* * *

Quite a bit of time had passed, and it was about time to head back to the office.

Though the urgent tasks were completed, it would be hard to respond promptly if anything happened with everyone away from their posts.

In his heart, Jinwoo wanted to stay until Jingyeom finished with his part-time and go home together, but that was just wishful thinking.

Just as Jinwoo was about to say it was time to go, Soohyuk spoke first.

“Secretary Baek.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t giving Baek Jingyeom any work?”

At the unexpected remark, Jinwoo’s eye twitched slightly, though Soohyuk had already seen it.

Soohyuk, with his usual amiable expression, stared at Jinwoo, waiting for an answer.

“…He insisted. You know I’m weak against him.”

“I do know, but… letting him work right after such an incident?”

The sharp barb in his words struck Jinwoo unexpectedly.

He figured Soohyuk had to know, considering Wonbeom had stepped in.

Jinwoo wanted to say it was nothing to worry about. After all, Soohyuk wasn’t that close to Jingyeom to be saying such things.

It felt like crossing a line. Yet, the words “such an incident” struck a chord in his heart.

It wasn’t something Soohyuk had ordered Jingyeom to do; it was a decision Jingyeom had made on his own. Still, it bothered Jinwoo.

Getting scammed into buying something from a pyramid scheme could be brushed off as a life experience, especially since he got his money back. It could be seen as a lesson learned.

The problem was realizing he had been deceived by someone and feeling betrayed in the process.

Jingyeom hadn’t gone into detail about how he ended up at a pyramid scheme company.

Despite Jinwoo’s persistent questioning, he evaded the topic, seemingly wanting to forget it, so Jinwoo stopped asking.

They hadn’t talked about it since.

Noticing Jinwoo’s darkening expression, Secretary Yang, who had been eating his roll and wiping his mouth with a napkin, hesitated on whether to intervene.

Jinwoo, rubbing his thumb and index finger together, slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s better for him to be doing something rather than staying at home.”

The nuance was clear: he didn’t like it but left it be because Jingyeom wanted it.

Especially today, seeing Jingyeom at work, he looked lively, which was good to see.

He hoped it wasn’t too hard on him, but the café was extremely busy due to its office area location.

Even now, Jingyeom was busy moving around. Not just at the counter, but also cleaning tables and organizing the self-service bar, looking overwhelmed.

Soohyuk nodded in agreement with Jinwoo’s sentiment.

“It’s good to stay busy, but hasn’t he been taught to be cautious around strangers?”

“Do you think he’s a child?”

“Look at that. Is that how someone familiar should act? Shouldn’t he be told to push away if someone touches his shoulder like earlier? He was also clingy yesterday.”

“…What?”

Jingyeom hadn’t mentioned that.

Which meant he didn’t find it unpleasant enough to talk about.

From Soohyuk’s perspective, it might have seemed excessive.

Which meant it must have felt excessive to Jinwoo too.

“How close were they?”

Jinwoo asked seriously, concluding that Soohyuk wouldn’t bring it up for no reason.

“They were practically arm in arm. In such a spacious café, why would anyone need to be that close unless it was their first day? He’s been here over a week.”

“…And he wasn’t uncomfortable?”

“If he was, would I be saying this? It’s like he loves everyone and chews up caution like it’s nothing, just like a country dog.”

The metaphor was spot on. But Jingyeom didn’t actually react that way.

He didn’t assign much meaning to physical contact, keeping a distance to prevent others from crossing the line.

With Jingyeom absent, the situation was being misrepresented.

Jinwoo thought it best to hear from Jingyeom himself about what happened yesterday and nodded understandingly.

“People have different perspectives. It’s late, shouldn’t we head back to the office?”

The last comment was directed at Wonbeom, not Soohyuk.

Since entering the café and exchanging a few words with Jingyeom while ordering, Wonbeom had remained silent, barely sipping his coffee.

“Secretary Baek.”

Finally, Wonbeom spoke. Jinwoo looked at him, showing he was listening.

“Sexual harassment is determined by the victim’s feelings.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

“Continued touching after a refusal can also be reported as workplace harassment.”

Jinwoo’s head whipped around.

Jingyeom was now busy organizing the self-service bar, with Ha Sangil close by again. The proximity was noticeable even from afar.

Jinwoo’s face twisted in anger. What on earth required such close contact?

Yet, the three seemed to be the only ones perceiving it that way; to Secretary Yang, it looked like employees chatting.

Shaking his head, Secretary Yang slumped in his chair, resigned. Intervening would likely make him a target for the other three.

In the bar area, Ha Sangil was teaching Jingyeom how to make an ade. Since the dishwasher handled the dishes, it was okay to leave them for a bit.

The boss had told Ha Sangil to only assign counter and cleaning duties to the new hire after Jingyeom’s interview, reasoning that working behind the bar would defeat the purpose of hiring someone presentable.

Initially, Ha Sangil intended to be strict. Due to the high workload, many who promised to stay long-term quit shortly after starting.

Having tired of this, he planned to be firm, but Jingyeom’s eagerness and curiosity about making drinks softened his stance.

During this, Ha Sangil got his hand stained with syrup and, while heading to the sink, bumped into Jingyeom.

It wasn’t a hard collision, but it caused Jingyeom, who had bent slightly to check the layers in the ade, to lose balance.

Ha Sangil quickly grabbed his arm, preventing a fall that could have been painful.

“Whoa, that was close. Are you okay?”

The syrup-stained hand left a mark on Jingyeom’s white shirt.

“Come here.”

Ha Sangil, feeling responsible, led Jingyeom to the sink to help clean the mark, thinking it might be hard to see alone.

“Bend over a bit.”

“I can do it.”

“You can’t see well. If you clean it quickly, the stain won’t be noticeable.”

Seeing this, Jinwoo stood up abruptly. Secretary Yang, startled, grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing? He’s just helping him clean…!”

Secretary Yang whispered, trying to prevent a scene. But the sound of the chair scraping had already drawn attention.

“Sit down, sit down!”

Pulling Jinwoo back into his seat, Secretary Yang saw Soohyuk rise next. Out of reach, Secretary Yang’s hand flailed helplessly.

“Director! Please sit down too…!”

Among the four, Secretary Yang was the only one who could make a rational judgment about Jingyeom.

Jinwoo, when it came to Jingyeom, acted without thinking. Knowing this, Secretary Yang held on tight.

At that moment, Ha Sangil reached towards Jingyeom’s face. The sink being on the opposite side meant the four could only see their backs.

Finally, Ha Sangil’s hand touched Jingyeom’s cheek.

Secretary Yang, feeling completely at a loss, released his grip. As expected, Jinwoo suddenly stood up and walked briskly toward the bar.

Soohyuk only stood up, watching. Even Wonbeom, who had been consistently maintaining the same posture, had his legs give way at some point.

Seeing this, Secretary Yang couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Jinwoo approached the bar and stood by the return counter closest to the sink, slamming his hand on the smooth bar top.

Even if it were wood, it would have made a loud noise, but the bar was made of stainless steel, amplifying the sound. The loud noise echoed throughout the high-ceilinged café.

Jingyeom and Ha Sangil, who were still there trying to remove the blue stain on their arms, were startled and turned around to find the source of the noise.

“Jinwoo…?”

“Are you okay, Hyung?”

Jinwoo was also surprised by the loud noise he made. More than anything, he was worried because Jingyeom seemed extremely startled.

His intention wasn’t to scare him, but simply to let him know he was behind him.

After the loud noise reverberated, Jinwoo realized his action might not have been good for Jingyeom.

He wanted to jump over the bar and check on Jingyeom immediately.

“Oh? Uh…”

Still in a daze, Jingyeom mumbled his response.

“Customer, this is inappropriate.”

When Ha Sangil stepped in, Jingyeom grabbed his arm.

“Sorry, my brother wanted to tell me something. Uh… I’ll just go to the restroom for a moment!”

Jingyeom hurriedly left the bar, passing Jinwoo who was apologizing to the staff, and headed to the restroom.

* * *