Friday night came with neon lights and laughter that felt too loud for the week they'd just survived. The marketing team had booked out a cozy rooftop bar downtown the kind with string lights, cheap beer, and a view of the city skyline drowning in haze.
Kim Nam Shin hadn't wanted to come, but resistance melted under the teasing insistence of her colleagues.
"Come on, Assistant Manager Kim," lucy said, already halfway through her cocktail. "You need this. It's been what months since you've laughed?"
"She doesn't drink," Lee Jun-bin added with a smirk.
"That's exactly why she should start!" Min-ah declared, shoving a glass into Nam Shin's hand.
The first sip burned. The second went down easier. By the fourth, the city lights began to blur, edges softening. Her laughter came easier too light, a little foreign, like someone else's voice.
The others were singing now, clinking glasses and shouting off-key to some old pop song. Nam Shin leaned back in her chair, eyes half-closed. For the first time in weeks, the heaviness in her chest had lifted.
Still, beneath the alcohol haze, something in her wouldn't quiet down that quiet hum of unease that never fully left her.
She didn't know when she pulled out her phone. She didn't even remember pressing call.
But when Woo Jin-ho's familiar voice came through, low and calm, she exhaled in relief she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Shin-ah? It's late. Are you okay?"
"Come get me," she murmured, words slurring just slightly. "Please."
It was past midnight when the elevator doors opened to down of the rooftop bar building. She wasn't sure how she'd gotten there only that Woo Jin-ho had been waiting outside, coat damp from the drizzle, concern shadowing his face.
"You shouldn't walk home like this," he said quietly, helping her steady herself.
The ride to his place was quiet. The city glowed outside the car window, blurring into streaks of gold and red.
When they reached his apartment a neat, minimal place with dark furniture and the faint scent of coffee and rain Nam Shin sank onto the couch, her hair falling over her face.
"Sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to call you."
"I know," he replied. "But I'm glad you did."
He poured her water, sat beside her. The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable just heavy, like two people sitting at the edge of something they both knew was dangerous.
Their shoulders brushed. Neither moved away.
"You've been trying too hard to look strong," he murmured. "You don't have to."
"If I don't, I'll fall apart," she whispered.
When she turned her face toward him, her eyes met his glassy, tired, and full of things neither could name. His hand moved instinctively, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
The air between them thickened too quiet, too close.
She felt the warmth of his breath before his lips found hers soft, hesitant at first, then deeper. Time folded for a moment. The rain outside grew louder, tapping against the window like a heartbeat.
Her hands trembled as she touched his collar, but neither spoke. There were no words left that didn't sound like lies.
And for a while just a while the world outside didn't exist.
He grabs her by waist and take her to his room both engaged into each other so deeply they don't cared about the world .
Woo bin took her coat of and slides his hand inside her shirt slowly while still touch her lips with his. He slowly pull back to she her expression
only to notice she was already asleep.
He was first disappointed a bit but then he slightly chuckled and whispered.
Haha" Cute".
He then tuck her to sleep carefully and went outside the room to sleep on the couch.
When morning came, light poured through half-drawn curtains. Kim Nam Shin woke on the bed, wrapped in a blanket that smelled faintly of his cologne. She was quite stunned as she came outside in hurry. Woo Jin-ho stood by the window, coffee in hand, watching the city below.
He turned when he felt her stir. Their eyes met quiet, uncertain, holding the weight of everything unspoken.
"You should rest today," he said gently.
She nodded, managing a small smile. But when he turned away again, her expression darkened, thoughtful as if some part of her had seen something last night she couldn't quite explain or remember specifically.
Outside, sirens wailed again in the distance.
The city never stopped.
And neither did the secrets.