# Chapter 80
1:28 AM. Yeomin checked the time on his phone. Jiho was sound asleep, holding him captive in his arms.
‘What’s the point if you’re the only one sleeping well?’
His waist felt stiff and it was hard to move. Still, Yeomin managed to wriggle out of Jiho’s embrace, being extremely careful not to wake him.
As he was getting off the bed with bated breath, a half-awake voice sounded from behind him.
“Where are you going……”
Yeomin jumped like a thief caught in the act. He’d been caught once before trying to sneak away from Jiho like this.
Jiho, who had somehow made it to the edge of the bed, pulled Yeomin by the waist and hugged him.
“I’m going home. I was trying to leave quietly so you wouldn’t wake up.”
“I told you to stay over. Do you really have to leave at this hour?”
“I need to write my report.”
Unlike you, I’m a common citizen and an older student who can’t escape the pressure of grades. It was quite a sad answer.
Jiho asked, as if he couldn’t understand:
“We have a laptop here, so why? And you could do it tomorrow, it’s the weekend.”
That’s exactly right. Why was Yeomin so determined to sleep in his own place to feel at ease?
Yeomin sometimes felt disconnected going back and forth between his semi-basement studio apartment and Jiho’s officetel, though they were only three minutes apart.
After spending several days at Jiho’s place, he often didn’t want to go back home.
Partly because he liked Jiho’s place, and partly because he liked being next to Jiho.
Still, he always tried not to get too accustomed to it. If you soak too long in sweetness, you might drift far from reality.
Yeomin knew that would be his greatest crisis.
“How do you think I feel when I wake up and find you gone? This is the umpteenth time……”
This time, Jiho really did look hurt.
Of course, Yeomin understood how he felt, but he wanted to maintain boundaries. If Jiho became too essential to him, he felt it would inevitably lead to unhappiness.
“I’m sorry. But I still need to go. You can drive me home though.”
Yeomin gently kissed Jiho’s lukewarm lips.
Jiho looked sulky, but one kiss seemed to appease him. He got out of bed and picked up his clothes to put them on.
Seol Jiho, who used to be mean but kind, was now just kind and kind.
* * *
As they left the officetel together, snowflakes began to fall. “Wow!” Yeomin held out his hand to catch the snowflakes.
Jiho, worried that Yeomin might be cold, covered his head with his own hand.
“What? I actually like feeling the snow.”
Yeomin smiled brightly. Jiho stared at him as if enchanted, then remarked with surprise:
“I thought you wouldn’t like it.”
“Do I seem like someone with no sense of romance?”
“A little?”
Isn’t that too honest? Yeomin glanced sideways at Jiho.
The two walked side by side down the alley they’d traversed countless times, under the silently falling snow that poured down like cotton.
The soft snow melted and disappeared as soon as it touched the ground.
Both stopped walking at the same time. It was the streetlamp where Yeomin had first found Jiho.
On top of the pile of garbage collected there, snowflakes were settling and melting away.
Holding Yeomin’s hands that had turned red from the cold, Jiho asked, as if he’d always been preparing this question:
“Do you ever regret picking me up that time?”
It was a question that hit the mark. Should he say something nice? After brief consideration, Yeomin decided to be honest.
“About nine hundred and seventy-five times?”
“……Are you serious?”
“That’s roughly what I can remember.”
Jiho looked quite shocked.
‘How many times has he backstabbed me, and he’s hurt by this?’ Yeomin was the one who felt dumbfounded.
“Let me sort out my thoughts.”
Jiho’s sulking back as he walked ahead was amusing. Trying hard to hide his smile, Yeomin grabbed Jiho’s arm from behind.
These days, Seol Jiho had been getting upset more often, laughing more, and expressing his love more.
What else could Yeomin do but adjust to this childish Seol? After all, his mental age was waaaaay higher than Jiho’s.
“Jiho, you should listen to people all the way through.”
“……Go on, then.”
“I regret it, but if I went back, I’d pick you up again.”
Even though he fell for Jiho’s trick and got caught in his trap, even though their first kiss was an accident, and even though he hurriedly brought him home after punching him because he was afraid of the consequences… even though he continued living together because he was blinded by the watch…
Looking back, he wondered if that had really been his only purpose.
‘Actually, I was curious.’
It was strange seeing someone like Jiho, who had absolutely nothing in common with him, collapsed in a place where he didn’t belong at all.
Yeomin thought he might have been drawn to it like fate. Or perhaps he had admired him like it was inevitable.
“Hyung……”
Though Yeomin hadn’t said much, Jiho’s expression had already softened like melting snow.
With a face that looked cold and frosty, he firmly promised Yeomin:
“If you throw me away, I’ll sit here and wait. Until you pick me up again.”
Is that a promise or a threat?
Yeomin chuckled.
“I’ll have to call for bulk waste collection. What if they don’t collect you because you’re too big?”
“……Oh, really.”
“I’m kidding. Throw you away? Why would I throw you away? How could I?”
Yeomin hastily covered up his slip.
Even now, Jiho occasionally spoke of being abandoned out of habit. At first, Yeomin thought it was a threat, but now he understood it was Jiho’s chronic insecurity.
It made him feel sorry, but rather than dwelling on that emotion, Yeomin chose to interpret it simply as ‘So you like me that much?’
“Why would I throw away something so precious? What if someone else picks you up?”
“……Hyung.”
Jiho took Yeomin’s hand and kissed his fingers. His frozen hand began to thaw.
“Today, I want to sleep at your place.”
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
These days, going back and forth between the semi-basement and the top floor wasn’t so bad. It was like alternating between a cold bath and a hot bath.
In truth, whether in a semi-basement apartment, a five-star hotel, or a luxury officetel, Yeomin was generally happy and comfortable as long as Jiho was by his side.
‘Why did this opportunity come to me? Why did all these things happen to me? Why does he like me?’
He couldn’t find answers to the questions that kept surfacing.
‘What will become of us? Will we break up? Can we love each other forever? What trials and hardships will come?’
There were no definitive answers to these persistent anxieties either.
So Yeomin decided not to look for answers at all. He knew that savoring the present moment rather than dwelling on questions was closer to the answer of happiness.
Yeomin spoke to Jiho deliberately, as if entering a command:
“Since I picked you up, you’re mine. Don’t forget that, Seol Jiho.”
“That’s right. I’m yours, Hyung.”
The fact that he found that quirky answer so endearing suggested that Yeomin might be going a little crazy too, just like Jiho.
“Have you considered keeping me locked up? I’ll eat only a little and be very obedient.”
“You’re too big to keep locked up.”
“But… I’m obedient and handsome.”
“That’s what I don’t like. You should only look handsome to me.”
“Well, I can’t force myself to be ugly, so what can I do?”
White snowflakes settled on the footprints of the two as they bickered, as if caressing their passionate past.
* * *
Joo Yeomin. Ian Group Management Planning Team, 1st-year employee. Youngest in the team.
Currently handling all sorts of miscellaneous tasks due to terrible team assignments. Mandatory overtime three out of five weekdays. Overtime pay is plentiful, but work-life balance? What’s that? Is it edible?
“Executive Director, why did you accept me?”
Yeomin asked with a grim face while sitting in the smoking booth.
A situation where a first-year employee and an executive director have a private conversation. Normally, one should be on their best behavior, but things are different when the other person is “Executive Director Ahn.”
“Did I want to accept you? I gave you the lowest score. But what could I do when all the other interviewers gave you the highest score?”
“……”
Yeomin was about to put a cigarette in his mouth with a world-weary expression but stopped. He’d promised to quit smoking. With whom? Seol Jiho.
He couldn’t help but blame himself for rejecting President Ahn’s offer to study abroad and applying for a position at Ian Group a year ago.
‘I must have been… crazy back then.’
Perhaps it was his immature desire to earn money and make his mark in society rather than focusing on studies.
Not realizing what a great fortune it was to study with someone else’s money. No. Actually, he did know, but still chose not to take it.
This is what they call “making your own bed.”
Now promoted from Director Ahn to Executive Director Ahn, he said something that might or might not have been sincere:
“I heard rumors that you’re doing a good job. Departments everywhere are clamoring for you.”
“……Then maybe put me in a less busy team.”
“When you’re good at your job, work naturally piles up. Why waste talent like Employee Joo Yeomin by letting you idle?”
Just then, Yeomin’s phone rang.
<Seol Puppy♡>
Executive Director Ahn glanced at the contact name and grimaced.
“Couples……”
“You’re a newlywed yourself……”
“Mind your rank when you speak, Employee Joo Yeomin.”
“You only remember rank when it suits you. I’ll be going now.”
Yeomin left the booth and answered the phone.
“Yeah?”
Our Seol Puppy, probably lazing around at home.
– Hyung, are you busy today too?
“Of course I’m busy. Why isn’t your company bankrupt yet?”
Ian Group had just recorded its highest quarterly performance and achieved maximum performance bonuses.
– I’ll pray with water for it to go bankrupt.
Jiho said very seriously and ominously. Yeomin nodded with satisfaction, but then realized that wasn’t right and corrected himself.
“On second thought, it shouldn’t go bankrupt. It’s where my salary comes from.”
– Then should I pray for them to fire you?
“That would hurt my pride, so no.”
I have to go back down and revise reports again… Yeomin clutched his head while leaning on the railing. It had been a full 34 hours since he’d last seen Jiho’s face.
‘Should I just quit?’
Yeomin requested an SOS in a gloomy voice.
“Seol Jiho, kidnap me please.”
– Tell me the place and time. Should I start the car now?
“It’s a bit much when you answer so readily.”
– I suppose it would be best to kidnap you and head straight to the airport, right?
Why does he always sound like he’s had a kidnapping plan ready in his head?
Yeomin hastily tried to calm him down.
“Forget what I just said. Instead of kidnapping me, order me a bossam set before I get off work. And buckwheat noodles too……”
– You’re too modest, Hyung.
When Yeomin said “Please,” Jiho agreed. Sighing, Yeomin said, “I need to hang up now,” feeling very reluctant. It was a shame that even a phone call was difficult to manage.
– Before you hang up, just a moment, Hyung. I actually called because I had something to tell you.
“What is it?”
‘Did your favorite soccer team win? Or did you replace an appliance at home? Or… are you breaking up with me?’
Countless possibilities filled Yeomin’s mind.
But Jiho’s next words were the worst of them all.
– I’m starting work next week.
“What? Where?”
– I decided to join the Management Planning Team as an intern.
“Wait. Our company?”
– Yes. Ian Group, your team.
Your team.
Your team.
Your team.
Jiho’s words echoed in his ears. Yeomin couldn’t even try to grasp his slipping sanity.
– Since we’ve already done LDR, now we should try office dating.
What’s worse, Jiho’s voice was so cheerful that it made the situation even more absurd.
“Seol Jiho, you bastard, who gave you permission…!”
– I love you too, Hyung. See you later♡
As if anticipating Yeomin’s stream of curses, Jiho hung up immediately.
“That XX.”
Yeomin stared blankly at his phone screen after the call ended, then frantically clutched his head.
As if he wasn’t busy enough already, Seol Jiho is coming as an intern?
“Damn it.”
In this anticipated hell, Yeomin thought he should write his resignation letter today. And then flee straight to Incheon Airport. Without telling Seol Jiho.
“No. This can’t happen……”
Just as troublemaker Seol Jiho should never have been picked up carelessly, office romance should not be taken lightly either.
“Why are you doing this to me…!”
Work and love, love and work……
Yeomin’s pitiful cry, wishing to give up both, echoed through the sky.
– Do Not Pick It Up Recklessly, The End –
