“Yes, thank you.”
Muyeon looked up at Seungju and received the binder. As Seungju turned to leave, Muyeon rolled his eyes to look toward the office door. Wait a moment, let’s go out. Something roughly like that meaning. Seungju raised one eyebrow and stopped his steps.
Muyeon opened the binder, half-looking at the paper and half-not, and scribbled on the ballot. Then he passed the binder to Assistant Manager Jeong sitting next to him. Please do it, Assistant Manager. Then he sprang up from his seat. Seungju raised his head and looked up at him standing from his seat. Muyeon immediately shuffled his feet.
Seungju couldn’t follow the situation for a moment and was staring at Muyeon’s back. Until Assistant Manager Jeong turned his chair slightly to look back at him. Seungju came to his senses and hurriedly chased out of the office.
Muyeon had already caught the elevator and was inside. When Seungju stuck his face beyond the elevator door, he wiggled his hand.
“Get on.”
“What?”
“I said get on.”
Muyeon opened his eyes wide. Scary. Seungju quickly got on the elevator. The elevator headed to the basement. Seungju looked up at Muyeon and confronted him.
“What’s this all of a sudden? What if other people see?”
“What if other people see?”
“Won’t they think it’s strange?”
“No one thinks that way.”
“Won’t they?”
How naive, you still don’t know what kind of rumors you could get at the company… Seungju, who was about to ridicule Muyeon’s words, smoothed out his crumpled face at Muyeon’s face looking down at him. Muyeon was staring at Seungju embarrassingly blatantly.
Before he could say “why,” Muyeon lowered his head. His lips first touched the corner of his mouth. Then they overlapped precisely on his lips. At the short kiss that seemed to press down, Seungju opened his eyes wide.
Seungju rolled his eyes to first check the CCTV installed in the corner of the elevator. Whether he noticed it or not, Muyeon pouted.
“What did you talk about with Team Leader Yoon?”
“Wh… what.”
“For just handing over a ballot… you were whispering so well….”
At the end of Muyeon’s words, the sound announcing the elevator’s arrival at its destination overlapped. When the door opened, Seungju first staggered out. Muyeon, standing beside him, was still raising his chin and looking down at Seungju.
The short corridor leading to the basement cafe was fortunately completely empty. Nevertheless, Seungju muttered quietly.
“Did that bother you?”
“Yes.”
Many scenes flashed through Seungju’s mind. The first was the image of Baek Muyeon making the absurd demand to refuse going to eat with the Director. Similar scenes came to mind one after another. Things like the stares that always watched whenever he just had a conversation with the Director.
The second was naturally the scene from the hotel last week. At that time, hadn’t he said something about wanting him to be a bit jealous in a way of speaking that was chillingly Baek Muyeon-style?
The last was the memory of their beginning. A Friday night when everyone had left work, the day they stamped “Day 1 from today” in the cityscape they looked down on from the rooftop garden. I thought about it and blah blah. I’m very jealous and whatever, he seemed to have heard words like that. At the time he thought it was out of the blue.
Seungju let out a deep sigh that rose from within his heart.
Hah…….
That sigh wasn’t only from frustration about a lover who couldn’t distinguish not only between social life but also between public and private. Mixed in there was also a bit of absurdity about himself for not entirely disliking the sight of him suddenly dragging someone down and throwing a tantrum over something trivial.
And whether knowing Seungju’s troubled mood or not, he had to include in the meaning of that sigh the point that Muyeon, who pulled and held his hand, ultimately looked cute.
Seungju recalled the day they had fought before. At Seungju’s ice-cold reaction, Muyeon withdrew, saying this was why he didn’t want to bring it up. When those words came to mind, his heart softened a bit more.
Seungju slowly rubbed the back of Muyeon’s clasped hand with his thumb as if soothing.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“What was it?”
“He said let’s give the Director a farewell gift. Since the Director was right behind us, he came close and spoke quietly.”
“Why give a gift?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Muyeon’s face softened a little. Seungju looked up at him and smiled.
“Even if it bothers you, there’s nothing you can do. Just bear with it a little.”
“……”
“It’s the company.”
***
[Should I take you?]
Seungju, who saw Muyeon’s message, rolled his eyes. Is this bastard serious?
Friday afternoon, Seungju was hoping only for leaving work on time. Fortunately, the Director, with his transfer right before his eyes, stopped tormenting other people by leaving work ten or twenty minutes late from this week.
He would leave the office at 5:55 or leave work right at 6 o’clock with an attitude that everything was futile. If he could do it so easily like that, why had he been so spiteful until now? That’s not something Seungju needs to know. Seungju was just happy to be able to go home freely and early.
Of course, today he wouldn’t just go home. Because he had to drink. He didn’t even know how long it had been since he drank for something happy. Anyway, today is a good day. So Seungju didn’t really care even though Muyeon had been throwing a tantrum since earlier.
Muyeon first wondered about the list of everyone coming to the gathering. Seungju readily told him. More than eight people were coming to today’s drinking gathering. Muyeon was surprised at the larger number than expected. Seungju briefly wondered whether it was right or wrong to have so obediently spilled everything about private gatherings and members within the company to the president’s son.
As if cutting off Seungju’s concerns, Muyeon expressed subtle dissatisfaction about Design Team 3 Team Leader Cha Sojeong being included in the members. Seungju could easily recall Muyeon asking back Sojeong’s name quite meaningfully. When they went on a field trip together, when he said they often worked together. He’d even shown that appearance before they were dating.
He remembered again Muyeon’s appearance on Tuesday when he suddenly dragged him to the basement cafe, bought him coffee, and threw a tantrum similar to jealousy. Anyway, it was cute and trivial. Seungju snorted.
[Team Leader Sojeong]
[is married]
Muyeon didn’t reply for a while. Seungju raised his head slightly and scanned Muyeon’s seat. Muyeon’s expression didn’t change much. But Seungju could tell he was a bit taken aback. Just when Muyeon seemed to be fiddling with his phone, a message soon flew over.
[Her husband must be]
[very generous, huh?]
Well, you could say that… Seungju gave a rough reply. Because it was an area he didn’t know well. Seungju actually wasn’t very interested in Sojeong’s private life. The time spent drinking flowed by quickly just complaining about the company, so there was rarely a need for other topics.
Muyeon, who hadn’t answered for a moment again, this time started throwing different questions. About the meeting place, meeting time, and what they usually talk about when they meet, and so on. Seungju answered diligently.
Then he said he’d take him. Take him? In Seungju’s mind, a scene played of Baek Muyeon’s expensive car, which everyone on the Sales Team knew, stopping in front of the store that was the meeting place. It was followed by himself getting out and the bewildered expressions of the company people watching that.
Just thinking about it was a scene that made him crave alcohol. It was also a sight that sobered him up even though he hadn’t drunk. It was absurd. Anyway, it’s funny. Seungju didn’t even explain at length.
[No]
Even at Seungju’s curt answer, Muyeon replied right away.
[Then when will you get home?]
Seungju now knew all of Muyeon’s main point and purpose. You don’t like drinking with other people and playing late, that’s it. And because Seungju’s reaction had been quite cold when he talked about such things until now, he’s carefully probing here and there.
As expected, cute. Seungju wrinkled his nose once and replied.
[I don’t know that either]
[Late at dawn?]
[I’ll call you]
Muyeon replied again after a long while. Okay.
***
“Then I should call you Director Mu now. From Assistant Manager Mu, General Manager Mu to Director Mu, it’s really super-fast promotion. Right?”
As always, the first round was crowded, but there weren’t many people in the second round. If there was anything unusual, Cha Sojeong, one of the stagnant waters, went home early. She said she was going in early because she had to go to some relative’s wedding with her husband tomorrow. She patted Kim Seoyeong’s shoulder instead. I’m counting on you in my place.
Seungju didn’t really care. Baek Muyeon would be happy knowing Sojeong wasn’t there. He filled Seoyeong’s empty glass and also held up the bottle to Dawon, who had just brought up that damn General Manager Mu story. Dawon emptied the glass in front of her and held out her glass.
Lee Hyeonha, the youngest from Planning Team 2, answered.
“That’s too long. We should call him Mubon.”
“That sounds a lot like ‘no fundamentals.'”
“Well, it suits this company with no fundamentals too well.”
Dawon laughed while tapping the table. Seungju laughed along soullessly. Haha… haha…. Hyeonha took the bottle from Seungju’s hand and filled his glass.
