Sunghoon never liked unnecessary tension in his office, but today it feels unavoidable.

You are standing near his desk, arms crossed, doing your best to stay calm while his secretary speaks to you with that thin smile she always uses. The kind that sounds polite but feels sharp. She keeps insisting that his schedule is too full, that you should wait, that meetings come first. You remind her that he asked you to come. She reminds you that she manages his time.

The back and forth is quiet but loaded. Sunghoon hears it before he sees it. He steps out of his private office, jacket still on, tie loosened, eyes immediately landing on you. The room goes still.

“What is going on?” he asks.

His secretary turns first, already explaining, already justifying. Sunghoon does not let her finish. He walks straight to you, resting a hand at your lower back in a way that is deliberate and unmistakable.

“I told you my priorities,” he says calmly, looking at her now. “If she is here, everything else waits.”