NAME 15

Baek Kanghyun asked Seowon directly. Seowon continued with his answers without hesitation.

“Considering that competitors have recently introduced new pricing policies, it seems necessary for our company to re-examine our pricing strategy as well. We will need to clarify the unique value we can provide and find ways to occupy an advantageous position in price competition. This is something that needs to be discussed not only with our Sales Team 3 but with other teams as well. In particular, I think the process of actively cooperating with the Public Relations Team to reflect this in our marketing strategy is important.”

It had been a long time since he felt his mind working so sharply. Even without thinking much, the words flowed smoothly from the tip of his tongue. After finishing his statement, Seowon caught his breath for a moment. His cheeks were warm. People’s eyes were focused on Seowon. After a brief silence, Manager Park spoke up.

“Wow, Assistant Manager Jeong’s condition is great today.”

“You flatter me.”

Seowon gave a slight smile. While praise for his work was fine, being the center of attention in a group setting was always a burden. Thus, even though he kept whipping himself not to get excited, his rare high spirits did not easily subside. In particular, he was even more conscious of his attitude and expression because Baek Kanghyun was staring at him throughout the meeting. Even if Baek Kanghyun looked fine on the outside now, he might actually be quite irritated.

<Because even I have tastes.>

The expression on Baek Kanghyun’s face the moment Seowon said that was still vivid. His eyebrows slanted toward the ceiling, his distorted eye corners, and his slightly parted lips were saying: how could I possibly not be your taste? To an arrogant Alpha who had never been rejected once, his statement must have been quite a shock.

“I just added to what Assistant Manager Lee said earlier. Manager Park mentioned something similar as well.”

“If I may add a little more…”

The atmosphere shifted as Assistant Manager Seo spoke. The meeting, which proceeded productively without any unnecessary delays, wrapped up in exactly 57 minutes. Since the meeting started right after lunch, there was still plenty of time until the end of the workday.

‘Shall I try doing this properly for the first time in a while?’

He even took out and put on his glasses with the intention of focusing on his work. He handled everything one by one, from the proposal he had postponed because it wasn’t coming together well, to the tasks Baek Kanghyun had assigned him. Seowon, staring at the monitor with hawk-like eyes, was like a warrior armed with a mouse and keyboard.

“Assistant Manager Jeong, I’m heading out now. Aren’t you finished yet?”

“Pardon? Already?”

“What do you mean ‘already’? It’s already 6:30 PM.”

He hadn’t even realized time had passed like this. Thanks to working with nearly 100% efficiency, the goal was right before his eyes. The fact that Baek Kanghyun didn’t nitpick everything was also a reason for the fast processing. He had only exchanged files and simple messages a few times with him through the company messenger, and they had shared no small talk at all.

“You go ahead and leave first, Assistant Manager. I’ll finish what I was doing and then head out.”

He waved at Assistant Manager Seo and briefly took off his glasses. He closed his eyes tight and rubbed the inner corners of his eyes. Ssaak-ssaak, a yawn came out. He rotated his neck up, down, left, and right, and quickly scanned the completed document while massaging his shoulders.

[Assistant Manager Jeong Seowon: Team Leader, I am attaching the file you instructed me to prepare. Please check it.]

He attached the file along with a moderately polite sentence. Seeing that it had just passed 7:00 PM, he cheered inwardly. It wouldn’t even be 8:00 PM by the time he got home. Should he eat before going in? Is eating dinner alone a bit much?

“Assistant Manager Jeong, are you leaving?”

While Seowon was excitedly weighing his exit, Baek Kanghyun suddenly asked with his voice, not the messenger. Seowon could neither deny nor affirm and just blinked his eyes. A glance, and then a hand gesture. Even at Baek Kanghyun’s command to come over here, Seowon just sat there, his eyelids fluttering.

“I asked if you were leaving.”

“Yes, I finished today’s work. I also completed everything the Team Leader instructed.”

“I said come over here.”

After being quiet for a while, why was he calling him again? He had an ominous feeling that it wasn’t about work. Surely he wasn’t going to spout nonsense again about being partners or something?

Seowon moved hesitantly toward his desk.

“…”

After glancing at Seowon, he stared at the monitor in silence. The file Seowon had just sent was open on his monitor. Seeing that the mailbox and many other files were open, he did seem busy. Well, it was none of Seowon’s business.

Seowon glanced at the clock. A fairly long silence followed, and just as he was about to say he would leave if there was no special business, Baek Kanghyun turned off the computer.

“Let’s talk.”

“About what?”

“We should finish the conversation we were having earlier.”

Seowon suppressed his rising anger and spoke calmly.

“I have already conveyed my intentions.”

“I wasn’t convinced. Because it doesn’t make sense in the first place.”

“…Pardon?”

Baek Kanghyun, who had stood up at some point, slid his arms into his jacket. He then stared at Seowon while fastening the buttons.

“The spectrum of what people call ‘taste’ is certainly broad, but there is bound to be a taste above all tastes.”

“What… are you trying to say?”

The extreme narcissistic remark was horrifying. He glared at him with an expression asking what kind of crazy guy says things like that. Baek Kanghyun seemed to have noticed Seowon’s feelings, but instead, he smiled very pleasantly and spoke.

“There’s no way I am not Assistant Manager Jeong’s taste.”

“Crazy bastard.”

Seowon kept muttering to himself on the way home. The more he thought about it, the more it took his breath away. ‘There’s no way I am not his taste’—what kind of groundless confidence was that? Seowon had been flabbergasted by Baek Kanghyun’s absurd talk and ended up running out of the office as if fleeing.

“Truly a madman.”

Furthermore, Baek Kanghyun had insulted Seowon in front of people and had even picked him apart like shaking out a duvet whenever he had the chance. Even excluding the events from seven years ago, Seowon could never think of him positively.

Perhaps because he was angry for the first time in a while, his body temperature easily hit 38°C. Seowon attached a cooling sheet to his throbbing forehead and sprawled out on the floor.

I really don’t want to quit my job… what should I do about that son of a bitch.

Seowon was lying with his eyes closed when he suddenly sat bolt upright.

“No matter how much I think about it, he’s a madman, isn’t he?”

The incident last time and the partner proposal today were both appalling. He couldn’t even report this anywhere properly… He briefly contemplated going to the HR department to report it but ended up kicking the air instead. There was no way he could get rid of a guy who came in as a special hire. If he spoke up for no reason, his and Baek Kanghyun’s names would just end up on the lips of an unspecified many. Was that all? Some Alpha supremacists might even spout secondary victim-blaming remarks like, “Didn’t the Omega provide the pretext for all that?” Then he’d have to sue for that, and then there would be a countersue for the sue…

‘So annoying.’

It was a series of events far too harsh to endure just because some pheromones exploded while working overtime. Thinking of him smiling so arrogantly made his head burn to the very top. A harsh life, damn Baek Kanghyun.

Buzz, buzz…

His consciousness was gradually becoming blurred due to the high fever when a nerve-grating sound occurred. Was it the cell phone? Squirming, the moving Seowon felt around the floor.

‘Who is it?’

There was no one who would call at this ambiguous time, which was neither very late nor early…

Seowon half-opened his eyes and then snapped his eyelids wide open.

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun]

No matter how much he rubbed his eyes and looked again, the name on the screen was indeed Baek Kanghyun. Furthermore, the last digits of the number on the screen were familiar. 1482, he was still using the number he used back in college…

He had deleted his number from his cell phone long ago, but his number still remained in Seowon’s head. He realized this fact anew through a single phone call that he hadn’t been aware of until then.

“…”

The humming vibration stopped. But a moment later, the phone began to vibrate again. The black letters on the red background pressured Seowon. But he didn’t reach for the call button and just kept watching.

“…”

The vibration stopped again. This time, the phone vibrated for longer than before. He was about to change it to silent mode when the KakaoTalk messages sent by Baek Kanghyun popped up in a row as previews.

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun: Assistant Manager Jeong, are you not answering the phone?]

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun: Answer it]

While looking at the messages, he dropped the phone. Because it unfortunately fell right on his face, Seowon let out an “ack” sound and sat up abruptly.

— Assistant Manager Jeong.

And then, Baek Kanghyun’s voice came from the phone. Seowon quickly picked up the cell phone.

“Heck.”

— Assistant Manager Jeong, can you hear me?

The cell phone home screen should have been visible, but somehow it had switched to being in a call. Seowon was too flustered to grasp the situation, and furthermore, he was burning with fever.

Beep.

It was an extremely natural reaction for his finger to go to the end call button.