By Zephyria 
From behind him, he could hear Jin Seon-yu groaning in pain. There was nothing good about Han Seung-jae coming up here. Moreover, he knew Han Seung-jae’s temperament. That man was more than capable of handing Jin Seon-yu over to Jin Tae-won, regardless of what happened to him. Only then would Seo Yi-kyung return home. If that happened, Jin Seon-yu would face a distressing situation.
“I’ll come down.”
Seo Yi-kyung didn’t have the luxury to weigh many options. After saying that and ending the call, he immediately reached under the pillow to find Jin Seon-yu’s phone. He used Jin Seon-yu’s limp, curving finger to unlock the device and immediately called his ‘little hyung.’
Even so, Jin Seok-young would be a better choice in many ways than Jin Tae-won.
A short ringing tone sounded over the phone, followed by Jin Seok-young’s voice. Upon hearing Seo Yi-kyung’s voice, he stopped himself from blindly raising his voice in anger as he had done before and lowered his tone. It was an incredibly awkward acting tone.
[…Actually, I’m on my way now after receiving a call from Secretary Park, but the traffic is bad because it’s rush hour.]
Suddenly, the sound of Jin Seok-young slamming the steering wheel echoed through the phone. Judging by the sounds of him telling someone to move, it seemed a scuffle was breaking out while he was driving. Suddenly, as if snapping back to his senses, Jin Seok-young spoke to Seo Yi-kyung.
[Hahaha, you’re going through a lot, Yi-kyung.]
Seo Yi-kyung ended the call after Jin Seok-young promised to come as quickly as possible. He put on the jacket he had taken off with one hand. At least Secretary Park contacted him.
Seo Yi-kyung paced around the bed, meticulously gathering Jin Seon-yu’s outerwear, shopping bags, and phone so that he could take Jin Seon-yu out as soon as Jin Seok-young arrived.
Vrrr— Not long after, the phone vibrated. Seo Yi-kyung took out the phone he had tucked into Jin Seon-yu’s outerwear.
“I’ll open the door now.”
Jin Seok-young entered the suite aggressively. He was struggling to force a smile toward Seo Yi-kyung.
“Director Han was downstairs.”
Jin Seok-young had seen Han Seung-jae while hurriedly getting out of the car and running into the hotel lobby, but since it wasn’t a pleasant meeting, he skipped the greetings and ran straight up.
Seo Yi-kyung spoke calmly.
“I know.”
“That bastard.”
Jin Seok-young stepped forward and looked at Jin Seon-yu lying on the bed. He almost let out his anger immediately but stopped himself and reached out with both hands. He hoisted Jin Seon-yu onto his back.
Seo Yi-kyung put Jin Seon-yu’s phone in the pocket of his outerwear, grabbed the shopping bags, and followed Jin Seok-young out.
“Don’t shake me, my head is throbbing.”
Jin Seon-yu, carried on Jin Seok-young’s back, let out a groan. Seo Yi-kyung pressed the elevator button. Although Jin Seok-young was smiling in front of Seo Yi-kyung, a vein was clearly bulging on his forehead.
Ding— With a clear chime, Jin Seok-young led the way into the first-floor lobby. Seo Yi-kyung hurried his pace. Following behind Jin Seok-young, Seo Yi-kyung spotted Secretary Park standing by a sedan. Han Seung-jae would be inside the sedan behind Secretary Park.
Secretary Park reached toward the back seat. To Seo Yi-kyung, the scene seemed to move in slow motion.
Seo Yi-kyung approached behind Jin Seok-young as he laid Jin Seon-yu down in the back seat of the waiting car. In the meantime, he saw Han Seung-jae getting out of the car.
“Just you wait until we get home.”
After Jin Seok-young threatened Jin Seon-yu, who was slumped haphazardly across the car seat, he turned around violently and almost collided with Seo Yi-kyung. Seo Yi-kyung reflexively stepped back to regain his balance. However, Jin Seok-young’s hand was faster. If Seo Yi-kyung were to fall here, a major disaster would occur. After all, wasn’t he carrying a child?
Whoops, Jin Seok-young caught Seo Yi-kyung’s elbow with one hand. Seo Yi-kyung’s staggering legs steadied immediately. He didn’t even have time to catch his breath or sigh in relief. He held out Jin Seon-yu’s outerwear and shopping bags.
“I put Seon-yu’s phone in the pocket.”
“Ah, thanks.”
Jin Seok-young, wearing a forced smile, had no intention of checking. He took the outerwear and shopping bags with his rough hands and tossed them carelessly toward the lying Jin Seon-yu.
Thud, the rear car door closed.
As he walked away, Jin Seok-young added a word of thanks to Secretary Park for letting him know and hurriedly sat in the driver’s seat. Seo Yi-kyung raised his hand to tidy his disheveled hair.
‘I wonder if Seon-yu will be okay.’
He felt a surge of guilt, thinking that if he had known it would be like this, he should have stopped him from drinking the wine. He felt bad that he was perfectly fine while only Jin Seon-yu seemed that drunk.
However, now was not the time to worry about Jin Seon-yu. He had told Han Seung-jae he was coming down and had stayed there until Jin Seok-young arrived.
But he had no choice. It was Jin Seon-yu, of all people. He was the only friend who had stayed by Seo Yi-kyung’s side when he had nowhere else to lean on during his hardest times. That was why Seo Yi-kyung couldn’t afford to overthink things. He simply couldn’t leave Jin Seon-yu alone on the bed, ignoring his groans of pain.
Step, step. Walking forward, Seo Yi-kyung looked ahead. Han Seung-jae’s eyes were cold. He turned his body slightly and extended a long arm.
“Get in for now.”
He lightly gripped Seo Yi-kyung’s elbow and led him into the car.
“…….”
The sedan departed smoothly and left the hotel. Seo Yi-kyung kept glancing to the side. Wearing a dark suit, it seemed Han Seung-jae had stopped by on his way home from work.
Seo Yi-kyung opened his lips to speak, then closed them. He had told Han Seung-jae the previous day that he would have lunch with Jin Seon-yu. However, it was far too dark for it to be called a lunch date.
Above all, because Han Seung-jae wasn’t the type to get angry like Jin Seok-young or force a smile and say things he didn’t mean, Seo Yi-kyung felt a sense of anxiety in a corner of his heart.
* * *
“Hey, Jin Seon-yu. We’re here. Open your eyes. Where did you pour all that alcohol into?”
Jin Seok-young pulled the sound-asleep Jin Seon-yu out of the back seat and hoisted him onto his back again. The shopping bags were crushed in his rough grip, and Jin Seon-yu’s outerwear was added haphazardly.
He entered the house and ran up the stairs.
Bang, he threw open the bedroom door violently and laid Jin Seon-yu on the bed. He tossed the items he was holding carelessly onto the floor beside the bed.
“When you sober up tomorrow, you’re really…”
Grinding his teeth, Jin Seok-young covered Jin Seon-yu with a blanket and left the room. It was just as he was heading down the stairs. People were welcoming Jin Tae-won as he entered the house.
“You’re back?”
“Where’s Seon-yu?”
Jin Seok-young felt cold sweat pouring down his back. He replied nonchalantly.
“He’s in his room. He must be very tired; he’s been sleeping since early evening.”
“Are you sure?”
“I told you so. I’m coming down after seeing him sleep.”
“If you two conspired to trick me again like last time…”
As Jin Tae-won watched him with suspicious eyes, Jin Seok-young cut him off.
“I told you we don’t do that anymore. Seon-yu has come to his senses too.”
Jin Seok-young walked over to the sofa and sat down as if to escape the situation. He then asked the resident helper to bring some water.
Only after Jin Tae-won went inside did Jin Seok-young repeatedly rub his face with both hands.
He gulped down the water the helper brought. After one phone call with Jin Seon-yu, he had been anxious because Jin Seon-yu stopped answering the phone.
He absolutely had to get Jin Seon-yu home before Jin Tae-won arrived. He didn’t have the luxury to think of anything else.
After a quick calculation, he called Secretary Park. The weather is so clear, is Director Han still in a low mood? Nothing bad happened today, right? So, I wanted to check something… After a long, roundabout greeting, he asked if Seo Yi-kyung had returned home.
And a short while later, he received a call from Secretary Park, who had said he would check. That was how Jin Seok-young had rushed to the hotel and brought back the sprawled-out Jin Seon-yu.
Jin Seok-young let out a deep sigh.
“I’m really being squeezed from top and bottom; I won’t live to my natural age. I need to get rid of that thing quickly. Ha— who on earth would even take someone like that?”
* * *
Click, Seo Yi-kyung stepped out of the bathroom after showering. He tightened the belt of his robe, went down to the first floor, and changed into pajamas.
Throughout the ride home, Han Seung-jae hadn’t said a word in the car. Nor did he show any signs of being displeased.
It was as if he had simply picked up Seo Yi-kyung on his way home from work.
As Seo Yi-kyung left the dressing room and headed toward the elevator, he turned around. Butler Do spotted Seo Yi-kyung and approached him.
“Is there something you need?”
Seo Yi-kyung murmured calmly.
“Please prepare some refreshments to take to the study.”