Chapter 70: Marking
They departed early at dawn and arrived at the headquarters around 9 AM. As soon as he went up to his office, Dohyuk changed into the suit Director Choi had prepared for him and entered a meeting.
“This is for you, Yeon-ssi. The Managing Director asked me to prepare it.”
Director Choi held out a shopping bag to Yeon. When he opened it, he found a change of clothes.
“Thank you.”
Though he could have endured in his current clothes for one more day, he obediently took out the clothes and changed, appreciating the thoughtfulness.
“Ah…!”
Director Choi, who had been watching from the side, suddenly let out a groan. Wondering what was wrong, Yeon turned to find his face frozen with embarrassment.
“What’s wrong…?”
“There.”
Director Choi pointed to a spot. Following his finger, Yeon realized he was pointing at his nape.
His nape? Why?
When Yeon looked at Director Choi with puzzled eyes, he sighed and led Yeon to a mirror.
“Do you see this?”
He pointed precisely to the area where Yeon’s right neck and shoulder connected. Looking in the mirror, Yeon’s expression finally hardened.
“Surely you wouldn’t claim it was an insect bite? Since you went with the Managing Director, you must have stayed at a hotel, and there’s no way there would be insects in a room chosen by the Managing Director.”
Yeon had no response to Director Choi’s words.
“Surely you wouldn’t have met someone else behind the Managing Director’s back…”
This time, feeling it wasn’t even worth answering, Yeon just took a small breath.
“Did the Managing Director do this?”
“…I don’t know.”
Though he answered honestly, Director Choi furrowed his brow.
“Really.”
“Let’s say that’s the case.”
Though he didn’t seem to believe Yeon at all, he backed off, saying he understood. Then he remained silent for a while. Seeing Director Choi’s serious expression, Yeon stared at his reflection in the mirror with tight lips.
“Yeon-ssi.”
“I know what you want to say.”
“No, that’s not it…”
Director Choi frowned deeply, seemingly struggling with what to say.
“I apologize for my impertinent words last time.”
Since he hadn’t particularly scolded Yeon about his relationship with Dohyuk, though he had expressed concerns, Yeon couldn’t understand his apology.
“But… I’d like you to be careful. I know you’re already being very careful, but especially if you have a special relationship with the Managing Director. The current situation…”
He seemed to be struggling to explain, as nothing was clearly defined. But Yeon knew roughly what he meant. He had observed what was happening around Kang Sunhyuk and Kang Dohyuk, and above all, the tenacious ill fate connected to Dohyuk had been pulling tighter recently. Bad things were about to happen. Maybe even worse than the previous sniper incident.
“I know. You don’t need to explain. I understand the situation.”
Director Choi nodded, saying that was fortunate.
“Please be careful not to become the Managing Director’s weakness. Actually, I’m not worried about the Managing Director. He’s preparing for all worst-case scenarios in advance. You are the only exception for him. Please protect yourself so that unpredictable situations don’t occur.”
“I understand. I promise.”
Yeon didn’t want to hold Dohyuk back either. Director Choi was concerned that Yeon might be kidnapped and used as leverage against Dohyuk, but that wasn’t the real way he could hold him back.
Through repeated ill-fated connections across several lifetimes, Yeon had learned something. If something happened to him, Dohyuk would transform into a demon who would eliminate those he considered enemies more coldly and cruelly. Even if they were family.
***
When Dohyuk returned after finishing the meeting, Yeon was sitting quietly on the sofa in his office.
“Seeing you like that reminds me of when you first came.”
Dohyuk commented as he placed the file he was carrying on his desk.
“You did something strange.”
Yeon said, turning to him with an expressionless face.
“Something strange?”
Instead of answering, Yeon pulled down his shirt to reveal the bruise Dohyuk had left.
“Ah.”
Dohyuk acted as if it were nothing.
“Your reaction is different from what I expected.”
“What were you expecting?”
“That you’d be embarrassed about someone discovering it, or that your face would flush remembering last night while looking at me.”
Yeon couldn’t even sigh at his brazen response.
“Since when did you enjoy such mischievous pranks?”
“Since I got entangled with you.”
It was an answer without a moment’s hesitation. There was a smile on his lips as he stared at Yeon. Yeon felt he was enjoying teasing him.
“You didn’t have this side before…”
Surprised by his own unconscious words, Yeon closed his mouth. He wished Dohyuk would just let it slide, but Kang Dohyuk wasn’t the kind of man to do that.
“Before?”
Sure enough, he seized on Yeon’s words. Yeon turned his head away completely. If he kept eye contact, it felt like Dohyuk would discover everything—his past with him and his resulting emotional turmoil.
“You definitely know something more. For example…”
Dohyuk deliberately drew out his words, observing Yeon’s reaction.
“A past life, perhaps.”
At this direct answer, Yeon couldn’t even swallow dry. He knew that Dohyuk would catch even the smallest movement.
“You said that at the end of the red thread connecting you and me, there’s only blood as red as the thread.”
Dohyuk reminded Yeon of what he had answered when Dohyuk had once pressed him about what he knew.
“And you also said that you hoped this connection would be severed in ‘this life.’ In ‘this’ life.”
He emphasized the particle precisely.
“That means you and I haven’t met for the first time in this life, and whether it was once, twice, or more, I don’t know, but you remember everything about that past life.”
Yeon just listened with his gaze fixed on the floor.
“Perhaps not just the simple outcome, but much more than I think, much more concretely.”
Before Yeon realized it, Dohyuk had come in front of him; he could see Dohyuk’s shoes at the edge of his vision.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
Dohyuk’s soft voice came from above his head.
“Is it because the ending was too terrible? Well, that could be.”
Yeon had never thought about the reason. Until now, Dohyuk didn’t seem to believe that he remembered his past life, and even if he did believe, they weren’t particularly good memories, so Yeon hadn’t felt the need to elaborate.
“Or are you afraid the same thing will happen again?”
That wasn’t wrong either. Words had power. The moment you voiced aloud that something would happen a certain way, words gained power and guided people’s fate in that direction. People unconsciously influenced by words often made choices to create that result without realizing it.
“Or if not that…”
Startled by something brushing his nape, Yeon raised his head and met Dohyuk’s eyes. Dohyuk’s hand was rubbing Yeon’s nape, precisely over the bruise he had left.
“Because you and I had a more explicit relationship than I thought?”
Yeon stared at Dohyuk without blinking. If there was any consolation, it was that he had already been sufficiently embarrassed when Director Choi discovered it, so now he could maintain eye contact with Dohyuk with a calm face.
Unlike Yeon, who was maintaining an expressionless face while suppressing his emotions, Dohyuk was smiling as if pleased.
“Shall I tell you an astounding fact?”
His hand, which had been lingering around Yeon’s neck, moved up to cup his cheek.
“I think I could take you.”
The meaning of his words registered a beat late due to his too-casual tone.
“Despite knowing you’re a man, and despite never having been attracted to a man before.”
Dohyuk’s hand moved sideways to touch Yeon’s lips.
“I think I could take you. No, I’ve come to want to take you.”
Yeon felt his mouth go dry. While he was trying his best to suppress his emotions and maintain eye contact calmly, his heart was already pounding madly.
“Yeon-ah.”
He was clearly doing it on purpose. He knew Yeon’s eyes wavered when he called him like this, and having noticed that, he deliberately kept calling him this way.
“I’ve taken you before, haven’t I?”
Though it was phrased as a question, it wasn’t really one. Dohyuk was certain. Still, Yeon needed to deny it. But his lips were too dry to part. He ended up missing the timing to deny it.
“So you and I did have that kind of relationship in a past life.”
It seemed no further answer was needed. Yeon couldn’t even blink, having no idea what would come next, when Dohyuk released his face.
“No need to be tense. I said I want to take you, not that I’m going to take you right now. I have no intention of taking you while you’re swayed by memories of a past life.”
Only then did Yeon’s breath, which had been hard to exhale, burst out as if a blockage had been cleared. Dohyuk, who had been watching Yeon with amusement, gave a light snort and turned away. Just as Yeon thought this topic was concluded and felt relief, Dohyuk, now seated at his desk, called out “Yeon-ah” again. When Yeon flinched reflexively, a soft smile appeared on Dohyuk’s lips.
“Keep being conscious of me like this. So that your mind is filled with thoughts of me.”
Now seemingly having said everything he wanted to say, Dohyuk returned to work mode, but Yeon still couldn’t move, staring at him.
Keep being conscious of him… It was truly an unnecessary request. His mind was already a mess because of Kang Dohyuk. For a long time now, he couldn’t think of anything but Kang Dohyuk.
***
When Kang Sunhyuk arrived at work, there was a stir around him. While there was surprise that he had returned to work immediately after finishing the funeral, most of it was for a different reason. Though no one knew where it had started, rumors had spread widely that Kang Dohyuk might have killed Sunhyuk’s mother, and whenever two or more employees gathered, they were busy whispering about it.
“Could the Managing Director really have done that? Even in the midst of a succession battle, how would that help?”
“Who knows what’s in people’s hearts? There might have been some other reason. They’ve always been at each other’s throats.”
“So what happens to our company now? Honestly, losing the Managing Director would be a blow in many ways, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s why they might hush it up and cover it up even if the Managing Director is the culprit. Eek!”
The employees who had been chattering as they walked down the corridor turned pale as they rounded a corner. Kang Sunhyuk was standing in front of them, glaring at them with a fierce expression.
