GGAS 5

Ha Bomi suggested as if it were a good thing.

“Ah… would that be alright?”

Eun Sanho hesitated and looked at Kim Gwanggong. After all, he was owner of the car.

“…Do as you please.”

Kim Gwanggong said.

“Then I’ll be in your care.”

Eun Sanho spoke with a bright smile. His smile made the corners of his eyes curve slightly, and it looked bright and genuine.

When Kim Gwanggong only stared at him silently, Eun Sanho tilted his head.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“…No.”

Kim Gwanggong slowly withdrew his gaze and headed for the car. Eun Sanho’s smile remained in his mind like an afterimage.

***

It turned out at the counter of the pasta restaurant  that it had not been a coincidence that Kim Gwanggong and Eun Sanho had the same destination. When the employee asked for the reservation name, both gave Chairman Han’s name, which became a clue. As Kim Gwanggong and Eun Sanho looked at each other with puzzled eyes, a message arrived on both their phones from each of their grandmothers: “Wishing for the gain of a grandson-in-law!” This became decisive evidence for the deduction.

“…….”

“…….”

“This… must be some kind of arranged meeting, right?”

The one who broke the silence first was Eun Sanho.

“Uh… if you two are here for an arranged meeting, should I step out?”

Ha Bomi carefully raised her hand and spoke. Kim Gwanggong sighed.

“There is no need. I was not going to eat anyway.”

At that moment, they heard a loud rumbling sound.

“Ah, Ms. Bomi, are you hungry?”

Eun Sanho asked.

“Eh? Not me.”

“Then who….”

If it was neither Eun Sanho nor Ha Bomi, then only one person remained. Their gazes slowly turned toward Kim Gwanggong. Yet the face of the person whose stomach had just growled so loudly was utterly expressionless. Realizing they had guessed wrong, Eun Sanho and Ha Bomi both felt awkward. But just as they were about to turn their heads back, the sound came again. Louder and clearer than before, leaving no room for doubt about its source. Kim Gwanggong’s face remained expressionless, but there was no question anymore.

“This place is delicious…, delici…, so… just eat before you go….”

Eun Sanho said, barely holding back his laughter.

“Hhhahahahahahahahahaha, cough….”

Ha Bomi could not hold back her laughter and ended up choking.

“…Where is the seat?”

Kim Gwanggong asked the staff. Less than a minute had passed since he said he would not eat, yet his expression did not change at all, which was worth seeing.

“Hhhk hhkhhh….”

“Ms. Bomi, don’t cry.”

Eun Sanho bit his lower lip desperately and handed a handkerchief to Ha Bomi. But she could not stop laughing, and in the end, only with Eun Sanho’s support could she sit down at the reserved seat. After wiping away her tears, the three, after a brief discussion, decided to unify their order with the restaurant’s most popular dish, rosé pasta, and completed their order.

“Ah, what a shame.”

Ha Bomi said.

“Shall we order more?”

Eun Sanho asked while looking at the menu.

“No, not that. It’s just a shame that the Director’s older brother isn’t here.”

“Ah, so he has an older brother.”

“Yes. And when we eat together with him, you can see the Director take food pictures with an aerial shot. What was it, the Director says his arm is longer than his brother’s so it’s better for taking pictures.”

“Ah… unbelievable?”

“Yes, can you believe such things happen in this world? Ah, and a week ago, you know what happened….”

Even with the person in question right in front of her, Ha Bomi kept recounting countless episodes related to Kim Gwanggong (feat. Kim Abang) without pause. There had been so many bizarre incidents that her stories did not run out even until after the food was served and completely eaten. But Kim Gwanggong only raised his brows occasionally to show displeasure, but he did not stop her stories entirely. Because Eun Sanho kept laughing. For some reason, Kim Gwanggong wanted to keep seeing that smile.

***

What caused an incident was a single glass of juice. Finding Ha Bomi’s story too funny, Eun Sanho had slapped the table while laughing and hit the cup. He had not even hit it that hard, but the cup toppled over easily, and the spilled orange juice completely soaked Kim Gwanggong’s white shirt.

“Ah, what to do, I’m so sorry…!”

Eun Sanho shouted in a flustered voice.

“…It is fine.”

Kim Gwanggong said. But to the slightly panicked Eun Sanho, his words did not register. In his haste, Eun Sanho pulled several tissues from the table and tried to clean up the situation. In other words, he grabbed the tissues and began rubbing them against Kim Gwanggong’s chest.

“Why isn’t this wiping off…”

As the juice did not clean away, Eun Sanho grew even more flustered. So he pulled out more tissues and rubbed Kim Gwanggong’s chest even harder.

‘This is ridiculous.’

Kim Gwanggong closed his eyes once and opened them.

“…Eun Sanho-ssi.”

Kim Gwanggong spoke.

“Yes?”

Eun Sanho lifted his head and asked back.

“Eun Sanho-ssi, your hand.”

Not immediately understanding, Eun Sanho blinked.

“Yes? My hand, why…”

“……..”

“…Eek!”

Only then did Eun Sanho realize what he had been doing. Startled, he pulled his hand away. His face turned bright red, and he opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.

“Th, th…”

Eun Sanho glanced back and forth between his hand and Kim Gwanggong’s chest, unable to continue speaking. As anyone would know, seeing the chest of an arranged-date partner, with a soaked shirt that was clinging to his chest and revealing its lines, was extremely embarrassing. And if one had gone so far as to touch it directly, it could only be even more mortifying.

“Th… th…?”

Eun Sanho stuttered like a broken machine. But Kim Gwanggong only looked at him silently, making no effort to comfort him.

‘Ha….’

Ha Bomi, who had been watching the situation from the side, decided she needed to step in. She placed her hand on Eun Sanho’s shoulder with a relaxed smile.

“Sanho-ssi, don’t worry about it.”

“Eh? B-but….”

“It’s fine. You avoided the worst. Better to spill it on the middle of the shirt than on the middle of the pants.”

Ha Bomi encouraged Eun Sanho in her characteristically persuasive tone.

“But….”

“Trust me. It’s fine. By the way, Sanho-ssi, your hand is soaked too, so why not go wash it? Doesn’t that sound like a good idea? Now, off you go.”

Ha Bomi pushed the hesitant Eun Sanho on the back and sent him to the restroom.

“Phew.”

Watching Eun Sanho disappear around the corner, Ha Bomi wore a satisfied expression. Then she looked toward Kim Gwanggong and shook her head.

“Director, you should cover this.”

She took off her own jacket and handed it to Kim Gwanggong.

“It’s too shameful.”

“…Thank you for pointing it out.”

Kim Gwanggong accepted the jacket with a face that showed no gratitude at all. Ha Bomi smiled benevolently.

She felt proud of herself for handling so calmly a situation in which her superior was inappropriately exposing his chest in public.

“Secretary Ha, you seem to have high self-esteem, which is good.”

Kim Gwanggong said. It was not a compliment, but Ha Bomi tended to take Kim Gwanggong’s words at face value. She grinned.

“Come on, no matter how high mine is, it can’t compare to yours, Director.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Kim Gwanggong asked back, sounding displeased.

“Ahem, well, I mean….”

“Just say it.”

“You know the saying, even with a goalkeeper, the ball still goes in? Those things are outdated now.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“It’s just… you were staring too much at Sanho-ssi, even though he’s already seeing someone.”

That Eun Sanho had a lover was news to Kim Gwanggong. He frowned.

“Eun Sanho-ssi is seeing someone?”

“Ah, so it’s not high self-esteem but a lack of awareness you have?”

Ha Bomi slapped her knee as she spoke. For some reason, Kim Gwanggong found her words and actions irritating.

“…Eun Sanho-ssi never said such a thing, so how did you know, Secretary Ha?”

“Those things you can tell just by looking. Didn’t you see his finger? It looked like a couple ring.”

“…….”

“Ah, this is delicious. Do they sell it separately?”

Ha Bomi said while crunching on a pickle.

“Director, do you think they sell this separately? I want to buy one.”

“Why are you asking me? Shouldn’t your instincts be enough to know that?”

Kim Gwanggong replied coldly.

“Huh? How could I know that? Oh, there’s the chef. I’ll go ask whether they sell the pickles, so please pay and wait in the parking lot.”

With a happy look, Ha Bomi picked up her bag and quickly left.

“Haa….”

Kim Gwanggong brushed back his hair. Whether because of the subordinate who had gone off in search of pickles, or because of his dampened chest, his mood was not good. Or so, at least, he believed. There was no reason for Kim Gwanggong to concern himself with the beautiful and kind Eun Sanho or with the mysterious lover who shared a ring with him.

The plan of the three was this: first stop at H Hotel to drop off Kim Gwanggong, then stop at the SQ Group main house to drop off Eun Sanho, after which Ha Bomi would drive straight home to watch the weekday drama . The current time was 8:30 p.m., and the first step of the plan seemed to be successful. Kim Gwanggong had gone up to the suite room to change clothes, and Ha Bomi and Eun Sanho were drinking tea at the hotel lobby cafe, waiting to say goodbye when he came back down.

“So… you’re saying Simcheong took on the request of the rabbit whose liver was stolen, and went to wipe out the base of the undersea human trafficking ring?”

Eun Sanho spoke as if intrigued.

“Yes. It’s a huge ratings hit these days, don’t you know?”

Ha Bomi asked. Eun Sanho let out a sound, “Mhm,” and smiled awkwardly.

“Thing is… my family only watches…”

“What? Sanho-ssi, you’re a Kongji-dan?”

Ha Bomi spoke with a betrayed expression. (Detective Simcheong and Killer Kongji aired at the same time, creating a rivalry between the fandoms. The fandom names were Simcheong-dan and Kongji-dan respectively.)

“Strictly speaking, it’s not really my taste… but since my family all only likes Killer Kongji, I just end up watching it too.”

“How can that be! You have to watch the drama you like yourself!”

Ha Bomi, president of the Detective Simcheong fan club, shouted excitedly.

“But in my house, if you don’t know Kongji, you can’t even join the conversation….”

While explaining with cold sweat, Eun Sanho suddenly froze at something he saw. As his gaze fixed over his own shoulder, Ha Bomi blinked.

“Why, what is it? Is there something there?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s, it’s not a bug, right?”

“…No.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

Ha Bomi let out a sigh of relief. But to Eun Sanho, it did not seem like a relief.

“Rather a bug would be better.”

Eun Sanho muttered and suddenly stood up from his seat. His eyes were still fixed on something behind Ha Bomi.

“What is it that’s there….”

Ha Bomi tilted her head and looked back. But there was nothing unusual, and there were only a few people. In the lobby, the only people present were a couple waiting for the elevator and a few staff members. A group of tourists was unloading luggage from a bus and entering the lobby one by one, but they were not behind Ha Bomi.

“There’s nothing there?”

Ha Bomi looked at Eun Sanho in puzzlement.

“…Ms. Bomi, excuse me for a moment.”

Eun Sanho spoke for the first time without a smile. At the serious tone, Ha Bomi refrained from asking further questions and simply nodded.

Eun Sanho felt as if his blood were rushing backward and his mind going blank. It was because of the boyfriend, who had said he would be working late today, but was instead waiting for the hotel elevator while engaging in affection with some woman. Eun Sanho tried to remain calm as he approached the boyfriend. Then he tapped his shoulder.

“Who…? Huh.”