MW 28

He knew I wasn’t that interested in other people’s affairs and had a pretty straightforward personality, but Yijae felt more at ease with his unexpected reaction.

Or maybe he was doing it to be considerate. Seeing how he brought a rain-soaked Yijae into his house and even fed him a warm meal, he might actually be a very kind person. Yijae recalled the image of someone he saw in Seungmin and smiled faintly.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Sure.”

Yijae said he would clear the neatly emptied dishes himself, but Seungmin stopped him.

“Go put a compress on your face. Anyone who saw you would think I brought a goldfish into the shop, not an employee.”

Holding the ice pack Seungmin handed him, he fidgeted on his feet. He’d gotten a free meal, and now he was leaving the dishes to him as well.

“The ice is melting.”

“Yes!”

At his words, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, Yijae hurriedly brought the ice pack to his eyes.

“It’s already so late. Guess we can’t have fruit.”

“I eat fruit well at the shop.”

“The leftovers?”

At his suddenly harsh expression, Yijae thought, oops. He might not like that I ate the leftover fruit…….

Thinking he’d made a mistake, he fiddled with his hands, then lifted his head at the words that followed.

“Who told you to eat the leftovers? Eat the new stuff, the new stuff. Why would you pick up and eat leftovers when they’re so cheap.”

Telling him they shouldn’t worry about money and just work hard, Seungmin went on to roughly ruffle Yijae’s hair, saying he’d talk to Taehoon so from now on, he should just make sure to eat whatever he wanted.

‘So this is what a real adult is like……’

Yijae looked at Seungmin with a sense of wonder. Not everyone acted like him, no matter how much money they had. Chairman Gu and Madam Lee, who were closest to him, were prime examples.

Yijae didn’t show it, so he didn’t know, but he felt a sense of respect watching his boss, who, upon closer look, was meticulously attentive to his employees’ welfare and didn’t spare any expense.

“The swelling has gone down a lot. I’m going to look over some documents here before I go, so you can head down first.”

“Yes, Sajang-nim. Thank you.”

“Ah, wait a minute. I’ll get you a smaller shirt.”

In the end, after rummaging through the closet and finding a smaller-sized turtleneck, Yijae changed into the clothes Seungmin gave him, feeling the soft fabric, so different from his own, as he walked out the front door.

Just as when he arrived, he took the private elevator down to the first floor. Yijae was heading towards the elevator connected to the shop when it happened.

“Ughh, fuck, I’m gonna die……”

A man retching at the building’s entrance, leaning against the wall, caught his eye. Was he a customer? There was still time until opening…….

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

Seeing him unable to properly support his body, as if he were very drunk, Yijae cautiously approached him.

“Ugh…… so fucking tha……. Gu Dohae?”

Does he know Dohae? Well, this was a bar that rich people would frequent, so it was possible he knew him. Although he had approached with good intentions, Yijae took his hands off the man who seemed to know Dohae and stepped back.

“You here to drink too?”

The man, frowning as if dizzy, looked at where Yijae was pointing and asked.

‘Wait a minute, his face looks familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere……’

Staring at the face with its finely wrinkled brow, Yijae soon shook his head and answered.

“I’m not, Gu Dohae. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“Yes you are, ugh, ah, shit, my head.”

Yijae grabbed the arm of the man, Chaekyung, who looked like he was about to fall over any second. Spared from falling thanks to Yijae’s help, he let out a long breath.

“Fuck……. That son of a bitch.”

“Excuse me. A-Are you crying?”

Startled by the sudden sound of sobbing, Yijae’s eyes fell on the crying Chaekyung. He’d always been the one crying; it was the first time he’d seen someone else cry, so Yijae panicked, not knowing how to comfort him.

“I knew that bastard would do this……. He said I was the only one for him.”

“Um, excuse me. Please don’t cry……”

Fidgeting restlessly, Yijae tried to soothe him, then reached into his pocket and offered Chaekyung the chocolate he habitually carried with him.

“This is delicious. Have something sweet and maybe you’ll feel……”

It was the chocolate Jaeha had given him a long time ago. He carried it around like a good luck charm, but he felt Chaekyung needed it more than he did right now.

Chaekyung lowered his gaze at the coarse sensation on his palm, confirmed what this tiny man had given him, and let out a snort of laughter.

“For me to eat?”

Nod, nod.

Looking down at the chocolate with the familiar logo, Chaekyung unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.

The intense sweetness that seemed to melt the tip of his tongue made him grimace, but the feeling wasn’t half bad. Thanks to it, his tears stopped. Perhaps embarrassed that he had cried in front of Dohae, he spoke with an awkward face.

“Thanks.”

“It’s nothing. Are you able to get up now?”

“Why the formal……”

At the continued use of formal speech, Chaekyung lifted his head properly. The man looked so identical to the Dohae he knew that it was truly hard to tell them apart, but something about his aura seemed different. He stared intently at him.

“You’re not Gu Dohae?”

“My name is Seo Yijae……. I’m an employee here at Hidden.”

“Guess I’m still drunk.”

The man in front of him really did look like Gu Dohae’s twin. He was still suspicious that he might be lying, but looking at his actions and expressions, it also seemed like he wasn’t.

Just then, a car approached from a distance and stopped in front of them. The man who appeared, driving a foreign car just as expensive as the boss’s sports car, got out and strode toward Chaekyung.

“Hey, Yoo Chaekyung!”

Yoo Chaekyung? In that moment, Yijae remembered where he had met this man. This person named Chaekyung was none other than Jaeha’s friend.

As soon as he saw him, Yijae worried that Jaeha might be here. He quickly looked around, but it seemed there was no one else besides the tall man who got out of the car.

“You didn’t answer my calls all day, do you know how worried I was?”

“Sheesh. Why are you getting angry, Lee Haeshin! Especially when……”

Whether from relief at the appearance of the man named Haeshin, or from sorrow, Chaekyung’s eyes, which had been welling up, began to fill with tears again.

His chin quivered as it wrinkled, and he finally burst into tears. Sobbing with his shoulders shaking, Chaekyung fell into Haeshin’s arms and spoke in a choked voice.

“Heuk, Haeshin-ah……. Minwoo hyung cheated on me……. Choi Minwoo, that fucking son of a bitch, heuk, he was seeing someone else……. No, fuck, it would have been better if he just cheated… he said I was the side piece.”

Haeshin’s hand, wrapped around Chaekyung’s back, tightened. The face of Haeshin, holding him in his arms, grew chillingly hard.

“Fuck, the one and only Yoo Chaekyung is a side piece! Heuk, my pride is so hurt. What do I lack, I’m so fucking embarrassed I could die……”

“I’ll kill him for you.”

“How are you going to kill him. Don’t make it a peaceful death. Make him die in extreme pain.”

“Alright.”

It felt like he was hearing something he shouldn’t be. Yijae cautiously looked around, then slowly turned and went inside the shop.

“Hoo…….”

Leaving the tightly shut door behind him, Yijae walked down the hallway and saw the other employees already busy with opening preparations. He hurried over to them.

“Hello.”

“Oh, maknae’s here?”

“Hello, hyung.”

At Yijae’s arrival, Taehoon smiled brightly and roughly tousled his hair. Yijae gave a small smile back at him for taking care of him, calling him maknae, and then headed to the locker room.

After changing, Yijae took out his phone from his bag in the locker and needlessly rubbed the screen, which showed no missed calls.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

“Maknae, you haven’t left yet? It’s past 12.”

“Ah, I was just about to go after finishing this up.”

“Good kid.”

Hurriedly putting food waste into a garbage bag before the last bus, Yijae glanced at Jeongseok, who was drinking water with a tired face.

“Seems like Hidden gets busier every day.”

“Is the 5th floor very busy?”