NAME 70

The sound of his heavy huffing drifted over on the wind. Seowon could easily imagine Baek Kanghyun’s expression, surely twisted in a fierce scowl. Suddenly, an old proverb about “seeking death to find life” came to mind. Although Seowon hadn’t made this choice specifically to save himself, the situation mirrored the sentiment perfectly. But if even this didn’t work… what was he supposed to do?

‘What if I end up quitting and Jaehwan gets chased off to Busan anyway?’

While Seowon was lost in his troubled thoughts, Baek Kanghyun circled around him and stood directly in his path. Seowon tilted his chin up to meet the man’s face. It was a hard, chilling face with absolutely no sign of remorse. Seowon let his lips curl into a smirk. He muttered under his breath.

‘You real piece of work.’

Baek Kanghyun caught the words, and his lips twitched.

“Is that bastard really that important to you?”

“Yes! He’s important! To me! What the hell is wrong with you, Team Leader? Who do you think you are to me? Team Leader? No—you. Baek Kanghyun, what are you and I to each other anyway!”

In the face of the man’s rage, Seowon screamed back. Even as he addressed him rudely, he felt no guilt whatsoever.

Anger and resentment flared white-hot toward this man who, despite being nothing to him, was shaking and stirring up his life and everyone around him. Seowon’s eyes stung, and his chest heaved as he squinted hard. A sharp, stinging sensation bloomed at the tip of his nose.

Baek Kanghyun looked down on him now just as he had in the past. To the man, this was entertainment. Seeing Seowon swayed and shaken exactly as he led him.

“… .”

As if time and space had frozen, Baek Kanghyun remained motionless. His distorted eyes twitched intermittently. He seemed quite taken aback by the defiance of the usually docile Seowon. His closed lips, downturned at the corners, began to part with great effort. After fluttering for a long moment, a single phrase finally dropped.

“… Fine.”

In an instant, Seowon’s eyes widened silently. The meaning behind that short answer was unmistakably clear.

“Fine what?”

However, Seowon deliberately asked as if he hadn’t understood. He had made up his mind to settle this matter once and for all.

“I’ll withdraw that bastard’s transfer.”

Seowon was so surprised he nearly let out an exclamation. It was the first time. The first time Baek Kanghyun had bowed to Seowon. He had expected the man to stubbornly insist he would never reverse the decision, but instead, the man even wore a look of piteous defeat. Taking advantage of the gap in Seowon’s defenses, he even tried to reach for Seowon’s hand. But the moment his fingertips brushed him, Seowon slapped the hand away.

“Explain why you did such a thing in the first place.”

Seowon crossed his arms to prevent Baek Kanghyun from grabbing his hands. His tightly clenched fists were tucked firmly under his armpits. A look of frustration flickered across the man’s face.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? Because he was an eyesore.”

“Team Leader, why are you pretending not to know? You know exactly what I’m asking!”

Seowon threw back the same firm words Baek Kanghyun had once used on him. The man clicked his tongue shortly, looking extremely uncomfortable. He avoided Seowon’s eyes, which were demanding the truth.

The furrow in his brow deepened. He looked exactly like a child caught in a lie, searching for an excuse for his own wrongdoing. Seowon considered pushing him further but decided against it.

The man’s parched lips moved again, finally opening with difficulty.

“I feel like I’m losing my mind just thinking about you rolling around with that bastard.”

“…!”

Seowon’s eyes widened significantly once more. With his gaze fixed on the ground, the man continued his confession.

“Just imagining it makes my head spin.”

“Does that mean… .”

“I told you! I’m not usually this kind of guy! I’m clearly crazy, just like you said. Because of you, Jeong Seowon.”

As he spoke, Baek Kanghyun’s pupils snapped toward Seowon. Pale and biting his lower lip, he gripped Seowon’s shoulders tightly. A sense of will—as if he would never let go—was transmitted through the touch.

“With Jaehwan… .”

When Seowon tried to bring up Jaehwan, the veins in the man’s temples bulged as he shouted.

“I hate even hearing that bastard’s name from your mouth! Is that enough of an answer?”

The version of him currently reflected in Seowon’s eyes was a mess. His forehead was like crumpled paper, his lips were twisted at an angle, and his fingertips trembled minutely.

To think he would see the day where Baek Kanghyun was ‘jealous’… .

Seowon couldn’t bring himself to drive him into a corner any longer and kept his mouth shut. His cheeks were cold from the whistling wind, but his hands, hidden deep in his armpits, were not just hot—they were boiling. Damp sweat seeped between the man’s fingers.

“Keep your promise.”

“… .”

“Jaehwan—no, Assistant Manager Lee. Withdraw the personnel transfer.”

As if he hated even the idea of saying he would do it, he remained silent. However, Seowon didn’t need to hear it to know. Baek Kanghyun’s fluctuating pupils were already telling him. The man would undoubtedly grant Seowon’s demand in the very near future.

Once the situation had settled somewhat, Seowon finally noticed his surroundings. Since they had been shouting at each other in the middle of the street for so long, the gazes of the people around them were hardly kind.

My god, what a mess.

The sigh Seowon let out scattered into the air as a pale mist.

Beep, beep, beep… .

An alarm went off. It was one Seowon had set before coming to the restaurant. It notified him that the lunch hour was ending, meaning it was time to return to the office. But to Seowon, the noisy mechanical sound meant something else.

‘Jeong Seowon, keep your head straight.’

It felt like a warning that the relationship between him and Baek Kanghyun had changed from what it was before.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Around 5:00 PM that afternoon, a revised notice regarding personnel transfers and appointments was posted. He hadn’t expected the processing to be so fast, but it was a relief regardless.

Seowon agonized for a long time over whether or not to send a message to Jaehwan. To think the reward for three years of service to him was this—even though Jaehwan’s demotion was canceled, Seowon felt too ashamed to face him or find words to say, so he did nothing.

Baek Kanghyun’s inauguration as Managing Director was scheduled for next week. In other words, starting next week, Seowon would be Secretary Jeong rather than Assistant Manager Jeong. Since his position was changing overnight, he wanted to receive some sort of handover, but since there was no predecessor, it was impossible.

Who else would be going to his secretary’s office besides himself? It would have been nice if even Seo Jiyeon could go with him… .

He regretted that he should have mentioned it to Baek Kanghyun. To think he was dreaming of personnel solicitation as a mere Assistant Manager. Then again, since canceling Jaehwan’s transfer to Busan was also done at his solicitation, he had already crossed that line quite significantly.

‘What on earth is Baek Kanghyun…’

No matter how he thought about it, he could only reach the conclusion that the bastard had feelings for him. The change in attitude of the man who once treated him like an object was fascinating.

However, he wasn’t particularly happy. He was simply on guard.

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun: Are you satisfied now?]

A message arrived shortly before the end of the workday. Finding it contemptible that the man wanted validation for what he had done, Seowon intentionally did not reply. It was by no means something he should say thank you for. It was merely a matter of returning a wrong to its original state.

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun: Not answering? What’s the problem now?]

A short while later, another message arrived. The sentence carried a sense of anxiety. The man, who was the problem himself, was shamelessly asking. Seowon quietly tapped on the keyboard.

[Assistant Manager Jeong Seowon: There are too many to count.]

Since he couldn’t list every single complication between them, he decided to just needle him. He hoped that the man, who was always so full of leisure, would become even more anxious and restless.

[Team Leader Baek Kanghyun: See you after work.]

[Assistant Manager Jeong Seowon: No.]

This time, he sent the reply instantly. Seeing the man’s forehead scrunched up ominously beyond the partition made him feel refreshed.

Coincidentally, it was time to clock out. Seowon quickly turned off his computer and tidied his desk. Ignoring the thorny gaze flying in from a diagonal direction, he slipped his arms into his coat. Baek Kanghyun was also hurriedly packing up.

“Assistant Manager Jeong, are you leaving already?”

“Yes, I’ve finished all the urgent tasks. Are you staying, Ms. Seo?”

“I’m going to stay a bit longer. See you tomorrow.”

He had definitely hurried, yet he was leaving the office at the same time as Baek Kanghyun. Despite the fact that people might be watching, the man stuck close to Seowon’s side and even tried to grab his hand. If Seowon hadn’t tucked his hands into his coat pockets, they would have been firmly caught.

The man’s expression was poor, as if he was quite annoyed that Seowon wasn’t doing as he wished today. Seeing the man’s distorted face, Seowon felt a strange sense of elation.

“Are you leaving now too, Team Leader?”

He spoke nonchalantly and glanced at Baek Kanghyun. If he had acted this shamelessly from the start, he wouldn’t have gotten so complicatedly entangled with him. But back then, he wasn’t in his right mind because of the pheromones… . He hadn’t known that the threat of quitting would be this effective.

<I feel like I’m losing my mind just thinking about you rolling around with that bastard.>

That was unmistakably jealousy. It was the first time Baek Kanghyun had shown such a petty heart. Having imagined Seowon’s relationship with Jaehwan however he pleased, the man had gotten himself all worked up. Enough to try and banish Jaehwan to Busan. Seowon resolved to keep the truth about what happened with Jaehwan a secret until the very end.