Chapter 30. Lee Jaeheon (10)

He furrowed his brow, then nodded.

“Yeah. It was a dangerous piece. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Bad?”

She hadn’t noticed while he was driving, but now she saw it—his palm was wrapped in a thick bandage. Not a typical band-aid, but the kind hospitals used after treatment.

“Five stitches. They’ll come out tomorrow. You know we haven’t seen each other once since then, right?”

“When did it happen?”

“That day. The rainy one.”

The same night she hid in the supply room, ignoring his message to come down.

While she curled into herself to escape, he’d gotten hurt waiting for her.

The elevator chimed and the doors opened. Everyone filed out—clearly headed to the same screening. They were the last to step off. And from somewhere ahead, a familiar voice called their names.

“You’re here! Man, I thought you weren’t coming. Come on, let’s head in. First the screening, then the business presentation—after that, we party properly, okay?”

Sunggeon, unusually high-energy today, eagerly ushered them forward with a hand on each of their backs.

It wasn’t the general audience hall, but one of the private screening rooms. Familiar faces dotted the crowd—sound engineers they’d worked with, a few celebrities she’d seen in the news, and mostly, people who clearly looked like investors.

From their twenties to sixties, the room was a mix of well-dressed, sharp-eyed figures, about half full already.

“There—seats 11 and 12. Sit there. You’ll have to go up for the stage greeting later too, so don’t even think about running, got it?”

“Sunbae, a stage greeting is a bit…”

“No backing out now. Oh, they’re calling me over there—anyway, enjoy!”

He patted their shoulders and disappeared down the steps.

It felt like a small whirlwind had just blown past. A few of the staff recognized Jaeheon and greeted him enthusiastically. Others, realizing who Eunkyo was, started nodding at her too.

Jaeheon stood out like a peacock among pigeons—elegant, composed, striking even when doing nothing at all.

Her heart twinged. A sharp, needle-like sensation just under her ribcage.

She gave an awkward smile and sat down, murmuring to herself.

“This is… a little overwhelming.”

“There are more people than I expected.”

“Right? Are you really going to go up for the greeting?”

“Why? Do you not want to, sunbae?”

She nodded quickly, almost desperately.

She didn’t want to stand up as a writer, not in front of all these people.

Jaeheon seemed to think for a moment, then leaned in, resting his chin on her shoulder and whispering low,

“Then let’s sneak out at the right time.”

Just then, the lights went down.

A hush spread through the room.

Eunkyo stared down at the man now leaning on her, startled by the sudden darkness and his sudden proximity.

Breathe. Just breathe, Jung Eunkyo.

Only when her brain caught up did she inhale, sharp and quiet.

“Let’s start with the ads, then we’ll get into the main event. As you all know, this project is focused on developing an application for the visually impaired. A text-to-speech-based interface, aimed at improving accessibility. Thank you to all who donated their time and talents to bring this to life.”

As Sunggeon’s smooth voice wrapped up the introduction, the screen lit up. A montage of iconic Korean film clips began to roll, silent like an old black-and-white movie.

Perfect timing.

And then came his voice—the same voice that had made her palms sweat back in the recording studio.

“I hope that you will love me.”

A shiver ran down Eunkyo’s spine. Her skin prickled as if every nerve ending was vibrating. Her breath caught, her body tensed.

The atmosphere of that day—the tension—rushed back all at once. Her nape grew damp with sweat.

“I am yours…”

“Wow… the audio’s insane.”

The same voice, but now right beside her ear. Jaeheon’s breath, his body heat—she could feel everything.

Eunkyo pressed both hands to her mouth.

If she didn’t, she was sure she’d moan.

What do I do… I—

And then, his hand gently wrapped around her trembling wrist.

She panicked and tried to pull away—only to have his face suddenly right in front of hers.

“What’s this? Why are you shaking so much?”

She couldn’t speak.

Could only look back into those jet-black eyes, her lips sealed shut.

“Ha…”

He exhaled softly.

His hand slid from her wrist to her palm, then slipped through her fingers, rough and warm. Their fingers intertwined with a quiet but deliberate intensity.

Eunkyo swallowed dryly.

From the speakers, Jaeheon’s narration continued. All around them, murmurs and gasps broke the darkness—people scanning the crowd, wondering where that voice was coming from. It felt like a game of hide-and-seek, and they were the ones hiding.

Flushed red, she pressed the back of her hand to her cheek.

Jaeheon was watching her closely, carefully.

And then—without warning—he tugged her wrist.

“Let’s go to the car.”