By Zephyria 
He finished his shower quickly before the heat could fully subside. He thought he heard sounds of movement outside the door occasionally, which probably sounded like someone going back and forth to the dressing room to change the sheets.
Tying a towel around his waist, he stepped out of the bathroom after roughly shaking the wetness from his hair. From one side, the faint hum of the washing machine could be heard. Seeing that the surroundings were quiet, it seemed Gyu-oh had headed to the bathroom after finishing up.
“…….”
Min-ho, who had been acting sluggish until now, hurried his pace. As if it were his own home, he rummaged through the dressing room and pulled out some random clothes. The oversized short-sleeved shirt and training pants were bothersome with every step, but he had no luxury to be picky right now.
“Phone.”
He remembered placing it on the shoe rack as soon as he entered before being dragged off to the bathroom. He hurried over. After grabbing his phone and slipping into his shoes, Min-ho glanced back.
“…….”
The interior of the house was exactly as he had always seen it. Won Gyu-oh’s taste was evident everywhere—simple yet luxurious, and clean. It was a scene that felt like it would be absolutely perfect if only he were removed from it.
Whether it was an auditory hallucination or reality, he thought he heard the faint sound of water, but Min-ho deliberately ignored it and turned his back.
Leaving the office-tel, he hailed a taxi. As he fled alone through the darkening streets, he felt a sudden, sorrowful sense of loneliness.
In the deep hours of dawn when everyone was asleep, Min-ho entered his office, a place more familiar and comfortable to him than home.
“Is it a bit cold?”
Perhaps because it was a short-sleeved shirt, despite the long sleeves, he felt a chill. He rummaged through the cabinet inside and pulled out a blanket he rarely used. Since a stiff sensation had been spreading beneath his buttocks for a while, he flopped blindly onto the sofa. Perhaps because he had been overworked for the first time in a while, his entire body ached.
“Ah, my back hurts.”
Now that he was alone in the dark, silent space, his tension finally began to ease. Perhaps the alcohol he had drunk earlier was finally hitting him properly, as his head felt dizzy.
“I don’t know, fuck.”
The stray thoughts that should have subsided continued to chain together, growing larger. He checked the screen of his phone, which was vibrating incessantly. Viper, Viper, Viper. Gyu-oh was contacting him without cease.
“…….”
Min-ho simply turned the phone face down and closed his eyes. He had drunk, and he had had sex. He had returned to his own space where he felt secure. Normally, he should have fallen fast asleep. But that night, Min-ho didn’t sleep a wink. He tossed and turned in agony throughout the dawn, to the point where he thought being plagued by nightmares would have been better.
How long had he been like that? The noisily ringing phone finally went quiet, and a complete silence descended. Suddenly, the heavy silence felt as if it were crushing his chest.
“Ah.”
Irritated, Min-ho ruffled his hair and bolted upright. Leaving the blanket hanging on the back of the sofa, he rummaged through the desk drawer. Grabbing a cigarette and a lighter, he opened the office door. The hallway was much brighter than the inside, as the long overhead lights were on. Because of that, he immediately noticed a figure sitting in front of the door.
“……What are you doing here?”
The guy leaning against the door looked up. Dressed in training wear similar to Min-ho’s, he looked every bit like someone who had just left home. Gyu-oh, brushing back his messy hair, raised a palm.
“Good morning. Did you get some sleep?”
“…….”
“Did I not appear in your dreams?”
Had he been guarding this place without even entering, fearing that Min-ho might have fallen into a deep sleep? The air in the hallway must have been chilly and the floor cold. Despite having been covered by a blanket the whole time, an unknown shiver ran down his cold forearms.
“How did you know I was here?”
“You weren’t at the hotel, and you weren’t at home. Where else is there for Hyung to go?”
With a little grunt, Gyu-oh pushed himself up and shrugged. There were many words rising to the tip of his throat, but Min-ho couldn’t bring himself to open his lips. He could only gaze into the dark pupils that bound him within a stillness that felt as if time had stopped.
“…….”
It remained a secret that he had tossed and turned all night because Won Gyu-oh kept flickering before his eyes in reality, let alone in his dreams.
* * *
“Something about sworn brothers…”
Here he goes again. Won Gyu-oh followed him around all day, muttering to himself loud enough for everyone to hear. Min-ho desperately ignored the guy who doggedly followed him even to the restroom. Or rather, he tried to.
“Eat and discard.”
“Hey.”
Min-ho stopped abruptly and checked the end of the hallway. There was some distance to where the secretaries were, but he couldn’t take any chances. After confirming there was no one around, he lowered his voice.
“Watch your mouth. Unless you want everything we did exposed.”
“……Exposed?”
At that, the guy stroked his chin and looked up. It was a gesture that suggested he was pondering something deeply. Min-ho had said it to intimidate him, but he couldn’t fathom what the other was thinking so seriously.
“True. Why didn’t I think of that method?”
“What?”
“I was thinking of not making it obvious because I thought people would be curious. But I’ll cast a vote for ‘exposing it’ not being a bad idea.”
That face was sincere. Min-ho had tried to keep him quiet because he didn’t want his path blocked, yet the guy was spouting nonsense. It felt like talking to a wall.
“You idiot, seriously.”
In a fit of anger, his hand moved first. He smacked the broad back repeatedly. Since he hadn’t had time to change and had just put on a shirt from the cabinet, the impact felt exceptionally satisfying.
“Aaah! I think where you hit me this dawn is bruising too!”
“Bruising my ass.”
A sharp, slapping sound echoed through the hallway. Min-ho felt the gaze of a secretary peeking from the end of the hall. Only then did Min-ho stop his movements and straighten his clothes.
“Phew.”
“Gangster Cha Min-ho.”
Even while reaching back to rub his back, Gyu-oh maintained the narrow distance between them. Min-ho spun around and strode across the hallway. He heard more muttering, but it was much quieter than before. I shouldn’t let him sway me. Just as he made that resolve and grabbed the office door handle—
“Yeees.”
He wondered where the vibration was coming from, and it turned out to be the phone of Gyu-oh, who had been chasing close behind.
“Now? Hmmm.”
Seeing Gyu-oh look troubled while sucking air through his teeth, Min-ho glanced back. Even while talking to the other party, Gyu-oh’s eyes were fixed on him.
“I get it.”
The guy finished the short call and shoved the phone into his pocket. It wasn’t a large movement, but the tension on the strained shirt buttons was precarious.
“Mu-gyeong Hyung is looking for me. I’m going to go steal a shirt.”
“Fine. It looked like it was about to burst anyway.”
Perhaps he had worked out a lot while Min-ho wasn’t looking, but the shirt looked particularly tight. It seemed like there was a two-size difference between them now. Gyu-oh rolled his tight shoulders once and lightly covered the gap in the center of his chest with his palm.
“Yep. I’ll be back.”
“Don’t come back, just go home.”
“Ung-ung, see you later?”
He didn’t care about being told not to come back. He even pressed his lips to his palm and blew a kiss toward Min-ho. He could see two secretaries laughing quietly. Min-ho simply closed his eyes tight, let out a sigh, and trudged back into his office to sit down.
“…….”
Though both acted as if nothing had changed from before, a strange tension grew deeper. Perhaps because he had been on edge all day due to the guy hovering around him, he couldn’t concentrate on his work. Looking at the pile of work, he roughly wiped his face with both hands.
“I’d rather just work.”
He couldn’t stay distracted forever. He returned to the desk and took out his glasses. Only then did the letters seem to enter his eyes.
* * *
For a few days after that, there was no time for things to become awkward because of the guy hovering distractingly around him. And it seemed that spending those few hectic days was for the purpose of delivering welcome news.
Woowon successfully passed the first stage of the T Corporation contract acquisition. He thought it was a natural result, but it was true that he had been slightly worried. He was also concerned that Son Pro, who had even informed him of the hotel room, hadn’t contacted him yet.
Still, it was a relief that things were working out in the end. Only a few minutes after he breathed a sigh of relief, the call he had been waiting for from the Executive Director of T Corporation arrived.
—If you were going to prepare for the contract acquisition, you should have given me a heads-up sooner.
It seemed he had heard the news that Woowon passed the first stage. He kept talking loudly, saying he thought Min-ho had given up on this project since there had been no reaction.
“I didn’t want the Executive Director to be put in an awkward position. I was confident enough.”
—Mm-hmm. I know best that Director Cha does his work well, but… by any chance, was there a problem because of those rumors?
He saw the article. It was an article that had gone up and been taken down quickly, though they had found out thanks to constant monitoring. He probably heard about it through Son Pro. Min-ho’s eyebrow twitched at the probing words. If he were facing the person on the call, his agitation might have been completely exposed.
“Rumors?”
Though he had a rough idea of what was being referred to, he played dumb. Then, the Executive Director’s husky voice replied with a sharp intake of breath.
—I think I saw an article similar to something happening at the site you were in charge of.
“Ah, that?”
While letting out a friendly laugh, he irritably tugged at his tie.
“It’s a false article. We’re monitoring it, and it’s been quiet lately.”
—Is that so?
“Well, it’s common for various gossip to arise right before taking on a big project.”
At Min-ho’s firm attitude, the Executive Director laughed boisterously and added, ‘Anyway, it’s tiring when you start doing well.’ It wasn’t pleasant at all, but Min-ho forced a smile as if agreeing.
Just then, the phone in his hand vibrated briefly. Pulling it slightly away from his ear to check the screen, he saw missed calls continuing to come in.
[Viper]
It felt like it hadn’t even been an hour since he left the company. The missed calls had already exceeded ten.