Chapter 28: Avoidance is Futile
Haneul walked into the office with her best effort at a neutral expression. She'd made up her mind—if she just kept her head down, worked hard, and pretended the last month and a half didn't happen, maybe, just maybe, people would leave her alone.
She already heard the whispers as she passed by the break room.
"She's working like nothing happened?"
"I heard she's skating on thin ice with the management."
"Do you think Hyunjin actually—"
Haneul huffed and increased her pace. As she reached her desk, Sunwoo strolled into the chair across from hers, holding a cup of coffee.
"Here. You could use it."
She glared at him before taking the cup unwillingly. "If this is your way of telling me I look like hell, just tell me."
Sunwoo smiled, easing back in his chair. "I was trying to be gracious, but since you mentioned it."
She drank, the temperature of the coffee not loosening the tight coils in her chest.
"You won't talk about it at all?" Sunwoo finally asked, his tone earnest now.
"Nope."
"Even a little?"
"Nope."
Sunwoo exhaled, ruffling his hair. "Fine. But don't you know that you're terrible at faking being normal?"
She was going to spit out an answer before the office door creaked open. Haneul's body tensed involuntarily when she saw Hyunjin walk in, flanked by his usual retinue of managers and assistants. Their eyes met across the room for a moment, and for a moment, something flickered on his face—hesitation? Irritation? Relief?
Haneul immediately looked away, started intensely staring at her computer screen as if it held the secrets of the universe, and was not going to screw this up. Not one second.
And still, the universe had other things in store for her.
Reaching for her phone, her hand knocked over the cup of coffee Sunwoo had given her. The cup went flying over the desk, and in her mad scramble to catch it, she pushed forward—into Hyunjin, who just so happened to be walking by at the worst possible moment.
Coffee splattered on his sleeve.
There was a stunned silence.
Haneul stared in horror at the stain spreading slowly across his very expensive-looking jacket.
Hyunjin slowly looked down at his sleeve, then back at her.
"Aha. So this is how you're avoiding me. Violence and coffee attacks. Got it."
Sunwoo let out an exasperated snort as Haneul spluttered. "I—That was NOT—You just—Why were you even standing there?!"
"It's an office, Haneul. I think I'm supposed to stand wherever I want."
She groaned, taking a handful of tissues and frantically blotting his sleeve. "Just—shut up and let me sort this out."
Hyunjin tilted his head to one side, watching her with dry humor. "You're making things worse."
She paused, her eyes flashing upwards at him. "Do you want me to help or don't you?"
His lips twitched, but he shrugged. "By all means."
Their eyes met once more—closer this time. And for an instant, the world outside of them dissolved, leaving only the tension between them, still unmet and weighing heavy.
Sunwoo coughed loudly. "I hate to break up this…whatever this is, but perhaps don't initiate another scandal in the middle of the office?"
Haneul and Hyunjin instantly moved away from each other.
"Right. Yes. Work. Gotta do that," Haneul grumbled, turning back to her desk.
Hyunjin shook his head in amusement before taking his leave, leaving her flustered and bad-mouthing herself mentally.
Avoidance wasn't going to cut it.
And that scared her more than she was willing to confess.
Chapter 29: The Art of Avoidance
Haneul's plan was to avoid Hyunjin, keep her head down, and avoid unwanted attention. Easy, right? Well, not when the universe had a personal vendetta against turning her life into a walking rom-com disaster.
The instant she entered the agency building, she saw Hyunjin walking down the corridor from the other side. Panic filled her chest. Not thinking, she turned on her heels only to bump headfirst into Sunwoo.
"Ugh"
Sunwoo didn't even budge, while Haneul reeled backward, holding her forehead. He arched an eyebrow. "You okay there, or are we shooting a slapstick comedy today?"
Haneul moaned. "Not now, Sunwoo."
Luckily, Hyunjin already witnessed it. Instead of walking away, he stopped, palms shoved into hoodie pockets, tilting his head to one side with that annoying smile. "Seriously? You're avoiding me that hard?"
"Who said I was avoiding you?" she shot back, folding her arms into a defensive stance.
Sunwoo sipped slowly on his coffee. "Uh-huh. That's why you just body-slammed me to get away."
Haneul glared at him then stormed off without deigning to reply.
Later on, the second time, Haneul did feel like she escaped without anyone noticing. She was exiting the practice room after handing over some files when she spotted Hyunjin walking towards her from the opposite side. Shit. She dodged out of his way immediately, pretending to need to glance at her phone.
Unfortunately, Hyunjin had the same idea. They both stepped in the same direction. Then again. And again. Until they were literally side-stepping each other like two idiots in a bizarre dance-off.
"Are we. doing this all day?" Hyunjin finally asked, trying (and failing) not to laugh.
Haneul groaned. "Just go left."
"You go left."
"No, you go left"
They stepped again. Same direction. A moment of silence. Then Hyunjin smiled.
"Oh, this is ridiculous," Haneul growled, resting her hands on her face before facing away from him in the opposite direction and fleeing at record speed. She was not going to let him catch her staring with embarrassment-red ears.
By lunchtime, Haneul had convinced herself she'd gotten back some dignity. She strode into the cafeteria with a determined intent to act like herself. That lasted all of five seconds before she caught sight of Hyunjin loading a tray into another area of the room.
Nope. Abort mission.
She spun around quickly and got her foot caught under the edge of a table.
Oh no.
Before she could even register what was going on, she felt herself falling—And then, just as suddenly, a firm grip closed around her wrist, steadying her the instant before she face-planted onto the cafeteria floor.
The cafeteria fell abruptly silent. She looked up and saw Hyunjin standing in front of her, holding her upright. His hand was warm, firm on her wrist. The air around them changed. For an instant, she couldn't remember to breathe.
Then, from somewhere behind them, Sunwoo's dry voice cut through the moment like a knife.
"Oh wow. Great. Another K-drama scene unfolding in the cafeteria."
Reality came crashing back. Haneul yanked her hand away like it burned. "I.I'm fine!" she blurted before practically sprinting out of the room.
Hyunjin just stood there, watching her go, an unreadable look in his eyes.
That night, Haneul lay in bed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling.
The more I attempt to keep my distance from him, the more we just seem to be bumping into each other all the time. Does the world really have no other work to do?
She groaned, pulling the blanket over her eyes. This is ridiculous.
While Hyunjin sat in his dorm, listlessly twirling a water bottle between his thumb and index finger. He ought to be preparing himself for his evaluations. For his first time, ever. But his mind kept wandering back to this particular clumsy, obstinate, frustratingly fascinating girl.
His phone rang. A message from the management. As he read it, his face lit up with annoyance.