GGAS 27

As time passed, Kim Gwanggong’s view on buying H Hotel stock became even more negative.

This was because Seo Taerim kept showing behavior that he could not understand.

First, throughout the party, Seo Taerim only followed behind Kim Abang and busied himself putting bite-sized snacks like macarons and cherry tomatoes into his mouth one by one. Even if Kim Abang looked a little weak, it was not as if he had no hands or feet. Seeing that the man who was supposed to be a representative leading many employees lacked the ability to assess others, Kim Gwanggong could not trust H Hotel.

Second, when Kim Abang pricked his finger with a fork and a drop of blood came out, Seo Taerim was so startled that he banged his knee under the table and then stood up noisily. His behavior was already disgraceful enough, but he even ran straight to the infirmary and came back with a very large bandage. Carefree Kim Abang laughed and said, “You could easily turn me into a mummy, Taerim-ssi! You really are witty!” and liked it, but from Kim Gwanggong’s view it was not a situation to laugh at. Bringing back a large bandage for a wound that did not even need a plaster made Seo Taerim look like someone who exaggerated small matters until he ruined them entirely. Since Kim Gwanggong always considered calmness the first virtue of a CEO, he could not help but feel uneasy about Seo Taerim’s frivolous personality.

Lastly, during the fireworks, when Kim Abang looked at the red and blue lights filling the sky and asked, “Wow, isn’t it pretty?” Seo Taerim stared blankly at him and replied, “Yes… it is pretty.” Seeing that he did not even know which direction the fireworks were in, Kim Gwanggong suspected that Seo Taerim had night blindness or something similar. A representative’s health issues often had a direct link to stock prices, so this was not something he could overlook.

‘So that’s why Secretary Ha switched jobs.’

The real reason Ha Bomi switched jobs was not logical like that, but Kim Gwanggong simply assumed it and thought H Hotel was nothing but a false listing. But he also knew it was wrong to jump to conclusions. So instead of standing up immediately, he decided to keep observing Seo Taerim while sipping the pink cocktail with cherry blossoms something that Kim Abang had given him. Meanwhile, Seo Taerim seemed to have brought back another dessert from somewhere. Sitting side by side with Kim Abang, he poked a mini cake with a fork and held it in front of his mouth.

“Please try this too. It is delicious.”

Kim Abang ate what Seo Taerim offered, chewing happily, and gave him a thumbs up.

“Wow, this is great!”

As Kim Abang kept exclaiming that it was really delicious, Seo Taerim smiled faintly.

“Would you like some more?”

“Good… no, I mean! No, I am completely full. Taerim-ssi, you should eat it!”

Kim Abang quickly pulled back his gaze that kept drifting toward the desserts and pushed the plate toward Seo Taerim.

“I am fine.”

Seo Taerim pushed the plate back toward him and spoke kindly.

“But… Taerim-ssi, haven’t you barely eaten anything? I think you should eat some.”

Kim Abang, looking worried, pushed the plate back toward Seo Taerim.

“No. I am fine, so it would be good if you ate it, Kim Abang-ssi.”

Seo Taerim once again declined and pushed the plate back toward him.

“Bit…”

The two of them quarreled for quite a while over whether to put a nail-sized dessert into each other’s stomach, and in the end, they compromised by splitting it in half and tasting it together. From Kim Gwanggong’s view, this was an extremely inefficient decision-making process with no visible benefit. But despite the inefficiency, Kim Abang and Seo Taerim both looked satisfied with their decision.

“Hooa, today was so, so fun.”

Kim Abang said while patting his rounded belly. Kim Gwanggong found his rounded belly strange.

‘He feed him until his belly sticks out with snacks as small as bird feed, that Representative Seo is, in some sense, remarkable.’

For the first time in a while, Kim Gwanggong evaluated Seo Taerim positively and kept watching. Seo Taerim could not take his eyes off Kim Abang, blushing as he covered his mouth with one hand. From what could be seen through his fingers, he seemed to be smiling foolishly, grinning from ear to ear like someone who had given away his liver and gallbladder.

“Did you have so, so much fun today?”

Seo Taerim bent his upper body to meet Kim Abang’s eyes and asked.

‘Is his torso a slinky toy?’

Kim Gwanggong frowned as he thought this. But Seo Taerim’s effort was wasted because Kim Abang did not seem to be looking at him. He was busy looking at his own hand and folding down his fingers one by one.

“Yes. I ate lots of delicious things, I met many friends after a long time, I saw pretty fireworks…”

Kim Abang folded down his right thumb, index finger, and middle finger one after another as he listed the things that had made him happy today.

“Hmm… and what else was there?”

He tilted his head and muttered.

“Hmm… if you lift your head a little, you might see something else too.”

Seo Taerim imitated Kim Abang’s tone and gently urged him.

“Something else?”

Kim Abang lifted his head without much thought, and when he saw Seo Taerim, his eyes widened like a rabbit’s, then he grinned. At that, Seo Taerim followed with a slight smile and tapped Kim Abang’s extended right ring finger twice.

“Do you think you can fold down one more?”

Seo Taerim asked with the corners of his eyes curved.

“Of course. The fact that Taerim-ssi has been dancing this whole time is totally fun too!”

When Kim Abang folded down another finger and spoke brightly, Seo Taerim stopped smiling and froze.

“I… am dancing?”

“Yes, you are dancing even now. Shake~ shake~.”

“I… shake… shake…?”

Seo Taerim pointed at himself sitting still in his seat with his finger and asked.

“Yes~!!”

As Kim Abang kept smiling brightly while speaking, Seo Taerim, feeling uneasy, subtly pointed at Kim Gwanggong.

“Kim Abang-ssi, by any chance, is Kim Gwanggong-ssi… also dancing?”

‘Why drag me into this? His insides are as black as a drowned ghost¹.’

Kim Gwanggong looked at Seo Taerim with annoyance. But unlike him, Kim Abang was very cheerful.

“Oh, Gonggong was dancing too! Wow, did you prepare a flash mob?”

Seo Taerim checked Kim Abang’s glass out of the corner of his eye, but when he saw that not a sip had been drunk, he bit his lip in confusion.

Is he not drunk? Then am I drunk?

Seo Taerim checked his own glass. But it was the same here, not a drop gone, and since he could not grasp the situation, he frowned. Just then, Kim Abang glanced at Kim Gwanggong and then cupped his hand to Seo Taerim’s ear.

“No wonder, even at the last cruise party Gonggong was dancing like crazy. I guess he had been polishing his skills for a day like this! Actually, I was a bit startled when I saw that back then, but it’s good I pretended not to notice~”

Kim Abang whispered in a voice laced with laughter.

“……? The last cruise party?”

Seo Taerim asked again in puzzlement.

“Yes! Huh, but then, did my dad also come? At the cruise party before that, my dad was the one dancing. Ah, right, I should’ve realized since Dad often dances anyway! But you know I’m usually quick to notice, right?”

“……? The cruise party before that?”

“Yes. But to do a flash mob you need quite a few people, right? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we had gotten really close… I feel a little hurt, Taerim-ssi.”

Kim Abang pouted his lips and grumbled in a way that was not annoying. But Seo Taerim felt there was a more important issue right now than whether he felt hurt.

“Kim Abang-ssi, do you perhaps… feel nauseous?”

Seo Taerim asked uncertainly.

“Mm, a little??”

“Was it the same the last time and the time before? Every time you rode a ship?”

“Mm~ that’s right!”

When Kim Abang answered cheerfully, Seo Taerim became very flustered.

“Kim Abang-ssi, if we put together everything you just said, then every time you ride a ship your vision shakes and you feel nauseous. Normally, wouldn’t you think that means you get seasick…?”

Seo Taerim raised a reasonable question. Kim Abang’s eyes went wide in shock.

“I get seasick…?”

“Most likely, yes.”

“So it wasn’t Gonggong and Taerim-ssi who were dancing…?”

“At least I don’t dance. As for Kim Gwanggong-ssi…”

When Seo Taerim answered and looked at him, Kim Gwanggong sent him dumbfounded look.

“Of course I don’t dance either.”

“So that’s what it is.”

Seo Taerim turned back to Kim Abang and said.

“Ugh…”

Kim Abang brought his hands together and covered his mouth. Then, with his eyebrows curved into an eight shape, he cautiously opened his mouth.

“Uhm…?”

“……?”

“Then… was the flash mob canceled…?”

“It was never planned in the first place….”

Seo Taerim spoke in bewilderment.

“Oh….”

Kim Abang sighed as if he was very disappointed.

“I was taking dance lessons at the cultural center so I could join in next time….”

After saying that, Kim Abang covered his cheeks with both hands with a troubled expression.

“What should I do now?”

With his cheeks and lips pushed out slightly by his hands, he spoke seriously. At that, Kim Gwanggong let out a hollow laugh.

“What do you mean what should you do?”

He said. Kim Abang’s eyes widened in surprise, rolling toward him.

“Huh, Gonggong-ah, did you come up with a good solution?”

“What other solution could there be here? Kim Abang, you just completely wasted your mon…”

“We can do it!”

Seo Taerim hurriedly cut off Kim Gwanggong’s sharp words and jumped up from his seat.

“……?”

Kim Gwanggong looked at him with an expression that said, what now. But Seo Taerim did not care at all. Instead, smiling broadly, he gently held the hands that Kim Abang had pressed against his cheeks.

“I can dance well. We can just dance together. What’s the problem?”

As he said that, he glanced at Kim Gwanggong.

‘Why does Kim Gwanggong-ssi have to crush people’s spirits…’

He thought, slightly dissatisfied, he looked back at Kim Abang again.

“Would you like to dance with me?”

Seo Taerim asked kindly.

“Of course, I’d love to! But no backing out, okay?”

Kim Abang’s face lit up, and he stood up from his seat.

“Of course.”

Seo Taerim nodded with a faint smile. Then Kim Abang smiled brightly and shook their joined hands up and down.

“This is exciting~”

“Is it that good?”

Seo Taerim felt like his wrist might come loose, but since Kim Abang was happy, he somehow felt good too. Kim Abang nodded his head energetically, just like his hands.

“Of course it’s good! I had no idea you could dance hula and zumba, Taerim-ssi~”

“Hula and zumba?”

Seo Taerim was flustered and instinctively looked at Kim Gwanggong. Kim Gwanggong smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

“President Seo, you could even change your name to Buljae² and it would suit you perfectly.”

Kim Gwanggong spun his glass and spoke in a low voice meant only for Seo Taerim to hear.

“What….”

Seo Taerim’s mouth opened in disbelief, but then Kim Abang waved his hand quickly in front of his eyes.

“Taerim-ssi?”

“Yes?”

“How long have you been learning zumba?”

“That…”

Since the dance he had meant was waltz, he had nothing he could say. Meanwhile, Kim Abang kept chattering.

“I’ve been doing zumba for 60 months now~. I’m curious how many months you’ve been doing it, Taerim-ssi!”

“…Wait, what kind of cultural center class lasts 60 months…”

Seo Taerim muttered in bewilderment.

“Oh, Taerim-ssi, are you interested in our cultural center too?”

Kim Abang asked with a bright face.

“No, it’s not that… but the lessons you’ve been taking, are they hula and zumba? The hula from Hawaii and the aerobic zumba dance that I know?”

“Yes!”

Kim Abang answered brightly. Seo Taerim felt dizzy. Encouraging Kim Abang’s energy was certainly a good thing, but it was impossible to dance hula and zumba in front of all the group chairmen, client company presidents, some employees, TV stations, and newspaper reporters.

“Excuse me, Kim Abang-ssi.”

Seo Taerim hurriedly grabbed his sleeve as he walked forward toward the central stage without hesitation.

“Yes?”

Kim Abang turned back, his eyes shining with excitement. Seo Taerim forced an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry, but I have never learned zumba or hula… so it would be difficult to dance together.”

‘It’s such a relief I only learned waltz….’

Seo Taerim felt relief and praised his past self for being lazy.

“Ah… so you don’t know how to dance….”

Kim Abang quickly grew sullen and muttered. Seo Taerim happily nodded.

“Yes, unfortunately, I don’t know anything about that…”

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Kim Abang’s eyes lit up again and he snapped his fingers.

“Now that I think of it, my zumba teacher is here!”

“…What?”

“He came as an invited guest~. If we ask him for help, you can learn with me! He’s always passionate about spreading zumba anywhere, anytime~.”

“That…”

“Taerim-ssi, didn’t I tell you once that it’s never too late to learn?”

Kim Abang winked as he pulled Seo Taerim along.

“Kim Abang-ssi, I would actually prefer to be a little late….”

Seo Taerim voiced his stance with an expression that was neither crying nor laughing, but it seemed Kim Abang did not hear him. Instead, just a few seconds later, he miraculously spotted his zumba teacher in the crowd, and Seo Taerim was dragged to the center of the deck without a single chance to protest. And as Kim Gwanggong watched the scene live, he quietly finished his drink. Searching alone, even with fewer clues, was a hundred times better than looking with such strange people.

1. In folklore, drowned ghosts are infamous for pulling others into the water to drown with them. So he’s Taerim is trying to drag him down too. ↩︎
2. 불 (bul) means “fire.” 재 (jae) can mean “talent” or “asset,” but here it’s a pun. It’s also used in expressions for someone who dances or acts wildly like a clownish entertainer. Together, 불재 sounds like a flashy nickname mocking someone for being showy, fiery, or clownish on stage. ↩︎