Start-Up

Aftermath

In-jae typed furiously at her keyboard, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see her team wince. She smirked and rolled her eyes. They'd better be glad that her keyboard was taking the brunt of her mood and that she wasn't throwing things instead.

It had been a week since she walked out of Ji-pyeong's apartment. A week of feeling lousy and angry and sad.

She was so confused by what she was feeling. Shouldn't she be happy that he had confessed his feelings to her? Any other girl would have felt weak in the knees after hearing everything that he'd said. Instead, she left and ended up driving around in a daze.

She stopped typing and closed her eyes, swiveling her chair to face away from her team. Why was it so hard to admit what she really felt about him? She was attracted to him, she admitted that. But why was she paralyzed by the thought of taking things any further?

In-jae heard the door open and someone told her team, "Mr. Han has been in a foul mood all week." She sighed deeply. Apparently he wasn't doing any better than her, and their teams were taking the fall.

She turned back to her computer and worked until the night wore on and her entire team had left. In-jae knew this couldn't go on for much longer. They couldn't be in such awful moods forever. With a heavy sigh, she turned off her computer and gathered her things.

On her way out, she passed by Ji-pyeong's office and saw that it was dark.

In-jae squared her shoulders and knew what she had to do. She drove quickly and soon found herself at his door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked sharply on the door.

"What--" In-jae didn't wait for Ji-pyeong to say anything and she pushed past him.

He shut the door behind her and she went to stand by the window.

"Have you eaten?" he asked in a neutral tone.

She shook her head without looking at him, "Not hungry."

She stared out into the view, and she felt him stand beside her, his hands in his pockets.

"I'm scared," she finally said softly.

He didn't say anything, and just waited for her to continue.

"I've always prided myself on my independence, on being strong, on being able to handle things on my own. I always keep everyone at bay, never letting anyone get too close. Except you. You and your letters through the years are the closest anyone has ever gotten to me. You let me in to your home, and I somehow let you into my heart."

She paused and took a deep breath. "I'm scared of how I feel about you. Of how I need you. Of how my day doesn't seem to be complete without you. Of how my heart pounds when I see you smile."

"You don't think I'm scared too?"

She snuck a glance at him and saw he was also staring out into the view.

"You and I, In-jae, we think the same way. It's why we've understood each other all these years. Everything you said about being independent, being strong, that's me too. That's always been me. So this is all new to me too."

Finally, he turned to her. "But don't you think that maybe it's a good thing that we can just relax around each other? That we don't have to pretend to be strong around each other? That we can just breathe together?"

In-jae turned and looked into his eyes. "And... you won't think less of me? You won't think I'm weak?" she asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.

He shook his head, "Of course not. In-jae, you're the toughest woman I know... well, maybe second to Ms. Yoon."

She giggled at that, and it made him smile. Tentatively, he reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. "In-jae. Loving someone and letting yourself be loved doesn't make you weak."

He stepped closer to her and slowly cupped her cheek in his palm.

Ji-pyeong looked searchingly into her eyes, and when she closed her eyes slowly, he got his answer. He closed his eyes and touched his lips to hers in a slow, gentle kiss.

His heart thundered in his chest when he felt In-jae kiss him back, her hands resting on his waist.

He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, and she let out a small moan as she clutched at his chest.

Finally, they pulled apart breathlessly and Ji-pyeong kept his arms loosely around her.

"No one at Sandbox can know," she said, and he nodded, "Of course."

She took a deep breath. "So what now?"

Ji-pyeong turned her around in his arms so that they both faced the window, and he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Now, we just breathe and enjoy the view," he said, smiling when he felt her lean against his chest and pull his arms tighter around her. So this is what it felt like to be in love.