GGAS 16

To get to the point, Seo Taerim kept his dignity. Thanks to his habit of skipping breakfast, there was nothing in his stomach. A single cup of hot chocolate on its own had a hard time making its way back up his throat without help from other food.

“Hoo…”

Seo Taerim, drained of all strength since noon, took a deep breath. Then he returned the black bag he had been clutching like a lifeline to Kim Abang.

“I think I’m fine now.”

“Really?”

Kim Abang asked suspiciously.

“It’s true.”

Seo Taerim spoke with certainty. Lately, his life had not gone the way he wanted, but he still knew his own condition better than anyone.

“Then that’s a relief…”

Kim Abang took the bag without letting go of his suspicious stare. He looked ready to rush over and shove it at Seo Taerim’s mouth the moment something went wrong. Feeling embarrassed under that scorching gaze, Seo Taerim cleared his throat.

“Um… I’m thirsty, can I drink this?”

When Seo Taerim pointed to the orange juice and asked, Kim Abang nodded solemnly. He seemed to think Seo Taerim was finally going to cause trouble.

‘But I really am fine…’

Seo Taerim felt the pressure as he gulped down the orange juice. The orange juice was sweet, cool, and tasty, and it helped ease his nerves.

“It’s good.”

Seo Taerim said.

“Is it?”

Getting praise for the snack he had prepared, Kim Abang’s expression softened a lot.

“If it suits your taste, have mine too. I’m not thirsty.”

When Kim Abang handed over his own orange juice, Seo Taerim drank that as well without refusing. Seeing Seo Taerim drink without throwing up, Kim Abang was finally relieved.

“Would you like some cookies too? These are good.”

Kim Abang offered chocolate jam cookies. But after what had just happened, Seo Taerim had developed a trauma toward chocolate. He was more curious about something else than the taste of the chocolate jam cookies.

“No, I’m fine. More than that, I have something I want to ask.”

“Something you want to ask? What is it?”

“That hot chocolate. Why did you give me something that needed to be washed?”

Hearing the hint of reproach in Seo Taerim’s voice, Kim Abang opened his eyes wide as if he were wronged.

“What do you mean why? It was because of you, Taerim-ssi!”

“…..?”

Seo Taerim was baffled. He had said many things to Kim Abang, but he had no memory of appealing that he preferred spoiled tastes.

“Because of me? What do you mean by that?”

Seo Taerim asked.

“Well, Taerim-ssi…!”

Kim Abang cut himself off mid-sentence, bit his lip, and his face turned red.

“Me?”

“That…”

“…?”

“That… Taerim-ssi… you saw something strange in the living room. You didn’t watch the movie I put on… you changed the channel.”

“…What?”

“I-I just… I was just preparing snacks and it seemed like my dad came home, so I went out for a moment, but you were watching that kind of thing… So in a rush, I ran back into the kitchen and grabbed anything at hand and ran out. I used the snack as an excuse to save you from my dad…!”

Kim Abang spoke faster and faster, and at the end, he shut his eyes tight and blurted it out like a rapid-fire gun.

“…….”

Seo Taerim realized how things had ended up this way and he was left speechless for a moment. He could not decide whether he should say thank you or not. But when he saw Kim Abang, who still had his eyes tightly shut in embarrassment and was trembling all over, he realized what he needed to do was not thank him but explain.

‘I never did anything that should make Kim Abang feel embarrassed in the first place!’

He felt deeply wronged.

“Kim Abang-ssi.”

At Seo Taerim’s call, Kim Abang cautiously opened one eye.

“Why…?”

Kim Abang asked carefully. Seo Taerim still found it absurd no matter how much he thought about it, he opened his mouth and then sighed.

“…You are very mistaken. Completely mistaken.”

“Mistaken?”

“Yes. I never changed the channel. I never touched what you had set up at all.”

When Seo Taerim spoke firmly, Kim Abang was dumbfounded in his own way.

“Then are you saying I put that on myself?”

“That would be the case.”

When Seo Taerim shrugged and said it, Kim Abang panicked and his face turned bright red.

“There’s no way I did! What I was watching was a teen romance. Really fresh, with sunlight coming into the school infirmary, that kind of thing!”

“Well. I don’t know what the original movie was, but what’s certain is that I am innocent.”

“I’m more innocent!”

At Kim Abang’s insistence, Seo Taerim gave a hollow laugh.

“I can stake my hotel on my innocence. Can you stake something on your claim being true, Kim Abang-ssi?”

“Gwanggong!”

When Kim Abang shouted it out, Seo Taerim flinched.

‘Kim Abang-ssi… is staking Gwanggong?’

For a moment, Seo Taerim lost confidence in his own words. He began to rationally doubt himself, thinking that if he could not even tell the difference between leftover hot chocolate and fresh hot chocolate, then how could he be sure he had judged the movie genre correctly.

But if he backed down now, there was no path left for him except becoming a shameless pervert. So it was all or nothing.

“Aren’t you going too far with that bet?”

Seo Taerim pretended to stay calm as he spoke. But Kim Abang had a superstition that if he staked Kim Gwanggong in a bet, he would always win, so he did not fall for Seo Taerim’s provocation.

“It’s not going too far.”

Kim Abang said confidently as he picked up his phone.

“We can just search it and see who’s right.”

At Kim Abang’s confident expression, Seo Taerim started to feel uneasy. In the short moment it took for Kim Abang to unlock his phone, Seo Taerim struggled over whether to snatch it away or not. But in the end, he gave up and chose to sit next to Kim Abang, nervously staring at the phone screen. Because stealing someone else’s belongings was illegal.

‘Why did I have to bet my hotel…’

Just as Seo Taerim was about to regret his arrogance bitterly, the search results appeared on the screen. Reading just the first four results from the top, they were as follows:

“Love Began on Stationery – Review of an R-rated Romance Movie ☆☆☆”

“Reading New R-rated Content – Movie Walk with Lee Sang-sik ⑦: ‘Love Began on Stationery’”

“Mona’s Movie Review / Backstage Warning / ‘Love Began on Stationery’”

“Actor Choi: ‘After filming so many bed scenes, I realized the value of a bed…’ Exclusive behind-the-scenes interview on launching a bed brand [Magazine Beautiful Life]”

In short, collective knowledge was on Seo Taerim’s side.

Kim Abang, who had been firmly convinced of his own innocence, scrolled down and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“Huh? No, this, this can’t be right? In the reviews I read, the only security was the school security guard…”

“I don’t know about that, but it seems like the kind of movie where even the security guard would kiss background extra number one.”

Seo Taerim, greatly relieved that he was still the CEO of H Hotel, added the words with ease.

“This can’t be…”

Leaving behind Kim Abang, who muttered in shock, Seo Taerim skimmed through the related search terms. Among the many, one in particular caught his eye.

“There seems to be a movie called ‘Love Begins on Stationery.’ Kim Abang-ssi, didn’t you confuse it with that one?”

“Aren’t they the same…?”

“How could they be the same?”

“Huh? What’s the difference…”

Kim Abang trailed off, then suddenly lifted his head as if he had realized the difference.

“They, they’re different.”

“Yes, they’re different.”

When Seo Taerim confirmed his defeat, Kim Abang looked close to tears.

“If they’re different… then I misunderstood… Then now… is Gwanggong your younger brother, Taerim-ssi…?”

Kim Abang asked, his voice trembling. Of course, such a change in the family registry was not a price Seo Taerim wanted at all.

“I’ll decline. It’s enough for me that your misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

When Seo Taerim politely refused Kim Gwanggong, Kim Abang was deeply moved.

“Taerim-ssi, you’re really kind, like an angel…!”

Kim Abang grabbed Seo Taerim’s hands and teared up.

“No wonder I kept seeing a shining ring above your head…!”

At Kim Abang’s excessive reaction, Seo Taerim’s expression turned sour.

“I’m afraid you’ll say you see wings next.”

At those words, Kim Abang sniffled and looked at him blankly, as if he was wondering what he was talking about.

“Wings…? I don’t see anything like that…”

And it was reasonable he did not. Kim Abang was not exaggerating but only saying what he actually saw. Seo Taerim was standing with his back to the light, and the lamp’s glow reflected on the tears on Kim Abang’s eyelashes, making it look like a halo. Kim Abang blinked, wondering if he was supposed to see wings too.

“I just… uh… I only see the halo.”

“…Doesn’t that mean I’m not an angel but just dead?”

At Seo Taerim’s words, Kim Abang jumped in shock.

“Dead? Why would you die! You’re kind and strong, so you’ll live a long, long life!”

When Kim Abang scolded him not to say such terrible things, Seo Taerim gave a mechanical faint smile and replied, “Is that so.” He thought that maybe being strong meant he could live long, but being kind had nothing to do with him.

‘I’m not that kind…’

Seo Taerim suddenly felt like he had become a fraud and it put him in a bad mood. He had simply said he did not need Gwanggong because he truly did not need him, yet he was being treated as a kind person. Some part of him gelt uneasy.

If he had heard those words from someone else, it might have felt like praise for excellent social skills and made him feel good. But hearing them from Kim Abang only made him feel uneasy.

Seo Taerim also felt a sense of crisis. If he kept winning favor like this, he had a hunch he would not be able to get away from Kim Abang for a very long time. For Seo Taerim, who had always pursued a life with low population density, Kim Abang, who had the presence of a one-man army, was a very troublesome person.

‘I need to make myself look… a little bad to Kim Abang-ssi.’

The fact that he came up with this thought only now, after being tied to Kim Abang in a contract relationship, made Seo Taerim a fitting example for people who always realized things too late. But Seo Taerim himself thought, ‘This is actually pretty quick, considering.’ So he earnestly began to rack his brain for a way to make himself look unpleasant to Kim Abang.

Then he remembered something Chief Kang had once said. It was advice that went, “President, you know you look a bit cold in meetings, right? It’s fine when it’s meetings with me, but when you’re meeting people from other companies, try smiling a bit.”

‘That means… if I want Kim Abang-ssi to lose affection for me, I just have to not smile, right?’

Finding this perfect solution, Seo Taerim rejoiced inwardly. And to carry out this plan immediately, he quietly looked at Kim Abang, who was still chattering on about wishing him a long and healthy life.

In Seo Taerim’s eyes, Kim Abang had the kind of appearance that made people feel good just by looking at him. His round, harmless features melted away others’ guard, and his sparkling eyes and lively expressions gave off fresh energy. In other words, it was hard to stop smiling when looking properly at Kim Abang’s face.

But Seo Taerim had to not smile now. So he chose to stare at the space between Kim Abang’s eyebrows. This was a useful trick in many interviews: “If you look at the other person’s brow, you’re not actually making eye contact, but the other person thinks you are.” Seo Taerim often used this trick in meetings. And this brow-staring method worked well enough that, even with the cheerful Kim Abang in front of him, Seo Taerim could quickly put on a blank face.

At first, Kim Abang kept chattering excitedly even while looking at Seo Taerim’s blank expression. But as time passed and Seo Taerim’s face did not change at all, Kim Abang’s words gradually slowed down.

“When I look at your palm lines, Taerim-ssi… your palms look like those of someone destined to live a very, very long life.…”

When Kim Abang spoke at a pace about 1.5 times slower than usual, his eyelids slightly trembling, Seo Taerim was startled.

‘It worked! He must have already lost affection for me!’

In his head, Seo Taerim popped open champagne.

‘I should keep looking at Kim Abang-ssi’s brow from now on! I’ll even raise Chief Kang’s salary!’

Seo Taerim rejoiced, he thought Chief Kang would want to designate Kim Abang’s brow as a family treasure if she ever heard this. But it was too soon to celebrate. Because Kim Abang was not slowing down due to being hurt by Seo Taerim’s cold expression.

‘Is Taerim-ssi… about to throw up again…? There’s no plastic bag this time…’

Yes. To Kim Abang, “Seo Taerim’s blank face = the face right before vomiting.” This was the unfortunate database he carried. Realizing there was no plastic bag within arm’s reach, he felt a deep sense of distress.

‘Do I have to catch it with my hands…?’

Kim Abang tensed as he considered the worst-case scenario. Of course, he did not forget to keep offering kind words to Seo Taerim at the same time.

“Taerim-ssi, have you ever imagined yourself in the Guinness Book as the longest-living person? I have… Well, not exactly imagining myself being the record holder, but me appearing on the news as an acquaintance of the record holder…”

Kim Abang spoke sincerely, but Seo Taerim had no intention of drawing public attention by getting into the Guinness Book. And since he needed to begin the “meeting,” he raised his hand to cut Kim Abang off.

“I appreciate that you think so much about my health, but I don’t think that’s the issue right now.”

With a deliberately cold expression, Seo Taerim took out his phone and opened the PDF file of the scanned contract.

“This is what I originally came to review, but we’ve wasted too much time already. Kim Abang-ssi, bring out the contract now.”

At those words, Kim Abang’s face brightened instantly.

‘So it wasn’t that he wanted to throw up, he just didn’t like the topic!’

As long as Seo Taerim wasn’t throwing up, everything was okay for Kim Abang.

“Ah, yes! I’ll take it out right now!”

He happily opened his desk drawer and pulled out the stack of contracts. But something was wrong. The contract stack was far too thin. Because of that, a flicker of confusion crossed Seo Taerim’s face, even as he tried to maintain his blank expression.

“…? Kim Abang-ssi, why is the contract so thin?”

Looking closer, Seo Taerim saw that the contract stack had completely lost everything from clause 1 through 249, starting right away from clause 250.

“Where did half of it go?”

Seo Taerim asked.

“Uh…”

Flustered, Kim Abang rummaged around the drawer he had taken the contract from. But the other half of the contract was nowhere to be seen. The drawer was just packed full of colorful bear-shaped jelly candies that Kim Abang liked.

“I left it here… where did it go? Did it get buried in the jelly?”

Kim Abang muttered seriously as he dug through the jelly bags. But maybe because his hands were small, he wasn’t really digging, just petting them.

‘That’s not digging through jelly, that’s stroking it…’

Seo Taerim resisted the urge to stand up and search the drawer himself, estimating its depth with his eyes instead.

“…That drawer doesn’t look deep enough to fit both the thick stack of contracts and all that jelly. I think you put it somewhere else. Do you have any idea where?”

Seo Taerim asked in a deliberately stiff tone.

“Mm… I don’t really remember… Ah, maybe I put it in another drawer?”

Kim Abang went from one drawer to another, struggling to find the missing half. But the drawers were filled only with candy, or chocolate, or letters he had collected since elementary school. The contracts were nowhere to be found. To make matters worse, when he discovered the letters, Kim Abang started getting lost in nostalgia.

“Whoa, Taerim-ssi! This is the first letter Gwanggong ever wrote me!”

Kim Abang happily picked up a jet-black envelope.

“And this one is the letter Gwanggong wrote to Santa Claus for the first time!”

He pulled out another black envelope, then soon stroked its corner with a sentimental gaze.

“It was really hard to steal this…”

“…I didn’t hear anything.”

When Seo Taerim replied tactfully, Kim Abang’s face suddenly shifted as if he realized his slip.

“Ah, was my pronunciation bad? I’ll say it again! What I mean is! I. stole. this. and. it. was. really. hard!”

“……..”

“Huh? You didn’t hear me again? Should I say it one more time? What I mean is! I! stole thi…”

“I heard you well enough. I’ll find the contract myself.”

Unable to stand Kim Abang’s crime confession any longer, Seo Taerim stood up from his seat. Since Kim Abang trusted Seo Taerim 120 percent, he nodded cheerfully.

“Sure! You can open anything you like!”

“Then excuse me.”

As soon as he got permission, Seo Taerim opened the drawers with precise, disciplined movements. His quick, sharp gaze skimmed past the jelly, candy, chocolate, and letters inside, as well as the various stationery on the desk, until it finally landed on a translucent plastic box placed on the top shelf. It was fairly large, but not as heavy as he expected.

“What is this?”

Seo Taerim asked as he took down the box.

“Ah, those are my masterpieces!”

Kim Abang said proudly.

“Masterpieces?”

Seo Taerim, looking puzzled, opened the lid of the box. Then, when he saw the contents, he blinked.

“This is…?”

“Ta-da! It’s the world’s best folded paper crane collection!”

Kim Abang spread both arms wide and shouted excitedly. But Seo Taerim was not excited at all. Seeing the countless paper cranes filling the box made his mind go blank. He had been wandering around looking for countless missing papers, only to find them here as countless folded cranes… it was obvious.

“Kim Abang-ssi, do these… look like paper cranes to you?”

Seo Taerim barely managed to speak, holding on to his flying mind.

“Uh… at least they don’t look like tigers, right?”

Kim Abang said carelessly.

“…Kim Abang-ssi, does it really not occur to you at all why the cranes on the bottom are colorful but the ones on top are all white?”

Seo Taerim asked, clinging to his last bit of hope. Of course, even if Kim Abang noticed, it would not change the situation. But he wanted to avoid being the only person in this room who fully understood the disaster.

“Mm… maybe I like white these days?”

Hearing Kim Abang’s answer, Seo Taerim seemed struck by reality and a faint smile appeared at his lips.

“No. It’s because the cranes on the bottom are normal ones folded with colored paper, and the ones on top are abnormal ones folded with the contract papers.”

Kim Abang tilted his head as if the words did not register right away, then looked back and forth between the colorful cranes and the white ones. After blinking a couple of times as if recalling something, he muttered,

“…Huh…”

“Yes.”

Seo Taerim smiled and nodded, confirming that the memory flashing through Kim Abang’s mind was correct. Blinking in disbelief, Kim Abang cautiously pointed at a white paper crane.

“This is…?”

“Yes.”

“…Oh my god…”

Kim Abang quietly covered his mouth with his hand in shock.