CTL 21

After Minjung left, Seohwi looked around the empty house. Perhaps it was because he was staying there with him, but the lonely atmosphere from the beginning had largely disappeared. He wiped the dirty table and thought about Yoongeon. About the Yoongeon who had suddenly changed one day. He tried to guess how that mischievous child had lost all his expressions and emotions, but in the end, he could not find an answer.

Cases where a child changes dramatically are often because of the parents. Not receiving love, or things being different than before. But it was not the case for Yoongeon. He changed on his own, and thus surprised the people around him.

Listening to that story, Seohwi recalled his own childhood. It was a little different, but had he not experienced something quite similar to Yoongeon? After he started dreaming of the man whose face he could not see, Seohwi also changed a little from how he used to be.

“Haah….”

That was why the story Minjung told him did not feel entirely comfortable to listen to. If he asked Yoongeon, would he give him an answer, even later? He could not know.

“Why is this so difficult.”

In his entire life, Yoongeon was, without a doubt, the first person to put him in such a predicament. Every moment with him was too difficult and overwhelming for Seohwi. But… a voice was shouting from within his chest, telling him not to be pushed back helplessly. To endure, even if it was hard. By any means necessary.

It was when he was pressing his forehead with his hand in frustration. He heard the vibration of a phone from somewhere. Seohwi, looking for the phone, sat down on the sofa and was inwardly surprised by the larger-than-expected number of messages.

Seohwi read and ignored the message from Taekyung, and while deleting the unread notifications one by one, he opened the one labeled [Manager Kim Jia-nim]. He wondered what she had to say, since Yoongeon had already processed his absence.

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Oh no 🥺

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Mr. Seohwi ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Are you very sick?

Manager Kim Jia-nim: What to do.. I’m sorry..

Manager Kim Jia-nim: It’s because I scolded you yesterday, isn’t it..ㅠ

Manager Kim Jia-nim: I did it because mistakes need to be fixed quickly but what to do ㅠ

Manager Kim Jia-nim: I’m really sorry 😭

As soon as Seohwi checked it, Kim Jia sent another message.

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Ah you saw it

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Mr. Seohwi~ㅠㅠ Are you very sick?

It seemed she had been waiting for him to read it all along, as the messages were coming in quickly.

Me: It’s not that

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Aww what do you mean it’s not that ㅠ

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Mr. Seohwi, have lunch with me next week

Manager Kim Jia-nim: It’s my treat 🙏

The replies were too fast, even for a fast reply. Seohwi had only said one thing, but words poured out.

Me: It’s not because you scolded me, so please don’t worry about it

Manager Kim Jia-nim: It’s because I feel uncomfortable ㅠ

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Really, please, just this once.. let’s eat together, okay? I feel like I’ll feel better if we do 😊

Right after, she sent an emoticon that was practically begging. Seohwi was at a loss.

Of course, it was true that Manager Kim Jia had scolded him harshly yesterday, but it was for a justifiable reason. He did not realize it at the time, swept up in his emotions, but as he quietly listened to Manager Kim Jia point things out one by one, he realized how rude his behavior had been.

Me: It’s really okay

Me: It was something I deserved to be scolded for. I am sorry

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Ah please please please please!.!!¡¡!¡¡!,,,

Manager Kim Jia-nim: You’re really the first new employee to be sick and absent after I scolded them, so I was so so surprised…

Manager Kim Jia-nim: I’m not saying you did a good job ㅜ It’s just that I feel really really really really bad, so let’s just eat obediently ㅠㅠ

Me: Okay….

Seohwi had refused, but the other party was persistent. Having no more courage to refuse, Seohwi surrendered. He wanted to avoid it because it felt like he was incurring a debt, but since it had come to this, it would be better to at least buy coffee.

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Oh yeah 😍

Manager Kim Jia-nim: See you on Monday~ Don’t be sick ㅠㅠ

He saw a sika deer emoticon with both hands raised. It looked like the conversation was about to end, so Seohwi, who was typing a suitable ‘Yes, thank you,’ suddenly remembered something, deleted the message, and wrote again.

Me: Ms. Jia

Me: I’m sorry, but what is Executive Director doing right now?

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Oh

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Hold on

A moment later, a reply came.

Manager Kim Jia-nim: He’s working? He’s just in the executive director’s office

Manager Kim Jia-nim: It’s the same as always haha

Me: Ah

Me: Yes, thank you

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Why, do you have a message for him? Tell me, I’ll pass it on

Just as he was about to decline, another message came from Kim Jia.

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Oh but earlier

Manager Kim Jia-nim: The Vice President came and threw a tantrum in the executive director’s office and left

Manager Kim Jia-nim: So ridiculous… He’s the one who caused the trouble ㅠ why take it out on the innocent Executive Director ㅠ?

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Other than that, nothing’s up

When she said Vice President, she must have been talking about Vice President Ko Yoonchul. Seohwi guessed why he had come all the way to the executive director’s office to throw a tantrum and frowned. Well, still, it was unlikely that Yoongeon had taken it lying down.

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Oh but, since I’m slacking off at work right now

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Can I ask you just one thing? haha

Me: Yes

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Isn’t it hard living with the Executive Director?

Manager Kim Jia-nim: Living with your company boss…? When the fairy didn’t even give you money…?

“Fairy…?”

Why wouldn’t a fairy give money…? He muttered, not understanding, but he could not find an answer.

He had wondered what she was trying to ask, and it seemed that was what she was curious about. When he replied that he treated him well, Jia said it seemed that way and told him what had happened that morning.

In the morning, Yoongeon had come to work and personally processed Seohwi’s absence, saying he was sick. Then he had even explained in detail to the concerned team members what he was sick with.

In truth, Yoongeon was not particularly cold to the team members, but he was still not someone who usually spoke at length, so everyone had been surprised. She said he had called for Secretary Lim and told him to go to the house and check on Seohwi since he was very sick, and after saying, ‘He should be arriving soon, right?’, she suddenly said she had work to do and sent a waving hand emoticon with the word ‘Bye’.

“Our delicate baby, Mr. Yoon Seohwi, are you here?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear…. As soon as his conversation with Kim Jia ended, Lim Seonwoong opened the door and entered majestically.

“No, they said you were sick? Are you a baby by any chance?”

“Excuse me? …No.”

At the word baby, Seohwi answered with a straight face, but Seonwoong paid him no mind.

“Why are you sick? Then are you a sunfish by any chance?”

“Ah….”

Seonwoong had not even said a few words, but Seohwi’s energy began to drain in real time. For some reason, it felt like the more he talked to him, the more his sickness would return.

“Here, our cute baby sunfish. I bought you some porridge, so eat up.”

He put down the paper bags he was holding in both hands. The bag had the brand logo of a nearby porridge shop.

“Eat it now. You have to eat and then take your medicine.”

“I just ate.”

“Ah, really? Then save this for later. Did you take your medicine too?”

“Yes.”

Unlike his energy-draining way of speaking, Seonwoong checked Seohwi’s condition very meticulously. Then he even found a nearby hospital for him, telling him to go if he was not feeling well. He was indeed meticulous from working as a secretary attending to a boss for a long time.

“The house is warm, isn’t it?”

“Excuse me?”

Seonwoong, who had been looking around the house for a while, came over to Seohwi and said.

“It’s usually cool to the point of being a bit cold, but I guess he made it warm because you’re sick, Mr. Seohwi. Phew, but at this rate, our Executive Director must have been a little hot.”

He added that Yoongeon was naturally sensitive to heat, so unless it was the dead of winter, he barely turned on the heating.

‘Was that so.’

He had not paid particular attention, but now that he thought about it, he did not think he had ever felt cold.

“Ah, but.”

Secretary Lim said as he naturally sat down. Watching Seonwoong, Seohwi blinked. It was because he was wondering why he was sitting down. Since he was Yoongeon’s secretary, shouldn’t he go back once his task was done?

“Ah, but I’m totally in the mood right now.”

“……”

“The mood for some fish-shaped buns.”

“Excuse me?”

“Fish-shaped buns.”

“……”

“I should go buy some.”

However, it seemed Seonwoong did not think so. After randomly declaring he had to eat fish-shaped buns, this time he went not outside, but into Seohwi’s room. He was completely unpredictable.

“Huh?”

But Seohwi, who followed him in, wondering what on earth he was doing, was startled. It was because Seonwoong, upon entering the room, suddenly opened the bag of money that was placed in the corner and nonchalantly took out 50,000 won from it.

“No, wait a minute. Wait a minute, Mr. Seonwoong.”

Seohwi was so flustered that he grabbed his arm.

“I’m going to give that back to you.”

“Huh? Why would you give this to me? He won’t take it anyway, you know? Goodness, you have such a useless stubborn streak.”

“No, no…. Ah, don’t take out any more…. I’ll give you some money, so buy them with that.”

He felt like he was going to lose his mind. Lim Seonwoong was uncontrollable. He could not be reasoned with. He tried to stop him when he saw him stealthily taking out another 50,000 won bill, but it was no use.

“No, do I look like some kind of scoundrel who would steal a new employee’s money?!”

For someone who was brazenly stealing someone else’s money, Lim Seonwoong was quite eloquent. Seohwi was dumbfounded.

“It’s Executive Director’s money, and you’re taking it right now without even telling him.”

Of course, he knew that he habitually fleeced Yoongeon of his money, but this was a different matter. When he asked if he was now resorting to theft, Seonwoong’s eyes widened.

“This isn’t Executive Director’s money.”

“…Is it my money?”

“Nope?”

“……”

“You said you wouldn’t take it, Mr. Seohwi? Then it’s not your money either.”

Ah, what is this now. It was then that a vein popped on the neck of the finally angered Seohwi.

“This is abandoned money.”

“What, excuse me?”

“I’m going to buy fish-shaped buns with this abandoned money.”

“……Hah.”

“So you should have just taken it and used it when Executive Director gave it to you.”

At Seonwoong’s words, accompanied by a shrug, Seohwi put a hand to his forehead.

“It’s not money I should be receiving.”

“Why not? It’s the price for having to endure the inconvenience.”

“No, that’s….”

“Mr. Yoon Seohwi. That money isn’t just given to you to make you feel good. It’s a proper payment for a transaction, received upon signing a contract.”

He thought he was just stealing money to buy fish-shaped buns without a thought, but unexpected words came from him. Of course, it still sounded like nonsense.

“…What are you talking about now. In the first place, Executive Director gave me that money on the condition that I leave this house.”

But he did not leave. So when he said the contract could not have been established in the first place, Seonwoong was firm.

“But I told you to take that money and never leave. Did Executive Director stop that at the time?”

“……”

Did he stop it? …He did not think so.

“Do you know this? In fact, if he really hated it, our Executive Director is someone who would have dragged you out by force.”

Seonwoong crossed his arms and glared at him.

“But he didn’t, did he. So what do you think he was thinking. He doesn’t want you to leave, Mr. Seohwi.”

“……”

Well, it did seem that way. Seohwi was captivated by Secretary Lim’s words.

When he was about to really leave, unable to suppress the surge of anger, he had even held him back, so perhaps Secretary Lim was right. While drawing a line and not letting him get close, he found it unbearable for him to actually leave.

“Are you staying here out of pity for our Executive Director?”

“No.”

If he had to be precise, he was not here out of pity, but out of anxiety. Because he did not know when, or what kind of trouble Yoongeon would cause.

“Then that’s great. In any case, our Executive Director is not someone who needs to be pitied, so let’s just take the money and be done with it cleanly. That way, Executive Director can be at ease too, right.”

At Seohwi’s firm answer, Secretary Lim said.

“What kind of ease.”

“If you take the money, Mr. Seohwi, he won’t think you’ll just up and leave.”

“…I don’t think he’d think that.”

“Is that the kind of person who gets so restless at the company just because you have a little bit of a cold, Mr. Yoon Seohwi?”

He said, fluttering the 100,000 won he was holding in his hand.

“He was acting as if he had left a person on their deathbed. And I definitely heard him.”

As if telling a huge secret, he lowered his voice and whispered.

“He was muttering to himself, what should he do, he has to send him home if he’s too sick. It means he doesn’t want to send you away.”

“……”

“So I came. Ta-da!”

He made a flower cup shape with his hands under his chin, then said he would go buy them quickly and rushed outside.

“…He didn’t want to send me away?”

Seohwi’s face, having heard something he had not expected, flushed red in an instant.

✧ ✧ ✧

“……”

15 minutes later, Seohwi was staring blankly at a mountain of fish-shaped buns. No, he was looking at the egg bread placed next to the mountain of fish-shaped buns.

“Here you go. Custard-filled, red bean-filled, and pizza-filled.”

Seonwoong took out a plate in front of him and placed three fish-shaped buns on it. Then, he began to eat the fish-shaped buns with great excitement. Seohwi, whose stomach was completely full from having eaten a meal and tangerines just a moment ago, just stared at the fish-shaped buns with a fed-up look. It felt like if he ate this too, he would be full up to his throat.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“…Please, eat a lot.”

“Do you want some egg bread?”

“No.”

There was no way the fish-shaped buns would go down when he had just eaten a meal. Seohwi shook his head.

“Hey, the sicker you are, the better you have to eat. Eat up.”

“No, I’m not… Mmph!”

But Seonwoong did not listen and forcibly shoved a fish-shaped bun into his mouth. If he was not going to listen, why did he even ask? Seohwi pulled his head back in annoyance, but since it was already in his mouth, he could not spit it back out. He scrunched up his face and forced himself to eat the fish-shaped bun.

―Rrrrr.

Never mind all that, he was just thinking he wished Lim Seonwoong would quickly eat these fish-shaped buns and disappear from his sight. At a good timing, Seonwoong’s phone rang.

“Eh.”

Seonwoong answered while eating a fish-shaped bun. His reply was completely muffled, and a cold voice was heard from over the phone.

[What on earth are you doing there.]

It was Yoongeon. Seohwi looked at Seonwoong with anxious eyes. He knew it. Why was he slacking off here, making people anxious.

“Eating fish-shaped buns.”

[Why are you eating fish-shaped buns there!]

Ah, I knew it….

The sound of Yoongeon getting angry could be heard even by Seohwi. But Secretary Lim did not even bat an eye.

“Ah, this is so our cute Mr. Yoon Seohwi will eat something!”

[……? What kind of nonsense is that? Mr. Yoon Seohwi what? What did you just babble?]

“……Is he crazy?”

Yoongeon from over the phone, and Seohwi in front of Seonwoong, both muttered in bewilderment.

“He ate a meal and took his medicine just now, right? Since he’s sick, he can’t eat much, so shouldn’t he at least eat something sweet. That’s how his body will hold up.”

[…….]

“……”

“So, I’m doing this with all that in mind. You need to eat something to have strength! You know that medicine for colds is usually quite strong, right? If you take cold medicine on an empty stomach, your body gets worn out, completely worn out. Do you want that? Huh? Will you be satisfied only when our Mr. Yoon Seohwi’s body is worn out and he finally faints?”

No. Seohwi’s stomach was not empty, and his body was not worn out. In fact, he was so full that he felt like he would throw up from a single bite of the fish-shaped bun. But Secretary Lim was shamelessly lying to Yoongeon.

[…….]

But Yoongeon, who had no way of knowing Seohwi’s situation, could not bring himself to refute his secretary’s words.

“Then should I just leave now, Executive Director? I was planning to go after confirming that he eats.”

“……”

Seonwoong placed a bet with Yoongeon, and,

[……Make sure he eats everything and then come. Don’t take too long, I’m busy.]

absurdly, it worked. Seohwi was so dumbfounded that he put a hand to his forehead.

“Puhi.”

“……”

Seonwoong laughed with a strange sound. Seohwi stared at him with dead fish eyes.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, you just lied.”

“Lied?”

“You said you do everything else to Executive Director, but you don’t lie to him.”

He had clearly said something like that and had not even taken the bag of money, so when asked if he was now deceiving people, Seonwoong opened his eyes wide and retorted.

“It’s not a lie, though?”

“Ah, what is that supposed to….”

“I really am feeding him. Here, look here. Among the custard-filled, red bean-filled, and pizza-filled buns, the red bean one has already popped right into Mr. Seohwi’s mouth, right? I gave him a lot.”

Fed him? Gave him a lot? It was all nonsense. Seohwi scowled and refuted.

“You gave me three.”

“Ah, do you want more? Should I give you more?”

He meant to ask how he could say he “fed” him after giving him a measly three, but Seonwoong took it as a request for more and slid a pizza-filled bun toward him.

“…I’m not eating.”

“See. I gave you just enough to eat. You look like you have a small appetite.”

It was frustrating. But he was right.

“Mr. Seonwoong.”

Seohwi, who had been staring blankly at Seonwoong, who was spouting what could be either sophistry or logic while eating fish-shaped buns and looking at his phone again, finally could not hold it in and called out to him. Seonwoong, who had been chuckling while reading a webtoon, lifted his head as if to ask what was wrong, and he blurted out the question he had been holding in all this time.

“You’re deliberately tormenting Executive Director, aren’t you.”

“Gasp, I’m caught.”

“……”

At his question, Secretary Lim feigned surprise and covered his mouth with his hand, then burst out laughing, unable to hold it in.

“Strangely, when I see Executive Director, I just want to bother him. It’s like… how should I put it, I just want to take more of his money… it’s like that….”

“……”

Seonwoong suddenly leaned closer to him with a serious face and said.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.”

“…What is.”

“This is, what should I say… it’s a level of unfairness that just doesn’t make sense unless I say I was terribly wronged by Executive Director in a past life, you know?”

At his nonsense, Seohwi let out a sigh, but he paid no mind and passionately argued his point.

“But well, let’s say that’s the case for me. But you know, the strange one is actually Executive Director. With his personality, isn’t he too kind to me?”

“……”

“He’s not originally that kind of person, is he. Does he have any expression on his face, does he know how to speak kindly…. But still, I could tell. Ah, Executive Director is putting up with me, I thought. I think Executive Director is in love with me.”

“……”

Seohwi’s face literally rotted. Who is in love with whom now.

Seohwi, who had thought Seonwoong was just acting as he pleased—and in fact, that was correct—was surprised that he was thinking about Yoongeon more seriously than he had expected. He really could not tell where this person’s sincerity ended and where his jokes began. But he could tell that what he was saying right now was sincere.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m doing this because I like Executive Director. It’s my own way of expressing affection, I guess? Honestly, I also feel like if I don’t act silly like this by his side, he’ll just work all the time.”

The method was strange, but his sincerity could be felt. For a moment, he felt a sense of relief. Although he was a cold and lonely-looking person, the people by his side still cherished and liked him.

“You’re the same, Mr. Seohwi. Right?”

“……Yes.”

To the question of whether he was not staying by Yoongeon’s side with that kind of feeling, Seohwi quietly nodded and answered.

Of course, the feelings he had for Yoongeon would be clearly different from those of Seonwoong sitting in front of him. But since their feelings of cherishing him were the same anyway, Seohwi belatedly gave his answer. At Seohwi’s answer, Seonwoong grinned.

“Executive Director likes you too, Mr. Seohwi.”

And then he said something that made Seohwi’s heart drop with a thud.

“I can see it in my eyes. So even if it’s hard, please endure it a little longer and stay by his side.”

<Continued in Volume 3>