CWFH 03

Chapter 03

Dayeon froze with her head still turned toward him, only rolling her eyes.

What was going on here?

“Even if you work from home, your hours are still 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lunch break is from 12 to 1. It’s no different from the company, so I’m sure it won’t be uncomfortable, right?”

Was he joking to make her laugh? When was she supposed to laugh? This guy’s sense of humor was really… ha. Ha…

“Oh, but since there’s no company cafeteria, we’ll have to order jajangmyeon for lunch together. Do you like jajangmyeon?”

What the hell was he talking about with his soggy noodles?

Jian asked while looking at the stiffly frozen Dayeon, and Dayeon stared at him for a long while, wondering whether he was serious or joking.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Secretary Han? Do you not like jajangmyeon?”

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

“Making fun of you? Why would I?”

Dayeon was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t even speak.

What? She was supposed to commute to his house?

“What do you mean by working from home? What exactly are you saying?”

“You’re my secretary, so isn’t it only natural that you assist me where I work?”

“Even so, how can you tell me to commute to your house? This isn’t some disorganized fly-by-night company.”

“I’ll set up a desk for you. Would it be better to bring the computer you use at the company? Or you can use one of the spare computers here for now. Just bring whatever office supplies you need.”

“What?”

“Well then, I’ll see you at the company tomorrow.”

Jian stood up, and Dayeon looked up at him with an expression that clearly said she was utterly dumbfounded.

But with the tall man looking down at her, she suddenly felt somewhat intimidated and sprang to her feet.

Yet even after she stood up, what was she supposed to do about this ridiculously obvious difference in height?

Damn it. Why had he grown so much while she wasn’t looking?

Dayeon felt her pride crumble as Jian seemed to be staring straight down at the top of her head.

Even standing up, she still had to look up at him. Feeling wronged, Dayeon raised her chin and narrowed her eyes.

Jian gave a displeasing little smirk.

“How come you’re still the exact same height?”

“What?”

“And you’re still just as quick to lose your temper.”

Dayeon glared at him fiercely, and Jian let out a chuckle.

Seeing him smile brought his old face vividly back to her memory.

He had looked cold and intimidating when he frowned, but she remembered that he had a surprisingly beautiful smile.

He had even been quite popular among the girls, earning the nickname “Cold Smile Angel.”

“Shorty.”

“Hey!”

“Ah, Assistant Manager Han, shouldn’t you be getting back to the company?”

When Dayeon glared daggers at Jian and shouted at him, Kim Team Leader grabbed her arm and stopped her.

He seemed worried that she might start a fight and ruin everything they had worked so hard to secure.

“Just stay here for a moment, Team Leader.”

“Let’s go, okay?”

“You go ahead, Team Leader. I’ll talk to him for a moment and then leave.”

Kim Team Leader looked anxious, probably afraid that if they got into a fight, Jian might decide to terminate the contract.

“Go outside, Team Leader.”

Dayeon kept glaring at Jian while repeatedly pushing Kim Team Leader against the chest.

“Yes, I’ll talk to her for a moment before sending her out. Please go.”

When even Jian said that, Kim Team Leader glanced nervously between them before saying,

“Take it easy, Assistant Manager Han.”

Take it easy? Anyone hearing that would get the wrong idea. They’d think I was some tough woman in the company who was in charge of disciplining people.

Kim Team Leader left, and the front door clicked shut.

A strange smile appeared on Jian’s lips as he continued looking down at her.

“Telling me to commute to your house? What kind of nonsense is that?”

A childish expression that had only been popular back in their high school days slipped out naturally.

She hardly ever used words like that anymore, but seeing him somehow made her feel as though she had traveled back in time, and the childish phrase just popped out.

“I already told you the reason. Is it really strange to assist your superior at his place of work?”

“Our company occupies the fourth and fifth floors of a perfectly respectable twenty-story building. The working environment isn’t bad, and they’re even giving me my own office. So why are you being so stubborn?”

“The contract clearly says they’ll accept all the conditions I want. All I asked for was to work from home and have a secretary.”

“I don’t care whether you work from home or not. The problem is that I’m supposed to be that secretary!”

“You agreed to the transfer too.”

“Even so, having my workplace be your house is a little…”

“What about it?”

Jian asked with an indifferent expression.

He obviously knew exactly what she meant, so why was he responding like that?

“There are just two adult men and women in an enclosed space. Do you really think nothing’s going to happen?”

“……”

Jian stared silently at Dayeon before slowly walking toward her.

Why? Why was he coming over?

Dayeon stepped backward as Jian approached.

But she didn’t get very far before her back hit the wall, leaving her nowhere else to go. By then, Jian had come even closer and raised one arm, placing his hand against the wall.

“Are you scared?”

“What?”

“Are you afraid I’m going to eat you?”

Just because he had a mouth, did he have to say whatever nonsense came to mind?

“I hadn’t even considered the fact that we’d be alone in an enclosed space… Don’t be so conscious of it.”

A hint of amusement appeared in Jian’s eyes as he looked down at Dayeon.

“It’s not like this is the first time the two of us have been alone in an enclosed space, is it?”

At those words, Dayeon remembered the day she desperately wanted to forget.

The time when she had been left alone with him in an enclosed space all night.

The pitch-black darkness of that night.

She remembered his broad shoulders after he had taken off his shirt.

And his hot lips.

Dayeon’s gaze naturally drifted toward Jian’s lips.

As his face from that day overlapped with the face in front of her, the lips from that night and the lips she was looking at now began flashing back and forth in her mind.

Then one corner of Jian’s lips curled upward.

When she looked up at him, Jian gave her a knowing smirk.

“Looks like you remember.”

“Wh-What?”

“That night.”

His words struck directly at the heart of the matter, and Dayeon, flustered, shamelessly pretended not to know what he was talking about.

“What are you talking about? I have a bad memory. I don’t remember anything from school.”

Jian raised the corner of his mouth again and smirked.

“You don’t remember?”

Jian stared at Dayeon for a moment before turning around and saying,

“Then I’ll make you remember.”

“N-No, thanks! I don’t want to remember.”

“So you do remember.”

Unable to respond, Dayeon simply glared at him, and Jian laughed as though he found her reaction amusing.

“Don’t be so conscious about the two of us being alone at home. Like I said earlier, I’m going to keep business and personal matters separate. During work hours, I’ll do nothing but work—to the point that you’ll probably feel neglected. So don’t worry.”

“That’s exactly what I want. Hmph!”

Dayeon snorted and glared at Jian before abruptly turning around.

A low chuckle came from behind her.

“Heh. You’re still cute.”

Dayeon, who had been turning toward the entrance, spun around.

“What did you say?”

She had suddenly whipped her head around, catching sight of Jian in passing. He was grinning from ear to ear, as though he were having the time of his life.

But the moment their eyes met, she saw his expression suddenly turn serious.

Huh. He’s really enjoying himself. He must be thrilled at the thought of making me work for him.

“What did you just say?”

“Hm? Say what? I didn’t say anything.”

Jian shamelessly pretended he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Ah! And what the hell did you mean earlier? That I took your money? You’re making Team Leader misunderstand!”

“It’s not a misunderstanding. It’s true. I lost money because of you.”

No matter how hard Dayeon thought about it, she had never borrowed money from him, nor had she extorted him.

If anyone had extorted money from people, it was that delinquent himself.

“I never did anything like that. We’ve only met again after twelve years. Do you want to get sued for defamation?”

“You don’t remember? I paid a lot of money to buy you.”

Buy me? What kind of ridiculous thing was he talking about?

“What?”

Dayeon furrowed her brow deeply, looking utterly incredulous.

“At the date auction.”

At Jian’s words, Dayeon’s face gradually stiffened.

“But you ran away. I was the only one who lost my money.”

The words “date auction” immediately brought back a memory from her high school days, from the school festival.

That day was the school festival, which was held once every two years.

The fundraising event for people in need worked by auctioning off various items and donating the proceeds.

At the time, Dayeon was a student council officer in charge of managing the event.

Since the items being auctioned were mostly things donated by students and teachers, it was obvious they wouldn’t be particularly interesting. As expected, the auction failed to attract much attention and barely got off the ground.

They needed to raise at least 500,000 won.

When the donations weren’t coming in, the playful student council president who was helping manage the event grabbed the microphone.

<“Fellow students! The spring breeze is gently blowing, while the sides of all you lonely souls without partners are getting colder and colder. Here’s a special eeevent to rescue all you lonely, unmarried students!”>

At the mention of a special event, the students gradually began to show interest.

<“I, Lee Wonseok, am putting myself up for a date auction! Any fellow student who wants to go on a one-day date with me, don’t hesitate to call out your bid!”>

When the student council president auctioned himself off, the students called out bids just for the fun of it.

“100 won!”

“150 won.”

<“Ah, you’re being too harsh! Am I really only worth that much?!”>

Thanks to the witty president, the date auction proceeded successfully, and Wonseok’s one-day date was sold for 6,000 won.

Once they had collected a decent amount of money, Wonseok got carried away and decided to auction off Dayeon next.

<“The mascot of Jurye High School, student council president Han Dayeon, a student who possesses intelligence, virtue, and physical prowess! Any fellow student who wants a one-day date with her, please call out your bid!”>

Dayeon, too focused on reaching their fundraising goal to think about what might happen afterward, didn’t even consider refusing when her name was put up for auction.

“1,000 won!”

Fortunately, the bidding started much higher than it had for Wonseok.

“5,000 won.”

“10,000 won!”

Oh, I’m actually pretty popular, huh?

The response was dramatically more enthusiastic than it had been for Wonseok.

“105,000 won!”

“110,000 won!”

As the amount climbed higher, cheers and gasps erupted from the students.

Just as two male students were fiercely competing against each other, another voice joined in.

“120,000 won.”

The familiar, deep voice that seemed to rumble through the ground made every student turn their head in the same direction.

It was Lee Jian, the most powerful student in the school.

He had one hand partly hooked into his uniform pocket and was leaning casually against a tree as he called out his bid.

In an instant, the auction hall fell as silent as if someone had poured cold water over it.