The three people who had taken a seat in a tucked-away corner of the cafe had their eyes fixed on the counter.
“That woman standing there, that’s her, right?”
“The white blouse?”
“Yes, yes. Isn’t she really pretty?”
“I don’t know. Not sure.”
Hyunseung shrugged as he looked at the woman’s face visible beyond the brim of his cap.
“Seriously, Composer, are your eyes not working or something?”
“No, I mean, people have different tastes.”
At that, Jung Arin demanded an answer from Hyunseung as if she might grab him by the collar on the spot, and Hyunseung only shook his head like he truly didn’t understand.
Just then.
Kim Woohyun, who had been keeping silent the whole time, finally opened her mouth.
“Don’t you two go yapping among yourselves about our Danbi.”
Jung Arin and Hyunseung turned their gaze to Kim Woohyun.
And at the same time, making faces like they were disgusted, they went, “Bleh.”
Our Danbi.
They hadn’t expected those words to come out of Kim Woohyun’s mouth.
“By the way, how do you know the owner’s name? Looks like you’ve talked quite a bit?”
“Last time I paid by bank transfer once, and the account holder name showed up as ‘Yu Danbi.’”
“Oh my god, I just got chills. I didn’t think you were like that, Director, finding out her name secretly like that….”
When Jung Arin looked at Kim Woohyun with contempt in her eyes, Kim Woohyun raised his voice like he was truly wronged.
“Ah, really, I only found out because I forgot my wallet and happened to transfer money!”
Hyunseung suddenly felt eyes turning toward them, and pressed his cap down deeper as he spoke.
“Both of you, be quiet. Everyone’s staring.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“S-sorry.”
When they had quieted down for a moment, the owner with the name Danbi approached carrying a tray.
“Here are your drinks and bread.”
Then, with crescent-shaped eyes, she slowly looked over their group and continued.
“Seems like you really like our cafe’s coffee and bread.”
And then, glancing back and forth between Kim Woohyun and Jung Arin, she added,
“It looks like you each bought coffee and bread this morning, and you came again?”
At those words, Jung Arin sucked in a breath. She was sure she had hidden her identity perfectly, but did it show?
She cautiously lifted her head and met the owner’s eyes, and the owner lowered her head with a kind smile.
“I was so grateful, so I added madeleines too. Please try them.”
At that smile, Jung Arin nodded as if enchanted. Truly, it was such a beautiful and neat smile that even another woman could be captivated by it.
When she turned her head, Kim Woohyun was already staring blankly, mumbling like a broken wind-up toy. At that level, even passersby would notice…
‘Does the owner really not realize?’
Before she could even start to say something, the owner turned and walked away.
And at the same time, Hyunseung rose from his seat and called the owner back.
“Excuse me.”
It happened before Jung Arin and Kim Woohyun could stop him.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
Kim Woohyun reached out a hand, trying urgently to stop him, but—
“Do you?”
Hyunseung’s pressing was faster.
“N-no….”
The owner answered shyly, a bright red blush spreading over her cheeks, and then hurriedly ran into the storage room.
“You heard her, Mom? Thankfully, there’s no goalkeeper.”
Hyunseung said with a satisfied face as he sat back down.
But Kim Woohyun didn’t hear that at all.
All that remained was the blush that had appeared on the owner’s face, and her shy smile, lingering like an afterimage.
But it clearly hadn’t been directed at her.
‘Damn it!’
Coming to his senses, Kim Woohyun shifted his gaze to Hyunseung’s face. Even though it was hidden under a cap and mask, Hyunseung’s face strongly asserted it.
‘I’m handsome. Painfully so.’
Before long, Kim Woohyun let his head droop heavily and muttered,
“This is why I didn’t want to come with this punk…”
It was already too late for regret.
The next day.
Hyunseung arrived at the studio a little late.
Because his younger sister Hyuna had nagged him to make sure he ate breakfast before going out.
‘As expected.’
It seemed Kim Woohyun had already come and gone once, because there was coffee placed on the console.
Needless to say, it was coffee from the Habit cafe. He hadn’t bought any just in case, so this worked out well.
Hyunseung sat down in front of the console, picked up the coffee, and nudged the mouse, and the monitor, which had not been turned off, to light up.
Ah, he had left without closing the program too.
Hyunseung placed his hand on the mouse to check whether yesterday’s work had been lost, just in case.
Click, click.
It was an unfinished track, so if it was gone, he could just make it again.
“Hmm?”
But then, he realized he had left the function on to record live guitar playing.
‘Damn.’
Hyunseung pulled on his headset like he couldn’t be bothered, and just as he was about to cut out the empty recording lane where nothing had been captured—
“What is this?”
At one section, he narrowed his eyes and turned up the volume.
— Knock, knock, knock.
A familiar knocking sound came through.
— Beep-beep-beep-beep!
After that came the sound of the door lock being released.
And then Kim Woohyun’s voice was heard, sighing and going on with a scolding about how he had left another coffee cup behind again.
From the odd noise mixed in, it seemed he had tidied up his desk afterward. You could tell just by how neat the desk was right now.
“Seriously, there’s only Mom.”
Hyunseung was thinking it was nothing much, and was about to cut that recording section out when—
— Coffee starts with “co.”
A man’s voice came through, with a moist sort of wetness mixed in.
— And latte starts with “la.”
This was definitely Kim Woohyun’s voice.
— So why does happiness start with “you”?
A voice with a deep, lingering warmth unlike his usual self.
Hyunseung hoped it wasn’t him, but the more he listened, the more it was clearly Kim Woohyun.
— And why does pain also start with “you”….
At those words, Hyunseung yanked off the headset like he was throwing it away.
“Ha….”
Because Hyunseung did not possess the ability known as “mental resistance” that would let him keep listening.
“Are you out of your mind?”
Hyunseung suddenly remembered Kim Woohyun’s notebook he had peeked at not long ago.
[ Her clean smile purifies my filthy heart and steals everything from me. ]
Lately, what kind of hobby has he even picked up?
‘I’m feeling sick.’
Hyunseung moved his hand to delete it right away, but then paused.
“Wait.”
As if something amusing had occurred to him, he grinned and picked up his phone.
Meanwhile.
Without knowing anything, Kim Woohyun was in the middle of a meeting in a very serious atmosphere, discussing planning for Team 2’s year-end schedule.
“I think it might be good to tie these two together as a unit and run them just for the year-end season?”
“Yes, that’s what Team 2 thinks as well. We can check the response and add later plans afterward.”
“Then we’ll proceed with this agenda item that way, and next….”
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.
At the vibration buzzing from his inner pocket, Kim Woohyun said, “A moment, excuse me,” and pulled out his phone.
Normally he wouldn’t check it during a meeting, but after becoming Head of Division, there were often important calls or sudden executive meetings being called, so he made a point of checking.
“Hm?”
Kim Woohyun checked a group chat he had suddenly been added to.
The inviter was… [ Geumdongi ]
And the people being added and entering one by one were Kang Hajun, Ahn Jiho, Seo Jini, Jung Arin, Yoon Jaeyi, Lee Hyoeun, Moon Beomjae.
And even Executive Park—everyone was part of Hyunseung’s squad.
‘What is that brat trying to do now?’
Kim Woohyun assumed Hyunseung was just playing another prank, and didn’t think much of it as he shoved the phone back into his inner pocket.
“Alright, let’s continue the meeting.”
At that, the meeting resumed heatedly.
Centered around Team Leader Han Ingyu, the person being discussed as the next lead after Kim Woohyun, Team 2 poured out their opinions passionately.
“Wow, when everything is a hit with no weak spots, we’ll have to set priorities according to the budget.”
In the middle of that, the meeting hit a stumbling block.
“Hm….”
For a moment, only thoughtful murmurs filled the room.
Ah.
And the vibration sound coming from Kim Woohyun’s inner pocket too.
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz—!
It buzzed so endlessly that his chest where the phone pressed against it started to ache.
“Let’s take a break.”
Kim Woohyun decided to pause briefly, both to think a bit more and to check his phone.
Only then did he comfortably pull his phone out, and he joined a Face Talk call from Hyunseung.
Just in case, he put in earbuds.
When he joined Face Talk, not only Hyunseung but all his people were in there together.
— Finally, Head of Division has joined.
Hyunseung greeted him with a mischievous smile.
Somehow, looking at that smile made a feeling of unease spread.
“What is this Face Talk all of a sudden?”
Kim Woohyun asked quietly as he stood up to leave the meeting room.
— It’s nothing major, I just thought it might be nice to share today’s work with everyone.
At those words, Kim Woohyun narrowed his eyes and asked, “Share?”
Because wasn’t Hyunseung the type who would kick even him out, saying he couldn’t be bothered, whenever he was working?
And now he was saying he would share his work progress, not with one person but with everyone, on Face Talk.
‘What on earth is he plotting?’
Unable to get even a sense of it, Kim Woohyun hurried his steps.
— Alright, first I’ll let you hear the intro of the song we’ll be working on. For reference, I’ll take opinions and questions too.
Hyunseung looked more excited than usual, and it made him more and more uneasy.
— ♬ ♬ ♬
Soon, through his earbuds came a piano melody, calm like New Age music, yet clear like jade beads rolling.
— Coffee starts with “co.”
At the voice that followed like narration, Kim Woohyun’s hand, which had been turning the meeting room doorknob, froze.
— Latte starts with “la.”
Before long, the hand holding the phone tightened until veins stood out.
— So why does happiness start with “you”?
Kim Woohyun’s face had already turned so red it looked like it might burst.
— And why does pain also start with “you”?
Through his finger joints, it felt like all the blood in his body was draining away, and his strength gave out.
In the end, the phone plunged straight toward the floor and slammed down with a loud crash.
Clatter, bang!
And at the same time, in the cracked screen, Hyunseung’s face could be seen smiling as brightly as a child.
— Mom, what do you think? You said you felt hurt that I only made a song for Executive Park. So I prepared this.
Kim Woohyun had lost the thread of reason so completely he forgot she was in a meeting room.
“You crazy…! You little punk like Geum-eun-dong! Say one more thing about Venti! I’ll only buy you a size as small as a speck of mouse poop!”
Before long, in the meeting room, Kim Woohyun’s shout—stained with humiliation and close to a roar—rang out.
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