Hyun-woo ran. He didn't know where he was going, only that he had to get away from the icy fury in Hae-in's eyes. He dodged shoppers, weaved through clothing racks, and finally, with a desperate surge of adrenaline, he pushed through a door marked "Employees Only." He ran down a short hallway and slid into the quiet sanctuary of the employees' lounge. He leaned against the far wall, his chest heaving, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He had bought himself a few precious seconds.
But he knew it was futile. He knew he couldn't escape her. He heard the determined clicking of her heels getting closer, and then the door to the lounge swung open.
Hae-in stood in the doorway, her shoulders heaving from her run, but her face was a mask of cold, predatory calm. Her gaze, a lethal mixture of anger and possessiveness, was fixed on him. She closed the door behind her with a quiet, menacing click and began to walk toward him, her movements slow and deliberate, like a hunter stalking her prey.
Hyun-woo, cornered against the wall, felt a genuine, terrified thrill. This was her in her purest form: the dominant, fierce, and possessive queen she had always been. The playful chase was over. The punishment was about to begin.
She reached him, her body inches from his, and she placed her hands on the wall on either side of his head, effectively trapping him. He was a caged animal, and she was the one who held the key. He could feel her anger radiating from her, a hot, palpable wave of fury.
"What were you doing?" she asked, her voice a low, chilling whisper. "Getting so close to a new intern? What were you doing, Hyun-woo?"
Before he could answer, the door to the lounge opened again. In walked his brother-in-law, Hong Soo-cheol, and his wife, Da-hye. They were looking for them, and the sight that greeted them stopped them dead in their tracks. Their jaws dropped, their eyes wide with a stunned disbelief. They saw Hae-in, the indomitable CEO, pinning her husband against the wall, her face a mask of furious possessiveness.
Hyun-woo's eyes widened with a desperate, silent plea. Save me, he mouthed, his eyes begging them to intervene.
But it was too late. Hae-in's cold, furious gaze, which had been fixed on him, now turned toward her brother and his wife. The look she gave them was so filled with a murderous fury that they both took a step back in unison.
"Leave," she said, the single word a quiet, deadly command.
They didn't hesitate. They scurried out of the room, closing the door behind them, the sound of their hurried footsteps fading down the hallway.
Hae-in turned back to Hyun-woo, her expression a mix of anger and triumph. "Where were we?" she asked, her voice dangerously sweet.
Hyun-woo, with a nervous swallow, tried to reason with her. "You were… you were going to let me leave," he said, his voice a shaky whisper, his mind desperately trying to find a way out of this impossible situation.
Hae-in's face broke into a cruel, beautiful laugh. A sound of pure, unadulterated amusement. "No, you idiot. Did you really think you could escape me?" Her laughter died down, her voice dropping back to that dangerous whisper. "You, even for a second, thinking you could escape me... that's a pipe dream. You should be punished. You need to be reminded who you belong to."
Hyun-woo's heart pounded, a frantic drum against his ribs. He knew what was coming. He had seen this look before, the look of a woman who was about to go to war for what was hers. He closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
Hae-in leaned in, her lips crashing against his. The kiss was fierce, demanding, and utterly possessive. It wasn't a kiss of love, but a kiss of claim, a raw declaration of ownership. She kissed him with a primal fury, her hands gripping his arms, her body pressed against his, a silent message that he was hers and hers alone. She kissed him until he was breathless, until his lips were swollen and bruised.
When she finally pulled away, he was a dazed, panting mess, his eyes wide and unfocused. She looked at him, a triumphant, satisfied smirk on her face. She slowly, deliberately, licked her lips, a final, taunting gesture of her victory. She then leaned in and placed a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek, a gentle counterpoint to the fury of her kiss.
When she pulled away, she looked at the lipstick mark she had left on his cheek. It was a bright, crimson splash of color against his fair skin, a visible, public sign of her ownership.
"Don't even think about removing that mark," she said, her voice a low, firm warning.
"Because if you do, there will be hell to pay."
And with that, she released him. She walked out of the lounge, her stride confident and triumphant, leaving a stunned, breathless, and utterly defeated Hyun-woo against the wall. He had been so confident, so sure he could win their game of chase and flirtation, but she had just shown him, in a way that left no room for doubt, that he was hers and that nothing, not a single person or a single thing, could ever change that.