TANGLED HEARTS

Chapter 6: Falling Into Temptation

The days had turned into a blur of guilt and desire. Do Do-Hee sat in her office, bathed in the soft glow of the late afternoon sun, the amber light filtering through the tall windows and casting long shadows across her desk. Outside, the city buzzed with life, but inside, it felt as though the world had shrunk to the size of the room she was sitting in—smaller, more intimate, more suffocating.

She stared blankly at her computer screen, the numbers and emails blurring into a senseless tangle. No matter how hard she tried to focus, her thoughts kept drifting back to him.

Tae-Oh.

The memory of their last conversation lingered like an unfinished melody, the sound of his voice replaying in her mind, soft and full of a rawness she hadn't expected. She could still feel the weight of his confession—the way he had said he had never stopped thinking about her. It had lodged itself inside her like a splinter, impossible to ignore.

She ran her fingers through her hair, frustration building in her chest. She needed to stop. This was spiraling out of control, and she knew it. She had a life with Shi-Oh, a stable, steady life that she had built brick by brick. A marriage, a partnership. And yet, the pull toward Tae-Oh had become impossible to resist.

It was as if he had unlocked something in her that had been dormant for years, a part of her that craved more than what she had. More than the polite dinners and the comfortable silences she shared with Shi-Oh. Tae-Oh reminded her of a time when she had felt alive—recklessly, wildly alive. And that terrified her.

A soft knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. She looked up just as the door opened and Tae-Oh stepped inside.

For a moment, the air seemed to still.

He didn't say anything at first, just stood there in the doorway, his presence filling the room. There was something about the way he carried himself, the quiet confidence in his gaze, that sent her pulse racing. He closed the door behind him softly, the click of the latch echoing in the silence.

"I wanted to go over some of the projections for the merger," he said, his voice calm but laced with something more—something darker, heavier.

Do-Hee nodded, though her heart was already pounding in her chest. She gestured to the chair across from her, trying to maintain an air of professionalism. But the moment Tae-Oh sat down, the distance between them felt too small, too dangerous.

He slid a stack of papers across the desk toward her, and as she reached for them, their fingers brushed—just for a second. But it was enough to send a jolt of electricity through her, her breath catching in her throat.

She tried to focus on the papers in front of her, but she could feel his gaze on her, heavy and unwavering. The room seemed to grow warmer, the space between them charged with unspoken words. Do-Hee shifted in her seat, trying to ignore the way her skin prickled under his watchful eyes, but the tension was too thick, too palpable.

"Tae-Oh," she began, her voice shakier than she intended, "I think we need to—"

But he cut her off, leaning forward, his voice soft but firm. "Stop pretending, Do-Hee. We both know what's happening here."

Her heart skipped a beat, her breath faltering as she looked up and met his gaze. His eyes were dark, intense, filled with the same pull she had been trying so desperately to ignore.

"I know you feel it," he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "This connection. It's still there. It's always been there."

Do-Hee's pulse raced, her chest tightening as the weight of his words settled over her. She opened her mouth to respond, to say something, anything, that would stop this, but nothing came out. Her thoughts were a tangled mess of guilt, desire, and confusion.