By Zephyria 
An ordinary afternoon, calculating the time remaining until clock-out. In the silence, only the occasional sound of someone answering an internal call drifted through like white noise. The Executive Director had been under the grand delusion that removing the partitions would lead to active conversation and communication among members, but in reality, people had become so afraid of disturbing others that they held their breath even while typing or scribbling notes. Because the space was open and exposed, it was plainly visible that several employees with sensitive temperaments had newly placed stomach medicine on their desks.
At a time when it felt as if one could hear the footsteps of a passing ant.
“Aaaagh!”
A scream rang out loudly through the office. At the horrific sound erupting so close by, Yi-ho reflexively hammered the save shortcut key about three times. Then, he lifted his head to investigate the cause of the commotion.
The protagonist of the scream was Assistant Manager Lee Jae-sik of the development team. For the first time in years, Yi-ho realized that Lee’s voice—which usually consisted of nothing more than indifferent mutterings while pushing up his glasses—could be this clear.
The person standing behind Lee looked at him with a bewildered expression.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You must have been startled.”
“No, …it’s okay. No…”
“Yes, Executive Director. It’s nothing. Yes, yes.”
At the voice of the person answering the internal call, Lee Jae-sik’s face turned even paler. Lee and the employee standing behind him bowed their heads to the person, and although the person waved them off as if it were fine, a hint of displeasure remained.
“The screens of the development staff are just so fascinating. I didn’t realize I was staring from behind. My apologies.”
After apologizing repeatedly, the figure behind Lee hurriedly left the scene. Lee apologized to the development team at the same table and the surrounding tables in his usual ant-like voice before sitting back down. He looked at the screen again, but his flushed face, lost eyes, and trembling hands could not return to normal. The lack of a partition to hide such a state was a factor that made him even more anxious.
Most people turned away, thinking it was just a minor happening, but a few looked at Assistant Manager Lee Jae-sik as if he were a socially inept developer who had just had a sudden outburst.
However, the moment Yi-ho witnessed the situation, he immediately grasped what the problem was. And that Lee was in a very unfair situation.
‘My beloved nerd team…’
Yi-ho swallowed a sigh that felt like it could punch a hole through the office floor and stood up.
He tapped the desk in front of the still-restless Lee to get his attention. Even without trying to act like a “good team leader,” a smile full of pity naturally formed on his lips.
“Shall we escape for a bit? Let’s go have a cup of coffee.”
Yi-ho pointed toward the office exit. Yi-ho saw the area behind Lee’s thick glasses grow moist.
∗ ∗ ∗
“Assistant Manager Lee, you’ve been having a hard time lately, right…?”
“…….”
“Did you say it like that?”
Min-gyu, mimicking his tone, was slightly annoying.
Furthermore, it was exactly what Yi-ho had said the moment he sat down at the cafe with Lee, so he couldn’t refute it. It was Yi-ho’s fixed repertoire for surviving as a team leader leading seven precious nerds.
“I did not.”
“No way you didn’t.”
“…’Jae-sik nim, you’ve been having a hard time lately, right…?’ I did say that.”
“Ah, I didn’t even know your assistant manager’s name, Yi-ho.”
With a chopstick held between his teeth, Yi-ho stared at his lover, with whom he shared both lunch and dinner. Noticing the sudden halt in eating, Min-gyu shrugged.
“I know. It’s annoying when someone approaches you while you’re concentrating.”
“That’s not it.”
“Hmm?”
“I just really, really, really hate it when someone looks at my monitor from behind…”
“In what sense? Like you’re being surveilled?”
“No.”
“Ah, not that either?”
“If it’s a place where surveillance is explicitly declared, like a hackathon, I don’t care if they look or not. The problem is when someone secretly looks at my screen without me realizing it.”
“…Even if there’s nothing to get caught for, as long as you weren’t texting or slacking off?”
“I’m telling you, that’s not the point. When eyes other than my own look at the screen… hmm…”
Yi-ho knit his brows tightly for a moment, then snapped his fingers as if proud of himself for finding the right analogy.
“It feels like a hallway where all the lights have gone out stretching behind my back.”
“Ah… so, the fear of the unknown.”
“Yeah, exactly. That’s it.”
Yi-ho nodded vigorously in agreement. In truth, Min-gyu didn’t understand a single word of his developer lover’s explanation, but he possessed the acting skills to pretend he did.
“Are you like that too, Song-i?”
“I’ve half-overcome it in the lab. It’s a characteristic of professors to appear without a sound and just peek. Still, it’s an unpleasant behavior.”
To think it was treated the same as a professor’s behavior for someone who had gone to grad school. Whatever the case, the colleague who startled Lee earlier seemed to have quietly earned Yi-ho’s hatred.
After taking a few more spoonfuls of rice, Yi-ho collapsed onto the table, resting the side of his face against it.
“Huuu… Hey, seriously, what do I do? Jae-sik nim cried at the cafe earlier.”
“…Because of that? Isn’t it just something that’s embarrassing for a moment and then over?”
“No, he said removing the office partitions is too hard and stressful… This incident just made him snap. Sigh, but there’s nothing I can tell him other than that he’ll get used to it soon.”
In Min-gyu’s common sense, there was no need to offer comforting words to someone who had already reached the rank of assistant manager.
“Ah, it’ll be a real problem if he says he can’t stand it and quits.”
Min-gyu recalled the image of the assistant manager. He felt as if he had seen about thirty people who looked similar among the computer science students around Yi-ho on campus. It made him wonder if that was why Yi-ho cherished and cared for him so much…
He pulled Yi-ho’s rice bowl, which was about one-third full, and the spoon toward himself. After scooping a bite-sized portion of rice, he topped it with bulgogi and held it to Yi-ho’s lips.
Looking at the thing approaching him with unfamiliarity and confusion, Yi-ho soon accepted the food, his ears flushing red.
“What’s this…”
Following the peacock-like three-piece look at the office, tonight’s dinner attire was a sporty boyfriend look that provided a charming contrast. Mesmerized by the sight of the forearms exposed by the sleeveless shirt carefully placing side dishes on the spoon, Yi-ho swallowed another spoonful. Min-gyu’s expression became satisfied. From his perspective, whether it was Assistant Manager Lee or whoever, the bigger problem was that his lover wasn’t eating enough.
“It’s not like you can actually do anything for him. It’s not a problem you can solve.”
“I did create a very small solution…”
“What did you do?”
“I told him I’d switch him to the most secluded seat at the table.”
“…Isn’t that your seat?”
Chewing the rice he had received from Min-gyu, Yi-ho gave a smile that highlighted his characteristically youthful face.
“I’m an adult…”
“…….”
∗ ∗ ∗
‘What a pushover.’
Min-gyu thought of a rather harsh criticism for his lover. Upon arriving at work, he saw that Song Yi-ho’s seat had been pushed toward the aisle.
Team Leader Song Yi-ho was not a particularly sociable person. He preferred working alone over interacting with people, and when working, he preferred an isolated and quiet environment.
Because of this, Min-gyu could feel Yi-ho’s back tensing up every time people passed behind him. In Min-gyu’s eyes, it looked as if the meals he had carefully fed him the previous day were turning into stomach pain for Yi-ho.
Min-gyu grabbed his tablet and stood up. Deputy Manager Kang, who was working at the same table, asked him.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to monitor Team Leader Song. To see if he’s meeting his deadlines or not.”
“Stop bullying him…”
With a simple shrug, Min-gyu headed toward where Yi-ho was. He took the empty chair next to Yi-ho. It was a seat that protruded toward the aisle and had been chosen by no one. By sitting there, Min-gyu blocked the view of Yi-ho from the aisle.
Min-gyu narrowed his eyes at Yi-ho, who looked back at him.
You should take care of yourself before making concessions; how can you be this stressed?
Having entered the company through a special hire for his PhD, skipping the ranks of employee and assistant manager, Yi-ho tended to take the responsibilities of a leader more heavily than others. Experience shows that superiors are also human—they avoid what they can and can be coercive—yet he was struggling to be an ideally unicorn-like leader.
In fact, Min-gyu had no disagreement that Yi-ho was a good leader. There were very few team leaders in this world who sacrificed themselves for the convenience of their team members.
However, from his lover’s perspective, he was just the worst kind of pushover. What could he do? If he couldn’t stand seeing that pushover behavior, he had no choice but to become an even bigger pushover by shielding him.
The problem was that because he sat in the protruding seat, Min-gyu stood out much more than usual. As always, Team Leader Cha, dressed flamboyantly, exhibited himself to every colleague passing through the aisle and was spoken to once every ten minutes.
“Min-gyu nim, why are you here?”
He had become too tired to even answer properly.
“I felt like there was a water vein flowing through my original seat.”
“Ah… it does feel like it’s flowing not just through that seat, but overall…”
Ending the conversation shortly, Min-gyu pulled up a few drafts on his tablet. Since Min-gyu didn’t particularly care whether someone watched his work from behind or not, he soon began to concentrate. Occasionally, the sound of Yi-ho typing next to him or the sound of his soft breathing was pleasant to hear.
Min-gyu also thought that this partition-less office should not last long. The efficiency of the marketing team was also starting to drop. Probably within a month or two, it would become a topic at the executive meeting and soon vanish into memory, becoming nothing more than drinking snacks for a while.
However, even risking work inefficiency, the pleasure of enjoying things like this in the early stages of a relationship was quite nice.
To add one more thing, it was a position that reminded him of the time they sat side-by-side studying in the self-study room during high school. Usually, Song Yi-ho sat by the window, and he sat on the outside, glancing around as if the classroom were stifling. Just like now.
Yi-ho, who had been typing, frowned as if threatening the code and leaned his head toward the screen, then pulled his head back and covered his mouth. Then he scrolled rapidly again. It couldn’t be that interesting. To the point where he could stare at it all day.
“Huh? Min-gyu nim, are you working here today?”
“Yes, I feel like this seat is a place where work goes well today.”
“Aha. It also seems like a seat where you’re monitored by everyone. Good luck.”
“Yess.”
The person who had exchanged a few bland words passed by. When he looked back at Yi-ho, Yi-ho was already looking at Min-gyu.
“……!”
Yi-ho lightly placed his hand on Min-gyu’s thigh and fidgeted. What was this? Song Yi-ho’s seduction? …A shiitake mushroom’s? Just as he was chuckling at the absurdity of the thought, Yi-ho met his eyes with a slightly flushed face.
‘Breakroom.’
His lips moved like that. Then Yi-ho stood up first. The direction he walked was toward the breakroom.
Hah… Min-gyu let out a small breath and checked his watch. Song Yi-ho, why has he become such a fox since they started dating? He waited for the second hand to make exactly three rotations before standing up. Although he didn’t care how others looked at him, his gait became a bit shy now. This is why everyone gets caught in office romances. Min-gyu already knew that rumors were circulating that his lover might be someone in the company. It seemed he, too, had been quite excited about the office romance.
Min-gyu was already imagining Yi-ho’s business. Since it was the shy Song Yi-ho, he couldn’t expect a very bold attempt, but that only made him happier at small reactions.
…Since he called him out after someone spoke to him, he even had the delusion that it might be jealousy…
Ah, what if it really is that? If that stoic personality showed jealousy, he wouldn’t be able to resist kissing him. Suddenly, the inside of his suit felt hot. There were only a few steps left until the breakroom.
Even if he couldn’t manage his expression out of happiness, the many prejudices of the world and the image the two had built up would protect them.
Inside the breakroom, Yi-ho was alone. He was in the middle of sipping caffeine from a large cup. And upon discovering Min-gyu, his eyes widened. Min-gyu went and sat next to Yi-ho. The distance was much closer than when they sat where others could see. Their thighs touched, and their shoulders were so close that no air conditioner breeze could seep in, allowing them to feel each other’s body heat.
“Why did you call me, Darling?”
While he had no strong opinion on office romances themselves, Min-gyu had always thought they were ‘unnecessary.’ Was there any advantage to having a lover in the workspace?
However, the advantages that couldn’t be measured by specific numbers or theories were, after all, the best.
Yi-ho rubbed the cup and looked up at Min-gyu. Today, his eyes looked like a puppy drenched in rain.
“Cha Min-gyu.”
“Yeah.”
“I like you a lot. You know that, right?”
“…I know.”
…This is actually quite heart-fluttering. Min-gyu unconsciously stroked his heating neck. He never thought he would hear such words from Song Yi-ho at the office in his entire life. Min-gyu sincerely gauged the remaining workload for today and the number of remaining vacation days for the year in his head. And the location of the hotel closest to the company.
“I mean, you really know, right? So don’t misunderstand when you hear this.”
“Darling, I won’t misunderstand anything you say. Don’t worry. What is it? Did you get voice-phished and need to transfer all your assets? Is your ancestor’s personality bad so we need to do a shamanic ritual that costs a thousand per session? Just say it. I’ll do everything for you.”
“No…”
Of course, what Yi-ho had to say wouldn’t be of that kind. This was simply the words jumping out first because he couldn’t contain his anticipation. Urging him to say what he wanted to say quickly.
After a short deep breath, Yi-ho let out a very lovely confession.
“Go sit somewhere else…”
A hesitant explanation followed.
“People keep staring because they’re looking at you, so I can’t get any work done.”
“…….”
Cha Min-gyu was, honestly, sulking.
The development team leader and the marketing team leader came out of the breakroom together, and then the marketing team leader silently packed his things and abruptly moved his seat.
With this sight alone, there would never be a chance of their office romance being discovered.