NAME 39

‘Damn it.’

Lost in a flurry of distracting thoughts, I found that it was already close to the end of the work day. Baek Kanghyun, who said he would be back by 6:00 PM, had yet to return. I intended to ask him about Jaehwan even if it turned out to be futile, so why wasn’t he coming?

Because I was worrying about Baek Kanghyun, work simply wouldn’t stay in my hands. Thus, Seowon finished up what he was doing for now and began preparing to leave. He had business with Baek Kanghyun, but he didn’t want to resolve it to the point of waiting for him. What Seowon needed right now was rest at home. He planned to hurry back and indulge in the deferred regret and wallowing.

“… .”

However, as he poked his head over the partition to gauge the office atmosphere, he locked eyes right with Baek Kanghyun, who had just stepped into the office.

The current time was 5:45 PM. Coming to the office at this hour? Specifically?

He folded one corner of his eye spitefully and curled the opposite corner of his mouth upward. Seowon quickly looked down and feigned looking at his monitor, but he could still feel a gaze piercing his forehead.

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun : To the parking lot after you’re finished]

A moment later, a notification window popped up right in the middle of the monitor. It wasn’t a chat, but a message Baek Kanghyun had sent through the internal company messenger. The words “This crazy person” came out of his mouth automatically. To do such a thing when a notice to use the company messenger only for business purposes popped up every day… .

It might not matter to Baek Kanghyun, who was a “parachute” appointment, but the situation was different for Seowon, who was nothing more than a mere Assistant Manager. Yet, he sent another message.

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun : Answer if you’ve confirmed]

The space between his brows narrowed sharply. Since Seowon also had things to give to and settle with Baek Kanghyun, he sent a reply.

[Understood.]

The answer was sent via KakaoTalk. He felt servile even thinking about it himself.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Seowon already knew roughly where Baek Kanghyun always parked, so there was no hesitation in his steps as he stepped out of the elevator. The second basement floor—a spot reasonably far from the entrance that was spacious even after parking a large sedan. It was a place where “parachutes” like Baek Kanghyun or executive-level personnel parked their cars. Seowon stood beside the car he had ridden in yesterday and waited for Baek Kanghyun to come down.

“… .”

About ten minutes later, he saw him coming through the parking lot door. Their eyes met, but he didn’t do anything particularly special. He just stood in his place and stared at him as he approached.

Seeing Baek Kanghyun get into the car, Seowon naturally got into the passenger side. He was sitting in the driver’s seat, leaning his head against the headrest.

“These are the clothes and shoes I borrowed yesterday. I’ve laundered them all.”

Seowon held out a shopping bag he had prepared in advance. Baek Kanghyun only glanced at him and didn’t make a move to take it. Seowon had no choice but to place the shopping bag down by the rear seat and brought up his business immediately.

“You didn’t keep your promise, Team Leader.”

“What promise?”

It was the reaction Seowon had expected. Since he thought Baek Kanghyun would definitely feign ignorance, Seowon did not lose his composure.

“I believe we agreed to act like it never happened. I need an explanation as to why Assistant Manager Lee knows about that matter.”

“I don’t recall making such a promise.”

“… .”

His emotions were on the verge of boiling over, but Seowon steadied his breathing. He urged himself not to get excited and to stay calm and act shamelessly.

“What did you say to Assistant Manager Lee?! Why on earth!”

However, rendering his recent resolve useless, the end of his sentence snapped upward. Baek Kanghyun had turned his head toward Seowon and was laughing lightly. It was a clear scoff.

“I didn’t say much. Only… .”

“Only, what?”

Suddenly, silence fell. The two gazes clashing inside the car formed a tight confrontation, leaning toward neither side.

“I told him that his partner is a pathetic alpha who even refuses a heat cycle.”

As soon as his words ended, vroom—the car’s engine started. Seowon’s eyes and mouth fell wide open. He could not believe the story Baek Kanghyun had just spat out.

“Where are we going?”

“… .”

“I’m asking where we’re going.”

“… .”

“I’m asking where we’re going? You crazy bastard!”

Seowon screamed at Baek Kanghyun, who was holding the steering wheel. However, he only remained stubbornly silent. Since it was a matter linked to his very life, Seowon couldn’t bring himself to physically attack him while he was driving, but he repeated the same question until the veins stood out on his neck. Then, as Seowon’s language became a bit rough, there was an immediate reaction.

“A crazy bastard. No matter how comfortable I’ve become, isn’t your language a bit much?”

“You brought this on yourself, Team Leader. What are you doing all of a sudden? This is strictly violence. You’d have nothing to say even if I reported you.”

“A report? You’re saying that while knowing that Assistant Manager Jeong got into the car of his own accord?”

Chuckling out loud, he immediately hardened his expression and glanced at Seowon. It was a gaze like one looking at prey struggling in a trap. Seowon took the opportunity while they were waiting for a signal to pull the car door handle. However, for some reason, the car door would not open.

“Stop joking around. I’m getting out!”

“Getting out in the middle of the road is a violation of the Road Traffic Act.”

“Are you in any position to talk about the law?”

“Assistant Manager Jeong, you have quite a foul mouth.”

While bickering with him, the signal turned green. His sedan—as pitch black as Baek Kanghyun’s dark intentions—began to drive again.

“It is the Team Leader who makes my mouth foul.”

“It did seem like Assistant Manager Jeong likes it rough.”

I almost shouted again, but I chose to just keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want to waste energy screaming for no reason, and I judged that the act of trying to have a normal conversation with this man was foolish in itself. If he was doing this because he had some scheme anyway, he would eventually do as he pleased no matter how much Seowon resisted. In the end, Seowon used a conciliatory tactic.

“I’m hungry. I want to eat first.”

“I was planning to do that anyway. Looking at your state, it seems you skimped on lunch too.”

“You’re very interested in me.”

“I happen to have an exceptional amount of affection for my team.”

The Baek Kanghyun in Seowon’s memory was an extremely taciturn person. He was never someone to make trivial jokes. He would lean back with a glass of alcohol with a languid face while surrounded by people, and smoke a cigarette when he was alone. He was a light, hoodlum-like man who didn’t push away those who came and didn’t bother to catch those who left. That cheapness from back then was visible every now and then even now, but compared to the old days, he was a gentleman himself. It might be the influence of being decked out in an expensive suit, but one could feel the seasoned maturity created by the age of thirty. At least on the outside.

“What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?”

“Ah, no. It’s nothing like that.”

Seowon didn’t even realize he was looking at Baek Kanghyun’s face. Realizing his mistake, he hurriedly turned his head, but a jeer leaked through his crooked lips.

“And you said I wasn’t your type.”

His back, burning with shame, felt prickly. After that, Seowon fixed his gaze out the passenger window and didn’t move an inch.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

“Get out.”

After driving for about 30 minutes, Baek Kanghyun’s car finally stopped. Seowon tried to get out quickly, but as expected, the door wouldn’t open. Baek Kanghyun, who got out first, personally came to the passenger side and opened the door. It seemed he had done something to prevent it from being opened from the inside. Seowon reluctantly got out of the car.

“… .”

However, no matter how much he looked around, no restaurant was visible. There were only apartments or high-rise officetel buildings. There was only a convenience store and a fast-food joint on the first floor of the building, but nowhere to have dinner.

“What about the food?”

“Did you think I’d starve you?”

His way of answering was extremely spiteful. As if to prevent Seowon from running away, Baek Kanghyun firmly grabbed Seowon’s arm. Feeling exactly like a prisoner, Seowon shook him off and crumpled his face. Only after shouting several times for him to let go because he wasn’t running away was he liberated from the restraint.

Looking closely, it was the building where Baek Kanghyun lived. Because he had parked on the ground today and it was his first time properly seeing the building’s exterior, his realization was late.

“Is there a need to go all the way to your house?”

“Need isn’t important. It’s just that I want to do so.”

In the end, it meant he wanted to do whatever he damn well pleased. A curse that surged up caught right on the tip of his tongue.

Seowon followed him and got on the elevator. Before ascending, he contemplated for a moment whether to just bolt like this, but he gave up immediately. Even if he ran away today, he would see him tomorrow anyway, so it was right to just get it all over with today. No matter what “it” turned out to be.