PHUW 67

“Fuck! Crazy deer bastard! It’s not even the first or second time!”

Startled enough to nearly collapse on the spot, Haeri shot his middle finger in the direction the deer must have been. Unlike him, flailing in alarm, Gom-i, who normally couldn’t resist wild animals, was unusually calm. Teaching him not to chase after wild animals during walks had paid off.

Whether it was in heat or not, the deer’s shrieks kept tearing through the night sky. He knew well enough that while they were disasters for crops and cars, they were harmless to people walking by. Even so, his steps unconsciously quickened.

Gom-i, who had been bouncing lightly along behind Haeri, suddenly stopped. He pricked his ears and turned back toward the road they had come from.

Haeri reflexively lifted his flashlight and shone it. The curved road was empty.

“Why are you acting scary like that?”

But Gom-i didn’t even look at him. He kept staring into the darkness, tail stiff, tension running through his legs as if he were about to take a step. He was definitely looking at something.

He had heard it before, that dogs could see things people weren’t supposed to see. Why did that thought come to him now of all times? His hair stood on end.

“Hey! Run!”

Haeri let go of Gom-i’s leash and bolted. Gom-i loves running as dogs do, he always followed when Haeri ran. This time was no different. Dropping his guard, he got excited at the sudden race, overtook Haeri, and ran all the way home ahead of him.

“Hey! That’s low, don’t run off alone! Run with me!”

While Haeri sweated buckets running through the night, he didn’t notice a black sedan with its headlights off appear at the end of the curve. The car, keeping its distance, quietly followed. Only after Haeri had fully entered the neighborhood did it leave the area.

***

The upper floors of Hyeonsan Group headquarters, the holding company built on construction, were lit from the early morning. More precisely, the lights had been on since the night before and had never gone out.

Because the vice-chairman, who handled the practical command of matters the chairwoman Noh Seongjae decided, had recently been replaced through a personnel move, presidents of affiliates, executives, and all head office employees were on edge, trying to size up the new vice-chairman.

He was the grandson of the former chairman, and the current chairwoman’s one and only nephew, credentials more than enough for a private company executive. But he had never proven any practical management ability. Rapid promotions for a chaebol child were common, but even then they started at some reasonable rank. To leap straight into the vice-chairman’s seat was unprecedented. Naturally, concerns poured out inside and outside the company, even from related government ministries and groups of economic experts.

So from his very first day, Jeong Mok had to meet one by one with key figures tied to his work. To calm the staff, he toured affiliates and production facilities scattered nationwide, and at the same time held video conferences with overseas branches, offering brief introductions and time to explain their work to each other.

Because of his constant outside schedule, he had little time left to review and approve documents, and so he was stuck working late every night. Today, after a video meeting with the European branch, he still had to go through documents for the Korean affiliates and give approvals. The only chance to nap was in the car while moving between places. Without natural stamina, he would have collapsed already.

Deep lines creased Jeong Mok’s brow as he moved between his laptop screen and the papers in front of him. He had emailed the former vice-chairman two days ago with a work-related question, but still hadn’t gotten a response. He picked up his phone and called right away. After a long wait, the other side finally answered.

–What’s going on at this hour? Isn’t it five in the morning there?

“Because of you, I’m still working.”

–Oh dear. Is that so?

Choi Sangeon chuckled, clearly amused. Behind him, the sound of a child came through.

–Jun-ah, it’s Uncle Mok.

–Hello, Uncle.

Jun greeted brightly.

“Oh, hi.”

–Uncle, when are you coming to our house?

“Well, I don’t know. You should probably ask your dad.”

–Dad, when’s Uncle coming to our house?

The call was dragging pointlessly while his vision blurred with fatigue. He was about to lose his temper, but with his young nephew listening, he held back the urge to let his voice turn harsh.

–That’s up to your uncle.

–But Uncle said to ask you. Uncle, Dad says he doesn’t know.

“Jun-ah. Can you hand the phone back to your dad?”

–Okay.

His good nephew quickly passed the phone back to his cousin, that bastard.

“The power plant H Energy is setting up in Poland.”

–Oh, the one you emailed me about?

“Did you read my email?”

–Just the subject.

“If you saw it, check it and reply.”

Jeong Mok pressed a hand to his forehead and ground his teeth at his useless hyung. He wanted to curse him out but held it in. He didn’t even have the energy left for that, and besides, if Choi Sangeon hung up on him one-sidedly, it would only make things harder.

–I forgot, cooking and washing dishes. Getting old makes you forgetful.

There was no hint of apology, even when Jeong Mok was suffering like this because of him.

Once seated in the vice-chairman’s chair, it wasn’t something he could just toss aside because he didn’t like it. Every day the affiliates waited for approvals and directives. Already, the eldest son of the main house was on long-term leave for the unprecedented reason of paternity leave, and if the stand-in, Jeong Mok, disappeared as well, the Hyeonsan family would lose shareholders’ trust in a big way.

To stop that, Choi Jieon would have to step up, but she was soon going on maternity leave too. The second house, always eyeing the vice-chairman’s seat, was rejoicing and using it to slander Jeong Mok. That made it all the more necessary for him to carry his weight. Yet the damned cousin who had caused this mess only provoked him at every turn instead of helping.

“Shut up. Just answer what I ask.”

When Jeong Mok snapped, Choi Sangeon chuckled, then briefly gave a rundown of the business in Poland and explained the available options. Since they were already on the phone, they discussed three or four other matters. Choi Sangeon explained concisely and clearly, even advising which points to check and judge most carefully. He was so thoroughly versed in the work that he could have come back and resumed the job immediately.

“You should be the one running the company.”

–I can’t work while raising a kid.

“There’s this thing in the world called working from home.”

–Home is for resting. You can’t drag work into the family.

It was true. But hearing it from the mouth of a chaebol successor only made it sound insane. Jeong Mok hung up the phone to cut off any more nonsense.

Using Choi Sangeon’s advice, he uploaded final instructions on the intranet for a tricky issue and processed the rest of the documents smoothly.

At nine he had to visit a large construction site in the southeast metropolitan area. He would leave home at eight without stopping by headquarters. That left about three hours.

Dragging his exhausted body downstairs, he found his secretary waiting. The moment he arrived at the house ten minutes away by car, he collapsed on the sofa, taking off only his jacket. He didn’t have the strength to make it to the bedroom. He planned to nap on the sofa first and wake up with a shower.

He closed his eyes in the dim, cool living room. He thought he would drift off right away, dazed as he was, but sleep didn’t come easily. The harder he tried, the more intense his irritation grew, along with an inexplicable thirst.

Finally he got up and went to the kitchen. On the table was a half-finished whiskey bottle and a crystal glass. He poured until it was full and downed half on the spot. The burning sensation slid down his throat and into his stomach. He finished the rest sitting on the sofa.

He loosened his tie, tore off his vest, and undid his belt. The loosened pressure made his body slacken. He lay down again.

Through the haze, the face he had tried all day to avoid thinking of rose up.

‘I was wrong! It’s all my fault!’

That tearful plea remained vivid. For a twenty-four-year-old young man, his features had been far too cute, far too tender, strangely so. He knew it was the drink that was making him feel something indecent at the memory of Haeri crying pitifully. Yet even so, a heat crept into his lower body. He told himself it was only the rise in body temperature from the alcohol. He had no strength to move a finger, so he forced himself to ignore it.

But Ahn Haeri kept circling in his head. The look in his eyes, staring at him without being able to even cry, made his chest tingle. He scrunched his face and pressed his forehead with his wrist, struggling to redirect his thoughts.

He failed. Whatever he thought of, it led back to Ahn Haeri. Even when he tried to focus on Song-i, the soft fur instantly turned into the feel of gentle curls. His hand resting on the sofa twitched.

What his hand touched was light hair swaying in the breeze. But then it grew damp, settling quietly. Clear water streamed over brown curls, down a rounded forehead, then dripped lower. Droplets clung to thick lashes, slid over smooth cheekbones, brushed the line of a straight nose, and touched his lips. His moist red lips gleamed, and he fancied they smelled like fruit candy.

The water pooled at his jaw, then fell to the floor. His gaze followed the drops downward. And there was Ahn Haeri, perched on the edge of the bathtub, while he knelt below, looking up at him.

It was the posture of a worshipper before a sacred being. But his hands were not humble or reverent. He forced apart Haeri’s closed knees, fingers digging into the smooth flesh of his thighs. He shoved his thumb deep into the crease, pried hard with his grip, and the neatly shaped organ sprang up.

“……!”

Jeong Mok sat upright as if struck by lightning. He let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding in, his chest heaving. With his damp hand he scrubbed his face, unable to hide his dismay.

‘Damn it. How could I even imagine that.’

His shock at his own madness lasted only a moment. Then he felt dread.

His body was responding. It was hard enough that he could not write it off as just the alcohol.