Chapter 67 - Gaze

—Knock knock!

When I looked up at the knocking sound, the door opened and Emma poked out her head. “Yeonwoo.”

I stood up from my chair and greeted her cheerfully, “Hello, Emma. Is there something you wanted to report?”

Emma walked up to my desk and smiled like usual. “It’s lunchtime soon. I was wondering if you had any tasks you wanted to assign. We’re fairly swamped these days, after all.”

As of late, I had used my health as an excuse not to go anywhere else in the building, let alone the secretary’s office. I was afraid of straying far from Keith. If I were to get another panic attack while wandering around alone—

When I recalled the way my windpipes clogged up and the world went black, chills ran down my spine. The fear of a possible panic attack birthed an even greater fear. Just imagining it seemed to suffocate me. 

I tried my best not to let my trembling body show as I pretended that nothing was wrong. “Nothing right now… How’s everybody at the secretary’s office?”

“Nothing much is going on over there, either. All of the things you assigned are getting done without any issues,” Emma replied.

Recently, I had been feeling indebted to Emma. Before I started getting panic attacks, it was my daily morning task to figure out all the things that had to get done for the day and distribute them before coming up to my office. I also used to go down to the secretary’s office throughout the day to give more instructions or to check up on everybody, but I hadn’t been able to do that at all these days. Distributing tasks in the morning also had to be done after Emma called me to check if I was in for work and came up to relay my instructions to everyone else.

It must be an annoying task for her as well as it being something that I should be doing instead, but Emma never once complained about it. In fact, she went out of her way to show concern and visit me many times every day to ask if there were any additional tasks to be assigned or any changes.

She must have also visited this time to check if I needed anything done before she went out for lunch. I smiled and said, “Thanks as always, Emma.”

“Not a problem. This is what I’m supposed to do,” she replied.

This was where she usually turned around and left, but she seemed to be hesitating today. I sensed something different in the air and decided to speak up first. “Is there something else you wanted to say? It’s okay, you can tell me freely.”

I remembered her coming into work late the other day due to personal circumstances.

I didn’t want to probe about her personal life but if she was hesitating because it was a difficult topic, it didn’t seem like a bad choice for me to speak up first.

I wondered what it could be for her to hesitate like this. I braced myself to accept anything as long as it was within my power, but Emma blushed a little and handed me something.As I accepted it in confusion, she said, “I figured that you might not be eating well these days. Well, since you don’t come out of your office…”

How did Emma know that I wasn’t even able to leave for lunch? Charles sometimes prepared a simple lunch for me but not always. Whenever he was busy, he would sometimes forget. Of course, it wasn’t something that I should be taking for granted. I gratefully accepted it whenever he made lunch for me, but I could never bring myself to ask for it first.

Because of this, I had been expecting to skip lunch today as well. I had never imagined that Emma would bring such a thing. For a moment, I was flustered, unsure as to how I should react. 

Emma quickly added, “You don’t need to think too much of it. I just made it while I was making some for myself. Think of it lightly. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

She even flashed a warm smile. She entered the company not long after I did, and she had watched me become the new head secretary and work my bottom off. It wasn’t surprising to feel a certain bond. I smiled back and said, “Thank you, I appreciate it a lot.”

Emma nodded lightly and turned around. However, she soon came to a halt. I also turned my head, only to meet eyes with Keith, who was leaning against the doorframe. I blinked in surprise.

How long had he been standing there?

It felt like I had been caught slacking off during work. I felt embarrassed, but Keith still had a straight face and showed no reaction in particular.

“Is there anything you need, Mr. Pittman?” I quickly came to it and placed the lunch that Emma had given me on the desk. Was his arm hurting? I had asked him out of concern, but he continued to remain expressionless. Keith’s eyes darted to the desk and to Emma’s face.

I belatedly noticed that the scent of his pheromones had become darker than before. Staying in the office all day somewhat desensitized my nose to his sweet scent that always lingered around me. Thanks to this, I hadn’t even noticed that Keith had come out of his office. 

I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew that I had to send Emma away. I hurriedly said, “Thanks, Emma. I’ll see you later.”

“Yes, I should go back down now. Bye, Mr. Pittman. Bye, Yeonwoo.” Emma quickly caught on and greeted us both before rushing out of the office. When the door closed, silence settled. Feeling an uncomfortable tension in the air, I turned my body slightly toward Keith.

He was still standing in the same spot without a word. Unable to bear the awkwardness, I began, “Emma was concerned that I hadn’t been eating lunch…”

I lost to the heavy silence and trailed off. I shut my mouth once again. Keith, who had been quiet until then, spoke for the first time.