# Side Story 6
Jiho had been called away for intern training since the morning. Fortunately, Yeomin had nothing to do with it and remained in the office.
Looking at Jiho’s empty desk after a long time, Yeomin sighed. The sound must have been rather loud, as a message flew in from the assistant manager in the next seat.
[Assistant Manager: Yeomin-ssi, is something wrong at home?]
[Assistant Manager: Your expression hasn’t been good since morning]
[Assistant Manager: If you’re sick, let us know and take half the day off. Or at least go to the hospital during lunch]
Judging by this concern, Yeomin must have been out of it all morning.
Well, considering he’d had to ask the team leader to repeat explanations three times because he couldn’t understand properly, that said it all. On top of that, he was making typos that he normally wouldn’t make…
‘I’m the worst.’
Yeomin replied to the assistant manager that there was no need to worry, then temporarily escaped to the pantry.
“Sigh…”
Though Yeomin usually had high concentration at work, today nothing seemed to hold his attention.
Yeomin blankly stared at his left hand. The fourth finger of his left hand was bare.
Yeomin generally found rings uncomfortable and often went without them. The couple ring Jiho had given him on their first anniversary was no exception. He had more days keeping it safely at home than wearing it.
‘I should have just kept it at home as usual…’
Why on earth did he suddenly decide to wear the ring when going to his study group? Yeomin rubbed his face with a sigh.
The root of the problem was that he had deliberately worn the ring to show off, as someone in the study group had been showing interest in him.
The ring had definitely been there during the café meeting and even when they had dinner together.
But when he returned home, the ring was gone. He called all the places he had visited, but received only answers saying there were no lost items.
“This is crazy. How much did that cost?”
In fact, he didn’t even know the price. Since Jiho bought it, he could only assume it was extremely expensive.
Yeomin felt his vision darkening and his breath catching. He had also asked the study group members if they had seen the ring, but everyone responded that they hadn’t.
As a result, Yeomin had been completely distracted since last night. He had considered telling Jiho today, but for now, he was postponing it, thinking he should look for it a bit more.
“Hyung!”
A hand suddenly grabbed the shoulder of Yeomin, who was leaning against the pantry cabinet, lost in thought.
Recognizing Jiho’s voice, Yeomin turned around. The training must have just ended, as Jiho was holding documents in his arms.
“Oh… so it’s over.”
“Why do you look like that?”
“Like what? I’m just startled because of you.”
“Startled? As if you wouldn’t recognize my voice.”
Jiho massaged Yeomin’s shoulders. Yeomin felt conflicted.
‘Should I just confess that I lost the ring…’
Of course, he knew Jiho wouldn’t scold him for something like that. If he said he lost it, Jiho would probably buy him another one right away.
‘…That’s all the more reason to keep it a secret. I didn’t wear it much anyway.’
“Oh, right. I met the president on my way here.”
“What? The president?”
Yeomin immediately reacted to the word “president.” Even after working as an Ian Group employee for two years, President Ahn remained an intimidating figure for Yeomin.
“Why? What did she say?”
“She was curious if I was doing well at work.”
“And?”
“I said I’m fine, but that you look tired because you’re too busy.”
“Why would you…”
Yeomin felt a headache coming on. Imagining how shamelessly Jiho must have acted in front of the president made him feel secondhand embarrassment.
‘How much of a loser must President Ahn think I am.’
“So what did she say?”
Maybe she told him to quit right away if it was too hard? Haah… Facing Yeomin’s worried expression, Jiho smiled brightly.
“She said for you to come to the president’s office.”
“…What?”
“She said she has something to talk about.”
“With me? What about!”
This time, Yeomin truly thought he was going to be fired. Of course, they couldn’t fire an employee on a whim, but they could certainly make them want to quit on their own.
While thousands of thoughts were racing through Yeomin’s mind, Jiho smiled as freshly as if discussing someone else’s business.
“Who knows? She didn’t tell me.”
“When did she want to see me?”
“Hmm. She told me to send you up about 10 minutes ago, so…”
“Damn it.”
“Hyung?”
Yeomin hurried off, ignoring Jiho’s calls of “Where are you going!” The summons from the president, Jiho’s mother, was too important to ignore.
Starting from losing the ring yesterday, he had a very bad feeling about this.
* * *
Upon arriving at the floor with the president’s office, the secretary greeted Yeomin as if she had been waiting for him.
Having met with President Ahn privately a few times before, Yeomin was already acquainted with her secretary.
Yeomin was extremely tense. During his college days, he had been bold when meeting President Ahn at Jiho’s house, but… since becoming a wage slave at Ian Group, dealing with her had become very difficult.
Perhaps it was because she was no longer just “Jiho’s mother” but “the President.”
“You can go right in.”
Before opening the door, Yeomin whispered to the secretary:
“The President… how does her mood seem today?”
“Pardon?”
It was strange. Since Yeomin joined the company, the times President Ahn had summoned him to her office could be counted on one hand.
And each time, she had discussed something significant. Like Jiho’s intern placement, or permission for their cohabitation…
“Is she in a particularly bad mood, or a particularly good mood…?”
“She’s the same as usual.”
The secretary’s answer made Yeomin even more anxious.
‘Same as usual? That’s impossible to gauge.’
In a state of high tension, Yeomin stepped into the president’s office.
“…Hello.”
“Yeomin-gun. Good to see you.”
Yeomin maintained a perfect 90-degree bow. President Ahn removed the glasses she had been wearing and gestured toward the sofa.
When Yeomin sat down, President Ahn comfortably took a seat across from him.
“I called you to ask how Jiho is doing.”
Ah. If that was it, then it was fortunate. He had worried for nothing.
“How is that boy? Is he working well?”
“Yes. Better than I expected.”
Was that too honest? Though Yeomin had second thoughts, President Ahn laughed heartily.
“Better than expected?”
“He’s surprisingly meticulous and does what he’s asked to do well. Sometimes he even does things without being told.”
“That’s a relief. If you had said he was just a burden, I was going to tell him not to come to work from tomorrow.”
…Should I have said he was a nuisance after all? Yeomin suddenly wanted to change his answer, but he behaved himself.
President Ahn continued to ask detailed, everyday questions: how intense was the work, was living together at home alright, if Jiho showed interest in any roles besides the Management Planning Team, and so on.
President Ahn was an open-minded person who showed interest in what Yeomin had to say. As they conversed calmly, time passed quickly.
“I’ve taken too much of your time. During working hours, too.”
“It’s fine.”
“Actually, I called you for another reason, but seeing you after so long, I found myself with many questions.”
You haven’t even gotten to the main point yet?
Yeomin tensed up again.
“Yeomin-gun, by any chance.”
“…Yes.”
“Have you really not thought about going abroad?”
…What?
* * *
By the time Yeomin emerged from his meeting with the president, it was lunchtime.
Jiho must have spoken to them beforehand, as the team leader didn’t say anything when Yeomin returned late to the office. Actually, everyone had already gone to lunch and wasn’t even at their desks.
Yeomin recalled his conversation with President Ahn.
‘Have you really not thought about going abroad?’
‘Pardon?’
‘How about properly studying management while you’re at it? If you want, I could send you to an overseas branch.’
Is she trying to drive me out of Korea? To not let me set foot in this country again?
As Yeomin hesitated, trying to understand her intentions, President Ahn added:
‘If you take Seol Jiho with you, that would be fine with me.’
‘……’
‘But well. If Yeomin-gun doesn’t want to, I won’t force it. What’s important to us is you, Yeomin-gun.’
I think you’re too valuable to waste. That’s what President Ahn said.
‘If you say Yeomin-gun is bothersome, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Jiho in Korea.’
Why are you so sincere about my studying abroad?
When Yeomin showed an awkward expression, President Ahn smiled generously, saying he didn’t need to decide right away.
But that made him feel even more pressured to decide immediately.
“This is really driving me crazy…”
“Did you get scolded?”
“Ahhh!”
Jiho’s head suddenly popped up over the partition. He even had a lunchbox in his hand.
He definitely wasn’t at his desk earlier, so where did he appear from?
“I prepared a lunchbox for you. I thought you might not have enough time for lunch.”
“…Thank you so much.”
Yeomin weakly accepted the lunchbox. It was from his favorite lunch place near the company. Jiho could be quite thoughtful.
Opening the lunchbox lid, Yeomin tried not to think about the lost ring or President Ahn’s words.
“Here. The fried shrimp you like.”
“……”
Jiho placed his own fried shrimp on top of Yeomin’s lunchbox. For a moment, Yeomin saw President Ahn’s face overlapping with Jiho’s.
“……”
“Why aren’t you eating? Aren’t you hungry? That can’t be.”
“……”
“Did President Ahn really scold you?”
“It’s not that.”
If she had scolded him, he wouldn’t be like this. Rather, that might have been better.
What she had proposed was an even more difficult burden for Yeomin.
“My poor Hyung.”
“I told you it’s not that.”
Even if there’s no one in the office, really. What is he thinking, suddenly patting my head like this?
Yeomin glanced around cautiously. “Should I storm into the president’s office right now?” Trying to ignore this familiar nonsense, Jiho suddenly said:
“But Hyung, your finger-“
Since Jiho’s gaze happened to land on his left hand, Yeomin instantly froze.
“…Huh? What?”
“Your finger has lost weight. Is that why you haven’t been wearing your ring lately?”
Uh… uhh… Yeomin inadvertently nodded in response.
“It was… slightly loose.”
Joo Yeomin, you liar.
“That’s because you’ve been working too much. This won’t do. I need to fatten you up. Starting today, I’m launching Plan A for fattening up Joo Yeomin.”
No, that’s not it… I’m losing weight because I’m stressed every day…
Yeomin reluctantly swallowed a huge fried shrimp along with the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.
