But she was her, and he was himself. Drinking while on duty wasn’t allowed. Yeonwoo suppressed the urge and declined politely, maintaining a professional tone.
“I’m sorry. I’ll pass.”
A moment later, the waiter came by and placed a glass in front of each of them. Yeonwoo was about to wave his hand to refuse when it happened.
“Drink.”
The offhand remark made him freeze. Keith was looking at him from across the table. Was that directed at him? While he hesitated, the waiter poured the champagne. The lawyer raised her glass with a smile.
“One glass won’t hurt, really.”
When he glanced at Keith to check, Keith drank his champagne without a word.
Alcohol was bad for wounds.
He was concerned but couldn’t tell Keith not to drink. After a moment of hesitation, Yeonwoo brought the glass to his lips.
Ah.
A bright, fruity aroma filled his mouth, lifting his spirits almost instantly. His lips curled before he realized it.
“What do you think? Amazing, right?”
When the lawyer asked, he smiled and nodded. Her choice had been excellent. Before he knew it, he had emptied the glass. He honestly wanted more, but he forced himself to stop, worried he might miss part of the conversation if he got tipsy. And if Keith ended up drunk, he’d have to handle it.
He already knew that Apex Alphas didn’t get drunk easily, even if they spiked their drinks.
That was just part of his job. When he politely declined a second glass, his mood dipped against his will, and his face must have shown it.
The meal proceeded without issue. Whenever work-related topics came up, Yeonwoo diligently jotted them down on his phone to make sure nothing was forgotten. When the actual business discussion began, he would transcribe it into the tablet and prepare a full report.
“Is it just because I haven’t seen you in a while? You look thinner, Yeonwoo. No?”
The lawyer spoke to him warmly. Yeonwoo answered neutrally.
“It’s probably because it’s been a while. You look more beautiful than ever, Counselor.”
She laughed brightly and placed her hand lightly on his arm.
“Then we should meet more often. I like it when you say sweet things like that.”
“I’m only stating the truth.”
He spoke calmly, but she continued to look at him affectionately. That soft gaze made him uncomfortable for some reason. Her hand still resting on his arm didn’t help either.
Suddenly, he felt another gaze. He turned his head and met Keith’s eyes immediately.
Keith was watching them with a deep frown. His expression made it blatantly clear he was seething with irritation.
Yeonwoo hurriedly, without being rude, removed the lawyer’s hand.
“Will the acquisition matter be discussed after the meal?”
They were on a tight schedule, using even lunch hours for work, and yet here the lawyer and secretary were joking around in front of the client and employer. Of course Keith would be annoyed. Yeonwoo quickly redirected the conversation to protect her.
“Oh, of course. Sorry, Mr. Pittman. I was just happy to see Yeonwoo after so long.”
She added the apology with a light laugh, but Keith gave no response. After that, the meal proceeded in suffocating silence. Yeonwoo almost wished someone would start talking about work. But no one opened their mouth. Only the faint clatter of cutlery echoed across the table.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
As the meal neared its end, the lawyer stood up. Holding a small pouch, she headed to the restroom. The waiter came over and cleared the empty plates. The table was bare within seconds.
The waiter then returned and placed dessert menus in front of each of them before leaving again. While waiting for her to return, Yeonwoo took out his tablet and began organizing the notes he had taken on his phone. Soon, they would get into the main business discussion. He prepared to document everything, lifted his head—and accidentally locked eyes with Keith.
It felt like Keith had been watching him the whole time. He didn’t look away either, which wasn’t unusual, of course. Yeonwoo blinked and cautiously asked,
“Is there something you’d like to say…?”
Keith still said nothing. His silence made Yeonwoo increasingly nervous, until finally, he remembered the medication. Hurriedly, he opened his briefcase and took out the medicine he’d tucked into an inner pocket, given to him earlier by Whitaker. He placed it on the table.
“Your lunch meds… It’s antibiotics.”
Keith rustled the packet with his finger like he was asking what is this. Yeonwoo added quickly,
“There’s also pain medication. If you don’t take it, the wound might reopen…”
As he spoke, the memory resurfaced vividly. The sharp blade. The vivid red blood.
He blinked once, slowly, and realized Keith was still watching him. With a faint frown, Keith hadn’t looked away. Yeonwoo barely managed to get the words out, his voice trembling.
“Sorry. It just came to mind suddenly.”
Keith said nothing. He simply tore open the packet, tossed the pills into his mouth, and swallowed them with water. Yeonwoo watched in silence.
Was this really all he could do?
“…How’s the wound? Does it hurt?”
A voice full of emotion reached his ears. Was that really his voice? It sounded so pitiful, so desperate.
It felt like he was hearing someone else speak. Staring at Keith, Yeonwoo waited. Eventually, Keith opened his mouth.
“It doesn’t bother me.”
His expression was genuinely indifferent. And yet Yeonwoo still felt hurt. But of course, he couldn’t say that aloud.
“…That’s good.”
He lowered his head, trying to hide his face. He could feel Keith’s gaze still lingering on him. He stubbornly kept his eyes averted, pretending not to notice.
From the edge of his vision, he saw the lawyer returning to the table. As her figure entered Keith’s field of view, Keith suddenly spoke.
“She’s a Beta, right?”
The question caught Yeonwoo off guard for a beat.
“Oh, yes. The counselor is a Beta.”
The fog in his brain immediately lifted into overdrive. Was Keith considering her as his next partner? He’d never involved someone he worked with before. If they ended up sleeping together and broke it off, it would make future work incredibly awkward. And how was he supposed to pass along the message that it was over? He’d be the one stuck maintaining contact. Also… was she even Keith’s type? It didn’t seem like it.
But Keith’s next question threw him even further.
“Emma’s a Beta too, right?”
“…? Yes.”
Yeonwoo was confused, but before he could ask anything, Keith followed up again.
“That woman’s a Beta too, right?”
“That woman…?”
There were too many candidates. His mind blanked for a moment. Keith clicked his tongue in irritation.
“The woman I sleep with.”
Ah. He meant Naomi. Yeonwoo nodded belatedly.
“Yes, she is.”
Keith fell silent. A heavy stillness followed. Yeonwoo’s mind buzzed with a hundred questions. Why bring up Emma? Why Naomi?
He couldn’t possibly be wondering how many women around him were Betas all of a sudden.
Keith was acting strangely today. Nothing he did was typical of him. Suddenly, Charles’s words came to mind.
Could something have changed after the terror attack? Was it a shift in his state of mind? It wasn’t like he had hit his head…
“…What.”
Keith must have noticed the stare—his cold voice made Yeonwoo shrink instinctively. Glancing at him cautiously, Yeonwoo answered carefully.
“I was just wondering what that was about… Sorry, but I don’t really understand the question.”
Keith stared at him wordlessly. Yeonwoo began to fidget from the discomfort. At last, Keith said,
“I didn’t know Beta women liked Omegas.”
Then he gave a short laugh. It was clearly directed at Yeonwoo—scornful and bitter.
“Some women just like men who are easier to handle.”
Yeonwoo could feel his face harden. He stared silently at Keith, who casually sipped his wine as if nothing had happened. Just then, the lawyer returned to her seat.
“We should order dessert.”
She spoke brightly as she sat down in the chair the waiter had pulled out for her. But neither Yeonwoo nor Keith responded.
When the waiter came by for the dessert order, Yeonwoo just asked for coffee. Even as he busily took down notes of the business conversation that finally began, one thought repeated over and over in his mind.
Keith has always been like this. There’s no reason to feel hurt all over again.
Just ignore it.
Ignore him.
From that point on, Yeonwoo stopped asking Keith anything unrelated to work. And Keith, in turn, ignored him completely.
That evening, Keith didn’t meet up with Naomi. Instead, he returned to the mansion with Yeonwoo.
Of course, without so much as glancing in Yeonwoo’s direction, he went straight to his room. Just like that morning, Keith had dinner in his room, and Yeonwoo, as usual, went down to the dining hall alone.
***
“Yes, I’ll set the meeting location to that place. The time is two o’clock… Yes, please contact me right away if you need anything.”
Yeonwoo hung up and immediately recorded the details. After checking the schedule, he filled the empty time slot with the meeting with Chase Miller. He double-checked the calendar, then stood from his seat.
Across the hallway was Keith. After a deep breath, Yeonwoo carefully knocked. He waited a moment, then opened the door. Keith looked up from the documents he’d been reviewing. The moment their eyes met, Yeonwoo instinctively held his breath.
He closed the door behind him and walked briskly to the desk, standing across from Keith. It took a beat after opening his mouth before his voice came out.
“I rescheduled the meeting with Mr. Orlando, as instructed. The new date is Friday, and the location and time are…”
While Yeonwoo gave his report, Keith listened silently. After he finished, Yeonwoo waited for a response. Keith gave a brief nod, then rose from his seat. Judging by the time, it was around lunch.
Keith had canceled his lunch meeting today, even though it was supposed to be a necessary one. Yeonwoo had scrambled to reschedule the appointment by digging through open slots in Keith’s calendar.
Maybe something came up—or he just changed his mind.
He didn’t think much of it. But then, as Keith passed by and opened the office door, he suddenly spoke.
“Come with me.”
Yeonwoo quickly followed him out of the office. But Keith had meant something different by that.
“What are you doing? I said come with me.”
When Yeonwoo started walking back toward his desk, Keith spoke again. For a moment, Yeonwoo was confused. Was there something he needed him to do?
Puzzled, he grabbed his briefcase and trailed after Keith. He didn’t mind being asked to work through lunch. It was free time anyway. Better than sitting around doing nothing.
Keith didn’t say a word as they took the elevator and headed to the car. Watching Keith get in, Yeonwoo hesitated for a second—but then rushed to follow after catching the frown on Keith’s face.
It suddenly occurred to him that, while the lunch appointment had been canceled, the restaurant reservation hadn’t been. Did Keith plan to meet someone else there? The curiosity nearly killed him, but he didn’t dare ask. He fidgeted with his briefcase on his lap without any real purpose.
***
The restaurant had been booked three months in advance. It was packed, as expected for such a popular place. As they were led to their table, Yeonwoo wondered if someone might already be there. But the table was empty. After the waiter placed the menus and left, Yeonwoo couldn’t hold it in any longer and spoke.
“Um, is the other person running late?”
Keith, who’d been looking at the menu, raised his head. The faint wrinkle in his brow made Yeonwoo quickly add,
“You canceled the original appointment, right? I assumed you had to meet someone else urgently. I figured it must be someone I’d need to accompany you for… maybe work-related…”
It was difficult to say, but he managed to get the words out. Keith didn’t respond. He just stared at Yeonwoo in silence. The strange pause made Yeonwoo anxious, until finally, Keith spoke.
“There’s no one.”
“…Sorry?”
Yeonwoo asked reflexively, and Keith furrowed his brow deeper and snapped,
“There’s no one else coming. It’s not a newly arranged meeting either. So just shut up and pick something to eat.”
The completely unprovoked harshness made Yeonwoo clamp his mouth shut without realizing it. Cancel a meeting for no reason, then drag him out without explanation, and then shut up?
The delayed anger hit all at once—but the man in front of him was still his boss. And it wasn’t the first time Keith had spoken like this. Yeonwoo forced himself to calm down and looked over the menu.
“I’ll have this course.”
When he showed the page to the waitress, she nodded and gave him a polite smile. Her smile was purely professional, and he returned it out of habit. As he turned his head to drink some water, he suddenly met Keith’s gaze.
Keith was staring at him with a cold, unreadable expression.
Yeonwoo suddenly remembered what Keith had said before. Men who are easy to control. That was how Keith had described him.
Was he still thinking that now—mocking him inside?
After confirming Yeonwoo’s order, the waitress glanced at Keith, but he didn’t even look at her. Feeling awkward, Yeonwoo smiled at her and said, “Yes, that’s all correct.” She gave him one last professional smile before leaving the table.
A strange silence settled over them. Yeonwoo drank water to fill the gap and quickly emptied the glass. A staff member appeared and refilled it right away. Then, without a word, Keith slid the wine list across the table toward him. Yeonwoo picked it up without thinking, blinking.
“…You want me to pick?”
Keith said nothing. That meant yes.
Yeonwoo still couldn’t make sense of his behavior. What was he thinking?
It might be lunchtime, but there were still afternoon hours left in the workday. Drinking during working hours was absolutely forbidden. He’d had a glass the other day only because Keith had silently allowed it—and even then, he’d tried to restrain himself. And now Keith wanted him to drink again?
Thoughts spun in his head. Eventually, he held out the wine list to Keith.
“I’m on duty.”
“You drank yesterday.”
Yeonwoo responded seriously.
“It was only one glass.”
Then, softening his tone a little, he added,
“And since I drank yesterday, I’d rather refrain today.”
“Just drink.”
Keith spoke like it was a bother.
“I’ve cleared your afternoon schedule. You’ll be going home right after this.”
Yeonwoo blinked. What was on the afternoon schedule again? As he tried to recall, his face paled.
Cancel everything? Then how was he supposed to rebuild the schedule?
Is this man trying to make my life hell on purpose?
His mind was in chaos, but Keith looked completely unbothered.
Well, it’s my job to adjust the calendar and call everyone and rearrange things to suit my boss’s whims.
Yeonwoo sighed inwardly.
“I don’t know much about wine, so why don’t you choose, Mr. Pittman.”
He didn’t want to think anymore. Keith looked at him for a moment, then took the menu and began flipping through it slowly.
“Do you like California wine?”
“You mean red wine?”
He asked cautiously. Keith gave a short nod.
“Yeah.”
Yeonwoo thought for a moment and then replied,
“Yes, I do.”
“You hesitated.”
Glancing at his expression, Yeonwoo saw that Keith didn’t seem particularly annoyed. So he answered honestly.
“There’s one winery I don’t like… aside from that, I’m fine.”
“Why don’t you like it? Bad flavor?”
Keith surprisingly kept asking. Yeonwoo grew awkward.
“The wine they make is excellent. Award-winning, even. But the founder’s a bit… I just personally don’t like him.”
“The founder?”
Of course Keith didn’t get it. After a pause, Yeonwoo admitted,
“He had an affair and got divorced.”
“…What?”
As expected, Keith let out a dumbfounded noise. Yeonwoo’s face flushed.
“The wine was good, and it won all kinds of prizes, so I got curious and bought a book about the founder. But it had all these personal details… and the affair was written so shamelessly that I just… ended up hating the wine too. That’s all.”
After a short silence, Keith spoke.
“That bothers you that much?”
Yeonwoo’s face tightened automatically.
“People have different values, I guess. Personally, I think it’s wrong. It’s deceiving your partner.”
Keith asked again.
“What if the partner knows?”
Yeonwoo was thrown off.
“If they both agreed… then as a third party, I have no say.”
Why was he even asking about this? It felt like such an unnecessary topic.
Uncomfortable, he was relieved when Keith stopped talking. If you could even call this a conversation.
Keith ended up choosing a French wine. A 20-year-old vintage—the aroma alone was enough to make one lose their senses. Yeonwoo had never experienced a fragrance this deep before. He suddenly remembered the wine said to have been made in the 1800s, with only three bottles left in the world. How fragrant must that one be?
Would it make his heart race like Keith’s pheromones did?
He brought the glass to his lips, careful. Then he closed his eyes.
The smooth flavor that touched his lips robbed all his senses. All that remained was the clean finish of the wine.
“It’s delicious.”
He couldn’t help the words of praise. Keith smiled faintly.
Yeonwoo blinked. Was he always someone who could smile like that?
He’d seen him for years, but had never seen that kind of gentle expression. Did Keith even know he was making that face?
But it wasn’t a mirage. Even as the food arrived, Keith kept the faintest smile on his lips. Yeonwoo tilted his head in disbelief, again and again.
Even so… somehow, that smile made the words that had hurt him since yesterday begin to fade, little by little. And that, more than anything, left a bitter taste in his heart.