Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Suin collapsed against the subway pole as soon as she boarded, her energy completely drained.

Her heartbeat was erratic, pounding relentlessly in her chest. The throbbing pain in her temples was proof of the extreme stress she’d endured.

“Ha…”

She sighed deeply, leaning heavily against the pole. In the dark reflection of the subway window, she saw her own face—no, she saw Seo Jaehee’s face, staring back at her.

“I should’ve slapped him back and forth across the face…”

Muttering to herself, she bit down on her lips, only to notice their reddened and slightly swollen state. They were proof of the kiss she had endured.

What the hell is this mess?

This was all Seo Jaehee’s fault.

No, it wasn’t—it was her fault.

Her failure to completely reject his kiss, and worse, her eventual response to it.

I’ve turned this into a two-sided mistake…

Lost in her self-reflection, Suin turned away from her reflection in the subway window. She deliberately stood amidst the crowd, swaying lightly as the train rocked back and forth, as though trying to lose herself in the sea of passengers.

Her steps on the way home were no better—slow and unsteady, like a zombie’s shuffling gait.

“I’m back.”

“You’re home, Suin.”

As she pushed open the café door, still heavy with fatigue, Miju, who had been chatting cheerfully with Jin Sookyung, raised her hand energetically.

“Suin! Why are you so late?”

“What’s going on?”

Of all the days…

Suin flinched, her nerves tightening instantly.

On reflex, she pressed her guilty lips together.

“I sent you a DM, but you didn’t reply or answer your phone. So, I came to your mom’s place.”

Miju hopped down from the barstool with the energy of a fish out of water and approached her.

“You called?”

Suin, feigning indifference, buried her face in her bag as if searching for her phone.

Miju came closer, practically nose to nose with her. “Of course I called. Were you busy?”

“Yes. I’ve been swamped with preparations for the Chairwoman’s forum event.”

Feeling Miju’s gaze lingering on her forehead, Suin kept her eyes on her phone as she asked, “Why are you here?”

“I was working on my project, got bored, and decided to come grab a beer.”

As a web novel writer, Miju lived a relatively free life, barring deadlines. She often visited Café Lime and got along so well with Jin Sookyung that she felt like part of the family, even when Suin wasn’t around.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Miju clung to Suin’s arm with exaggerated enthusiasm, but Suin quickly removed her hand.

Feigning a yawn, she added, “I’m too tired today. I just want to sleep.”

“Come on, I came all this way!”

“You came for yourself, not for me.”

“How could you be so rude? I came all this way with good intentions. You really want me to leave?”

“Yes, leave.”

Suin began pushing Miju toward the door.

Despite Miju’s protests, Suin’s mother simply waved goodbye, unfazed by the scene.

Pushed into the street, Miju pouted in frustration.

“I had something important to tell you!”

“Seo Jaehee? He’s alive and well, as always.”

Suin, guessing the topic, dismissed her brusquely.

Just then, a taxi passed by, and Suin flagged it down, shoving Miju into the back seat before she could respond.

“You heartless witch! Just wait until you need me!”

Suin handed her money for the fare, winking playfully.

“Here’s some pocket money.”

Miju glared at Suin’s grinning face.

“You annoying brat! Take this back!”

As she leaned out of the window to return the money, her eyebrows shot up in sudden realization.

“Wait… Your lips…”

“Driver, please go now!” Suin cut her off, her voice sharp with urgency.

“Hey!”

Miju’s frustrated yell was left in the air as the taxi sped away.

Watching the taxi disappear, Suin waved her hand with a smug smile. Meanwhile, Miju grumbled from inside the car.

“I was just going to ask what shade of tint she was wearing…”

Miju squinted at Suin’s unusual behavior, her suspicion growing.

As the taxi moved further away, she caught a fleeting glimpse of Suin brushing her fingers over her lips.

“Suspicious…”

Could it be Seo Jaehee?

Whenever Suin acted so out of character, it was always related to Seo Jaehee.

“That scatterbrained genius… Something definitely happened.”

Miju let out a small laugh, her intuition sharp as ever.

***

Suin let out a deep sigh as she watched the persistent Miju finally leave.

Miju, cunning as she was, would have immediately noticed the change in her lips if they had stayed together any longer.

And if she had…

“Did you kiss Seo Jaehee? What did it feel like? Was it good? What does his tongue taste like? Was it delicious?”

She would’ve bombarded Suin with questions in her usual over-the-top manner.

Miju had always been obsessed with kissing, even as a child.

“I want to kiss someone. I want to know what kissing feels like. Oh, what does a first kiss taste like? Who should I kiss? If possible, I want it to be Seo Jaehee.”

When puberty hit, Miju became enamored with romance novels and even wrote songs about her yearning for a kiss. She would gather her friends and hum her made-up chants like it was some kind of spell.

Suin remembered how utterly sick of it she had been.

“Ah.”

As Suin entered her room, grimacing at the memory, something came to mind.

She opened her bookshelf and pulled out the diary she had used during her first year of high school. Flipping through its pages, she found what she was looking for.

Miju’s song is weirdly addictive. It keeps looping in my head, and it’s so annoying. The thought it planted makes it even worse.

If I ever have my first kiss, I feel like it would be with Seo Jaehee. Just a feeling.

It’s absolutely horrifying.

“This is truly horrifying.”

Suin shuddered, disgusted by her younger self. She had adamantly claimed she wasn’t interested in Seo Jaehee, yet she had secretly written something like this in her diary.

The mind of a woman is truly fickle.

“I’ve embarrassed myself,” she muttered, shaking her head as she collapsed onto her bed.

“Was I psychic?”

Reflecting on it, everything written in that entry had come true. Despite her single-minded focus on work and her lack of romantic entanglements, her first kiss had ended up being with Seo Jaehee.@@novelbin@@

It was a disaster.

“I cursed myself. I literally cursed myself…”

As she unconsciously brushed her fingers across her lips—the lips that had pressed against Seo Jaehee’s—she abruptly closed the diary and flopped onto her back.

“Let’s just pretend my first kiss was meaningless,” she muttered.

But then her thoughts shifted.

What about tomorrow?

Work…

“Ugh, let the world end already.”

***

The world, unfortunately, did not end.

Time moved forward relentlessly, and morning arrived as usual.

Suin wrote her resignation letter first thing in the morning but changed her mind and begrudgingly went to work.

“Kwon Intern, I have some errands to run, so you’ll be in charge of assisting the Executive Director today.”

“Yes, Chief. Have a good day.”

With that, Suin made her escape before Jaehee even arrived.

It wasn’t professional behavior for someone like Chief Secretary Lee Suin, but even if the sky fell, she was determined to avoid Seo Jaehee at all costs.

Contrary to her concerns, Kwon Jongin was a reliable and steady individual.

He might have sensed the odd tension between Suin and Jaehee when he came to her house the other day, but he didn’t say a word.

Although it made her uneasy that he seemed to be on Jaehee’s side, his discretion was convenient, so she decided to let it slide.

“Chief Lee, you’re leaving so early?”

Just as Suin was about to step out through the main entrance, she ran into Baek Ihyeon.

Due to the presence of other employees, Ihyeon addressed her formally, and Suin responded with a polite greeting.

“Chief, if it’s not urgent, would you like to grab a coffee? It’s still forty minutes until nine.”

“Sure, I’ll treat you.”

Noticing that Ihyeon seemed to have something to say, Suin accepted his offer.

The two bought coffee and headed to the outdoor lounge, an area rarely visited by employees, instead of the busier back garden.

“How did the forum event go yesterday? I saw the news reports; it must’ve been exhausting.”

“It was, but it was worth the effort,” Suin replied with a faint smile.

After starting with small talk about work, Ihyeon brought up the real topic as they neared the bottom of their cups.

“Seo Jaehee came to see me yesterday.”

“Really?”

“He claimed it was to show support for the department, but it was clear I was his real target. The way he stared at me… it was like he was aiming a gun.”

Of course.

Seo Jaehee wouldn’t just sit idly by.

The fact that he hadn’t physically attacked Baek Ihyeon was almost praiseworthy for his restraint.

“I didn’t understand at first, but then I overheard a rumor about you in the afternoon. Apparently, you have a secret lover in the company, and you’ve been keeping quiet about it.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one.”

“You knew?”

“Of course. It’s about me.”

Suin shrugged nonchalantly, brushing it off.

Ihyeon hesitated before cautiously asking, “Seo Jaehee seems to think I’m the so-called secret lover. Is that true?”

“Well, the thing is…”

Suin explained everything, from the origins of the rumor to her reluctant lie.

“…so, I decided to let him believe it. I just wanted to draw a clear line with him.”

“I see.”

Ihyeon chuckled, amused.

“I miscalculated. I’ll handle it so you don’t face any trouble because of me.”

Suin smiled awkwardly, but Ihyeon shook his head firmly.

“No, use me.”

For a moment, his normally composed gaze held a surprising intensity.

“Use me however you need.”