Secret Confirmation, Clear Approval
Late at night, inside the Four Square building.
The soft echo of Eun-jung’s footsteps rippled down the twentieth-floor corridor.
Visiting this late for two nights in a row made her uneasy, yet her heart brimmed with excitement, determination, and resolve.
Today… I’m going to speak properly. About the coffee incident from our last meeting, too.
That incident had been cleaned up by Min’s “consideration” after beginning as his “mistake,” but she couldn’t help wondering if it had truly been an accident at all.
She knew that blurting it out might expose her own shame. Still, Eun-jung believed that even if she had to swallow her embarrassment, confirming the truth was essential if their relationship was ever going to move forward.
Facing the desires she wanted to hide.
Dragging those shameful cravings into the light and verifying them.
If they simply papered over that day as Min’s “mistake,” she was certain their connection would remain forever trapped in the shallow roles of CEO and actress.
How much did he actually know?
If he had acted with full awareness, what had been in his heart?
That hidden empathy and understanding could transform everything between them.
But what if the CEO simply pretended ignorance?
What if it really had been an accident?
Or what if he knew everything and had only been showing kindness?
The closer she drew to Namgoong Min’s office, the more the resolve she had gathered began to crumble.
Is this really the right thing to do?
Am I just creating trouble where there is none?
When she thought about it coldly, the possibility that all of this was nothing more than her own delusion felt frighteningly plausible.
Perhaps it had been an ordinary, everyday mistake.
The notion that the CEO had noticed, shown consideration, and harbored other intentions might exist only inside her own head.
A worse scenario unfolded in her mind.
The CEO had noticed her slip and disguised his own error to smooth things over, yet felt no real interest in her.
If that were true, the situation would become truly humiliating.
Her shame would be laid bare while she received none of his attention… and she might end up branded as a lewd actress who couldn’t control her urges no matter the time or place.
The certainty she had felt during the day slowly bled away.
Regret washed over her for having been so complacent.
Should I turn back even now? Maybe I should give it time and find another way…
At that exact moment the office door swung open.
Before she could collect her thoughts, Namgoong Min stood before her.
His eyes lit with pleasant surprise when he spotted Eun-jung waiting a few steps from the entrance.
“Oh? Eun-jung? You came again today?”
“Ah… yes, yes. You’re still here, CEO.”
“Haha. I had a few more things to review. What brings you by tonight? Come in, first.”
“I actually ran out of coffee capsules, so I’ll run downstairs for a moment. Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
Watching Namgoong Min head for the elevator with that easy smile, a flustered Eun-jung found herself sinking onto the sofa by the central table before she realized what she was doing.
A short while later Namgoong Min returned, both arms full of coffee capsules.
He slid one into the machine with practiced ease, put the rest away, then turned to her with a warm laugh.
“I was disappointed you left without drinking any coffee yesterday. Is that why you came back?”
“Ah… yes. I was so flustered yesterday… I’m sorry.”
“Hahaha. No need to apologize. I like seeing you often. It’s ready. Here.”
“Thank you.”
Eun-jung accepted the cup with both hands, set it down carefully, and spoke.
“CEO… thank you again for last time. You even prepared a change of clothes and underwear… I feel like I caused you so much trouble…”
“Not at all, Eun-jung. It was a sudden accident. You couldn’t leave soaking wet. My carelessness, really. Don’t give it another thought.”
Min took a sip of coffee, wearing the same smooth, gentle smile.
Watching him maintain that perfect lie as though it were nothing, Eun-jung’s heart grew even more tangled.
He was still trying to shield her from humiliation.
Seeing that, she agonized again.
Asking outright, ‘You knew everything, didn’t you?’ felt far too embarrassing.
Her mind insisted that accepting the “coffee accident” alibi he had created and moving on as if nothing had happened was the proper choice for an actress and her CEO.
Yet a different voice whispered from the corner of her heart.
No. You have to be honest. Only then can we grow closer. We need to confirm that we’re sharing this secret.
She tightened her fingers around the warm cup.
Caught between the “normal line” reason demanded and the “secret confirmation” desire urged, she unconsciously fixed her gaze on Min.
Her lips began to go dry. The tips of her ears flushed crimson once more.
In the brief silence that followed, a secret tension thickened between them.
Eun-jung lowered her head, still cradling the cup, then slowly lifted it again.
Min’s serene expression and deliberate pretense of ignorance shook her insides with fresh violence.
The urge to stop carrying this secret alone finally broke through her reason.
After a long hesitation, she forced the question out in a voice barely above a whisper.
“CEO… honestly… you know everything… don’t you?”
It was quiet, yet Min caught every word.
The hand holding his cup paused.
A single heartbeat of silence.
Namgoong Min looked straight at her.
His eyes remained calm and gentle.
When he finally answered, a faint trace of hesitation colored his voice.
“What exactly do you mean, Eun-jung?”
To her, that short question felt like one last chance to retreat.
If she lied and said, It’s nothing, just about the clothes last time, everything could return to the safe story of the “coffee accident.”
But she had already begun. She could not back down now.
The moment her eyes met his steady gaze, the most secret and shameful words she had been holding inside slipped out on their own.
“That day… what condition I was in.”
I said it.
The instant the words left her, Eun-jung’s face burned an uncontrollable scarlet.
She dropped her head and bit her lip hard.
I shouldn’t have said that… I must be out of my mind…
Regret and self-reproach crashed over her like a wave.
Namgoong Min stayed silent for a moment.
He set his cup down and folded both hands on the table.
That brief silence felt like an eternity to Eun-jung.
Why did I do that? On what evidence, with what confidence…
Head slightly bowed, her mind flooded with fierce regret, anxiety, and shame.
Along with the regret came a resigned thought: The water’s already spilled. Let whatever happens, happen.
Min watched her quietly, noting the way she sat with her head lowered, drowning in embarrassment.
At last he unfolded his hands and spoke in a low, tranquil voice.
“More than that, isn’t there something you’re even more curious about, Eun-jung?”
His unexpected counter-question made her lift her flushed face just a fraction.
Head still lowered, she raised only her eyes, silently asking, What do you mean?
Curiosity and fear swirled together in her gaze.
Namgoong Min met her eyes and answered.
His tone was the same relaxed, gentle cadence as always.
Yet the content was direct.
“How much I know. And what I feel.”
The straightforward words struck Eun-jung like a blow to the chest.
Her already confused heart lost all sense of direction between desire and shame.
Her face burned hotter; the flush seemed to reach all the way to her throat.
Namgoong Min waited patiently through her stunned silence, then spoke again.
“Everyone…”
He paused, lifted the cup from the table, and took a natural sip.
The small gesture sent an unexpected jolt of tension through her.
Setting the cup down, he continued.
“Sometimes situations arise that have nothing to do with our own will, Eun-jung. In the body. In the heart.”
Those words were the clear answer to every doubt she had carried.
The truth hidden behind the flawless lie of “spilling coffee.”
He was telling her that he knew exactly how she had lost control and surrendered to desire that day—and that he understood.
Eun-jung’s heart, already threatening to burst, began to race wildly.
Her cheeks were dyed deep crimson. Shame and regret crashed over her again.
He knew everything.
She was terrified to see what kind of look might be in his eyes.
Her head dipped lower, following her downcast gaze.
While she struggled to endure her own chaos of embarrassment and shame, Min’s voice came once more, this time far more intimate and secretive.
“But… in those moments when you can’t control it… wouldn’t it be better if someone stayed with you?”
With me?
Two opposing interpretations collided violently inside her mind.
Was he saying he knew her desires and wanted to share them with her?
Or was he offering to stand beside her as a fellow “accomplice,” helping her bury and share the shameful memory of that day?
Either interpretation carried deep, hidden intent; she could not decide which it was.
Eun-jung barely managed to raise her burning face. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them.
Shame and embarrassment pressed down on her, yet a tiny spark of hope gave her the courage to ask again.
“I… don’t quite understand, CEO. What… do you mean by that?”
Her voice trembled.
Embarrassment.
And beneath the shame, a small, undeniable expectation.
As though he had read her eyes, Min offered a deeper confession.
“Eun-jung, I also…”
He paused briefly, then continued.
“…have moments when I fall into emotions I cannot control.”
The unexpected words left Eun-jung stunned and suddenly hopeful.
What is he saying? Could he possibly…
The revelation that Namgoong Min—the man who had always seemed perfect—shared the same “weakness” was both shocking and thrilling.
Staring into her wavering eyes, Min added one final sentence.
“And this time… it seems that person is going to be you, Eun-jung.”
There was no longer any vague metaphor.
He was saying that the emotion he could no longer control had been triggered by her, and that he now wanted to share the consequences with her.
The meaningful step forward in their relationship that Eun-jung had longed for stood right in front of her.
Anticipation rose in eyes that, only moments earlier, had been filled with shame, embarrassment, and confusion.
She decided she would not hesitate any longer.
Instinct told her this was the one chance to confirm her feelings and define what they were to each other.
Though her voice still shook with caution, excitement colored the question she asked next.
“CEO… with those words… is it all right for me to like you…?”
The question was both a confirmation—Is the feeling you hold for me love?—and a plea for permission—May I love you in return?
Namgoong Min’s gaze rested on her flushed, earnest face.
He smiled softly and gave an answer that was calm yet rich with hidden meaning.
“If your heart feels the same as it did that day… then yes, I believe so.”
His words confirmed that her most secret desires were aimed at him.
They were also clear approval to begin their relationship with that desire as its foundation of love.
Just as Eun-jung’s heart surged, Min rose from his seat, leaning slightly across the table.
His large, warm hand gently cupped her trembling cheek.
Startled by the sudden touch, Eun-jung froze.
Namgoong Min looked into her eyes, then quietly lowered his head.
And then Min’s lips finally met her own trembling ones.
The new chapter between them that Eun-jung had longed for was about to begin.
