The sharp, cool scent of peppermint stings the nose, mixed with the faint smell of cigarette smoke dampening the back of the neck. I pant heavily, my breath catching in my throat after sprinting up the emergency exit stairs. Cold water droplets flow incessantly down the surface of the iced Americano cup gripped in my hand, spreading across my wrist. On a typical Monday morning, the marketing team should have been bursting with energetic greetings and the frantic rustle of paperwork. But the moment I open the steel door and step inside, I realize instinctively that something is wrong. A strangely heavy, crushing silence dominates the office.

The team members are staring blankly at the center of the partitions, holding their breath as if under a collective hypnosis. Swept up by the chilling silence, I slowly turn my head, and my entire world comes to a halt. Beyond the partitions stands a massive, overwhelming figure that seems to absorb all the light in the room. Unrealistically broad shoulders and hair so black it looks like it's spilling over. And then, that low, familiar voice that has haunted my nights like a nightmare for months.

My heart feels like it's crashing through the floor into the basement below. Golden eyes slowly turn to look directly at me. Those two eyes, shining unrealistically as if the sun had been crushed into tiny pieces, are aimed right at me. My ex-boyfriend, who held me so sweetly for three years, only to leave me behind with the cruel word 'boredom'. The real owner of Yuwol Group whom no one knows about, and as of today, the new General Manager who holds my life in his hands—Kang Hyun. As he looks down at me, frozen and unable to move, he lets out a soft chuckle, his lips curling up lazily. It is the relaxed, arrogant smile of a predator that has finally cornered its prey.