By Zephyria Are you drinking strawberry juice again today?
“No, hot chocolate today… How did you know I came to this cafe?”
Ryu Jeong absentmindedly answered the question about whether he was drinking strawberry juice, then widened his eyes in surprise. Although the menu was wrong, he was simply amazed at how Lee Do-hyeon knew that he had just finished ordering a drink at the cafe.
Could the driver be watching and secretly informing him? He looked around outside the window, but the car he came in was nowhere to be seen, perhaps moved to avoid illegal parking enforcement. It was an absurd thought, but just in case, he glanced at the CCTV on the ceiling. As if Lee Do-hyeon could see Ryu Jeong doing so many things in an instant, Lee Do-hyeon smiled and calmly asked back.
Whose card did you use just now?
“Just now… Ah.”
Ryu Jeong belatedly realized that a payment notification would be sent when he used his card, and he gaped and sighed foolishly. Why did he forget this? Ryu Jeong, biting his lip in embarrassment, never knew that all his movements, from the moment he called the driver, were being reported to Lee Do-hyeon.
There are many cafes near your house, why did you go all the way there?
“Ah… I wanted to return the uniform. I wanted to see CEO Lee’s face and say hello, but the timing didn’t work out. I just asked them to pass it on at the counter, and I just sat down to have a drink before leaving.”
Are you drinking it now?
“No… it hasn’t come out yet.”
Ryu Jeong, averting his gaze from the window, fiddled with the vibrating pager in his hand. He aimlessly rubbed the surface with the phrase ‘Bring it to the counter when it vibrates’ written on it, then stood up with the pager when it vibrated with a loud noise.
“It just came out.”
Be careful, it’s hot.
Ryu Jeong, smiling faintly at the tone as if he were dealing with a child, headed straight to the pick-up counter. A man, who seemed very nervous, was glancing at him.
“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
The atmosphere was awkward because they hadn’t finished the strange conversation from earlier, but it didn’t seem right not to say thank you. Ryu Jeong quickly said his thanks, left the tray as it was, and returned to his seat with only the mug of drink.
Do you know anyone there?
He had been holding his phone to his ear as if to show off, in case anyone tried to talk to him, so his greeting was heard by Lee Do-hyeon. Ryu Jeong couldn’t hide his embarrassment at the questioning voice and replied.
“I don’t know him… I used to work part-time at a hotel. Someone I talked to briefly back then is working here.”
…You only worked there for a short day, but he remembers that?
“Actually, I don’t remember everything either… I just remember his face a little.”
Ryu Jeong, recalling that day again, added a comment as a scene suddenly came to mind.
“Ah. I think I ran into President Lee briefly too. With… Su-bin. The kid who introduced me to that part-time job.”
Su-bin must have told him his name, but other than briefly talking after moving the dishes together, he couldn’t recall anything else. He couldn’t pretend not to know someone who recognized him, and he didn’t want to make him feel awkward, so he just mumbled vaguely, but the man acted really strangely.
Ryu Jeong took a sip of the steaming hot chocolate and looked towards the counter, rolling his eyes. The man was standing tall in the same spot where he had given Ryu Jeong the drink, watching him with a somewhat sulky expression.
Why is he staring like that…? Ryu Jeong, feeling uncomfortable with the gaze, thought he should drink quickly and leave, and desperately blew on the drink to cool it down.
Do you have any plans to go anywhere else after drinking that?
At Lee Do-hyeon’s question after a moment of silence, Ryu Jeong took a sip of the sweet hot chocolate and thought carefully. He hadn’t thought about what to do after visiting the cafe in the first place, so he wondered if he should go straight home after finishing it.
“I don’t really have any plans…”
But he felt a little sad to go straight home. He had come all the way out in the car, so he thought he should at least take a walk.
“It’s almost lunchtime… it would be nice to have a meal.”
Meal? Is there anything you want to eat?
“Hmm…”
He wasn’t particularly hungry yet, so nothing came to mind. The Chinese food he had on the day he bought clothes was good, and the pork cutlet that Lee Do-hyeon had packed and brought him before was also delicious…
As he was carefully considering, there was a sound of something bumping from the other side of the receiver, where he had only been hearing Lee Do-hyeon’s voice. And then, the sound of the wind chimes on the door rang in the cafe where Ryu Jeong was.
Ryu Jeong, lost in thought, was just looking at his mug, unaware that the atmosphere in the cafe had suddenly changed. Soon, a shadow fell over Ryu Jeong’s head as he rested his chin on the table. Ryu Jeong, puzzled, raised his head and paused as soon as he saw the other person’s face. It was only natural that his eyes widened.
“…President Lee?”
The person he was talking to so affectionately had suddenly appeared before him, and Ryu Jeong was so surprised that he almost dropped his phone. He couldn’t even get up from his seat and just stared up with his mouth open, and Lee Do-hyeon glanced at the mug in front of Ryu Jeong and spoke playfully.
“Haven’t you finished it yet?”
“Ah…”
Lee Do-hyeon just smiled at the ambiguous exclamation. Soon, Lee Do-hyeon pulled out a chair and sat across from Ryu Jeong. The gaze they exchanged felt somehow unreal, and Ryu Jeong couldn’t come to his senses.
“Drink slowly and let’s go out. To eat.”
Lee Do-hyeon reached out to Ryu Jeong, as if to snap him out of it, and tapped the tip of his nose. The touch that lightly brushed past was like a flower petal fluttering and falling in the wind.
Before Ryu Jeong could be any more dazed by Lee Do-hyeon’s sudden appearance, he hurriedly returned the half-empty mug to the counter, conscious of the curious gazes of the few customers in the cafe, and dragged Lee Do-hyeon outside. As a result, Ryu Jeong had no time to know what the name of the part-time worker who had said and done strange things to him was, what kind of expression he had when Lee Do-hyeon appeared, or what kind of eyes he looked at his back as he grabbed Lee Do-hyeon’s hand and ran away.
But going outside didn’t make the attention disappear. Rather, several times more gazes poured in than when he was in the cafe. Ryu Jeong, who was receiving the spotlight for the first time in his life, was flustered and froze. It was Lee Do-hyeon, of course, who took the lead without a care, taking Ryu Jeong with him.
Even though he had acted like he would wait until he finished the remaining hot chocolate, Lee Do-hyeon’s car was parked in the no-parking zone in front of the cafe as if to show off. Lee Do-hyeon roughly pushed away the crowd loitering around the rare foreign car, put Ryu Jeong, who was still out of it, in the passenger seat, and skillfully drove out of the alley.
It was only after they had driven some distance that Ryu Jeong came to his senses and looked back at Lee Do-hyeon with surprised eyes.
“W-What brings you here? What about the company?”
Lee Do-hyeon turned the steering wheel slightly and answered nonchalantly.
“I came because I missed Ryu Jeong. The company runs fine without me.”
Lee Do-hyeon, speaking playfully, glanced at Ryu Jeong, who was still dumbfounded, and chuckled.
He had received the payment notification for less than ten thousand won right after finishing the morning executive meeting. Lee Do-hyeon, who was receiving various reports regarding the Wolhyeon-dong hotel construction project and the bidding for the metropolitan area new city, left the office building as soon as the meeting ended after checking the message that had arrived.
He had already been reported by Driver Park, whom he had assigned to him, that Ryu Jeong, who had been staying at home for two days, had ventured out. He also knew that the destination was the cafe where he had worked part-time not long ago, so he rushed out of the conference room and grabbed the steering wheel solely because he missed Ryu Jeong.
Fortunately, Chief Yoon didn’t stop him because he had adjusted his schedule in consideration of the rut cycle. Lee Do-hyeon increased his speed without ending the call with Ryu Jeong. Before long, he found his lover sitting like a painting by the cafe window, and at the same time, he witnessed something that offended him.
The guy standing at the counter was staring blankly in the direction where Ryu Jeong was sitting. He wondered if he was looking out the window, but his eyes didn’t seem to be just looking at the scenery. Besides, it was a face he seemed to have seen somewhere before. A face that looked quite young, unlike his rather large build. Just as he was thinking that it was strangely annoying, he heard a voice from the receiver reminding him of that day at the hotel event.
Only then did Lee Do-hyeon realize that he was the same Alpha pup who had been eyeing him without knowing his place back then. Fortunately, Ryu Jeong didn’t seem to remember anything. Lee Do-hyeon decided that there was no need to dredge up the memories, and he childishly released pheromones when he was led out by Ryu Jeong. He hoped that his unspoken warning not to eye his Omega was well conveyed to the young punk.
“Is it okay for you to just come out like this? What about Chief Yoon…?”
In the midst of all this, his lover was worrying about unnecessary things instead of welcoming him with a smile. He almost laughed. Did he even know that he had just stirred the heart of an Alpha who wasn’t even fully grown?
“What’s there to worry about when I, the President, say it’s okay?”
Lee Do-hyeon reassured Ryu Jeong in his usual indifferent but calm and gentle tone. He spoke as if he knew everything about Ryu Jeong’s heart, but inside, he was contemplating other thoughts.
Of course, he shouldn’t know.
It was enough for Ryu Jeong to know only about him.