Episode 23

“Don’t get too close with him.”

“What are you to care about my personal relationships? Be good to your spouse.”

If the villain left me alone, he’d just go off and flirt with the protagonist, so why is he annoyingly following me? Seung-hyun waved his hand, speaking.

“…I don’t think Director Han would give up so easily.”

“You think that by yourself. If you followed me this far, you must have seen and heard what I’ve been doing.”

“It’s not something to judge with just 2 weeks, is it?”

Just 2 weeks he says, they were like blood. Seung-hyun shook his head, thinking Tae-sung was like a parrot. 

“If that’s all you have to say, I’ll get going.”

“Wait a moment.”

The moment Seung-hyun tried to leave Tae-sung behind and get in his car, Tae-sung grabbed him again. He looked like he had more to say.

‘It’s probably nothing important anyway.’

When Seung-hyun turned around and tilted his head as if telling him to speak, Tae-sung hesitated for a bit before speaking.

“…The chairman was very pleased with that project Director Han took responsibility for and handled.”

“Hah.”

“You may not believe it, but even if you step back from the succession competition, there’s no need to abandon the work you’ve done and leave, right?”

“So what, do you want to have some friendly competition with me now?”

Seung-hyun, who thought it was amazing he could say such things with a face that showed no trust in him at all, recalled something and corrected himself.

“Ah, no. It’s closer to wanting to keep me close and monitor me.”

He felt a bit irritated. When he said he’d quietly disappear, why couldn’t he trust that and kept tiring him out, even coming up with unconvincing reasons at that.

“The chairman was pleased with that work probably because Director Han was the final submitter.”

“The chairman isn’t someone who lacks the discernment to praise work that I didn’t do properly.”

“But you know he’s not one to show satisfaction for my work either.”

He felt a bit annoyed about something that wasn’t even his business. The Han Seung-hyun in the novel may have been embarrassed by the chairman regarding work-related matters, but he wasn’t someone who received praise.

‘Is his mind syncing up too? Or is he getting sensitive?’

“If you’re just testing the waters, stop it. I don’t care if you monitor me or whatever, but just don’t appear in front of me.” 

“……”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“…Are you attending the founding anniversary party?”

‘Indeed, no matter how much of a protagonist, I knew there was no way he could be so stupidly righteous. There was another reason.’

Seung-hyun smirked, feeling relieved instead. Tae-sung, a bit flustered by that smile, flinched.

“The founding anniversary party.”

While saving the next appointment date on his phone, he had caught a glimpse of a date marked as the founding anniversary party. Was it this Friday?

“I’m not going.”

“Why…”

“I don’t need to manage connections anymore anyway, and I’d rather do something more fun.”

“…Why have you changed like this? It doesn’t make sense rationally, does it?”

Tae-sung’s eyes that had been looking at Seung-hyun with suspicion the whole time were now filled with confusion. The eyes that lost hostility felt unfamiliar. 

“From the moment I first entered Chairman Han’s house, you never looked at me with those eyes even for a moment.”

“……”

“After we started facing each other in an official capacity at the company, you stopped outright picking fights, but those eyes remained the same.”

“Is being hated your preference?”

“You know that’s not what I mean. Does it make sense rationally?”

Tae-sung grabbed Seung-hyun’s shoulders, speaking. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that ‘that’ Han Seung-hyun was making such a subdued face.

He thought he must be hiding something, that he’d pretend to back down only to bother him again as if nothing happened… but seeing eyes devoid of any ill intent made him feel like he was mistaken.

Rationally, there was no way. Surely there was no way.

‘There must be a reason he’s getting close with Director Ju Jae-young too.’

But Jae-young also only went sightseeing with Seung-hyun, not showing any unusual behavior.

“Whether we liked it or not, we lived seeing each other’s faces for nearly 15 years. Unless it’s time to die, there’s no way that could happen.”

“Hah.”

Seung-hyun let out an empty laugh at his words. He seemed to truly take after Chairman Han. Even saying the right things while backing away. A laugh unconsciously slipped out.

“Just what is the reason…”

“I think I’ve said it several times already, I’ve just decided to live as I want now. I have no interest in bothersome things.”

“So what you do is just go sightseeing and laze around at home all day?”

“‘Just’? It’s much more meaningful than receiving stress going to a company that’s not very worthwhile even if you attend diligently.”

Seung-hyun removed Tae-sung’s hand gripping his shoulder and lightly dusted off his shoulder. He now felt it was a waste of time to deal with him.

“The founding anniversary party. I’m not going. I have no plans to attend similar events in the future either. Rest assured and enjoy your time as the next group head.”

Seung-hyun walked towards his car, leaving Tae-sung behind. This time, there was no hand grabbing him. Seung-hyun, who got into the car parked not far away, quickly started the engine and the car moved and disappeared.

“…Why did I say that.”

Tae-sung, left alone in the parking lot, muttered in a small voice. Come back to the company. He clearly had no intention of saying such a thing.

But seeing Seung-hyun’s unfitting face, he suddenly felt the need to tie him down somewhere.

‘Ah, no. It’s closer to wanting to keep me close and monitor me.’

It would be more convenient to keep him in a position that could be quickly handled rather than doing something out of sight, as he said. Even as he thought that, it felt odd.

‘As if he would disappear at any moment.’

Tae-sung unconsciously furrowed his brow. After standing there in a daze for a moment, he belatedly came to his senses at the ringing phone.

[Secretary Kim: Director. Did something happen by any chance?] 4:09 PM

It seemed to show concern but was telling him to return quickly. Tae-sung, letting out a small sigh, put his phone back in his pocket and returned to his car.

***

“There were some annoying things… but at times like this, you need to shake it all off and enjoy the trip.”

Seung-hyun, who returned home, immediately started packing without thinking of anything else. Packing this and that while thinking about the trip itinerary, he could quickly forget about the bothersome person.

“Tubes, packed. Air pump, packed. Life jackets and swimsuits, packed. Sunscreen. Towels will probably be there, but just in case, one large one. Sunglasses… Oh, these look cool.”

As he packed the luggage one by one, the bag seemed to grow as if it were an evacuation bag, but it seemed fine since he would be loading it in the car anyway.

“Medicine, packed. Food, I’ll buy there. Hmm…”

Seung-hyun checked the packed luggage and double-checked the items. Excluding the things he had to buy there, it seemed everything was packed now.

[Ju Jae-young: So you’re going to Gapyeong tomorrow?] 7:12 PM

As he was blankly looking down at the luggage, his phone rang. It was a text from Jae-young. When Seung-hyun first said he was going on a solo trip, Jae-young asked if he had any intention of including him, but gave up after hearing the dates.

‘Sadly, I have a schedule this week that our madam insists I show my face no matter what, so it’ll be difficult.’

Thinking about it now, that schedule seemed to be HJ’s founding anniversary party, but Seung-hyun soon pushed the unimportant story to the back of his memory.

[I’ll leave around lunchtime tomorrow] 7:13 PM

Unlike when they were forced to see each other’s faces while using adjacent rooms, they only exchanged occasional texts, so some distance quickly formed again.

But there wasn’t really anyone else he could have a proper conversation with, so Seung-hyun was consistently replying to Jae-young’s texts within a day, even if a bit slow.

[Ju Jae-young: Will you meet with me again after you return?] 7:15 PM

[I’ll think about it.] 7:15 PM

Seung-hyun pretended to slightly refuse. But contrary to his words, he had already made up his mind to play with Jae-young.

‘Is it comfortable being with him… Well, since the people around me are all the same, even if I don’t know how he is inside, it’s comfortable to have someone treat me well on the outside at least.’

Seung-hyun nodded, thinking that. They say the one who has spent money knows how to spend it well, so wouldn’t a department store tour be more fun if he knew a thing or two?

“Should I… bring my phone? I only get calls I want to ignore anyway.”

Then, glancing at the neatly placed phone beside him, he contemplated for a moment. He could ignore all other contacts, but there was one that made him feel good when he received it.

“…I can just ignore them as I please.”

Seung-hyun muttered like that and plugged his phone into the charger.