NAME 18

“Assistant Manager Jeong, are you working overtime again today?”

“We’ll have to wait and see, but… I’m going to try my best not to do it today.”

“Goodness, good luck.”

Seowon, who had been working overtime for nearly a week, acted as if it were nothing, but Assistant Manager Seo Jiyeon in the next seat was making a pained face instead. Seowon gave a bright smile and replied that such things happen, then turned his gaze back to the monitor.

On the outside, he was smiling, but inside, he was actually fuming. However, if he got angry, the work wouldn’t go well, and if the work didn’t go well, his departure would be delayed, so he chose resignation and surrender instead.

“I feel bad for leaving first.”

“Please, go ahead. You said you had an appointment.”

“All right. Finish up quickly and get home.”

Seowon let out a light sigh, “Whew,” and stretched.

‘I must leave by 9:00 today.’

It was a relief that his condition was good, at least. Despite the consecutive days of overtime, he only had a slight fever and his pheromones were relatively quiet.

No matter how much he worked, Seowon’s workload showed no sign of decreasing. Rather, it felt like it was piling up more and more—because of Baek Kanghyun, of course.

After Seowon refused Baek Kanghyun’s second partner proposal, the man scratched at him whenever he had the chance, as if treating Seowon like a scratching post for cats. He would stack piles of documents on his desk for everyone to see and call Seowon over to nitpick them point by point. Although some were tasks Seowon had performed, others were mixed in from different people, yet Baek Kanghyun pushed him as if everything were Seowon’s responsibility.

<Team Leader, this part isn’t a task I handled. If you look at the top, the person in charge is…>

<Assistant Manager Jeong, are you avoiding responsibility right now? Isn’t this a project carried out in connection with the last project? And the person in charge was Assistant Manager Jeong.>

<Understood, Team Leader. Then I will look over it again and organize it.>

As long as the opponent had decided to pick on him, he knew that no matter what method he used, he couldn’t escape. It wasn’t like he had only been in society for a year or two. To begin with, it wasn’t an opponent he could win against by pushing back. Baek Kanghyun was the Team Leader—and a special hire with a solid background at that—while he was just a mere Assistant Manager, so if he was told to do something, he had to do it. Thus, Seowon simply bowed his head, saying “Yes, yes,” to every fault Baek Kanghyun found. Rather than jumping around in anger, it was easier for him to act obediently, and he could also aim for the effect of making the opponent lose steam.

‘There really is a lot.’

There were especially many document revisions today. Starting with ‘Final.doc’, files like ‘Final_Final.docx’, ‘Final_Final_Final.docx’, ‘Real_Final.docx’, and ‘Real_Real_Final.docx’ piled up on the desktop. Since he might be told that the first version was better after all, he organized the existing files well by time.

“Team Leader, please check the file I just sent you.”

As if he had heard Seowon’s words, a notification window appeared at the bottom of the monitor indicating that the recipient had received the message. Seowon craned his neck to look at him. Baek Kanghyun didn’t give Seowon a single glance. His sharp eyes were fixed only on the monitor screen.

“Team Leader, I will be heading out now as well.”

The current time was 7:37 PM, and his overtime comrade Manager Park rose from his seat. Scratching the back of his head as if awkward, he glanced at Baek Kanghyun, then peeked at Seowon and mouthed the words.

‘Good luck.’

Seowon crinkled the corners of his eyes at him and then straightened them again. It was because he suddenly felt Baek Kanghyun’s gaze. To be left alone with the Team Leader. The fingers tapping the keyboard became even faster.

[Assistant Manager Lee Jaehwan: Overtime today too?]

He sent a wailing icon in response to Jaehwan’s message. Having worked through lunch with just a snack, he was starting to get hungry.

He took a chocolate out of the drawer, popped it into his mouth, and turned the mouse wheel. Just one more hour? I think the work will be done in about 30 minutes.

[Assistant Manager Lee Jaehwan: I’m in front of the office. Come out for a bit.]

It was long past quitting time, and he was in front of the office? Seowon clicked the file save button and went outside the office.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

“What do you mean, what brings me here.”

Laughing heartily, he held out something to Seowon. Inside the tan shopping bag was a thick, stuffed sandwich.

“Why are you giving me something like this?”

“I didn’t buy it, I received it. You probably haven’t had dinner yet.”

Just as Seowon was about to say that this was a bit burdensome, Jaehwan got on the elevator without even listening for an answer. Then he grinned, waved his hand, and shouted “Fighting!” Seowon nodded blankly.

‘Really…’

Seowon stared blankly at the sandwich. Although it was burdensome, it was true that he was grateful, so a smile came out.

“…!”

However, just as he was about to go back into the office, he ran right into Baek Kanghyun. A man with a sturdy build nearly a head taller than Seowon was blocking the front, making it feel like he was standing in front of a wall.

“Team Leader, I have to go in. Could you move aside a bit?”

“…”

Despite Seowon’s earnest request, Baek Kanghyun didn’t budge. He couldn’t push him out of the way to enter, so Seowon waited for him to move. He didn’t know why he came out, but he wondered if he would really keep standing there like that.

“No matter how much I think about it, I simply can’t understand.”

Baek Kanghyun said, glancing at the elevator Jaehwan had taken down. There was an edge to his eyes and his tongue. Even when they were in university, he at least pretended to be a nice person, but now even that was gone. He revealed his nasty true colors to Seowon without hesitation.

“I have no reason to be understood by the Team Leader.”

Seowon said with a light smile. Because smiling rather than being blunt would irritate Baek Kanghyun more. As expected, it was effective, as his face froze instantly. Eyes that looked like blue flames might drip from them at any moment stared at Seowon as if piercing through him.

“I will go in now. I have to finish the work I was doing.”

Smiling took less energy than shouting and getting angry. Compared to the time when he couldn’t even meet his eyes, this was a level of tremendous progress. Seowon was about to go into the office but turned his body and headed toward the pantry.

‘Should I just eat it now?’

He was hungry, but he didn’t have much of an appetite for a meal; however, since he had something for dinner anyway, he thought it would be better to eat. Perhaps because he hadn’t been eating dinner properly for a while, his pants felt loose, so he aimlessly rubbed his belly, which had no flab at all.

Originally, he wasn’t the type to put on weight easily, but his body had become leaner after his manifestation. His face line became smooth as if sanded, and his body lines changed softly. It wasn’t a level that deviated greatly from his natural skeletal structure, but Seowon himself clearly felt the difference.

He pondered whether to make coffee or drink tea and chose tea. He put a sweet-tasting honey chamomile tea bag into his tumbler and poured in hot water. While the tea was brewing, he was about to tear the sandwich wrapper when he saw Baek Kanghyun entering the office.

“Bad bastard.”

He muttered that he was a consistently son of a bitch. He praised himself for holding out steadfastly under such a guy. Just try giving me a bad performance review. I’ll really, just, really!

‘There’s no way.’

Instead, he solidified his resolve to stay for five years and then leave. As for the loan, well, it’ll work out somehow. If he saves diligently until then, the burden from the debt will be much lighter.

He tossed the adequately steeped tea bag into the trash and sipped the tea while blowing on it. The moderate sweetness seemed to wash out his mouth, so his mood improved. He peeled the sandwich wrapper he had started and took a bite. “Crunch,” the sound of chewing vegetables was heard cheerfully.

It was delicious. I must say thank you to Jaehwan. How should I repay this favor? Should I ask to have a meal together? While having a meal, maybe talk a bit about the heat cycle…

Sex with Jaehwan—he couldn’t imagine it. It was a heat cycle he had endured until now with only medicine and sheer will. If he asked to spend it together, Jaehwan would obviously say okay. After opening up his body like that once, it seemed like they would keep having sex, so would that be okay? For me, no, for Jaehwan.

“…”

38.1

He returned to his seat and checked his fever as a habit. He felt a slight chill and wondered “surely not,” but as expected. It was under 37 degrees until the morning, but when did it rise like this?

When he pulled his tie to loosen it, a sweet scent wafted from the nape of his neck. Worried that Baek Kanghyun might notice this, he hurriedly took out the deodorizer. He sprayed it heavily on his neck and wrists and took out a suppressant pill to swallow. He had to finish his work quickly before the fever rose further. If a disaster like the last time happened again, Seowon might helplessly have to listen to Baek Kanghyun’s demand.

‘That’s why I told you to be partners, didn’t I? Why don’t you listen.’

He would probably pounce on him while saying that.

“Team Leader, for now, I’ve finished what I was doing and sent it as a file. You can check it.”

Seowon hurriedly turned off the computer and slid his arms into his jacket. He checked the clock while sweeping his belongings into his bag all at once. The goal—no, the departure—is right before his eyes. Now all he had to do was leave the office…

“Assistant Manager Jeong.”

Baek Kanghyun called Seowon.