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Kim Yooyeon hated Monday mornings.
Not because of the meetings.
Not because of the endless reports, impossible deadlines, or Director Jiwoo's relentless pursuit of perfection.
She absolutely hated Mondays because every week, without fail, Yoon Seoyeon reminded the entire company why she was everyone's favorite — not that she’ll ever admit that’s the biggest reason.
Conference Room B followed the same ritual with almost religious precision.
The quarterly performance charts flickered to life across the frosted glass screen.
Director Jiwoo let out her customary sigh, rubbing at her temple as numbers and projections filled the room. Before anyone else could react, Team Lead Chaeyeon stepped forward, smoothing a reassuring hand over the director's shoulder. Whatever weight Jiwoo had been carrying eased almost instantly as she looks up with a grateful smile towards her partner.
Then came the part Yooyeon dreaded.
"Seoyeon."
Jiwoo tapped her digital pen lightly against the conference table.
The restlessness followed Yooyeon into the afternoon.
By two o'clock, the fourth-floor breakroom was full of ordinary things that suddenly felt unbearable.
Jiyeon laughing as Yubin leaned over her shoulder, their heads nearly touching while they argued over something on her laptop.
Kotone absentmindedly feeding Nien the last bite of her pastry without either of them acknowledging it.
Across the room, Lynn reaching up to straighten Nakyoung's crooked tie. Nakyoung rewarded her with the same old cheeky lazy smile that Lynn fell in love with.
It was disgustingly domestic. Yooyeon did not like it one bit or so she thought.
Yooyeon turned toward the coffee machine before she could watch any longer.
The machine hummed.
Dripped.
Paused.
Too slow.
She jabbed the button harder than necessary.
"You're glaring at it again."
Her shoulders stiffened.
Of course.
She would've recognized that voice anywhere.
"I wasn't aware coffee machines had feelings."
Seoyeon stepped inside, a stainless steel water bottle swinging lazily from one hand.
"They don't."
She stopped beside the counter.
"But you always look like you're trying to intimidate them."
Yooyeon snorted.
"Is that what you've been doing? Watching me make coffee?"
A beat.
Then—
"When I happen to be here."
There it was again.
That infuriatingly measured answer.
Never enough to mean something.
Never enough to deny it, either.
Yooyeon busied herself reaching for her mug.
"I think you're imagining things."
"Hm."
"Hm?"
"You say that a lot."
Yooyeon frowned.
"'You're imagining things.'"
"I don't—"
"You do."
Seoyeon's voice stayed maddeningly calm.
"Whenever you're uncomfortable."
"I am not uncomfortable."
"No?"
"No."
"Then why are your shoulders up by your ears?"
Yooyeon reached for her cup a fraction too quickly.
Hot coffee sloshed over the rim.
"Damn—"
The burn stung immediately.
She barely had time to hiss before another hand caught hers.
Cool fingers.
Steady.
Certain.
Seoyeon had already pulled a paper towel free.
"You never slow down."
The words were quiet.
Gentle.
Closer than they should have been.
Yooyeon forgot the coffee entirely.
Seoyeon's thumb brushed over the back of her hand as she wiped away the spill.
The contact lasted maybe two seconds.
Three.
Far too long to be accidental.
Far too short to complain about.
"You'll burn yourself."
"I've had worse."
"I'm sure you have."
Their eyes met.
Neither of them looked away.
The room around them faded into a blur of humming refrigerators and distant conversations.
It would've been so easy.
One step.
That was all.
One tiny step forward and—
Seoyeon's thumb paused.
Right over the inside of Yooyeon's wrist.
She felt it.
The pulse.
Fast.
Unsteady.
Seoyeon's eyes flickered downward for the briefest moment.
Then back up.
"...Your heart's racing."
Yooyeon froze.
Heat climbed all the way to her ears.
"It's hot coffee."
"Hm."
"That's the reason."
"If you say so."
God.
She wanted to wipe that knowing little smile off Seoyeon's face.
She also wanted—
No.
Absolutely not.
Yooyeon pulled her hand away harder than intended.
"I don't need you fussing over me."
For the first time all afternoon—
Seoyeon looked genuinely hurt.
Her smiling dropping faster than Yooyeon has ever seen it.
It lasted less than a heartbeat however.
Then the familiar smile returned.
Soft.
Professional.
Untouchable.
"My mistake."
Those two words landed harder than they should have.
No teasing.
No smugness.
No challenge.
Just quiet acceptance.
It irritated Yooyeon far more than if Seoyeon had argued.
She turned toward the door before she could think.
"Yooyeon."
She stopped.
"I really was just trying to help."
...
She didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Because if she looked back—
If she saw that expression again—
She wasn't entirely sure she'd remember why she'd spent months convincing herself she hated Yoon Seoyeon.
The hallway suddenly felt too quiet.
Too long.
Too empty.
She rubbed absentmindedly at the spot on her wrist where Seoyeon's fingers had been.
The warmth of the coffee had long since disappeared.
Her touch hadn't.
It has tattooed itself onto her, just like she likes it.
Warm.
Addicting.
"The client presentation you submitted yesterday evening was exceptional. The board approved the campaign without requesting a single revision."
A ripple of impressed murmurs spread around the table.
Of course it did.
Seoyeon looked up with a smile that somehow never felt rehearsed despite being flawlessly timed. Gracious enough to be likable. Humble enough to be admired.
"Thank you, Director," she said, setting her pen neatly beside her tablet. "It was a team effort. Sohyun's research gave us exactly the foundation we needed."
Even her humility was irritating.
Sohyun laughed softly, waving away the praise while senior manager Xinyu slipped a hand beneath the table to squeeze her knee. A faint blush crept up Sohyun's neck, earning a teasing smile from Xinyu.
The room warmed with quiet laughter.
Yooyeon barely noticed.
She stared at the pages of her notebook until the printed lines blurred together.
She already knew what everyone else was seeing.
Seoyeon sitting perfectly straight.
That effortless smile.
That impossible composure.
The woman who somehow managed to work herself half to death without ever looking tired.
Yooyeon knew better than anyone that Seoyeon earned every compliment she received.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was that Yooyeon had stayed in the office until nearly two in the morning wrestling with corrupted spreadsheets and broken formulas, only for her own contribution to disappear beneath Seoyeon's polished presentation.
Seoyeon wasn't stealing credit.
She never had.
She simply had an infuriating talent for making excellence look effortless.
Snap.
The lead of Yooyeon's mechanical pencil broke cleanly in half.
No one looked over.
Good.
She wasn't sure she could fake a smile if they did.
As the meeting came to an end, chairs scraped across the polished floor.
Conversations broke out in small groups as people gathered tablets, coffee cups, and notebooks.
Nakyoung drifted over first.
"Coffee?" she asked quietly.
Before Yooyeon could answer, Lynn appeared beside Nakyoung as if summoned by instinct, placing an iced latte into her hand and a quick kiss on her cheeks.
"Thought you'd need this."
Nakyoung's face brightened.
"You read my mind."
Their fingers intertwined without either of them seeming to notice.
Yooyeon looked away.
"You look like you’re going to jump that carpet," Nakyoung said.
"I'm fine."
"You say that every time."
"I mean it."
"Hm."
Nakyoung clearly didn't believe her.
Yooyeon turned toward the side exit, grateful for the excuse to leave—
—and stopped.
Seoyeon stood beside the glass partition, a stack of neatly organized files resting against one hip.
She wasn't watching the executives.
She wasn't listening to Chaewon and Hayeon debating color palettes across the room.
She was looking directly at Yooyeon.
Their eyes met.
More emotions in her eyes than Yooyeon can and wants to decipher.
For the briefest heartbeat, Seoyeon's immaculate professionalism cracked.
The corner of her mouth lifted.
Not a smile.
A smirk.
Small.
Knowing.
Infuriating.
As if she could see straight through every carefully buried emotion Yooyeon refused to acknowledge.
As if she enjoyed watching the composure she'd worked so hard to maintain begin to splinter.
Then Kaede and Dahyun approached with questions about budget allocations.
The smirk vanished without a trace.
In its place was the warm, approachable smile everyone else knew and love.
"So," Seoyeon said smoothly, already turning toward them, "let's have a look."
Just like that, the moment was gone.
Yooyeon exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Her laptop felt heavier against her ribs.
Annoyance churned in her chest.
So did something far more dangerous.
And she couldn't decide which feeling frustrated her more.
By the time the office emptied, silence settled over the floor like dust.
One by one, monitors blinked dark.
Jiwoo left with Chaeyeon.
Sohyun disappeared toward the elevators with Xinyu's fingers hooked loosely through hers.
Nakyoung protested all the way to the parking garage while Lynn patiently carried both of their bags, not giving her partner a chance to snatch the bags from her hand.
Even HyeRin and YeonJi had called it a day as they walked tiredly to their car, arms in arms.
Only one desk remained lit.
Kim Yooyeon's.
She rubbed tiredly at her eyes, blinking against columns of numbers that refused to stay still.
Vendor reports.
Budget revisions.
Forecast discrepancies.
Nothing made sense anymore.
A soft knock landed against the fabric wall of her cubicle.
She didn't bother looking up.
"I'm not leaving."
"I know."
Her fingers froze over the keyboard.
Seoyeon stepped inside carrying two paper bags.
Not one.
Two.
She placed one on the desk.
"Kimbap, Tuna kimbap."
Another.
"Soup."
Yooyeon stared.
"I didn't ask."
"I know. You don’t have to"
"You don't have to pity me."
Seoyeon looked genuinely confused.
"Pity you?"
"I can buy my own dinner."
A pause.
Then—
"I never said you couldn't."
The words weren't defensive.
They weren't sarcastic.
If anything...
They sounded disappointed.
"I noticed you skipped lunch."
Yooyeon's jaw tightened.
"So?"
"So..."
Seoyeon hesitated.
Just enough for something vulnerable to flash across her face.
"I thought you'd be hungry."
Silence.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them touched the food.
Finally—
"I don't need you taking care of me."
The words landed between them like broken glass.
Seoyeon lowered her eyes.
"...Right."
One word.
Quiet.
Almost embarrassed.
Hurt.
She reached for the paper bag.
"My mistake."
For some reason...
Watching her take it back hurt.
"No."
The word escaped before Yooyeon could stop it.
Seoyeon looked up.
"I..."
Yooyeon's throat tightened.
"I'll eat it."
Something softened in Seoyeon's expression.
Not relief.
Something smaller.
Something sadder.
"...Okay."
She slid the bag back across the desk.
Yooyeon opened it.
Still warm.
Steam drifted into the cool office air.
She frowned.
"You were just out?"
"Hm?"
"The food."
"Oh."
Seoyeon smiled faintly.
"I bought it earlier."
"When?"
"Lunch."
"...Lunch?"
"You always work through lunch during month-end."
Yooyeon blinked.
"I figured you'd still be here."
"..."
"So I kept it warm."
The room became painfully quiet.
She'd...
planned for this?
Hours ago?
Before she'd even known whether Yooyeon would stay late?
"...Why?"
Seoyeon looked down at her own untouched dinner.
"I don't like eating alone."
It was such a simple answer.
So ordinary.
So obviously incomplete.
Yooyeon could hear everything she wasn't saying.
I wanted to eat with you.
But neither of them was brave enough to say it.
Instead—
Yooyeon laughed.
A short, bitter laugh.
"You're unbelievable."
Seoyeon's shoulders stiffened.
"I was only—"
"You always do this."
"...Do what?"
"You act like everyone's responsibility."
"No."
"You do."
"I care about the people I work with."
"There."
Yooyeon stood.
"Exactly."
The smile disappeared from Seoyeon's face.
"I don't need your kindness because you feel obligated."
"..."
"I don't need charity."
"...Yooyeon."
"I especially don't need it from someone who already has everything."
Silence.
A terrible...
crushing...
silence.
Seoyeon didn't defend herself.
Didn't argue.
Didn't smile.
She simply looked at Yooyeon.
For a long time.
When she finally spoke...
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"...You really think I have everything?"
Yooyeon opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Seoyeon smiled.
Not because she was happy.
Because she was covering the hurt.
"I'll remember that."
She picked up her own dinner.
"Good night."
She left.
The office fell silent again.
Too silent.
Yooyeon looked down.
Her stomach twisted.
There, tucked beneath the lid of the soup container...
was a tiny sticky note.
You always forget to eat when you're focused. Please don't work too late. —S
...
She stared at it.
Then at the empty doorway.
Then back at the note.
Her chest ached.
She had been cruel.
Needlessly cruel.
And somehow...
the only thing Seoyeon had done wrong...
was care.
Rain hammered against the lobby windows hard enough to drown out conversation.
Outside, umbrellas bloomed one after another across the sidewalk.
Chaewon laughed as Hayeon fussed over the hood of her coat.
Kaede disappeared beneath Dahyun's umbrella before the rain could catch her.
Jiyeon leaned comfortably into Yubin's side while they waited for their cab.
One by one...
Everyone left with someone.
Yooyeon stayed where she was.
The weather app had promised a ten percent chance of rain.
Apparently, it had lied.
"...You look offended."
She didn't have to turn around.
"I am."
A quiet click echoed through the lobby.
Seoyeon's umbrella opened beside her.
Large.
Black.
Wide enough for two.
"I'll walk you."
"I'm fine."
"You don't have an umbrella."
"I'll run."
"In that?"
Yooyeon stared at the sheets of rain bouncing off the pavement.
"...I'll survive."
"I don’t doubt that."
Seoyeon stepped closer.
"But you'll still be soaked."
Silence.
"You live east."
Yooyeon's head snapped toward her.
"...How do you know where I live?"
"I don't."
"You just—"
"I know which train you take."
...
"You get off at the third stop."
...
"You always leave through the east exit."
...
"And you buy coffee from the café across the station every Wednesday."
Yooyeon forgot how to breathe.
"...You've been watching me?"
The words came out quieter than she'd intended.
Seoyeon's expression shifted immediately.
Almost guilty.
"I..."
She looked away.
"I notice things."
"About everyone?"
A pause.
Too long.
"...No."
One word.
Barely audible.
No.
Not everyone.
Only you.
Neither of them said it.
Neither of them had to.
Yooyeon's heartbeat became unbearable.
"Come on."
Seoyeon held the umbrella out.
"Before we both catch pneumonia."
...
The umbrella was far too small.
Every few steps, their shoulders brushed.
The scent of rain mixed with Seoyeon's perfume.
Fresh citrus.
Clean linen.
Dangerous.
Neither of them spoke.
Every silence somehow said too much.
Halfway down the block, Yooyeon noticed the rain darkening Seoyeon's shoulder.
She had tilted the umbrella.
Toward Yooyeon.
Away from herself.
Without thinking—
Yooyeon reached for the handle.
"No."
She nudged it back.
"You'll get wet."
"So will you."
"I don't mind."
"I do."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
They both froze.
Yooyeon's hand still rested over Seoyeon's.
Warm.
Steady.
Close enough that she could feel the tiny tremor running through Seoyeon's fingers.
The city disappeared.
Cars.
People.
Rain.
Everything faded beneath the steady rhythm of water striking black fabric.
"...Yooyeon."
It wasn't much louder than the rain.
"What?"
"You've never called me by my first name before."
...
She blinked.
She hadn't even realized.
"...Oh."
Silence again.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them let go.
Seoyeon looked down.
Not at their hands.
At Yooyeon's lips.
Just for a second.
One tiny second.
Then back to her eyes.
Her breathing hitched.
Yooyeon saw it.
She saw everything.
The hesitation.
The fear.
The hope.
The need.
She stepped forward.
Barely.
An inch.
Maybe two.
Close enough to feel Seoyeon's breath in the cold air.
Seoyeon didn't move away.
Didn't move closer either.
She simply whispered—
"...Tell me to stop."
Yooyeon's heart stopped.
"What?"
"If..."
Seoyeon swallowed.
"If I'm making this difficult for you..."
Another pause.
"I'll stop."
That sentence shattered something inside Yooyeon.
Because she finally understood.
The lunches.
The coffee.
The teasing.
The lingering touches.
The late nights.
The umbrella.
It wasn't kindness.
It wasn't pity.
It was love.
Quiet.
Patient.
Terrified love.
And Seoyeon thought—
She thought it wasn't wanted.
Yooyeon opened her mouth.
Say it.
Just say it.
Tell her.
Tell her she's an idiot.
Tell her she's been impossible.
Tell her you've been in love with her for months.
Tell her you need her.
Tell her—
"I..."
Nothing.
Nothing came out.
Fear wrapped itself around her throat.
What if she was wrong?
What if she'd imagined everything?
What if one sentence ruined the only relationship they had left?
The silence stretched.
Seoyeon's smile returned.
Not because she was happy.
Because she'd mistaken Yooyeon's silence for an answer.
"I understand."
She gently stepped back.
The warmth disappeared with her.
"We should keep walking."
She didn't look at Yooyeon again.
Not once.
The rest of the walk passed in complete silence.
When they reached Yooyeon's apartment building, Seoyeon stopped beneath the awning.
"...Good night."
She turned to leave.
"Seoyeon."
For the first time that evening—
She didn't turn around immediately.
She waited.
Hope hanging by a thread.
Yooyeon's chest hurt so badly she thought it might split open.
Say it.
Please.
Just this once.
"...Thank you."
The hope disappeared.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't loud.
It simply...
went out.
Like the last light in an office after everyone had gone home.
Seoyeon smiled over her shoulder.
Small.
Beautiful.
Heartbreakingly polite.
"...You're welcome."
Then she walked away.
She never noticed that Yooyeon stood under the awning long after the rain had stopped.
She never saw the tears mixing with the rainwater on Yooyeon's face.
And Yooyeon never knew...
...that Seoyeon cried the entire train ride home.
…
Weeks passed.
Or maybe they only pretended to.
After the walk home in the rain, something shifted.
Not all at once.
Nothing between Kim Yooyeon and Yoon Seoyeon had ever happened all at once.
It happened in tiny absences.
The morning coffee waiting outside Yooyeon's office stopped appearing.
The teasing comments in the break room disappeared.
Late nights became solitary affairs.
When meetings ended, Seoyeon was always the first to leave the room.
When Yooyeon entered the elevator...
Seoyeon found the stairs.
She had kept her promise.
She stopped making things difficult for Yooyeon.
It should have been a relief.
It wasn't.
It was unbearable.
The office carried on as if nothing had changed.
Jiwoo still sighed dramatically before presentations, only for Chaeyeon to soothe her with the same patient smile.
Nakyoung still complained loud enough for Lynn to hear from across the room, secretly waiting for her girlfriend to scold her.
Sohyun and Xinyu somehow grew even more inseparable.
Everyone else moved through the days exactly as they always had.
Only Yooyeon noticed the silence.
It settled into every corner of the office.
The empty chair beside hers during lunch.
The untouched coffee machine at two in the afternoon.
The hallway that no longer smelled faintly of citrus because Seoyeon had started taking another route to the conference rooms.
It was ridiculous.
She had wanted space.
Now every inch of it suffocated her.
The worst part...
Seoyeon was exactly as kind as she'd always been.
She still smiled.
Still thanked people.
Still stayed late to help junior employees.
Still laughed whenever Jiwoo's terrible jokes somehow landed.
Just...
never with Yooyeon.
Never at Yooyeon.
Never because of Yooyeon.
It was as though Yooyeon had become invisible.
One afternoon, she caught Seoyeon laughing at something Kaede had said.
The sound carried across the office.
Warm.
Bright.
Beautiful.
Yooyeon's chest tightened so suddenly she had to look away.
She hated herself for missing it.
She hated herself even more for being the reason it had disappeared.
"You're staring again."
Nakyoung's voice cut through the silence.
"I'm working."
"No."
Nakyoung followed Yooyeon's gaze.
"You're grieving."
Yooyeon scoffed.
"I didn't lose anything."
Yes, she did.
Something so valuable to her.
Nakyoung looked at her for a long moment.
Then she asked the cruelest question anyone had ever asked.
"Then why do you look like you did?"
...
December arrived with the year's first snowfall.
Along with the annual company retreat.
Three days in a mountain lodge.
Three days away from deadlines.
Three days of team-building exercises, shared cabins, bonfires...
...and nowhere to hide.
When the bus assignments were announced Monday morning, Yooyeon's stomach dropped.
Seat 12A.
Yoon Seoyeon.
The lodge sat three hours outside the city.
By the time everyone finished loading luggage into the coach, the winter air had turned everyone's breath into little white clouds.
Jiwoo stood at the front with a clipboard.
"Remember your seat assignments! We spent too much time organizing them for anyone to switch."
A chorus of playful complaints followed.
"I wanted to sit with Lynn!"
Nakyoung whined dramatically.
Lynn sighed, already walking toward her assigned seat.
"You say that every trip."
"And every trip they separate us."
"They're separating everyone."
"They're separating us."
Lynn only smiled, taking Nakyoung's bag before she could continue complaining.
Across the parking lot, Sohyun was already tucking a blanket around Xinyu's shoulders despite the older woman insisting she wasn't cold.
"You're impossible."
"And yet," Sohyun replied, smoothing down a stray lock of hair, "you're still wearing my scarf."
Xinyu looked down.
"...Oh."
She hadn't even realized.
Laughter drifted through the crisp morning air.
Yooyeon barely heard any of it.
Her eyes remained fixed on the laminated seating chart taped beside the bus door.
12A — Kim Yooyeon
12B — Yoon Seoyeon
"...Seriously?"
She looked around for Jiwoo.
Maybe there'd been a mistake.
Maybe—
"Problem?"
The voice came from behind her.
Yooyeon stiffened.
Seoyeon stood a few steps away, one hand wrapped around the handle of a small suitcase.
She looked...
different.
Not dramatically.
Just...
quieter.
There were dark circles beneath her eyes now.
The effortless smile she'd once worn so easily had become something gentler.
Smaller.
As if she'd forgotten how to smile with her whole face.
"No."
Yooyeon looked away first.
"No problem."
"...Good."
That was all.
No teasing.
No playful jab.
No "looks like we're stuck together."
Just...
good.
She climbed onto the bus without another word.
Somehow...
That hurt more.
Seat 12B stayed empty for another minute.
Yooyeon stared stubbornly out the window.
People laughed as bags were shoved into overhead compartments.
Someone in the back had already started arguing over music.
Anything was better than looking beside her.
The seat shifted.
Seoyeon sat down.
"...Morning."
"...Morning."
Silence.
Not the comfortable kind.
The kind that stretched until it became another person sitting between them.
The bus pulled away from the office.
No one spoke.
Not in Row Twelve.
After twenty minutes, Jiwoo stood near the front with a microphone.
"Since we're trapped together for three hours, let's play a game."
A collective groan filled the bus.
"No."
Nakyoung immediately protested.
"I refuse."
"You don't get a vote."
"I absolutely should."
Jiwoo ignored her.
"I'm going to ask questions."
"Still no."
"You'll raise your hand if the statement applies to you."
"Absolutely not."
"If you're the last person standing, you win."
"What do we win?"
"Pride."
"I don't want it."
Laughter rolled through the coach.
Even Yooyeon's lips almost twitched.
Almost.
"First question."
Jiwoo smiled.
"Who's ever accidentally developed feelings for a coworker?"
Half the bus erupted in laughter.
Chaeyeon slowly raised her hand without shame.
"So did I," Jiwoo admitted proudly.
Xinyu raised hers.
Sohyun groaned before reluctantly doing the same.
Soon nearly every couple had a hand in the air.
Nakyoung dramatically lifted both.
"I had feelings before she was my coworker."
"You only have one hand to raise, baby" Lynn muttered.
"Oh."
The bus laughed again.
Then...
Silence.
Yooyeon felt it before she saw it.
Beside her—
Seoyeon's hand lifted.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like she wasn't sure she deserved to.
Yooyeon's chest tightened.
She didn't look.
She couldn't.
"Interesting..."
Jiwoo scanned the bus.
"Looks like almost everyone."
Almost.
Only three hands remained down.
One belonged to Mayu.
One to Shion.
The last...
was Yooyeon's.
She could feel it.
Without looking.
She knew Seoyeon had noticed.
The microphone crackled again.
"Alright."
Jiwoo continued.
"Next question."
But Yooyeon heard nothing after that.
Because she realized something.
Seoyeon hadn't hesitated because she was embarrassed.
She'd hesitated because...
She'd looked at Yooyeon first.
Waiting.
Hoping.
That maybe...
Just maybe...
Yooyeon would raise her hand too.
The bus stopped at a highway rest area halfway through the trip.
People spilled outside in search of coffee and snacks.
Yooyeon waited until nearly everyone had left before standing.
She needed air.
She made it halfway down the aisle.
Then stopped.
Something caught on the armrest.
Her scarf.
She tugged.
It wouldn't come free.
"...Hold still."
Seoyeon's voice was soft.
She knelt beside the seat.
Yooyeon froze.
Seoyeon's fingers carefully untangled the loose threads.
Patient.
Gentle.
Like handling something fragile.
"There."
She smoothed the fabric once.
"It would've ripped."
"...Thanks."
Seoyeon nodded.
She started to stand.
Then paused.
"There was something I wanted to say."
Yooyeon's heartbeat climbed into her throat.
"...What?"
For a moment...
It looked like Seoyeon might finally do it.
Her lips parted.
Her eyes searched Yooyeon's face.
She looked terrified.
Then—
"...Never mind."
She smiled.
Small.
Defeated.
"It doesn’t matter."
She walked off the bus.
Yooyeon remained standing in the aisle.
Completely alone.
Her scarf was free.
But somehow...
She had never felt more trapped.
"Alright, everyone!"
Jiwoo clapped her hands together.
"We're splitting into teams for today's activities."
Groans echoed across the courtyard.
"I didn't agree to exercise," Nakyoung complained.
"You literally packed hiking boots."
"They're decorative."
Lynn sighed.
"They're covered in mud."
"...Decoratively."
Even Yooyeon almost smiled.
Almost.
Jiwoo began reading names from her clipboard.
By the time she finished, people had already drifted toward their assigned groups.
As always...
Everything happened naturally.
Chaeyeon instinctively found Jiwoo.
Xinyu was already waiting for Sohyun before the teams had even formed.
Kaede somehow ended up next to Dahyun despite starting on opposite sides of the courtyard.
Nobody thought about it.
They just...
chose each other.
Yooyeon's eyes wandered.
Searching.
Finding.
Yoon Seoyeon.
She stood near the back of her group, hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket.
For the first time since the rain...
She wasn't looking for Yooyeon.
That realization landed harder than expected.
The morning passed in a blur of ridiculous team-building exercises.
Building the tallest tower out of wooden blocks.
A scavenger hunt through snowy trails.
Trivia about company history that only Jiwoo somehow remembered.
Every now and then—
Yooyeon caught herself looking.
Not intentionally.
Never intentionally.
Just...
checking.
Seoyeon laughed at something Mayu said.
Helped Shion across an icy patch.
Accepted hot chocolate from Jiwoo with a quiet smile.
She looked...
fine.
Too fine.
As though she'd already learned how to live without constantly orbiting around Yooyeon.
The thought made something ugly twist inside her chest.
By afternoon, the final activity remained.
"Trust relay!"
Jiwoo announced far too enthusiastically.
"Everyone needs a partner."
The courtyard dissolved into movement.
"I've got you."
"You and me?"
"Obviously."
Laughter.
Hands reaching for hands.
Names called across the snow.
Within seconds...
Everyone had paired off.
Everyone except—
Seoyeon.
She looked around once.
Just once.
Not desperately.
Not hopefully.
Simply...
checking.
There wasn't anyone left.
Yooyeon's feet moved before her brain did.
One step.
Just one.
"Go."
Nakyoung's voice was barely a whisper beside her.
Yooyeon stopped.
"What?"
"Go."
Nakyoung nodded toward Seoyeon.
"She's alone."
"I..."
"Kim Yooyeon."
Yooyeon's fingers curled inside her gloves.
Every instinct screamed at her to walk over.
To end this.
To stop pretending.
But then—
What if everyone noticed?
What if Seoyeon misunderstood?
What if—
"I'm with Seoyeon."
Mayu's voice cut cleanly through the silence.
She walked over with an easy smile.
"If that's okay."
Seoyeon blinked.
Then smiled.
Warm.
Grateful.
"...Of course."
She bowed her head slightly.
"Thank you."
They walked toward the starting line together.
Yooyeon remained exactly where she was.
Nakyoung looked at her.
Not angry.
Just...
tired.
"You hesitated."
"I know."
"You were one second too late."
"I know."
Nakyoung shook her head.
"No."
Her voice was painfully quiet.
"You were one second too scared."
Yooyeon looked down.
‘’It costed you everything.’’
The relay itself passed without meaning.
People laughed.
Cheered.
Fell into snowbanks.
Jiwoo somehow cheated despite inventing the rules.
Yooyeon remembered none of it.
All she remembered—
Was Seoyeon laughing.
Not with her.
With someone else.
"Group photo!"
Someone from HR waved a camera overhead.
"Everyone together!"
People shuffled into place.
Couples found each other without thinking.
Friends crowded shoulder to shoulder.
"Closer!"
the photographer called.
"There's too much space!"
Bodies shifted.
Arms wrapped around shoulders.
Someone pulled Jiwoo into the center.
Chaeyeon laughed as Jiwoo nearly lost her balance.
Mayu stepped beside Seoyeon.
"Mind?"
She lightly looped an arm through Seoyeon's.
Seoyeon hesitated.
Only for a heartbeat.
Then...
she smiled politely.
"I don't mind."
The shutter clicked.
Yooyeon couldn't breathe.
It shouldn't matter.
It meant nothing.
Mayu was just being friendly.
So why—
Why did it feel like someone had reached into her chest and twisted?
She left before anyone could ask where she was going.
The cold air bit at her cheeks.
Good.
Maybe it'd numb something.
"You've got a real talent."
Nakyoung's voice followed her outside.
Yooyeon didn't turn around.
"For what?"
"For hurting both of you."
"I'm not hurting anyone."
Nakyoung laughed.
The most empty sounding laugh.
So empty yet it carries so many meanings.
"You really believe that?"
Silence.
"You know what the saddest part is?"
Yooyeon closed her eyes.
"...Don't."
"You think you're protecting yourself."
"I said don't."
"But all you've done..."
Nakyoung stepped beside her.
"...is teach Seoyeon that loving you was a mistake."
The words hit like a slap.
"That's not—"
"Isn't it?"
Nakyoung looked toward the lodge windows.
Inside, Seoyeon was talking with Mayu.
Smiling.
Not brightly.
Just...
trying.
"I've known Seoyeon for years."
"So?"
"I've never seen her give up on anyone."
Yooyeon's throat tightened.
"Until now."
...
"She stopped looking for you."
...
"She stopped waiting."
...
"And you know what scares me?"
Nakyoung finally met Yooyeon's eyes.
"I don't think she's pretending anymore."
That night, the lodge buzzed with excitement over the bonfire.
People carried blankets outside.
Someone handed out mugs of cider.
Music drifted softly through the mountain air.
Yooyeon stood in front of the window.
Watching everyone gather.
She spotted Seoyeon immediately.
Not because she meant to.
Because she always did.
Seoyeon laughed quietly at something Jiwoo said.
The sound carried through the crisp air.
For the first time...
Yooyeon realized something that terrified her.
If she waited any longer—
If she stayed silent one more day—
Seoyeon would heal.
She would move on.
She would stop loving her.
And it would be entirely...
completely...
irreversibly...
Yooyeon's fault.
She reached for the doorknob.
Then stopped.
Because she still didn't know how to tell the truth.
The fire had burned low by the time Yooyeon finally stepped outside.
Orange embers drifted lazily into the night, disappearing among the falling snow.
Most of the company had settled into easy conversations.
Jiwoo and Chaeyeon shared a blanket, arguing quietly over whose marshmallow had burned first.
Nakyoung was dramatically accusing Lynn of cheating at cards.
Xinyu had somehow fallen asleep against Sohyun's shoulder.
Everything looked...
peaceful.
Like the world had decided to move on without her.
Her eyes searched the crowd.
Found her immediately.
Seoyeon sat alone near the edge of the light.
Not isolated.
Just...
quiet.
The seat beside her remained empty.
For the first time in weeks—
Yooyeon didn't hesitate.
She walked over.
"...Can I sit?"
Seoyeon looked up.
Surprise flickered across her face.
Then she smiled.
Small.
Polite.
"Of course."
That smile hurt more than every argument they'd ever had.
It wasn't the smile that used to be just for Yooyeon.
It was the one Seoyeon gave strangers.
For a while...
Neither of them spoke.
The fire crackled.
Someone laughed somewhere behind them.
Snow melted against the sleeves of their coats.
"I heard Jiwoo made the recommendation today."
Yooyeon kept her eyes on the flames.
Seoyeon nodded.
"I did."
"...Why me?"
A quiet laugh.
"You're still asking that?"
"I've always wondered."
Seoyeon stared into the fire.
"Because you're brilliant."
"..."
"Because you're stubborn."
"..."
"Because you care too much."
Yooyeon almost laughed.
"You've clearly met someone else."
"I haven't."
Seoyeon's voice remained calm.
"You just never let anyone see that side of you."
Another silence.
"I also recommended you..."
She smiled faintly.
"...because I knew we'd work well together."
Yooyeon's chest tightened.
"...Even after everything?"
"I made the recommendation before the retreat."
"...Oh."
"I almost withdrew it."
That made Yooyeon look up.
Seoyeon was still watching the fire.
"I thought..."
She laughed quietly.
"I thought maybe keeping some distance would make things easier for you."
"It didn't."
The words escaped before Yooyeon could stop them.
Seoyeon blinked.
"...What?"
"It didn't."
Yooyeon's fingers tightened around her mug.
"Nothing got easier."
…
‘’Everything got harder.’’
The fire popped loudly between them.
Seoyeon waited.
She didn't interrupt.
She'd spent months doing all the talking.
This time...
She let Yooyeon decide.
"...I've been angry."
Yooyeon whispered.
"At you."
"...I know."
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"You don't."
Another long silence.
"I hated how easy everything looked for you."
She laughed bitterly.
"The meetings."
"The presentations."
"The way everyone admired you."
"I hated all of it."
"..."
"And then..."
She looked down at her shaking hands.
"I found out none of it was easy."
"I..."
Her throat closed.
"I kept hurting you anyway."
Seoyeon looked at her.
Really looked.
For the first time since the rain.
"You don't owe me an apology."
"I do."
"No."
"I do."
‘’I owe you much more than an apology, Seoyeon.’’
Yooyeon's voice broke.
"I've been a coward."
"I knew."
"I kept convincing myself that if I pushed you away..."
She squeezed her eyes shut.
"...these feelings would disappear."
"They didn't."
"No."
"They got worse."
The confession hung between them.
Bare.
Terrifying.
Seoyeon's breathing had become almost impossibly quiet.
"I wanted you to stop."
Yooyeon whispered.
"I wanted you to stop looking at me."
"Stop remembering what coffee I liked."
"Stop buying me lunch."
"Stop walking me home."
"Because every time you did..."
She laughed through a shaky breath.
"...I wanted to love you back."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Not even the people behind them seemed to exist anymore.
"I kept asking myself why I hated you."
Yooyeon laughed.
The sound was ugly.
Broken.
"I couldn't figure it out."
"..."
"You were kind."
"..."
"You worked harder than anyone."
"..."
"You remembered stupid things."
"..."
"You made coffee exactly the way I liked it."
She smiled through tears.
"I kept thinking..."
"...if I hated you enough..."
Her voice cracked.
"...maybe I'd stop waiting for you to notice me."
Silence.
The fire shifted.
A log collapsed into glowing embers.
Seoyeon didn't move.
Neither did Yooyeon.
"...I never hated you."
Another breath.
"I hated..."
She covered her eyes.
"...how much I wanted you."
Yooyeon finally admitted.
"I just..."
Her eyes filled.
"...didn't think someone like you could ever love someone like me."
For the first time...
Seoyeon looked genuinely stunned.
"...Someone like me?"
Yooyeon nodded.
"You're..."
She laughed weakly.
"You're everything."
"And I'm..."
"You."
Seoyeon interrupted softly.
"You're you."
Fresh tears slipped down Yooyeon's face.
"I don't deserve you."
"No."
Seoyeon smiled sadly.
"You don't get to decide that."
Yooyeon stared.
Seoyeon reached into the pocket of her coat.
She pulled out something small.
Folded.
Carefully worn.
A yellow sticky note.
Yooyeon recognized it instantly.
The one she'd left untouched beneath the soup container.
"I almost threw this away."
Seoyeon admitted.
"I couldn't."
Her fingers trembled.
"I kept wondering..."
A laugh.
"...whether I'd imagined everything."
She looked at Yooyeon.
"I was so sure I was making you uncomfortable."
"You were."
Yooyeon whispered.
"...Because I loved you."
Another silence.
Then—
Seoyeon started crying.
Not elegantly.
Not beautifully.
Months of restraint simply...
broke.
She covered her face.
A quiet, shaking sob escaped before she could stop it.
"I thought..."
Another breath.
"I thought you regretted me."
Yooyeon's heart shattered.
Without thinking—
She reached out.
This time...
Seoyeon didn't.
She flinched.
Barely.
But she did.
That tiny movement hurt more than anything else that night.
"...I'm sorry."
Yooyeon whispered.
"I'm so..."
She couldn't finish.
Because she was crying too.
Not graceful tears.
Ugly ones.
The kind that stole your breath.
The kind that made words impossible.
"I don't know how to fix this."
She admitted.
"I don't know either."
Seoyeon answered honestly.
Another silence.
Then...
Very carefully...
Seoyeon reached across the space between them.
Not all the way.
Just enough.
An invitation.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
Just...
hope.
Yooyeon looked at her hand.
The same hand she'd pulled away from in the break room.
The same hand she'd refused beneath the umbrella.
The same hand she'd let go of over and over again.
This time...
She took it.
Firmly.
Like she was terrified of losing it again.
Seoyeon's fingers tightened around hers.
Neither of them spoke.
They didn't need to.
The fire crackled.
Snow continued to fall.
Around them, their coworkers laughed, completely unaware that two people had just spent months destroying themselves—and had finally, painfully, begun to find their way back.
Neither of them was the first to let go.
The fire had nearly burned itself into glowing embers before Seoyeon finally laughed through the remnants of her tears.
"...We're going to worry everyone."
Yooyeon looked around.
Half the company had quietly disappeared back inside.
Only a few people remained.
Jiwoo caught her eye from across the courtyard.
She looked from Yooyeon.
To Seoyeon.
To their joined hands.
Then...
Very deliberately...
She looked away.
Giving them privacy.
Yooyeon's throat tightened.
"...They know."
Seoyeon followed her gaze.
"They've known."
"What?"
Seoyeon smiled.
"Not everything."
"..."
"But enough."
Yooyeon buried her face in her free hand.
"Oh my god."
"I think Nakyoung figured it out months ago."
"She definitely did."
"And Jiwoo..."
Seoyeon laughed.
"Jiwoo asked me if I was ever going to confess."
"..."
"...What did you say?"
"I told her I'd rather keep you than scare you."
That sentence hit harder than the confession itself.
Because it explained everything.
Every lunch.
Every umbrella.
Every late-night dinner.
Seoyeon had never been trying to win Yooyeon over.
She'd simply chosen to love her quietly.
The walk back to the lodge felt strangely unfamiliar.
Not because anything had changed.
Because everything had.
Their shoulders brushed.
Neither of them moved away.
Halfway to the entrance—
Yooyeon stopped.
"...Seoyeon."
"Hm?"
"I'm scared."
The words came easier now.
Not easy.
Just...
possible.
"What if I hurt you again?"
Seoyeon didn't answer immediately.
Instead—
She stepped closer.
Until only inches remained between them.
"You will."
Yooyeon's heart dropped.
"You'll say something stupid."
A tiny smile.
"I'll overthink it."
"You'll shut down."
"I'll pretend I'm fine."
"We'll probably argue."
Another step closer.
"But..."
She gently squeezed Yooyeon's hand.
"...this time, you don't have to do it alone."
Yooyeon felt herself start crying again.
"...You're making it very hard not to kiss you."
Seoyeon blinked.
Then laughed.
A real laugh.
The one Yooyeon hadn't heard in weeks.
"I've been trying very hard not to kiss you since the coffee machine."
"...Seriously?"
"You were very cute."
"I almost called you insufferable."
"You did."
"...Oh."
"You also called me unbelievable."
"..."
"...And implied I had a savior complex."
"..."
"...Twice."
Yooyeon groaned.
"I was awful."
"You were terrified."
"I was awful because I was terrified."
"I know."
"I still owe you about..."
She thought.
"...forty apologies."
"I'll accept one."
"Only one?"
"I don't want an apology."
Seoyeon's thumb brushed across the back of Yooyeon's hand.
"I want honesty."
Silence.
"...I can do that."
"I know."
They reached the front porch.
Warm light spilled through the windows.
Someone inside was laughing loud enough that it echoed through the walls.
Neither of them reached for the door.
"...Can I ask you something?"
Seoyeon nodded.
"When..."
Yooyeon looked down.
"...when did you..."
She couldn't finish.
Seoyeon understood anyway.
"I think..."
She smiled to herself.
"...the first strategy meeting."
Yooyeon blinked.
"...What?"
"You challenged my proposal."
"I thought it was inefficient."
"It was."
"..."
"You were right."
Yooyeon stared.
"I spent three days trying to figure out why I couldn't stop thinking about the woman who publicly corrected me."
A laugh escaped Yooyeon before she could stop it.
"...You're kidding."
"I'm really not."
"I spent those same three days complaining about you to Nakyoung."
"I know."
"You knew?"
"You aren't subtle."
"I thought I was."
"You glared."
"..."
"...Constantly."
Yooyeon covered her face.
"I am never living this down."
"No."
Seoyeon's smile softened.
"I don't think you are."
The silence that followed felt...
comfortable.
For the first time.
Not awkward.
Not heavy.
Simply...
peaceful.
"...Yooyeon."
"Hm?"
"Kiss me.”
Yooyeon's brain completely stopped functioning.
"You..."
She blinked.
"…Huh?”
"I've waited this long."
Seoyeon smiled nervously.
"I can wait another minute though. As long you’re ready."
That.
That was what broke Yooyeon.
Not the confession.
Not the crying.
Not the months of longing.
The fact that after everything...
After every rejection...
After every time she'd pulled away...
Seoyeon still wanted her to choose.
Fresh tears blurred Yooyeon's vision.
"You absolute idiot."
"I've been called worse."
"I've made you cry."
"You have."
"I've pushed you away."
"You did."
"I've been impossible."
"A little."
Seoyeon's answer came without hesitation.
Yooyeon closed the distance.
Not desperately.
Not dramatically.
Slowly.
Giving Seoyeon every chance to change her mind.
She never did.
Their foreheads touched first.
Then noses.
Both of them laughed through tears.
"...Hi."
"...Hi."
"I've wanted to do this for months."
"I know."
"You knew?"
"I hoped."
"...Can I kiss you now?"
Seoyeon smiled.
"I was wondering when you'd ask."
The kiss was...
gentle.
Almost impossibly so.
It wasn't fireworks.
It wasn't desperation.
It was relief.
Months of misunderstandings.
Months of fear.
Months of choosing silence over vulnerability.
Melting away in a single, trembling moment.
When they finally pulled apart—
Neither of them had stopped smiling.
Behind the curtains...
Nakyoung slowly lowered the corner of the fabric.
Lynn looked at her.
"...Were you spying?"
"I was emotionally supervising."
"...That's called spying, my love."
"I needed to make sure those idiots figured it out."
The front door opened.
Jiwoo stepped into the hallway.
"...Are they still outside?"
Nakyoung nodded solemnly.
"They kissed."
Jiwoo clapped once.
"I win."
Chaeyeon sighed.
"...You made bets?"
"It was for morale."
"That's not what morale means."
"I had bonfire confession."
Sohyun wandered over.
"I had Christmas."
Xinyu frowned.
"...Wait, we were betting?"
"You would've told them to confess."
"I would've."
"Exactly."
They all laughed, thinking back to how ridiculous those couple of weeks were.