TET Ch 3

The garden restaurant on the outskirts of town, the venue for the company dinner, was bustling with employees.

A subtle battle for the best seats was in full swing.

However, there was a group always excluded from this seat war: the secretaries.

Due to the nature of their work, they couldn’t comfortably drink at company dinners, so as usual, they settled comfortably in a corner near the entrance.

Hanseok, who joined late after returning from the Siheung factory, subtly squeezed in next to Yeonha. He whispered,

“So, which chocolate was the most delicious?”

Before Yeonha could answer, however, employees from other tables, spotting Hanseok, called out to him boisterously.

“Hanseok! Are you on Executive Director duty later? I heard the planning team is taking care of him tonight, so you can drink, right?”

“Well, I’d rather not, just in case.”

“Come on, what’s the big deal? Let’s drink tonight. When else will we get a chance to drink together?”

As additional tables were set up, the space between them became narrower, and the distance between employees also closed, allowing for easy conversation between tables.

As questions poured in, Hanseok reluctantly moved away from Yeonha and started conversing with the others.

Everyone seemed excited.

And with good reason.

The recently launched mobile phone, “Square,” by Taeyang Electronics, was doing incredibly well, with sales skyrocketing daily.

Kanghyun, the head of the mobile device division, had organized this gathering to celebrate the hard work of his employees.

When the hall reached a certain level of excitement, news arrived that Executive Director Seo Kanghyun had finally arrived. When he entered the restaurant, everyone stood up to greet him.

“Executive Director, this way, this way.”

The head of the planning team, who was about Kanghyun’s uncle’s age, guided him to the center of the restaurant with a wide grin.

“Yes.”

Kanghyun gave a small nod.

The black jacket, perfectly fitted to his broad, angular shoulders, seemed to absorb all the light in the restaurant as it shimmered. Kanghyun entered, unbuttoning his jacket one button at a time.

Even the way he removed his shoes to step onto the floor was elegant.

Yeonha, who had been staring blankly like the other employees, quickly lowered her gaze as she realized her situation.

I can’t make eye contact. Avoid his gaze as much as possible.

As Yeonha quietly tried to make herself inconspicuous, Kanghyun’s footsteps, which had been passing near her, suddenly stopped.

Yeonha didn’t want to acknowledge it, but she couldn’t help but notice. Everyone in the restaurant was focused on him.

Moreover, the place where he stopped was, embarrassingly, right behind her.

“Team Leader Ha.”

Kanghyun called out to Jinhyeok while standing.

Coincidentally, the seat of Managing Director Ha Jinhyeok, the head of the marketing team and Kanghyun’s friend, was at the table right behind Yeonha.

Yeonha’s shoulders trembled. Jinhyeok asked Kanghyun in a puzzled voice,

“Are you going to sit here?”

Kanghyun didn’t answer. Nor did he move.

Yeonha had been straining her neck to avoid looking at Kanghyun, but unable to bear her curiosity any longer, she cautiously turned her head.

She saw Kanghyun gesturing to the seat next to Jinhyeok with his chin.

Is that… a gesture telling him to move over so he can sit here?

As everyone, including Yeonha and Jinhyeok, looked on in bewilderment,

“Yes, move.”

Kanghyun confirmed their suspicions aloud.

Yeonha’s eyes widened.

So did most of the other employees.

Only the faces of the planning team members, who were waiting for Kanghyun in the center of the restaurant, darkened considerably. Meanwhile, smiles of delight spread across the faces of the marketing team members.

The marketing team members quickly shouted at their team leader, who was getting up with a dubious expression.

“Team Leader, hurry up!”

“Please have a seat, Executive Director!”

Soon, a weighty presence settled right behind Yeonha’s shoulder.

Yeonha’s heart sank.

Thus began the first unexpected turn of events at the company dinner.

✿˚.⋆

Kanghyun made his rounds to all the department tables for about an hour. Then, he returned and sat at his original place at the marketing team’s table.

The atmosphere of the dinner was already heated.

An hour later, Yeonha’s head began to spin.

“Honey, are you okay? What’s gotten into everyone today?”

The chief secretary at the next table expressed her concern for Yeonha in her characteristically friendly tone. Yeonha blushed and put down her glass.

“I’m fine, Chief Secretary.”

“Oh dear, Dahyun honey, stop giving our Yeonha honey so much to drink.”

“What’s the harm? This is how we become closer. Right, Ms. Yeonha?”

“Ah, yes.”

As Yeonha gave an awkward smile, Dahyun, an employee from the accounting department, smiled back.

Earlier in the evening, Kanghyun had come to greet the secretaries’ table. Thanks to his encouraging toast and offer of drinks, all the secretaries were drinking tonight.

Except, of course, for secretaries whose primary duty was assisting executives, like Hanseok.

After that, fueled by the lively atmosphere, everything proceeded swiftly.

Employees from other departments who had always wanted to get closer to the secretaries started subtly gathering, and before they knew it, the tables where the secretaries were seated had become a scene of boisterous drinking.

The table where Yeonha and Hanseok were sitting also saw a constant change of people. As a result, Yeonha inadvertently drank more than usual.

“Ms. Yeonha, are you really okay?”

Hanseok whispered. Yeonha slightly moved away from the approaching Hanseok, covering her flushed cheeks with her hands.

“I’m fine, for now.”

“Still, I think you should stop drinking now.”

“Um… Well…”

Yeonha trailed off.

She wanted to, but she couldn’t.

The people offering her drinks weren’t the problem. The real problem was the thick, hard presence that occasionally brushed against her back.

At first, she thought she was imagining things because her nerves were so on edge. But she wasn’t mistaken.

Kanghyun, sitting right behind her, subtly, or sometimes overtly, brushed against or bumped into her back. Each time, Yeonha flinched, unnoticed by anyone else.

Because the tables were so close together, other people also seemed close to those sitting behind them. Bumping into each other like this was a common occurrence.

However, the person behind Yeonha was Kanghyun, and each time they touched, she felt uneasy.

Naturally, all her attention was directed behind her. She could hear the conversations at the table behind her better than those at her own table.

Yeonha frequently felt thirsty, and each time, she wet her throat with the glass in her hand.

As a result, she was unknowingly becoming intoxicated.

As her vision began to blur, she placed one hand on the floor. Her body, which had been slowly tilting sideways, straightened again.

How much time had passed?

It was around the time her sense of time became hazy.

“Ms. Yeonha, drink some water.”

Hanseok leaned in and whispered again. Yeonha was too dizzy to move away.

It was partly because she was using her other hand to support herself on the floor.

Suddenly, a soft touch landed on the hand she had placed on the floor.

Puzzled, she looked down and saw a black jacket.

“Executive Director, should I hang your coat?”

Her heart suddenly pounded at the voice coming from behind her.

Kanghyun replied monotonously,

“No. Just leave it.”

At the same time, Hanseok’s voice reached her other ear.

“I’ll take you home later. Don’t worry too much. I haven’t been drinking.”

It was a soft whisper. Yeonha felt strangely embarrassed. Not because of Hanseok.

Because Kanghyun, behind her, might have heard it.

Because he might have realized that she was drinking more than usual due to her nervousness.

Yeonha wet her dry lips with her tongue and replied softly,

“I’m fine. You don’t have to take me home.”

“You don’t look fine. Were you always this weak with alcohol?”

“It’s not that. It’s just…, well…”

“Then, should I drink it for you? You know, like a ‘black knight’?”

“Black knight? No, it’s o—.”

Yeonha’s words were cut short. She felt a dull but definite pressure, as if someone had deliberately brushed against her back.

Kanghyun’s voice came over, sounding awkwardly amused as he dealt with the employees urging him for a toast.

Was it not deliberate after all?

Yeonha was confused, unsure what was going on.

Absurdly, she had the thought, the ridiculous thought that Kanghyun had been listening to her conversation with Hanseok and had deliberately interrupted them.

“Ms. Yeonha, you really should stop drinking. Your face is red.”

“Really?”

Whether it was because of the absurd thought or the alcohol, her heartbeat gradually quickened.

“Drink some water first.”

Hanseok held out a glass of water.

She reached out to take the glass, but suddenly froze, startled.

“Ms. Yeonha?”

Hanseok looked at her, puzzled, as she froze with her hand outstretched.

Oh.

What should I do…?

Yeonha’s eyes wavered.

Her hand… was being held.

Not the hand reaching for the glass, but the one on the floor.

Long, smooth fingers slid under the silken jacket, tracing her fingers upwards. Then, with firm pressure, they pressed her hand down.

Her body stiffened completely.

What… is this?

Is this really his hand?

“Ms. Yeonha?”

Hanseok called the dazed Yeonha again.

“…Yes?”

“The water.”

“Ah, yes.”

Pulling herself together, Yeonha stiffly extended her hand like a robot.

Her heart pounded so hard she couldn’t tell whether she was drinking water or alcohol. Her head throbbed with the sound of her heartbeat.

The atmosphere at the table behind her was still lively.

Kanghyun’s voice, conversing leisurely with the others, floated around her like the distant sound of a foghorn.

Hanseok leaned towards Yeonha again.

“Are you very dizzy? Do you want to go out and get some fresh air?”