Side story 1. Ch 3.3

CEO Jang, who usually acted like an extra a**hole in the early mornings when we had to go to work, looked oddly in a good mood today. Of course, it wasn’t like it was written all over his face. It was just that I could read those tiny emotional shifts—like the slight arch in his brows—that others would never notice.

The man standing in front of the mirror, tying his necktie with a touch more flourish than usual, had just a bit more strength in his hands than he normally would. The way he smoothed back his hair felt unusually relaxed.

And that only made me feel more miserable. Just thinking back to yesterday made my face burn with shame—I didn’t even want to look him in the eye. But pretending to still be asleep like before wasn’t an option either. I had no idea where his hands might reach—my ears, or between my legs…

“……”

“……!”

Wrapped in a sheet, crouched and leaning against the headboard with my n**ed body exposed underneath, I accidentally locked eyes with him in the mirror.

I didn’t want to hold eye contact, so I quickly turned my head away. He let out a soft breath and chuckled at my pathetic state. That faint smirk he made while softly brushing his earlobe earlier suddenly flared up heat in me. A shiver crawled up the back of my neck and tingled down my spine. I wished there was a hole I could crawl into, so I just pulled the blanket over my face.

I heard him leaving the room, then the front door opening and closing. Only then did I let out a deep sigh and thud my forehead against the headboard.

That unfamiliar floral scent on him, the lipstick stain on his shirt, his underwear changed from the ones he wore when he left the house—it all confused me. The longer I spent alone, the more those negative thoughts spiraled.

CEO Jang, proposing sponsorship to someone else… CEO Jang, looming between another person’s spread legs… CEO Jang, threatening with that terrifying face of his to make them m**n louder…

The more I imagined, the filthier and more tangled my emotions became.

And to think all of that had just been a misunderstanding.

Not only did I feel disgust toward someone I hadn’t even met because of CEO Jang, but I also ended up letting him see that filthy jealousy. Humiliated, I clenched the bedsheet in my fist and twisted it hard. I seriously wanted to die.

***

That same man who had left the house in the morning handed me something across the dinner table that night. A small white box. When I opened it, a brand-new, high-end smartphone was inside. I blinked at it. What is this? He answered before I could ask.

“Keep it on you. It’s inconvenient when I can’t reach you.”

But… I’m always at home. When would I ever be unreachable? The question crossed my mind, but I just nodded without arguing. It had been so long since I’d touched something this new, it felt unfamiliar. As I took the phone out of the box, I noticed something else inside—one plastic card. I’d seen it before at a Japanese restaurant.

“What’s this?”

His lips moved and dropped something completely unexpected.

“You said you wanted to go back to school.”

“…Yeah.”

Caught off guard, I could only blink. CEO Jang spoke again, face blank.

“You’ll be commuting in my car. Only.”

“……”

“Your schedule will be managed by one of the staff. Keep that in mind.”

It took me a while to fully grasp what he was saying. So… he was letting me go back to school? Why now? Just a few days ago, he’d been dead set against it. He was always unpredictable, sure, but this… this felt like he was giving me a degree of freedom. What kind of wind blew through his head to make him change his mind?

I didn’t know the reason, but either way—it was good news for me.

“Just so you know…”

“……”

I fidgeted with the card for a while. That day I told him to stop meddling in my life—was he already planning to give this to me back then? The thought that we were always terribly out of sync flickered in my head.

“If you act like a g**damn mutt in heat again, I’ll make you regret ever whining about school, so you’d better behave.”

His name, Jang Ki-joo, was printed on the card. I ran my fingers over it absentmindedly, then flipped it over. On the silver band, his signature was stamped boldly and cleanly. While I was still staring at the card, his command suddenly dropped onto my forehead.

“Answer me.”

Startled, I lifted my head. His usual sharp gaze was fixed on me. I forced a smile, curling my lips up.

“…Thank you.”

The fork and knife he was holding slowly lowered until they clinked against the plate.

He looked at me with an unreadable expression. I didn’t even realize I was smiling, but apparently my eyes were half-mooned, my cheeks probably lifted, and my lips curved up. His gaze traced every inch of that smile—w**, heavy, lingering.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

I wished he’d stop staring. Especially not like that. He didn’t answer, just l**ked his bottom lip like he was thirsty, then set his utensils down and reached for a water glass.

Gulp, gulp.

Watching him drink water in silence, I bit my bottom lip. My cheeks and the corner of my eyes—everywhere his gaze had clung to—burned hot. It felt like I’d been slapped and was now blushing uncontrollably. I sat there under his heavy stare for what felt like forever.

***

The next day, I submitted my return-to-school application. It had been nearly two years. Nothing much had changed on campus. Everyone I passed had a stranger’s face, making the familiar space feel distant too.

On the way home, I spotted a department store outside the car window and asked the driver to stop. He glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

“I’ll wait out front.”

“Okay.”

Inside, the jewelry displays dazzled under the lights. I headed to the ring section. As I browsed, a staff member approached.

“Looking for anything in particular?”

“I want to see some rings.”

I scanned the showcase. Anything with too many flashy gems wouldn’t suit him, so I looked for simpler designs. One caught my eye, so I asked the price.

“It’s one carat, and it’s reasonably priced—four hundred eighty.”

I made an O shape with my lips. Wow. Way more than I expected. I stared at it again, imagining how it’d look on his long, thick ring finger. It was a nice image, but… he already had one on. One that the staff had picked out—a high-end piece. Did I really need to get him another?

I hesitated in front of the display for a long time. Eventually, I left the store with a small paper bag in hand.

The next morning, I stopped him at the shoe cabinet before he left for work. Told him I had something for him. His eyebrows rose in surprise. I handed him the gift that the department store employee had carefully wrapped. He stared at it for a moment, then slowly unwrapped it.

Inside was a tie pin, no bigger than my pinky.

“Wow. Since when does Seo Yeowon give gifts?”

“I charged it to your card.”

I mumbled awkwardly. He didn’t even react to that, just kept looking at the tie pin. I expected him to brush it off—he already owned way better things—but he actually seemed to like it. That was a relief.

“Let me put it on for you.”

I took it out of the case and brought it to his tie. It looked slightly crooked, so I tried to adjust it, but my hands were clumsy. I could feel his gaze sticking to me. I fumbled, worried he might criticize me for not even being able to do this right, but I couldn’t fix it. I gave up and stepped back.

“It’s my first time. It looks weird, doesn’t it?”

A lame excuse. But I thought it turned out okay, sort of. I smiled awkwardly, curling my lips.

“It’s a thank-you for the ring you gave me.”

“Not bad.”

He said it wasn’t bad and then fell silent. His eyes drifted somewhere past my shoulder. I turned to look—there was nothing special there. When I faced forward again, he was staring at me. His gaze had trapped me, unreadable emotion swirling in it.

“……”

“…Have a good day.”

Feeling embarrassed, I mumbled softly. My eyes dropped to the floor as my toes fidgeted nervously.

Then—suddenly—he pulled me close.

His broad chest swallowed me up. Like a small animal caught in a trap, I was stuck there, neither able to run nor resist.

“While some people are going all the way to Royal to earn Seo Yeowon’s living expenses…”

“……”

“You’re just going to stand around like this?”

Would I be able to help myself if I didn’t stay calm? Unable to read his thoughts, I looked up at him. The man curled his lips into a long, crooked smile and answered.

“You’d just be staring at the door without me anyway.”

He spoke as if he already knew everything. At that strange nuance, I stared at him. At the smile painted on his face, the CCTV camera stuck to the bookshelf flashed through my mind. That day, when I’d been waiting only for him. He had suddenly barged in that morning, clinging to me, panting. I remember thinking he seemed unusually agitated.

…So he already knew everything. I closed my eyes tightly in a wave of helplessness.

“You’re not coming with me?”

At the abrupt question dropped in front of me, I opened my eyes again. His face filled my vision. If he was going somewhere now, it had to be that golf course. The one tainted by all kinds of unpleasant memories. Recalling those past moments, I hesitated with my lips parted several times. But in the end, I said I would go with him. Because I wanted to be with him.

***

Inside the car heading toward the golf course. The roads outside the window were familiar, yet strangely foreign. At the voice that drifted from behind me, I turned to CEO Jang.

“I thought you hated Royal.”

I blinked, then fumbled with my lips.

“…The reason I hated the golf course was because of you, CEO.”

His lips visibly stiffened. Watching him carefully, I met the eyes that came through the rearview mirror. The staff member who had handed me the man’s business card was staring at me with a stunned face. His eyes were wide with shock, as if asking how I could say something like that.

I quietly turned my gaze back to the window. At the end of the endlessly stretching gray road stood the building I thought I’d never see again. Then I turned to look at the man beside me. There were still creases between his brows.

Without the staff noticing, I placed my hand over the back of his. I was the only one wearing a ring on my finger. But because of the scar, it felt like both of us were wearing rings. Realizing that, I let out a small laugh. The man, unaware of the reason, asked me why I was smiling.

<End>