By Zephyria 
I wanted to correct him and tell him he was the Vice Chairman, not the Vice President, but I held back.
Watching Choi Hong-seo’s reaction—suddenly clamping his lips shut and glaring while huffing in anger—Kim Jae-won let out a heavy chuckle. Along with a mutter: “So it’s true.”
“Right, I admit Lee Hae-sung is a fucking big catch. I bet you don’t want to let him go.”
“……”
“Still, you’re not like… someone’s exclusive property, are you?”
“Watch your mouth.”
“As long as that old man doesn’t find out, it’s fine. When have we ever been caught?”
Kim Jae-won seemed quite dangerous.
“If the memory loss is real, and if you hate me acting like a vulgar prick now, then I’ll adjust everything to suit you!”
His emotions were becoming increasingly agitated, and it wasn’t a good sign. Just as I thought I should escape, even if it meant striking him in the groin with my knee, an unexpected voice called out to Choi Hong-seo.
“Hyeon-seo.”
“……”
“Are you busy?”
It was the exact same line as at the birthday party. Only the name ‘Yoon Hye-an’ had changed to ‘Hyeon-seo.’
Step, step. The sound of dress shoes drew a few steps closer.
I had asked for someone to be sent… but I meant a security guard, not Lee Hae-sung.
Barely rolling my eyes to look back, I saw Lee Hae-sung standing there.
“Mr… Vice Chairman, why… how are you here?”
“If I come here, I can see Hyeon-seo.”
“……”
“Then of course I should come.”
This time, the memory drifted even further back into the past.
Back when he was Choi Hong-seo, everyone—including Choi Hong-seo himself—had wondered if Lee Hae-sung would show up to the first company dinner at <Cream Mansion>.
Defying everyone’s expectations, he had attended, and during the private time they spent together after the dinner, he had said those words.
‘If I go there, I can see Hong-seo. Then of course I should go.’
Back when they weren’t yet lovers, I hadn’t known that those words, which had loosened Choi Hong-seo’s guard, would one day send a chill down his spine like this.
“I’m quite close with the branch manager of this brand. I was invited but declined, but after hearing that Hyeon-seo was coming, I adjusted my schedule.”
He spoke without raising his voice, sounding almost like a whisper. It was Lee Hae-sung’s characteristic unique tone—flexible and smooth to the ear, yet slightly scratching, as if every single consonant and vowel were neatly aligned.
At a glance, his tone and expression were no different from usual, but the atmosphere he radiated was entirely different. While pretending to be relaxed, it felt as though the blue veins on the back of his hand, tucked inside his pants pocket, were bulging.
Stopping beside the two men, Lee Hae-sung looked at Kim Jae-won and gave a slight smile.
“We meet again.”
“……”
“And every time I see you, you’re causing trouble.”
Just as he had at ‘Yoon Hye-an’s’ birthday party, Lee Hae-sung’s displeased gaze shifted toward one spot: Kim Jae-won’s hand holding Choi Hong-seo.
When Kim Jae-won didn’t move, Lee Hae-sung placed his hand directly on Kim Jae-won’s shoulder. He gripped so hard, as if to crush the bone, that his knuckles and fingertips turned yellow. It looked as though his fingers would sink right into Kim Jae-won’s shoulder.
“Usually, when I give this much of a hint, people move on their own.”
“Fuck, it hurts… I said it hurts!”
“You’re quite lacking in social skills.”
Twisting his captured shoulder, Kim Jae-won pulled away from Choi Hong-seo. Only then did Lee Hae-sung release him, as if pressing down on his shoulder one last time.
Bending over to rub his left shoulder, Kim Jae-won turned his head and looked up at Lee Hae-sung with rebellious eyes.
“Listen here, old man. Obsessing over a guy thirteen years younger than you… it’s really pathetic to watch.”
“It’s twelve years.”
Straightening his back, Kim Jae-won shrieked.
“What are you talking about? I searched and calculated everything! There’s a thirteen-year difference between you two!”
“Regardless of what Mr. Kim Jae-won says, our age difference is twelve years. We’re exactly one zodiac cycle apart.”
Looking down with an overbearing attitude, Lee Hae-sung spoke as if stubbornly insisting. He didn’t offer any further explanation.
Even as the other man raged, he remained calm like deep water. But that water was freezing cold. Almost frozen solid.
Kim Jae-won might not have known, but Choi Hong-seo could tell. He wasn’t relaxed right now; he was extremely angry.
“Ah, whatever, let’s just leave that aside. Does it feel good to keep a young kid trapped with money or power or whatever?”
“It does.”
“…What?”
“Wealth and power are parts of me; why shouldn’t I use them as tools to keep the person I want by my side? Mr. Kim Jae-won must use that body and popularity of yours to get whatever you want. What’s the difference?”
Kim Jae-won suddenly smirked. He lifted his chin boastfully and rubbed his narrow jawline.
“I don’t even need to wave money around; there are plenty of kids who want to sleep with me, old man.”
“Is that so? I imagine it’s the same for me.”
That was Lee Hae-sung’s reaction, as if it were nothing special.
Looking up at Lee Hae-sung—who looked down at him despite his own considerable height—Kim Jae-won scanned his overwhelming physique and a face with the sculptural beauty of an actor, and clicked his tongue loudly. Even so, he struggled to provoke Lee Hae-sung somehow.
“No matter what, you can’t keep up with youth. Not in strength, speed, or time.”
Lee Hae-sung snorted at Kim Jae-won’s provocation. It wasn’t a deliberate snort to mock the other, but a genuine one that escaped unintentionally. His shoulders slumped inward, and he chuckled, his upper body shaking.
Then, he looked down, glancing crookedly at Kim Jae-won’s center.
“Is that so? To me, Mr. Kim Jae-won looks like a fragile cosmos flower. I wonder if you even have a dick.”
Kim Jae-won was popular as a masculine idol, but that was strictly under the condition of being ‘among idols.’ Lee Hae-sung pushed the flushing Kim Jae-won further.
“I wonder how long an erection can be maintained with those thin thighs… Your torso is so thin that the cowgirl position would be impossible. Would a partner even dare to get on top for fear of crushing your internal organs?”
“This old man really thinks he can say whatever he—”
“Old man, old man. Can you just stop it?”
It was Choi Hong-seo who cut Kim Jae-won off, sounding fed up and unable to listen any longer.
“……”
“……”
Both of their gazes shifted to Choi Hong-seo simultaneously.
He had been stepping back and reading the room because Lee Hae-sung seemed angry, but thinking about it, he had nothing to be sorry for regarding Kim Jae-won. He felt he had to say what needed to be said to Kim Jae-won.
In his excitement, Choi Hong-seo forgot that he had been consistently using formal language with Kim Jae-won to maintain a certain distance.
“You’re almost thirty too. To the elementary and middle schoolers who are your fans now, you’re an old man too.”
“Old… fuck, who are you calling an old man! Have you ever seen an old man like this?”
The fact that he would be thirty next year was clearly a subtle stressor for Kim Jae-won as an idol. Having been hit where it hurt, Kim Jae-won immediately flared up.
Choi Hong-seo didn’t back down and pointed at Lee Hae-sung.
“Then what about you? Have you ever seen an old man like this? Do you think you’ll look like this at the Vice Chairman’s age? Drinking, smoking, living an undisciplined life… for celebrities, maintaining looks is part of the job. If you live like that relying only on your youth, your looks will be ruined in a few years.”
Under Choi Hong-seo’s momentum, Kim Jae-won actually stepped back.
From behind the huffing Choi Hong-seo, the sound of Lee Hae-sung clearing his throat could be heard.
“Mr. Kim Jae-won.”
Kim Jae-won’s gaze shifted diagonally over Choi Hong-seo’s shoulder to the face of Lee Hae-sung standing firmly behind him.
“Do I look like a kind, neighborhood old man to you?”
“……”
“Since we’re facing each other and having something like an argument, do you really feel comfortable with me?”
Only then did Kim Jae-won’s expression show anxiety, his brow furrowing.
“’Fuck,’ he says. It seems you’re being a bit too excessive with your words toward Hyeon-seo.”
His tone directly revealed his discomfort.
Kim Jae-won looked at ‘Yoon Hye-an’ as if asking him to say something, but ‘Yoon Hye-an’ was not going to be Kim Jae-won’s relief pitcher.
“Hyeon-seo, let’s go. There’s someone I want to introduce you to.”
At Lee Hae-sung’s call, I turned around. With one hand thrust into his pants pocket, he was holding out the palm of his other hand toward me.
Come to me. He flicked the tip of his extended hand. His mouth and eyes were stiff. He was pretending not to be, but he was clearly angry. Without hesitation, Choi Hong-seo approached and took his hand. Lee Hae-sung gripped Choi Hong-seo’s hand tightly, as if binding it, ensuring their palms were pressed firmly together.
“I hope there are no more instances of you getting entangled with our Hyeon-seo through this kind of trouble.”
As he turned toward the end of the hallway with Choi Hong-seo, he added one last meaningful warning.
“Mr. Kim Jae-won, you want to work in this industry for a long time, don’t you?”
It was a warning that if he caused ‘trouble’ again, he would truly exercise his power. Only then did Kim Jae-won become completely silent.
■
Lee Hae-sung never shook off or let go of the hand he was holding. However, he didn’t walk side-by-side matching strides as usual, nor did he look this way. He simply led Choi Hong-seo by the hand, walking ahead and pushing through the crowd.
Because it was crowded and the field of vision was narrow, two men walking with hands held in front and back didn’t stand out much. The held hands were buried around the waist level of the people around them.
Of course, even if it had been noticeable, Lee Hae-sung wouldn’t have seen it as a problem. Once he decided to do something, there was nothing that could hinder him.
Rather than whispers of ‘It’s Hyeon-seo, it’s Hyeon-seo,’ there were far more whispers of ‘It’s Lee Hae-sung, it’s Lee Hae-sung.’ In the secular world, he was still at the pinnacle of power and wealth, an object of envy and curiosity. And as always, he was indifferent to the gaze of others. He had lived his life honing the art of shaking it off, knowing that dwelling on every single look would be endless.
Moving his legs quickly to keep up with him, Choi Hong-seo stole glances at his expression.