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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Don't Smile Like That
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“That friend you’re meeting after so long—is he a guy?”
Yi Yeon turned around just before entering her room and looked at Do Hyun.
Do Hyun’s gaze on her was deep and dark.
His eyes were serious. He stared at her persistently, as if curious about who the man was.
We’d never pried into each other’s business before—like whether the other had come home or who they’d met.
But today, Do Hyun was unusually curious about who Yi Yeon had dinner with.
Why?
“Yeah, he’s a guy, but it’d been so long we were awkward as hell. I nearly choked eating. It was so uncomfortable—every time the taxi jolted, my stomach flipped too.”
My head too.
Thinking back on it, the headache was creeping up again.
Their unexpected conversations had made even the taste of the mandu hotpot hazy—unclear if it went down her throat or up her nose.
She didn’t want to look at mandu hotpot for a while.
“What’d you two eat?”
“Mandu hotpot! Didn’t you have dinner?”
Do Hyun’s tone suddenly turned prickly.
Was he irritable from not eating anything until this hour, or annoyed that she’d come home after a fun meal?
She couldn’t read his mind at all.
“I ate. While someone else enjoyed mandu hotpot, I just had some home-cooked food.”
Do Hyun’s voice was low and husky.
Auntie’s home cooking was objectively delicious. Better than the mandu hotpot whose taste she couldn’t even remember.
“So you did eat?”
Do Hyun said nothing more, but he stood there like he still had something to say, not moving an inch.
‘What’s up with him? Craving mandu hotpot?’
It’d be better if he just said something, but the stubborn silence dragged on. His hot gaze, wordless, made her ears burn red.
“Wanna go for mandu hotpot together sometime? I can’t remember the taste, so I kinda want to go again...”
She’d sworn off it for a while, but if Do Hyun wanted some, she’d take him.
Do Hyun nodded slowly.
What was this adorable reaction?
“Can I go in now?”
Yi Yeon, heart pounding from the shock, spoke toward the air on the opposite side, avoiding his eyes.
When Do Hyun gestured okay, she bolted up to her room.
Do Hyun stared at the spot she’d vacated for a moment, then hit the remote’s power button and headed to his room.
He flopped onto the bed and stared at the pristine white ceiling, then propped his arm behind his neck.
‘Going to dinner with a friend I haven’t seen in ages.’
When Yi Yeon had said she was meeting a friend, that genderless phrasing had bugged him oddly.
The only friend of Yi Yeon’s that Do Hyun knew was Ha Yul. So who was this one she hadn’t seen in so long?
Was it a guy friend? Would she drink with him? What time would she come home?
He’d wanted to pry, but barely swallowed the questions and just said go ahead.
Then Do Hyun regretted it late.
He couldn’t focus on work anymore.
Do Hyun wrapped up precisely for the day’s end, but felt a thirst in his throat and headed to the break room, thinking he needed some cold water. He gulped down icy water.
The sharp pain in his throat seemed to ease his mood a bit.
Leaving the break room, he saw Yi Yeon’s desk empty.
‘Bathroom break?’
Suddenly curious about her spot, Do Hyun took in every detail of where she’d been.
A small trash bin on one side was stuffed with snack bags.
Pfft. Cute.
‘She likes these kinds of snacks.’
Do Hyun diligently noted Yi Yeon’s snack preferences.
He’d buy her a ton of them later.
Glancing around, his eyes unintentionally landed on her monitor.
A blinking company messenger window caught his attention.
Getting closer, it was from Ji Hu.
Huh?
Why was this fox messaging her right before quitting time?
Wait, she’d said she had plans today.
No way she was with that fox? Did they even have reason to message?
No, probably not. She’d said a friend she hadn’t seen in ages.
Even back at his desk, Ji Hu’s message nagged at Do Hyun.
Yi Yeon’s back, leaving for home oblivious to his feelings, irked him.
‘Should’ve made her stay late.’
Guy or girl, he should’ve kept her glued to her seat in front of him.
He’d tossed a stone into the calm waters of Yi Yeon’s heart to ripple them, but instead, she kept rippling his. His mind muddled; he couldn’t do a thing.
In the car heading home from work, Do Hyun eyed the passenger seat.
He wanted those clear eyes for himself alone. No one else should notice.
He hated the way that fox kept eyeing Yi Yeon.
And it seemed like the guy had figured it out too.
Do Hyun gripped the steering wheel tight again.
Opening the front door at home, still silence greeted him.
“Should’ve gone for a workout.”
Do Hyun needed something else to shake off the foul mood.
After washing up, appetite gone but stomach needing filling, he scarfed down some of Auntie’s prepared side dishes and checked the clock.
Yi Yeon still seemed far from returning. Yet Do Hyun couldn’t stop glancing at the front door.
Should he text? Ask when she’d be back?
Yeah, read a book.
Do Hyun opened one, but the vowels and consonants danced separately, words not registering, so he slammed it shut.
Better to sit in the living room. To break the silence, he plopped on the sofa, turned on the TV, and put on some random movie.
He tried focusing on the sound from the high-end speakers flanking the TV, but couldn’t escape the whirl of thoughts in his head.
Lost deep in thought, Do Hyun snapped to at Yi Yeon’s voice—he hadn’t even heard her come in.
The heavy oppression on his heart, like a stone weighing it down, eased at the sight of her.
Do Hyun let out a small sigh where she wouldn’t notice.
As she headed to her room saying she was tired, he finally asked.
If the friend she met was a guy.
When she said yes, the dormant anger surged back.
Didn’t matter who—it just pissed him off.
He wished those sparkling eyes would shine only for him.
But the anger melted away at her suggestion to go for mandu hotpot together.
Do Hyun felt like he was losing his mind.
This up-and-down on her words—if his reason snapped someday, he worried he’d cause a huge mess.
* * *
“Secretary Yu, good morning.”
The voice’s owner grinned, flashing white teeth proudly.
“A variable’s appeared.”
“What?”
It was Ji Hu, the new variable in front of Yi Yeon.
“What brings you here so early?”
“I’ve got a proposal that needs the Vice President’s approval—it’s urgent, so I came to ask him to check it quick.”
‘Then why didn’t you submit it sooner?’
Yi Yeon rubbed her throbbing temple whenever Ji Hu showed up.
“You’re here for work, but you were gone a bit.”
“Perfect timing—I’m talking to you right now.”
“Sorry, no time for that.”
“I saw you face-down on your desk.”
Exactly—face-down because I don’t have time to play with you.
She’d wanted to rest face-down until reporting her organized schedule to Do Hyun, but this variable kept interfering.
Oblivious, Ji Hu beamed and chattered endlessly, showing no sign of leaving.
“You gonna wait forever like this? Don’t you have work downstairs?”
“I’m still a newbie—skipping out a bit is fine.”
“Your colleagues won’t like that. Your mentor’s probably waiting, neck craning.”
“Manager Kang’s too cool for that.”
A mentor named Yeon Jeong—what a joke.
“Then message me when the Vice President arrives.”
“Might as well wait and see him since I’m here.”
Ji Hu laughed uproariously, as if Yi Yeon’s reaction was hilarious.
‘What’s so funny?’
As Yi Yeon forced an awkward smile, Do Hyun walked toward the office.
“Good morning, Vice President.”
Do Hyun glanced silently at Yi Yeon and Ji Hu before entering the office.
Ji Hu hurried after him.
Business wrapped quick—Ji Hu said “I’m off” and headed down.
Yi Yeon went to the break room.
“Americano, right?”
She prepared Do Hyun’s morning coffee to start his day.
Then, holding the Americano and her organized schedule report, she headed out.
“Here.”
Whoa.
Ji Hu again.
“Ah, why’re you back?”
“Errand this time. Maknaes are errand boys—gotta do whatever’s asked. It’s rice cakes from someone back from parental leave.”
Not gone long, Ji Hu reappeared with a small box.
Inside the transparent plastic case, white rice cakes and honey tteok were neatly packed.
“This one’s for the Vice President.”
Yi Yeon took the boxes from Ji Hu. She placed one neatly next to the coffee on the tray for Do Hyun.
“If you were the old Yu Yi Yeon, I’d come up more often. For the eye candy.”
“Good thing there’s no reason, then.”
Yi Yeon flashed her professional smile, but her eyes shot daggers.
Get lost already...
“Secretary Yu, get in here now.”
Do Hyun flung open the office door, cutting their talk short, glaring murderously at Yi Yeon.
The face he made only for massive screw-ups.
“I’ll head down, Vice President.”
The polite newbie Ji Hu bowed to Do Hyun and returned to his desk.
Yi Yeon picked up the tray she hadn’t brought earlier and approached Do Hyun.
“Sorry. Was I too late?”
Yi Yeon couldn’t fathom why he was mad, so she confessed the conclusion she’d puzzled out. If not anger from late coffee delivery, nothing else fit.
Do Hyun, eyeing her intently in a completely different vibe from before, finally spoke.
“Don’t smile like that.”
Really hating it, one corner of his mouth twitched up then down.
The laser from his gaze pierced right through her.
Not late—but the smile bugged him?
Yi Yeon felt unfairly indignant without knowing why. She chewed her lip, wanting to say something, but clamped her mouth shut.
Don’t smile like that? That’s too much.
