I Have to Take Responsibility, All the Way
When Yoon Eun-jung grasped the doorknob and stepped inside, Namgoong Min was already standing there, facing her directly.
It had been exactly one week since the coffee incident and the shower room encounter.
A hint of surprise mixed with genuine delight colored his voice.
“Eun-jung? What brings you here at this hour? I thought you’d head straight home after the presentation.”
Eun-jung tried to hide the longing that had built up over the past week as she answered.
She fought to keep her voice steady, but a faint tremor still slipped through.
“Yes, CEO. Today’s production presentation… I wanted to come in person and thank you. Thanks to you, everything went off without a hitch.”
Namgoong Min smiled brightly and gestured toward the table in the center of the room.
“Thank me? There’s no need for that. Have a seat. I’ve already received the report on the presentation and I’m quite satisfied.”
The two of them sat across from each other at the table once again, just as they had a week earlier.
As Eun-jung took her seat, she stole a quick glance at Namgoong Min’s desk.
Beside stacks of miscellaneous documents sat dual monitors, a laptop, and a tablet, all scattered across the surface.
The monitor screens displayed complex charts and data, but from a distance it was impossible to make out the details.
The open laptop showed news articles with headlines like “Yeoyo War Production Presentation Successfully Launched,” while neatly organized files and what appeared to be character profiles lay piled in several layers on the desk.
Even that brief glimpse was enough to tell her just how heavy his workload truly was.
Eun-jung offered a small smile and spoke.
“You must be very busy, CEO. Working this late…”
Namgoong Min chuckled lightly.
“Haha. Yeah, well… Now that Yeoyo War has left my hands, all I have to worry about is where the money’s going to come from. I’m preparing a few other projects as well.”
The phrase “left my hands.”
For a moment, it sounded to Eun-jung like he was saying he wouldn’t be paying attention to her anymore.
After the coffee incident, she had secretly thrilled at the thought that they now shared some intimate secret. Now a wave of disappointment washed over her heart.
Eun-jung didn’t let it show.
She worked hard to keep the disappointment from her face and maintained her smile.
But the hurt still crept into her expression, and her face stiffened slightly.
A brief silence fell.
Namgoong Min took a sip of water, then quietly studied her.
She was smiling, yet her expression had subtly darkened. Her gaze was lowered.
Just as the silence threatened to stretch on, he asked about official business.
“Now that the presentation is over, what’s your next schedule like? You’ll be starting table reads soon, right?”
“Yes. We begin a week of script readings starting the day after tomorrow. There are also some CF shoots sprinkled in between. It’s going to be pretty hectic.”
She had tried to sound cheerful, but an unmistakable sharpness and curtness leaked into her tone.
Left your hands? Does that mean you have no more business with me? Was I just another project?
Eun-jung’s heart was flooded with an inexplicable sense of disappointment.
The female lead in a mega-budget drama.
Weeks of relentless scandal articles.
And the coffee incident right here in this very office.
He had even given her underwear as a gift after that, and she had showered in this office.
If the press ever found out, it would be a total scandal. She had believed something secret and intimate had formed between them…
Left your hands? Preparing other projects?
Then what about me? What about the underwear you gave me that day? Is that something you can just brush off like any other annoying chore?
To Eun-jung, that coffee incident had been the beginning of something special between them. She had secretly hoped it would lead to more.
In common terms, the start of a fling. Or at least something close to it.
But Namgoong Min’s words—“Yeoyo War has left my hands”—had left a small wound in her heart.
They seemed to push her back into the position of just another actress under his label.
I’m the teacher and you’re the student.
Or was it the other way around?
Like a line from some drama, his words seemed to say:
I’m the CEO of the agency, and you’re just one of my actresses.
The way she had listed her schedule so half-heartedly was an unconscious expression of that disappointment and a childish desire to be acknowledged by him.
Namgoong Min didn’t miss the subtle shift in her attitude.
As if he had noticed the emotional turbulence she was experiencing, the corners of his lips curved into a very faint smile.
That smile held understanding, yet it also carried a knowing, teasing glint that said he had seen right through her hidden feelings.
And the moment Namgoong Min offered that slight, knowing smile at her somewhat curt tone and subtly darkened expression, Eun-jung’s heart began to pound violently again.
He saw it. He noticed that I’m upset right now. He read my emotions completely.
His smile was laced with that playful confidence that seemed to say, I know exactly why you’re acting like this.
Embarrassment at having her feelings seen through, mixed with a thrill that he was observing her so closely and sensitively.
Watching her slightly half-hearted tone and faintly clouded expression, Namgoong Min kept that same teasing yet gentle smile on his face as he asked a direct question.
“Eun-jung, are you upset because I just said Yeoyo War has left my hands?”
His straightforward, casual question made Eun-jung’s face flush bright red in an instant.
“Ah… no, that’s not it!… I mean… yes, I am upset. I am upset. So…”
Eun-jung felt so mortified she thought she might collapse on the spot.
What am I even saying, Yoon Eun-jung… Damn it…
Her rational self screamed in embarrassment.
Every plan she had carefully prepared over the past week crumbled in a single moment.
She had vowed to handle this professionally and rationally.
If the CEO sent any subtle signals during her visit, she would act a little aloof.
But she would still leave just enough room so she wouldn’t completely push him away.
She had planned to slowly build the tension between them, letting the flirtation grow naturally until he fell for her.
But instead…
Flirtation? What flirtation.
She couldn’t even control her expression and had been read like an open book, now floundering in front of him.
Namgoong Min looked at her flustered state with eyes full of affection, as if he found her utterly adorable.
His gaze was warm with understanding and filled with a loving tenderness that seemed to say she was precious to him.
That gaze was so soft and deep it felt like it could melt her completely.
And under that loving stare, Eun-jung’s words tangled even further in her panic.
“As a contracted actress…! Yes…? When the CEO says he’s cutting ties! No… that’s not… Why would you leave, CEO? Huh? Ah… just a second…”
Her sentences were nearly incoherent. Her face burned crimson.
Under the table, Eun-jung clenched her fists tightly and screamed inwardly once more.
I’m going crazy, seriously…
Namgoong Min listened to her confused, tangled words and smiled softly.
The playful spark in his eyes grew even stronger.
“Leave?”
“Ah… you said it earlier. That it left your hands. Yes. That’s right.”
“Yes. That’s right?”
The stiff, formal tone was completely at odds with her usual soft, intelligent way of speaking.
Yes. That’s right? What am I even saying… What on earth am I talking about right now?
Her increasingly broken reactions only made the corners of Namgoong Min’s mouth lift higher.
He was clearly enjoying this situation now.
His eyes sparkled with mischief, and his smile was filled with the confidence of someone who had completely captured her.
Still wearing that teasing smile, he deliberately mimicked the awkward tone she had just used.
“In that case… Yes. Understood. Then I have to take responsibility, all the way. Yes. That’s right.”
At the words “I have to take responsibility, all the way” and the way he imitated her, a burst of frustration exploded inside Eun-jung.
What the hell… He’s totally messing with me…
Yoon Eun-jung had always received the highest praise an actress could hope for—pure, intelligent, clear, innocent.
But in this moment, she felt like nothing more than a complete fool who couldn’t even speak properly.
His playful teasing and the warm affection hidden behind it had completely disarmed her.
Eun-jung lowered her head slightly to hide the heat spreading across her face, then gathered her courage to speak before the situation could get any worse.
“Um… CEO. I think I’ve made far too many verbal slip-ups today. I should probably leave before I embarrass myself any further.”
In the end, Eun-jung chose to retreat.
Namgoong Min watched her sudden movement and still-flushed cheeks, smiling gently.
“Already? That’s a shame. You haven’t even finished your coffee.”
His teasing remark brought the previous coffee incident rushing back, and Eun-jung’s cheeks burned even hotter.
Fortunately, Min didn’t try to hold her back any longer.
“Then I’ll see you next time. Once again, congratulations on a successful presentation. Drive safely on your way home.”
Namgoong Min let a hint of regret show while cleanly wrapping up the situation.
His voice remained gentle and considerate as ever.
Eun-jung felt a confusing mix of gratitude and turmoil at his teasing composure and the consideration he showed in letting her go. She quickly left the office.
Manager Kim Jin-ho, who had been waiting beside the van, looked slightly puzzled when she came down earlier than expected.
“Did you wait long? Let’s go, oppa.”
Eun-jung tried to sound like her usual self.
Jin-ho studied her face, looking a bit bewildered.
Her cheeks were flushed red. She looked like she was trying to hide her embarrassment.
Did she confess and get rejected?
He glanced meaningfully up at the still-lit top floor of the building, then shook his head slightly.
No way… but with her face that red, something definitely happened…
He started to say something, then thought better of it and silently climbed into the driver’s seat.
A short while later, Eun-jung’s van emerged from the underground parking lot and disappeared into the glow of the city lights.
And on the twentieth floor of the building, in his office, Min sat down with a smile as he watched it leave.
That smile held not just amusement, but also a softness and warmth.
Soon, the image of Eun-jung’s flustered face from moments ago floated into his mind.
Her deeply flushed cheeks, awkward gaze and expression, the way her words had tangled.
He already knew.
How much she was shaken by him, and how sincere that trembling was.
He stared at the glass of water on the table for a moment, then murmured quietly.
“Eun-jung… you were dangerous again today.”
Was he referring to the way her heart had wavered as she looked at him? Or to his own feelings toward her?
Or perhaps he was alluding to the secret physical change she had shown during the coffee incident last time.
Having spoken words only he could fully understand, Namgoong Min turned his head and gazed out the window once more.
As midnight approached, the lights of the city continued to shine brightly.
When Eun-jung arrived home, she tossed her bag aside and stretched out full-length on the sofa.
She buried her face in the soft cushion and remained silent for a long while before finally lifting her head.
Her face was still red.
There was no overt physical reaction like last time, but she felt every bit as embarrassed.
Why do I end up like this every single time I meet the CEO…
Namgoong Min’s ambiguous attitude and his teasing words—“I have to take responsibility”—both excited her and left her feeling hurt that he could see through her emotions and toy with her.
After only a few short meetings and conversations, she had already fallen completely under his sway. Even she was stunned by how restless and helpless she became in front of him.
Why am I the only one like this? Why only in front of him…
With a deep sigh, she stood up. Her reflection in the mirror caught her eye.
Her hair was slightly tousled from tossing on the sofa, yet her beauty still shone brilliantly.
She stared at herself in the mirror for a long time, then let out a long sigh.
That sigh was a mixture of resignation, acceptance, and a strange sense of liberation.
Then she quietly spoke to herself.
“Looks like I’ve gotten myself in trouble, Eun-jung.”
It was an honest realization that she could no longer resist the fateful pull and had already stepped into Namgoong Min’s domain.
She gave her reflection in the mirror a small smile.
The embarrassment remained, but she had decided to fully embrace those feelings now.
No matter what the outcome, she would hide them no longer.
Her heart was already quietly preparing for their next meeting.
