After roughly tossing the hangover remedy into his mouth and opening the bottle of lukewarm water, the retort vegetable porridge scattered on the floor caught his eye.
He did hate things like vegetable porridge. Jaeha didn’t like porridge in the first place. Even when sick, he insisted on eating rice mixed with water instead of porridge. Though he did drive people crazy saying it had to be mixed with barley tea, barley tea.
Why did he take it if he wasn’t even going to eat it, damn bastard.
Taesung grumbled while touching his torn mouth. He acted tough saying he’d try eating something that didn’t suit his taste, but when it came down to it, he couldn’t do it? So even with someone unconscious, he couldn’t do various things.
He shoved it into the mouth that would make him least nauseous, but even that was too dirty, so he washed up thoroughly like that and left.
Well, it was fortunate for Taesung.
Right, fucking fortunate.
“Boss, good morn…”
Manager Kim, who had been greeting him cheerfully, saw Taesung’s appearance and immediately shut his mouth and opened the back door. When Taesung, who always wore suits, came out wearing a turtleneck that came up stuffily to his chin, he clearly judged ‘Jang Hyeokjin must’ve acted up again at Knox yesterday.’
Whether unfortunate or fortunate, these guys never dreamed Taesung’s wounds were related to sexual matters. They just connected it with things that had happened to them—that he’d been hit by an ashtray Jang Hyeokjin threw, or beaten with Jang Hyeokjin’s golf club, or kicked by Jang Hyeokjin.
“Ah fuck, that bastard. He said he called you for business.”
“Nothing happened, fucker.”
“I don’t know when that bastard will age. He goes around guzzling alcohol everywhere and seems to only play golf for exercise, but why is he so vigorous?”
“He must be exercising somewhere, shaking his hips like crazy.”
“Does that count as exercise? That’s probably why I’m gaining weight these days. I mean, even to meet someone I have to feed Mango too, but I can’t do that stuff in front of a baby who hasn’t even turned one yet.”
The end of the conversation was about the cat again.
Taesung just pulled on the innocent turtleneck and turned his gaze out the window.
“President Han, you’re just arriving?”
As soon as he parked the car in front of the Hansae Construction office, Han Yunseong, who had been anxiously smoking in front of it, greeted him warmly and threw his cigarette butt into the drain.
I should visit a good fortune-teller’s house after work. Preferably a shaman who knows how to write talismans to chase away annoying bastards. Though Taesung usually held the belief that talismans and rituals were all superstition and fraud, his thoughts changed as shitty things happened every single day lately. If there was a shaman who could write a talisman to keep those people from approaching within a 1-kilometer radius, Taesung was willing to worship that person as God right away.
“This person promised to start a deal with hyungnim, so I told him to wait for now.”
Perhaps Taesung’s eyes as he got out of the car looked ominous, Manager Park, who had been peeking outside with only his eyes sticking out between the office blinds, came out scratching his closely cropped sports hair.
“Hey, Han… Team Leader.”
“Executive Director.”
“What executive director in a company the size of a rat turd… Anyway, Executive Director Han.”
“Executive Director Han Yunseong.”
“Still, we’re in a business relationship, so wouldn’t you feel dirty if I say Han Yunseong like that?”
“No. You can treat me casually. I like that kind of thing.”
“This is what happens when you’ve never been hit.”
At Taesung’s muttering, Han Yunseong stuck out the tip of his tongue and moistened his parched lips. Seeing how he couldn’t keep his eyes in one place and kept rolling them around, he seemed quite nervous. Seeing him struggling to save a company that was staggering as his old father collapsed, Taesung’s heart wasn’t entirely comfortable either.
Taesung’s fate was to be abandoned by his parents as soon as he was born, so he crawls at others’ feet, but what does Han Yunseong, who grew up well as a rich young master, lack that makes him rub his front legs together like a fly while reading the room?
If he just put his parents with a set death date into a nursing home and sold off the company and house completely to run away with just the money, it would be enough to live well for life.
“The person who made a promise with Executive Director Han isn’t me, it’s Jang Hyeokjin. But is it okay to come to someone else’s business site and fucking shove cigarette butts into the drain? If this gets clogged and water overflows, only our office is fucked.”
“I’m sorry. It’s a habit.”
The people who had been throwing butts into the drain all avoided eye contact. Even if he said if the drain got clogged one more time and water rose, he’d shove their heads into the sewer, they wouldn’t listen to a damn word.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and Taesung was in a situation where he needed to calm down by having a smoke. As soon as he put a cigarette between his lips, before Manager Kim could even catch up, Han Yunseong nimbly held out a lighter. He considered ignoring it, but giving people the cold shoulder every time was also something he couldn’t do, so he lit it sullenly.
“What are you doing? Go to Wonin Construction.”
Exhaling white smoke along with his boiling insides, Taesung snapped bluntly.
“Come on, you heard what President Jang said together yesterday. He said to organize starting today and entrust the orders to us.”
“Then if I tell you to deliver to the Icheon site by 2 PM today, can you bring it?”
“You have to give me some time. President Han, you also have to receive the quantity you’ve already ordered. Just draw up the contract clearly today.”
“A contract isn’t like kids hooking fingers to make a promise, and if we pull that shit, the only one in the industry who’ll get marked is our Hansae. What would make me believe you and Jang Hyeokjin enough to pour shit water on my own face, Executive Director Han?”
“Wonin Construction is practically the prime contractor anyway, so what are you worr…”
“Hey.”
At those words, Taesung threw the cigarette he’d barely taken a few puffs of on the ground. The long cigarette rolled away, weakly trailing smoke, then dropped into the drain. They say on an unlucky day, your nose breaks even if you fall backward.
Taesung just kicked the drain grate with his toe and bent his waist toward Han Yunseong.
“Open your eyes properly and look, Executive Director Han. This is Hansae Construction, not Wonin Construction. And the president of Hansae Construction isn’t Jang Hyeokjin, it’s me. No matter what shit Jang Hyeokjin spews, if I say fuck off, you have to fuck off. Do you understand well?”
Han Yunseong, whose already pale face had turned white as a sheet of paper, avoided Taesung’s gaze. He clenched his trembling lips tightly, then soon bit his lower lip hard with his particularly even front teeth. Eyes that were a spitting image of his father turned back to Taesung. Even though he was a kid not even worth one punch, Han Yunseong’s gaze filled with reproach and blame made his chest ache, like glass shards embedded in childhood were tearing through his heart again.
Taesung straightened his back while frowning as if convulsing. Because of the fucking T-shirt, his neck was being strangled, so he pulled at the turtleneck with the intention of at least opening his airway. Han Yunseong, who had been glaring at Taesung, twisted his lips unpleasantly for a moment.
“Ah.”
The servile air that had filled his face disappeared instantly as if removing a mask.
And soon an expression full of contempt appeared on Han Yunseong’s face.
Even that sight looked to Taesung like a recreation of how his father, who had been coaxing and doting on Taesung saying “our eldest son” until just a few days before, had turned cold as soon as Han Yunseong was born.
It made him feel dirty.
This situation of facing that bastard Han Yunseong in the first place was disgusting.
He wanted to punch Han Yunseong’s face as he frowned presumptuously right here and end the whole situation.
“President Han. Honestly, I didn’t want to say this much, but I told my father yesterday that I met President Han.”
The moment Taesung couldn’t overcome his impulse and clenched his fist, unexpected words flowed from Han Yunseong’s mouth.
“Father seemed to know President Han well, so I’m not sure if I should bring this up here…”
Before the words could even finish, Taesung grabbed his collar and pulled. Han Yunseong flailed both hands as if trying to shake Taesung off, but in the end could only be dragged helplessly like a rag doll. Hansae Construction’s exemplary employees, including Manager Kim, murmured things like “That bastard’s acting cocky moderately, he’s dead now” and didn’t bother following Taesung.
Only when they reached a deserted back alley did Taesung release Han Yunseong’s collar as if slamming him against the wall. Han Yunseong, with his entire face flushed bright red, coughed out dry coughs while glaring at Taesung with eyes glistening with tears.
“President Han, you can’t do this to me. I mean, honestly, I didn’t do anything wrong, right? And I wanted to work things out nicely with President Han, so I tried to keep my mouth shut and let it slide. It’s not good for me either to say it out loud. But President Han is being stubbornly unreasonable, so I ended up having to talk about this.”
Taesung silently punched the wall right next to Han Yunseong’s face. A sound like a watermelon bursting echoed from the wall surface surrounded by red bricks. Han Yunseong’s expression, which had been full of momentum, was dyed with fear again.
“So, what did your father say?”
Taesung was stupid. So this time too, he ended up asking a question not worth asking.
