Ch 43

<43>

 

The Beginning of a New Time (4)

 

Yoonjae heard the direct cause of Eunho’s death eight months ago and felt dazed, placing the spoon he was holding down. He got up as if needing fresh air, and his back view as he walked to the terrace was filled with bewilderment. Taeoh slowly sighed and rose from his seat.

 

“Back then, Yoo Eunho-ssi’s accident was my fault.”

 

Yoonjae understood why he hadn’t brought up the story right away the day Taeoh first came to this house. Perhaps if they had talked about this from the beginning, Yoonjae would have had a hard time trusting Taeoh as much as he did now, so there would have been no other way than to buy time and prove that Eunho’s accident had safely passed.

 

“So that’s why you said nothing would happen. Because you didn’t join hands with Executive Director Choi Seryeong.”

 

“…Actually, on June 20th, I received a call to gather in CEO Han’s office just like that day, but I refused. I think Executive Director also deliberately took Eunho-ssi on vacation that day.”

 

“Who did you hear that from?”

 

“I heard it in passing from CEO Han.”

 

Yoonjae’s lips twisted and his eyes turned fierce. He knew there were quite a few eyes watching them, but he felt unpleasant when he confirmed it directly.

 

“More than that…”

 

Taeoh took out his cell phone from his pocket and played a video. The thumbnail, which contained Choi Seryeong’s upright figure, stood out in the full video of about 40 minutes. He didn’t press play, but he could fully predict what it was.

 

“I’ll leave you alone for a while, so please watch it until the end.”

 

Taeoh picked up two of Junseo’s paintings and went up to the second floor. There would probably be a space somewhere on the second floor where his paintings were kept separately.

 

Yoonjae, who had his own time, pressed play and sat on a nearby sofa, focusing on the conversation.

 

He had known that Choi Seryeong hated him for a long time, so he wasn’t greatly shaken, but some of the conversations at the end touched Yoonjae’s nerves. Yoonjae swallowed his anger, gritting his teeth so hard that the veins on the back of his hand holding the cell phone stood out. As the video came to an end, Taeoh, who came down from the second floor, conveyed the facts in a tone without highs and lows.

 

“Executive Director Choi Seryeong is targeting Yoo Eunho-ssi.”

 

Yoonjae nodded at Taeoh’s words. He thought his thoughts would run wild, but instead, his head calmed down.

 

“Choi Seryeong knows the relationship between the two of you exactly. I think CEO Han told her rather than knowing it alone. She knows a lot, seeing as she told me too. Probably…”

 

“It must be the Secretary’s office staff. It’ll be relatively easier for Yoo Eunho-ssi than monitoring me.”

 

Yoonjae thought of someone and sighed heavily, running his dry face with both hands. It was a mistake that he sensed that CEO Han was a dangerous person, but he didn’t calculate his Secretary.

 

“…Secretary Park.”

 

Yoonjae lamented himself for temporarily taking Secretary Park off the list of people to be wary of. With the current organization, there is no justifiable reason to separate the two.

 

Taeoh crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, casting his gaze out the window. It was a priority to make Yoonjae quickly recognize that a dangerous situation would come if he made a mistake.

 

“As you understood from the conversation, it seems like they’re going to use Yoo Eunho-ssi as an excuse for blackmail.”

 

“If so…”

 

Yoonjae put his hands together as if praying, put them on his nose and forehead, and closed his eyes. It was an unwanted scenario, but Eunho’s safety was the priority, and nothing else was worth discussing.

 

“I’ll have to hide him before the general shareholders meeting.”

 

***

 

Yoonjae has been having a lot of unexpected dinner appointments lately, whether he’s busy laying the groundwork for changing the company name at the next general shareholders meeting or whether it’s an investment meeting. Thanks to this, he often leaves work on time, but Eunho wasn’t very comfortable. Eunho fiddled with the black screen of his cell phone for 30 minutes and opened the message window.

 

His fingers, which had been typing and deleting short messages, hesitated on the screen. He was about to press the delete button, thinking that he was making him worry while he was in a meeting, but he checked the time and turned the direction again and pressed send. Oh well, whatever. If he’s in a meeting, he’ll just skip it. Eunho pretended to ignore it and turned on the TV, but his eyes remained on his cell phone.

 

When he picked up the remote control, turned the channel once with indifferent eyes, and returned to the starting point, the cell phone vibrated for a long time. When Choi Yoonjae’s name appeared on the screen, Eunho pressed the call button without delay and put it to his ear.

 

-Eunho-ya.

 

A hot and humid breath and alcohol rushed into his ear at once. The sticky and slow tone was already soaked in alcohol.

 

“Where are you?”

 

-…Home.

 

“I’ll go now.”

 

How many months has it been? Last winter, even the day before his parents’ death anniversary, he drank so much that he couldn’t control himself, so he grabbed him and took him home. Eunho, recalling his memories, felt uneasy that he was drunk again to the point of losing his words, and hurriedly left the house.

 

Sweat beaded on his nose due to the muggy tropical night. The heat of the asphalt, which had not yet cooled down in the weather where not a single breeze was blowing, made sweat drip down even if he ran a little. Eunho’s brown hair clumped together and darkened as he opened the front door with his access card and ran across the garden.

 

When he opened the front door, the sweat that had been running down his spine instantly dried up due to the cool, dry temperature. Eunho took off his shoes roughly and passed through the hallway, looking around the living room and kitchen without missing a spot, and sighed in frustration. He looked so haggard, sitting in a chair at the kitchen table, staring blankly at the on-the-rocks glass in front of him, and drooping his shoulders.

 

“…You came.”

 

Yoonjae, who was lifting his head as if he felt something blocking at the end of his vision, made eye contact with Eunho. A precariousness that seemed to collapse at any moment was weighing him down.

 

“Why are you drinking so much alone?”

 

“…Ah, this… Did I drink it all…”

 

There was only a bottle of liquor with the bottom exposed, an on-the-rocks glass, and an ice bucket on the table. He had drunk only alcohol without any snacks, and he was drunk to the top of his head, but he was saving his words as if he didn’t want to say why he was drinking, and he was only blinking his eyelids slowly.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

His brow narrowed and then relaxed as he listened to Eunho’s voice. He shook his head, but he didn’t have any strength left in his body, so his center of gravity shook and he staggered. Eunho approached him in case Yoonjae fell from his chair, put his arms under his armpits, and raised his body.

 

“You should stop drinking.”

 

Yoonjae tried to hold on to the back of the chair and support his body as if gathering his remaining spirit, but he kept leaning forward and staggering. Eunho dragged him to the bedroom, almost hugging him.

 

The pheromones flowing from Yoonjae sank gloomily to the floor. Eunho, who barely managed to take Yoonjae to the bedroom, supported the back of his head with his hands and carefully laid him down.

 

Half-closed eyes wandered from the ceiling to find Eunho and settled down immediately. Eunho wondered why his blurry smile was so desperately boiling.

 

“What’s going on that makes you so tired?”

 

His whole body was constricted as if someone was grabbing his heart and pulling out all the blood inside. Eunho reached out and stroked his cheek. Unlike his rising body temperature, his face was pale.

 

Yoonjae wrapped his hand around Eunho’s hand stroking his face and replied in a slow tone.

 

“…You say I’m tired…?”

 

Eunho wanted to retort, “If not, what is this?” but he just nodded silently, seeing Yoonjae’s condition, who was so drunk that he didn’t even know what he was saying. He was trying to force his drooping eyelids up to focus.

 

Eunho felt that his efforts to put himself in the center of the focus were so admirable that he bent down and kissed his lips lightly. As if comforting and caressing him not to have a hard time, when he put his lips together and pushed in his soft tongue, a strong smell of alcohol wafted in the hot breath.

 

Eunho licked the alcohol remaining in Yoonjae’s mouth with his tongue. He was gradually losing consciousness, so he kept tilting his head to one side with his eyes half-closed. Eunho slowly took his lips off, checked his eyes, which were now almost closed, and raised his upper body.

 

The indoor temperature was so low that he felt like he was going to catch a cold. As he was about to get up to find the remote control, his wrist was grabbed. His deeply sunken voice scratched his ear.

 

“Don’t go.”

 

When he turned his head and looked down, he was looking straight at Eunho. His eyes, filled with moisture, were rippling as if he would shed tears at any moment.

 

“…Come here.”

 

Eunho completely forgot about trying to find the remote control. Yoonjae’s appearance was imprinted in his heart like a faint afterimage, and he couldn’t think of anything else as if his neural circuits were blocked. When he lay down in the empty seat next to him, a firm arm wrapped around Eunho and pulled him closer. His remaining instincts, not that his consciousness had become clearer, were desperately begging.

 

“I don’t want to… send you away.”

 

The small muttering voice sank into the water.

 

“I’m not going anywhere.”

 

Eunho, with his head on his chest and listening to the sound of his heart digging into his ear, whispered softly, but Yoonjae kept repeating the same words. Eunho did not understand the exact meaning of his last words. Eunho, not knowing why he was so troubled and struggling, gently stroked him and waited until his breathing became comfortable.

 

That night was unusually long and sleepless. Yoonjae frowned from time to time as if he was having a nightmare and muttered incomprehensible words. He, who always slept soundly, kept tossing and turning, holding Eunho closer, wondering what was so uncomfortable. An indescribable anxiety grabbed his body and strangled him.

 

***

 

Eunho frowned at the intense morning sunlight pouring onto his face. Eunho, covering his eyes with his back of his hand to create a shadow, slowly chased away the remaining sleep. He must have fallen asleep. He thought he would stay up all night comforting Yoonjae until dawn, but in the end, he couldn’t overcome his drowsiness and fell asleep.

 

Eunho’s eyes were dry, so he pressed down on his eyelids with his fingers. Even though he pressed down so hard that tears welled up, his fatigue didn’t go away. He stretched his stiff neck from side to side and tried to get up, but Yoonjae, who had just finished showering, came into the room and strode over and hugged Eunho. In the meantime, he even worked out, so the smell of alcohol disappeared, and only the lingering scent of body wash tickled the tip of his nose.

 

“You couldn’t sleep, could you? The smell of alcohol must have been terrible.”

 

“…Aren’t you tired?”

 

When Eunho wriggled in Yoonjae’s arms without even opening his eyes properly, he tilted his head in question, rubbing his nose against his closed eyelids. Eunho rubbed his face against Yoonjae’s shoulder and gradually woke up his hazy mind.

 

“I don’t know if you were dreaming or talking in your sleep.”

 

“…Me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“…Ah, sorry.”

 

Yoonjae’s memories of last night were hazy. He didn’t have all of his memories completely cut off, but he was refraining from speaking because there were vague sections whether it was a dream or reality.

 

Eunho, who was roughly combing his hair that was sticking out from being pressed down on the pillow with his fingers, put his cell phone on the table in his pocket and straightened the crumpled blanket.

 

“I’m going home to get my laptop and clothes and come back.”

 

“Don’t do that, let’s eat breakfast and go together.”

 

Yoonjae, who came closer, grabbed the blanket instead and gestured for him to wash up, and Eunho took a step back. Yoonjae, who had returned to his usual self, seemed so peaceful that he wondered if what happened last night was a dream. If his face had been full of worries when he opened his eyes, he would have subtly asked him if something was wrong, but he acted as if nothing had happened, so Eunho couldn’t ask any more and replaced it with a bright smile.

 

Yoonjae has been busy these days, and he was fighting an invisible force in the middle of a war zone without any gunshots. Rather than digging up the situation even though he knew it, he wanted to share his affection and hold his hand when he was having a hard time to be his strength. He was worried when he was disheveled or struggling, but he was grateful that he revealed his inner feelings. Eunho felt the fatigue accumulated all night melt away when he saw him return to the Yoonjae he knew.

 

***

 

As MPick, the third company, was finalized as the final investment destination for the influencer marketplace, 7 billion won in investment execution funds was allocated. While CEO Han and the CEO of MPick were signing the investment agreement and taking pictures, Choi Yoonjae’s expression turned coldly as he watched the process.

 

Eunho glanced at Yoonjae while organizing the report next to the legal team staff. His fierce eyes watching CEO Han burned so fiercely that they seemed to burn everything and turn it into ashes.

 

Eunho didn’t chase after Yoonjae, who left his seat first, but continued to check the data handed over by the legal team and write the report. He realized that his vision was darkening due to the approaching shadow and raised his head.

 

“Are you very busy?”

 

“…Ah, no. I’m almost done.”

 

CEO Han, who had never talked to him before, suddenly started talking to him. Eunho, who understood half a beat late as if buffering, smiled awkwardly and got up from his seat. CEO Han slowly scanned Eunho’s appearance with sticky eyes.

 

“You’re having a hard time with Executive Director Choi these days.”

 

“…….”

 

“Then, good work.”

 

His bitter gaze was somehow unpleasant. Even while sitting down and writing the report recipient, a disturbing feeling touched Eunho. CEO Han is close to Executive Director Choi Seryeong, so will he become an enemy to Choi Yoonjae? It was still difficult to judge whether to divide it into dichotomy or not, so Eunho decided to save his body without showing hostility.

 

While he was about to enter the Secretary’s office after submitting all the reports, he ran into Yoonjae coming out of his office. Yoonjae, who said that he would be away for about an hour, so there was no need to follow him, greeted the employees and left the entrance. He wondered if it was lunch since it was an hour, but when he checked the clock, it was a bit early for lunch.

 

Eunho, who received a call coming into the secretary team and organized all the reports from the finance team and the real investment division, got up from his seat. He opened the door to the empty office and put the file on the desk and turned around, but he ran into Yoonjae who was just opening the door and coming in. Has it been an hour already? When he turned his head and checked the wall clock, that much time had already passed.

 

“The finance team has completed preparations for the execution of investment funds, and there is an additional ‘MPick’ report from the real investment division, so please check and review it.”

 

He doesn’t look like he came in after eating lunch, but where did he go? When he turned his head and put his hand on the doorknob, a unique, heavy tone called Eunho from behind.

 

“Let’s leave work together today.”

 

His expression didn’t look very comfortable. Eunho lightly nodded and left his seat at his tone, which seemed to have a lot of lingering feelings. Why are his eyes looking at him filled with stuffiness? Eunho, who couldn’t find a reason no matter how much he thought about it, returned to his seat with a troubled heart.

 

***

 

Yesterday, he shook people’s hearts with his drunkenness, but today, from the afternoon, his thoughts cannot be read as if he is walking on a foggy road. It was the same even while having dinner together at Yoonjae’s house after work. His appearance, which was immersed in gloomy conversations, somehow made one corner of his heart feel cold.

 

Eunho quietly approached Yoonjae, who was leaning against the terrace window after finishing his meal.

 

Outside, heavy subtropical rain was pouring down. The raindrops flowing down the glass wall were somehow unsettling, like someone’s tears.

 

The moonlight, which occasionally revealed its face from between the dark clouds, created a long shadow at his feet. Yoonjae turned his head, checked Eunho looking up at him worriedly, and lightly stroked his cheek. Yoonjae, who liked the smooth texture of his skin, kept stroking his cheek with his thumb, brought his face close to Eunho’s, and lightly pressed his lips and took them off.

 

“Do you have any worries?”

 

Eunho thought about that simple question ten times, no, about thirty times, and then brought it up for the first time. Until the words that had been lumped together on the tip of his tongue all day and swallowed repeatedly became tattered. Eunho was fully aware of his fatigue due to complex relationships, so he was saving his words as much as possible, but he felt an unusual energy from his increasingly sinking pheromones.

 

Yoonjae quietly looked at Eunho. He carefully examined his eyes, nose, and mouth as if he would not miss any of them, and then slowly nodded.

 

“…Can I ask you something?”

 

He had been silent, as if the words wouldn’t leave his mouth, but then he pulled Eunho into his arms. When Eunho placed his hand on his chest, he could feel his distinct pulse beating against his palm through the shirt.

 

“Eunho.”

 

His moist voice reached Eunho’s ear. Eunho raised his head and met his eyes. His brow was deeply furrowed, and his expression of deep contemplation hinted at something ominous.

 

“I think… we need to be apart for a while.”