SMC #068

“What did I…”

As he sat there in an awkward position, the heel of his shoe, which he had been putting pressure on, slipped. As his upper body leaned forward, Kim Hui-won instinctively grabbed Kwon Young-je’s knee to regain his balance.

…Huh?

This position, this composition. It felt familiar. If he just lowered his head from this position…

‘Are you crazy for sucking cock?’

The horrors of that day were replaying in his head. He vividly remembered Kwon Young-je clicking his tongue and tightly grabbing his hair. The lewd breathing that tickled his ear echoed like an auditory hallucination.

“No!”

Hui-won was startled and raised his knees. He didn’t even realize where he was and hurriedly stood up, hitting his shoulder on the underside of the desk.

Bang!

The sound was quite loud. Enough for a surprised Kwon Young-je to reach out and grab him.

“Where are you looking? Did you break a bone?”

“…No, I’m okay, ah! Ouch!”

The force with which Kwon Young-je was squeezing was more painful than hitting the desk. It was almost as if it contained resentment rather than checking his condition.

He had been dragged out from under the chair, but he was still caught in Kwon Young-je’s grip. Hui-won groaned as his right shoulder blade was forcibly surrendered.

“Ugh, Exec, Executive Director, it hurts, hngh.”

His waist twisted like a grilled squid every time he pressed on his joints. Instead of words of pain, moans leaked from Hui-won’s mouth. In fact, it was a voice that anyone could tell was in pain.

Kwon Young-je frowned deeply at the sound. The hand that had been gripping his shoulder immediately fell away. He pushed the wheeled chair back as if he didn’t want to touch Hui-won at all, openly creating distance.

“Why are you panting like that?”

“…Me?”

“Then was it me?”

Hui-won straightened his hunched back. Looking at Kwon Young-je’s displeased expression, he really felt like he had made a mistake.

Did he? No, he had just complained about the pain. If someone squeezed him so ruthlessly, wouldn’t he inevitably moan?

He blinked, not knowing what to say, and Kwon Young-je glared at Hui-won even more sharply than before.

“Did you leave your brain in Japan too?”

“I really didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Try to think a little. We agreed to forget it, but it can’t be like it never happened, can it?”

“Ah… yes.”

Hui-won replied in a voice that seemed to crawl along the floor.

Executive Director Kwon looked the same as usual on the outside, so he thought he had cleanly forgotten about that day. He thought that since he was a man with excellent control, he was just acting as he used to.

In fact, he just didn’t show it. Well, Kwon Young-je was right. How could having sex be like it never happened? Even he himself was reminded of it from time to time, so the other person couldn’t be any different.

“I will be careful in the future.”

“Let’s refrain from contact as much as possible. I think that would be better for both of us.”

“Yes, Executive Director.”

Hui-won gave a polite greeting and took back the documents he had picked up. He couldn’t give the damaged documents to Executive Director Kwon, so he would have to print them out again.

As he left the office, he tightly gripped the crumpled paper. He would cleanly erase the complicated thoughts as soon as he left this room. Now that Kwon Young-je had warned him, he couldn’t repeat the mistake again.

***

Around lunchtime, the secretary’s office was unusually noisy.

Hui-won, who had returned after taking a short break, looked at the secretaries who were gathered and buzzing, and then returned to his seat. The secretaries quickly approached him as he was shaking the mouse. Their smiling faces seemed meaningful.

“General manager.”

“Why are you all gathered here?”

“Did you hear? The PR team told us that our advertising model has changed.”

“Who?”

“Han Jin-seo.”

Hui-won’s gaze shifted from the monitor to the secretaries. When their eyes met, they all smiled.

“That’s unusual.”

Apex had been using only Omega actors as corporate advertising models for a long time. A soft, familiar, and kind image. That was the brand image that Apex was aiming for.

Hiring an Alpha as a model was a first since the company’s founding. He had heard that he was doing well, but his influence seemed to be considerable.

“Isn’t Han Jin-seo… a bit of a rude impression?”

Hui-won recalled the neighbor he had in his memory. Ah, scratch that about being rude. Han Jin-seo, as shown in the broadcast media, certainly had a solid and trustworthy side. Didn’t he himself feel favorable when he first met him? Although he had seen his raw side.

Entertainers were a profession that usually sold fabricated images. It didn’t matter what their true nature was, as long as they were well-packaged. That meant that Hui-won’s opinion was not important.

“General manager, do you dislike Han Jin-seo?”

“I don’t care about him, let alone like or dislike him.”

“I heard he’s coming around two o’clock to sign the contract….”

Secretary Ji subtly hinted at the main point. As expected, there was another reason why they had gathered in front of Hui-won.

“Can we go and watch for a bit?”

“You look like you’re going to go even if I say no.”

“We’ll just take a look at his face. Really.”

Hui-won stifled a silly laugh and gave a stern look.

“It’s going to be like a marketplace. It’s forbidden to get mixed up in there and ask for autographs or photos. Don’t undermine the Executive Director’s reputation and maintain your dignity.”

“Ah, of course!”

They all promised in confident voices that they would report back politely. Hui-won nodded in agreement.

It was slowly approaching two o’clock. The secretaries had been checking the wall clock while working since earlier. The notification sounds of KakaoTalk messages were heard from time to time as they exchanged messages with the PR team staff.

When Secretary Ji gave a signal, Secretary Lee got up and started tidying up his seat. One by one, they followed suit and neatly adjusted their clothes.

“General manager, it’s two o’clock.”

“Go ahead.”

Hui-won replied insincerely because he was focused on his work. Secretary Lee looked at him and carefully opened his mouth.

“Would you… like to go with us?”

Hui-won looked at the monitor and chuckled.

“When have I ever gone to see something like that?”

“…I asked just in case.”

“Go comfortably. Don’t worry about me.”

Just as the phone was ringing at an empty seat, Hui-won pressed the button and answered the phone.

“Yes, this is Kim Hui-won from the secretary’s office.”

There was nothing to worry about because he was a man who did the work of four people even when he was alone. Secretary Lee gave a signal to the other secretaries with peace of mind. Everyone slipped out of the office without a sound.

Not long after, the office door opened and Kwon Young-je briefly showed his face.

“Secretary Kim.”

He didn’t ask what was going on even after seeing the empty office. He was someone who didn’t even care whether the other secretaries were in their seats in the first place.

“Yes, Executive Director.”

Hui-won responded immediately to his voice. Hui-won also didn’t add any special explanation about the absence of the secretaries. As usual, he was just waiting for Kwon Young-je’s instructions.

“Check if we can move the 3 o’clock meeting forward. As early as possible.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Hui-won immediately contacted the legal team. Soon, he put the receiver to his chest and conveyed the answer he had heard to Kwon Young-je.

“They said it’s possible anytime.”

“Tell them we’re going now.”

Kwon Young-je replied casually and went back into the room. While preparations for departure were being made inside, Hui-won shared Executive Director Kwon’s instructions with the legal team staff. It was an unintentionally busy situation. He hurried to prepare for the meeting and left a message for the secretary’s office staff.

[3 o’clock meeting changed to current time, everyone come back.]

Tearful emoticons were posted in a row.

It was quite a pity for Hui-won to call them back when they had only been gone for less than 10 minutes. But what could he do? Company work took precedence over personal gain.

The short meeting ended in less than an hour. As he came out of the conference room and walked along the hallway, he saw a large group of people gathered in the distance.

A tall face stood out through the average height of the heads. Even from a distance, the halo on his face seemed extraordinary.

While looking at the swarming crowd, Hui-won carefully said,

“I heard that actor Han Jin-seo visited the headquarters today. He’s here to sign a contract as an advertising model….”

“I know.”

Kwon Young-je replied in a tone that showed he had no interest. Judging from his voice, he guessed that his expression was cold.

Han Jin-seo’s image was not good in many ways. If Hui-won had gradually come to disregard him, Kwon Young-je had not liked him from the beginning. He didn’t know if he had ever talked to him, but it was close to disliking him unconditionally at first sight.

Since there was no need to bother approaching and talking to someone who was far away anyway, Hui-won subtly pointed to the emergency exit stairs.

“It looks crowded where the elevators are. Would you like to walk down?”

At those words, Kwon Young-je nodded briefly. Just as he was about to turn and take a step towards the emergency exit,

“Oh my, Executive Director!”

Director Park from the PR team discovered Kwon Young-je and waved his hand greatly.