VSP 129

The position of Association President requires more than just a rigid sense of integrity. Public relations are necessary everywhere, and in that regard, the two maintained a fairly close partnership.

If one had to define it, Ryu Sehyun was the one in the subordinate position.

This was especially true lately, with critics claiming the Taeseong Department Store incident was a man-made disaster caused by the Association’s negligence.

“Don’t tell me you aren’t interested in men. I’m quite good at recognizing my own kind.”

Sehyun could not leave that without an answer. The man knew his approach was a bit cowardly, but his curiosity won out.

Even the great Ryu Sehyun could not afford to offend him right now. With a relaxed, bright smile, the man took this chance for a petty revenge against Sehyun, who had deflected every single one of his flirtations until now.

“……”

Ryu Sehyun remained silent. His expression was as neutral and unreadable as ever, but the man knew Sehyun could not refuse him.

The fact that he didn’t reject him immediately meant he was already wavering to some degree.

However, seeing him struggle to answer, the man decided to be a little generous.

“It’s not as if you’ve already given your heart to someone else, right?”

“……”

He wanted to lighten the mood with a joke, but Sehyun’s eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly at the remark.

Oh?

It seemed he had stumbled onto the truth by accident. Sehyun let out a heavy sigh.

“I apologize.”

The apology made it official. The man had only wanted to be a bit mischievous, but he found himself flatly rejected instead. He looked flustered for a moment before he, too, sighed.

“…Haa.”

The excitement instantly vanished. He realized he had been putting on a grand performance for someone whose mind was already elsewhere.

“No, there’s no need to apologize. I was just being a bit petty, but I ended up outsmarting myself.”

He patted Sehyun’s shoulder as if he hadn’t just made the other man’s heart drop a moment ago. He felt strangely bitter. It made sense, a man this remarkable wouldn’t be available.

Since there were no rumors of him dating anyone, it meant his feelings were likely unrequited. If a man like Ryu Sehyun was pining for someone, there was no way anyone else could squeeze into that space.

At that moment, the man gave up on Sehyun. He hadn’t been deeply invested to begin with. He shrugged.

“Regardless, I am curious.”

“About what?”

“Who exactly is the person capable of making a man like you so restless?”

Sehyun flinched, but the man simply waved his hand with a bright smile.

“I’ll head out first. I rented this whole place for the day, so feel free to stay as long as you like. It’s better than us leaving at the same time and causing a scandal, right?”

“Everyone knows I’m gay, after all.” The man laughed as he left the restaurant, thinking about how he should go home and drink himself into a stupor.

Left alone in the spacious restaurant, Ryu Sehyun stood still for a moment before he slowly sat back down.

The table offered a prime view of the night skyline, but the glittering lights of Seoul failed to catch his eye.

“…Haa.”

He undid a few buttons that had been choking his neck. This small act didn’t miraculously erase the fatigue and stress accumulated over the past few days, but it did make him feel less suffocated.

He was always busy, but Ryu Sehyun had been overwhelmed lately.

The Taeseong Department Store incident was a catastrophe that happened right in the Association’s backyard.

The site was only ten minutes away from the Association building. Even though the location had no prior connection to them, and despite the fact that no hunter or dungeon expert could have predicted the sudden appearance of a dungeon, the public didn’t care.

They were blamed every day because civilians were caught in the crossfire.

People questioned if the Association was at fault for a disaster so close to home. They wondered if things would be different if Sehyun had done better, or if awakened individuals should be stationed in every district for real-time security. Even the rural areas with fewer hunters took the opportunity to raise their voices. The criticism arrived like a tidal wave.

He usually avoided relying on the media, but he had no choice in times like these. Beyond his own exhaustion, he knew that heavily biased public opinion would only lead to negative consequences.

He had been running himself ragged to settle the situation, and before he knew it, several days had passed, leading to tonight.

Time acted as the ultimate medicine. Public interest, which had flared up so intensely, finally began to simmer down, and the department store prepared to reopen its doors.

Only after things settled did Sehyun find the mental space to look around.

[My phone was destroyed so I bought a new one.]

[I’m okay. It doesn’t hurt at all. Yerin is really talented, you know.]

[How are you these days, Hyung? You seem busy.]

Messages from Sejun, with whom he had lost touch, were in his inbox. Sehyun had been short on time and feared he might disturb the younger man’s recovery, so he had stayed away. In that interval, Sejun seemed to have healed well.

“……”

How are you?

He wasn’t doing well, but he certainly was busy. He had been so occupied that he couldn’t even make a move to visit Sejun.

Sehyun habitually brushed his finger over Sejun’s name on the screen.

‘Oh, Cha Dogyeong took Sejun-oppa.’

That day, when all the schedules finally wound down, Yerin had cautiously shared the news. Dogyeong had taken Sejun.

Sehyun knew someone must have picked him up since the incident lasted so long, but he hadn’t expected it to be Cha Dogyeong. He couldn’t blame anyone since he was the one unable to clear his schedule.

Ryu Sehyun realized he was losing control over his emotions again when he saw Yerin warily watching his reaction.

There was one more thing. Hangyeol, who stood beside Yerin with a beaming face, had asked him directly.

‘Does Sehyun-hyung like Sejun-hyung, too?’

‘Hey, Choi Hangyeol!’

Yerin tried to stop him, but Hangyeol didn’t care.

‘Sejun-hyung is really popular. If you stay like this, someone will steal him.’

Steal him. The term was inappropriate because Sejun was never his to begin with. Yet, he felt a sense of crisis. If he kept his eyes turned elsewhere, he really might lose him, just as Hangyeol said.

Was it a mistake to sit in the President’s chair in the first place? He never even wanted the position.

Some treated him like a man obsessed with power. While that was unfair, he usually ignored it because he wasn’t the type to be swayed by the opinions of others. Before he knew it, he had become a man who fit the title of Association President.

He was the type of person who prioritized duty over love.

On that day, too, he chose his work over Seo Sejun.

His head told him it was the right choice, but while he did his duty, another man took his place by Sejun’s side.

The path he walked always felt certain, but now that he reached this point, he felt suffocated.

Why did I want to become the President?

There was no one else to do it. He was the only one who fit. He figured it was better for him to take the lead than to watch the Association fall apart under someone else.

No, that wasn’t it. While he had thought of that, the true reason that pushed him into this seat was a strange, inexplicable pressure from his past.

But that influence was gone now. So why was he still here? Why was he in a place like this with a stranger instead of Sejun?

‘You try too hard to meet everyone’s expectations perfectly.’

As he frowned, he recalled the words of the former President and traitor to humanity, Park Hyeongcheol.

‘I know you can do it, but you’ll end up losing the things that actually matter.’

The man was rotten to the core, but perhaps he was right about that one thing.

Sehyun always believed he walked the right path. He only ever looked ahead. Now, for the first time, he looked back and saw only darkness. He couldn’t tell if he had come the right way.

He didn’t know what the right answer was. This was a first for him, too.

If I lose you like this, I will definitely regret it.

But I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to act so that I won’t have any regrets.

After staring at Sejun’s message for a long time, Sehyun checked another chat.

Cha Dogyeong.

The meeting he had delayed due to work was now right around the corner.

[Okay.]

Sehyun assumed Dogyeong wouldn’t pick a time or place first, so he had sent the details himself. The reply confirming the appointment arrived this morning.

Sehyun stared at the message for a moment before he stood up. Enough time had passed; there was no need to stir up unnecessary gossip by staying longer.

He refastened the buttons he had undone and tightened his tie. He left his brief moment of respite behind and returned to his daily life.

Back to that suffocating routine.