Chapter 42: Chapter 42

"This might actually be face blindness," Ajin thought.

It hadn’t even been a week since their meeting in the garden lounge, and yet Seo Jaehee couldn’t recognize her face again.

Or maybe he just didn’t want to remember.

“Seo Jaehee…”

Ajin’s chest tightened, filled with a mix of humiliation and betrayal by the man she adored.

“How could you…?”

And to make it worse, this was happening in front of Lee Suin.

The shame was unbearable.

***

“Me… me…”

Ajin was practically buffering in a state of shock, but Jaehee remained entirely unfazed. Without the slightest hint of guilt, he pulled his arm out of her grasp.

“Yoo Ajin,” Suin intervened.

Even though it was a late lunch hour, the entrance to the cafeteria was still busy with employees coming and going.

It was necessary to put a stop to Ajin’s overly familiar behavior toward the executive director.

Ajin had likely wanted to flaunt her connection with Jaehee in front of everyone, but Suin couldn’t allow that.

“Director, you need to eat,” Suin said politely, trying to gently steer Ajin away.

Ajin glared at her with venomous eyes, her whites reddened from frustration.

As unlikable as she was, she still looked pitiful. Suin wasn’t exactly a philanthropist, but she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy.

“Ajin…”

Suin attempted to console her quietly, but the protagonist of this whole situation, Seo Jaehee, remained disturbingly indifferent.

He walked past Ajin, who was on the verge of tears, as if she were part of the scenery.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Yes!”

“This way.”

Jongin quickly followed after him, and Suin had no choice but to do the same.

Looking back, comforting Ajin would have been unnecessary meddling anyway.

Ajin, left behind, stormed off and got into the elevator without another word.

“Oh, it’s the Director!”

“Good afternoon, Director.”

“Enjoy your meal, Director!”

The cafeteria buzzed with energy at the sight of Seo Jaehee.

Whether they were holding trays, eating, or finishing up their meals, everyone’s attention turned to him.

“How did he end up with a cast?”

“Should we be feeding him? Maybe he can’t even eat on his own with that hand.”

Even the cafeteria staff fussed over him, creating a commotion.

Because of his cast, Jaehee could only carry his tray with one hand, and the plan had been for Jongin and Suin to help him gather his food. But one of the cafeteria staff members rushed over, grabbed his tray, and insisted on doing it herself.

“It’s alright, we can handle it,” Suin tried to protest.

“Chief, you focus on your own tray. Someone with free hands should help.”

Despite Suin’s attempts to stop her, the staff member piled food onto Jaehee’s tray and personally carried it to a sunny table by the window.

After thanking her, the three of them sat down together.

“You’re practically an idol, Director,” Jongin remarked, clearly amused by the situation.

Jaehee, who had been accustomed to attention and admiration from all directions since he was young, remained unbothered. He picked up the fork Jongin handed him without much reaction.

“Enjoy your meal.”

Suin silently shook her head in disbelief as she began eating.

Jongin, ever cheerful, took a bite of his food before asking, “Director, do you know that woman from earlier?”

“Who?”

“The one at the cafeteria entrance who grabbed your arm so casually.”

“Things like that happen often.”

Jaehee’s response was truthful.

Back in school, he had experienced countless instances of unwanted physical contact. Female classmates who liked him too much had behaved like obsessive fans, constantly chasing after him.

Perhaps Ajin’s behavior was no different, Suin thought as she quietly clarified, “That woman was Yoo Ajin.”

“Yoo Ajin?”

Jaehee’s expression remained unfamiliar, almost as if he were hearing the name for the first time.

The sheer absurdity of his indifference made Suin suspect he might be feigning ignorance.

“Yes, you met her just last week in the garden lounge,” Suin said pointedly.

“Oh, Yoo Ajin.”

Only then did a flicker of recognition light up in his gray eyes.

Suin thought he was finally remembering Ajin, but instead, his thoughts wandered elsewhere.

“Ah, Yoo Ajin—your friend, the one Lee Suin was jealous of…”

“What nonsense are you…!”

“Ahem!”

Suin, flustered, couldn’t help but raise her voice, while Jongin coughed loudly, trying to diffuse the tension.

Thanks to Jongin’s quick thinking, the surrounding employees didn’t overhear.

“Ah, right. That’s a forbidden topic,” Jaehee said, feigning innocence with an audacious smirk.

Completely unrepentant, he continued to act as if he were the picture of calm.

Truly, Seo Jaehee was a guilty man in every sense.

***

Suin’s half-lidded gaze shifted toward Jongin.

It wasn’t as though she had ignored Kwon Jongin entirely, but she had thought she’d hidden her feelings well until now.

He was a man as transparent as cellophane, and she had overlooked him.

‘Thank you.’

Sending a silent signal of gratitude to Jongin, who had pretended not to notice all this time and now stepped in before things got awkward, Suin caught his reserved nod in return.

‘It’s nothing.’

For the first time, Suin realized why Seo Jaehee kept Jongin by his side, and the thought brought a faint smile to her lips.

“Good afternoon, Director. I’m Kim Youngha from the PR team.”

“Hello,” Jaehee replied politely.

Kim Youngha, the team leader, approached their table. While Jaehee might not have known her intentions, Suin could already see through her motives and shifted in her seat to intercept.

“Team Leader, why don’t you talk to me instead?”

“My apologies for interrupting your meal, but I’ll only take a moment,” Kim said quickly, pulling out a chair next to Jaehee before Suin could stop her.

“Director, would you consider being the cover model for our company magazine? We’d also like to do an accompanying interview. I’ve asked Chief Lee Suin several times, but she keeps turning me down.”

Just as Suin had expected.

Kim Youngha was utterly dedicated to the company magazine. She firmly believed that “the cover makes up 70% of subscriptions” and was tireless in her pursuit of models.

If she set her sights on someone, she wouldn’t let go—like an alligator snapping its jaws shut.

It had taken four years of persistent persuasion to get Suin to agree to grace the cover once.

“Director, this is the issue where Chief Lee was our cover model,” Kim said, pulling out the magazine and resorting to a manipulative tactic.

“Have you seen it?”

“No, I wasn’t aware of it.”

Suin reached out to grab the magazine, but Jaehee was quicker.

He snatched it and began studying the cover with his glinting eyes.

Suin, who had always been calm even when colleagues brought up the magazine, felt her face flush with heat.

Having Seo Jaehee look at it was mortifying.

Especially when he stared at it so intently…

“Director, isn’t our Chief Lee absolutely stunning on the cover?” Kim gushed.

“I didn’t know Chief Lee could take photos like this,” Jaehee commented with a hint of surprise.

“It’s always been my dream to showcase our beautiful Chief Lee on the cover, and she made it come true—beyond my expectations,” Kim continued enthusiastically.

“Team Leader, we can arrange a separate meeting to discuss the magazine. For now, could you let the Director finish his meal?” Suin interjected firmly, trying to end the conversation.

“It’s fine, Chief Lee,” Jaehee said, stopping her from dismissing Kim.

Suin felt a twinge of awkwardness, while Kim grew even more animated.

“This time, Director, please be my pride and joy on the cover. You’re already the pride of Hyesung, of course.”

“Hm…”

Kim’s attempt to win him over was admirable, but Jaehee’s attention was elsewhere.

He opened the magazine and started reading Suin’s interview.

“I’ll think about it and let you know,” he said, barely glancing at Kim as he flipped the pages.

“I look forward to your positive reply, Director,” Kim said, misinterpreting his casual response as a yes. She pumped her fist in triumph and left the table.

Suppressing the urge to snatch the magazine from him, Suin urged, “Please, eat your meal, Director.”

“Alright.”

Jaehee’s answer was half-hearted as he continued to read.

Realizing he wouldn’t stop unless someone physically intervened, Suin picked up her chopsticks and gestured to Jongin to continue his meal.

“Hmm.”

Having read every word of Suin’s interview without skipping a single detail, Jaehee flipped to the next page.

He quickly skimmed through the rest of the content, as though deeming it unnecessary, until he reached the final section, titled Hyesung’s Seasons. It featured photos of the garden lounge during lunchtime.

Just as Suin thought he would finally close the magazine, he muttered, “It’s Lee Suin.”

His unexpected comment caused both Suin and Jongin to stop mid-bite, their chopsticks frozen in the air.

“Chief Lee is in there? I didn’t notice,” Jongin said, looking puzzled. Suin silently agreed.

“She’s there.”

Jaehee held the magazine open, displaying the photo spread.

The image showed employees relaxing and enjoying their lunch break in the garden, but neither Suin nor Jongin could spot her.

It was like playing Where’s Waldo?, and despite leaning in together to search, they couldn’t find her anywhere.

“Here,” Jaehee said, pointing with his index finger.

Beyond the lush greenery of the flowerbeds, just between a tree and a bench, was the faint outline of someone’s back.

“Is that really Chief Lee? It’s hard to tell…” Jongin tilted his head in doubt, but Suin’s heart skipped a beat.@@novelbin@@

It was her.

He couldn’t remember Yoo Ajin, yet he spotted this?