Chapter 10 – Don’t Take an Einspänner from Another Guy
Chae-kyung felt like a water strider wobbling on ripples made by a stone casually tossed into a small pond. Her thoughts were tangled.
Avoiding Kang-woo’s gaze amid the noisy team dinner, she stepped outside.
She sat on a bench in the barbecue restaurant’s courtyard, staring at an unusually large moon. She hadn’t had many drinks, yet her cheeks felt like they were burning.
As she kept touching her overheated cheeks, a paper cup suddenly blocked her view.
Startled, she looked up.
“Assistant Manager Min, it looked like you were drinking quite a bit. Are you okay?”
“Assistant Manager Choo. I’m fine.”
Jung-seok smiled at her surprised look.
“What’s this?” Chae-kyung asked.
At that, Jung-seok let out a hearty laugh.
“Coffee. You usually buy coffee on the way home after drinking, right?”
It was coffee in a takeaway cup—she hadn’t even noticed when he’d gone to get it.
She was surprised that he knew her habits.
“How did you know…?”
Scratching his head, Jung-seok explained.
“You probably don’t remember, Assistant Manager Min. Our teams used to have joint dinners pretty often. You were at a few coffee stops with the staff.”
“Oh—sorry. I don’t remember.”
“That’s okay. Easy to forget. You’re quiet, and I was, too.”
Seeing him standing awkwardly beside her, Chae-kyung scooted over and offered him the seat.
“Please, sit.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll enjoy it.”
“Also… don’t take what the Vice President said earlier too much to heart.”
His cautious tone suggested he was worried Kang-woo’s insistence might be bothering her.
As Chae-kyung took a sip of coffee, she choked at the mention of Kang-woo’s name, coughing hard. Startled, Jung-seok patted her back.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes—cough, cough—I’m fine.”
Inside, Kang-woo sat drinking with Manager Yang and a few others. He said little, drinking in silence. His eyes followed Chae-kyung; with every smile and movement of hers, his expression darkened, then softened again. When Director Kim joined later, the mood finally lightened.
Noticing Chae-kyung step out, Kang-woo tried to leave his seat, but Director Kim stopped him.
“Where are you going? The staff are waiting for you, Vice President.”
“……”
Kang-woo had no choice but to sit back down. His expression wasn’t pleasant, and the employees tried to lift his mood.
Unable to bear it any longer, Kang-woo said something to Director Kim and left.
“You handle them.”
He went looking for Chae-kyung, but she wasn’t anywhere inside or outside the restaurant.
As irritation crept up, two middle-aged women clearing dishes chatted nearby.
“I saw a man and a woman sitting together on the courtyard bench—looked like a date. Such a nice age.”
“That’s the best time.”
At the word man and woman, Kang-woo strode toward the courtyard. Spotting Chae-kyung there, his expression darkened.
He hadn’t thought much time had passed since she stepped out, but Jung-seok was already beside her.
The guy was always in his line of sight—and always irritating.
He didn’t want to watch her choke on his name and have it turn into natural skinship.
His voice sank coldly.
“What are you two doing?”
Jung-seok sprang to his feet.
Chae-kyung, still coughing, followed him up.
Though she was struggling to breathe, tears welling, Kang-woo looked down at her with a cold face.
“Didn’t you say you have a boyfriend?”
Finally catching her breath, Chae-kyung looked up at him.
“What? Why does that—?”
“If your boyfriend saw the two of you right now, it’d be easy to misunderstand.”
“She was choking—I was just helping,” Jung-seok tried to explain.
Kang-woo shot him a hard look.
Trying to play the protector.
That only made him more displeased.
“I don’t want the employees I picked becoming gossip.”
“Yes, I’ll be careful.”
“Then we’ll go back inside.”
As the two bowed and turned to leave, Kang-woo frowned. He didn’t want to see her standing next to Jung-seok any longer.
“Assistant Manager Min Chae-kyung.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
“…Okay.”
She answered, biting her lip.
Once Jung-seok disappeared, Kang-woo approached her slowly, hands in his pockets.
“Do you really have a boyfriend?”
It was hard for Chae-kyung to say yes—or no. She hesitated.
“If you do and still asked me for a one-night thing, you’re a gold digger. If not, then you told a pretty cute lie.”
As she bit her lip again, Kang-woo lifted her chin and used his thumb to pull her lip free.
“I told you not to bite your lips.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked. “Vice President.”
Before he could answer, footsteps approached.
Hearing them, Kang-woo grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the shadow between buildings, pressing her against the wall as he watched outside.
“Is Assistant Manager Min here?”
“Not here either.”
“Assistant Manager Choo said she was around. I thought I heard voices.”
“They’re talking about a second round—where’d she go?”
Assistant Manager Jang lit a cigarette.
Woo-kyung and Jang chatted in the courtyard.
Thankfully, they didn’t notice where the two were hiding. Kang-woo’s chest was so close it nearly touched Chae-kyung’s face; she tried to push him away.
With one hand braced against the wall, he didn’t budge. He whispered by her ear.
“Want to get caught?”
As she turned her face away, she met his eyes at close range—so close it felt suffocating.
She could feel his breath on her skin.
Unable to look away, her gaze wavered as his eyes locked her in place. Another glint appeared in his gaze, and as he stared more intently, his face drew closer.
His moist lips touched hers—and in an instant, swallowed her whole.
Voices searching for her echoed just beyond the shadows, but in the darkness his eyes were like a predator’s, poised to devour its prey.
Overwhelmed by the kiss, she squeezed her eyes shut.
The moment she did, Kang-woo tilted his head and pressed in fiercely.
Her head tipped back; his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.
Helpless, Chae-kyung was pulled into his arms and had no choice but to accept his kiss.
Woo-kyung and Jang’s voices drifted farther away. The only thing ringing in her ears was the sensation of his kiss.
Unable to endure it, she grabbed his arm—but he didn’t stop.
His soft tongue invaded her mouth, tangling with hers, tracing her teeth until she could barely breathe. The hand that had braced the wall slid to the nape of her neck, pulling all of her into his mouth. Her legs weakened as she clung to him, swept up in his pace, barely managing to keep up.
After a long while, Kang-woo finally pulled away.
A low voice whispered at her ear.
“Still uncomfortable with me?”
Gasping for breath, Chae-kyung frowned.
“Yes.”
“What should I do? I think you’re getting a little used to the way I act.”
Kang-woo lifted his face and smirked—an unbearably sensual expression.
“Why…?”
As she tried to speak, he brought a finger to her lips.
“Shh. They haven’t left the courtyard yet.”
Coming back to herself, Chae-kyung grimaced and slipped out of his arms.
“If we get caught, it’ll be you who’s in trouble,” he added.
She looked outside. Contrary to his words, there was no sign of anyone looking for her anymore.
As her tension eased, anger rose.
“I don’t understand anything you do or say.”
“Makes me want to make you more uncomfortable.”
“What?”
“You really get on my nerves.”
Grabbing her wrist, Kang-woo led her out from between the buildings.
She yanked her hand free.
“I don’t like you acting like this.”
“Then don’t provoke me.”
He said it flatly as he lit a cigarette.
“When did I ever provoke you?”
“Situations like today do.”
His relaxed, icy expression—as if nothing had happened—made conversation impossible. The heat from moments ago felt unreal.
He was clearly playing with her.
As he exhaled smoke, Kang-woo noticed the coffee cup Chae-kyung had been drinking on the bench.
Staring at it, he looked back at her.
“What’s that coffee doing there in the middle of drinking?”
“I’m bad with alcohol. I have a habit of drinking coffee at the end.”
She clearly hadn’t bought it herself. Realizing it must have been Jung-seok’s made his mood sink.
“What kind of coffee?”
“An Einspänner.”
Unwilling to continue the conversation, Chae-kyung turned back toward the building.
His blunt voice stopped her as he blew out smoke.
“Don’t take an Einspänner from another guy.”
The unfamiliar sharpness in Kang-woo’s tone lingered.
