By Zephyria 
Most conversations at company dinners revolve around work-related topics. Hot internal issues always provide a dopamine rush. While scooping up the ice cream served for dessert, the secretaries also brought up various rumors they had picked up.
“Is Director Kwon Young-ho really returning? There’s a lot of talk about this.”
“Do you know anything, General Manager?”
“Well. He might come back. The only thing for sure is we’ll know when the personnel announcement comes out.”
Rumors were circulating that Kwon Young-ho, who had been exiled to China, was gradually making his way back to headquarters. This too was becoming an accepted fact. Hui-won pretended not to know and sipped his water, subtly slipping out of the conversation.
Just then, a new hire who had casually turned his head let out a stunned sound, “Uh…”
At that sound, several people turned their heads. Beyond the full-length glass window, the restaurant’s scenery was clearly visible. And the tall man walking in leisurely from a distance was also easily spotted.
“It’s the Executive Director!”
“I just made eye contact with him.”
“What do we do… Should we greet him?”
For a moment, opinions were divided on whether they should acknowledge their superior whom they had coincidentally run into while eating, or pretend not to see him.
It wasn’t a scheduled event, but the fact that he had come to the restaurant likely meant he had a lunch appointment too. Perhaps knowing Executive Director Kwon’s tendency to dislike commotion, no one readily stepped forward first.
While the secretaries hesitated, Kwon Young-je strode forward with his long legs, heading his own way. His steps held no hesitation, as if he had a set destination. As he gradually got closer, he eventually entered the room where the secretaries’ office members were gathered.
Click-clack. As soon as the sound of the doorknob turning was heard, everyone except Hui-won stood up. In that brief moment, they swiftly straightened their clothes and stood up straight.
But their expressions were filled with confusion. Why? Executive Director Kwon wasn’t the type to come greet them first, and he was even less the type to join employees at a company dinner.
Listening to the sound of dress shoes clacking, the secretaries first offered a silent bow. Kwon Young-je approached Hui-won’s side without paying any attention to the others.
“Did you eat a bit this time?”
Executive Director Kwon, bending his waist, placed one hand on the edge of the table and wrapped his other hand around Hui-won’s shoulder. The hand that had lightly brushed over his shoulder blade moved up and gently caressed Secretary Kim’s earlobe.
Good heavens, what on earth was that?
It was a level of skinship they couldn’t have imagined.
As the secretaries stood there with faces as if they’d seen a ghost, Hui-won awkwardly turned his head away. Unable to bring himself to swat away the hand touching him, he only slightly wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
“…We haven’t talked about it yet.”
“Ah.”
Kwon Young-je’s reaction was just a short sound. He straightened his back as if it were nothing. The secretaries flinched as his face turned directly towards them.
“Why is everyone standing? Please finish your meal.”
The calm tone, which rarely showed emotion, was the familiar voice of Executive Director Kwon. The secretaries, as if entranced, pulled out their chairs and sat down. Scrape—scrape— The sounds of chairs dragging across the floor followed one after another. Everyone was seated, but their dazed faces showed their minds hadn’t fully returned yet.
“Executive Director… are you going to stay here?”
Hui-won showed signs of discomfort. If you’re here, I can’t talk… His gaze towards Kwon Young-je held a silent plea for him to leave.
“Is it troublesome if I’m here?”
“It’s a bit… inconvenient, yes.”
“Aren’t I a related party too?”
When the new hire coughed as if choking, Kwon Young-je briefly glanced at him while crossing his arms. The new hire, quick on the uptake, tightly closed his mouth and forcibly suppressed his cough. It looked pitiful seeing him flushed red from his neck to his forehead, but no one could attend to him now.
“How far did you get?”
“Just that I’m pregnant…”
“Is that something that requires this much hesitation?”
Kwon Young-je pulled over an empty chair and took the seat next to Hui-won. Due to the slanted direction of the chair, his long legs stretched out towards Hui-won. Seeing him even take a seat, Hui-won just rubbed his furrowed brow.
It was obvious Kwon Young-je didn’t seem like he would help him. Well, if I’m going to confess anyway, it’s better if I do it myself. Hui-won let out a helpless sigh and reluctantly opened his mouth.
“I’m marrying the Executive Director.”
Even after dropping this bombshell, there was no reaction. Hui-won slowly raised his gaze. He first made eye contact with Secretary Lee, whose expression was unreadable—whether smiling or frowning.
“Could someone say something?”
“Ah… I’m sorry. I’m just so shocked right now, I don’t know what to say. Just a moment.”
Secretary Lee rambled incoherently before downing the wine in front of him. As if his throat was burning even after drinking, he reached for the water glass.
“If you have any questions, ask now.”
“……”
“If not now, you won’t get another chance.”
Even if they had questions, they couldn’t open their mouths. With the baby’s father—and a formidable presence at that—sitting right there, how could they ask questions?
If Executive Director Kwon hadn’t been there, they would have probed for details about their relationship and cracked jokes, but now they could only maintain silence as if their lips were sealed.
Just as the silence was about to stretch on again, Secretary Song suddenly shot up from her seat and unexpectedly started clapping.
“Congratulations!”
She had a face happier than anyone’s, finally liberated from the secret. Following her lead, everyone belatedly started clapping too. Congratulations, congrats, haha… The baby will be so pretty.
The atmosphere was gradually coming alive, but the looks they sent him were somehow just pitiful. Hui-won, able to clearly read their thoughts, let out a small laugh.
His shoulders gradually began to relax. Perhaps because he had put down a heavy burden, his heart felt refreshed too.
When he turned to look beside him, he easily met Kwon Young-je’s gaze. He was wearing a smile only shown in front of Hui-won. The faint trace of a smile spreading across his cool face made him look even more handsome. The curve of Hui-won’s eyes also softened into a round shape following his.
After finishing the meal, the way back home was with Kwon Young-je. The reason he had visited the restaurant in the first place was to pick up Hui-won.
Now it was natural for them to sit side by side in the back seat. The driver had known about their relationship for a while, making the commute comfortable. Moreover, he often drove more carefully out of consideration for Hui-won.
“The Vice President inauguration ceremony is scheduled to be held simply as you requested. Still, about 10 minutes are allotted for a speech. It would be stable to prepare a draft of the greeting speech by this week.”
Even during the short time heading home, Hui-won tightly held a tablet PC, reviewing schedules. His business-like voice steadily filled the car.
“If you’re busy, I’ll draft it. You’ll review it anyway, so that might be better.”
“……”
Kwon Young-je quietly watched the person sitting next to him. As if looking at a curious object.
I’m also a workaholic, but Secretary Kim is no less. So maybe we’re a good match.
“Executive Director, what should we do?”
Hui-won turned his head and asked again. Meeting the gaze staring intently at him, his expression stiffened, wondering what was wrong.
Kwon Young-je quietly reached out his right hand and took Hui-won’s hand, which was only holding the device. He slid his fingers between Hui-won’s straightly stretched fingers. The flinch of their touching palms was transmitted perfectly.
“Hui-won. We’re off work now, so let’s take it easy.”
He deliberately dropped the title too. He even took in the sight of a hollow smile spreading across Hui-won’s face. The moment his neat impression dissolved in an instant was one of Kwon Young-je’s favorite moments.
Hui-won finally placed the tablet on his lap. Their intertwined fingers fidgeted.
“Do people like us even deserve to be ‘off work’?”
“It’s about time we had some leisure now.”
“That just now sounded like something a retired old man would say.”
With being ‘off work’ and setting aside his duties as a secretary, jokes came easily too. Hui-won leaned his weary body comfortably against the leather seat.
“The rumor… will spread quickly, right?”
“Are you worried?”
“Not that, but…”
He had a premonition that work would overflow. Since it was sensational news, articles would pour out and confirmation calls would flood in. Seeing the future so clearly already made him feel tired.
Hui-won slightly loosened his tie knot. Undoing the top button of his shirt that was pressing on his neck, he finally breathed comfortably. A subtle pheromone also flowed from the gap in his opened shirt.
“Ah… I’m going to have a strict prenatal education regime.”
“You’re not saying you’ll quit work even if you die soon.”
“There are people who would die without me, so I can’t quit work.”
Kwon Young-je snorted as if exasperated.
“Me?”
“Yes, Mr. Kwon Young-je.”
“Does Secretary Kim see me as a fool who can’t do anything on my own?”
Look at him calling me Secretary Kim again already. What a difficult man. Affectionate one moment, then prickly and sharp the next. He’s a real hedgehog. Hui-won closed his eyes and shook his head lightly.
But they say even hedgehogs are gentle with their own young, and Kwon Young-je’s fastidiousness was just endearing. Hui-won, thinking to himself that he was seriously messed up somewhere, added more strength to their interlocked hands.
Kwon Young-je responded by stroking the back of his hand with his thumb. As always, calm classical music flowed in the car. He wished this tranquility would last for a long, long time.
How nice it would have been if such comfortable rest had been guaranteed thereafter.
He had expected rumors to spread, but the tabloid news broke too abruptly. A visit to Daejeon a few weeks ago was the root cause. A scandalous story citing eyewitness accounts from neighborhood residents was circulating rapidly through tabloid chat groups.
Reporters, having perhaps already caught wind, began contacting them frantically. Hui-won, having turned off his phone for a while, sat on the bed clutching his head in frustration. The laptop placed on his lap had already been emitting a bright light for an hour.
The content leaked by the tabloid was about Executive Director Kwon Young-je’s Vice President inauguration rumors, marriage to his accompanying secretary, and pregnancy rumors. Since it was all true, there was no room for denial. The problem was that a press release needed to be distributed, and the person responsible for it was the subject of the rumors.
The thought of writing it with his own hands was mortifying. Although he had done this countless times before, this time the sentences just wouldn’t flow as he wanted. Hui-won rubbed his lips and repeatedly furrowed his brows.
Just then, the bed shook. A damp, living scent wafted over from beside him. It was because Kwon Young-je, having finished his shower, had sat on the edge of the bed.
“……”
Kwon Young-je quietly stared at Hui-won, who showed no interest in him and was only glaring at the monitor. His expression was so deeply troubled that Kwon Young-je’s gaze also followed towards the screen.
The text written in Word hadn’t changed one bit from thirty minutes ago.
“If you can’t write it, pass it to the PR team.”
“If we’re going to have them handle it, we have to give the PR team the source material.”
What’s the big deal? Kwon Young-je looked at him as if he didn’t understand. Hui-won just shook his head. Where was it easy to explain every little detail of the circumstances to someone else? It was better to just write it himself.
Kwon Young-je carefully read the Word screen with the blinking cursor. The draft was stuck on the part related to the pregnancy. While the introduction was smooth, perhaps because self-defense had kicked in, the content became more disorganized towards the end.
He gave a short critique.
“That’s TMI.”
“Sigh, it seems so. I shouldn’t write this in such detail. The pregnancy announcement is too much.”
Hui-won let out a long sigh and deleted the content he had painstakingly written. It was quite heartbreaking to see thirty minutes of effort disappear meaninglessly before his eyes.
“Since we’re revealing it anyway, why not write that it’s a daughter too?”