TKFT 16

Chapter 16

The next morning.

While eating breakfast, Jian glanced across the table.
Yugeon wasn’t in his usual seat.

Lately, they had always eaten breakfast together, so his absence left her feeling strangely empty.

“The CEO must be busy—he ate early and left.”

Is he very busy? She had wanted to see his face and check if he was feeling okay, but when she woke up, the space beside her in bed had already been empty. Jian felt both disappointed and worried.

Last night—

After briefly ending a phone call with Pilbeom, who had asked about their plans to visit both families during the Chuseok holiday, she returned to the bedroom and found Yugeon curled up under the blanket.

The memory of their lips touching just moments earlier made her body twist with nervous excitement, her stomach tingling. It was hard to face him.

That was why she had used the call from Pilbeom as an excuse to escape the bedroom.

But what mattered now wasn’t that—it was the fact that Yugeon was sick. His fever had been so high that he’d seemed on the verge of becoming a corpse.

So she needed to get a grip and take him to the hospital.

Just as Jian was about to insist on calling an ambulance again—

Beep.

A sound came from under the blanket, and his arm suddenly stretched out.

In his hand was a thermometer showing a number slightly above normal.

“…There must’ve been something wrong with the thermometer before. I don’t actually have much of a fever. So I’m not going to the ER.”

“Huh? Really…?”

Why had it shown such high readings twice earlier? She had been terrified, thinking he might actually die!

Still, it was a relief that it wasn’t a serious fever.

“Then… is there anything else you need? Oh, earlier you said you needed a wet towel—”

“No, it’s fine. I just want to sleep. I’ll sleep.”

“Ah… okay. Please rest.”

She had rushed over wanting to help him, but in the end she hadn’t been much help at all. That alone made her feel upset—and now she hadn’t even seen his face this morning.

Maybe I should at least send him a message to check if he’s okay.

The moment she thought about sending a message, her heart began pounding.

After what had happened yesterday, even the idea of texting him made her nervous.

Jian stopped eating and lightly bit her lower lip.

That was my… first kiss.

A silent scream erupted in her mind.

Her first kiss—with her favorite person.

Even a fangirl could hit the jackpot.

“Ah… my heart…”

She placed a hand over her chest and felt the rapid thumping.

I feel like this… but how does he feel?

She had been so startled at the time that her vision had gone white, and she couldn’t remember what expression Yugeon had worn.

Had he been surprised—or not?

Maybe he’d only been surprised by how shocked she was over something so small.

Yugeon has probably done things like that… plenty of times with other women.

Not just that—probably everything else too.

Women wouldn’t have left a man like him—the most attractive man in the world—alone.

That must be why his taste in women was so selective. Ordinary qualifications probably didn’t even catch his eye anymore.

If he found out that it had been her first kiss with him… what would he say?

“What? Your first? Ms. Eun Jian, at your age you’ve never even kissed anyone? That’s kind of burdensome. You’re not expecting compensation from me just because our lips brushed by accident, right?”

Imagining his indifferent, slightly annoyed expression, Jian’s shoulders drooped.

She poked at her rice gloomily, then shook her head to clear her thoughts.

…No. Still, just kissing my first love is already a huge win.

Thinking positively, she resumed eating with determination.

Fueled by the memory of that kiss, she resolved to live the day energetically.

That morning, Yugeon’s chief secretary had an unusually hectic time.

Yugeon, who had recently been arriving at work at normal hours, suddenly showed up at dawn again and began issuing a flood of instructions.

“Please submit the report on this month’s material price trends—originally scheduled for next week—by this morning.”

“Also, since next week’s meeting includes design-change reviews and the VE proposal, gather those documents in advance and submit them as well.”

“The partner-company evaluation forms scheduled for the end of the month—prepare those today too.”

None of these tasks were urgent, yet Yugeon gathered everything possible and worked like a man being chased.

Then, like a machine breaking down, he would occasionally freeze, going blank.

Eventually, his face turned red.

The fake illness he’d acted earlier seemed to have turned into a real fever.

“Sir, are you unwell? You don’t look good at all.”

The secretary asked with concern after entering the office to report something. Yugeon’s face was so flushed it looked like steam might rise from his head.

Until now, he had seemed like a man made of steel—never showing strain no matter how much he worked—so hearing he might have a fever was worrying.

“…I’m fine.”

“Still, perhaps you should see a doctor today and rest at home?”

“I’m fine.”

Yugeon cut him off again and fixed his gaze on the documents.

I need to work.

Because if he didn’t, yesterday’s incident kept resurfacing.

A grown man, not some teenager, getting worked up over a simple brush of lips…

If he was already like this from one kiss, what would have happened if he had given in to his desire and kissed her again?

He might not have just gotten a fever—he might’ve had a nosebleed.

Yugeon felt a wave of self-disgust at the fact that, at over thirty years old, he was in this state over a single kiss.

Focus. Focus… If I concentrate on work, I won’t think about it.

He threw himself into work at twice his usual intensity that day—but the soft, gentle sensation of her lips from yesterday refused to fade.

That evening.

Unable to face Jian, Yugeon used work as an excuse to eat dinner outside before returning home.

Even at home, he hid in the study, avoiding her as much as possible.

Only when it was time to sleep did he reluctantly lie down in the bedroom.

Should I just sleep in the guest room? No… I already skipped meals with her using work as an excuse. If I sleep separately too, it’ll look like I’m completely conscious of what happened yesterday…

Lying with his back to Jian as usual, Yugeon still couldn’t relax.

Behind him, however, Jian was thinking something entirely different.

Having Yugeon behind me feels especially exciting today. Will the kissing event… happen again?

She touched her lips and quietly giggled.

How long am I going to be like this over one kiss? And why am I imagining what comes after?

If I kiss Yugeon… maybe something more will happen? Ah! What should I do?

Stop it… What is wrong with your brain? You’re committing a crime against innocent Eun Jian…!

If we keep kissing, then maybe this… and then that… and eventually even… hehe…

In the end, while Yugeon tossed and turned all night, Jian slept peacefully in happiness.

For the next few days, things weren’t much different.

Yugeon grew thinner day by day, while Jian—sleeping well and eating well—looked smoother and prettier than ever.

He sometimes stared at her resentfully.

Why am I like this while she’s perfectly fine…? Has she kissed that guy she says she loves many times?

That thought occasionally made irritation surge, and he would stomp his foot in frustration while working.

He found her annoying for being so unaffected after taking the “purity” of his lips.

Every time he faced her, the heat spreading through his body and the strange, shimmering emotions rising within him were impossible to control.