MBFWM 05

Chapter 5

“Nice to meet you. I’m Moon Kang Hyun.”

Kang Hyun offered his hand first.

“Ah, I’m Cha Ji-hoon. Are you architect Moon Kang Hyun?”

Ji-hoon shook his hand as he asked.

Kang Hyun’s face was fairly well known, since articles about him occasionally appeared in magazines and online. It seemed Cha Ji-hoon had recognized him as well.

“That’s right. Since you recognize me, I assume you’re interested in architecture.”

“Well, you’re quite famous in that field.”

Cha Ji-hoon shrugged with a reluctant expression.

His attitude was almost as though he hadn’t wanted to know who Kang Hyun was, but had unfortunately ended up finding out anyway.

He looked back and forth between Lee Jin and Kang Hyun before suddenly asking as though he had realized something.

“Wait, is the project you mentioned this time related to him?”

“How did you know? I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet.”

Lee Jin nodded honestly.

At the same time, Kang Hyun watched with amusement as a sense of defeat briefly flashed across Cha Ji-hoon’s eyes.

The outcome had practically been decided from the moment he heard oppa and sunbae.

With a relaxed look in his eyes, Kang Hyun asked Lee Jin why Ji-hoon had come.

“Ji-hoon sunbae became a professor at our university this time. He offered me a position as a part-time lecturer, but I was in the middle of turning him down because of our contract.”

“Right. You can’t do it because of our contract.”

Kang Hyun immediately picked up on Lee Jin’s innocent words and emphasized them as though putting a period at the end of the sentence.

Cha Ji-hoon’s expression darkened sharply.

For some reason, it left a bitter taste in his mouth to see how comfortable she was around that man.

“Still, it’s a good opportunity, so take a look at the documents. I should get going.”

He hurriedly began gathering his things.

“You’re leaving already? You haven’t even finished your coffee…”

Lee Jin tilted her head in confusion.

She had never ended a meeting with Cha Ji-hoon this early before.

“I came to give you this. We can finish the coffee another time. I’m leaving.”

“Uh, okay. See you next time.”

Kang Hyun watched as Lee Jin saw Cha Ji-hoon out and snorted inwardly.

You’re going to meet him again?

Even while tucking his tail between his legs and running away right in front of him, he was already making plans for their next meeting?

His gaze turned cold.

“Oppa, would you like some coffee too?”

But at Lee Jin’s question, his eyes immediately softened into a gentle curve.

“Sure. Get me some coffee too.”

“Just a moment.”

While Lee Jin went to get the coffee, Kang Hyun picked up the cup Cha Ji-hoon had been drinking from and carried it to the sink.

He poured out all the remaining coffee.

Then he washed the cup so thoroughly that it practically squeaked before moving it far away.

“I like not taking reservations. It gives me a lot more free time.”

Lee Jin said this while sitting across from him and drinking coffee.

Then, perhaps realizing that she hadn’t asked why Kang Hyun had come, she belatedly asked,

“Oh, by the way, what brings you here at this hour?”

“Nothing special. I had some free time too. I was curious what you were doing, so I came by.”

Kang Hyun said it casually, but after meeting Jin Ae-ran, his mind had become complicated, and almost instinctively, his feet had carried him toward the pottery studio to clear his head.

When he arrived, however, some guy had already claimed her time.

He had entered the studio pretending not to know anything, but after seeing what was happening inside, he had already figured out the situation to some extent.

On the contrary, since he had successfully driven away the annoying fly buzzing around her, he could consider his objective accomplished.

“Sometimes, when I see you, I can’t tell whether you’re busy or free.”

Lee Jin looked puzzled.

Sometimes Kang Hyun gave off the air of a seasoned businessman, while at other times he seemed like a carefree loafer. There was no figuring him out.

“I’m usually busy, and I’m usually free.”

“What kind of answer is that?”

Lee Jin gave a small laugh.

Kang Hyun’s gaze lingered on her smiling face for a moment, becoming slightly deeper before quickly returning to normal.

“I’m thinking of doing some work to loosen up a bit. What are you going to do, oppa?”

She was asking whether he intended to stay at the studio or go back.

“Can’t I work alongside you? I’ve wanted to try making pottery for a long time. If I learn whenever I have some free time, I could even help you out.”

“I didn’t know you were interested in pottery, oppa.”

Lee Jin generally enjoyed teaching.

She had an unpretentious personality and found joy in sharing the pottery she loved most with someone else.

“I can’t help it today, but next time, you should bring some work clothes.”

Lee Jin glanced over Kang Hyun’s impeccably neat outfit.

“It’s fine. If they get dirty, I can just wash them.”

Kang Hyun casually shrugged and rolled up his sleeves.

Lee Jin brought over a work apron.

Kang Hyun didn’t take it from her. Instead, he naturally lowered his head toward her as though asking her to put it on him.

After hesitating for a moment, Lee Jin slipped the apron over him.

During the process, her fingertips lightly brushed against Kang Hyun’s hair and the outer edge of his ear.

“Thanks.”

Kang Hyun flashed a grin before tying the apron strings around his waist and walking toward the pottery wheel in the workshop.

The lingering sensation on her fingertips felt strangely peculiar, but when Kang Hyun acted as though nothing had happened, Lee Jin quickly shook off her awkward feelings.

Lee Jin placed some prepared clay on the pottery wheel and taught him the basic shaping techniques.

“This is more fun than I expected.”

As the wheel spun, the shape of the clay changed according to the movements of Kang Hyun’s hands.

Seeing how interested he was made Lee Jin happy as well.

“You can’t make a perfect shape from the beginning, so keep practicing. As you get more accustomed to it, balancing and making symmetrical shapes will become easier.”

“Yes, teacher.”

Kang Hyun’s playful tone brought a smile to Lee Jin’s lips.

Since she had been standing almost right beside him to teach him how to operate the wheel, their faces were close.

Their eyes met.

For that brief moment, time seemed to stretch as though it had stopped.

Lee Jin was flustered because she had never experienced anything like it before.

Kang Hyun gazed at her rapidly blinking eyes and smiled faintly.

“Teacher, I think I’ve ruined this.”

His words brought Lee Jin back to her senses.

She looked down at the pottery wheel.

The bowl shape that had looked fairly decent just moments ago was now completely misshapen.

“Ah…”

She let out a small groan and stopped the wheel.

“I guess you’ll have to do it again.”

She smiled awkwardly as she gently patted the clay.

“I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of it, so show me again.”

He held out his hand.

Lee Jin stared blankly at it, unable to immediately understand what he was doing.

“Please help me, Teacher?”

He waved his hand again, urging her on.

Only then did Lee Jin realize that he wanted her to hold his hand and guide him while shaping the clay.

When conducting pottery-wheel lessons, it was common for an instructor’s hands to brush against a student’s.

But for some reason, she hesitated when it came to touching Kang Hyun’s hand.

She had felt the same way earlier when her fingertips accidentally brushed against his hair and ear.

Even though neither touch had been intentional, they made her strangely tense, causing her body to stiffen.

Still, she couldn’t simply ignore the hand he continued to hold out.

After letting out a short sigh, she placed her hand over Kang Hyun’s.

“Now, you slowly shape it like this.”

Shaking off her distracting thoughts, Lee Jin held Kang Hyun’s hand and carefully guided him as she shaped the clay into a bowl.

Kang Hyun answered like an exemplary student and pretended to concentrate on learning.

In reality, however, his gaze was busy studying Lee Jin’s lowered eyelashes, her slightly moving lips, and everything else about her.

Of course, he gave no indication of what he was doing, so he looked as though he was simply paying close attention to the lesson.

“Okay. Now try it on your own.”

She released Kang Hyun’s hand.

He regretted the warmth disappearing, but he concealed his feelings and spoke cheerfully.

“Yes, Teacher. I think I can do it well now.”

Lee Jin gave a small laugh and stepped away from him.

Kang Hyun carefully shaped the bowl for a while before taking his hands away and frowning as though something about it displeased him.

Lee Jin immediately stepped closer again and corrected the parts that needed improvement.

When she bent forward, the hair she had tied up spilled down over her shoulders.

Kang Hyun reached out as though he were about to tuck her loose hair behind her ear.

However, his hands were covered in clay, so instead, he left a smear of clay on her cheek.

“Oh, this is bad… What should I do?”

Kang Hyun smiled innocently, as though he hadn’t meant to do it.

Lee Jin became conscious of the fact that his fingers had touched her cheek before pulling away, so she touched the spot with the back of her hand.

But her own hand was covered in clay as well, leaving an even larger smear across her cheek.

“Ah…”

Lee Jin groaned when she belatedly realized what she had done.

When people first learned pottery, it was common to end up with clay on their faces like this.

After becoming accustomed to the craft, however, things like this hardly ever happened.

“It’s fine. I can just wash it off later.”

She tried to brush it off casually, but Kang Hyun suddenly leaned his face toward her.

“Here, put some on my face too. That way, it’ll be fair.”

As though challenging her to do whatever she wanted, he presented his face and closed his eyes.

Dark eyebrows, thick eyelashes, a sharply defined nose, sensual lips, and masculine facial features…

Unable to take her eyes off that handsome face that seemed almost dangerous to her heart, Lee Jin unconsciously swallowed dryly.