To Yeon-Ah's regret, five minutes later they reached the place where she lived.
Her house was the last one at the end of a long alley. At that time of night everything was quiet. The area all around the house was deserted and all the lights were off. It appeared that Yeon-Ah's entire family was already sleeping.
After helping her out of the cab, Seo-Jun stopped at a short distance and waved at her.
"Good night, Miss Park." he said, shooting her, yet, another bright smile.
At the sight of his smiling face, Yeon-Ah's breath hitched. She was so nervous that it took her a long while before she could speak again. She was also keenly aware that she was blushing. So, in order to hide her flustered face, she quickly lowered her head.
"G-Good night, Deputy Director Kim." Yeon-Ah eventually said in a quiet voice.
Afterwards, she began walking towards her house. But, after barely taking a few steps, she turned her head to look back.
In the meantime, Seo-Jun had gotten back into the cab and was now lowering the window. All the while he was gazing merrily at her departing figure.
"Just like tonight, I hope you will help me again in the future."
Seo-Jun shot a wink in her direction. His devilishly handsome face looked especially pleasing to the eye.
Even if her reason was desperately advising her against it, Yeon-Ah felt her mind blanking. Not even a second later, she found herself nodding and smiling timidly at the man.
"Of course." she agreed in one breath.
~~~
In the meantime, Ji-Won was staring at Su-Jin's phone in a daze. The bright screen illuminated his features with a strange light, causing his face to appear even paler than usual. All this while, his expression didn't change from his usual coldness. Yet, his eyes looked slightly flustered.
The phone kept ringing in his hand, and with each ring, Ji-Won's heart jumped inside his chest in panic. At the same time, a mixture of helplessness and desperation crashed against him like a tsunami, numbing his mind.
Judging by the caller's name, Ji-Won hastily made the conjecture that the person could only be Su-Jin's significant other. Even with his little dating experience, Ji-Won was still able to imagine how the entire situation could appear in a boyfriend's eyes. After all, he was a man himself and had to admit that, if his significant other would be out drinking so late at night and a strange man answered her phone, he would be far from happy.
As a consequence, Ji-Won was currently faced with two possibilities. One, he could either answer the phone and try his best to clear up the possible misunderstanding. For this, he at least had the advantage of being Su-Jin's boss. Perhaps if her boyfriend knew that, he would be less likely to have strange thoughts.
The alternative to this was to ignore the call. But if he did that, then he would find himself losing the perfect chance to send his employee safely home.
"Dammit!" Ji-Won cursed under his breath. He felt his heartbeat rising from frustration.
Several seconds later, Ji-Won finally reached a conclusion. After he thought about it thoroughly, he realized that it was probably best to speak to someone close to Su-Jin. That way, he could find help, instead of struggling by himself.
With this in mind, Ji-Won took a deep breath and pressed the green button on the screen.
As soon as the call was connected, Ji-Won heard a male voice coming from the other end.
"Su-Jin, where are you? When are you getting home? We wanted to know…"
The voice began to ramble, sounding slightly hyped. But when it fell onto Ji-Won's ears, that tone sounded rather impatient and upset.
"Hello?" Ji-Won suddenly interrupted that person's speech.
Then, he held his breath, hoping that he sounded more confident than how he actually felt.
There was a short pause in which both the caller and Ji-Won remained quiet. Then, the voice at the other end of the phone spoke again.
"Who are you?" he asked coldly.
"I am Kang Ji-Won, Miss Park's boss." Ji-Won replied, suddenly taking on a very professional tone. He almost sounded as though he was just about to have a business conversation with that person, discussing some very serious investments.
'Yes, this is the best way to avoid any misunderstandings. After replying to all his questions, I will simply inform him that she needs someone to come pick her up. What could possibly go wrong?' Ji-Won thought to himself, feeling very confident over his decision.
To his dismay, however, the previous information did nothing to appease the caller's apprehension towards him. If possible, the man sounded even colder than before.
"Why are you answering Su-Jin's phone?"
"Uhm, Miss Park is currently unable to take the call. She…"
"Where is she?" the caller asked, his voice quickly shifting between worry and anger.
Listening to him, Ji-Won actually marveled at how someone could be able to flawlessly express those two different emotions at the same time. Nevertheless, he was still in his professional mode, so he easily composed himself and gave a swift reply.
"We are at a restaurant near the river. We went earlier for a team dinner, but Miss Park drank too much, so she fell asleep. We are still at the restaurant."
"Tell me the exact address and I will come to pick her up."
After giving the man the exact location of the restaurant, the call ended.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Ji-Won took the phone away from his ear. His eyes lingered on the screen for just a bit longer. He saw 'MY LITTLE MAN' flash one more time, before it finally disappeared. As the call interface completely faded, the screensaver appeared. Ji-Won gaped at it, feeling even more shocked than how he felt a few moments earlier.
On the phone screen there was a picture of a young man holding Su-Jin close. He was much taller than Su-Jin, and had a slender, yet fit body. One of his arms was laced over her shoulders protectively, while his other arm was raised and bent towards his head. The person who took the picture had caught him just as he was pushing back his coffee-colored hair. The young man was probably trying to keep the strands from being ruffled by the wind.
Even through a picture, his pose and demeanor exuded a youthful vigor and charm. His personality seemed positive, he was handsome and looked unpretentious. His bright eyes seemed clear and honest. In short, he was a very eye-catching young man, who could easily attract a woman if he set his eyes on her.