Her breath hitched at that exact moment his gaze fell upon hers. In those few seconds she stared right back with barely contained shock, she had the wits to gauge his reaction. His face still sported that polite yet shy half-smile and showed no indication that he recognized her. Or maybe he was just good at masking his expressions. She was instantly reminded of his stone-cold impassive face when he told her to leave his hotel room. It was something that had been ingrained deeply in her memory—humiliation too overwhelming it made her so little just thinking about it.

Choi Seunghyun.

Even his name sounded attractive.

He was simply standing there looking regal in a dark suit and shiny leather shoes which she recognized as the same pair he wore in Bangkok. Again, memories of that one encounter flooded her thoughts—so forceful that she felt like digging a hole in the ground to bury herself in.

Feeling her heart pounding against her ribs, Lisa managed to take a step back and hide herself behind Jaejin. She immediately wiped her clammy palms on her jeans and quietly tried to take deep breaths. The director was introducing the staff to him and she could hear his deep voice greeting each and every single one in return.

“You okay?” Jaejin glanced back and saw her fanning her face with her hand—mouth into a small “o” as she exhaled.

“Yes… I just feel a bit dizzy.” She replied weakly and Jaejin turned fully to her then.

“You should always eat breakfast.”

She pursed her lips as she quickly nodded. It wasn’t like her to skip meals but one could easily think that about her figure. Her superior cluck his tongue before looking ahead and the director along with the new one stood in front of them.

“This is our Head Curator, Lee Jaejin.” The director introduced and Jaejin shook hands with the new one.

Lisa could feel her breath become shallow again and the buzz in her ears rang even more loudly—making her face numb and hands incredibly cold. She could feel the paranoid self-consciousness overwhelming her entire body. It was nearly impossible for her to register the small talk that was transpiring until the female director’s eyes met hers. And she almost felt like dying then and there.

“And this is our new graphics design intern from SNU, Lalisa Manoban. She’ll be here until the end of summer.”

Lisa found herself bowing deeper than necessary and her limbs felt too stiff when she straightened back up—unable to look at the man’s eyes in front of her.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Her voice came out so squeaky that she could hear Jaejin snicker beside her. She could feel all the pairs of eyes in the room on her.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then she saw him extend a hand. Her eyes widened as she looked at the same hand which had touched—

“SNU? Impressive.”

It took her two seconds before she had the courage to shake his hand. His palm was warm as she remembered and his hold was firm. It gave her uninvited flashbacks… of his hands roaming against her thighs and she almost felt her body combust in shame.

“I’m about to start my senior year… Visual Communication Design.” She said—still looking at somewhere near his eyes… settling at his thick eyebrows.

“I look forward to working with you, Lalisa-ssi.” He spoke to her formally and Lisa just realized they were conversing in Korean all throughout.

If he did remember her, what was he thinking of at that moment? They only spoke in English before and she pretended not to understand him or his friends when they were talking in Korean. Was this sincerity a mere façade to hide how shocked or embarrassed he was as well?

Finally looking at his eyes, she saw that he held a soft yet shy expression on his face. The same one he had since he entered the office.

Did he really not remember her at all?

Well, she did have a heavy makeup before. He saw her with a fake blonde wig and her natural black hair. But she had caramel hair at that moment and her makeup was barely there. Knowing that, it wasn’t like she transformed drastically for him not to recognize her. She still had the same small face, big eyes, a nose she grew into, and plump lips.

It was the sudden curiosity that made her realize it was probably better not to know the answer.

The director led him towards the desk he would be using. Since the small office had an open space which boasted minimalism and functionalism, everyone could see each other from anywhere in the room. His desk was a few feet away from hers and Jaejin’s. Near the glass windows, his little area had mid-sized shelves for storage and his desk was the same as the other wooden desks—nothing special for someone his position. But when he stood behind it wearing a suit that blended well with the dark palette, the space seemed to have gotten so much classier.

The aura he exuded was so powerful that Lisa couldn’t help but stare.

“Change the layout on the Information page.” Jaejin spoke beside her and she quickly began to work—the new director still at the back of her mind.

Honestly, the nerves that had been plaguing her since he entered the office didn’t disappear. And she began plotting how she could leave the place and never see him again.

The rest of the work day was spent in front of the computer and taking photographs of the newly arrived collection. She updated the site and still made tweaks with the layout. Aside from that, she was also helping with the brochure and because she spoke better English than Jaejin, she was assigned to help with the editorial content as well. It was out of her responsibilities but the staff was limited and the other curator was also dealing with too much work at once. She was paid for everything though so she didn’t really have any reason to complain.

As soon as it was 7pm, the registrar started closing the gallery and everyone was ready to leave. It was when the director said she would treat them to a classic karaoke and beer night as her farewell party did everyone’s energy boost. Lisa couldn’t do anything but follow. No matter how much she didn’t want to spend another second in the presence of that man, she was forced by the others to come along and she simply found herself sitting in a bar in Itaewon— food and drinks all over the large table positioned between the U-shaped couch.

The usually quiet gallery assistant was singing to his heart’s content while everyone else ate, drank and chatted. Lisa was quietly munching on a kimbap when her eyes unintentionally landed on Choi Seunghyun who was sitting opposite her. He was on his phone— thumbs quickly typing, eyebrows slightly furrowed as if in mild annoyance. His fingers paused for a moment and his lower lip jutted out as he read something on his phone. It was fleeting but Lisa couldn’t help but think he looked quite adorable with that expression.

She was about to look away when his gaze snapped up and met hers. Eyes widening, she completely froze— too shocked at the way he suddenly looked at her. There was no way she would embarrass herself by acting obviously caught so she forced the corners of her lips to tug up as she slightly nodded.

His expression straightened and there was not a hint of emotion on his face. That made her so uneasy then and she almost choked on the food she’s eating when he quickly stood up and excused himself away from the private room.

Completely taken by surprise at the sudden coldness, she felt a desperate urge to get away from that place and lock herself inside her apartment. Was she the reason he suddenly left? Did he remember? Oh gosh…

“Drink.” Director Lee nudged a newly-filled glass of beer towards Lisa. “I suppose you can tolerate alcohol?”

Lisa did