By Zephyria 
“……He said he would pay the full amount billed.”
Returning to the office, Secretary Park reported in detail to Han Seung-jae the conversation he had shared with Executive Director Jin Tae-won of Chaeon Foods.
“Did you convey my words as well?”
“Yes. I relayed everything you said without omission. He didn’t seem displeased upon hearing it. In fact, Executive Director Jin Tae-won mentioned that he was the one in debt.”
Throughout the report, Han Seung-jae maintained a cold gaze. He wasn’t unaware of the fact that Jin Tae-won cherished Jin Seon-yu, who was an Omega.
Comparing it to the way he treated his Alpha younger brother, Jin Seok-young, the difference was stark; there was no way he wouldn’t know. Even if he hadn’t taken an interest, there were so many people gossiping about it that he had heard more than enough.
However, the reason Han Seung-jae was tolerating this was not because of Executive Director Jin Tae-won. It wouldn’t have mattered if he made an enemy of Chaeon Foods. He was simply turning a blind eye because Jin Seon-yu was Seo Yi-kyung’s only friend.
It wasn’t that he wanted to show a good side of himself, but there was no need to show a bad one either.
In truth, Han Seung-jae had never thought that he needed to look good to anyone. Nor had he ever felt the need to avoid appearing bad. Yet, whenever Seo Yi-kyung shrank back or walked on eggshells around him, those thoughts occurred to him. Moreover, for someone like him, the very act of being considerate of another person was practically unheard of.
Han Seung-jae finished his work late and left the office. Secretary Park followed him into the elevator.
Han Seung-jae’s expressionless face, reflected in the elevator door, was split in half. He didn’t say a word throughout the car ride. While he wasn’t normally talkative, it wasn’t common for him to simply stare out the window. Had he not always been handling business on his tablet PC during transit? Secretary Park felt a chill permeating the interior of the car.
As the sedan slowed to a stop, Secretary Park leaped out and opened the rear door. Han Seung-jae’s long legs appeared. Dressed in a pristine, wrinkle-free suit, he brushed past the greeting Secretary Park and entered the townhouse.
“Welcome back.”
The inside of the house was brightly lit. Butler Do, who had come out to greet him, volunteered information that hadn’t been asked for.
“He is currently in the painting studio.”
Han Seung-jae glanced at him once and continued walking. Was he actually painting in that physical condition?
Han Seung-jae recalled the sight of Seo Yi-kyung from this morning. The pale complexion, the wan lips, and the IV needle lodged in his wrist.
To think he would enter the painting studio to paint in such a state—it seemed his suspicions had indeed been excessive. Reaching the door of the painting studio, he raised his hand as if to knock, but then simply gripped the handle and opened it.
There was no place in this house that Han Seung-jae could not go.
At the click of the opening door, Seo Yi-kyung, who was standing in front of the work table, turned around. He had a hydrocolloid bandage on his cheek and bandages wrapped around his neck. He lowered the hand that had been touching a box.
Han Seung-jae walked over without hesitation and looked into the box Seo Yi-kyung had been touching. It was oil paints. As if noticing his gaze, Seo Yi-kyung murmured.
“Ah, Seon-yu left those for me.”
Han Seung-jae’s gaze shifted to the glass display case. He looked at the pocket watch necklace and the hat kept inside.
“No wonder you seem happier with those than with these.”
Seo Yi-kyung looked at the same spot. They weren’t comparable. At the auction house, Seo Yi-kyung had watched prices climb rapidly to amounts he had never even imagined. Such expensive items weren’t things one could easily touch; they were exhibited merely to be looked at. So, how could artifacts be compared to oil paints?
Seo Yi-kyung stole a glance at Han Seung-jae. At that, Han Seung-jae’s eyes narrowed slightly. He couldn’t understand why the other always kept his distance and wore a face like someone on the verge of fleeing, regardless of what he had actually done. Or perhaps, had he heard something about him from his father, Seo Young-hwan?
The behavior of Han Seung-jae’s father, Han Yechan, wasn’t something that could be hidden. There was a high possibility that Seo Yi-kyung had heard the rumors circulating publicly from his father.
Han Seung-jae perched himself on the work table. His long legs were bent diagonally, yet his eye level was still higher than Seo Yi-kyung’s.
“……?”
As he suddenly sat down as if making himself at home, a look of bewilderment clouded Seo Yi-kyung’s eyes. Was it just his imagination that Han Seung-jae was trying to match his eye level?
Maintaining eye contact, Han Seung-jae spoke.
“What did you see in the study?”
Seo Yi-kyung swallowed hard. Had he realized that he had opened the drawer and looked inside the envelope? He thought he had escaped the crisis well that day, but was that not the case?
Seo Yi-kyung’s lips trembled. He had to say something quickly. If he hesitated, he might arouse Han Seung-jae’s suspicion.
“Or did you hear something about me?”
Seo Yi-kyung blinked. Was Han Seung-jae testing him right now?
“I have no intention of making excuses for what my father did.”
Seo Yi-kyung knew very well that Han Seung-jae’s father had been cheating. Of course, he also knew that Han Seung-jae felt it wasn’t even worth talking about. Han Seung-jae had absolutely no affection for his father.
While his inner thoughts weren’t written in the original novel, anyone would likely feel the same. Thus, Seo Yi-kyung presumed that Han Seung-jae felt the same way. Moreover, the idea of Han Seung-jae making excuses was absurd.
However, Han Seung-jae continued to look at Seo Yi-kyung as he added,
“I am different from my father. I don’t care who you heard what from, or what you saw.”
* * *
Seo Yi-kyung stood blankly in the painting studio. He seemed to be glancing at the tools and oil paints on the work table, but his focus was blurred. Furthermore, he didn’t move an inch.
Then, Jin Seon-yu, who had been admiring the pocket watch necklace in the glass display, turned his head.
“Wow, I’ve seen that item in an article before. I can’t believe it’s here.”
“Mm-hmm……”
Seo Yi-kyung couldn’t quite process what Jin Seon-yu was saying. He simply responded with a short sound, as if out of habit.
Jin Seon-yu stepped closer and skillfully placed oil paints on the palette. Without hesitation, he picked up a brush, moved his fingers lightly, and looked to the side.
Seo Yi-kyung had been staring straight ahead the whole time. A faint mark remained on his cheek. He had also unwrapped the bandages from his neck.
“Yi-kyung.”
“…….”
“Seo Yi-kyung~”
Drawing out the end of his voice, Jin Seon-yu extended the brush and waved it in front of Seo Yi-kyung’s eyes. Only then did Seo Yi-kyung turn his head. Jin Seon-yu tilted his head. His round eyes were clear.
“Why are you staring into space and thinking so hard? It’s like you’re seeing something.”
Seo Yi-kyung forced a smile. At Jin Seon-yu’s words, he realized that he had unconsciously been staring at the spot where Han Seung-jae had been sitting.
“No. Nothing. I was just thinking about what would be good to paint.”
Whether he didn’t doubt Seo Yi-kyung’s words at all, Jin Seon-yu nodded vigorously.
The two of them sat before canvases placed side by side. When Jin Seon-yu moved his brush, Seo Yi-kyung moved his fingers while glancing sideways.
Exchanging conversation with Jin Seon-yu, Seo Yi-kyung moved his arm. Then, occasionally, his hand stopped. Soon, Seo Yi-kyung lowered the hand gripping the brush.
It was too indistinct to be called a landscape painting. Yet it wasn’t clear enough to be called an abstract painting either.
Seo Yi-kyung repeated to himself.
‘Once Min Ra-hyeon returns, Han Seung-jae’s heart will change.’
He was the person Han Seung-jae had brought into this house. The only person he, who didn’t trust others, had permitted……
“Why? Is something not working out?”
Jin Seon-yu stepped closer. He meticulously examined the landscape painting Seo Yi-kyung had drawn on the canvas.
“Let’s see.”
Jin Seon-yu lifted the brush he was holding and navigated across Seo Yi-kyung’s canvas.
“Here, like this……”
The blurry lines came to life. Watching this, Seo Yi-kyung raised his hand.
“Yi-kyung, relax your shoulders and don’t try too hard to paint it perfectly. Just do it slowly, the way you used to. Even doing it like that, you used to be really good at painting.”
Jin Seon-yu seemed to think that Seo Yi-kyung’s fingers had stiffened because he had stopped painting for a while. Jin Seon-yu, who was teaching him how to paint in earnest, had a rather fastidious side. His playfulness subsided whenever he held a brush. Because of this, Seo Yi-kyung, who had been painting with him for several days, let out a weary complaint.
“It’s not that I’m trying too hard to paint it well……”
Jin Seon-yu said firmly.
“Try painting while thinking about how happy the person who receives this painting will be.”
Seo Yi-kyung pressed his lips together to hold back the words about to leak out. There was no way they would be happy. To his eyes, the canvas looked like it had been painted with his feet compared to the landscape painting in the corner.
If it looked like this to him, there was no way Han Seung-jae wouldn’t notice.