Monday morning arrived with too many emails and too little caffeine.
Yoon Ha-rin walked into the design wing, still humming from the gala's glow.
Na-eun was waiting at her desk, clutching her phone.
"Girl, you're viral," she hissed.
Ha-rin blinked. "What?"
Na-eun flipped the screen around—someone had snapped a grainy photo of Ha-rin and Director Kang Jae-hyun on the gala terrace.
The caption read: "Guess who's melting the Ice King?"
Ha-rin exhaled. "Oh, great. Office paparazzi."
"Not paparazzi," Na-eun said darkly. "Office snake. And I think I know which one."
---
An hour later, Han Soo-ah strolled in with her usual perfect smile and a little too much perfume.
"Ha-rin-ssi," she said sweetly, "lovely photo circulating today. You must be thrilled with the attention."
Ha-rin turned slowly, calm. "Thrilled isn't the word. But thank you for your concern."
"Oh, I just meant… it's so bold of you to get close to management. Not everyone would take that risk."
Na-eun coughed pointedly. "Some people take bigger risks when they underestimate the wrong person."
Soo-ah's smile flickered.
---
By noon, small "errors" began to appear in Ha-rin's project files—wrong data, missing attachments, mis-sent mails.
It didn't take a genius to see someone was tampering.
Instead of panicking, Ha-rin quietly traced the file history, corrected every flaw, and finished the presentation an hour early.
When she walked into the boardroom, Director Kang was already there, reviewing charts.
He looked up, eyes catching hers.
"You fixed it."
"Sabotage makes me efficient," she said lightly.
He smiled faintly, pride glimmering under restraint. "Remind me never to underestimate you again."
Across the table, Soo-ah froze mid-scroll.
---
The meeting went brilliantly.
Ha-rin handled every question with composure sharp enough to draw applause.
When the department head congratulated her, Jae-hyun merely said, "As expected," but the tiny up-curve of his mouth gave him away.
Afterward, as employees spilled into the hallway, Soo-ah intercepted them with forced cheer.
"Impressive work, Ha-rin-ssi. Some people have all the luck."
Ha-rin smiled, stepping closer. "Luck fades. Skill doesn't. You should try it sometime."
Na-eun choked on laughter. "Did the temperature just drop?"
"No," Ha-rin said sweetly. "That's the sound of professionalism returning."
---
Later that evening, Jae-hyun stood at his office window, watching Ha-rin pack up downstairs.
Her calm, her poise—he couldn't stop smiling.
When she came to return a file, he said quietly, "You handled that perfectly."
"Thank you, Director," she replied, teasing emphasis on the title.
He raised an eyebrow. "Still formal?"
"In the office, yes."
"And outside?"
She leaned closer just enough to whisper, "Outside, you can thank me properly."
He laughed softly. "You enjoyed that victory too much."
"I earned it," she said, eyes bright. "And maybe… I liked showing you I can fight my own battles."
He nodded. "That's why I fell for you. You never needed saving—you just needed space to roar."
---
That night, as she left the building, Na-eun looped her arm through hers.
"So, lioness," she whispered, "plan for tomorrow?"
Ha-rin grinned. "Same as today—survive the gossip, win the day, terrify the competition."
From the upper floor, Jae-hyun watched them go, pride softening into affection.
He didn't step in to protect her—he didn't need to.
She'd already proven she could stand taller than the noise.