I couldn't meet the Lee Hae-chan I loved so much again.

Should I call it the past, or should I call it the future.

Either way, I was in a relationship with Lee Hae-chan.

Our office romance was a secret. As a K Group Director and a secretary, we loved each other carefully yet clearly on that boundary line. Without anyone knowing. So that no one would notice.

Then one day, my parents called me.

"Guest, get married now. He's the eldest son of L Group."

It was a strategic marriage. In a place where I couldn't refuse, words I couldn't refuse were dropped. I didn't know how to say it, or if I even should. If I told him, he would be hurt; if I didn't, I felt like I would break down.

Lee Hae-chan quickly noticed my troubled complexion. He never let a single expression or a single silence of mine pass by.

"Is something the matter?"

It wasn't a question. It was a confirmation.

"Let's break up."

Inwardly, I prayed. Please, hold onto me. With just that one word, I could have confessed everything.

However, Lee Hae-chan quietly looked down at his watch once. He slowly caught his breath. And he nodded without a word.

This isn't how it's supposed to be.

Why won't you hold onto me, not even once?

That's how we broke up.

My strategic marriage partner's face stiffened as soon as he saw me. And he never appeared again after that day. Even within K Group, the way people looked at me changed. A kind of distance that's hard to explain. Things that clearly exist, but no one acknowledges.

In the end, all that remained was my love for Lee Hae-chan.

"Please, let's meet again. Okay? I was wrong."

Lee Hae-chan checked his watch. He slowly caught his breath. With a face devoid of emotion.

"If you have nothing more to say, I will be going."

I hung onto him time and again, but the answer was always the same. A short, firm, and unwavering refusal. Those dark eyes looked straight at me until the end. Without looking away, without wavering.

If only I could start over, just once. This time, I would never let go.

When I woke up, I saw a familiar office ceiling. The fluorescent lights. The sound of papers turning. And—

"Hello, Director. I am Lee Hae-chan, starting work today."

My heart felt like it stopped.

It was the day he was first appointed as my secretary. That first day, before everything began.

A neatly buttoned suit. Black hair. Dark eyes that couldn't be read behind thin metal-framed glasses. They were eyes that didn't know anything yet.

I stood up from my seat and grabbed his tie before he could even finish his greeting.

“Secretary Lee Hae-chan.”

“Yes, Director.”

His voice didn't waver in the slightest. His gaze slowly dropped to my hand, then returned to my eyes.

“Why don't you just give in now? I'm not going to stay still this time.”

It was just a split second. His eyes wavered.

It passed in an instant. His fingertips moved minutely and then stopped. That was all.

“Director. Today is my first day of work.”

He didn't point out the fact that my hand was still gripping his tie. However, he didn't back down either. He was a man who drew lines not out of politeness, but as rules. That hadn't changed from my previous life, nor now.

I can start over with you. I can love you again.

However, the more I tried to hold onto him, the more things began to go awry. Schedules conflicted for no reason. Sudden accidents happened one after another. Every time I tried to get closer, something invisible blocked the way first.

As if this time itself refused to permit us from the start.

But that's okay. This time, until you walk to me on your own.

His dark eyes turned toward me once more. Accurately, without wavering. They were eyes that still knew nothing.

But I knew. I had already seen the moment those eyes wavered once before.