“Let true love spread far and wide!”

“Let our ideals soar high!”

“Let all drinking glasses be equal!”

“Chamisul!”

Maybe he was tired of hearing the same toast repeated like a broken record.

The alcohol was doing nothing for him.

Jae-geon set down the glass he had already refilled several times and checked the empty seat a few tables away.

“……”

Where had the trainee gone?

The biggest beneficiary of Not’s flat organizational culture, and the one person capable of freshening up those stale toasts.

She had reported her condition by dropping her chopsticks after eating two pieces of chuck flap and three pieces of premium beef short rib, then disappeared before anyone noticed.

If she had gone straight home while staggering around drunk, that would have been one thing.

But her bag was still here.

It looked like she had stepped out for a walk.

The alcohol had probably hit her hard.

The moment his attention slipped, Jun-won pounced.

“Huh? Where’d our Bambi go? Her bag’s still here, so I don’t think she went home.”

Since when was she your Bambi?

She belongs to Jae-geon.

Jae-geon pulled his gaze away from the empty seat and forced his expression blank.

“Aren’t you going to look for her?”

“Who?”

“Hae-som.”

“Why would I?”

“You’ve been staring at her all night. Did you two fight?”

Jae-geon lowered the glass he had been about to drink from and laughed.

Being treated like a toy.

Being excluded.

Being threatened with being thrown out.

He had not exactly ignored her mood.

He had blocked her path once or twice with a polite nod.

He had circled around her whenever she seemed isolated.

Yet Hae-som always found some flimsy excuse to avoid him.

“……”

When did she decide to draw a line between them?

And why was she staring at him tonight?

The heat gathering along his jaw burned hotter than the charcoal grill. He wanted to step outside for some air, but the suspicious looks people kept throwing at them made even that difficult.

Jae-geon let out a dry laugh.

“Chef!”

The scent of grass cut through the haze of alcohol.

Park Hwi dropped into the empty seat without permission, poured soju into a glass, and shoved it toward Jae-geon.

He had no drinking manners whatsoever.

“Did you fight?”

“What?”

“You were asking everyone about Sung Hae-som’s food preferences not long ago. Why are you two in a cold war now?”

Maybe he should sew that mouth shut.

Hwi frowned back just as hard.

Oblivious, Jun-won asked,

“What are you talking about?”

“The dinner venue. Chef picked it based on Sung Hae-som’s tastes. Section Chef told me.”

Seung-jun had said seafood probably wasn’t her thing, so they had chosen a Korean beef restaurant instead.

A pricey one at that.

And yet she had barely touched the food.

If he had known it would turn out like this, he should have taken her somewhere serving temple food.

Jun-won slapped his forehead and collapsed dramatically onto the table.

“Wow. I feel betrayed. I’m starting to sympathize with Cha Ji-won.”

“That might be a bit much.”

“Too much?”

“Yes.”

The main kitchen had no secrets.

And Cha Jun-won’s enthusiasm whenever he found gossip was just as ridiculous.

Jae-geon cut off the pointless conversation.

“Do you two take turns sticking your noses into other people’s business?”

“That’s not it.”

“If not, do you really have that much free time? Should I transfer Sung Hae-som to another department?”

Hwi waved both hands.

“See? Can’t even say anything.”

“Then don’t.”

“She’s been looking for you with the face of someone suffering the aftermath.”

There it is.

Jun-won sprang up from his chair and slung Hae-som’s backpack onto Jae-geon’s shoulder.

“Not’s mascot Bambi is in danger. The Head Chef can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

“Not’s signature isn’t the cookware or Chef Jung Jae-geon. It’s our rookie.”

“Bien sûr!”

No duo worked together better than those two.

Jae-geon narrowed his eyes.

Jun-won ignored him and grinned.

“You aren’t going?”

“She says she’s waiting.”

Hwi applauded and shoved a beer glass right in front of Jae-geon’s face.

As if urging him to get drunk and sort things out.

The two of them practically forced alcohol down his throat.

The mood felt so serious it was like sending a general off to war.

Jae-geon stood without the slightest sign of drunkenness.

Then he looked back at Hwi.

“Where did she tell me to go?”

“I planted her in a flower bed so she wouldn’t wilt.”

Hae-som was cute when she looked downcast.

Apparently Park Hwi knew nothing.

He winked and added,

“Good night.”

---

Apparently not.

“Answer me.”

“Please put me down.”

The authoritarian approach wasn’t working.

“Then what?”

She even challenged him.

No matter how he looked at it, this had nothing to do with being excluded from the tasting.

Jung Jae-geon might seem cold, but he wasn’t insensitive.

“You have something to say to me, don’t you?”

Only after seeing her shaken eyes did he set her down.

She had insisted on being released, yet the moment her feet touched the ground she swayed.

That was what happened when someone drank on an empty stomach.

The reprimand rose to his lips before turning into a sigh.

“Sung Hae-som.”

“……”

“Answer me.”

Hae-som hurriedly removed the hand she had pressed against her chest and took a step back.

“I don’t have anything to say.”

Her sulking face made the denial impossible to believe.

Jae-geon decided to make things easier.

“Is it because of the ointment?”

“…No.”

“The test?”

“No.”

“Because I excluded you from the tasting?”

“It’s not that.”

“Then is it because of Cha Ji-won?”

The feet that had been inching away stopped.

The brief silence was answer enough.

Jae-geon stepped into her shadow.

Their overlapping shadows looked cramped.

Heat spread from the center of his body.

Hae-som absorbed it all.

Her cheeks turned red.

Jae-geon rested a hand on her shoulder and lowered himself until their eyes met.

His jaw trembled as he resisted the urge to kiss her.

“You already have a rough idea what kind of relationship we had, how it ended, and what we’re like now, don’t you?”

“I wasn’t going to ask about that. It’s just…”

Like a guide leading someone through unfamiliar terrain, Jae-geon finished the sentence for her.

“Just?”

“I’m tired…”

Tired from being pulled in every direction?

Maybe that monk had been right.

Maybe Jung Jae-geon himself was a major reason her insomnia had gotten worse.

Either way, Park Hwi’s ‘good night’ seemed out of the question.

The backpack strap slipped from his shoulder at the perfect moment.

Jae-geon moved the bag onto Hae-som’s shoulder and let go.

She wasn’t someone he could spend one night with and walk away from.

Hae-som would be the only one hurt.

And even if he pushed, there was no guarantee romantic feelings would appear.

“Go home first. Get plenty of sleep during your days off.”

Jae-geon turned away without hesitation.

White cigarette smoke split the dark blue sky in half.

He had taken only a few steps toward the smoking area when—

“W-Wait!”

His little finger was caught.

The weak grip felt like a feather brushing against him.

Jae-geon smiled.

“You can’t go.”

That was definitely a green light.

But the nervous look on her face was pure red light.

“Can’t you stay?”

Crossing every signal and stepping on the accelerator—

That was entirely Sung Hae-som’s doing.

Even if there was a traffic violation, Jung Jae-geon was innocent.

“I can.”

He hooked his little finger around hers and pulled her closer.

Before their eyes could meet, her lips disappeared against his.

The moment he slipped through the slight parting of her lips—

Jae-geon froze.

Sweet.

So sweet his tongue tingled.

So sweet it couldn’t be measured.

His head spun.

His heightened senses chased every trace of her.

Somewhere inside, a hidden spring overflowed.

The saliva she had failed to swallow pooled between them.

A faint sound escaped Hae-som’s lips.

“It hurts.”

A small movement stirred against his chest.

He ignored it.

The next one came stronger.

He ignored that too.

Then she bit his lip.

Jae-geon relaxed immediately.

He withdrew the tongue he had pushed so deep.

The strand of saliva that followed stretched between them.

His heart urged him to close the distance again.

His breathing grew rough.

Reason slipped away.

“Slowly… slowly…”

The pause was nowhere near enough.

He kissed her again.

Holding her chin between his fingers, he parted her lips.

He intended to drink from that sweetness until his thirst eased.

Until the body trembling against him relaxed.

Until she could accept him completely.

At last, her small body shivered.

A signal.

When he eased back, she shook her head as though she no longer had the strength to stand alone.

Resting her forehead against his chest, Hae-som whispered so softly only he could hear.

“I want to sleep.”

The student surpasses the teacher.

---

Ah.

Sleep.

That sleep.

Only after laying Hae-som on the bed—after a journey far harder than expected—did Jae-geon realize the problem.

The word was the same.

The destination was different.

For Sung Hae-som, sleep meant closing her eyes.

For Jung Jae-geon, sleep meant becoming wide awake.

A perfect trap created by a homonym.

That alone made him want to pounce on her.

They said her insomnia had gotten worse lately.

I want to sleep.

He could imagine how precious this moment was for her.

So he did nothing.

A level of restraint he had never shown before.

Leaving the bed felt like it took an eternity.

Even after entering the shower, he stayed there a long time.

After calming desires that were nowhere near satisfied, Jae-geon returned carrying several damp towels.

The charcoal scent lingering on her bothered him.

“You’re tiny, and yet you make me do all sorts of things.”

Careful not to wake her, he started with her feet.

The feet that spent all day hurrying around were barely half the size of his palm.

The ankles that had been planted in the flower bed were thinner than his penis.

He set them down with care.

Then reached for a fresh towel.

The hands told the story of her struggles.

Short-trimmed nails.

Rough skin.

The scar on the back of her hand.

He wiped each one clean.

Only her face remained.

The tiny face that had worked so hard to hide itself.

That had challenged him when she felt bold.

That now lay completely defenseless.

For the first time, he could see it clearly.

A two-centimeter scar sat on her forehead.

Long lashes rested over closed eyes.

Her nose was as determined as her fingertips.

And her lips, swollen from their brief kiss…

“Ha.”

Unable to resist, he touched them.

The corners of her mouth curved upward.

Was this what parents felt looking at a sleeping child?

She was so cute.

So beautiful.

He wanted to bite her.

But he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving a mark.

“Haah…”

One more touch and he would lose control.

So he lay beside her and simply watched.

Then, as always, Hae-som announced her existence with the faintest rustle.

Without thinking, she patted him.

“Yoo Eun-ho Oppa.”

Murmuring a name that came from nowhere.