Ch 14

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Four Months Before That Day (1)

 

These days, Eunho was constantly amazed by Yoonjae’s discerning eye. About a month after their bet, articles about Studio G plastered the portals, and now it had become a topic that people frequently discussed. It was an over-the-counter stock, and it would be a long time before an IPO, but the stock price had already soared more than three times the price the company had bought it for.

 

“Did you see the Studio G article? The number of concurrent users in the open beta exceeded 700,000.”

 

“700,000? Is it that fun?”

 

“I heard that there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t play it these days?”

 

The voices of the employees entering the Secretary’s office after lunch were full of excitement. With favorable news articles pouring out every day from a place where they had made a rather large investment, the morale of the employees soared. This was because the larger the pie of performance, the greater the impact on year-end incentives.

 

“What percentage of shares do we have here?”

 

“How much was it? Ah! 16.5%.”

 

“It was a good thing we didn’t invest in B-gate and did it here instead. Executive Director Choi really has an amazing eye.”

 

Just a few months ago, when Yoonjae invested in Studio G, all the director-level executives in each division had vehemently criticized him for taking an unreasonable risk. But now, they easily changed their tune as if flipping a coin, saying that Yoonjae had made an excellent choice. In any case, from Eunho’s point of view, it was welcome news to hear good things about his boss.

 

Eunho followed behind Yoonjae as he left the conference room after finishing the conference call. He seemed quite indifferent, not swept up in the excited atmosphere of the company.

 

When they were alone in the elevator after everyone else had left, Eunho, who was standing against one side of the wall, whispered quietly.

 

“Executive Director.”

 

Yoonjae, who had been looking at the LED screen, turned to meet Eunho’s eyes. His eyes curved softly as he smiled languidly, asking what was wrong.

 

“Can I ask what the decisive reason was for deciding to invest in Studio G?”

 

He was asking quite seriously, but the elevator doors opened. Yoonjae gestured for him to follow him into his office. Entering the office, he sat down directly on the reception sofa and loosened his tie, putting his fingers inside.

 

“The user’s reaction is the top priority in the game industry, and the posts on various game enthusiast sites from the closed beta were unusual. The most important thing was the high quality of the content, and the interface, visuals, and sense of impact were also good.”

 

“Did you try it yourself?”

 

“Of course. I have it installed on my desktop, do you want me to show you?”

 

He gave an unexpected answer, as if he would be ignorant of that field. It was a little unfamiliar and amazing that a leader, not a mere employee, would go beyond the level of corporate research and experience it himself, frequenting related communities.

 

In fact, it was common for investments to be made based solely on closed-door meetings between company representatives to share their future company roadmaps, but Yoonjae never let anything pass him by carelessly.

 

“The company was investing in Studio G at a time when the stock price had already risen, and from my point of view, it didn’t seem like there was any merit at that price.”

 

“That was the atmosphere at the time.”

 

“I thought that if it went well, it might be possible to increase it tenfold, just like you said, Executive Director.”

 

He thought he was playing a game where he deliberately let him win, but that wasn’t it. He was really enjoying the game. He suddenly wondered what he would say when he won the bet.

 

“Whoever wins, we’ll keep our promise.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Seeing him emphasize it again, the subject of the wish didn’t seem light.

 

‘As long as it’s not telling me to quit, there’s nothing I can’t listen to.’

 

Eunho got up from his seat and quietly went outside.

 

Yoonjae got up from the sofa, picked up the key phone on his desk, and called Chief Yoon. He remembered that B-gate’s investment was actively being made around this time, but perhaps because he had made a different choice, news from that side was scarce.

 

Chief Yoon, who knocked on the door and entered, approached Yoonjae.

 

“How’s the atmosphere at B-gate?”

 

“There’s no particular progress to report, but when we withdrew our investment, there was talk that J Investment would invest. It seemed to be put on hold for a while after that, but now it seems like the investment will be withdrawn.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I don’t know the details, but I’ve only heard that B-gate wanted to buy old shares at an absurd price.”

 

Yoonjae put the pen he was holding between his fingers and twirled it around. He felt the flow changing rapidly as he made a different choice from the past. Choi Seryeong must have been directly involved in the withdrawal of the B-gate investment, so there must be a causal relationship between the two, but he still couldn’t see a concrete picture of what it was.

 

Yoonjae took a breath of relief, feeling relieved that he had changed the direction of the investment and removed the risk factors, and turned his gaze to the panoramic window. The gray sky hanging between the many buildings held dark storm clouds in its arms.

 

Just as he was about to lose his mind, the cell phone he had placed on his desk vibrated loudly. When Yoonjae saw the name he had been waiting for on the screen, he snatched up the phone as if grabbing it and pressed the call button. The other person’s excited voice scattered chaotically in his ear through the speaker.

 

-I’ve got the evidence. I’ve secured both photos and videos, should I send them to you?

 

That’s right, it couldn’t be otherwise.

 

Yoonjae covered his eyes with his palm, but he couldn’t hide his bitter smile.

 

“Who’s the other person?”

 

-It’s a public service exam student he met at the academy. It’s the friend I mentioned in the previous call as an companion. They’ve been dating for a little over a month, but I thought it would be better to get solid evidence before reporting.

 

“Do you have photos from the beginning of their meeting?”

 

-Yes, I have them all.

 

“First, send me all the footage, and keep checking.”

 

-Should I leave you a message every time they go to a house or motel?

 

“Okay.”

 

Even after ending the call, Yoonjae smiled as he stared at the darkened screen for a long time before getting up from his seat and grabbing his jacket and coat. Now the puzzle was coming together as he wanted. He had been piecing together the edges of the puzzle, but after experiencing a temporary stagnation and stopping, a piece he hadn’t seen appeared after putting a few more pieces together, and he began to see the whole picture.

 

As he left the office, Eunho got up from his seat and tried to follow him as usual. Yoonjae stopped him and waved his hand, saying that he would go first, and quickly left the office.

 

Yoonjae, who was behind the wheel, drove towards the Han River. The roadside trees, with only bare branches left after all the leaves had fallen, looked very lonely today. The sky, which had been so blue yesterday that it hurt his eyes, was now gray as if it had lost its color. The city, with its overall low saturation, weighed down Yoonjae’s heart even more.

 

Yoonjae parked his car in the Han River Park parking lot and leaned back in his seat. His arms were crossed and his gaze coldly looked down at the quietly flowing river in the distance, as cold as the winter weather. Yoonjae often came here when he wanted to clear his head. Looking blankly at the gently flowing river, he felt that even his complicated mind was purified. After time had turned back, his decision about Eunho was the only one that differed from the past, apart from his company work.

 

It was simply a well-intentioned attempt to steer his past differently so that it wouldn’t lead to the worst conclusion, but as time went by, he realized that it wasn’t flowing as easily as he had hoped, and he gradually became obsessed. He slowly became stubborn. Despite Yoonjae’s efforts, Eunho seemed to be constantly walking towards death, like grains of sand slipping through the cracks in his clenched hand.

 

It was around the time of his parents’ death anniversary that Yoonjae decided to get more involved in Eunho’s life as a more intimate relationship, shedding the title of boss. The day before the anniversary, his heart was deeply touched by the way Eunho comforted and embraced him when he was having a hard time, and the way he came to the family gravesite through the freezing winter weather the next day and took out a hot pack. Yoonjae became greedy. He wanted to separate Eunho from that good-for-nothing boyfriend.

 

Yoonjae had been using people to dig into Hyunjun’s past since before his business trip to Singapore. At that time, it was simply to confirm how sleazy the past Hyunjun had been, but as time went by, the purpose changed. He hoped that Hyunjun would have another lover and that he would be two-timing. The moment he confirmed that fact, Yoonjae was going to reveal his desire for Eunho, which he had been keeping in his heart. And the time had come. Yoonjae was going to approach Eunho as a likable boss, not just a workplace superior.

 

***

 

[I’ll buy you dinner, want to come out? It would be nice to have a drink too. 6:32 PM]

 

What was this feeling of becoming more and more pathetic as time went on? Eunho, who had left work early for once and was heading home on public transportation, opened the message window and pondered for a long time before choosing the right words and pressing the send button. He stared for a long time to see when the read mark would appear, and became annoyed at his own pathetic situation, where his obsession was only deepening day by day.

 

[Sorry, I don’t have time to do that leisurely. 6:34 PM]

 

Ha.

 

Eunho frowned and let out a deep sigh.

 

“Aren’t you neglecting me too much just because you’ve caught me?”

 

It had been three months now. Regardless of whether he passed or not, he was determined to explode at least once. Eunho closed the chat window after the dry reply and scanned the recent call list. He was thinking of calling anyone and getting drunk enough to lose his mind on this Friday night.

 

“Ah, really.”

 

The call list was full of names of people from work. No matter how much he said ‘anyone’, he didn’t want to meet people from work after work, especially on a Friday night. Even the name that accounted for the highest proportion of them was Choi Yoonjae. It wasn’t until he excluded his colleagues that he saw how limited his relationships were.

 

Eunho scrolled down the call list and pressed the call button for Suyeong. But today was one of those days when nothing seemed to work out, and Eunho’s mood sank further into a swamp of depression at the sound of Suyeong’s giggling laughter coming from beyond the phone.

 

“You’re not at the cafe?”

 

-Yeah, I left it to the part-timer and I’m having dinner with Sunbae, why?

 

It was only natural that she had a date with her boyfriend on a Friday night. Eunho felt a dryness in his mouth and had to swallow hard.

 

“No, it’s nothing. Have a good date.”

 

-This is the chicken place we used to go to, want to come? You like it here.

 

“Why would I join you there? No thanks.”

 

Suyeong, who immediately sensed something from his damp, sunken voice, grabbed Eunho right away. But Eunho couldn’t bring himself to join them.

 

‘I have some shame, what’s the point of joining a couple.’

 

Eunho hurriedly ended the call, telling her to have a good time. He hadn’t even exchanged a few words, but he felt drained.

 

“Why do I feel so empty?”

 

If he were single, he would have gone to a club, found someone he liked, and gotten drunk enough to have a wild night. But because he was wearing shackles, even if only loosely, he felt uncomfortable just imagining it.

 

Eventually, Eunho, who had arrived near his house, stopped by a convenience store and bought beer and light snacks before walking home. It was cold, so he hurried along, but his steps were heavy as if he had weights attached to his ankles.

 

As soon as Eunho returned home, he took a hot shower, changed into his pajamas, and then took the beer and snacks and placed them on the table next to the sofa. Then, he brought a blanket from the bedroom and placed it on one side of the sofa, opened an OTT platform, and chose a movie.

 

“In the end, it’s just me.”

 

After opening a can of beer and wetting his mouth once, he bent his knees and wrapped his arms around them. In Eunho’s eyes, the man and woman in the movie whispered love and kissed naturally. Eunho, who was watching the movie with a bored gaze, not even interested, picked up the can of beer again and emptied half of it in one go.

 

Ding-dong—

 

Eunho, who was startled by the sound of the doorbell ringing in the living room, jumped up and looked at the intercom on the wall. Unless the alcohol was deceiving him, the man on the screen was clearly Choi Yoonjae, someone familiar to him.

 

‘Why is he here? And why does he have to come when I’m in my pajamas?’

 

Eunho was restless and stomped his feet, wondering if he should change his clothes, but he couldn’t leave someone standing at the door, so he reluctantly opened the front door a little and peeked his head out.

 

“Executive Director?”

 

Suddenly, Yoonjae opened the door wide with his large hand, and Eunho, who had been holding the doorknob tightly, momentarily lost his balance and leaned forward. Eunho hurriedly tried to grab something, but unfortunately, before he could grab anything, his face was pressed against Yoonjae’s chest.

 

“H-How did you get here?”

 

“I found out the address from your resume, and the reason is… because I needed a drinking buddy?”

 

Yoonjae grabbed Eunho and pulled him up as if hugging him, and handed him a shopping bag. Inside the shopping bag were a champagne decorated with a ribbon and various kinds of cheese.

 

The moment Eunho took his eyes off the shopping bag, his face suddenly came closer. The pheromones that were slowly coming in were lighter and softer than usual.

 

“Are you going to keep me standing here?”

 

“… I might not be home, or someone else might be here, so if you just come here like this…”

 

“Then should I just go?”

 

He raised the corners of his eyes and then lowered his eyebrows again. It was the first time in a while that he had seen his expression change in real time. He couldn’t kick out someone whose face said that he had come with an excited heart because he had something good to celebrate. In fact, it wasn’t a comfortable relationship to say such things.

 

“No. Come in.”

 

Eunho scratched the back of his head and led Yoonjae inside. He was very relieved that he didn’t live in a mess, but he wasn’t the type to sweep and clean diligently, so he was a little embarrassed.

 

Eunho often found it difficult to understand Yoonjae’s unpredictable behavior. The Executive Director he had served in the previous company was clear about public and private matters, but Choi Yoonjae’s boundaries were sometimes unclear. He thought it was because he was young, but he only recently learned that he didn’t do this to Secretary Han at all. Yoonjae’s behavior that crossed the line was only limited to himself.

 

“Executive Director.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“… No, it’s nothing. Please sit down.”

 

He was upset that he knew he had a lover, but he wondered how easily he thought of him. He wondered what he was thinking. He hesitated whether to say something or not, but he held back. Since he had brought alcohol to his house, it also meant that he wanted to sleep over, so he had a strange urge to see how far he would go.

 

He wanted to excuse himself by saying that it was entirely Hyunjun’s fault for neglecting him. Or maybe he just wanted to go off the rails today.