Page 49 of When Worlds Collide (Between Worlds #2)

This time, I understood all of the words, but the meaning took longer to actually sink in. They were suggesting the company admit it was Jihoon, but not me.

Half of me was so relieved I could have slid out of my chair.

The other half was still paralyzed with fear for Jihoon.

Dismissing all thoughts of myself for a moment, this was still a dating scandal, and dating scandals can – and did – end careers.

Although, I thought wryly to myself, usually only for the women.

“Your advice is to deny all knowledge of the girl?” Director Choi spoke, looking me over speculatively, but clearly directing his question further down the table.

The lawyer – Mr Kang – replied, “That would be our advice. Miss Thompson is not identifiable in the footage. We’ve known that since the original was passed to us.

Baek Jihoon is clearly identifiable. There would be no benefit to denying his identity.

But he is not under a contractual ban. Legally, there is no wrong doing. ”

A smaller, older man I didn’t know, who sat in the middle of the table let out a derisive snort and said something I didn’t understand.

“English, please, Director Yoon.” Director Choi didn’t bother looking up from his notes.

The older man looked like he was chewing a bee, but replied in English. “Legally, no. Professionally? Very wrong.” He focused a narrow stare at Jihoon, ignoring me entirely. From beside me, I saw Jihoon hang his head. I felt a burn of anger, but bit my tongue.

“We’ve been over this, Director Yoon.” Director Choi sighed.

The older man leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He narrowed his eyes at me for a second, before looking away.

“Jihoon,” the youngest looking man at the table addressed him. He was the only one of the assembled who actually looked like he’d also been dragged out of bed at 4:00 am. The others all looked like they slept here in their suits.

“Do you want to make a statement?” he asked, and then clarified, waving a hand in my direction. “About Miss Thompson?”

“He cannot!” snapped Director Yoon. “She is under ENT now, also. Protected.” He sneered that last word, and it was clear he had some feelings about that, whereas it had never actually occurred to me before that my employment with ENT would also offer a measure of protection.

Not from the press, I reminded myself, but at least the company itself wouldn’t easily throw me under a bus.

I wondered if Director Kang had realised that when she'd hired me. It didn’t seem like a detail someone like her would have missed.

“Perhaps,” the younger man continued, his tone measured where Yoon’s had been overflowing with ire. “But we don’t need to provide her name, or occupation.” Here, he turned to look directly at Jihoon. “We can confirm you’re in a relationship. If you want.” His gaze flicked to me briefly.

I turned to look at Jihoon, fingers twitching as my mouth opened –

“No.” His voice cracked through the early morning stillness like a slammed door.

My mouth closed on a trapped breath.

“We will not tell them anything about us,” he said, his voice sounding strained.

I think everyone in that room waited for him to say something else, anything else. But he lapsed back into silence.

Did I imagine the look of sympathy that crossed the younger man’s face? It was gone before I could decide.

Director Choi picked up the threads of the conversation from the silence that had fallen.

“Very well. We will issue a statement. We will confirm your identity, because it would be foolish to deny otherwise. It was such a clear video.” I could see his jaw clench, even from across the table.

“But we will not confirm your… relationship status.” His eyes briefly met mine before looking down and making a note on his papers.

“Our statement will be that you were in the US during your personal time, and that we will not be commenting on your private life. We will reconfirm that you are under no so-called ‘dating ban’, and we will request you be given the respect of privacy this deserves.”

Jihoon deeply bowed his head, but it was more like he was hanging it. I bit my lip. It felt like a sentence being handed down by a judge; a reprieve.

The older man – Yoon – said something in Korean to Director Choi, who merely held up his hand.

“That is all.”

The other men in the room began to collect what things they had, shuffling papers into bags and buttoning up their jackets, but Jihoon seemed frozen. I put a tentative hand on his arm, and he looked up sharply as he flinched away.

I stilled, and the air seemed to freeze in my lungs.

“Come.” Youngsoo was suddenly standing behind us, and I looked up at him.

His face, as usual, it seemed, was a careful mask of neutrality, but he frowned slightly as he took in Jihoon’s hunched posture.

He put a hand on his arm and gently - but firmly - pulled him to his feet.

I followed along, and the three of us made our way out of the large room and back into the darkened corridor.

The overhead lights came on as we walked towards the elevators.

Youngsoo accompanied us as far as the shiny, metal doors. There, he said something to Jihoon, who nodded. He turned to me, gave me a small smile and nodded his head, before turning around and heading back towards the conference room.

The doors pinged discreetly behind us, and silently we got in, pressing the button for the basement.

I tried to meet Jihoon’s eyes as we descended. He looked everywhere but at me. He didn’t reach for me, but then, I’d known he wouldn’t.

We drove back to the apartment in silence, as quiet as the drive to ENT had been. So why did it feel so much louder?