Kim SeokJin is a powerful CEO in one of the largest companies in the country. His lover is his chief business rival, Kim SongDae. Park JiMin only complicates matters between Jin and Dae with that damn smile of his.
All seven friends work togethe...
“Do you have anything to fix for supper?” he asked, turning the moment back into safe territory.
She smiled and said “the usual" and he laughed.
“Noodles it is then,” he responded, moving to gather his clothes.
He kissed her as she removed the skirt and watched as she disappeared into her bedroom.
Jin shook his head and pushed away his disappointment that he had not carried her there, that he was not lying there holding her close.
He walked into the guest bath to right himself and dress.
Usually they would eat then watch a drama or talk – about anything but work- and he would leave. He was weary of that, but had not puzzled out exactly what that meant.
Jin lost track of time as he pondered the day, preparing plates of simple noodles.
Once he sat the plates on the table, he realized Dae had not come back in yet.
A tiny spark of hope bloomed in his chest as he entered her bedroom, immediately feeling disappointment replace it.
Dae has changed into sleep clothes and had tumbled into bed. She was burrowed deep in the covers, sound asleep. Jin called her name and gently shook her but she did not move.
Turning with a sigh, he retraced his steps. He called for his car while putting the food away. Turning out the lights, he locked and closed the door behind him, stepping out into the darkness.
The cold that seeped into his bones had nothing to do with the chill of the night air.
Dae had slipped into her bathroom to quickly clean up and change out of her work clothes.
She could hear Jin in the kitchen. The sound was so soothing to her. She hated nights when she was in the empty house by herself.
Tonight, had left her feeling off kilter. Things had been this way for two years now. What was changing? Why was she feeling so……what even was this??
She sat on the bed to think, lulled by the sounds of Jin humming in the kitchen. That really was one of her favorite things.
He would come soon to get her. Maybe he would climb into the bed and hold her and whisper impossible things in her ear. She drifted to sleep with a smile, waiting for him.
Jin scrubbed his face in his hands as the car speed away from the penthouse. Frustration ate at him as he replayed the night in his head.
He should have stayed, but Dae had been clear about that from the beginning. She insisted they could not spend the night with each other.
Thinking back, he could no longer remember her reasoning. Whatever it was, it no longer made sense to him.
He pulled out his phone, hoping that he had a message, that he could turn around. Finding none, he sat for the rest of the way home typing then erasing what he wanted to say.
Finally, he gave in to the realization that what he wanted required a real conversation not a text.
Still, he hoped she would reach for him in the night, wanted her to look for his goodnight. He quickly sent a text with that in mind and leaned into the task at hand, mentally exploring the different ways the next real conversation might go.
Dae slowly came awake in the middle of the night. As her body moved, a sleepy smile spread across her face.
Her body was tender in ways and places that were only for Jin. She reached for his warm body and frowned as she only felt the cold empty bed.
She strained her ears to hear his voice, the sounds he made while cooking. Her heart dropped as she came awake enough to remember.
She remembered sitting on the bed and waiting for him. Frowning, she checked the time, cursing to see it was 4:15 a.m.
She had fallen asleep and Jin had gone home.
“Stupid,” she mumbled to herself, dashing away a sudden tear “what did you expect?”
She huffed out a sigh and reached for her phone, hoping Jin had left a message.
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Dae's stomach dropped as she read the last sentence. It seemed so cold, like the close of a business dinner.
Suddenly she remembered tonight in his arms, still breathless from him….
”Thank you," she had said.
Grief, shame or some combination cut her at the memory of how his shoulders dropped at those words, how he had taken a minute to meet her eyes.
She never wanted the boardroom to enter the bedroom when she was with Jin, rivals with benefits they had decided when they started.
That was why she was so careful to hold back her true feelings. At least that was what she told herself.