Chapter 31: One-sided Affection
Lee Seojin parked his car in front of the villa where Kang Dohyuk lived and took a deep breath. He knew Dohyuk would hate him showing up unannounced, but he wanted to see his face no matter what excuse he had to make.
‘Go work under Kang Sunhyuk. Watch his every move from up close and report back to me.’
When he first received that directive from Kang Dohyuk, he was happy that he could be of use to him. He needed some kind of connection to Dohyuk, no matter what it was. Although it wouldn’t mean working directly by his side, he’d hoped that by being helpful, he might someday be able to stay closer to him.
If he had known it would be this difficult to see him, he might have refused…
He couldn’t completely hide his disappointment. He’d thought that working at the same company would at least let him see Dohyuk in passing, but even that wasn’t easy. The Executive Director’s office and Managing Director’s office were on completely different floors, and since Kang Dohyuk and Kang Sunhyuk didn’t get along, they avoided running into each other whenever possible. As Sunhyuk’s secretary, there were many months when Seojin couldn’t see Dohyuk’s face even once.
Still, he had been doing this for several years now. During that time, as Dohyuk had wanted, he’d earned Sunhyuk’s trust and been promoted to chief secretary. Sunhyuk now revealed even his most private matters to him.
Observing from the side, he could see clearly how different Dohyuk and Sunhyuk were from their very core. Sunhyuk had a criminal record for violence before he started working at Dragon Holdings, and even after being appointed as Executive Director, he’d been involved in several assault cases. Though Seojin had never personally witnessed him kill anyone, rumors said he’d buried a few people.
He was simple-minded, impulsive, and had a hot temper. If he ever found out that Seojin was Dohyuk’s informant, he would probably try to kill him immediately. Even knowing this, Seojin couldn’t back out because this job was his only pretext to get closer to Dohyuk.
He knew Dohyuk would glare at him coldly when he found out he’d come. He would undoubtedly tell him to go through Director Choi. Even expecting this cold treatment, he couldn’t turn back.
He missed him. So much that he felt like he might go crazy.
‘If you want to die for such a trivial reason, go ahead. The world will keep turning just fine without you. If you really want to die, do it neatly on your own without causing trouble for others.’
To Seojin, Kang Dohyuk was his lifesaver. He’d first met him when he was still a college student.
It was the day his boyfriend of several years handed him a wedding invitation, announcing he was getting married. Just days before, that same man had been lusting after him. He hadn’t known his boyfriend was seeing a woman right up until his wedding. He’d only thought that since his boyfriend, unlike himself, had a job, he was busy—that was why their contact had become infrequent and neglectful.
The betrayal hurt deeply because he had trusted him so much, and being young, he thought love was everything in life. When he felt abandoned, it was as if his world was collapsing.
So, foolishly, he had tried to kill himself. It was Kang Dohyuk who grabbed Seojin as he tried to jump into traffic, completely drunk. It might have been just a chance encounter, a passing whim. But regardless, he survived thanks to Dohyuk, and his cynical words—that the world wouldn’t change even if Seojin died—helped him grit his teeth and endure those difficult times.
As it turned out, Dohyuk was his senior at the same university, in the same department. Seojin deliberately found out which lectures Dohyuk was taking and followed them. He did everything possible to get involved with him, from group assignments to anything else. That’s how he managed to narrow the distance between them.
Dohyuk was consistently cold to Seojin, as he was generally indifferent to others. But Seojin liked that about him. Despite knowing from the beginning that Seojin was gay, nothing changed in how Dohyuk treated him.
Once, Seojin had seriously asked him to let him know if he ever felt uncomfortable. Dohyuk had answered without a moment’s hesitation:
‘Your sexual orientation is none of my business. I don’t care whether you’re gay or not. What matters to me is whether you’re useful to my work or not. That’s all that’s important to me.’
Though his words were extremely cold, Seojin felt reassured that as long as he was useful to Dohyuk, he wouldn’t be abandoned.
Above all, Dohyuk didn’t have anyone who could be called a lover. Even if Seojin couldn’t become his lover, he was satisfied just watching from afar since Dohyuk didn’t belong to anyone else either.
But things had changed. Rumors were circulating about his marriage to Baek Hyeri from Kangsan Construction, and then came unexpected talk about sponsorship. He could force himself to understand about Baek Hyeri. He knew Dohyuk had chosen her purely out of necessity, so he could accept that.
‘Does Kang Dohyuk do sponsorships too? He brought some guy to the Executive Director’s office. The atmosphere was strange.’
Sunhyuk’s words after visiting the Managing Director’s office had shaken Seojin’s heart. Sponsorship? Like Kang Chahyuk, he thought it was absurd. With Dohyuk’s personality, there was no way he would sponsor someone.
Still, there was no way to be sure. No one could guarantee when or how a person’s heart might change. Perhaps he would have been less disturbed if the sponsored person had been a woman. But a man—and according to Sunhyuk, a delicate, pretty man with a strange atmosphere—kept sending his thoughts in unwanted directions.
That can’t be right. Not him of all people, not Kang Dohyuk. He may not have prejudices, but that doesn’t mean he’d accept a man.
Only after reassuring himself could he get out of the car. He wanted to confirm directly with Dohyuk. That would be most certain.
Standing at the entrance of the villa, he pressed the intercom. He was prepared for the possibility of being told to leave the moment his face was seen.
[Who is it?]
An unfamiliar voice, not Dohyuk’s, came through.
“I’m here to see Kang Dohyuk-ssi. I’m a secretary from Dragon Holdings…”
Thinking the person who answered was probably a security guard, he only mentioned Dragon Holdings without giving his name, worried that revealing his identity as Sunhyuk’s secretary would expose his role as a spy. The other person didn’t seem suspicious and opened the door right away.
As he rode the elevator up, his mouth went dry. He felt nervous at the thought of meeting Dohyuk. When he reached the top floor, he saw two security guards standing in front of the door. Had Dohyuk always kept guards outside his home? It seemed strange, but considering the recent incidents, he figured it was probably a preventative measure.
“I’m here to see Managing Director Kang Dohyuk. I confirmed through the intercom downstairs.”
When he spoke to the guards, they looked him up and down before stepping aside. One of them pressed the intercom beside the door again. There was a sound of someone answering, but unlike at the common entrance, no one spoke. The door beeped open, and only then did Seojin feel relieved.
“What brings you all the way here.”
As he entered through the open door, Kang Dohyuk was standing right in front. His already cold gaze seemed even more frigid than usual.
“I apologize for coming without notice. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you.”
“I’m sure I told you to go through Director Choi.”
“I wanted to speak to you directly, Managing Director.”
Dohyuk stepped aside as if reluctantly, gesturing for him to come in. Though not frequently, Seojin had visited a few times before becoming Sunhyuk’s secretary, so he was familiar with the layout. After taking off his shoes and entering the living room, he stopped abruptly at the sight of someone sitting on the sofa.
“Don’t mind him.”
Dohyuk sat down across from the man dressed in white hanbok, paying no attention. But Seojin couldn’t take his eyes off the white-clothed man. He immediately realized this must be the person Sunhyuk had been talking about regarding sponsorship.
The atmosphere was indeed strange, as Sunhyuk had said. The man had light brown hair and blue eyes that seemed completely at odds with the traditional hanbok. It didn’t look like dye or colored contacts. He didn’t quite look mixed-race either. Was Dohyuk really sponsoring an idol trainee? But why was he dressed like that? Had he come from some kind of photoshoot? All these thoughts flashed through Seojin’s mind in an instant.
“Would you mind giving us some privacy, please?”
When Seojin asked the man, he finally lifted his head to look at him. He truly had a doll-like face. Seojin understood why someone would describe him as delicate, despite being male. There was something surreal about him, as if it was surprising that he could move at all.
Yeon stood up to comply with Seojin’s request.
“That won’t be necessary.”
Both Yeon and Seojin turned to look at Dohyuk at the same time.
“Just stay seated.”
“Managing Director!”
Seojin called out to Dohyuk in surprise. Disregarding him, Dohyuk told Yeon again to sit down. Yeon discovered the thread that began with Seojin and led to Dohyuk. After confirming the color of that thread, he barely managed to suppress a groan.
“This person won’t harm Kang Dohyuk-ssi. There’s no need for me to be present.”
Ignoring Dohyuk’s words, Yeon headed toward the room at the end of the hallway. He worried that Dohyuk might insist and force him to stay, but fortunately, Dohyuk didn’t follow to stop him.
Left behind, Dohyuk exhaled in disbelief at Yeon’s clean dismissal of his instructions. Despite being threatened by him multiple times, Yeon remained unchanged. The only time he showed any agitation or confusion was when Dohyuk displayed sexual intentions.
“Who is… that person?”
At Seojin’s question, Dohyuk finally looked at him. Seojin’s face was completely distorted.
“Just state your business.”
“Are you really sponsoring him?”
Dohyuk’s brow furrowed at the sponsorship talk coming from this guy too.
“Whatever I do shouldn’t concern you, should it?”
“That’s…”
Seojin couldn’t continue and his lips trembled before he hung his head low.
“Report. You must have come all this way because it’s important enough.”
He ignored Seojin’s visible distress. With a hardened expression, he stared at him, waiting for an answer. Feeling the gaze, Seojin gulped.
“Please don’t trust Director Kang Chahyuk too much.”
Kang Chahyuk?
“He came to the Executive Director’s office the day before yesterday. He said things to incite Executive Director Kang Sunhyuk.”
Kang Chahyuk always seemed cautious. It wouldn’t be strange if he was walking a tightrope between Sunhyuk and himself. He would probably side with whoever seemed more advantageous.
“Is that all?”
He didn’t trust either Sunhyuk or Chahyuk anyway. If Seojin had come all this way just to say this, it was truly a waste of time.
“And.”
At Dohyuk’s dismissive tone, Seojin lifted his head to look at him.
“That person—I wish you wouldn’t keep him close.”
Seojin looked toward the room where Yeon had gone.
