Joo Kyung-heon
I won’t be able to make time today. Don’t wait up and go to sleep.
No matter how busy he was, even if it meant going back to work, he’d always make sure to spend at least an hour a day with him. But today, it seemed there truly wasn’t even a sliver of time to squeeze out.
“He must be really busy.”
Young sent back a reply tapping out that he understood, and to work hard.
What’s so special about this promise anyway. If he’s busy, it happens, so why do I feel so empty inside? I don’t understand it at all.
***
Joo Kyung-heon
I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to see you today either.
Joo Kyung-heon
Work is running long. I’m sorry for constantly breaking our promise.
Kyung-heon seemed to have become incredibly busy. Even before, it seemed like he was barely carving out time while busy, but now it appeared he couldn’t even manage that. It was only natural since he clearly wasn’t sleeping properly either.
Young, who had plenty of time, would lie on the sofa until one or two in the morning, then go into his room to mess around, and it would be near dawn when he’d hear the front door opening. He didn’t even care what time Kyung-heon came home. By the time Young lazily woke up, he was always already gone.
No matter when he got off work, he seemed to go in at a fixed time, which meant he was clearly only getting his eyes closed for an hour or two before leaving. If that was the situation, he could fully understand the sentiment of saving that hour of idle chatter to work instead. His head could understand it perfectly well, but…
Joo Kyung-heon I’m sorry for always contacting you like this. It seems I won’t be able to make time for a while. I’ll contact you again when I can.
There was no way to hide his disappointed feelings.
“For a while? For a whiiiile?”
The daily hour of chattering away to keep his mouth from gathering cobwebs seemed to have been far more satisfying than he himself had thought. The fact that he was this upset at the words nailing down an indefinite gap with “for a while” proved it.
‘Says he doesn’t care about anything, but when was that…’
Perhaps it bothered him more because it came right after making all those date-like plans. Young repeatedly took in Kyung-heon’s message with a disgruntled expression.
His actions after that followed the stream of consciousness entirely. He postponed replying and completely closed the messenger app. Instead, he checked his calendar. On the calendar that had been clean since his lunch appointment with Chairman Joo, there was one schedule set for a date several days away. Young pressed on that date to check the detailed memo.
It was a charity event hosted by Joomyeong Group. Since it was such a large event, everyone in key positions at Joomyeong would show their faces.
‘I’ll only barely see him once at the event.’
Young, who had been thinking without realizing it, was startled and threw his phone, exclaiming, “Whoa, shit.”
“What was I just thinking?”
No matter how handsome Joo Kyung-heon was, to be counting the days waiting to see that face. Even though it was his own behavior, it was absurd.
“Ah. Gross.”
Young brushed the back of his neck as if his hair was standing on end. Then he hastily picked up the remote and turned on the TV. His intention was to quickly focus on something else and forget the incident from just moments ago. He immediately played whatever work was on the main banner of the OTT channel.
Unfortunately, the effect was a complete dud.
He couldn’t focus at all, not on the flashy opening video, nor on the parade of action scenes filled with tension. His head was only filled with the unfamiliar image of himself worrying about how he could meet Kyung-heon.
He tried squeezing his eyes shut, shaking his head roughly, even hitting the back of his head. No matter what he did, it was a memory that wouldn’t be erased. Young, who had been glaring at the screen that wasn’t even registering in his eyes, finally couldn’t stand it and jumped up from his seat.
“I need to work.”
It seemed the culprit was lounging around and the endlessly repeating days. Since there was nothing special going on, what was so great about that one hour a day that made him wait for it and look forward to it? Also, since he was trying to watch movies again after doing it to the point of being sick of it, he couldn’t focus, so it seemed he couldn’t turn his consciousness elsewhere either.
If that was the case, he thought he should stop playing around and get his own work. There was a good proposal too, wasn’t there? The gallery that Chairman Joo had suggested.
He’d been addicted to his secluded life and had put it off, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t considered it at all. Half wanting to try new work, half comfortable with things as they were—but now he’d finally made up his mind for sure.
It was true that in his twenty-eight years of life, he’d never had a part-time job. But still, there was nothing he couldn’t do.
His friend Seong-jae was a perfect example. Until a year ago, they’d been playing around together, then suddenly he’d started a cultural planning company. He hadn’t even glanced at his parents’ steel company and chose the work he wanted to do.
And the result? It was somehow rolling along. Seeing how he’d recently passed his first anniversary and still hadn’t made a single complaint, things seemed to be going fine. Seeing his closest friend working hard was a positive stimulus.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he was favorable toward getting a job.
Realistically, he also needed money.
‘I’m all grown up, I should be independent from home.’
The completion of this marriage was complete independence. He’d been lazy until now, but he’d been steadily preparing to go abroad. Considering his amicable relationship with his family these days, even if he didn’t go abroad, basic capital was essential if he wanted to build his own foundation. When he was trying to be free from his family’s surveillance, he couldn’t borrow their wealth.
That was reason enough.
“Right, I need to get some fresh air outside and meet people.”
Young crouched down and fumbled around the floor. It was the act of searching for the phone he’d thrown when shocked by the fact that he’d wanted to see Kyung-heon.
“I’ve been home too much and become weird.”
The muttering didn’t stop even while he was searching every corner under the sofa.
***
It was just as Young had guessed. That precious Joo Kyung-heon, who hadn’t shown his face for three or four days at a time, could only be seen at the charity event.
Even then, they’d traveled separately due to their respective schedules. With Kyung-heon, whom he’d barely met at the venue, they could only barely exchange greetings.
“You came separately from Kyung-heon. Was the trip here okay?”
“Ah… Yes. It’s such a prominent location, it was easy to find and fine.”
“How is it living with Kyung-heon? He’s so busy I guess there wouldn’t be much chance to bump into each other anyway.”
“That’s right, well. It’s not bad.”
“There’s been such a big change that there’s not much I can tell you.”
“Oh, but it looks like they’re looking for you over there.”
“You’re right. Then excuse me.”
The conversation with Joo Seong-jin, who appeared in his consistently presentable attire, was even longer, so that said it all. Young absentmindedly watched his back as he left while adjusting his clothes, then soon looked around.
Kyung-heon, standing at a distance, was still surrounded by people. From Young’s gaze fixed on him seeped a bit of disappointment and disgruntled feelings toward the unspecified masses.
‘It’s different, different.’
In reality, only the name of the event had changed; the scene wasn’t different from the wedding. The people from somewhat notable companies, even Kwak Du-jin who would treat him like a transparent person even when their eyes met—they were all the same.
However, the atmosphere was definitely different. To be precise, others’ attitudes toward Kyung-heon had completely changed.
Back then, since he was a member of Joomyeong anyway, since he was the main character of the event even if it was a marriage like being sold off, most people were just greeting him out of courtesy. But now that he’d belatedly become an alpha, it was a world full of people trying to get on his good side.
Whether for business or romantic purposes.
It was obvious even from a distance. Whether that person was going “Oh my, aren’t you Mr. Joo Kyung-heon, the late-manifesting alpha of the great Joomyeong family,” or “I’m a charming omega, and since everyone knows it’s a political marriage anyway, want to play together?”
‘Oh really?’
This time it was the latter. An omega he’d also exchanged greetings with just a bit ago.
He was some bank’s son, and from the moment he started scratching on about clean money this and real finance that, Young had known. It was clear he was boasting that he, with a background in primary finance, suited Kyung-heon better than Young, whose family presided over the underground economy with loan sharks at the forefront.
This was something to be rightfully upset about. If he was just fawning over Kyung-heon, Young would try to turn off his interest, but wasn’t he excessively disrespecting his own family?
Originally, it was an unwritten rule that bloodlines were okay to criticize, but only if you did it yourself. No matter how much his family oppressed his freedom with overprotection, he couldn’t just watch others disrespect them.
Young placed the champagne glass he was holding onto the tray of a passing server. And he was just about to take a step to approach Kyung-heon.
