DYMD 05

Chapter 5…..

Yeon-ha found herself staring blankly at his softly curved, crimson lips. Realizing the corners of her own mouth were about to lift unconsciously, she hurriedly turned her head away.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go together.”

Worried he might notice her flushed face, she quickly quickened her pace. But with his long strides, the man easily caught up to her.

When they arrived in front of the elevator, the doors slid open right on cue.

Yeon-ha stepped in first. Just as the man was about to follow, his phone rang.

A faint look of hesitation crossed his face as he checked the screen.

“Please go up first.”

“Oh… okay.”

Yeon-ha, who had naturally assumed they’d go up together, suddenly felt an odd pang of disappointment at being left alone.

Annoyed at herself for feeling that way, she quickly reached for the ‘close’ button—

But just then, the tip of his shoe slipped through the narrowing gap.

Startled, she let go, and the doors slid open again. Their gazes met.

“If it’s not rude of me, may I ask which brand’s design department you work for?”

“Pardon? Oh, I’m in the Muse Design Studio.”

She answered automatically, then blinked in puzzlement.

How did he know I was a designer?

“See you again.”

Hearing her department name, the man smiled brightly.

The perfect alignment of his teeth flashed in that smile, and Yeon-ha’s heart gave a belated thump.

See me again…? What’s with that confident tone?

The ease with which he treated women made him seem suspiciously like a playboy.

Yeon-ha told herself firmly:

If we happen to meet again… I’d better avoid him.

The impromptu evaluation meeting wrapped up without incident, and before she knew it, it was lunchtime.

The department head and manager excused themselves to eat separately, while the rest of the team headed to the lounge with packed lunches.

Since neither she nor Jin-young had brought food, they decided to go to a nearby pho restaurant.

No sooner had they stepped out of the office building than Jin-young, as if she had been waiting all along, burst out: the nonstop praise was for the new recruit from the Planning Division, who had come by earlier to introduce himself while Yeon-ha was at the meeting.

“My college friend wasn’t exaggerating at all. That guy walked into our office and—wow, there was literally a halo behind him. Seriously, he’s drop-dead gorgeous!”

“Really, that much?”

Yeon-ha laughed, and Jin-young bobbed her head with conviction.

“Yes!”

“What do you want to eat?”

Giving the right amount of polite encouragement, Yeon-ha redirected the conversation.

“Brisket for me.”

She ordered two bowls of brisket pho.

“But you know what’s even crazier?” Jin-young’s eyes sparkled.

Yeon-ha raised her brows slightly, wordlessly asking what?

“He’s the same age as me!”

“The same… you mean twenty-nine?”

“Yup! This is destiny!”

Yeon-ha didn’t see how sharing an age equaled fate, but she quietly listened to Jin-young’s chatter all the way back to the office after finishing lunch.

Back in the lobby, she and Jin-young headed to the café—Yeon-ha wanting to make up for not buying her vanilla latte that morning.

The barista, recognizing her, struck up a conversation.

“That shirt—was it the one that man lent you this morning?”

“Ah… yes. Sorry about earlier.”

She looked down at the shirt she was wearing and answered cautiously.

“No worries. Things like that happen a lot in cafés. Don’t think twice about it.”

Yeon-ha thanked her, picked up the coffee, and turned back.

Jin-young, vanilla latte in hand, stared at her with an expression brimming with curiosity.

“So ‘that man’… is it the guy who lent you clothes this morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Now I really want to know. What kind of guy lends his own clothes to a stranger who ruined his? These days, you’re lucky if someone doesn’t pick a fight.”

Yeon-ha walked on silently. When Jin-young realized she was talking to herself, she turned her head—

“Team Leader?”

Yeon-ha was standing stock-still, staring into the distance. Following her gaze, Jin-young’s eyes widened.

“We meet again.”

The man strode toward them with a friendly smile.

“On your way back from lunch?”

“Yes, what about you, Do-hyun?”

“I just ate as well.”

Answering Jin-young’s question politely, he turned to Yeon-ha.

“Did you enjoy your meal?”

“Ah, yes.”

Caught off guard by the unexpected encounter, she answered a beat late.

Noticing her awkwardness, he chuckled softly, then glanced at the shirt she was wearing.

“As expected of a designer.”

She blinked, confused.

“I never imagined a plain shirt could be transformed into such a stylish dress.”

The shirt he’d given her that morning had been far too big, making her look like a child drowning in her father’s clothes.

But she had unbuttoned two buttons to relieve the stiffness, rolled up the long sleeves, cut the hem asymmetrically—shorter on one side, longer on the other—and cinched it with a belt.

The result was a chic shirt-dress.

Embarrassed by his praise, Yeon-ha lowered her gaze, staring hard at the ID badge around her neck.

Sensing her attention, he flipped over his own badge, which had been turned backward, and introduced himself properly.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Nam Do-hyun, newly assigned today to the Product Planning Division.”

Only then did Yeon-ha realize—this was the very new hire Jin-young had been raving about nonstop. And he was four years younger than her.

At first, his serious tone and composed demeanor had made her assume he was her peer, or even older.

Now that she knew his age, she suddenly noticed his smooth skin and youthful energy.

And realizing she had actually felt her heart race for someone four years younger… she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole.

Trying to mask her fluster, she introduced herself in a deliberately businesslike tone.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Yeon-ha, Team Leader of the Design Department.”

“Pleased to work with you.”

Perhaps picking up on her subtle attempt to draw a professional boundary, he straightened, the smile fading, and bowed politely.

Yeon-ha, after replying with a brief “Likewise,” fell silent. A heavy awkwardness settled between them.

“So… how do you two know each other?”

At last, Jin-young blurted out the question she could no longer hold back.

Do-hyun didn’t answer right away—he simply looked at Yeon-ha, as if telling her to explain.

“He’s the one who lent me clothes this morning.”

“No way! That guy was you, Do-hyun? What a small world!”

Tell me about it, Yeon-ha thought grimly.

She had vowed to avoid him if they crossed paths again, but never imagined it would happen the very same day. And worse, he wasn’t some external vendor she could hand off to someone else—he was now part of a department she’d run into daily.

While she was still caught between embarrassment and unease, Jin-young tilted her head, gazing at him with sparkling, heart-shaped eyes.

“Nam Do-hyun, you’re like some kind of cheat character.”

“Cheat character?”

He raised an eyebrow with a small smile.

“When I heard some random guy lent clothes to our team leader, I couldn’t imagine what kind of person that’d be. And it turns out it was you! Honestly, I thought all handsome guys relied on their looks and had terrible personalities. But today, I learned there are exceptions.”

“I’m not actually that nice of a guy.”

Despite Jin-young’s bluntness, he replied gently, without a hint of offense.

“See? Only truly good people say things like that.”

Already completely smitten, Jin-young gave his every word a rosy interpretation.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened. Do-hyun pressed 20, while Yeon-ha and Jin-young pressed 21.

When the elevator reached the 20th floor, he gave Yeon-ha a courteous nod.

“Well then, have a good day.”

“Yes.”

Just as the doors were closing, he turned back—catching her gaze.

Strangely, her chest gave a sudden, fluttering tremor.