PA 18

“Must be Chairman Yoon’s gift.”

The woman kneeling before him was a rapidly rising rookie star and an actress whose acting skills had been recognized. Sanghyeon finished untying his tie, tossed it onto the sofa, and spoke curtly.

“Get out.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I said, get out.”

“B-But.”

“The things that were promised will proceed as planned, so don’t worry and get out.”

The actress stared blankly at Sanghyeon, looking extremely flustered. However, she soon realized. Sanghyeon had no interest in her whatsoever. She quickly changed her clothes and hurried out of the room.

Sanghyeon approached the large window that took up one entire wall of the living room. At that, the night view of Seoul spread out beneath Sanghyeon’s feet. Sanghyeon stood for a long while, lost in thought as he gazed at the night scenery outside the window.

I lived like a dog.

He always used to summarize his life this way. That he had always lived like a panting, rampaging dog. The truly strange thing was that whenever he had a private meeting with Chairman Yoon, the entire journey of a nobody rising to a high position would play out in his mind like a movie.

In his youth, Sanghyeon had run, looking at nothing but success. For a man with no roots to succeed in this country, he had to truly roll around like a beast. That was why the young Sanghyeon did not hesitate even to kill people. For success and money, there was nothing he would not do.

Recalling the old days, Sanghyeon felt a throbbing in his head. It was then. Along with the sound of a bell, the door to the suite opened. And then, Youngsik, the CEO of Yejun’s agency, appeared, looking extremely nervous.

☂︎

Yejun did not dislike the feeling of being held in Junhyuk’s arms, naked. Yejun, who had been fidgeting for a long time in the arms of the deeply asleep Junhyuk, carefully got up and came down from the bed. On the bedside table at the foot of the bed, the clothes Yejun was to wear were neatly folded.

Yejun got dressed and, being careful not to wake Junhyuk, tiptoed out to the living room. He turned on the laptop he had left on the dining table and opened his major textbook. He checked the exam scope while looking at the notepad stuck to the very first page of the book.

“Oh… the laptop won’t turn on.”

When the dead laptop did not turn on, Yejun muttered as if in a difficult situation.

“The battery’s dead, right?”

“Oh… Junhyuk, you’re awake?”

Even though it was broad daylight with the sun high in the sky, Junhyuk came out naked and approached Yejun. At the sight of Junhyuk, Yejun covered his eyes with both hands and shouted loudly.

“Put on some clothes!”

“Why? We’re a couple who has seen each other’s very private parts. What’s the big deal about this?”

“H-Hurry up and put on some clothes and come out.”

Junhyuk shrugged his shoulders and went into the dressing room. In the meantime, Yejun quickly took out the charging cable and began to charge the laptop.

“Looks like this will take a while.”

“Should I give you my laptop?”

“You have to study too.”

“Ah, there’s a computer in the study. You can use that if you need it.”

“Okay. I’ll use the computer in the study for a bit.”

Yejun, who had entered the study, sat at the desk and turned on the computer.

“There are a lot of books.”

Sitting at the desk, Yejun shifted his gaze to the study. The bookshelves built along the walls flowed smoothly without disrupting the space. With many books neatly arranged on each shelf, the study exuded a calm yet cozy atmosphere. Turning his gaze back to the desk, he saw a printer. He thought it was a good thing since he needed to print out materials for his assignment.

“Junhyuk.”

Yejun was too lazy to leave the room, so he called for Junhyuk in a loud voice.

“What?”

Then Junhyuk, also not moving from the dining table, answered even more loudly than Yejun.

“Can I use the printer?”

“Use it as much as you want.”

Yejun chuckled and began to print the materials one by one. How much time had passed? A warning window popped up on the monitor screen saying that the A4 paper was empty, and the printing stopped. Without much thought, Yejun opened a drawer to look for paper.

“Here it is.”

Having found the paper in the bottom drawer, Yejun reached out his hand and picked it up. It was then. There were quite a few miscellaneous items under the paper, and among them, he saw a small, old album that seemed to have been hidden secretly.

“Oh… what’s this?”

Yejun saw the album and was about to close the drawer as it was, but he could not overcome his curiosity and ended up taking the album out.

“Oh…”

The faded photo seemed to show the traces of past years. In all the photos, the father’s face was blacked out, and the woman holding a young child was smiling faintly. In that moment, Yejun knew. That he had just seen a piece of the past that he should not have seen.

“Yejun, are you done print…”

Just then, Junhyuk entered the study, and his eyes met Yejun’s, who was holding the old album.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I, I just…”

Yejun was so surprised by Junhyuk’s cold gaze that he even stuttered.

“Why are you carelessly rummaging through someone else’s drawer?”

“S-Sorry.”

Yejun was so flustered at the sight of Junhyuk getting angry for the first time. He could not say anything and awkwardly got up from his seat.

“Give it to me.”

Junhyuk snatched the old album from Yejun’s hand. Yejun grabbed Junhyuk’s shoulder, trying to appease his anger.

“I, I really had no intention…”

“I want to be alone for a bit.”

Junhyuk let out a cool voice and slapped Yejun’s hand away. Yejun was so embarrassed and mortified.

“Junhyuk…”

“Get out.”

“…”

So surprised by Junhyuk’s unexpectedly chilly reaction, Yejun could not move a muscle and could only stand still like a statue. When Junhyuk, who had shown his back to him for the first time, did not let go of his anger in the end, tears welled up in Yejun’s eyes.

“S-Sorry. I really didn’t mean to. Please know that.”

Yejun hurriedly packed his bag and left the house, and Junhyuk, in the end, did not stop him.