OT 6

“What kind of filthy thoughts are you having again?”

Jaehyun was once again disappointed in himself when he realized that his wandering thoughts had ultimately landed on Cheon Suji’s seductive body.

“Should I get down on my knees and apologize?”

He had always prided himself on living a more ascetic life than anyone else.

Yet of all people, this repressed desire had to manifest toward his friend’s younger sister. If he ever drank again, he swore he wouldn’t be human.

“Making a mistake right after returning to the country……”

Recently, his father’s company, Geumyang Electronics, had expanded its reach to Southeast Asia. As the son of the company’s owner, Jaehyun had taken the lead in going to locations that regular employees were reluctant to be stationed in, laying the foundation for Geumyang’s future growth before returning home.

He believed he had taken on the dirty work with a sense of responsibility, but employees who didn’t know the full story seemed to have started strange rumors about him not showing up at the office.

In any case, after a six-month business trip, he had returned to Korea and gotten completely drunk while catching up with old friends.

Even if he had been drunk, he reminded himself that a man shouldn’t just gloss over what he’d done to a woman.

Especially when that woman was Cheon Suji.

She was four years old when he used to give her airplane rides…

“This is insane.”

Having practically helped raise Suji, doing something so shameless made his temples throb.

A crushing sense of guilt he had never felt in his entire life shook him to the core.

“If she still likes me, I should at least give her a chance. It’s the least I can do.”

It might sound old-fashioned, but he couldn’t just pretend nothing had happened after having sex.

He remembered how Suji used to go around the neighborhood telling everyone she’d marry Jaehyun when she grew up. If he tried to wriggle out of the situation now, Suji might get hurt. And if that happened, he didn’t think he’d be able to forgive himself.

“Did she… still like me all this time…?”

If she hadn’t forgotten him after all these years, maybe her feelings weren’t just childhood fantasy—they might’ve been real.

Resolving himself, Jaehyun stood up. He had never once seen young Suji as a woman before, but now that things had come to this, he intended to give her a choice—since she still liked him.

Because pretending nothing had happened after doing something so lewd with someone who loved him wasn’t something a decent human being would do.

He couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Cheon Suji with a wound she’d carry for the rest of her life.

Even though the fact that she was his friend’s little sister still gnawed at his conscience, what mattered most right now was her feelings.

Jaehyun let out a long sigh, forcing himself to calm the weight in his chest. He left Hotae’s house, determined to face the consequences of his actions with integrity.

 

* * *

A dreadful case of the Monday blues hit her hard.

To think that after enduring forty minutes crammed into a suffocating subway, the place she arrived at was the gates of hell—this was truly the worst.

Sitting at her desk, Suji moved busily, on edge and uncertain when Jaehyun might show up.

“Please don’t be from HR…”

She muttered to herself, shifting her gaze toward the monitor, when the person sitting next to her, Assistant Manager Oh Sanghyun, asked her,

“Did you say something to me?”

“Huh? Oh, Assistant Manager?”

“Weren’t you saying something to me just now?”

“Ah, no. I was just talking to myself.”

Suji clamped her mouth shut, determined to keep it that way.

Because she’d been assigned to the HR team, her team members already had a rough idea about her less-than-pristine path into the company.

Word had gotten around that Suji was a parachute hire—someone who’d landed the job thanks to the CEO’s backing—and even without that, there were a few people who already didn’t look kindly on her.

If anyone were to find out that she had slept with the CEO’s son on top of that, her corporate life would be over.

Suji dreamed of quitting every day, but it was only ever a vague fantasy—when it came down to actually submitting her resignation, she didn’t have the nerve.

Before landing this job, she had spent the past year sending out résumés to countless companies, only to rarely even get an interview. And when she did manage to get one, the interviewers would tear down her self-esteem with cruel remarks.

She never wanted to go through that again. The wounds from her job-hunting days still hadn’t healed.

At the very least, until she saved enough money to move out of her brother’s house, she had to cling to this job for dear life.

“Here, have one of these.”

Out of the blue, Assistant Manager Oh offered her a neatly lined-up row of macarons.

She didn’t really have an appetite, but when it came to macarons, she couldn’t help but weaken. She popped a chocolate one into her mouth and began chewing when she caught a glint in the monitor’s reflection that instinctively made her shrink back.

Suji slowly turned her head—and there stood Seo Jaehyun behind her, having arrived at some point without her noticing.

“O—Opp…!”

She nearly called him oppa out of habit but barely managed to stop herself.

With a resolute expression, Jaehyun spoke to her.

“Cheon Suji-ssi, let’s talk in my office.”

My office? She wasn’t sure where that even was, but without a word, Suji followed him.

A mere HR employee trailing behind the CEO’s son first thing in the morning was enough to draw curious glances from coworkers.

Manager Choi Heesu—the ringleader of those who didn’t like Suji—shot her a look as bitter as if she’d bitten into dung.

Jaehyun exited the corridor and headed for the executive elevator. Unlike the packed elevators during peak hours, this one only held the two of them.

The awkward silence was enough to drive her mad.

If only he’d just pretend nothing happened…

But it looked like Jaehyun had brought her here to confront her about that night.

What should I do? If he tells me to quit, what can I even say? Maybe I should report him to the Labor Office. Even if my life’s as cheap as a servant’s, I can’t just give in that easily.

While she made her fierce internal vow, the elevator stopped on the 15th floor. Jaehyun led the way toward the Business Strategy Division.

Thankfully, his office was far from HR.

She sighed in relief—until Jaehyun opened the door to the division director’s office and gestured her inside.

[Seo Jaehyun, Director of Business Strategy Division]

Suji glanced at the nameplate and stepped inside. The office, freshly remodeled in a modern style, was neatly organized, perfectly reflecting Jaehyun’s personality.

“Why… did you call me here… oppa?”

The question blurted out instinctively—it was a bit too casual to ask someone so far above her in the company hierarchy. But to Suji, Jaehyun felt more familiar as her older brother’s friend than some lofty division director.

“Sit down. Want some coffee?”

Jaehyun tilted his head toward the sofa and walked over to the coffee machine. She should’ve jumped up to brew the coffee herself, but her stiff body refused to move.

Awkwardly settling into her seat, Suji tugged her pencil skirt down over her thighs as it had ridden up.

Jaehyun handed her a cup of coffee and sat across from her with the table in between.

With the light behind him, Seo Jaehyun seemed to emit a radiant aura.

“I’m not calling you here today as your superior, so I’ll speak casually. That’s okay with you, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

Suji nodded. As expected, it looked like he wanted to settle what had happened that night.

“First of all, I want to apologize. I didn’t know it was your room. Blaming it on being drunk is a garbage excuse. I lost control in the moment—that was entirely my fault. I’m sorry.”

Suji sneaked glances at him, surprised by his unexpected words.

She’d been worried he might interrogate her about the sexual harassment incident or confront her about the things she’d said about the company—but thankfully, it seemed like that wasn’t the case.

“…I forgive you.”

Suji shamelessly said she forgave him. Seeing Jaehyun nod in agreement made her feel a bit less tense.

“Thanks, Suji.”

As expected, Seo Jaehyun was nothing like that petty Cheon Hotae. The fact that Jaehyun was the one apologizing gave her some momentum. Riding that wave, she quickly blurted out what she’d been dying to say.

“Oppa, I don’t care about anything else—but there’s just one thing I really need you to promise me.”

“What is it?”

“You can’t say a single word about this to my mom’s son. Got it? If my mom’s son finds out, I’m seriously done for.”

Maybe he hadn’t expected what she was about to say at all.

A crack suddenly formed in Jaehyun’s previously gentle expression.

“That night never happened between us. Okay?”

Jaehyun tilted his head slightly as he processed her words.

Then, in a tone tinged with misManager, he asked,

“And what exactly am I supposed to keep from Hotae?”

“Well… that is…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud—that she wanted to keep the fact they’d stripped and rolled around in bed together a secret.

Her face flushed red, and she began fanning herself with her hand, lips parting uncertainly—when Jaehyun spoke again, and his words were completely over the top.

“You mean the part where you sexually harassed your boss?”

Suji’s jaw dropped.

Well, yes… technically she had sexually harassed him… but they’d both gotten naked and fooled around, so wasn’t that kind of a mutual understanding?

Now that she thought about it, it was a trash excuse. No different from the crap sexual offenders spouted in the news.

“Or was it… the part where you took my virginity and ghosted me?”