Deal Breaker - Chapter 49

“To be honest, I did raise you.”

“Ah, yes…”

“I thought I’d picked up a puppy, but it turned out to be a fox.”

“Foxes are in the canid family. I heard their cubs look similar to puppies.”

Whether she was trying to change the subject or just being random, Kanghyeon reached his hand toward Hyeji.

“I worried that sweet little student might get swindled out there, so I held on… and now you’re bleeding me dry. They say never take in a creature with black hair for a reason.”

She only laughed, seemingly out of things to say, unaware that the back of her blouse collar was tucked inside her cardigan. Kanghyeon pulled it out and straightened it before letting go.

Noh Hyeji wasn’t a child anymore. And yet, the fact that he still fussed over her was just a rotten habit.

“Secretary Noh, are there no guys interested in you?”

“Nope.”

Beautiful as she was, that was hard to believe. Inside the company, everyone knew whose Guide she was, so she was untouchable. But that wasn’t the case outside. Kanghyeon had heard from his bodyguards that several men had tried to approach her at the English academy she attended for a while after work.

“And you don’t like anyone either?”

“Nope. I have really high standards.”

She tilted her head back to look up at Kanghyeon, who kept asking her about men, and asked,

“You’re checking in regularly because you’re worried I’ll quit if I get a boyfriend, aren’t you?”

And because you’re worried I might like you, right?

“Don’t worry. I’m not dating anyone.”

And I don’t like you, either.

“Of course, not dating doesn’t mean I won’t quit.”

So don’t think you’ve secured this catch. Always stay on your toes.

Hyeji’s sly smile curved her eyes. Perhaps he understood the meaning, because Kanghyeon bit his lower lip lightly, then turned away with a smile. His dry lips, marked with faint teeth imprints, were brushed by the tip of his tongue. In that instant, Hyeji almost wetted her own lips without realizing.

“By the way, you’re not dating anyone either, are you, sir?”

As expected, Kanghyeon shook his head.

“You not dating makes life boring for me.”

“Why?”

His neat brows drew closer to his sharp eyes, asking what his private life had to do with her amusement.

Dropout from a prestigious university, wealthy entrepreneur, a striking man with both intelligence and a touch of decadence, and on top of that, a superpowered Esper. With that sly streak in his personality, Hyeji had once thought Kanghyeon could easily be a Hollywood movie hero.

The kind of womanizer who brings a different girl home from a party every night and sends her away before sunrise, only to bring another the next night. A boss shameless enough to dump all the aftermath of his one-night stands onto his secretary.

Hyeji imagined herself handing over freshly dry-cleaned clothes she’d picked up overnight to some unfamiliar woman. When asked where the Director was, she’d give the same curt, perfunctory excuse every time. How would those women react when they realized they’d been discarded?

Wouldn’t they glare at her with jealousy? You’re the Director’s secretary? Secretaries handle this kind of thing? And then, with veiled suspicion, …and more?

The thought amused her.

“…But not once in six years has anything like that happened. So it’s boring.”

“…Sometimes I feel like I should use my ability to read your mind, Secretary Noh.”

Kanghyeon sighed briefly, studying Hyeji’s expressionless face. To say something like that without a flicker of expression… Noh Hyeji had a truly unique way of proving she had no attachment or interest in him. In a way, that was a relief.

“Wait a second, so you were the one who put my old classmate’s call through to me the other day?”

Hyeji just smiled and turned her head toward the window. A short, dry chuckle from beside her faded quickly, and the smile vanished from her face as fast as it had come.

It wasn’t that she wanted to see those other women suffer after being discarded by this man. What she wanted was to drag them out to a diner, share a bowl of soup, knock back soju, and talk.

She was curious. Curious enough to gather every woman who’d slept with Kanghyeon for a sort of reunion, just to ask one single question.

Was he that tender with you too? Like he was with me that night.

That night was the last time he’d been so gentle.

Maybe he’d sensed her feelings and drawn a line. Still, at least she hadn’t been cut off entirely.

For a while after that night, she’d been nursing a quiet crush. But working as his secretary, she’d neatly gotten over it before long.

Honestly, this strictly business relationship, this light atmosphere, was far more comfortable than something serious like that night. If she let her heart sway again, if she got caught… even her Han River-view apartment could be at risk.