Chapter 24

The lounge on the third floor, which also served as the company café, was quiet now that lunchtime was over.

Amid the faint aroma of coffee and the languid afternoon air, Hae-il was calmly unwrapping his sandwich, as though the precarious state he had been in earlier had never happened.

Danbi placed the Americano she had bought from the company café in front of him and naturally took the seat across from him.

“I don’t know if you’ll like it. It’s my first time buying one from there too….”

At Danbi’s awkward remark, Hae-il deliberately took a large bite of the sandwich.

He chewed slowly for a moment as though savoring the taste, then gave a small nod of satisfaction.

A faint smile appeared around his eyes.

The chill that had frozen the lobby only moments ago had melted away as though it had never existed.

Had he been so sensitive all this time because he wasn’t getting enough carbohydrates?

Danbi swallowed the laugh that was about to escape with a sip of iced tea.

Perhaps the sight of the two of them together was unusual.

People from other departments passing through the lounge openly glanced at them with curiosity. Occasional whispers could also be heard.

They were the same suspicious looks Danbi had been subjected to endlessly, ever since she had worn a school uniform a very long time ago.

“Um… Team Leader. What if people misunderstand?”

At Danbi’s concern, Hae-il leisurely finished chewing and swallowed the sandwich before answering.

“Then let them.”

His response was far too calm.

Remembering the warning he had once given her, Danbi muttered,

“You told me to be careful, though….”

He let out a small chuckle.

“If you’re uncomfortable with the rumors, you can leave right now.”

Contrary to his words, his eyes held Danbi captive.

As she faced him, a forgotten memory suddenly came rushing back.

At seventeen, when she had been tormented by unbearable loneliness, the only person who had sat down and eaten with her had been Hae-il.

She still hadn’t repaid that debt from that day.

Danbi didn’t avoid his gaze and shook her head.

“You said you didn’t want to eat alone. I understand that feeling too.”

An awkward silence followed her matter-of-fact answer.

Danbi merely fidgeted with the cold plastic cup before finally bringing up something she had kept buried for a very long time.

“And… I know it’s rather late to say this, but I was grateful back then. I really was.”

Hae-il’s hand paused for a moment.

Without bothering to look at his expression, Danbi continued.

“Although I guess it’s different from back then. Who would misunderstand us just because we’re together? It’s pretty normal for people on the same team to have a meal together….”

“They could.”

At that, Danbi pressed her back firmly against the chair and puffed out her chest.

In the middle of the black T-shirt she had been wearing, there was a faint stain left behind by the kimchi pork she had eaten for lunch.

“We’re too different for that to happen.”

After saying that, Danbi lightly tapped the floor with the toe of her canvas shoe.

A cheerful scraping sound rang out.

A man in a perfectly pressed suit and gleaming dress shoes.

A woman in a stained T-shirt and canvas shoes.

The unmistakable mismatch between them was the clearest evidence of just how different the two of them were.

And yet, all of a sudden, the faces of the children who had persistently asked her in the past what her relationship with Hae-il was overlapped with the faces of her coworkers, who had recently been giving strange looks as they alternated their gazes between her, Suhyeon, and Hae-il.

Come to think of it, there really did seem to be people who were suspicious.

“Hmm… Or couldn’t you just tell people you have a girlfriend? That way, we could nip the misunderstanding in the bud. If strange rumors start going around the office, it’ll be more troublesome for you than it was at school.”

Hae-il seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head.

“What should I do? I don’t have a girlfriend, so I can’t. Besides, I don’t really like lying.”

He doesn’t have a girlfriend?

A square box she had seen on the bedside table beside his bed a few days ago flashed through Danbi’s mind like lightning.

Then who are all those condoms for?

For a moment, her mind filled with steamy scenes straight out of American dramas.

Open and uninhibited parties.

One-night stands with people whose names she didn’t even know….

The distance between them, which she had thought had narrowed a little because of their shared memories, suddenly seemed to widen by another step.

By then, Hae-il had placed the last piece of sandwich into his mouth.

He looked quietly at Danbi and spoke.

“Thank you. For staying with me.”

The sincerity in his eyes was unmistakable.

Whether it was being ostracized at school or experiencing the subtle isolation of the workplace, there was nothing pleasant about the feeling of being alone.

Danbi hoped that she had managed to repay, even in some small way, the warmth he had given her so long ago.

“No problem.”

Danbi shook her head slightly as she answered.

Whether she meant It’s okay, You don’t need to thank me, or something else that encompassed all of those meanings, even she didn’t know.

✶ ✶ ✶

Perhaps it was because the sandwich Danbi had given him had settled his stomach.

Or perhaps it was because the relief of seeing their old misunderstanding melt away had eased something inside him.

Whatever the reason, one thing was certain.

From that day onward, the one who held control over the world called Han Hae-il was no longer him.

Whenever he came to his senses, his gaze was invariably fixed on her.

Whenever he saw Danbi laughing and talking with the male members of the team, something hot and sour surged up from the pit of his stomach.

He would hover around her desk for no particular reason and strike up conversations about work.

He frequently sent her messages asking about schedules he already knew.

At night, his symptoms became even worse.

Her face shimmered against the dark ceiling, and his heart betrayed its owner, racing wildly of its own accord.

She was devouring his nights, his reason, everything he had.

Today was no different.

He had tossed and turned all night thinking about her and only managed to fall asleep around dawn.

But even that had lasted only a moment before he woke again.

Knowing he would never be able to fall asleep again, he headed to the company much earlier than usual.

In the chilly air of the empty office, the fatigue that had accumulated throughout the night suddenly crushed down upon his entire body.

“Make sure your personal affairs don’t interfere with your work.”

The words he had hurled at her again and again had come back like a boomerang, striking him squarely in return.

How pathetic.

He couldn’t even handle the waves of his own emotions, and now the entire ship called his everyday life was tilting because of them.

Overcome by bitter self-loathing, Hae-il roughly rubbed his dry face.

Get a grip.

The hollow determination echoed through his mind.

And then—

“Oh? Team Leader, you’re here early.”

At the sudden voice, Hae-il turned his head.

It was Danbi.

In the empty office, she stood alone by the window.

The soft morning sunlight scattered along the outline of her silhouette.

Her eyes, seemingly filled with all that light, turned toward him.

And then an utterly clear smile bloomed on her face.

In that instant, the world was muted.

The faint hum of the machines and the distant noise of the city disappeared.

In the silence, all the colors around him faded, and only her presence floated at the center of his vision like a painting.

His heart pounded as though it would break through his ribs, while an inexplicable, overwhelming happiness spread through his entire body along his veins.

A voice—quiet, lucid, and impossibly clear—whispered directly into his soul.

This is love.

But that moment of ecstasy faded as fleetingly as a mirage.

What followed was an overwhelming sense of despair.

The feeling of the ground collapsing beneath his feet.

The axis of his world crumbling apart.

Why did it have to be you?

You don’t have even a grain of affection left for me, so why now?

Why, now that everything is already over?

His pride shattered into countless pieces and scattered into dust.

Caught in a flood of emotions he had never experienced in his life, he had no idea what to do with his trembling body.

His vision grew hot and blurred.

And finally, the dam holding back his emotions broke.

Unable to control even a single one of his feelings, he could do nothing but stand there in a daze and stare at her.

“Team Leader…? Are you feeling sick?”

Perhaps his appearance seemed strange, because Danbi looked up at him with concern.

Hae-il barely managed to part his dry lips.

He wasn’t even sure whether his voice would come out properly.

“…What do I look like?”

What kind of face am I wearing right now in your eyes?

Just like the expression you showed me that day, do I look so sorrowful and pitiful at a glance, drenched in a feverish love?

The words he couldn’t bring himself to say aloud swirled desperately in his throat.

Danbi seemed slightly taken aback by his question.

But soon, she carefully examined Hae-il with a serious expression before giving her diagnosis.

“Hmm… Your face looks a little red, and I think you have a bit of a fever too. Could you have a cold…? I heard the flu is going around these days.”

A self-deprecating laugh escaped him with a short pfft.

Yes.

Maybe it is a cold.

A very terrible cold.

“I guess so…. I got caught in the rain that day. I must’ve picked up a nasty one.”

At his words, Danbi tilted her head and looked out the window.

The weather had been nothing but bright and sunny for days—so much so that people were joking they needed to hold a rain ritual.

Watching her look bewildered because she had no idea what he meant, Hae-il smiled silently.

Once.

And then again.

At the end of that smile, he finally acknowledged everything.

You win.

I lost.