# Chapter 25
“Ah. This is annoying. I forgot my wallet.”
“…!”
The Director, who had left earlier to meet a client, came back into the office. Startled, I swallowed my scream and hastily climbed off Heerim’s thigh. Heerim sat awkwardly on the sofa, touching his lips that were still moist with someone else’s saliva.
“Heerim, are you feeling better now?”
Thankfully, the Director hadn’t seen Heerim and me with our lips pressed together. I bowed my head deeply to hide my flushed face and moved away. I was so startled that the sound of my pounding heart echoed in my ears.
“Are you okay? Hmm? What’s this? You look like you’re in great shape now.”
“Yeah. Jaeo hyung just did some Guiding for me, so I’m fine now.”
“You did Guiding? But earlier you said it wasn’t working well.”
I widened my eyes at Heerim, shaking my head vigorously and crossing my arms to make an X. It was a gesture telling him not to say anything more. While it wasn’t exactly a lie that we did Guiding, I didn’t particularly want to mention that we had kissed.
Heerim seemed to understand my gesture and smiled, his eyes crinkling. Heerim’s face, which had looked half-dead just moments ago, was now bright and vibrant. Seeing how he had recovered after practically consuming me made reality come crashing back.
Ah. I really kissed Heerim again.
“You didn’t take more Guiding medicine, did you?”
“I didn’t. Jaeo hyung did Guiding for me. Of course, we only held hands.”
Aaaargh. What the hell? Why is he saying that with a blush?
I screamed internally. Blushing and adding unnecessary details made everything look suspicious to anyone watching. The Director must have felt the same way, looking at us with a dubious expression, glancing back and forth between Heerim and me.
“What’s going on with you two? Did something happen? Why is the atmosphere like this?”
“Nothing happened! Director! Here’s your wallet! Your wallet! The client must be waiting! Hurry and go!”
“Huh? Oh yeah. But seriously, what did you two really do?”
“We did Guiding, like I said. While holding hands tightly.”
Heerim said while staring directly at me. His eyes seemed to say, “I said it well, right?”
This kid isn’t deliberately trying to tease me, is he?
I rubbed my throbbing temples as I watched Heerim, who had quickly regained his strength and was smiling innocently. Though the Director still looked suspicious, she didn’t ask any further questions.
“Anyway, I’ll be back. You two watch the office.”
After checking the time, the Director rushed out of the office, apparently running late. Once again, only Heerim and I remained in the office.
I rolled my eyes slightly to check Heerim’s condition once more. The Guiding seemed to have worked—his once-pale face was now flushed with a healthy pink. So does this mean I’ll have to Guide him like this whenever his condition deteriorates?
I walked stiffly back to my seat. I could feel Heerim’s gaze fixed on me, but I couldn’t turn to face him. Now that my rationality had returned, it was hard to act brazen.
My palms were sweaty and my heart beat irregularly. I could still feel Heerim’s lips on mine. This was different from the first time we kissed. I knew he was going to kiss me, but I accepted Heerim under the pretext of Guiding. This time, my own will was involved. That’s why I couldn’t pretend nothing had happened.
“Heerim, would it be okay if I step out for a bit?”
“What? Where to?”
“My breakfast seems to have upset my stomach. I feel a bit uncomfortable, so I thought I’d take a walk nearby.”
“Your stomach hurts? Are you okay? Should I go buy you some digestive medicine?!”
“Ah, no. I think just walking outside will help.”
“Then shall we go together?”
“No! I’ll go by myself. You need to watch the office, Heerim.”
I jumped up from my seat when I saw Heerim trying to follow me. I was going out because being with Heerim felt awkward, so what would be the point if he came along?
“Jaeo hyung…”
Heerim looked at me dejected as I was leaving the office, his lips pouting. His drooping eyebrows and the corners of his eyes looked pitiful, but all I could focus on was Heerim’s plump lips. The memory of our kiss played over and over in my head, causing a dull heat to rise somewhere in my body.
This feeling was new to me. The unfamiliar yet tantalizing sensation that made the hair on my spine stand on end melted my brain and made me feel like a fool.
“Hyung, if you just stay in the office, I’ll go out and—”
“I’ll be back soon!”
I cut off his words as he tried to stop me and fled the office.
As I exited the building, a warm spring breeze enveloped me. It seemed to make the heat on my face even more intense. Fanning my face with my hand, I walked aimlessly along the main road.
Perhaps because of yesterday’s rain, fallen petals carpeted the sidewalk, while only a few surviving blossoms clung precariously to the branches. It seemed that the flower viewing Heerim had been singing about would be impossible. The flowers would likely all fall within the next two days, replaced by green buds.
“Oh?”
As I walked down the street, a small café caught my eye. It was the café that sold the cake Heerim had brought when I went for my interview at the Earth Peace Research Institute. The memory came flooding back, along with the taste of the soft, melting cream cake. I had enjoyed it despite not usually liking sweet things.
“Welcome!”
When I came to my senses, I was already inside the café. I gave a slight bow to the cheerful part-time worker and looked around. For a supposedly popular café, there were no empty seats. I was about to leave when I decided that since I’d already come this far, I might as well buy a cake. I examined the display case and saw that there was exactly one strawberry shortcake left—the same one we’d eaten before. This might be a good way to ease the awkwardness with Heerim.
Just as I was about to ask the counter staff to box up the cake, someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I turned to see a handsome man who looked like a college student, regarding me with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m sorry, but are you going to buy that strawberry cake?”
“What? Ah, yes.”
“I really wanted that cake, so if you don’t mind, could you let me have it instead?”
The man pointed at the lone strawberry cake in the display case with an awkward smile. I was taken aback but nodded since I didn’t absolutely have to buy this particular cake. For someone to suddenly ask a stranger to give up a cake, he must have really wanted it.
Although it was disappointing, I decided to buy the cake another time and just ordered a sweet drink for Heerim and coffee for myself.
“Um, thank you.”
While I was waiting for my drinks, the man from earlier approached me again.
“I’m really grateful, so could I get your contact information?”
“My contact information? Why?”
What is this? Some kind of religious recruiter? When I gave him a suspicious look, he waved his hands frantically.
“Oh! I’m not a weird person. I just want to send you a gift card as thanks.”
“No, that’s really not necessary.”
The man’s desire to repay me for such a minor favor made me even more suspicious. Fortunately, my drinks arrived just then. I grabbed them before he could say anything else and left the café. I looked back to see if he was following me, but thankfully, the suspicious man didn’t come after me.
“There’s no such thing as kindness without reason in today’s world.”
I mumbled, touching my parched lips. That man was probably some kind of religious recruiter. That’s why he was trying to strike up a conversation and get my contact information.
In this world, there’s no such thing as kindness without reason. Even Heerim’s obsession with me was clearly just because of Guiding. With that realization, the nausea and confusion I’d been feeling about our kiss began to settle.
Actually, I had been secretly worried. What if Heerim genuinely liked me? It was a needless concern. I was glad to have realized this now. From now on, I wouldn’t think too deeply about the affection Heerim showed me.
With my turbulent feelings sorted out, I returned to the office to find that the Director and Jeongmun had returned to their seats.
“Hyung, is your stomach better?”
Heerim crept up beside me and checked my expression. I nodded slightly and handed him the chocolate drink I’d bought for him.
“Hyuuung…”
Heerim looked at me with a moved expression.
“It’s nothing special, so no need to overreact.”
My words came out sharper than intended now that I understood the source of Heerim’s affection for me. I coldly walked past the surprised-looking Heerim toward where the Director was sitting.
“Tomorrow, we’ll swap Kang Seokgi’s USB with this one.”
The Director, back from meeting the client, placed a USB on the table. I sat there blankly, not knowing what it was for, so Jeongmun explained.
“It’s identical to the USB Kang Seokgi usually carries around. We’ll put the embezzlement data on this and switch it with his, so this will play instead of his presentation materials.”
“That way, even the business partner will know that Seokgi has been messing with the contract money, and things will escalate.”
“But… how are we going to switch it?”
I understood roughly what they meant. However, it’s not like we could infiltrate the company, so how were we supposed to swap Kang Seokgi’s USB?
In response to my question, the Director tapped the USB in front of her and looked at Heerim and me.
“How? You two will have to do the legwork.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
