“Hello. Starting today, I’ll be taking over as the manager of Development Team 1. My name is Han Hae-il.”
It was an ordinary Monday morning—until Danbi, a backend developer in her third year, saw the familiar face of her newly appointed team manager and froze in shock.
“Hey. Long time no see.”
His neatly swept-back hair, firmly set lips, and the indifferent gaze with which he scanned the meeting room…
The man who had become a Silicon Valley success story—and Danbi’s long-buried first love—had suddenly crashed back into her life like a tidal wave, just as her fortune for the day had warned.
“Danbi, are you seeing anyone right now?”
Until now, Danbi had lived by one simple motto: Don’t reach for a world beyond your means. Be satisfied with the life you have.
That was why she had managed to give up on a hopeless crush that was never meant to be.
But then—
“I don’t understand. The Danbi I know likes me.”
For Danbi, who only wanted a simple and modest life, this enormous tidal wave that had suddenly swept into her world felt less like a blessing and more like a full-blown disaster—one capable of turning her entire life upside down.
“Manager Han, I’m really sorry…”
“…What?”
“I-I haven’t even prepared for my own retirement yet, let alone my parents’. My family still has debt, and the job market is terrible these days. I’ve got my credit card bill due next month, too…”
Danbi rambled on about her miserable circumstances before looking up at Hae-il with deeply drooping brows. Then, clasping her hands together as if begging for her life, she continued.
“Am I even worthy of someone like you, Manager Han? Oh, absolutely not! No way! You should be with a much better woman!”
She blurted out the words as though trying to shove a ticking bomb into someone else’s hands, then stared up at him with tearful eyes like a helpless animal rolling over and surrendering.
As if his confession were some unexpected catastrophe that had suddenly struck her life.
