Ch 12

<12>

 

5 months Before that day (2)

 

‘Come on, he wouldn’t still be outside, would he? He must have gone home.’

 

Chief Yoon’s last words kept echoing in his head like a broken record, and his body reacted urgently. Eunho ordered a bouquet of white chrysanthemums from the flower shop in the building’s basement, hurried down to receive it, and hailed a taxi parked near the building exit.

 

Eunho’s purpose in visiting wasn’t to meet Yoonjae. It was out of respect for his superior’s parents and a slight sense of guilt for belatedly learning about the important day. In fact, he hoped Yoonjae wouldn’t be there. He was worried about him being outside in the cold, and he struggled to find the right words of comfort if they were to meet.

 

Before getting out of the taxi, Eunho, heavily armed with gloves and a scarf, hurried up to the family burial ground with the bouquet. Fortunately, the weather was good, and there were patches of sunlight everywhere, but the temperature was a degree or two lower than in the city, and his leather shoes were already cold.

 

“Haa…”

 

After walking for a while, Eunho couldn’t speak, his mouth just gaping at the familiar figure he saw in the distance. Chief Yoon’s prediction was correct.

 

He was sitting in the middle of a spot filled with offerings of flowers, dressed in black. Was it just his imagination, or did his back, which always seemed full of energy and determination, look burdened as if carrying a heavy load? With each step he took, the unmelted snow crunched like frozen ice. The man, who had been sitting still as a stone statue, turned around, sensing someone’s presence.

 

The moment Eunho saw his face, he wanted to run over, hug him, and pat him on the back. He wanted to share the sorrow as a human being, regardless of age or position. But reality held him back, and he barely managed to suppress the impulse.

 

Yoonjae smiled awkwardly with a face red from the cold and asked,

 

“Did Chief Yoon send you?”

 

“…No.”

 

“Then why are you here?”

 

“…I couldn’t concentrate on work.”

 

Eunho, puffing out white breaths, walked over, neatly placed the flowers near the tombstone, took out a lighter, lit the incense, and stuck it in the incense burner. After a moment of silent prayer, Yoonjae, who had been watching while sitting, lowered his head.

 

“How long have you been here?”

 

“I wonder.”

 

He couldn’t possibly not feel the cold, could he? Had his brain frozen from sitting for too long? Eunho squatted down in front of Yoonjae and carefully scanned his face. It was hard to tell if he had a fever from being sick or if his face was simply red from the cold. Yoonjae looked at Eunho with concern and tried to raise his sunken voice.

 

“Aren’t you cold?”

 

“I’m wearing a scarf. You’re the one, Executive Director…”

 

Yoonjae lightly dismissed Eunho’s concern.

 

“Still.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“You get cold easily.”

 

Yoonjae took off the dark gray scarf around his neck and wrapped it around Eunho’s already existing scarf. He seemed somewhat out of it. Eunho grabbed his arm, wondering who was looking after whom, but quietly withdrew his hand at his unwavering gaze.

 

Eunho looked at Yoonjae seriously and remembered the heat packs he had in both pockets. He took them out, tore them open one by one, and put them in both of Yoonjae’s coat pockets.

 

Yoonjae felt as if Eunho’s actions were like children playing house, and he let out a deflated breath before asking in a leisurely tone.

 

“How many more do you have?”

 

“Four. Should I give you more?”

 

Chuckling as if amused, Yoonjae gave a lukewarm smile, carefully buttoned up Eunho’s collar, and stood up.

 

“I can’t have that.”

 

“…Yes?”

 

“You came all the way here, I can’t let you catch a cold and be bedridden.”

 

Yoonjae looked around at the scenery, took out a heat pack from his pocket, put it back in, and smiled gratefully. The tips of his fingers, slightly visible, were red and unsightly.

 

“Go wait in the car. I’ll be down in about 10 minutes.”

 

“I’ll stay with…”

 

“Listen to me.”

 

“…”

 

“I want to be alone.”

 

At his last words, it was difficult to argue any further, and he stepped back. As he took the car keys and walked down, he realized his feet were like ice.

 

‘Even though I was only there for a short time, it’s this cold and numb. How could he have endured it for hours?’

 

Eunho took out a heat pack from his pocket, held it tightly in both hands, and walked down the mountain. Because it was a snowy field and he was wearing dress shoes, he carefully stepped, afraid of slipping.

 

As soon as he got into the car, he turned the heater on to the maximum and warmed it up. He had been worried that Yoonjae would be in a terrible mood, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to be the worst.

 

Just as the car was getting warm, he came striding down the stone steps and got into the passenger seat instead of the back.

 

“Let’s go home. It’ll be easier for Eunho if I go home.”

 

Yoonjae spoke as if he had read Chief Yoon’s mind. Perhaps his body was thawing from the sudden change in temperature, Yoonjae moved his hands and feet as if stretching. Was it because he had a natural constitution? His body recovered quickly as if by magic.

 

“How much time is left until the civil service exam?”

 

“…Civil service exam?”

 

Yoonjae, who was taking off his coat and throwing it in the back seat as he slowly adjusted to the temperature in the car, threw out the question as if in passing.

 

It was an unexpected question. For a moment, he wondered if he had misheard and asked Yoonjae again if he was talking about the civil service exam, and he nodded in agreement. Eunho pondered for a moment to understand Yoonjae’s intention in asking. There were so many types of civil service exams that the schedules were all different, but he was probably talking about Hyunjun.

 

“About 4-5 months.”

 

4-5 months, huh. He stroked his chin and pondered seriously, then turned his gaze out the car window. After that, there was no ping-pong-like conversation on the way home, but it didn’t feel awkward either.

 

The kiss they had shared the night before, overwhelmed by emotions, passed naturally as if it had been an accidental act due to intoxication. Eunho felt guilty toward Hyunjun, so he was relieved that it passed quietly, but on the other hand, a sense of disappointment followed him like a shadow.

 

“Thank you for coming.”

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“It’s cold, take the car.”

 

Yoonjae, who had grabbed Eunho as he was unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out, took out his coat from the back seat and got out of the car.

 

Yoonjae watched as the gate opened and Eunho’s car drove completely out, then took out his cell phone and looked for someone.

 

“It’s me.”

 

-I was just about to report to you.

 

“Is there anything to catch?”

 

-We have been watching as you said, but there is still no situation to be captured.

 

“…Are you saying there’s no sign?”

 

-There are occasional companions, but it is somewhat difficult to conclude.

 

“I understand.”

 

-I will contact you immediately when it becomes clear.

 

Yoonjae stood in the garden for a long time even after ending the call. Still no hidden lover……. Yoonjae’s expression darkened rapidly as he slowly rubbed his neck.

 

So far, nothing had deviated from Yoonjae’s expectations. The investments, even the incidents and accidents that were talked about in the news every day, flowed exactly the same as they had 8 months ago. But Hyunjun’s scenario, which he had believed in so firmly, was unfolding slower than expected. About four and a half months until the civil service exam. And a month later, Hyunjun, who passed the written exam, asked Eunho to break up, and a week later, the accident happened.

 

The problem was Eunho’s pregnancy. At the time, he said it was almost 3 months along, so he had to separate the two of them two or three months before Hyunjun took the exam to prevent the same thing from happening again, but the situation was not easy.

 

While melting his body in hot water, Yoonjae went back to the feelings he had for Eunho one by one.

 

In fact, on the day he returned to 8 months ago, Yoonjae thought it was a good opportunity to reverse the problematic investment. Until then, Eunho was a low priority. He foresaw his unhappy future, so he thought his role was to keep him close so that it wouldn’t happen again and naturally separate him from his lover.

 

It started simply. He felt sorry for his fate of being abandoned by his lover and facing a miserable end, so he thought he would get involved appropriately and then stop. But as Yoonjae kept Eunho as his executive Secretary and watched him closely, he learned about his aspects that he had not seen in the past while having private conversations. Yoonjae developed affectionate feelings for Eunho and seriously considered how to make him break up with his lover, and Yoonjae was surprised at himself. Now he had no choice but to admit that his feelings for him had become complicated.

 

Eunho was more dependent on Hyunjun than Yoonjae had expected. He was afraid of being alone and had been under constant stress from depression for a long time.

 

He was anxious because he had people attached to Hyunjun to secure evidence in case he had to forcibly separate the two, but no evidence had come out yet. He had to catch evidence that Hyunjun was two-timing within the next two months for the predicted scenario to unfold. It was a problem even if the evidence didn’t come out, but even if it did, he didn’t know how to tell Eunho about it, or even calculate the shock he would receive when he told him.

 

Yoonjae, who came out wearing a shower gown, walked to the dressing room and changed into light clothes. The thin cotton fabric revealed the curves of the densely packed muscles.

 

“Hoo.”

 

Yoonjae was unfamiliar with himself showing raw emotions to Eunho from moment to moment these days. Having been in a position of decision-maker for a long time, he had to exclude and hide his personal feelings as much as possible. In fact, he was too busy with company work to look around and didn’t want to care. Sometimes he was tired of this life and wanted to escape, but he endured by whipping himself as if he were brainwashing himself, and at some point, everything became indifferent.

 

And then came the time that was turned back to 8 months ago.

 

He still hadn’t found the meaning of the returned time. He only replaced and adjusted it if there was a better direction in the given time.

 

The remaining 5-6 months.

 

Yoonjae had to correct what he had missed before in the passing time.

 

***

 

Eunho, who had been reviewing reports and organizing the expected performance of investment companies for the fourth quarter all morning, habitually tried to drink coffee, but after checking the empty cup that had run out, he got up from his seat. As he walked to the pantry to wash the cup and make coffee again, he made eye contact with Chief Yoon, who was just entering the Secretary’s office, and bowed his head.

 

“Eunho.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Do you have any schedule between now and 6 o’clock?”

 

“No, I don’t.”

 

“Then can I ask you to do this?”

 

He gestured for him to come over quickly, so Eunho returned to his seat, put down the cup, and approached Chief Yoon. There was a luxuriously packaged shopping bag on his desk, which was a product of the high-end luxury brand H. As he slowly rubbed his chin with his thumb, Chief Yoon let out a snort as if to say not to misunderstand that it was his.

 

“CEO Han left it behind, and I have to deliver it. Secretary Han is on a business trip, Secretary Kim has a driver’s license only on paper, and it’s ambiguous for Secretary Park to take it when she returns.”

 

“I just need to deliver this, right?”

 

“Yeah. I’d appreciate it if you could. I’ll tell Executive Director.”

 

The location to arrive at was not far from the company. Of course, that was assuming there was no traffic. He only had to process and hand over the work he had been doing today, so there was no pressure to do it after he came back. Eunho took the shopping bag and walked down to the underground parking lot.

 

Yoonjae had become the public enemy of all departments these days. He had been revered for his smooth communication, natural drive, and inclusive leadership, but these days, his unilateral actions had been repeated, and the surrounding concerns were endless.

 

It could take anywhere from a month or two to over a year for visible results to come out of the work he was promoting. From Eunho’s position as Yoonjae’s assistant, he could only hope that his judgment was not wrong.

 

After crossing the Han River bridge and entering a quiet residential area not far from Yoonjae’s house, a Baroque-style building immediately came into view. After completing the first security check at the entrance and entering the building, Eunho parked sandwich-style in the already full parking lot and opened the driver’s seat door. The cold January river wind rushed deep into his lungs. Eunho, who had closed his coat, took out his cell phone and looked for Secretary Park.

 

“Where are you?”

 

-There’s an annex behind the main building in front of the entrance. It’s a restricted area, so there will be guards in front of the door, so come that way.

 

Eunho, who was exhaling fine breaths, stuck his cell phone in his pocket, took out the shopping bag, cut through the cold wind, passed two detached houses, and went to the annex building. Secretary Park, who was holding an access card among the burly security guards, ran out in a fuss.

 

“This.”

 

Perhaps it was because he had come out of the warm car, his nose tingled and he felt like he was about to have a runny nose. Secretary Park, who was watching Eunho sniffle, took out a tissue from his pocket and chattered in a way that didn’t match his size.

 

“Thank you so much. I got an earful for leaving this behind. I always make mistakes on important days… ha.”

 

“But… what are you doing here that the security is so tight?”

 

“Art auction.”

 

Judging from the atmosphere, it seemed to be a secret auction held for a few invited individuals. It seemed to be a place where hidden masterpieces, ancient art, and cultural properties by famous artists were secretly traded, so only those with confirmed identities were allowed to enter.

 

“Can I take a look?”

 

“I’ll check.”

 

In fact, he wanted to take a look, but he was just throwing out the words impulsively because he wanted to escape to a warm place because his body was cold. Secretary Park asked the security guard about this and that, and then received another access card and hung it around Eunho’s neck. The words LV.1 were written in gray below the card. It was probably a simple access card with limited areas or authority.

 

After passing through the security door with the card and passing through a long passage, he was blocked by a security guard once again at the entrance to the auction hall, but he could check the inside with a monitor installed outside the door. Secretary Park took the shopping bag that Eunho had brought and entered the auction hall.

 

Eunho wandered around and picked up a catalog placed at the entrance of the auction hall. The security guard glared at him for a moment, but did not stop him, so he leisurely walked to the waiting room and took a seat on the sparsely placed sofas.

 

There were several ancient art pieces in the auction catalog that Eunho also knew. The estimated price and starting price varied from a few hundred to hundreds of millions.

 

“The current price is 67 million won. Is there anyone for 70 million won? Customer number 38, sold for 67 million won.”

 

The auctioneer’s voice, which came from a nearby monitor, shook the quiet lobby. This was enough sightseeing, it was not the time to sit idly and relax. Eunho left a message for Secretary Park saying that he was going to leave. At that moment, the auction hall door opened and a familiar face appeared.

 

“I see you here again.”

 

A voice with sharp edges scratched past his ear. Eunho bowed his head as soon as he saw Executive Director Choi Seryeong, but annoyance surged up due to the unpleasant feeling. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have come in, why did he come all the way here to see something?

 

“This is not a place where you can enter freely, what are you doing here?”

 

“I came to deliver something to CEO Han.”

 

He hated her attitude of treating subordinates as servants, but he couldn’t risk getting his head chopped off if he showed his dislike, so he erased his uncomfortable expression as much as possible and smiled faintly.

 

“Executive Director Choi’s assistant?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Can’t he forget Junseo, or are you a substitute?”

 

Who the hell is Junseo?

 

Seryeong deliberately provoked Eunho’s nerves to create curiosity. She wanted to scratch anything related to Yoonjae, whatever it was. She smiled sadly as she watched Eunho’s eyes harden.

 

“Are you upset? I said it to make you upset, didn’t I?”

 

Thinking that she was deliberately annoying him, Eunho remained expressionless and made the other person frustrated. Seeing him look at her calmly without getting caught up in her emotions, she clenched her jaw and tried to pour out her anger.

 

At that time, a strange man walked in front of her.

 

“Yoo Eunho?”

 

“…Yes?”

 

Seryeong checked the man who had blocked between them and quickly released her hardened expression. The way she hurriedly smoothed out her voice mixed with anger was so crude that it felt like a pheromone wave.

 

“Hello. Vice President Choi.”

 

“Managing Director Kang, do you know this kid?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The man looked young because of his black, dandy cut hairstyle, but he still looked to be in his mid-30s. While being polite to Seryeong, he exuded a fairly relaxed atmosphere.

 

“So, would it be okay if I took this friend with me?”

 

Seoryeong, feeling awkward at the man’s polite question, couldn’t hide the trembling at the corners of her lips and nodded with an awkward smile. The man shielded Eunho from the pheromones emanating from Seoryeong, as if creating a barrier, and led him out of the auction house lobby towards the indoor terrace near the entrance.

 

“Wh-Who are you?”

 

“I pulled you out of an uncomfortable situation, and you’re already putting up your guard.”

 

Unlike the man, who was full of composure, Eunho drew a line against the unknown man. The moment he called his name, Eunho felt chills down his spine. No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t recall ever meeting him.

 

“Well… you know my name.”

 

“I went to see Executive Director Kim of Samjeong Corporation a few times.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

A wave of embarrassment washed over his face. He knew the connection, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember the man.

 

“But how do you know my name?”

 

“Don’t ask about things like that. Why are you here? It’s a minefield.”

 

“…I came on an errand for my boss.”

 

“Yuseong Venture Capital?”

 

“Yes? …Yes.”

 

The man knew too much about Eunho. He wasn’t one to forget things easily once he recognized them, but was his head just frozen…?

 

Before he knew it, Eunho was being led on by the man in front of him, blurting everything out without realizing it. He didn’t even know who he was, not even his name.

 

“Avoid that person if possible. And don’t try to approach him, Eunho.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“It’s just… I can see that they keep trying to provoke you.”

 

He was grateful that the man had helped him escape the unwanted situation, but excessive interference was the last thing he wanted. Eunho smiled awkwardly, wondering how to get out of this situation.

 

“Would you like to come to our company?”