Humid wind poured in through the gap of the door that had been flung open. His actions crossing the entrance while fuming were unrestrained. However, unlike the momentum when he started, he hesitated and had no choice but to stop walking.
“…Where should I go again.”
It was because of his belated realization. He’d burst out for now, but he had absolutely no idea where the other person actually was.
If Gil Taeseo wanted to, he could know Saehyeon’s whereabouts at any time. Unlike himself. Saehyeon was in a position where unless Gil Taeseo voluntarily offered up the information, or unless he wanted it, he couldn’t know anything about him.
It was a difference in their positions he’d never felt before.
‘The office? A hotel? It can’t be a business trip to another region entirely, right?’
If he was staying in the city center, that would at least be fortunate. He could take a taxi and spin around poking into places everywhere and might stumble upon him. The problem was if he’d gone far away on a business trip. He could only imagine the result of wasting money, his mood getting even fouler, and returning home drenched in sweat after coming up empty-handed.
Saehyeon pushed his fingers between his brittle hair. Roughly sweeping it up and occasionally grabbing a fistful and pulling, his head cleared for a moment from the stinging pain.
What came to mind with that cleared head was the existence of one man he’d become all too familiar with.
‘Wouldn’t Yoon Changwook know?’
Originally, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of Yoon Changwook. The man who had been assigned by Gil Taeseo to both take care of his situation and also serve as surveillance and reporting, was now practically like a shadow.
Since such things had continued for the past few months, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as before. That’s why he’d even pulled that nonsense about running away at full speed if he followed him.
However, the matter at hand was different. Until now, everything had been under the arrangement of the man who was Yoon Changwook’s superior. In contrast, this time Saehyeon was unilaterally using him, so the two couldn’t be the same.
‘Still, this is the only method.’
Saehyeon sighed and rummaged through his pockets to pull out his phone. What was at least consoling was that Yoon Changwook had habitually said from before, “Please definitely let me know if there’s anything you need me to do.”
The request to take him to his boss in the middle of the night—Yoon Changwook readily accepted it as expected. He did hang up and answer again in the middle, but for such a sudden matter, it was a very quick acceptance.
Though he didn’t expect him to bring a car this quickly.
“Were you perhaps in this area?”
From the phone call to his appearance, and bringing the car. Yoon Changwook moved far too swiftly. His attire was also no different from usual, sharply dressed in going-out clothes.
One of the characteristics of this house was that it was located in an isolated place. So this was impossible without a few preconditions. Like having been loitering nearby on five-minute standby or something.
The protection-slash-surveillance target’s eyes narrowed drowsily. Yoon Changwook, hit right on the mark, uncharacteristically hunched his body and avoided his gaze. Not that it meant much since his mountain-sized bulk just awkwardly shrank a bit.
“Ye-es. I was taking care of some business nearby, so that’s why.”
An unconvincing excuse followed as well.
After a brief silence and standoff, Saehyeon let out a small sigh. It was a signal of compromise to roughly let it pass. Yoon Changwook, looking pleased, opened the back seat door for him.
Riding in the car where silence flowed for quite a while like that.
“Um, just a moment.”
Saehyeon, who had been looking out the window where light noisily streaked by, suddenly spoke up.
“If you could just stop for a moment, I’ll be right back.”
“…Where do you mean?”
Yoon Changwook’s eyes, turning to look back, met Saehyeon’s head-on. The large shoulders jutting out next to the driver’s seat could be clearly seen stiffening and trembling with a flinch. He’d already been completely caught lurking near the house, so what was with him now.
Saehyeon casually gestured outside. Unlike the other curled fingers, his vigorously extended thumb was pinpoint targeting something.
“The convenience store.”
It was the convenience store sign brightly illuminating the dim surroundings. The same brand as the place Saehyeon had worked at before.
Like that, the two people soon sat back in the car that had been briefly empty. Since it was a convenience store located right in front of them, even when he said he’d go alone, Yoon Changwook inevitably followed. It was only fortunate that they barely compromised on him going into the store alone.
Saehyeon, who clicked his tongue softly, inspected his spoils of war. There were a total of 2 items paid for, and one of them was hidden deep in his bosom, afraid someone might see it.
Although it was a summer night, Saehyeon, who had to manage his weak body, was wearing a thin hooded zip-up on top. He pulled the elastic tight to tighten the bottom, zipped it up, and put the item inside, making it completely hidden.
Saehyeon, satisfied after checking the condition, picked up the remaining one in his hand.
Pshhh, tap.
With a cheerful sound, bubbling foam rose up. It instantly pooled on the round top surface and was about to overflow, so he hurriedly put his lips to it and sucked it in. As he smacked his lips at the bitterness remaining on the tip of his tongue, he suddenly felt a gaze. Naturally, the source was the driver’s seat.
“Why are you looking at me like that. Want a sip?”
“…No, sir.”
It wasn’t sincere. Drinking in the back seat wasn’t a problem, but if he drank in the driver’s seat, wouldn’t that constitute drunk driving in real-time? He’d simply blocked unnecessary looks and dissuasion in advance. Since he kept glancing back with a look like he wanted to stop him.
Saehyeon didn’t care and tilted the can all the way. On the surface of the smooth can gripped tightly in his lukewarm hand, water droplets quickly formed in beads. Naturally, the liquid in the can wasn’t a soft drink but beer.
Last time, after pulling the stunt of getting completely drunk on just 3 cans of beer and summoning Gil Taeseo, he’d been in a state of abstinence ever since. There wasn’t a huge reason for breaking it.
‘To deal with someone who’s not in their right mind, it’s better for this side to not be in their right mind either.’
He’d burst out because he was heated up, annoyed at the situation that was consuming his emotions. But when it actually came to going to find him, it wasn’t easy somehow. It felt like he kept peeling the hangnails next to his nails.
It was right around then that the convenience store sign caught his eye. There was no encounter more fateful than this.
On the day that made him resolve to abstain from alcohol, Saehyeon had definitely blacked out. But it wasn’t that he didn’t remember everything. In the fragmentary memories that were cut off piece by piece, he was grabbing collars and throwing punches without hesitation. Cursing was passive.
That kind of merciless handiwork and courage characteristic of someone who’d lost their mind was very much needed right now.
‘Then, I just need to drink, don’t I?’
Up to three cans had risk, so just one can exactly.
“Ahhh.”
Pouring down the cool beer felt absolutely great. His blazing insides cooled down and felt like they were clearing out. As his mind got tipsy, it seemed courage and fighting spirit were regaining their edge again.
Like that, the man in the driver’s seat glanced sideways with anxious eyes at Saehyeon who’d started drinking it down in the back seat. At a glance, he looked like he was wondering whether he should stop him.
The person Yoon Changwook was in charge of had the impression of being sickly and delicate-looking. He always wore big clothes as if to hide his slender frame, but the fit was so oversized it often had the opposite effect.
“This fucking bastard…”
Of course, the core inside that shell was rough and harsh, unlike the outer appearance. The sound of Saehyeon muttering a few curses, his pale body stretched out on the black seat, echoed in the quiet car.
When Saehyeon had charged at his superior, who was several times bigger than him and… harsh, Yoon Changwook had no choice but to cry out in alarm. As time passed together afterward, that impression didn’t change but only became more solid.
The conclusion was this. Inside that delicate frame, something that absolutely wouldn’t hold back and would bare its teeth was lurking.
Such a person had called him out at dawn while fuming. On top of that, alcohol had just entered the equation. From Yoon Changwook’s perspective, it was a combination of elements no different from a grenade with the safety pin pulled or a time bomb with the detonation device pressed. Then the only hope would be for the other party to receive him smoothly. Though that was a hopeless prospect.
‘There’s absolutely no way the Director-nim would be in a good mood…’
His superior, who would be at the destination, would likewise have an uncomfortable mood. From when he first received his grace and began serving him until now, there had never been a time when his superior was in a good mood. Except for when facing the two people who’d settled into the company residence at some point.
But there were times when he was particularly twisted. It was when handling work forcibly handed down from above.
Moreover, lately, hadn’t cold winds been blowing fiercely between the two people?
‘I can only hope this time is an exceptional situation.’
Still, was it that he’d grown attached from being with them? Or was it because it was a relationship his superior was particularly attentive to? Yoon Changwook prayed that things would work out well.
He could only hope that the contact he’d made to report before accepting the protection target’s request had acted as a sedative for his superior.
***
That contact had first reached Shin Seokwon.
Since the target that Yoon Changwook was attached to was who he was, the contact came up directly.
“For now, you stick to him there.”
After quickly checking, he gave approval. It was because there had already been instructions beforehand to allow just about any action the said target performed. Only a few matters were designated as exceptions to this. And the current situation didn’t fall under that.
‘Normally there would be no problem.’
If anything, it was good. Originally, it would have been something Gil Taeseo would have welcomed with both hands. Since he softened whenever he faced that person, hadn’t he lived breathing like a human being for a while? However, only this time, the timing was unfortunate. The strange tension that had settled between the two people recently was also an unsettling factor.
In the end, Shin Seokwon passed through the dim corridor and boarded the elevator located at the very back. When he pressed the basement floor that wouldn’t press without a key, it descended for quite a while again. After passing subordinates who stood like still lifes with their mouths firmly shut and only their heads bowed, he was able to reach his superior who was in the middle of working.
“What? What’s so great about this place that he’s coming, coming here.”
As expected, Gil Taeseo wrinkled his face harshly.
