Chapter 52. One More Time (4)

Translator: Aura

The night breeze had become even colder. Although he had said earlier that it was too cold to take off his jacket, Lee-Seob was now wearing only a t-shirt.

Minkyung looked at Lee-Seob and said,

“It’s cold, come back inside.”

“I’ll accompany you a little longer.”

“The temperature will drop further the later it gets.”

“Uh, I feel it’s cool and nice.”

Of course, he didn’t mention that he had used the cold weather as a pretext to hold her hand earlier. As Minkyung had said, the temperature dropped further, but he felt like he could breathe better now that the cold night air cooled his body heat.

Lee-Seob walked beside Minkyung, who had shorter strides than him. When they were almost in front of her building, he stopped and said,

“You’re my employee…”

Minkyung stared at him quizzically. The look in her eyes seemed to say,

‘So what?’

Embarrassed, Lee-Seob bit his lower lip,

“… What I mean is that anyone knows that you, Kang Minkyung, are a precious talent for TK.”

Even more embarrassed by those words, Lee-Seob forced a smile. Minkyung remained impassive as she simply watched him. He found her expression familiar.

Whenever she was faced with an unexpected situation at work, she would look at the situation calmly and not show the slightest panic. Once she had all the information, she used to offer an objective and rational evaluation, devoid of any emotion, in order to find the best possible solution.

He had no doubt that if she were in his position she would find the right words to quickly resolve this problematic situation.

“I shouldn’t have done that. I know.”

Although the lights on from several apartments illuminated the street, it was not enough to read the subtle changes in her expression. Minkyung nodded slightly with a calm, unreadable face,

“I think the same. Executive Director, I understand.”

“Do you understand?”

A hollow smile appeared on Lee-Seob’s lips.

‘What does she understand? She can’t sleep either because she misses me every night? Does she realize that tomorrow we will have to look each other in the face and say good morning as if what we experienced tonight had not happened? In 34 years, I had never once let myself be carried away by lust, but now I madly desire, like a dirty boss, my personal assistant, who to make matters worse is a colleague with whom I started working 11 years ago, does she understand how pathetic I feel?!’

“I don’t think so.”

Lee-Seob took a step closer to Minkyung.

“What you understand is that it’s not right since we work together. That’s it, right?”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation in her answer, so it was probably true.

“Well, let me tell you a little more so you understand it clearly. I think I’ve lost my mind, so I should have pushed you away from me. In fact, I wanted to push you away. I tried, I tried so hard, but damn it, damn it!”

Lee-Seob clenched his fists and raised his head towards the sky. A faint, long sigh came out of his mouth.

When he looked back at her, he smiled as usual. It was a playful and charming smile, like that of a naughty child,

“Okay. What should I do now? The smart Senior Manager Kang is the one who will decide. The Executive Director, who is foolish and weak to lust, will abide by the decision.”

“Executive Director.”

At that moment, Lee-Seob pulled the hood over her face so that she couldn’t see him,

“But not today… today, no matter what you answer, I feel like I’ll turn into an animal.”

Lee-Seob left Minkyung there and turned around. She could hear his footsteps walking away.

“Ah, sleep well and see you tomorrow. I’ll be going to morning training alone, so I’ll meet you at the club at 8:20.”

When Minkyung turned her head, she saw Lee-Seob, a few steps away, giving her a polite bow. This was the Executive Director she knew. Minkyung wrapped herself in the cozy, warm fleece jacket.

“See you tomorrow.”

Her voice was hoarse. Minkyung took off the hood, and bowed politely as was proper.

Once back home, Minkyung went straight to her room and plopped down on the bed.

‘Damn!’

This was a situation where the swear words Lee-Seob sometimes spat out were perfect. She felt as if she had jumped into a vast river without any preparation or plan, relying only on a poor, flimsy little boat. Until last night she believed that after the weekend she would be able to get out of the river as if she had never been in it, but today she was pushed deeper.