Ihyeon felt the manager shove his words at him like a taunt. “You think I’m the one who hands out money here? That all comes out of Taeseong’s back pocket. Pretty soon it’ll be coming out of Manager Gu’s wallet instead.”
The manager kicked his legs up onto the desk and leaned his chair back. He gave Ihyeon a once-over, waving the phone in one hand, then opened his mouth with a look that said he wasn’t pleased.
“Hey, what are you and Manager Gu to each other? He told me to bring you to headquarters.”
“…Headquarters?”
He couldn’t read Gu Seunghyeok’s intention in telling him to come. He was the one who’d said never to see him again. Was this just another summons to humiliate him like before?
“You’re not someone the company should be worrying about. What are you to him, going to meet him in person? From what the others say it sounded like you two know each other. Is that true?”
Manager Kim flicked questions at him, one eyebrow cocked, but Ihyeon barely heard them. He swallowed and gave a small nod toward the manager, clenched his fist, and turned his back.
“Hey! Hey! Stop right there, you little—! Somebody’s talking to you!”
Footsteps sounded behind him and a hand grabbed his shoulder. He hardened his eyes and shoved the manager’s hand off in one sweep.
“Don’t touch me. I’m not your employee anymore.”
“What? You ungrateful—!”
“Thank you for everything. Please take care of yourself.”
Ihyeon spoke dryly, opened the door, and left the manager’s office. Staff who had been lingering at the corridor’s corner scattered in surprise.
He walked past the staff who avoided meeting his eyes and climbed the stairs.
He already dreaded what more words or actions Manager Gu might throw at him, but he had no other option now.
He only hoped this would be the last time he was pulled into anything with that man.
***
As soon as he stepped out of the station he saw tall office towers rising up. Because this area had a lot of office buildings, there seemed to be more cars than pedestrians.
Walking about ten minutes following the address he’d found online, a large stone carving with the word Taeseong Group appeared. It looked a little crude in front of the sleek blue-tinged modern building, but clearly it suited the people who owned the building.
He tilted his head back and looked up at the upper floors stretching into the sky. He breathed out, pushed through the revolving door, and entered the lobby. Inside was an ordinary, everyday scene—nothing like he had expected.
He’d thought the place would be lined with tattooed thugs in black suits like at the club, but the interior was surprisingly large and tidy. People who looked like normal office workers filled the lobby and the cafe.
Still, he couldn’t relax. It was the sort of place where the scene from the club’s parking lot could be replayed at any time.
He put his hands in his puffy coat pockets and scanned the area. He felt someone’s gaze from somewhere and turned to see a man in the distant cafe looking his way.
He was in a black suit. His heart dropped.
Could that be Gu Seunghyeok?
He squinted, but the distance blurred the face. The man’s build seemed smaller than the Gu he’d seen before. Whatever the reason he was looking, he felt it probably wasn’t him. Ihyeon bit his lip and looked away.
When he approached the lobby desk, a neat-haired receptionist looked up. Ihyeon spoke cautiously.
“Um… I’m here to see Manager Gu Seunghyeok.”
He added the title because it sounded like something he’d heard somewhere, and it felt awkward when he said it. The woman’s expression shifted subtly when she heard the name.
She typed on her computer for a moment, then asked with a puzzled look, “Do you have an appointment?”
“No… I was just asked to come.”
He’d been ordered to come—not politely invited—over the phone via Manager Kim.
“I’m sorry, but without a prior appointment the manager cannot receive visitors.”
“Oh…”
Going straight there at their word had been his mistake. He hadn’t imagined the building would be this big and slick, and he’d assumed showing up meant he could see the man immediately.
Did Gu call me here to make me feel him up close? To let me know what kind of person he is?
He pressed his lower lip and looked down. It wasn’t pride that was hurt, but if he’d known this he might have held Manager Kim to the end and forced him to pay.
He didn’t know whether to feel relieved he didn’t have to meet Gu or embarrassed by the whole situation. One thing he did know: there was no reason to stand there anymore.
He bowed to the lobby staff and turned to leave, but someone’s voice cut in beside him.
“Just send him up.”
He startled and took a step back when he spotted the man. Tall, in a black suit—the same man who had been watching from the cafe. He instinctively recognized the man as the one who had come for Gu in the club’s back storage room.
“Welcome, head of headquarters.”
The desk staff bowed at once. Several passing employees also straightened to a rigid bow.
Only Ihyeon remained standing upright, staring. The man glanced at him and smiled faintly.
“We’re acquainted, aren’t we?”
“……”
“At Nexus back then.”
A dizzy memory flooded him—the metallic tang of blood and the murderous air of the men with their hands behind their backs in the storage room. He remembered being looked down on there; he thought the man had said something, but the words were blurred.
What he knew for sure was that the man had ended that situation. If the man hadn’t been there, they would have forced him to kiss Yunsu-bin like a clown in front of everyone.
He tried not to let his guard down, but the edges of his face softened. The man noticed and smiled slightly, then turned toward the desk.
“I think Manager Gu forgot to tell them. Just put him through as my guest.”
“Yes, head of headquarters. Understood.”
With a single sentence the problem cleared. The employee who had stubbornly refused to let him up took his ID and checked things over.
He glanced up and the man watched the staff impassively. Should he thank him? The man caught his glance again and lifted one corner of his mouth.
There was something off about the way he smiled so pleasantly—maybe it was just his imagination. Ihyeon looked away first.
“Take this visitor badge and go to the eleventh floor.”
When Ihyeon took the lanyard card, the man left. At the security barrier the scene felt like the sea parting; whatever rank the man had, it was clear he had clout—perhaps equal to or higher than Gu. A natural reaction.
The elevator that someone had let him into had glass walls on three sides, giving a view of the street. The man swiped his card and pressed 11 and then 25. The cityscape fell away beneath them.
He couldn’t stop paying attention to the man. The image of Gu sitting across from him with his watch torn apart in the storage room replayed in his head.
A dark, messy, beaten face—Gu’s face—haunted him. He stared at the man’s polished black shoes.
“Do you like men?”
The sudden question made Ihyeon look up. The man’s face was turned toward him; he’d been watching him for some time.
Ihyeon, finally grasping the point, ran his tongue over his lips. It was probably a remark prompted by what the man had seen in the storage room.
“……”
He met the indifferent gaze over the man’s glasses, then turned his eyes to the elevator panel. 6, 7, 8… the eleventh floor was almost there.
“What is your name?”
Ihyeon didn’t answer. He simply stepped toward the elevator doors.
Ding. Eleventh floor.
A clear voice announced the floor and the doors opened. He tipped his head slightly toward the man as he stepped out; a small, derisive snort came from above, but Ihyeon kept his face neutral.
“I’ll get off first. Thank you for your help.”
He felt eyes on his back as he left the elevator, but he did not turn around.