The office hummed with quiet energy when Kang Hye-rin stepped inside. Phones rang softly, keyboards clattered, and whispers rose and fell like the steady rhythm of rain. She kept her head down, clutching her laptop like a shield, hoping to blend into the background.
But she felt it before she heard it — that sharp awareness that came whenever his eyes found her.
"Miss Kang."
Her stomach tightened. Slowly, she turned, schooling her face into calm. "Yes, sir?"
Lee Joon-hyuk stood near his office door, jacket off, sleeves rolled up, his tie slightly loosened. That casual kind of authority — the one that didn't need words — still made her pulse quicken in ways she didn't want to admit.
His gaze flicked toward the paper cup in her hand. "Baeksu Café?"
She blinked. "Uh, yes. Why?"
He hummed softly, not quite a question, not quite approval. "You've been spending a lot of time there."
"It's near my apartment," she said quickly.
"Careful," he said, voice even, almost too calm. "People notice things. Especially when it involves the CEO's secretary."
Her fingers tightened around the cup. "And what exactly are they noticing, sir?"
For a heartbeat, silence stretched between them. His eyes darkened — not cold this time, just… conflicted.
Then he looked away, tone clipped again. "Never mind. Just keep your focus where it should be."
It wasn't anger. It wasn't control. It was something quieter — a hesitation she couldn't read.
"Understood," she said softly, and slipped past him.
The rest of the day blurred into routine, but his voice lingered — that careful, almost protective warning wrapped in distance.
Later, when the elevator doors slid shut and she caught her reflection in the mirrored panel, she barely recognized her own face. Calm. Composed.
But inside, her thoughts were a storm.
Why did his words still sting?
Why did he still have the power to make her heart stumble — after everything, after years of trying to hate him?
The elevator descended, the hum filling the silence he always left behind.
And Hye-rin realized that even when he wasn't around… his shadow always was.