# Chapter 102
“So, our Hyegang has nothing to do with it?”
How could only Hyegang have nothing to do with it? I have nothing to do with it either! Iyeon wanted to shout, but he swallowed his words while watching Sano’s reaction.
“That’s right.”
Hyegang too was just responding tactfully, though he didn’t really understand what was going on.
“Ah, I misunderstood! I’m sorry.”
The most fortunate thing of all was that Hyeseong finally dropped his obstinance. He became significantly calmer as soon as he saw Iyeon and Sano kiss.
“It’s fine since it’s resolved…”
Never had Iyeon wanted to go home as desperately as today. When the haggard-looking Iyeon answered vaguely, Hyeseong smiled amiably.
“I have quite an age gap with Hyegang, so I might have reacted too sensitively. Since the kid is so pretty, there have been many strange people around him…”
“Yeah…”
At the lukewarm response, Hyegang stepped forward.
“That’s enough, right? Go.”
“No, if I leave like this, I’ll just look like the strange one.”
Did he really not think he was?
“Let me buy you a drink as an apology.”
“No, we—”
“I’m really sorry for earlier.”
Gone was the disruptive behavior from before as Hyeseong smiled with an embarrassed expression.
“Please allow me to properly greet you and ask you to take good care of our Hyegang.”
To hell with greetings… If it were up to him, he would have chased away this stubborn man a hundred times over. Iyeon glared at Hyeseong with a displeased look.
But a very long time ago, Iyeon had seen such a face. People who loved him. People he loved. The face of family.
It was impossible for Iyeon to refuse that.
“…Alright.”
When consent was given inadvertently, Hyeseong was greatly pleased. After saying he would come back at closing time and leaving the office, only silence lingered in the place swept through by the hunter influencer.
“Sorry, hyung.”
Hyegang apologized glumly as he returned to his computer desk. Iyeon quickly shook his head.
“No, it’s good to see your brother after a long time.”
Though he was a bit of a startling character, he clearly cared for and worried about Hyegang.
“It’ll be fun to catch up after not seeing each other for so long.”
Iyeon smiled brightly. Family and friends were different. Hyegang seemed irritated with Hyeseong, but he didn’t seem to truly dislike him. If he did, Hyegang would have stepped in to chase him out of the office long ago.
If it was family that Hyegang liked, Iyeon liked them too.
‘…But still, the lie about dating is a bit…’
Iyeon glanced at Sano with a sour expression. Of all people, he didn’t expect Je Sano to suddenly choose such a method. This meant that at the very least, in front of Hyeseong, they had to pretend to be d-d-dating.
“…”
Just thinking about the two of them being close like lovers made his face feel a bit hot. He already couldn’t stay composed just being together normally, so how could he pretend like that? But what should I do? What do you do when you’re dating? Having never experienced it, he had no idea.
“Hey… are you okay with this?”
“With what?”
When Iyeon couldn’t help but whisper to Sano, he received an indifferent look in return. The face that seemed to not understand what the problem was made him exasperated.
“No, I mean, are you okay with pretending that you and I are dating?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”
“Well… you might find someone you like.”
“You worry about the strangest things.”
Sano snorted at the excuse that Iyeon had barely managed to squeeze out after pondering in all directions.
“Was it better to continue being misunderstood as dating Lee Hyegang and get grabbed by the collar by that guy?”
“That’s…”
“Or.”
Sano’s mouth corner suddenly turned up crookedly.
“Was the misunderstanding actually the truth?”
That smile was strangely vicious, making Iyeon a little intimidated.
“N-no. Of course not. As if I would date Hyegang…”
While he did like Hyegang, he had never once thought of him in that way. To begin with, the very imagination of dating someone was a luxury for Iyeon. ‘Jung Iyeon’s’ life was built on lies, and no one would accept such a thing.
His wish to live with a family had all vanished like bubbles when his parents died. Iyeon’s eyes sank gloomily.
Staring intently at that expression, Sano blurted out:
“It’s not like it will last long anyway.”
Come to think of it, it was an absurd lie. The two didn’t look like lovers, nor were they that close, so it was obvious they would be found out soon. Well, then they could just say they broke up. As Sano said, there wouldn’t be a major problem.
“That’s true.”
Although it was what he wanted, somehow his mood dropped, making his voice lower.
“…”
Hyegang, who was watching from afar as the two sat close together and kept whispering, had a slightly mischievous look in his eyes.
“But I didn’t know about your relationship with Hyung Sano.”
“Huh?”
Iyeon was so startled that his response faltered. He turned his body completely toward Hyegang in great surprise.
“It, it’s not like that.”
“It looked natural though.”
Though the subject was omitted, everyone understood what he meant. Even knowing it was clearly a teasing tone, Iyeon’s ears heated up slightly. He too had never considered such a situation. K-k-kissing with Je Sano, something like that…
However, Sano, the actual perpetrator, answered nonchalantly:
“We’ve done it before.”
“Really?”
Hyegang asked in surprise. Iyeon was surprised along with him.
“What? When did we ever?”
“That time, at the amusement park.”
“…”
W-well, that’s true. But does that count as a number? While Iyeon was confused and stammering, Hyegang looked back and forth between Iyeon and Sano as if surprised.
“I see.”
“What do you mean ‘I see’? No! That was a mistake!”
Fortunately, he denied it in time this time. Iyeon was so busy shaking his head frantically that he didn’t notice Sano’s face behind him becoming twisted. A malicious voice flowed out.
“While someone was sleeping, undressing them nicely…”
Covering Sano’s mouth before he could finish his sentence was the quickest action Iyeon had taken this year. With both hands firmly covering Sano’s lower face, Iyeon laughed awkwardly, “Haha.”
“Je Sano, if you’re tired, would you like to leave work early today?”
The way he was chattering to someone who couldn’t even answer because his mouth was covered was suspicious enough. Moreover, the way he had pressed close to Sano to place his palm on his mouth looked quite familiar. I thought it was just a simple prank, but… Hyegang’s eyes narrowed.
“Well… okay.”
“We’re not dating, okay? You understand, right?”
Like reciting a prayer, Iyeon repeated just those words. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for Iyeon that Sano’s increasingly twisted mood wasn’t visible from the outside was uncertain.
For the rest of the day, Iyeon canceled his plan to go to the Superpower Management Office in order to watch over Sano’s mouth. Well, today wasn’t the only day. Iyeon rationalized as he stared at Sano’s lips. He was someone who absolutely couldn’t be let off guard…
After an ordinary day passed and the sun began to set, Hyeseong revisited at exactly 6 PM. The sound of the door flinging open was loud.
“Let’s go.”
The bold manner of speaking seemed not to match his delicate face, yet there was a strangely acceptable atmosphere about it. Indeed, his face is gangster-like… While Iyeon was thinking this inwardly, Hyegang shut down his computer. Iyeon and Sano, who had been idly lounging on the sofa with nothing to do, had nothing to prepare.
“You can go home first.”
“No, it’s fine.”
A drinking gathering wouldn’t be fun for Sano, who didn’t drink. Iyeon showed consideration by suggesting this to Sano, but Sano shook his head decisively. …Will it be okay? This person was the one who had made the explosive remarks. Iyeon scrutinized Sano with dubious eyes for a long time, but he just glared back as if to say ‘what are you looking at?’
The four people who left the office headed to Night Skewer. Perhaps because it was hot, it was still quite bright despite being evening time. Iyeon, who energetically opened the door to the restaurant, greeted warmly.
“Boss! We’re here.”
“Ah, please come—”
Bang! Before the greeting could finish, there was a loud clatter of tableware falling to the floor. It was the stainless-steel tray that Sua had dropped.
“Boss? Are you okay?”
Iyeon and his party looked at her in surprise, but the person who had dropped it seemed to have no intention of picking it up and stood frozen. Her gaze was fixed on Hyeseong.
After staring at Hyeseong intently for a long time, Sua murmured as if entranced.
“…Guksi Family’s Glory Gulbi?”
At those words, Hyegang and Iyeon quickly turned to Hyeseong. Hyeseong, with a puzzled expression, still managed to smile lightly with a professional face even in the midst of this. An exclamation burst out from someone, it was unclear who.
“No way.”
It was true. They looked similar. Hyeseong’s face resembled Guksi Family’s Glory Gulbi!
