Joining the side project was purely accidental.

It had nothing to do with my work at the company; I just applied because I wanted to learn something new. While awkwardly exchanging greetings among strangers, one person stood out.

It was Seoyeon.

With her neat office look and refined way of speaking, my first impression was simply "someone who seems good at her job."

However, through several meetings, I began to discover a different side of her.

When meetings ended and everyone dispersed, she was the one who lingered in her seat. She laughed much harder than expected at even the smallest jokes.

At first, I thought it was just because she felt comfortable, but as time passed, I began to vaguely sense that those smiles were uniquely different when directed at me.

I only found out later that she had a partner. It was through a casual remark someone tossed out during a project dinner.

"Seoyeon, you have a boyfriend, why don't you bring him along?"

I didn't miss the way her expression momentarily stiffened. She tried to brush it off as if it were nothing, but her face looked somewhat uncomfortable.

Since that day, I strangely started to care about her. Even knowing she had a partner, it was hard to ignore that subtle difference in temperature toward me.

And I gradually began to realize that this feeling wasn't just my delusion.

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The introduction above is a first-person narrative from Guest's perspective!