“Why are you acting like that?”
After asking, Seojin remembered that Yoon Haegang had asked him a similar question just a little while ago, only to say nothing when Seojin asked what was wrong.
“Ah! Well, you see. I smelled something nice, so I was looking around to see what it was. I guess it was coming from those roses over there.”
Seojin smiled awkwardly and gestured toward the wall with his eyes. Yoon Haegang seemed to look in that direction as well, but he quickly lost interest and started walking again.
Then, when they reached the office, Yoon Haegang unexpectedly said,
“Go on inside. I have somewhere else to stop by.”
“Where are you going?”
Seojin had asked without thinking much of it, but Yoon Haegang’s answer made him freeze.
“JS Gallery.”
Why there, of all places, again……? A sigh escaped him naturally. Wasn’t JS Gallery the part-time job where Shin Seyoung had suddenly been asked to fill in for someone?
‘Wow…. So this is the point where the sub top and the main bottom really start getting involved with each other.’
From now on, he would have to stay sharp so he wouldn’t get swept up in their mess.
“Be careful on your way.”
Making a quiet resolution to himself, he bowed his head. Yoon Haegang, who had already started blowing smoke from his mouth at some point, waved his hand dismissively and strode away.
When Seojin went upstairs to the office, Manager Kim was there, though he had no idea when the man had returned. Perhaps because Manager Kim was relatively easy to deal with, the afternoon passed much more comfortably than the morning had.
It was just after 4:30 p.m.
“Seojin! The boss isn’t here either, so why don’t you call it a day?”
“Now?”
“Yeah. It’s Friday. Go spend some sweet quality time with your daughter, and I’ll see you Monday!”
Manager Kim waved enthusiastically.
“Have a nice weekend with your family too, Manager Kim. I’ll just finish organizing this and then head out.”
Cheered by the prospect of leaving work early, Seojin greeted him brightly, only to receive an unexpectedly subdued reply.
“Seojin.”
“Yes?”
When he raised his head, Manager Kim was looking at him with lonely eyes.
“I’m a goose dad. My wife and kids are all in America.”
“Ah…….”
His rumpled clothes and tired-looking expression certainly did give off the unmistakable air of a man living alone.
“If you’re okay with it, would you like to have dinner at my place tonight?”
Feeling a pang in his chest, Seojin cautiously offered. He was going to eat dinner anyway, and setting out one more spoon wouldn’t make much difference.
“Gasp! C-can I? Really?”
“Yes, of course.”
When Seojin nodded, Manager Kim’s face brightened as though someone had switched on a fluorescent light.
Seojin had worried that Euni might feel awkward around Manager Kim, but his concern proved unnecessary.
Of course, the fact that Manager Kim had stopped by the supermarket and bought gifts and snacks to win the child over had contributed greatly to his success.
* * *
“Ooh… Seojin, you’re seriously a great cook. It’s been such a long time since I’ve had bulgogi where the meat was this tender instead of tough, and the sauce is savory with just the right hint of sweetness!”
Manager Kim rattled off his praise so quickly that Seojin wondered whether he had even breathed while speaking. The sight of him picking up bulgogi, onion, green onion, and enoki mushrooms all at once with his chopsticks and stuffing them into his mouth seemed quite fascinating to Euni.
“Wow…….”
The child stared with her mouth hanging open despite having rice in it. Finding even that adorable, Seojin smiled fondly.
“I’m glad you like it. Keep eating.”
“Yeah, I will. I’m seriously touched. It’s been way too long since I’ve had a proper home-cooked meal like this. And on top of that, it’s such a feast and everything tastes amazing…….”
Manager Kim showered him with so much praise that it was almost embarrassing, then smacked his lips.
“Hey, this feels a little incomplete as it is. Do you have any beer? I feel like just one can would hit the spot.”
Even after polishing off one or two bowls of rice, he still looked as though something was missing, and now he asked for alcohol while glancing at Euni as though checking her reaction.
“Beer! I’ll get it for you!”
But Euni herself sprang up and ran excitedly to the refrigerator, as though she had been waiting for him to say exactly that. Manager Kim turned toward Seojin with a dumbfounded expression.
Feeling strangely embarrassed, Seojin scratched his cheek and subtly avoided his gaze.
“So you like drinking too, Seojin.”
When Manager Kim made a fuss as though he had discovered a kindred spirit, Seojin felt the tips of his ears grow even hotter. A can of beer was placed in front of him, but the increasingly lively atmosphere was shattered when Manager Kim’s phone rang.
“Huh? It’s the boss?”
The call was not merely unwelcome. For some reason, it even felt ominous.
“Yeah, those documents? You want me to bring them over right now?”
Manager Kim rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Without realizing it, Seojin turned his eyes toward the digital clock mounted on the wall.
It was only eight in the evening. It wasn’t exactly late.
‘Still, calling someone around after they’ve already gotten off work.’
This was exactly the kind of thing that made people say Yoon Haegang was a yandere top who lacked common sense.
“Haah… I know Executive Director Choi is a bit picky too. You’re the one having a hard time, Boss, yeah, yeah. Of course. Well, if you call me, I have to go.”
Apparently Yoon Haegang wasn’t the one who needed the documents after all. Seojin withdrew the judgment he had just made.
It seemed even Yoon Haegang, who acted as though the whole world was beneath him, knew how to accommodate an executive from a major corporation when necessary. Well, no matter how successful he had become on his own, it wasn’t as though he was on equal footing with an executive from a major conglomerate.
Though honestly, starting out as a penniless gangster and ending up putting up an entire respectable information company building in Gangnam was an accomplishment worth acknowledging.
‘The problem is that he personally bragged to Shin Seyoung about being such an amazing building owner and actually lost points because of it.’
These days, being a building owner was an enormous selling point, but unfortunately for him, he wasn’t the main top. A line that would have counted as flirting if the main top had tossed it out indifferently only came across as empty boasting when it came from Yoon Haegang, the sub top. Thinking about it made Seojin feel oddly sorry for him all over again.
“Um, but Boss. As you know, I don’t have a car.”
Putting aside his thoughts, Seojin looked ahead at the pattering sound of footsteps approaching. Euni, looking even fairer and fresher after washing up, came running over.
“Dad, read Euni a storybook!”
“Did you brush your teeth and wash your face?”
“Yes!”
Proud of the child’s energetic answer, Seojin stroked her cheek, only to meet Manager Kim’s eyes while the man was still on the phone. Seeing the utterly doting look in his eyes, Seojin figured he probably had a daughter too.
“All right. Bring whichever storybook you want Dad to read.”
At that, the child excitedly ran back to her room. The little squeak-squeak-squeak of her pink slippers was incredibly cute.
“Ah, yes. Of course. That’s something I’ll have to handle myself. Yes, but you’re saying I have to get it there within twenty minutes?”
Manager Kim’s eyes darted around anxiously.
“Dad! Euni wants this one! Read this one!”
Euni was holding out a storybook with a picture of a chick on the cover.
“Aigoo, understood, sir. I’m at Seojin’s place right now, so if I hurry as much as I can, I should be able to make it. What? Yes… Seojin’s place. That’s right, yes, why? You said that’s not it?”
Manager Kim pulled the phone away from his ear and tilted his head with a miserable expression.
“Why does he keep asking why I’m at Seojin’s place? Ah! That’s not what matters right now!”
Then, apparently growing impatient, he shot to his feet.
“Seojin, I’m heading out! The boss says I need to bring him some important documents. Haah… I don’t know if I’ll even be able to get a taxi.”
It was Friday evening. It was the time when passengers poured out in droves, and this was a residential neighborhood where taxis were scarce to begin with. Even if he called one through an app, there was no guarantee a driver would come.
After thinking for a moment, Seojin looked down at Euni.
“Euni, instead of a storybook tonight, do you want to go for a drive with Dad?”
“A drive?”
Euni’s eyes sparkled even more brightly than before. When Seojin nodded, the child immediately turned around and ran back to her room.
“Manager Kim, it’ll be hard to get a taxi at this hour. I’ll drive you.”
“You have a car, Seojin?”
Manager Kim looked at him in surprise.
“Yes.”
Seojin answered casually as he looked around. In the original novel, there had been a scene where the secretary drove away in the car parked at his house when he fled, so it had to be somewhere in the parking lot.
Then he opened a drawer in the nearby living-room cabinet. Sure enough, a smart key was sitting neatly inside.
‘What the heck, Noona. You really went all out.’
Spotting the emblem engraved on the key, Seojin let out a small laugh.
“Dad! Euni’s all ready!”
In the meantime, Euni had changed into clothes for going out and reappeared. Apparently excited by the idea of going for a drive, both of her cheeks were flushed pink.
Seojin had agreed to go along because Manager Kim looked troubled, but only belatedly did he ask where they were headed.
Manager Kim made an expression as though he had just realized the same thing and answered,
“You know Bugak Skyway, right? We just need to go to JS Gallery there. From here, it’s about fifteen minutes by car? Twenty if there’s traffic? Something like that.”