By Zephyria 
“You fucking brats!”
“Uh, wait a second! Executive Director!”
Thump, thump, the emotionally charged footsteps were exceptionally noisy. Despite the lawyers’ attempts to stop him, the Executive Director approached as if he were about to land a blow, reaching out with a trembling hand. He looked as if he were about to grab Min-ho by the collar, so Gyu-oh quickly blocked him with his body.
“Uh-oh, what are you doing? Everyone saw it clearly, right? That he swung first?”
“You… I’ll make you re-re-regret this, fuck!”
He shoved and collided with them as if starting a brawl, and they pushed back and tried to restrain him. Perhaps because there were so many people, the spacious room quickly became a chaotic mess. Just then, urgent knocking followed. Bang, bang, bang, bang. The noise of someone pounding on the door was incessant. Pushed around and ending up perched on the low table, the Executive Director stared at the closed door, his face pale.
Whether he took the lack of response as a positive sign, the door burst open. A sturdy secretary entered with security personnel, wearing a deeply troubled expression.
“Madam is looking for you urgently……”
He even held up the phone in his hand. Min-ho, who had been leaning against the backrest watching the mess unfold, suddenly interrupted.
“It seems Madam has some urgent business.”
“You, you……”
“I’m actually worried about what it could be.”
Adding that, he burst into a refreshing laugh. It was the moment a full smile finally spread across Min-ho’s usually tired face. If he had known he would enjoy this so much, he would have cleared away the Executive Director as a set right after dealing with Son Pro. He almost regretted not doing so.
“You can take full legal responsibility for this, right, Director Cha? Huh?”
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to…… but if I did something wrong, I should take responsibility.”
At the indifferent attitude, the Executive Director’s face turned red and purple again. Running a trembling hand through his hair, he glared fiercely at the innocent secretary.
“It seems you went through a lot of trouble to bring the lawyers. Today doesn’t seem like the right atmosphere for a conversation.”
“…….”
“Let’s set another appointment for later, shall we?”
Min-ho flicked the finely torn pieces of paper with his toes and stood up. As expected, this Hyung was a cut above the rest when it came to quietly infuriating people. Min-ho only knew how to be a nuisance; he had zero talent for building up a situation step-by-step to tease someone like that.
“Since you seem busy, let’s get out of your way.”
At that persistently polite tone, Gyu-oh finally burst into laughter. As they left the office, Min-ho glanced back to see the lawyers looking bewildered, not knowing what had happened, while the Executive Director let out a long sigh and waved his secretary away. He was likely telling the secretary to make it seem like he wasn’t there, but it was probably already too late.
They leisurely left the trashed executive office. The interior of the building was certainly quiet, but strangely, Min-ho felt the illusion of hearing the noisy chatter of rumors spreading.
“How did you do it?”
“I told you, I can make a living even if I quit the company.”
Gyu-oh moved his fingers rapidly in the air. He believed that whatever one learned would eventually come in handy.
“Not that. You kept acting so confident. Like you had everything prepared.”
That piece of shit Son Pro had a history of provoking him by threatening to link the Executive Director and Hyung together. That was why Gyu-oh had relentlessly gathered information on the father and son, determined to screw them over eventually. He figured trashy people like them wouldn’t go down alone, and as it happened, the Executive Director had gone completely mad.
There was no need to tell Min-ho all that. He felt that Hyung might be hurt if he knew the Executive Director and his son had taken turns trying to entangle themselves with him. If Min-ho were the type to just fly into a rage, he would have told him, but he couldn’t stand to see him get hurt.
“Their ideas are predictable. What else could they come up with besides something this one-dimensional?”
“…….”
“People like that need to be approached simply, like I do.”
Gyu-oh draped an arm over Min-ho’s shoulder, his voice boasting. Of course, Min-ho’s face didn’t look like he was easily fooled, but he didn’t ask anything further. It seemed Hyung was willing to let it slide. They really were a perfectly matched pair.
Gyu-oh stepped lightly, holding Min-ho’s body tight in his arms.
* * *
T Corporation—or more accurately, the Executive Director’s side—was in chaos. Because the acts of taking backdoor money through an outside party to push through contract acquisitions had been exposed, the company was in an uproar with general meetings and the like, and he was on the verge of being dismissed. Apparently, he was trying to shift the blame to Woowon by sending content verification and hiring more lawyers. It was absolutely pathetic.
Fortunately, despite the commotion, Woowon suffered no significant blow. Of course, there would be whispers just from the fact that they were linked to the Executive Director, but nothing happened that would immediately flip the power dynamics.
—The sun is already setting, why are you coming? Stay home, it’s really cold today.
“Wouldn’t it finish faster if the two of us did it?”
For the time being, Min-ho was banned from working overtime. Just in case the delusional Executive Director and his son tried to threaten him. He left work before sunset and naturally headed to Gyu-oh’s house.
—Forget it. It’s more distracting if you’re here.
“……Fine, then good luck with your work.”
—Just soak in the warmth and wait for me. I’ll be back before twelve.
“Got it. Be careful.”
He wondered if this was how Won Gyu-oh felt while waiting for him when he was clung to overtime every time. Now that he was told Gyu-oh would be late, he felt a bit disappointed. Well, maybe… he missed him a little. It was funny that he felt this way when they had only been apart for a little over four hours. He must be becoming like Won Gyu-oh since they spent so much time together. It felt like the way he spoke and acted was rubbing off on him.
Min-ho stared blankly at the screen after the call ended and entered his photo gallery. Previously, 90 percent of the photos were work-related and the rest were Gyu-oh’s selfies, but now it was exactly the opposite. Most of the recently saved images were photos of Gyu-oh. Some were taken by Gyu-oh himself after snatching the phone, and others were photos sent during work breaks.
“Glasses don’t really suit him.”
This was a photo Gyu-oh had sent while sitting at his desk looking at documents. Perhaps because he already had good eyesight, the glasses looked awkward and didn’t suit him at all. Yet the priest robes suited him as if they were made for him……
“……Ahem. Stop thinking nonsense and go to sleep, Cha Min-ho.”
Here he was, getting turned on imagining him in priest robes while someone else was working hard at the company. It seemed that promiscuous blood could never be purified.
Min-ho stood up abruptly, finished drying his hair, and flopped onto the bed. It was still early and he wasn’t sleepy, but he figured staying buried in the bed filled with Gyu-oh’s scent would be better to keep his mind off things.
“Comfortable.”
It was warm and cozy. Even though it wasn’t his own home, his body and mind were beyond comfortable. With every breath, a familiar scent brushed the tip of his nose, and a pleasant body temperature enveloped his entire body. It almost felt like Won Gyu-oh was right beside him.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, Min-ho slowly closed his eyes. Naturally, Gyu-oh’s face appeared in his darkened vision.
How many hours had passed while he tossed and turned thinking of Won Gyu-oh? By the time a slight headache began to creep in from just lying there, Min-ho finally sat up. His hand, rumpling his hair, was devoid of energy.
“Is it starting again?”
He had been sleeping well lately. He had slept for several hours straight without nightmares, and he hadn’t even thought about alcohol. Was his insomnia returning just because Won Gyu-oh wasn’t by his side? He rubbed his dry eyes vigorously.
“…….”
Around this time, there should be a hand stopping him and telling him not to rub his eyes. There should be a body temperature hugging him, asking if he couldn’t sleep. There should be a voice whispering to him until he closed his eyes.
The loneliness he usually didn’t have the luxury to feel rushed in painfully when he was alone. Normally, in times like this, he thought of alcohol and sex. Because that was the most stimulating and fastest way to immerse himself.
“……I miss Gyu-oh.”
But now, pushing all that aside, Won Gyu-oh’s face came to mind first. What would he be doing right now? He hadn’t contacted him for fear of being a distraction, but should he just be crazy and call? Then Gyu-oh might not be able to work properly, and his departure from work would only be delayed further.
“…….”
Sitting blankly and scratching his eyebrow, Min-ho soon made a decision. Then, without hesitation, he quickly climbed down from the bed. With steps familiar as if it were his own home, he headed to the dressing room and threw off his homewear.
His body was reflected in the large mirror at the entrance of the dressing room. The skin on his side where he had been injured was exceptionally red and bumpy. However, since the stitches had all been removed, the stinging and itching had significantly decreased.
Perhaps it meant one more unsightly scar, but Min-ho didn’t hate this wound. Because it was a trace of him taking the hit for Gyu-oh.