After seeing the two men depart so hastily, Su-Jin and her two companions remained quiet for a few moments, unsure of what to make of the strange encounter.
Su-Jin was silently battling a flutter of emotions. Earlier, she had been completely taken aback by meeting Director Kang at the sauna. Moreover, he was even dressed in the 'male uniform' the sauna provided at the entrance.
With his hair ruffled and slightly damp from the hot steam, together with the blue towel wrapped around his neck, Ji-Won looked like a completely different person. Director Kang Ji-Won was clearly a man full of surprises.
Su-Jin was baffled by the situation.
'I am seeing so many different sides of him today that I can hardly know what to think anymore. But one thing I do know. The man looks handsome regardless of what he's wearing. For example, just now he somehow made that plain blue T-shirt and pair of shorts seem like a stylish outfit. And just as I thought, his muscles look really toned. Those arms looked strong, without appearing too muscular. And his legs seemed so long and straight. I bet he'd look good even without any clothes on.'
No sooner had that thought popped inside her mind, that Su-Jin felt an odd burning sensation in her stomach.
Thinking that it was perhaps due to having eaten too fast earlier, Su-Jin brushed it aside without giving it too much thought.
Influenced by the uncomfortable sensation she was feeling, her thoughts also took a slightly different turn.
'How can Director Kang maintain such a good figure? Can this even be allowed? Isn't it unfair to all those other people out there in the world, who are struggling to simply keep their weight in check? And here he comes, showing off his abs and pecs, making everyone blind from envy! It's lucky that he's in a high position, otherwise he would get beaten to death by all the men in the company. And not just them, but the entire country might have to pick a fight with him.'
At this point, Su-Jin was so lost in her silly internal rambles that she completely disregarded the fact that she, as a woman, shouldn't be blinded at the sight of Ji-Won's good-looking body because of envy, but due to other reasons.
Also, she should leave the task of becoming a lemon1 to other males, while she should let loose her fangirl enthusiasm.
It was clear that, subconsciously at least, she was very much attracted to Director Kang. It was just a pity that she wasn't yet aware of her own feelings.
Thanks to this noticeable difference between what she knew of herself and what she had yet to find out, Su-Jin was also completely unaware of the faint blush that had slowly stretched across her cheeks. With each thought of Ji-Won wearing a tight-fitting T-shirt and shorts her face gained a new level of pink.
As she continued to silently berate the poor man for being too handsome for his own good, and also cursing him for making enemies out of the entire male population, Su-Jin unwittingly let out a wistful sigh.
In the silence that surrounded the small group, her long breath came out a bit too loud. Therefore, it immediately attracted the other two's attention. Both Min-Jun and Mi-Suk turned their heads at the same time, setting their burning gazes on the unsuspecting Su-Jin.
When she finally noticed that she was being stared at by her two companions, Su-Jin froze in stupor. Their eyes seemed to hold burning flames as they racked over her face.
Feeling those gazes like silent accusations, Su-Jin immediately scolded herself mentally for having such weird thoughts about her boss.
Also, it wasn't really nice of her to judge a person so harshly solely based on his appearance. Not to mention it was even less proper to imagine her boss wearing various outfits, each looking more indecent than the next.
Hence, she decided to put a stop to those thoughts.
Unaware that her expression while deep in thought had already given away most of her inner turmoil, Su-Jin tried to fake the appearance of confusion. She raised a hand to her mouth, and looked from her brother to her friend with round, startled eyes.
"What just happened?"
Her gasp, as well as her expression, were so fake that even a fool could figure out she was lying. Yet, neither of the other two had the heart to call her out on it.
Especially her best friend, who was even less inclined to make Su-Jin own up to the truth.
Mi-Suk had watched Su-Jin blush several degrees of red in just a few minutes after Director Kang's departure. She wouldn't be fitting of her title as a romantic webtoon writer and artist if she didn't understand what Su-Jin's expressions meant.
Her friend was clearly starting to like Kang Ji-Won, but it appeared that she herself was currently ignorant of her own feelings.
That shouldn't have been a problem, though. If the man was more determined he could easily push forward and crack Su-Jin's weak defences. Nevertheless, it seemed that things might not go as easy as this.
After watching Su-Jin carefully while interacting with Director Kang, Mi-Suk was also beginning to suspect that she wasn't the only one dealing with a flustered inner state. Director Kang seemed to nurture some feelings as well, but they were still at an early stage.
Therefore, Mi-Suk decided to act like she knew nothing of it.
Just then, Su-Jin asked another question, this time seeming less awkward about it.
"What do you say about all this?"
"I say that your Director Kang has proved to be socially awkward." Mi-Suk replied blankly.
Min-Jun snorted at the straightforward answer. He couldn't deny that he also felt the same way about the man.
However, not wanting to make his thoughts known, he merely shook his head and remained silent. His mind, though, kept replaying the earlier interaction. For a second there, he thought he had seen something flicker in Director Kang's eyes. He couldn't say for sure what it was, because the look was gone as soon as it appeared.
'Director Kang seemed to glance at Su-Jin strangely. It looked like a bizarre mixture of vexation and yearning. But when he turned his eyes towards me, the man's expression suddenly turned dark, like he was infuriated by something. Could it really have been my imagination? Or perhaps he really is a socially awkward person like Mi-Suk just said?'
Min-Jun glanced towards his sister, his eyes peering at her face curiously. But, seeing that Su-Jin was both unaffected and unaware of what had happened, Min-Jun soon stopped thinking about that perplexing moment.