Episode 29

Jae-young blinked at Seung-hyun’s question and tried to recall why he came all the way here. A reason. He hadn’t come thinking of such a thing.

***

When he asked like that, Tae-sung had a somewhat flustered expression. He let out a small sigh and tried to change the subject.

“Never mind. It was just me talking to myself.”

“If you say it loud enough for others to hear, is that talking to yourself?”

Jae-young spoke with a slightly anxious feeling. He had an uneasy feeling that the face of “someone” might be the face of someone he knows.

“…Then let me ask one thing. Is that “someone” Han Seung-hyun?”

The words didn’t come back, but even a brief flinch was enough of an answer. Jae-young reflexively grabbed Tae-sung’s shoulder.

“What’s with his face? Did something happen?”

“Let go and talk.”

Tae-sung, lightly brushing off that hand, frowned and looked at Jae-young. He had heard that Jae-young and Seung-hyun had gone around together in Busan as if they were sightseeing. Before that, they had even met in a private room.

He thought there must be some ulterior motive since neither of them were the type to take a liking to him, but Jae-young’s attitude now was slightly different from treating a colleague.

“Former Chairman Han wouldn’t just sit back and watch former Director Han quit the company, right?”

“Then…”

“I don’t know the details either.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“…It was Tuesday.”

 If it was Tuesday, it was still when he could contact Seung-hyun. But even when he contacted him before and after that, there was nothing unusual.

He just talked casually and said that when he returns to Seoul, he would finally take him on a department store tour this time.

“…Have you been able to contact him since then?”

“Former Director Han and I aren’t on terms to contact each other for personal matters.”

Jae-young tapped the phone in his pocket with his finger. Seung-hyun who couldn’t be contacted, Seung-hyun whose face was a mess on Tuesday.

“Do you know where Han Seung-hyun lives?”

“Even if I do, why should I tell that to you, Ju Jae-young?”

It was a reasonable answer. But Jae-young was always a person who acted as he was drawn rather than reason.

“You know what kind of relationship those two have.”

“…They have that sort of relationship.”

“…Pardon?”

At Jae-young’s words, Tae-sung’s mouth opened slightly. Did he mishear it, no. He must have misheard it.

“I think I misheard. Could you say it again?”

“I said they have that sort of relationship.”

Ambiguous but suspicious-looking relationship. It must be a joke, must be a joke. Tae-sung thought so and spoke again.

“If someone hears it… they might think you two are in some grand relationship.”

“What kind of grand relationship?”

“I mean, they might think you two shared a bed.”

“What if that’s true?”

Thud. Tae-sung dropped the phone he was holding on the floor. He thought it would be a lie, but Jae-young’s attitude didn’t seem so.

“Then do I have the right to ask now? Where does Han Seung-hyun live?”

Jae-young asked again. It wasn’t an action taken after long thought. He just thought he had to somehow check on Seung-hyun’s condition.

***

But when he heard Seung-hyun’s question, he finally wondered why he went that far. He hadn’t thought about how Tae-sung would view his relationship with Seung-hyun before doing it.

“That’s… just…”

“Just?”

“Isn’t it natural? When a person can’t be reached and the last person who saw him says his face was a mess. It seems a bit hasty to report to the police. Since he said he’d return home today, I came to check if he came home…”

Jae-young rambled a bit, listing the reasons for his actions.

“Aren’t we friends? Can’t friends worry about each other to that extent?”

“Well… you can worry if a friend disappears, but.”

Isn’t it a bit much? Seung-hyun looked at Jae-young with strange eyes. But that was only for a moment, there was something more important.

“How did you get my home address from Director Han Tae-sung? No matter how little loyalty or whatever Han Tae-sung has towards me, he doesn’t seem like someone who would leak someone’s personal information so easily.”

“Ah, that.”

Small beads of cold sweat formed on Jae-young’s forehead. At the time, he couldn’t think deeply because he had to get the necessary information right away, but not now.

“That… I talked to him well.”

“You two aren’t even close, right? I don’t think he has a reason to tell you.”

“That’s…”

“What, did you trade my information for something?”

“No!”

Jae-young, who was flustered, immediately denied Seung-hyun’s words. Jae-young spoke with a serious face.

“Why would I do such a thing? Do I seem like someone who would do that?”

“Ah, no. It’s just that there’s no reason for Director Han Tae-sung to tell you unless you did something like that.”

Seung-hyun stuttered, a bit flustered by the excessive reaction to the words he had thrown out casually. Seeing Seung-hyun like that, Jae-young pondered for a moment.

‘I’ll meet Director Han again anyway, so rather than having him hear it from someone else’s mouth, it’s better to confess…’

But if he heard that he said they had that sort of relationship and even slept together, he would naturally be angry.

‘Why did I do that? Anyway, this damn habit of seeing nothing else once I’m fixated on one thing, I need to fix it…’

Jae-young belatedly reflected on his rashness, but it was already too late. After pondering for a long time, Jae-young opened his mouth, thinking it would be better to be honest after all.

“…I said that.”

“What did you say?”

Seung-hyun, who couldn’t understand the mumbling voice, asked again. Jae-young, who took a small deep breath, said,

“I told him I was curious because we had that sort of relationship.”

Seung-hyun blinked at Jae-young’s words. What nonsense is this crazy guy spouting now?

‘No, I said let’s be friends, did I ever say let’s date?’

“…Did I perhaps drunkenly ask you to date me?”

“No. That’s… um, I was in a hurry. I’m sorry. To Director Han Tae-sung, I’ll…”

“No, wait a minute. Let me think.”

Seung-hyun stopped Jae-young’s words and was lost in thought for a moment. He thought it might be better to let Tae-sung, who doubted him at every turn, think that way.

There was no need to lie either. Anyway, he had just kept quiet without adding a word, so he could ignore it as if he knew nothing, as he had done until now.

“Just let him think that way.”

“Pardon?”

“I said just leave him to think that way. He won’t contact me to confirm the truth anyway. Ah, now he has no way to contact me either.”

Rather, Jae-young was taken aback by Seung-hyun’s casual words. He thought he would definitely be angry, but he looked calm as if it had nothing to do with him.

“…You don’t mind being known like that?”

“It’s bothersome to correct it, and if Director Han Tae-sung thinks I’m dating an alpha, he’ll feel a bit relieved too, right? Like his father, he must have been thinking about the possibility of his child being born as a dominant alpha.”

Of course, such a thing would never happen. If he thought the reason for suddenly quitting work and enjoying daily life was a love escapade, it seemed fine.

“Well, I’m not happy that someone who wasn’t even told the address suddenly barged in.”

“……”

“It’s good you didn’t file a missing person report first. It would have become more bothersome for nothing. And… it’s a bit absurd, but it seems like a good method too.”

Seung-hyun nodded as he said that. Seeing that, Jae-young felt a slight discomfort from Seung-hyun.

‘No matter how tired he is of the succession competition in a chaebol family, does he need to be this indifferent to his own affairs?’

It was an attitude that anything was fine except for the bothersome things. Jae-young stared blankly at such Seung-hyun for a long time.

“Ah, I completely changed my phone since it got submerged. All the contacts were lost at once since there was no backup. I’m going to set all the messenger apps to the new number, so don’t find it strange if I disappear.”

“Ah…”

Seung-hyun left Jae-young like that and picked up the phone that was charging. The phone, which hadn’t changed from the default settings yet, opened without needing to unlock it.

“Here.”

“Yes?”

“Phone number.”

Seung-hyun held out his phone to Jae-young. Jae-young looked down at the phone for a moment, then belatedly grasped the situation and picked up the phone.

Ring- ring-.

Jae-young entered his number and immediately pressed the call button. The phone in Jae-young’s pocket vibrated a couple of times and then stopped.

“Then, what about the other phone book?”

“I have no intention of filling the phone book. Especially with the numbers of people I knew before.”

I should throw away all the business cards and contacts in the study when I move. Seung-hyun thought so and saved Jae-young’s phone number.

“Then… am I the only one in your phone book?”

Jae-young asked, watching Seung-hyun tap on the phone screen. Seung-hyun, who pressed the save button, raised his head and looked at Jae-young.