Chapter 263 - Two-Timing Kang Min-seo?!
The sweat-soaked blouse clung coldly to her spine.
It was a revolting sensation, like being wrapped in wet plastic.
But far worse than the physical discomfort was the memory from a few hours ago that refused to stop playing on a loop in her mind.
'You're insane. Yoo Ji-won, you've finally lost it.'
She glared at her reflection in the restroom mirror.
Her complexion was pale as a ghost.
Her eyes were hollow.
She looked exactly like a fugitive on the run after committing a murder.
She had landed a punch right in her superior's face.
And he wasn't just any superior.
It was the face of Kang Min-seo, a man rumored to be a core Executive of a massive Mafia organization.
A straight punch.
Perfect precision.
It was a clean hit, backed by the full weight and technique of a former boxing prospect.
"Ugh...."
Ji-won groaned, gripping the edge of the sink.
She had run away.
Like a total coward.
But she couldn't hide in the restroom forever.
The bell signaling the start of the lunch hour rang out like a death sentence.
Eventually, she opened the office door, feeling like a prisoner walking into the execution chamber on her own two feet.
Creeeeak.
The sound of the hinges felt deafeningly loud.
The air inside the office was no different than usual.
The clacking of keyboards, the rustle of flipping papers.
Only the sound of Ji-won's heart thumping felt loud enough to burst her eardrums.
In her hand, she clutched a pharmacy bag.
Her fingertips were trembling.
Behind the glass walls of his private office, Kang Min-seo was sitting at his desk.
She could see his profile as he stared at the monitor.
Ji-won swallowed hard and approached him.
"Um... Team Leader-nim."
Her voice was as faint as a crawling ant.
Min-seo's gaze slowly drifted toward her.
"......."
Her breath hitched.
The area around his left cheekbone was swollen and red.
A vivid, angry mark from the strike.
I did that.
Ji-won hurriedly set the medicine bag and bandages on the desk.
She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.
Her gaze wandered aimlessly, settling somewhere around the knot of his tie.
"Um... are you, well, feeling okay?"
She tried her best to sound natural, but her voice cracked miserably.
Min-seo turned his chair slightly toward her.
"About what?"
His tone was languid, mysterious.
He acted as if absolutely nothing had happened.
Ji-won's heart sank.
Don't tell me... does he know?
The real reason she had hit him.
That it wasn't just because she was startled, but a mistake born from the heat she felt while projecting that lewd phantom from yesterday onto his face.
The fear that she'd been found out overwhelmed her.
Her face flushed in an instant.
"Just... anything. Everything...."
Ji-won rambled incoherently.
Min-seo gave a light shrug.
"I'm fine."
His gaze brushed past her.
It was indifferent.
However, Ji-won failed to read the strange sense of resignation underlying that indifference.
Min-seo was running calculations in his head.
He was convinced Yoo Ji-won disliked him.
Whether it was contempt or pure loathing, he wasn't sure.
Because otherwise, there was no reason for someone to suddenly deck a person who was just checking on them.
'Let's not make things difficult.'
Min-seo's eyes narrowed slightly.
It was best to be cautious with relationships in a place like this.
There was no benefit in making an enemy out of a Security Guard.
If she hated him, keeping a proper distance was the smartest move.
"I'll take the medicine. Thank you for looking out for me."
"Ah, no! I'm the one who's sorry...."
Ji-won waved her hands frantically, not knowing what to do with herself.
Then, Min-seo rested his chin on his hand and spoke casually.
"By the way, Ji-won-ssi."
"Yes, yes?"
"You've got a hell of a punch."
"......!"
Ji-won's mouth hung open.
The corners of Min-seo's mouth turned up slightly.
It was a playful joke.
But to Ji-won, it pierced like a dagger.
A former boxer.
She remembered the thrilling sensation of impact when knocking down an opponent in the ring.
But the sensation lingering in her hand now wasn't pleasure.
It was a terrible sense of shame.
She had used violence against the person she was supposed to protect.
And all because of her own filthy delusions.
The air in the office turned sticky in an instant.
Silence fell.
A tension so thick that even the sound of breathing felt loud.
Ji-won bit her lip.
Her mind went blank, her tongue tied.
Then Min-seo broke the silence as he stood up.
"Would you like to go grab a bite?"
Ji-won's pupils shook as if an earthquake had hit them.
"A... meal?"
Just the two of them?
In this situation?
The perpetrator who caused a nosebleed and the victim sitting across from each other?
Just imagining it made her stomach churn.
She felt like she wouldn't even be able to swallow a sip of water.
Above all, if she sat across from him, she knew that scene from yesterday would come flooding back.
The way he looked, panting with a flushed face.
Noticing Ji-won's hesitation, Min-seo added,
"Don't worry. We're not going alone."
"Ah...."
"We're all going together. We're a team, after all."
Min-seo's gaze shifted beyond the glass wall toward the other employees who were busy grabbing their coats.
Only then did Ji-won feel like she could breathe again.
"Yes. Understood."
A sigh of relief escaped her.
Right, it was a public setting.
Just an extension of work.
I'm a Security Guard, and he's just the person I'm protecting.
Ji-won clenched her fists.
Even in this mess, she had to earn her paycheck.
She had to set aside her personal confusion.
At least during working hours.
A Conveyor Belt Sushi Restaurant near the company.
Plates whirred around on the rail.
The place was filled with the lively noise of the lunch rush.
The chatter of office workers was everywhere.
Ji-won sat in a corner seat, sipping green tea.
At the far diagonal end across from her, Kang Min-seo sat quietly, picking up pieces of sushi.
While he occasionally conversed with other employees, he didn't even glance in Ji-won's direction.
A thorough distancing.
It was an intentional act of consideration—and an invisible wall.
'It's actually a relief,' Ji-won thought bitterly as she picked up a piece of salmon sushi.
If she had made eye contact with him, she wouldn't have even been able to hold her chopsticks steady.
She looked around.
Employees laughing and chatting.
Sharp suits.
Polite speech patterns.
To any outsider, it looked like a perfectly normal lunch scene at a Trading Company.
'These people... are all Mafia?'
A sense of dissonance washed over her.
She knew Han Chae-ryeong was an Executive.
But these people in front of her looked so perfectly ordinary.
Do they bury people at night and eat sushi during the day?
She was frowning in confusion when someone spoke up.
"Ji-won-ssi."
The female staff member sitting next to her addressed her.
She had short hair and a friendly face.
...Was it Manager Kim?
"Ah, yes."
"Please take good care of me starting today. I didn't get a chance to greet you properly yesterday."
"Haha. No, I'm the one who should be asking that of you."
Ji-won laughed awkwardly.
Manager Kim's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"But how did you end up joining us, Ji-won-ssi? I heard Team Leader Min-seo interviewed you personally?"
Ji-won's chopsticks paused in mid-air.
An interview.
If a situation where knives almost flew in a dark alleyway could be called an interview, then yes, that's what it was.
"Ah... yes. We just happened to meet by chance."
"By chance? Hmm."
Manager Kim's eyes narrowed.
She looked like she had just sniffed out some juicy gossip.
She lowered her voice and leaned toward Ji-won.
"By any chance... are your skills really that amazing? Team Leader Min-seo is famous for having a very picky eye when it comes to people."
"Skills? Oh, it's nothing like that. I just got lucky...."
Ji-won waved it off.
It's not that he has a picky eye for people, he's just good at bewitching them.
She grumbled internally while chewing on a pickled scallion.
But Manager Kim's next question hit her like a hook.
"By the way, Ji-won-ssi."
"Yes?"
"You're not interested in Min-seo-ssi, are you?"
"Cough!*"
Ji-won choked, bursting into a coughing fit.
The pickled scallion nearly went down her windpipe.
"What?! Me?!"
Her eyes went wide.
It was a reflexive denial, but the reaction was so violent it actually looked suspicious.
Her heart pounded.
The word 'Flustered' was practically flashing on her face like a neon sign.
'Me? Interested in that perverted boss? No way.'
But the memory of yesterday stubbornly held her back.
The way her own body had reacted to his panting.
A physical response she couldn't deny.
Manager Kim giggled, clearly amused by Ji-won's reaction.
"No, why are you so surprised? Honestly, more than half the women here are interested in Min-seo-ssi."
"......Really?"
"Of course. He's got the face, he's brilliant at his job, and his personality... well, he's gentle on the surface, right? He has this side to him that really triggers your maternal instincts."
Maternal instincts.
Ji-won reflexively looked toward Min-seo.
He was quietly drinking water, his profile bathed in the sunlight from the window.
There was certainly something about him that looked... pitiful.
A dangerous atmosphere that pulled people in before they even realized it was a trap.
Manager Kim continued, pointing her chopsticks in the air for emphasis.
"But everyone gave up. They might have a crush, but it can never go further than that."
"Why? Is office dating forbidden?"
"No, it's not that...."
Manager Kim checked her surroundings, then covered her mouth with her hand and whispered like a spy leaking a top-secret file.
"There's a rumor that Min-seo-ssi is Hayoung-nim's... I mean, the Boss's 'man'."
"The Boss's... man?"
"Yes. Hayoung-nim personally comes to the office once in a while. Every time she does, the atmosphere is intense. The way she looks at Min-seo-ssi... how should I put it? Like she's going to eat him alive."
Ji-won's mouth hung open.
Her brain couldn't process the information; it was going into total overload.
Lee Ji-ha.
Han Chae-ryeong.
And Baek Ha-young.
A Mafia Boss, an Executive, and a mysterious cafe owner.
All three of these women were entangled with Kang Min-seo?
'No way....'
This wasn't just two-timing.
This was like an octopus... no, it was a high-wire act with his life on the line.
Considering who those women were, if he messed with even one of them, he could disappear without a trace. But three at the same time?
Ji-won looked at Min-seo with eyes filled with terror.
He was still chewing his sushi peacefully, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.
In that moment, Ji-won realized something.
The place she had stepped into wasn't just a simple Mafia den.
It was a hellscape of romantic entanglements, twisted like a spiderweb.
And right in the center of it, Kang Min-seo was placed like bait.
"Ji-won-ssi? Are you okay? You look pale again."
Manager Kim's voice sounded distant.
Ji-won picked up her water glass with a trembling hand.
It felt like she was drinking poison.
Her head throbbed.
This man, Kang Min-seo... just who the hell was he?
Was he even just a simple Mafia Executive?
Amidst the boisterous noise of the sushi restaurant, Ji-won stared into the abyss alone.
She had an ominous premonition that the days ahead would be anything but smooth.