jun-hyung would stop his fit and storm out of his office.

Sun-jae popped open the silver case and held it out toward her. Understanding his gesture, she hesitantly picked out a piece of candy. Watching her hold the candy passively on her palm, not knowing what to do with it, Sun-jae suddenly snatched the mint from her hand and shoved it directly into Yoon-seo’s mouth.

In an instant, his thumb parted her lips, placed the white mint onto her tongue, and pressed down firmly. The solid texture digging into her mucous membrane and the burning mint scent completely emptied her mind. Feeling her warm breath against his fingertip, Sun-jae asked:

“Is it good?”

As he observed Yoon-seo slowly nodding her head, Sun-jae’s eyes sank deep into darkness. The subtle trembling of her body was conveyed directly through his fingertip, which was imbued with the damp warmth of her mouth. Trailing slowly along the edge of her lips, Sun-jae withdrew his wet finger. Though his exposed fingertip quickly cooled in the open air, the sting of mint heat he left behind lingered stickily inside Yoon-seo’s mouth.

“Let’s do well.”

Sun-jae reached out his hand once more. It was a stance so polite and professional that it was hard to believe this was the same hand that had just invaded her lips moments ago. Blinking several times in confusion, Yoon-seo rolled the mint inside her mouth and pushed it against the inner side of her cheek. The solid outline of the candy stood out clearly beneath her puffed cheek.

It was right when Yoon-seo hesitated and reached out to shake his hand. As if waiting for this moment, Sun-jae’s large hand enveloped her slender one like a predator and squeezed it tightly.

Between their joined palms, Sun-jae’s body heat merged softly. It was an overly explicit and overbearing handshake to be dismissed as simple encouragement or a greeting. Sun-jae lightly scraped the back of her hand down with his index finger, shaking her hand with firm force as if imprinting his ownership upon her.

And the moment he pulled his hand away, a heavy, smooth object was left behind in the space where the friction of their palms vanished. It was a hotel card key.

“See you this evening.”

A firm command that allowed no room for refusal pierced through the silence of the hallway. Though it was a violent demand disguised as gentleness, Sun-jae’s expression remained as calm as someone mentioning today’s weather. Against her own will, Yoon-seo traced the sharp corners of the card key digging into her palm.

“…Have a good day, Executive Director.”

Yoon-seo bowed politely. It was the habitual attitude of a secretary trained over many years, but her gaze directed toward the floor wavered aimlessly, and the end of her voice trembled faintly as if holding moisture. Sun-jae fixated his eyes on the top of Yoon-seo’s head one last time. An air of either satisfaction or a deeper thirst hovered around his eyes briefly before dissolving away.

Shortly after, Cha Sun-jae turned around and walked away without the slightest regret. Yoon-seo couldn’t head straight to the conference room. She stood rooted to the spot, tracing the trajectory Cha Sun-jae had left behind until his receding figure rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and disappeared completely.

The early summer sunlight pouring through the window cast a long, sharp shadow where Sun-jae had passed. Though the air where he had lingered felt stagnant, the icy scent of mint scattered through it, leaving a deep lingering impression on her. Now, there really was no way back. She felt as though she had been cast alone into the middle of a battlefield with all avenues of retreat cut off. Yoon-seo shoved the card key deep into her pocket and straightened her disheveled clothes.

The taste of the candy melting slowly in her mouth felt so burning that it turned bitter. Because that cool, sweet taste numbing the tip of her tongue felt just like Cha Sun-jae’s twisted affection that she would have to endure from now on, Yoon-seo crunched down on the mint, breaking it into pieces. The crisp, shattered fragments scratched her throat as they slid down.