“Happy Monday.”
“Oh, Assistant Manager Song. You’re early today.”
“Yeah. Somehow I ended up coming in early.”
Truth is, I hadn’t properly rested all weekend, and I barely slept last night. All because of Yoo Sia. I tried to sort things out by talking it through, but that bombshell—her saying she liked it—left me with a headache.
‘Of course she’d like it.’ Back in college I had a reputation in Sinchon bars—enough to satisfy each other.
‘But seriously dating her? No way.’
I agonized over it all weekend, and the conclusion stayed the same.
‘I want a modest, hard-working woman, building wealth step by step.’ Nothing grand. Not Seoul proper—just a decent mid-range apartment in Gyeonggi Province, a Korean-made sedan. That’s enough. My dream was a simple middle-class life.
In that sense, ‘Yoo Sia is out.’ Marrying her means I’d be renting forever, never owning a place in the metro.
“Good morning!”
At that moment, Sia burst into the office with a bright greeting.
My brow furrowed at once. ‘Look at that.’ She held a Starbucks tumbler in one hand—one Americano arriving, a latte after lunch. ‘How much does she spend on coffee a day?’ She could eat in the cafeteria, but she insists on going out to some Instagram-worthy cafe every day.
“Good morning, Assistant Manager Song.”
Unaware of my thoughts, she peered around and chimed, “Oh, hi, Sia… You look energetic today too.”
“Yes!”
She smiled and went to her desk.
9:00 a.m. As always, the day began with the weekly meeting.
10:30 a.m. Time to focus on our work.
Glance—. Glance—. I couldn’t stop looking at Sia. But she, as if immune, was utterly absorbed in her tasks.
‘Is she not even conscious of it?’ My head’s been a mess since the weekend, and at work Sia was all I could think about.
No wonder. We didn’t just sleep. We shared a night. I still remembered her expression, her voice, her breath, her sensual face—how could I focus on anything else?
“Hmm?”
Sia suddenly sensed my gaze and turned.
“Assistant Manager Song, what is it? Do you need me to do something?”
“Ah… no.”
“You look tired. Want me to get you coffee?”
Before she finished,—
“Oh no, buying coffee for him?” Manager Oh, ever-sweet, interjected. “Hey, Assistant Manager Song, asking for that could be harassment. Sia, don’t do that.”
“No, I asked, Assistant Manager Song didn’t say a thing.”
“Is that so?”
Manager Oh gave me a look, then returned to his monitor. Sia shrugged and gave a light laugh.
‘Focus, focus.’ Otherwise I’d space out all morning. I slapped my cheek, cleared my head, and started typing.
Soon it was lunchtime.
“Everyone, let’s eat first. We work to live—eat on time.”
Department Head Ma clapped and stood. As usual, we all headed to the cafeteria, but—
“I’ll eat separately today.”
Sia excused herself again.
“Today’s cafeteria special is ban-gye-tang, you know?”
“Right, it’s our HR Media specialty. Haven’t tried it? Give it a shot.”
But she refused firmly.
“I’m dieting—salad for me.”
Another twenty-thousand-won salad, no doubt. “Well, enjoy. See you later.”
1:00 p.m. By the end of lunch, Sia’s hand held a new coffee cup again.
‘How much is that per day?’ Eating a salad then coffee—she’s spending a day’s wage on this.
‘Don’t think about it, don’t look.’
I repeated to myself as I tried to work, but then—
Glance—. I felt a strange presence in the office corridor.
I looked up. ‘Whoa…!’ I startled and returned to typing.
‘That’s Yoo Yeong-hwan!’ HR Group Chairman Yoo’s eldest grandson, next-in-line heir—he was studying our office as he passed.
About 15 minutes later, I felt it again.
‘Yoo Jeong-min?’ Another senior executive sneaking a look at our department.
It didn’t end there.
Yoo Gyeong-hwan. Yoo Tae-min. Yoo Min-hwan. Yoo Jong-dae. All executives who normally never showed their faces on this floor, glancing through the corridor one after another.
‘Why so many execs today?’ I felt uneasy. ‘Did something happen?’
Last Saturday night. The mansion in Naegok-dong.
“I have someone I want to marry. I want to date him.”
After Sia’s bombshell, the room fell utterly silent—then erupted in chaos.
“Who is he?”
“What kind of bastard…?”
“Sia, are you serious?”
“What’s his name?”
“What does he do?”
“Is he a prosecutor, a judge, a businessman? He’s not some thug, right?”
“Let him show his face first…”
Her brothers, cousins, uncles, even her father and great-uncle—all went berserk.
“Please tell us who he is, Sia.”
Even Chairman Yoo’s eyes gleamed with mania.
“Whoa, calm down.”
Sia raised her hands calmly, as though she’d expected this.
They were still furious, but she spoke coolly.
“It’s a secret.”
They grew frantic.
“Why?”
“Sia…”
“We need to know.”
“The first man matters.”
“Yeah—what if he mistreats you?”
“Our precious niece—only a man can judge a man. Let us see him.”
“I refuse.”
She shook her head primly.
“Look at the mood here.”
It was savage. If he’d been here, they’d tear him apart on the spot.
“Uncles, take your eyes off me—do you think I can trust you then?”
Her great-uncles coughed and averted their gaze, but they weren’t done. Instead, they exchanged looks, meaning: find out first thing tomorrow. They could learn everything in 24 hours—but Sia, protected by them for 24 years, knew that.
“Don’t investigate or hire people to look into me,” she warned, fists clenched. “If I see any suspicious trace or you dig into me—”
She paused, eyes hard.
“I’ll get pregnant out of wedlock.”
“!!!” “What?!” They froze. The chaebol’s only granddaughter pregnant before marriage? Impossible.
Her one sentence killed all their detective zeal. Worse, if they got caught investigating, they might physically die by the Chairman’s hand—socially dead or literally dead.
“Sia.”
Chairman Yoo called softly.
“Just tell me what he does. That’s all I need to know to be at ease.”
She seemed to consider it, then nodded.
“He’s a good person. He works at our company.”
“…!”
“HR Media.”
“Right.”
“That’s all I’ll say. Don’t ask more.”
Hearing that he was so close drove them mad. Sia then added,
“If things work out, I’ll tell you. We’re not officially dating yet.”
Only then did the uncles and brothers exchange relieved looks—‘not dating yet.’ But the dread of ‘premarital pregnancy’ remained. Still, curiosity burned in their eyes.
“Assistant Manager Song.”
Tap—.
My peer Assistant Manager Choi tapped my shoulder and mimed smoking. I pushed back my chair and followed him to the rooftop.
“Phew—.”
He took an imaginary drag and sighed.
“Song, don’t you think execs are watching us more today?”
“Exactly. I swear I’ve seen eight of them.”
“Is there some shareholders’ meeting nearby? Or are they giving us grief for last night’s expense?”
“We did party, but look at the contract size—Director told us to spend away.”
“True… But I can’t focus.”
He pulled out his phone and launched a game.
“I wanted to run a dungeon, but the execs make me too nervous to play.”
“Haha, play now and go.”
“Yeah, I will.”
He put another pretend cigarette in his mouth.
“I’ll rest here a bit—go on ahead.”
“Alright, see you.”
I left him and headed back to the office, still on edge because of the executives.
‘I’ll make some coffee.’ No Starbucks for me—every credit counts toward savings. Office instant coffee is best for a guy trying to live responsibly.
I went to the break room.
“Oh…!”
Someone rose from the sofa and bowed.
‘Ugh.’
I hoped not to see her—yet there she was.
“Sia, alone?”
“Oh, yes.”
The air was awkward. I wanted to leave, but that would be stranger. ‘Just make coffee quickly.’
I grabbed a paper cup and filled it at the dispenser when—
Suddenly—
“Assistant Manager Song.”
I flinched. Sia’s small head was right beside me.
“…Uh, what?”
I pulled my hand back from the dispenser.
“Something to say?”
“Yes.”
She looked me square in the eye.
“Do you have plans tonight?”
“Tonight?”
“After work.”
“No, nothing special. Why?”
“Then have dinner with me.”
“…Just the two of us?”
She nodded.
“There are too many people near the office. Let’s meet elsewhere. 7:30 at Sinsa Station Exit 3.”
She gave me a bright wink and left.
‘This is insane.’ I thought I could stall, pretend nothing happened, and let it fade. But, contrary to my plan, she seemed determined.
‘…Should I run?’
But I knew that wasn’t an answer. Unless I quit, I’d run into her anyway.
‘Ugh, this is killing me.’
I sat at my desk with an even messier head.
Strangely, time usually drags no matter how hard I work—yet on days like this, the hands of the clock must spin faster, because time flew.
Finally, 6:00 p.m.
“Alright, everyone, let’s head home.”
“Good work!”
“Thanks for today!”
Everyone grabbed their bags and stood.
I stood too when—
Tap—.
Sia lightly touched my arm, unnoticed by others. She mouthed, ‘See you later,’ then said,
“See you tomorrow!”
and left with a cheerful wave.
Damn.
There’s no running away now.