By Zephyria 
Click. As the door to the study opened, Secretary Park turned around, spotted Han Seung-jae entering, and stepped back slightly from the desk.
The gaze of the approaching Han Seung-jae was quite sharp. He had always been devoid of emotion when looking at people, but now, Han Seung-jae’s expression held a hint of suspicion.
Secretary Park retraced his words to see if he had made a mistake. He had trimmed away the unnecessary details to ensure Seo Yi-kyung wouldn’t be too shocked, while mixing in just a tiny bit of the truth. Perhaps he shouldn’t have done even that.
Secretary Park spoke to Han Seung-jae as he sat at the desk.
“I apologize. I should have checked my surroundings more carefully before making the call.”
In the first place, it was an incident caused by Secretary Park’s carelessness. Had he not been so negligent, Seo Yi-kyung wouldn’t have fallen ill.
Han Seung-jae leaned back languidly in his chair.
“You’re gaining more trust than you look.”
“Pardon?”
Secretary Park had been mentally reviewing the words he spoke to Seo Yi-kyung in the bedroom, searching for where he might have slipped up. Because of this, he reflexively questioned Han Seung-jae’s unexpected remark.
“He said he believes what you say, Secretary Park.”
Secretary Park closed his lips again. Han Seung-jae was speaking in a blunt tone with a softened gaze, as if Seo Yi-kyung, rather than Secretary Park, were standing before him.
—He is someone you trust, Seung-jae.
—…….
—That’s why I believe Secretary Park’s words too.
There had been no hesitation in Seo Yi-kyung’s eyes when he said that. Seo Yi-kyung fully understood why Secretary Park was by Han Seung-jae’s side. He was taciturn, tight-lipped, and possessed the delicacy to keenly perceive Han Seung-jae’s intentions. Seo Yi-kyung couldn’t be unaware that Han Seung-jae trusted such a man.
Han Seung-jae didn’t trust people easily, nor did he keep them close. Consequently, the people around him changed frequently.
Min Ra-hyeon was an exception, as Han Seung-jae remembered his cheerful childhood before he went to study abroad, back when he could easily befriend anyone. He thought it could be the same with Seo Yi-kyung. That was why he let him into the house, but it had been a useless effort.
Just as Min Ra-hyeon’s nature had changed over time, Seo Yi-kyung was different from the person in the photographs Han Seung-jae had known.
He approached while trembling in fear, yet the moment a hand was reached out to touch him, he would step back a couple of paces to maintain a constant distance. Meanwhile, the pheromones leaking from his body were maddeningly erotic, leaving one craving more.
Han Seung-jae felt as if a slight fever still lingered at his fingertips. When Seo Yi-kyung woke up around midnight, Han Seung-jae had told him to eat some porridge to help him regain his strength. Seo Yi-kyung seemed to eat it silently without a word, but in the end, he suffered from indigestion, creating a vicious cycle that only increased his fever.
Because of that, Han Seung-jae only reaffirmed a feeling of being troubled. He had never been put in a predicament by anyone, nor had he ever experienced a troublesome situation. He had simply made sure such things never happened in the first place. However, that didn’t seem to apply to Seo Yi-kyung.
* * *
“You may leave for today.”
Han Seung-jae left the study. Following him, Secretary Park stepped out of the door and bowed his waist toward Han Seung-jae.
“I will come to pick you up tomorrow.”
“Very well.”
Without looking back, Han Seung-jae walked toward the bedroom. He gripped the doorknob and opened it quietly. However, upon entering, Han Seung-jae was met with an empty bed, leaving only the traces of where someone had been lying. There was no sign of Seo Yi-kyung anywhere in the room.
He had clearly seen Seo Yi-kyung lie back down and close his eyes before he left. That was why he had returned after finishing a few tasks with Secretary Park while Seo Yi-kyung slept. Had he woken up in the meantime?
Han Seung-jae’s steps led him to the terrace. However, it was the same there; Seo Yi-kyung was nowhere to be found.
Han Seung-jae pulled out his phone. Just as a short ringing tone was heard, vrrr— the vibration of a phone sounded from around the bed. Han Seung-jae ended the call and left the bedroom.
Where on earth had he gone in that condition?
Han Seung-jae stepped out of the elevator and appeared on the first floor. A passing helper greeted him with a tense face and brushed past. Han Seung-jae was searching for someone amidst the movement. However, the person he sought was still not visible.
He was just about to head toward the painting studio when Butler Do, who was coming out of the dressing room carrying Seo Yi-kyung’s cardigan, hurriedly approached Han Seung-jae with a surprised face.
“Is there something you need?”
“He wasn’t on the second floor.”
It seemed the “thing” he needed was not an object, but a person. Butler Do pointed in the opposite direction as if he understood Han Seung-jae’s words. Han Seung-jae turned back from his path toward the painting studio. The direction Butler Do was pointing was the exit.
“He is in the garden right now.”
Han Seung-jae’s brow furrowed slightly. Seo Yi-kyung had been sick all night due to indigestion and had only just begun to stabilize by morning. To think they hadn’t stopped him from going outside in such a state.
“You let him go out?”
Han Seung-jae’s stride widened. Following beside him, Butler Do murmured with a flustered expression.
“He hasn’t been out for long. He mentioned that staying in the room all the time was too suffocating, so… he isn’t alone in the garden.”
Han Seung-jae’s eyes turned bleak. Butler Do quickly added,
“The primary physician is looking after him.”
Han Seung-jae opened the door and stepped into the garden. In the distance, he spotted Seo Yi-kyung sitting at a table. As Butler Do had said, the primary physician was standing beside him.
Step. At the sound of the dress shoes, the physician looked back first. With dark circles under his eyes, he beamed a wide smile toward Han Seung-jae.
“Director Han, you’ve come out.”
Only then did Seo Yi-kyung turn his head the other way. However, because the physician was blocking him, he couldn’t clearly see Han Seung-jae approaching. Just as the physician was about to open his mouth to tell Han Seung-jae how devotedly he had been attending to Seo Yi-kyung—
“Why are you out here? I’m certain I told you to stay in bed.”
The physician shifted his body sideways. It seemed Han Seung-jae was in a bad mood. At that, Seo Yi-kyung looked up with a pale complexion.
Fearing that the frail Seo Yi-kyung might fall ill again, the physician spoke quickly.
“We were just about to go back inside.”
The physician then addressed Seo Yi-kyung as well.
“Right?”
The physician hoped Seo Yi-kyung would agree with him. He thought that would naturally soften Han Seung-jae’s displeasure.
Seo Yi-kyung looked at Han Seung-jae and slowly parted his lips.
“Yes. That’s right. I was planning to…”
In truth, he wanted to sit a bit longer. Perhaps because he had been lying in the room all day, there was no strength in his fingers, and his body felt heavy. And sitting in the garden seemed to clear the dizziness in his head. However, if he said that, the physician would be in a difficult position, and Butler Do, standing there with the cardigan, would be troubled as well.
With a sunken face, Seo Yi-kyung braced himself against the table and stood up. He couldn’t insist on sitting there while causing trouble for others.
It seemed Han Seung-jae’s work had finished sooner than expected. He had guessed as much since Secretary Park had greeted him upon leaving, but he hadn’t expected Han Seung-jae to come down to the garden immediately.
“Go and bring some tea.”
Having said that, Han Seung-jae snatched the cardigan from Butler Do’s hand. He then unfolded it and draped it over Seo Yi-kyung’s shoulders.
Han Seung-jae sat at the table. Seo Yi-kyung watched him before taking a seat himself—before Han Seung-jae could change his mind. At that, Butler Do turned back the way he came.
Though he reacted composedly on the surface, the physician couldn’t understand Han Seung-jae’s sudden change in attitude. Regardless, Han Seung-jae spoke coldly to him.
“Step aside. Don’t block the sunlight.”
The physician snapped to attention and stepped away from Seo Yi-kyung. Now, Seo Yi-kyung’s face was more visible than before. He was sliding his arms into the cardigan, fidgeting with his fingers as he fastened the buttons.
Suddenly, Seo Yi-kyung felt a gaze and looked back. As if he had been waiting, Han Seung-jae spoke.
“If you’re going to make a face like that, why not just say you don’t want to go inside?”
The porridge last night had been the same. If it was hard to eat, he could have just said so. Instead, he forced himself to eat it and ended up getting sick.
Butler Do, having brought the tea, approached the two. He lifted the teapot, filled the cups, and placed them side by side in front of Seo Yi-kyung and Han Seung-jae.
Han Seung-jae picked up his teacup. Similarly, Seo Yi-kyung reached out, then awkwardly rubbed his cheek. Hadn’t Han Seung-jae told him repeatedly that it was obvious when he lied? It seemed it was the case this time as well.