Yujeong was looking at Seongjo with a dazed and flustered face. He seemed to be pondering how to respond to being called admirable, then soon silently lowered his head to make it easier for Seongjo to stroke his hair.
Gentle yet kind. Seongjo inwardly smiled as he quietly stroked his hair. He felt complicated emotions.
It was a strange thing to feel such complex emotions toward one person.
Seongjo found Yujeong admirable, interesting, and amusing. His heart pounded because of him, he was grateful to him, and he felt sorry toward him.
Yes, sorry…
Of course, the reason for that apology was fixed to just one thing.
It was Jo Yeongbeom.
Now it was time to clearly settle that reason as he’d told him.
* * *
After parking the car at the apartment complex and dropping Seongjo off, Yujeong switched cars and headed to school. Thanks to leaving at the crack of dawn, the roads apparently weren’t jammed at all. Seongjo, who had been asleep the entire way, hadn’t seen it directly. Thanks to that, even after switching cars and departing, there was enough time that he wouldn’t be late.
After seeing Yujeong off, Seongjo went straight home and went to sleep as Yujeong had told him. Unlike Yujeong, it was a day when Seongjo didn’t necessarily have to go to work, so it was possible.
When he opened his eyes after sleeping soundly until almost lunchtime, he was worried about Yujeong who must have gone to school without getting proper sleep.
After sending a slightly playful message asking if he’d dozed off during class, he got ready to go out. He intended to show his face at the company, albeit late. Rather than to show a diligent appearance to the employees… it was going to work with a purpose.
“Good afternoon. Did you call for me, Executive Director!”
The moment he entered the office, Seongjo called out Kyeonghun and quickly got to the point.
“How did things go?”
Even without further explanation, Kyeonghun seemed to have caught on to what the question was about. It was proof that Kyeonghun was also paying attention to that matter.
“Yes, first of all, our person planted on Oh Seyeong-ssi’s side is doing the work better than expected. We inserted him among the bodyguards simply to observe, but unexpectedly, Oh Seyeong-ssi seems to have taken quite a liking to this guy.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Seongjo nodded. It was a sign of approval meaning he’d done well, but to Kyeonghun’s eyes, Seongjo must have looked displeased. He hurriedly added an explanation.
“Ah, but to make sure there’s nothing like getting too close beyond what’s necessary and saying things that would reveal his identity… I’m making sure to be especially careful about that.”
“Well, I’m not worried about that. You must have assigned someone who would do well on their own.”
At Seongjo’s words showing trust, Kyeonghun seemed quite moved. He waved dismissively with a smile toward Kyeonghun who was saying ‘I’ll work even harder!’ in gratitude. Then Kyeonghun continued on his own.
“And besides Oh Seyeong-ssi, the matter you instructed regarding Jo Yeongbeom himself is also proceeding well.”
Kyeonghun held out paper materials from inside his jacket, having prepared them at some point. Since there was sincerity in the preparation, he pretended to briefly examine the first page, but didn’t really look at it properly. As Seongjo put the documents down on the desk, Kyeonghun began his story.
“We interfered with the new product development project Jo Yeongbeom recently took on. Fortunately, among the major partners there was a company with deep connections to us, so the work went smoothly. By now, procurement of raw materials must be difficult and production must be severely disrupted. It’s in a state where it’s hard to meet the scheduled date… so he’s probably worried sick.”
It was a businesslike tone, but somehow there was a clear air of gloating over Yeongbeom’s situation in those words. Since he seemed to have received this task more happily than expected, it was fortunate for Seongjo who had given the instruction.
Seongjo nodded at Kyeonghun’s explanation that more accurate data was written in the report documents. It seemed he could review it in more detail after Kyeonghun left.
But to think he’d pressured partners to make product manufacturing itself difficult…
“Even I think that’s underhanded.”
Seongjo murmured with a small laugh. Kyeonghun flinched and assessed Seongjo’s intentions. He seemed to be worrying ‘Was it too much?’, ‘Did I misunderstand the intention of the instruction?’
Seongjo added reassuringly.
“I love it.”
“Ah…!”
“Since it’s a somewhat delicate matter, I was worried you’d only touch it lightly, but you did much better than I thought.”
“I-I’m relieved. Thank you, Executive Director.”
Kyeonghun, who let out a sigh of relief, bowed deeply. Since everything he’d said to him was sincere, Seongjo stopped Kyeonghun as if there was no need for that. Kyeonghun, who raised his head, cautiously threw out a question.
“What should I do from now on? I’ll do as you instruct. Should I interfere more? Or should I start by being a bit more thorough about keeping mouths shut so there’s no sign that it was executed by our side…”
“Ah, that’s fine.”
Unlike the serious Kyeonghun, Seongjo’s tone was really as if it didn’t matter at all. He added in a playful voice.
“I was prepared for it to become a rumor anyway. If it comes to it, Father or Grandfather will cover for me.”
An expression of ‘Is that really okay?’ clearly appeared on Kyeonghun’s face. However, Seongjo was nonchalant. His expression full of playfulness even looked refreshing, making him look more than five years younger than his age.
“I said it’s fine. I originally lived hearing things like I was a punk, a delinquent… for a while, you know? Even though it hasn’t been for a while, I’m saying they must have built up tolerance. Grandfather and Father won’t find it strange at all.”
“But Executive Director, even back then you…”
Kyeonghun, who had been murmuring, trailed off. Seongjo just laughed lightly. He roughly guessed what he’d been trying to say.
In his early twenties, that is, after returning from the military and before meeting Yeongbeom. At that time, Seongjo was young so he didn’t hold a position within the company like now, but even then he was already known by name as Sejin Group’s tacit successor.
And it was also true that his reputation was bad enough to be called a delinquent. Of course, that wasn’t in fields related to company work like now, but simply his complicated romantic history combined with his usually somewhat bratty personality, causing rumors to balloon.
Even that, after meeting his last lover—that is, Yeongbeom—he’d cleared up all his complicated relationships with women… and as time passed, his sharp personality had also softened to become the current Lee Seongjo, so it could be said it was all a thing of the past.
Anyway, Kyeonghun probably wanted to talk about that. That even back then, Seongjo hadn’t caused trouble in the business field.
But for Seongjo, that wasn’t an important part. Though he’d said it that way, in truth, contrary to his words, he anticipated there would be no need for his grandfather or father to step in.
If someone were to pick a fight about this matter, it would be Yeongbeom or Yeongbeom’s father, but Yeongbeom didn’t have that much influence anyway. Even Yeongbeom’s father, who would be a troublesome opponent, he was confident he could silence.
“There’s no need to do anything more.”
“I-if you say so…”
Kyeonghun looked at Seongjo while sweating profusely. He seemed curious about what on earth Seongjo was thinking.
Instead of answering, Seongjo smiled lightly. He added in a small voice.
“A call will come soon anyway.”
* * *
Unlike Kyeonghun who was half-doubting, Seongjo was full of confidence. As expected, it wasn’t an idle thought. Yeongbeom apparently couldn’t remain a gentleman to the end after all.
Because the call came that very night.
010-xxxx-xxxx
Since Seongjo had already deleted Yeongbeom’s contact from his phone, there were no letters written above his phone number. Of course, considering how many years they’d been in contact, he couldn’t not recognize the number.
Since he already knew the call wouldn’t hang up anyway, Seongjo watched his vibrating phone for a moment. Only after about six long vibrations did he answer the phone.
“Hello.”
– You, Lee Seongjo…!
During the time he’d dragged it out without answering, Yeongbeom’s patience seemed to have completely run out. Well, it must be an urgent enough situation for even Kyeonghun to acknowledge, so it was a fully understandable reaction.
Yeongbeom, who called out to Seongjo right away without even saying ‘hello,’ swallowed his breath then suddenly raised his voice.
– Are you really crazy?
He’d expected it, but… who would have thought this line would come from him rather than Seongjo himself?
Seongjo let out a hollow laugh.
