But there was no way sleep would come just because he said to sleep again. Ilkyung looked at Daehoon with big eyes and asked.
“Wh-what did you see?”
“Never, I’ll never let it be taken?”
Now Ilkyung’s mouth fell wide open. He’d seen everything. Him putting on a show from the lobby. Where had he been? He hadn’t even said it that loudly?
“What won’t you let be taken?”
My virginity? My purity? That I won’t let you take it! How am I supposed to say that! Ilkyung just opened his mouth and gaped.
“Now you’re a goldfish.”
Daehoon muttered while smoothly turning the steering wheel.
This is what happens when you’re with Director Ha. He wasn’t someone who would normally lose in a war of words, but Director Ha completely flabbergasted people and made them lose their minds. He felt he absolutely, absolutely shouldn’t get more entangled.
“Stop gaping and sleep. Your appearance right now is a bit much, Ilkyung-ssi.”
“Wow, you really just say anything.”
“So let’s sleep a bit and eat something delicious. How did a person become half like this just from doing a bit of overtime?”
“Ha!”
Ilkyung snorted. Who is it because of that I became half!
“Right now, who is it because of that I became half!”
“You’re saying it’s because of me? Not because of overtime?”
Daehoon asked while stopping the car.
“So what if I do a bit of overtime? How old am I that I can’t even do that? What do you think my stamina is, fucking pathetic?”
“The way you talk.”
Right, right now Ilkyung didn’t even know what he was babbling about. He wasn’t in his right mind.
“There’s a reason I became half like this! It’s all because of you, Director!”
“So what did I do? Did I make you work overtime?”
“You keep appearing in my dreams!”
Fuck, what did I just blurt out? Ilkyung hurriedly covered his mouth, but the situation was already over. Silence hung in the car for a long while.
“C-could you say something…”
Unable to bear the silence, Ilkyung finally muttered.
“I appeared in your dream?”
“Hmm, no. You heard wrong.”
“No. I heard correctly.”
“I said no.”
Ilkyung thought he’d gone crazy. He wished the ground would cave in. And he wished he’d cave in with the ground. Why are you living, Woo Ilkyung? Why are you doing this? Ilkyung rolled his eyes around.
“What kind of dream was it?”
“I said it wasn’t.”
“What do you mean it wasn’t?”
“Anyway, whatever it was, it wasn’t.”
When someone says it wasn’t, just accept it wasn’t. This person was too persistent, way too persistent. Ilkyung just squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t look at Director Ha’s face anymore.
“Why are you closing your eyes? Are you remembering the dream content again?”
“Ah, are you crazy! I said it wasn’t!”
Ilkyung yelled shrilly.
“Alright. I’ll say it wasn’t. Anyone watching would think you did something bad with the me in your dream. Let’s go eat.”
Daehoon got out of the driver’s seat first. Ilkyung trembled while following Director Ha with his eyes. Fuck, doesn’t that person have psychic powers? How did he know the dream content was like that? Ilkyung glared at Daehoon and got out of the car, sticking close to him.
“There’s something I want to ask—will you answer?”
“What is it?”
Ilkyung stuck right next to him again and looked up at Daehoon.
“Are you sexually frustrated enough to have that kind of dream?”
Ilkyung stopped right there on the spot. Does that person really know what kind of dream it was?
Anyone watching would think he was a plaster statue. Daehoon quietly looked down at the frozen Ilkyung. Woo Ilkyung was fun to tease. He said he appeared in his dream. And that he couldn’t sleep. It’s obvious, what else? Either he was chasing him like a pursuer or it was improper content.
If it had been content about chasing closely behind, he would have told the story. With Woo Ilkyung’s personality, he would have poured it all out saying, ‘I mean, Director came chasing me with an axe! Why are you chasing me with an axe? It’s not like you’re a zombie hunter. What did I do so wrong? Isn’t it enough that you bully me at the Center? That’s enough, isn’t it? What grudge do you have against me?’ It probably would have been like that.
But the moment Woo Ilkyung’s face turned bright red and covered his mouth, the situation was already over. There are few people whose faces reveal everything like that. Whether Woo Ilkyung was half-asleep or lost his mind from continuous overtime, or wasn’t in his right mind to begin with, he spilled everything himself and then denied it. This makes you want to tease him more, but he didn’t seem to know that.
As expected. Woo Ilkyung’s face turned beet red as if it would burst, and his mouth fell open. If he had forgotten that Daehoon was his superior, he probably would have cursed right away, but it seemed his mind hadn’t gone that far yet.
“What, what? What did you just say…?”
“Didn’t you hear me? Should I ask again?”
“Are you really suffering from heatstroke?”
Daehoon shrugged his shoulders and started walking again.
“Lower your voice. People are going to know exactly what kind of dream Ilkyung-ssi had.”
Ilkyung trembled. What the hell is this crazy bastard spewing right now? Ilkyung wanted to pass out. I’m tired to death, should I just faint? Or should I pretend to lose consciousness?
“Let’s go eat.”
“You think I can swallow food right now?”
“We came to eat, so we have to eat. What do you mean it won’t go down?”
This must be what it feels like to have your blood pressure rise. Wow, crazy bastard. He sets the fire and then acts like nothing happened and says let’s eat.
“You were dying earlier, but it looks like you’ve perked up. Let’s go in and see you eat combatively.”
Ilkyung tried to say something while chasing from behind, but the moment the restaurant door opened, the smell that wafted over made him suddenly hungry. Just like Director Ha said, he thought he should eat first before fighting. I’ll eat first and then destroy him.
Ilkyung, who had been combative, completely fell for the samgyetang placed in front of him.
“What kind of place is this that it’s so delicious?”
Ilkyung asked while combatively tearing into a chicken leg. Daehoon looked at Ilkyung like that and chuckled. He was like a yapping Maltese puppy. Why is this guy so pathetic and funny?
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Why aren’t you eating, Director?”
“I am eating.”
“It hasn’t gone down at all though? Don’t just give it to me, you eat too, Director.”
When the samgyetang arrived, Daehoon gave both drumsticks to Ilkyung. As if that wasn’t enough, he meticulously picked the meat off the bones and gave it to Ilkyung.
“But Director, do you normally not eat much? I’ve hardly ever seen you eat anything.”
“I eat well. Don’t worry and eat. Watching Ilkyung-ssi eat so well fills me up even without eating.”
“Wow, you think you’re my dad or something.”
Even as Ilkyung said this, he dutifully gnawed on the chicken leg Daehoon gave him. How long had it been since he had a proper dinner? He’d been eating simple kimbap or sandwiches at the Center all along, so it was nice to have warm soup like this. Of course, the weather was hot though.
Once Ilkyung’s stomach was a bit full, he stared intently at something on the table. It was the ginseng liquor that came as a service.
“You’re going to bore a hole in that ginseng liquor. If you want to drink it, just drink it.”
Ilkyung only raised his eyes slightly to look at Daehoon.
“I have to drive, so drink mine too.”
He could see the corners of Ilkyung’s mouth twitching upward. Daehoon chuckled, thinking how transparent he was.
Ilkyung took a sip of the ginseng liquor and made a “keu” sound.
“Ilkyung-ssi, you usually can’t handle alcohol, so why do you like it so much?”
“I can drink well.”
“Did you put your hand on your heart when you said that?”
Daehoon had already seen Ilkyung drunk and talking nonsense and making a drunken scene three times. And yet Woo Ilkyung lies smoothly without even wetting his lips.
“I originally drink well, but recently my stamina has been running low, that’s why. You know how it is. Your alcohol tolerance changes depending on your condition that day.”
“Sure. Let’s say that’s true.”
At Daehoon’s words, Ilkyung stared blankly. With his lips protruding and only his eyes raised to glare upward, he was acting exactly like the youngest child—the very picture of a spoiled baby.
“Why do you keep not properly acknowledging things and saying ‘let’s say that’s true’ since earlier?”
“Fine, so have another glass. If you like it, I’ll order you a bottle.”
