Vol 1 Ch 19

Where did he go?

 

He obviously should have been waiting right outside the door, but Marteo was nowhere to be seen.

 

However, searching for him did not take long.

 

The moment he rounded the corner, he spotted a cluster of employees who had nothing to do except poke their noses where they should not.

 

Following their gaze, he saw it.

 

A man staring quietly at the wall of panels.

 

Yeonho slowed his hurried steps and approached his side.

 

“What are you staring at like that?”

 

Maybe he had sensed him already; Marteo turned his head without showing any surprise.

 

Then he looked back at the panel.

 

He was looking at a photograph on the wall panel.

 

More precisely, at the photographs of DO:IT’s roster of entertainers.

 

Among them, one name embedded under a photo caught Yeonho’s eye.

 

                                     [OH-TEAJIN 오태진]

 

One of the names Seungwon had rattled off, and someone very familiar to Yeonho.

 

Two years ago, a partner he had backed.

 

Coincidentally, right next to him hung the picture of Lee Geonwoo, the man Yeonho had been involved with before Taejin.

 

He saw those photos every time he visited Seungwon’s room, but he had never paid them even a moment’s attention.

 

Yet now, the same faint discomfort he had felt in the office crept up again.

 

Yeonho, looking back and forth between the photos and Marteo, finally spoke in a deliberately light tone.

 

“Jealous?”

 

“…….”

 

“If you want to get up on this wall too, work hard.”

 

“…For you, Do Yeonho?”

 

He meant work hard at the job, not work hard for him, but that was how Marteo chose to interpret it.

 

Still, wrong or not, it was not entirely off the mark.

 

For rookies, the most desperate thing was always opportunity, and to grab opportunities quickly, connections were essential.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Instead of denying, he affirmed shortly.

 

Marteo raised his eyebrows slightly, but before long a faint smile spread across his face.

 

Turning away from the panel completely, he asked a different question.

 

“What are you doing now? Are you busy…?”

 

“Why?”

 

“To ‘work’ hard, like you said.”

 

“……?”

 

“If you have time, would you like to go on a date with me.”

 

…A date?

 

Yeonho’s eyes widened at the unexpected words, no, at the unexpected choice of expression.

 

Of course, he had eaten meals, drank coffee, even gone shopping a few times with boys he sponsored…

 

“The weather is good. A light walk would be nice.”

 

A “walk,” one of those activities real couples do.

 

No, if he wants to do well, he should do well in bed, not say something cheesy like a date.

 

Yeonho’s expression began to cloud.

 

“…You don’t want to?”

 

Marteo lifted the end of his sentence.

 

Unlike before, his speech became more formal, his faint smile fading a little.

 

Hmm… does his tone change when he is unhappy?

 

Not exactly a good habit, but strangely… it was a bit cute.

 

It was not fear of being rejected.

 

Realizing that, mischief rose in Yeonho.

 

Suppressing a grin, he narrowed his eyes.

 

“Do you know this area well?”

 

“……?”

 

“Where are we going to walk. Do you even know any places worth going?”

 

In truth, the business district around the company had no proper walking spots.

 

If they left the area, they would have to take Yeonho’s car, which would not be a date at all but Yeonho driving him around.

 

His bold suggestion was met with a firm rejection.

 

Unable to respond immediately, Marteo stayed silent, and Yeonho burst out laughing.

 

“Look at you, talking about a date at your level?”

 

“…….”

 

“Stop messing around and just follow me.”

 

“Where are we… going?”

 

“A date is a hundred years too early. Let’s go sightseeing first.”

 

Sight… seeing…?

 

“Clearly you have not been anywhere properly. Since you brought it up, I will show you around.”

 

Show him around??

 

The words were very, very far from the mood Marteo had imagined.

 

“Feel honored.”

 

But with Yeonho grinning like that, he could not refuse even if it were a senior-citizen bus tour.

 

**

 

Each year, roughly fifteen million foreign tourists visit Korea.

 

Among them, one of the most popular destinations in Seoul is Gyeongbokgung Palace, nestled at the foot of Mount Bugak, where one can feel the five-hundred-year tradition of the Joseon dynasty.

 

However…

 

“Here. Take it.”

 

No tradition, no history; Marteo’s thoughts upon receiving the Gyeongbokgung tickets were simply complicated.

 

Of course, when Yeonho said he wanted to go, even if it were a senior tour, he thought he would follow.

 

But he had not meant he actually wanted one.

 

He assumed the “guide” comment was just talk.

 

“Never been here before, right?”

 

Yeonho pressed the entrance ticket into his hand.

 

He was treating Marteo as a full tourist, no question about it.

 

Swallowing a bitter sigh, Marteo shook his head.

 

“Never… been.”

 

“Yeah, figured. Later, when you do well and get interviewed, they will ask those questions. What Korean food did you like most? Where have you visited? What impressed you most? This makes it easier to answer.”

 

“…Is that really why you chose this place?”

 

“Well. You get to sightsee and walk at the same time. And besides…”

 

“Besides?”

 

Actually… it is a popular date spot too.

 

Yeonho swallowed the words that almost slipped out.

 

Twenty minutes from the company.

 

For many reasons it was a rational choice, but… somewhere in the back of his mind the word “date” lingered.

 

Though he had no intention of telling him that.

 

Feigning innocence, he changed the subject.

 

“I have not been here since I was a kid.”

 

“Then you cannot guide me properly, can you?”

 

Even that comment turned into nitpicking.

 

Yeonho narrowed his eyes and jerked his chin toward the opposite side of the entrance.

 

“If you don’t like it, should we just go?”

 

“Let’s go in.”

 

Immediate effect.

 

Even if the place was not what he expected, staying with Yeonho was obviously better than parting ways.

 

Pretending he had never hesitated, Marteo even snatched the ticket from Yeonho’s hand and hurried ahead.

 

But it did not last long.

 

His steps soon slowed again.

 

Red pillars, blue dancheong, the sky draped above the grand gate…

 

After passing Heungnyemun and walking further inside, the feeling grew stronger.

 

The long stretch of bluish-gray stone ground, the dignified Geunjeongmun standing straight ahead, and beyond that the majestic roofline of Geunjeongjeon.

 

It felt as though not just space, but time itself had shifted.

 

A five-hundred-year-old air in the middle of a modern city.

 

Marteo’s gaze moved slowly along the graceful and beautiful lines of the palace.

 

Italy held history so heavily that whole cities were called ruins, but unlike the towering monuments of Rome, this place stirred the heart differently.

 

Here, it was the emptiness, the deliberate restraint, the way space was left open that moved him.

 

He murmured without thinking.

 

“It’s beautiful….”

 

“It is.”

 

Yeonho replied as if entranced.

 

Then he flinched.

 

His eyes had not been on the palace at all, but on the profile of the man who had stopped walking.

 

Even if he did not fully look Korean, the mix of Eastern and Western beauty in Marteo’s face somehow shone even more brightly in this traditional palace.

 

‘Would he actually look good in hanbok too?’

 

Noticing a group of foreign tourists passing by in rented hanbok, Yeonho cleared his throat.

 

“Let’s go that way.”

 

After all, they looked like foreigners too, and Yeonho felt the glances directed toward Marteo.

 

Probably trying to sneak a look at “Tony,” just like earlier.

 

‘If he gets a chance, he’ll definitely become a global talent.’

 

Even while intentionally thinking in business terms, Yeonho’s steps quickened to avoid the crowd.