A low grunt, followed by footsteps, came from the direction of Ji-Won's bedroom.
Without having to look, Su-Jin already knew what those sounds meant. Ji-Won had woken up. And not only that, but in just a few seconds, he was about to come close enough to see her sitting on his sofa and going through his personal things.
Being hit with that shameful realization, Su-Jin almost flung the album in the air.
With her mind being a total blank, She hastily got up, tossing the object to the side. Then she bravely turned around in order to face the house owner's wrath.
Being discarded like it was a hot potato, the album eventually reached the far end of the sofa, where it landed with a soft thud. At the same time, a deep, hoarse voice called Su-Jin's name weakly.
"Miss… Park?"
"Director Kang, you're awake!" Su-Jin chirped.
The pitch of her voice was slightly off and, when she continued to speak, her voice trembled in nervousness.
"Uhm, how did you know it was me?" she asked, trying to keep her frantic eyes from staring too hard.
In truth, she wasn't really curious about any of that. However, she hoped that by making the inquiry, it might help distract Ji-Won from paying too close attention to what she had been doing. If he were to ask why she was looking at his personal belongings while he was passed out, Su-Jin really didn't know how to reply without feeling extremely guilty.
During the time Su-Jin took in order to calm her mind a little bit, Ji-Won had taken a couple of steps into the living room. But it appeared he was too weak to advance on his own, so he eventually stopped to lean against the nearest wall.
"When I woke up, I didn't know there was someone else here. But, then, I heard your voice coming from the living room." Ji-Won said slowly. "It seemed as though you were talking on the phone."
"Ah, yes, I was talking to my brother. Min-Jun… he called because I sent him a message earlier, so he wanted to…"
"Miss Park…"
Ji-Won suddenly interrupted Su-Jin in the middle of her rant.
"Y-Yes?" Su-Jin stuttered before quickly falling silent.
"Could you please tell me what happened? How did I get home and… more importantly…"
Ji-Won hesitated, swallowing the rest of his words.
'More importantly… What are YOU doing here?' He wanted to ask. But instead of that, he ended up asking something completely different.
"What happened to Seo-Jun? I remember I was with him tonight."
As Ji-Won asked about his friend, a sense of foreboding rose in his gut. For some reason, he had a very bad feeling about the entire situation. Yet, he decided not to despair until he heard an explanation.
"Well... Uhm… Director Kang, you see…"
Su-Jin coughed to clear her throat, then began speaking very quickly.
"From what Deputy Director Kim told me, you two were indeed together. But, at some point during the evening, you… you wanted to leave. At that time you also called me, but you never got to say why, so I can't really say what exactly happened. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding about something and…"
Here, Su-Jin paused and looked down at her feet. She bit her lower lip, remaining silent.
It was hard for her to say all that out loud, but the truth would be known either way. Whether she hid it from him now, or Seo-Jun told him tomorrow or any other day, it would be the same. Better that he finds out sooner, rather than later, right?
With this newfound determination, Su-Jin sucked in a breath of cold air. Only after carefully considering her next words, she finally continued her speech.
"At some point during the evening, Deputy Director Kim called me and asked for my help. By the time he came to pick me up, you were already passed out. I asked, but he wouldn't tell me what had happened to you. When we finally arrived here, Deputy Director Kim might have told the security guard that you were too drunk and that he needed help carrying you upstairs."
After firing those words at Ji-Won, Su-Jin clamped her mouth shut, refusing to utter another sound. Following that, she immediately closed her eyes, braising herself to withstand Ji-Won's impending wrath.
However, even after several seconds had passed, there were no sounds coming from the direction where Ji-Won was standing. The tempestuous outburst she had expected never came.
Just as she was slowly opening her eyes, Su-Jin heard a low groan. Puzzled, she looked up and saw Ji-Won leaning his entire body against the wall, while holding his head between both hands. He was the very picture of pain and remorse.
"Urgh..." Ji-Won let out a throaty groan.
He could already imagine the strange looks he'll receive from the security guard later. The image he had created for himself, as a rational and collected individual, had been completely shattered in just one night. Not to mention the whole debacle with Su-Jin, which put him in a very awkward position.
'Seo-Jun you bastard, couldn't you have used a different excuse?! Since when have I ever been drunk to the point of passing out, ha?! I don't even drink that much in the first place! Even the beer cans inside my fridge are yours! You damned ingrate, see how I'll throw your booze in the trash bin!'
There was a short moment of pause in Ji-Won's thoughts, before he continued to silently cuss out Seo-Jun.
'And you just had to involve Miss Park in this mess! Why the hell did you have to call her, you big idiot?! Seo-Jun, I swear, next time I see you, I'll… I'll…'
But, before Ji-Won got a chance to finish roasting Seo-Jun inside his head, Su-Jin's voice interrupted him.
As if she was able to read his mind, or at least the first half of it, Su-Jin hurried to speak.
"Director Kang, at that time, you already smelled a bit of alcohol. So the excuse that Deputy Director Kim gave was really the best thing to say in that situation. Otherwise, the security guard might have become suspicious, even going as far as calling the ambulance. I got the feeling that Deputy Director Kim wanted to avoid that from happening at all cost. That's why he said the things he did, so please don't be too upset.." Su-Jin finished quietly.