Unexpected Ch 4 part 2

“Ah, there she is.”

After waiting until everyone’s presence had cleared, ChaYoung finally got out of the bathroom. When she entered the office, everyone’s eyes landed on her, and she couldn’t help but stop in her tracks.

Have the rumors spread to everyone already? Just as resentment began to bloom in her chest, JoonHee pointed to her, and their eyes met.

“Where were you? You left your cellphone at your desk.”

When she heard JoonHee’s question, she realized that she had been incorrect. This atmosphere wasn’t something that came after people talked about her behind her back. A large flower arrangement filled her vision along with a lot of…

“The front desk on the first floor kept calling, so I just told them to send it up. I don’t know about the flowers, but it would be a shame if the coffee grew cold.”

However, there wasn’t just hot coffee. There was an assortment of iced coffee as well. There was also a pile of scones, madeleines, and other desserts like macarons to accompany the drinks.

She glanced at the logo and saw that this was all delivered from a famous dessert cafe nearby. Their macarons cost the same as a meal, so people generally did not purchase them unless it was for a special occasion.

However, there was a variety of desserts here, almost as if someone had purchased the entire showcase and transported it here. It really made everyone marvel.

“Are you Kang ChaYoung-ssi?”

What is all this? She stared blankly at the desserts and drinks. A man with a delivery vest stepped forward and asked for her confirmation.

“Yes.”

“The client requested that I at least make sure you personally received the flower basket.”

“This is all for me?”

“Yes.”

The delivery man placed the flower basket in her arms as she gazed dumbfoundedly at him. Then he gathered the other delivery men who had brought the desserts and drinks and exited the office.

She finally focused her attention on the flower basket. Everyone’s eyes were on her. She even saw a few of the women who had talked about her in the bathroom glance at SooYeon, demanding an explanation. They seemed embarrassed to have been talking about something only for the situation to play out completely differently afterwards.

“Well, what is all this, Deputy Kang?”

The department head stared at the mountain of drinks and desserts and asked. Unlike this morning, his voice was a notch gentler.

That’s what I wanna know. ChaYoung merely blinked. Unable to take this any longer, the department head began to sort things out.

“Now isn’t the time to be dilly-dallying. Why don’t we eat before figuring out the rest.”

No one wanted to neglect the coffee and let it grow cold. Everyone had just returned from lunch, so they were happy to have some dessert. Because the desserts were too expensive to buy themselves, they were even more excited.

“Thanks for the food, Deputy Kang.”

“Thank you for the drinks.”

People began to voice their gratitude to her. There was enough food and drinks for people to take whatever they wanted, so they even ended up sharing with the section next to them.

Just what is all this…

Her vacant gaze lowered to the flower basket, and she began to search it. Finally, she discovered a card pinned amongst the flowers.

She pulled it out and took a deep breath. She could only think of two possible suspects, but she felt that one of them was more likely than the other.

Why was her heart racing like this? She gulped and carefully opened the card.

The moment she saw the neat and elegant penmanship, she couldn’t help but laugh. Although this was the first time she was seeing it, she knew it belonged to Do KunHyung.

The tone seemed far from friendly, but it strangely gave her a sense of relief. Is this how it felt when encountering a powerful ally in the middle of a battlefield? Or maybe it was like finding a guardian she could run and complain to?

Even though she knew this was childish of her, she didn’t forget to turn her eyes to SooYeon and give her a good, long look.

“We can only eat after we find out who sent this.”

“I’m sure it’s her boyfriend.”

Feeling that now was a good time, SooYeon’s eyes gleamed.

“Did your boyfriend really send this?”

Her eyes seemed agitated as she tried to confirm.

Boyfriend…

She narrowed her eyes as KunHyung’s voice rang in her head, telling her he’d let her date him. She silently closed her eyes and opened them. Then she looked SooYeon straight in the eyes and answered her.

“He probably should be after this, don’t you think?”

Their eyes met, and she grinned at her. She could see confusion fill SooYeon’s eyes. SooYeon wanted to ask her so many questions, but she couldn’t outright ask her if she had broken up. She looked very frustrated. However, ChaYoung didn’t want to give her the answer she wanted. It was her petty revenge on SooYeon for talking behind her back.

“Your boyfriend must have spent a lot of money. How much did this all cost?”

ChaYoung heard someone murmur, and she looked down.

That’s right. How much was all this?

It looked like this cost quite a lot. It seemed that her debt to him increased once again. However, all she could do was silently laugh.

She quietly pulled out her phone. Her fingers moved busily across the screen.

「Let’s meet up after work.」

Thanks to the business card she’d been keeping around all day, she managed to quickly input his number into her phone. Although she couldn’t see him now, she imagined his lips curving into a crooked smile when he saw her message.

* * *

“Daebak.”

She had just gotten off work. Several female employees were walking out of the office and stopped in their tracks. They gathered and began to whisper. ChaYoung raised her head. When she saw the man approaching her, her eyes widened.

The front of the building was crowded with normal office workers, but a man had turned it into a fashion runway. And the man was none other than Do KunHyung. ChaYoung had been about to walk over to the cafe where they had promised to meet, but when she saw him make an unexpected appearance at her workplace, she grew embarrassed.

“We said we’d meet at the cafe.”

She rushed to his side and spoke in a low voice.

“I always wanted to do something like this.”

His voice sounded gentle. Because of this, she felt that his usually cold face looked a lot warmer now.

“Do something like that?”

She asked as she raised a brow. He merely shrugged and answered her.

“Exactly what I did. Coming here and surprising you.”

ChaYoung was at a loss for words. He was gathering more attention, so she quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

“Let’s go for now.”

Among the piercing gazes, there were a few coming from people in her office. Especially SooYeon. Her eyes seemed like they’d explode with curiosity at any moment.

That was to be expected.

She had witnessed ChaYoung get dumped so shockingly, but now she was suddenly being sent flower baskets and coffee. To add to that, a man who looked like a model was now waiting for her outside her office building.

Her head was probably exploding right about now. She might even be questioning whether the person she saw at the cafe was really ChaYoung or not.

She had suddenly fallen and was branded as a man-eating woman, but she wasn’t in the mood to explain anything right now. She was never the type to worry about what other people thought of her, and she didn’t want to recite her history with this man with anyone else anyway.

“Are you embarrassed of me?”

He asked as he let her drag him away. She was walking quickly to avoid people’s gazes, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She gazed at her hand grasping his sleeve.

Anyone could tell at a glance that it was a suit from an expensive label, but it was wrinkling inside her hand.

She returned to her senses and let go. Just because he had waited for her at a place that wasn’t the cafe didn’t mean he deserved this kind of treatment. Her face flushed as she thought about her behavior just now.

“I’m sorry.”

“If you’re apologizing, it must mean it’s true.”

“It’s not that…”

Her voice faded away. He quietly observed her face. Her lips opened and closed before she looked up at him.

“There were a lot of eyes on us.”

“Eyes?”

He asked in a curt voice and looked around. He saw the people who were getting off of work watching them.

“Am I that amazing?”

He slightly bent down and whispered into her ear.

“Yes, as you can see…”

She gestured to the people with her eyes. He answered back with a voice that didn’t seem bothered.

“I didn’t notice because I’m used to it.”

He was always drawing people’s eyes to him, so he didn’t seem to care.

“Don’t you think they’re just looking because they’re envious?”

He asked with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. He might even be the type who enjoyed this kind of attention.

“They’re probably going insane with curiosity instead, don’t you think? There was someone who witnessed what happened over the weekend.”

When he heard her hurried explanation, a brow went up. He looked at her with much interest.

“Hmm. Then they must have high expectations for your new Benz guy.”

When she saw his eyes gleam, she felt that he was missing the point. She swallowed back her sigh and opened her mouth.

“Unfortunately, the person who saw what happened left before the Benz guy made his appearance.”

“What a shame.”

“Thanks to you, a new misunderstanding has formed… And because of the gift you sent me today, everyone’s talking about me.”

“What are they saying…”

His voice faded away, and she shrugged.

“Probably calling me a man-eating woman?”

“That sounds like a harmless misunderstanding.”

He straightened up and looked into her eyes as he spoke.

“Isn’t it better to be the one who dumped someone than someone who was dumped?”

Now that she thought about it, she realized he was right.

“I guess so.”

For some reason, whenever she was with this man, everything seemed so easy. Her sunken mood from earlier seemed lighter with his one remark. She couldn’t help but smile. His tongue seemed to be made of magic.

“Is that why she’s looking at us like that?”

She followed his gaze and saw SooYeon’s stiff face. Her face was flushed due to suddenly being branded a liar.

“She looks like she’s very envious.”

He came to this conclusion all on his own. Anyone who looked at them without context would think that ChaYoung and KunHyung were two lovers who had just started dating.

The office workers came out and stared at them like hungry reporters waiting for a delicious story. Just thinking about what would happen when she came back to work tomorrow drained her.

“Let’s go.”

Feeling the sudden urge to escape, she began to walk away first. She stopped herself from grabbing onto the hem of his suit. She couldn’t grasp his sleeve like before because she was afraid of wrinkling it again.

There was no other choice but to hook her arm around his. But before she could move to do this, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. This unexpected movement caused her to flinch and shrink back. She could feel his warmth through their clothes.

“……!”

She stopped walking and stared at the arm around her shoulders. Then she lifted her head and looked up at him. Unlike his relaxed expression, she felt his arm slightly tremble around her shoulders. 

She wondered if she was mistaken, but she knew she wasn’t. He was still trembling. Their eyes met.

“You’re really bad at acting.”

It seemed that he had difficulty playing the role of her boyfriend.

“Your hand. It’s trembling.”

They continued to look into each other’s eyes for two to three more seconds. She waited another moment before starting to walk again.

“It’s because I’m nervous.”

Ahem, he awkwardly cleared his throat and answered back in a low voice.

“I tried not to show it, but I’ve been feeling this way for a while. I was really nervous you’d call me and tell me to take back the desserts as soon as you got them.”

She tried to imagine him nervously placing his phone in front of him as he waited, but it didn’t seem to suit him at all.

“I know that’s not true.”

“I’m serious.”

His voice sounded like she was being unfair. She glanced up at him and gave him a look of disbelief as she shook her head.

Her head became muddled once again. It almost felt easy but difficult at the same time. He seemed to change like the weather and made her even more confused.

No matter how much she tried to understand him, she couldn’t figure him out. Her thoughts tangled together once again. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked up at him.

“I think we’re going to need some liquor after all.”