Updated 6/29/26 with correct chapter text
What would change if he had a look of anticipation on his face? While harboring such a futile question, Giyun stole glances at Seungjo’s back as he returned to his seat.
Sitting down with a composed expression, Seungjo looked at the desk and clicked his tongue, as if remembering something belatedly.
“…I left my cup.”
Come to think of it, they had ended up in this state after coming to the breakroom to get coffee. Giyun imagined Seungjo’s cup sitting lonely in the breakroom, far from everyone’s attention, containing espresso that was slowly growing cold.
Driven by that thought, Giyun set his laptop on the table and hurried toward the door.
“I’ll go get it for…”
“Sit.”
The answer, spoken through clenched teeth, was low and abrasive. Giyun stiffly stepped backward, as if he had never rushed toward the door in the first place.
“Stop acting like a servant and just stay seated.”
Crouching on a nearby sofa, Giyun remained curled up in that position until Seungjo left.
He wondered if it was really something to get this angry about, considering he wasn’t the one being treated like a servant.
Seungjo had clearly told him to distinguish between public and private matters earlier, yet his attitude toward him was paradoxically brimming with personal feelings.
Then again, the boundary between public and private had already blurred infinitely the moment the phrase ‘fucking’ had come up…
Giyun traced the surface of the black leather sofa he was perched on with his fingertips. The sofa, where the traces he had left behind previously had been wiped clean, was as spotless as if it were new.
He remembered it getting dirtier the more he rubbed it; how had it been cleaned? Surely he hadn’t bought a new one.
Just because the sofa was clean didn’t mean the fact that he had rolled around with him in this very spot was erased, but at the very least, he could pretend to be composed. Giyun intended to calm his heart and dive back into work as if nothing had happened before Seungjo returned.
However, another thought soon pushed its way into his mind.
‘And my assistant looks like he has plenty of free time?’
‘Mr. Eun Giyun is my assistant, not Mr. Park Sangbin’s servant.’
The fact that he had called him ‘my assistant’ made Giyun feel giddy and fluttery. Even though it wasn’t said directly to him, and he probably hadn’t put much meaning into it…..
He liked the expression, which seemed to abandon objectivity in a way that was unlike him. It felt as if he had let him into his rigid boundary. He felt this way even though he knew he wasn’t the only assistant.
“My assistant…”
Giyun whispered the words aloud, which felt ticklish just to think about. It was a phrase that made his lips curl into a round shape, making him want to whistle as he pronounced it. The more he murmured it, the more the corners of his mouth lifted.
“What are you doing, not even turning the power on yet?”
At the sudden sound of the door opening, Giyun’s expression froze.
Seungjo, who had returned to the office in the meantime, looked at Giyun and frowned slightly.
“Are you smiling?”
“…”
“I told you to stay still, and you really are just sitting there. Do you think this is a meditation center?”
The gentle smile that had lingered on his lips while recalling Seungjo’s words vanished without a trace the moment he faced the actual man.
“I’m sorry….”
Shrinking back, Giyun quickly placed the laptop on his lap and turned it on. All the files he worked on were kept in a shared folder.
Even if he had to endure some scolding from Seungjo, it was better to be here than in the office right now. While the future was a problem, he was just glad that, for the moment, he could avoid facing Sangbin.
He should have gone back long ago. Giyun remained in the CEO’s office well past quitting time.
Seungjo, focused on his work, didn’t care whether Giyun left or stayed, and Giyun remained in his seat even after finishing his work, pretending he wasn’t done while doing other things. He didn’t want to leave this space, where they were peacefully alone for once, by his own choice.
It was only when the thought flashed through his mind that too much time had passed and he might ask, ‘Why is Mr. Eun Giyun so incompetent?’ that he hesitantly stood up.
“Um… I’ll be going now.”
“Are you going home?”
When Giyun answered that he was, Seungjo continued speaking without even looking at him.
“I heard Line 1 is on strike.”
“Ah….”
He remembered waiting thirty minutes for the train this morning. Since it was now evening, it would be even worse. It shouldn’t have mattered to Seungjo, so Giyun tilted his head, wondering why the strike was mentioned.
Unless he was impressed by the railway union’s struggle, could he possibly be worried about his commute home?
“The service isn’t completely cut off. I can take the bus….”
He had never taken the bus before, but he figured he should look up the route. As Giyun gripped his phone and prepared to pack his bag, Seungjo spoke while keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.
“Sit and wait a moment. I’m almost finished.”
“Huh?”
Giyun blinked, not understanding the meaning.
“I have some business near there anyway, so I’ll drop you off on the way.”
“Really? What kind of business?”
“Would you know even if I told you?”
If there were an academy that taught how to make people feel awkward, Seungjo would have amassed wealth and fame as the star instructor there. Predicting Seungjo’s limitless competence, Giyun quietly sat back down. Because the conversation ended with that cold response, he missed the chance to even say thank you.
Before long, Seungjo wrapped up his work and stood up. Giyun quietly followed behind him down to the parking lot, just as before. He felt grateful for the stroke of luck that their destinations overlapped.
Having ridden in the car once before, his hand felt more natural as he fastened the seatbelt in the passenger seat. Even though he hadn’t adjusted it, the passenger seat was plush and comfortable, as if tailored to his body. The gap was wide enough that someone with a small frame might find it somewhat spacious.
Could it be that no one other than him had ridden here since then?
Of course, he knew they weren’t in a relationship where he could ask such a question. Swallowing his rising curiosity, Giyun stopped glancing at the interior and turned his gaze toward the window.
Perhaps because he rarely traveled by car, the scenery looked unfamiliar even though it was the way home.
The car was so quiet that he felt he should say something, but there must have been a reason why he didn’t turn on the music or the radio. Perhaps he was the only one squirming, unable to endure this silence.
With nowhere to put his hands, Giyun aimlessly fiddled with the seatbelt buckle, and when the belt accidentally came undone and the alarm sounded, he panicked and fastened it again.
Seungjo glanced over at him. He hadn’t wanted to attract his attention in this way.
“Why are you undoing that?”
“Ah, I touched it wrong by mistake….”
“Stop fidgeting and stay still.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
After the alarm and Seungjo’s nagging passed, the interior of the car became even chillier than before. Giyun felt a desperate need to change the atmosphere. Although Seungjo still seemed indifferent to him, the one who is always reading the other’s mood is bound to become sensitive. And Giyun believed, naturally, that he was the one.
“…Is it hard for you?”
“Not really.”
“I thought you might be tired since you have to drive after finishing work….”
Seungjo simply shrugged. Despite Giyun’s desperation to keep the conversation going, Seungjo’s reaction was as lukewarm as under- heated tea.
This only made Giyun more anxious. He hoped that today’s company would remain a pleasant memory not just for him, but for Seungjo as well, but at this rate, the chances were slim.
“Do you always drive yourself?”
“Of course I drive myself; do I drive indirectly?”
“That’s just… in movies, people who are rich and busy all have drivers and sit in the back seat.”
“Who did you watch it with?”
Giyun stuttered for a moment, not expecting a question about who he watched it with rather than what he watched.
In the meantime, Seungjo’s eyes turned cold. Before Giyun could answer, a sharp reprimand shut him up.
“Is this a time for Mr. Eun Giyun to be watching movies?”
He didn’t say he watched it now… A dark cloud cast over Giyun’s face. He had never even been to a movie theater. All he had done was watch things on TV at home with his younger sibling.
“Watching movies, dating… you’re certainly busy doing other things.”
“There are students who pass their exams while doing everything, but I don’t think that’s the case for Mr. Eun Giyun, so why don’t you face reality and figure out your priorities?”
“…I will.”
“Driver or not, I don’t like having people in my car.”
The bitter words, unhealthy for the soul, made Giyun shrink.
Exhausted by Seungjo’s way of speaking, which drove the opponent to the edge of a cliff, Giyun ended up overlooking the final point, which was the main subject.
Instead of pointing out the contradiction of why he had let him in if he hated having people in his car, he didn’t even have the energy to wonder.
Afterward, with no one speaking, the car quietly reached the neighborhood where Giyun lived.
“What is with these roads.”
“You didn’t have to come all the way in here….”
It was difficult to get to the front of the house because of the many illegally parked cars. Giyun felt as flustered as if he were the owner of the illegally parked cars, and Seungjo, ignoring those words, drove near the house and stopped at a reasonable distance.
“Thank you… for the ride.”
He thanked him inside the car, and then thanked him again outside the car. If he turned around and thanked him again, the man would wonder what was wrong with him. Suppressing the urge to look back, Giyun ran into the residential area.
To be precise, he tried to go in, but he was blocked at the entrance.
“I wondered when you’d get here.”
A person he had never invited was waiting for him. Giyun froze on the spot. He wondered if he was seeing things, but he wasn’t. Turning his head to look around, Giyun contemplated for a moment whether to go back out before opening his reluctant mouth.
“…What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I was waiting for you.”
Changgon, who had been sprawled on the stairs, stood up and slowly approached Giyun. Driven by an ominous feeling, Giyun instinctively took a step back.
He had been warned by Younghyun to be careful, but he hadn’t expected the man to actually come to his front door.
When he had ridden in his car previously, he had intentionally asked to be dropped off at a nearby store because he didn’t want to reveal his address; how on earth had he found this place?
“I’ve been here for hours… Ah, my legs hurt.”
Giyun looked at Changgon, who was exaggeratedly patting his knees, with eyes full of wariness. When the man tapped his shoulder, he flinched visibly.
“Let’s go inside first. Can you give me some water?”
The casual tone was appalling. He didn’t know how to react to the brazenness of the man acting as if this were his own home. Giyun quickly turned away to avoid the hand that tried to wrap around his shoulder and lead him blindly.
Every time Changgon’s hand touched him, he felt more than just unpleasant; he felt a surge of anger.
Talking about water… Who does he think he’s playing for a fool…
“How did you find out where my house is?”
“You pretended not to, but you headed this way back then. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“…”
“I seriously thought my eyes were going to fall out. I looked for your name in every mailbox around here, fuck….”
Various bills and flyers that had fallen beneath the rusted mailboxes were stepped on. Personal information discarded on the ground lay scattered. The thought of him searching through the mailboxes in this area with burning eyes just to find his whereabouts gave him goosebumps.
He knew the man was strange, but the more he got to know him, the more he realized he was no ordinary lunatic.
He wanted to beat his past self for trying to treat him with a minimum level of courtesy. The answer should have been to avoid such a person from the start.
“Hey, do you think I’d have to go this far just for you?”
There was no guilt whatsoever in the tone of voice that proudly confessed his crime. Instead, Changgon, who began to raise his voice in a complete reversal of responsibility, gripped Giyun’s arm tightly. This time, there was no chance to avoid it.
“It felt pretty good since you ignored all my messages, didn’t it? You ignored me at the academy too, right?”
But as they say, if you keep your wits about you, you can survive even if a tiger drags you away. Even if a lunatic was biting into him, if he thought calmly, there would be a way to send him back.
Giyun spoke calmly.
“I don’t know why you’re angry, but let go of me and then we’ll talk.”
“You used to say you liked me, so why are you ignoring me now?”
“When did I ever say I liked you?”
“You ate the food I bought you, and you stayed still when I touched you.”
“I told you to stop, but you didn’t listen. How does that mean I liked it?”
The more he listened, the more absurd the words became. As Giyun fought back without backing down, Changgon’s face turned red and blue.
It looked as if he might raise his hand at any moment. To avoid letting it show that his heart rate was increasing from tension, Giyun put strength into his eyes.
If it turned into a physical fight, could he win? He had never fought anyone before, but the other guy didn’t look particularly skilled either. However, while their heights were similar, their weights were different. Changgon looked to weigh at least 10kg more than him, so if he lunged with his full weight, Giyun would be at a disadvantage.
“I’ll give you ten times the price of the noodles I ate back then, so please just go.”
“Hey, you can’t treat me like this!”
Changgon shook Giyun’s arm violently and pressed his body against him. Before the feeling of disgust, he felt suffocated. Pushed against the wall, Giyun pushed Changgon away with all his might.
“I told you to let go and then talk!”
“You… this arrogant little—!”
Changgon, who staggered for a moment from the recoil, let out a shout louder than ever and raised his fist. I’m going to get hit, damn it. The moment Giyun instinctively raised his guard, he saw a large shadow cast behind Changgon.
“I wondered why the lights weren’t on in the house.”
“Ah!”
A hand larger than his own firmly gripped the fist Changgon had clenched. Changgon’s raised arm was caught in mid-air, forced to a stop.
“Fuck, who the hell are you! Let go!”
As soon as he confirmed the face of Changgon, who was screaming with his arm twisted behind him, Seungjo frowned and threw him. With a light and hesitant gesture, as if throwing out a large trash bag, Changgon’s body briefly floated in the air.
“Gah!”
Pushed all the way to the main gate in an instant, Changgon stumbled repeatedly and eventually lost his balance, collapsing onto the ground. The pile of bills he had pulled out of the mailboxes fluttered in the wind along with him. Giyun was dumbfounded that Seungjo, whom he thought had already left, had appeared. It was even more surreal than facing Changgon.
“Are you hurt?”
“Ah, no.”
As soon as Giyun answered dazed to Seungjo’s question, a voice filled with indignation erupted from afar.
“You son of a… are you crazy?”
Having fallen properly, Changgon was panting, limping on one leg.
“You just pushed a person, didn’t you? A man whose name is already out there… do you think you’ll get away with this?”
“I merely stopped the violence.”
Seungjo, who looked as if he wouldn’t even deal with Changgon, responded with surprising diligence and firmness. However, he couldn’t erase the gaze that looked at the other as if he were a worm.
“What did you say?”
“You are the one who fell violently.”
It was as if the incident of Changgon being shoved into that corner had nothing to do with him. He had flown away so easily that Giyun, who witnessed Changgon being thrown, had actually gained the courage to think that he could take on someone like Changgon.
“I let go because you told me to, and you can’t even keep your balance?”
Unable to contain his rage at Seungjo’s retort, Changgon slammed the innocent mailbox. A grating sound echoed from the old steel mailbox.
“Where are you lying? You pushed me so fucking hard!”
“Your speech is short. Did your tongue get cut off while you were falling?”
“Do I look like I’m in a position to use honorifics?”
“Should I make it longer for you?”
Changgon, who was about to shout back that he wasn’t in a position to use honorifics, instinctively shut his mouth at the following words. Then, as if he had never hesitated, he began to argue from another angle.
“…We were talking one-on-one, and you suddenly intervened!”
“Do you conduct conversations with your fists?”
While Changgon was speechless once more at the cold rebuke, Seungjo turned to Giyun.
“You, were you talking to this bastard?”
“No.”
Giyun quickly shook his head.
“He just came here on his own and was waiting. Even when I told him to go, he was stubborn….”
“Hey, Eun Giyun.”
An enraged Changgon approached to intimidate Giyun, but Seungjo immediately blocked his path.
“Do not come close to my assistant.”
Giyun was hidden by the wall-like physique. Changgon couldn’t see a single hair of Giyun’s eyebrow, and all Giyun could see right in front of him was Seungjo’s back. Changgon raised a trembling hand and pointed at the two of them.
“You… you fuckers… did you sleep together?”
How did he know? Giyun gasped in horror behind his back. If he hadn’t been hidden by Seungjo, he would have been caught just by his expression.
“I asked if you slept together!”
“Insane.”
Conversely, Seungjo sneered without batting an eye.
“I guess people only see what they themselves are.”
Giyun was unexpectedly stunned by the contemptuous tone Seungjo used toward Changgon, as if he himself had never made such an interrogation.
‘Did you sleep with that bastard?’
‘Surely you aren’t in a relationship where you sleep with Mr. Joo Young-hyun as well’
Even though, between the two, Seungjo was the one who had made the wrong guess.
“You seem to have a lot of grievances. Instead of this, why don’t we go to the station and settle who is right and wrong?”
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