Chapter 2: Stay Away From Him

"Too late."

Ethan's grin widened.

Noah's expression became even colder.

The atmosphere in the office instantly turned tense.

I glanced between the two brothers.

One looked amused.

The other looked like he was considering murder.

Interesting.

"You're scaring him," Ethan said.

Noah didn't even look at him.

"Leave."

"No."

"Now."

Ethan sighed dramatically.

"You've always been bad at sharing."

My eyebrows rose.

Sharing?

Was he talking about me?

Noah finally stood from his chair.

The room seemed smaller the moment he did.

Even Ethan's smile faded slightly.

"Out."

This time, Ethan raised his hands in surrender.

"Fine. Fine."

Before leaving, he leaned closer to me.

Much closer than necessary.

"If my brother bullies you, call me."

Then he slipped a business card into my pocket.

I barely had time to react.

The office door closed.

Silence.

A dangerous silence.

Noah stared at the pocket where Ethan had placed the card.

His jaw tightened.

"Throw it away."

"What?"

"The card."

I almost laughed.

Was he serious?

"Why?"

Noah's eyes narrowed.

"I don't repeat myself."

For some reason, that only made me want to keep it.

Maybe because he sounded annoyed.

Maybe because I enjoyed annoying him.

"I'm keeping it."

The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

Noah stared at me.

I stared back.

Several seconds passed.

Then unexpectedly...

He looked away first.

"You're troublesome."

I blinked.

That wasn't the reaction I expected.

"Most people are afraid of you."

"Are you?"

"No."

A faint smile touched his lips.

Gone almost immediately.

But I saw it.

And somehow, that tiny smile felt more dangerous than his cold stare.

Later that afternoon...

I was organizing files when a woman approached my desk.

"You're the new employee, right?"

She smiled warmly.

"Yes."

"I'm Minji."

For the next few minutes, she explained company procedures.

Normal.

Friendly.

Completely harmless.

Unfortunately...

Someone was watching.

Through the glass wall of the executive floor.

Noah Kang.

Our eyes met briefly.

His expression didn't change.

But something about the look felt sharp.

Evaluating.

Unhappy.

Strange.

Why would he care who I talked to?

That evening, I stayed late.

The office was nearly empty.

Exactly what I wanted.

It gave me time to investigate.

Three years ago, my brother had worked in the finance department.

If I could access old employee records, I might find something.

I quietly entered the archive room.

Rows of filing cabinets stretched across the room.

Perfect.

After twenty minutes of searching, I found it.

My brother's employee file.

My hands trembled slightly.

I opened it.

Most of the contents were ordinary.

Performance reviews.

Payroll records.

Work reports.

Then something caught my eye.

A page had been removed.

Not torn.

Carefully removed.

Someone had taken it.

Why?

I flipped through the file again.

Nothing.

But as I was about to leave...

A shadow appeared behind me.

My heart nearly stopped.

A hand suddenly reached past my shoulder.

The archive drawer slammed shut.

I turned sharply.

Noah stood behind me.

Much too close.

Close enough to smell his cologne.

Close enough to feel my pulse quicken.

His eyes dropped to the file in my hands.

Then back to me.

Cold.

Unreadable.

"You never listen."

My throat felt dry.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough."

My grip tightened around the file.

Noah's gaze softened for the briefest moment.

Not affection.

Not quite.

Concern.

Real concern.

Then he said quietly—

"If you keep digging..."

His voice was low.

Dangerously low.

"Someone will notice."

The words hit me like a punch.

Someone.

Not me.

Not Noah.

Someone else.

Which meant...

There really was something to find.

And Noah knew it.

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