The House of Three Chapter 4.1

Around the time Cheonghyun, who had been suffering from a cold for about a week, finally stopped having a runny nose, Heeyoung stopped by his old lodgings to pack up his belongings.

The new room he was assigned in this house was a small room at the end of the second floor, but it was so spacious that it felt more than enough for one person, to the point where it was embarrassing to even call it a small room.

He had never had a room this big even when he was not in debt, so it felt strange to be enjoying such unexpected luxury in a place he had been dragged to in order to pay off his debt.

In any case, having officially started his work, Heeyoung was busy taking care of Cheonghyun every single day. He had to wake up in the morning to wake the child, make him wash up, prepare his meals, and when he returned from school, he had to check his homework one by one.

Today was also scheduled to be another busy day. Heeyoung, grateful to have regained a pattern of waking in the morning and sleeping at night like other people, opened his eyes at the crack of dawn.

After tidying his bedding, showering, and dressing in a neat shirt and slacks, he was ready for work. Just as he was about to leave his room and head to Cheonghyun’s, it was 7:40 in the morning.

Knock, knock. After knocking, Heeyoung opened Cheonghyun’s door and cautiously walked in, pulling back the blackout curtains first. The morning sunlight immediately flooded the pitch black room, brightening the surroundings. However, the child was hidden deep under the covers, unaware that morning had come.

“Cheonghyun, it’s time to wake up.”

Heeyoung, who had been speaking softly as usual while lifting the blanket, was horrified by the sight that unfolded before his eyes. They say that when a person is too startled, they freeze on the spot. That was exactly his state right now.

How many people would not be startled to find a large man curled up and sleeping in a child’s bed?

Rubbing his eyes and looking again, he saw it was Gyojin. Only then did Heeyoung relax and take a step back.

Why is the Boss sleeping here.

Moreover, who knows where he had thrown off his shirt, as his bare upper body was completely exposed.

For a moment, Heeyoung stared with curious eyes at the fiercely broad shoulders and the rippling muscles of his back. The combination of his bronze skin and firm muscles was impressive, but it was also vaguely grotesque.

Too embarrassed to look any longer, Heeyoung put the blanket back over Gyojin’s body. Then, he began to gently shake only Cheonghyun, who was sound asleep in a corner, to wake him.

“Cheonghyun, Cheonghyun? Wake up……”

Afraid that Gyojin might wake up if he spoke too loudly, he purposely whispered right into Cheonghyun’s ear. However, the child who was supposed to wake up did not, and the father opened his eyes first.

“Ugh, shit.”

As soon as he woke up, Gyojin stretched out both arms wide. In the process, he banged his head against the wall with a thud, but he seemed unfazed as if it did not hurt, sitting up straight and looking up at the dumbfounded Heeyoung.

“What is it.”

His raspy voice echoed low like a cave. It sounded just like a tiger’s growl, sending a shiver down his spine. Heeyoung slyly avoided the burdensome gaze fixed on him and answered.

“Um, I have to wake Cheonghyun to get him to school.”

At that, Gyojin let out a short sigh, “Ah,” and casually pushed the half-awake, stirring Cheonghyun with his foot, making him fall off.

Startled by the small thud, Heeyoung urgently crouched down to check if the child was okay.

Seriously, why would he push the kid like that? Just as he was secretly glaring at Gyojin with a reproachful look, Cheonghyun, who had fallen as gracefully as flowing water, got up saying, ‘Ouch.’ Both of them were utterly unconcerned.

I wonder if it didn’t hurt, he thought, stroking Cheonghyun’s head. The child scratched his neck and offered a morning greeting.

“Hyung, sleep well?”

His lisp, slightly more pronounced in the morning, was cute. Heeyoung, a little dumbfounded, ended up laughing.

“Yes, I slept well. Let’s get up quickly and get ready for school.”

“Uu-eung.”

As the two, who had grown much closer in just a few days, were being lovey-dovey in the morning, Gyojin, who was tidying the bedding, lightly tapped Cheonghyun’s bottom with his foot.

“You little punk……”

He habitually picked a fight with his son and then nonchalantly headed to the bathroom. Cheonghyun, still not fully awake from sleep, merely brushed off his bottom instead of retorting, ‘Why did you kick me!’ Then he coolly said.

“Hyung, I’m gonna go wash up.”

“Oh, okay. Go and wash up.”

Nodding dazedly, Heeyoung took out Cheonghyun’s bag to check his homework. He had told him to try it on his own yesterday, but had he finished it properly?

The printout he opened with anticipation was filled with carelessly scribbled numbers. It was clear he had not solved them with any thought, but had just written down any random numbers.

It was around the time the flustered Heeyoung was wondering how best to point this out. Cheonghyun, having washed up cleanly and changed into a perfect set of clothes, returned confidently.

The clock had already passed 8, so Heeyoung decided to take care of Cheonghyun’s breakfast first. Holding hands, they went down to the dining room together, where the savory smell of rice immediately wafted over them.

On the table, a very traditional Korean breakfast was neatly set out. Heeyoung quietly marveled at the spread, which consisted only of warm rice and soup, and side dishes that would be easy on the stomach.

“Cheonghyun, hurry and eat.”

Cheonghyun, who sat down in his chair at a sluggish pace, picked up his spoon. It was now time for him to step back for a moment. He could not watch over the boy even while he was eating, so he intended to return to his room and do some light cleaning.

But just as he was about to turn around, Cheonghyun grabbed his hand.

“Eat with me! I want to eat with Hyung!”

At the extremely difficult request, Heeyoung could only smile awkwardly. How could he readily say ‘Sure, let’s eat together’ in this situation.

He was grateful for Cheonghyun’s considerate heart, but it felt a bit much for him alone to join the family for a meal when other employees were clearly present.

It was a relief that Lee Seowon was a heavy sleeper in the mornings; if he had witnessed this situation, he might have been hit somewhere other than his cheek this time.

Even he himself thought this was a shameless act. How offensive would it look in Lee Seowon’s eyes for a mere employee to suddenly insert himself into the family and even share a meal.

“What should I do, Hyung isn’t hungry yet.”

Heeyoung refused as gently as possible so as not to hurt the child’s feelings. However, Cheonghyun was not an easy opponent.

“I’m not hungry either, but I eat every day. So Hyung should eat too!”

“Ah, no, that’s, Cheonghyun……”

As the child stubbornly pulled at his hand, Heeyoung had to hold his ground in an awkward posture with one arm surrendered.

“You have to eat quickly and go to school. We don’t have time for this, okay?”

Then, just when he thought he could not let it go on and was trying to divert the child’s attention elsewhere, the sound of slippers dragging on the floor grew closer, and Gyojin entered the dining room.

“What are you doing so early in the morning, my dear son?”

He asked as he naturally sat down at the table and pulled in his chair. Cheonghyun, who had already pouted so much his cheeks were puffed up, began to complain to his father.

“I want to eat with Hyung, but, ugh, I’m not hungry either, but I eat every day. But Hyung said he won’t eat!”

“What are you talking about?”

“With Hyung! Together! I want to eat!”

As the child shouted with the veins in his neck bulging, Gyojin familiarly covered one of his ears. My eardrums are going to burst, he muttered, frowning and looking this way, so Heeyoung took the opportunity to ask for help.

When he shot a troubled look that said, Boss, please do something, he indifferently scanned Heeyoung, who was firmly held by Cheonghyun.

Gyojin would not be pleased about sharing a meal with him either. It was a time for him to have a quiet meal with just his son; there was no way he would bring in a stranger.

“What’s the big deal. Sit down.”

However, there was something Heeyoung had overlooked. Cha Gyojin was a man who always deviated from the standards of ordinary people.

At the permission he readily gave, Heeyoung was dumbfounded, while Cheonghyun was so excited that he even showed the consideration of pulling out a chair for him.

Before he knew it, a new bowl of rice and soup, and a set of utensils were neatly placed on the table. Gyojin began to eat without another word. Cheonghyun also, albeit clumsily, used his chopsticks and diligently picked at this and that side dish.

The only person feeling uncomfortable in this setting was Heeyoung. Feeling as if his stomach would get upset at any moment, Heeyoung first swallowed some water, then sipped his soup with a spoon and ate his rice sparingly, barely picking at it.

He needed to empty his rice bowl quickly to be able to get up, but the grains of rice would not go down his throat as he was busy watching others’ reactions.

Heeyoung was anxious that a woken Lee Seowon might storm into the dining room. Moreover, the kitchen staff were standing behind him, which also made him feel burdened.

As he was pecking at his food alone in this uncomfortable situation, Gyojin, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly slammed his spoon down with a loud ‘Tak!’ sound.

“I’ve completely lost my appetite. Hey, you clearly weren’t taught proper table manners.”

Then, he finally let out a harsh remark. As Heeyoung’s face turned deathly pale and he muttered a small ‘I’m sorry,’ he did not say anything more.

Instead, he gave a look to the kitchen staff, who were quietly doing their work, as if telling them to leave.

The staff, who had been portioning out side dishes, scattered at a single jerk of his chin. As soon as the staff left, Gyojin closed the sliding door of the dining room.

After that, only the three of them remained. Only then did Heeyoung feel at ease, and he peeked at Gyojin who was returning to his seat.

Did he read my mind or something. It was both grateful and amazing how he had noticed and gotten rid of the uncomfortable elements in one fell swoop.

Picking up his spoon again, Gyojin noticed Heeyoung staring at him meaningfully and chided him.

“What. Stop ruining my appetite and just eat diligently.”

“Dad, why are you being like that to Heeyoung Hyung! Hyuuung, eat a lot. I’ll give you this.”

He had tried to choose his words carefully in front of the child, but there was no hiding the thuggish nuance. Cheonghyun scolded his father, who spoke as if threatening him, and diligently picked out the fish meat with his small, bracken-like hands. Soon, the messily crumbled fish meat was placed on top of Heeyoung’s rice bowl.

Heehee. The child who placed the side dish smiled proudly. That charmingly cute act was so irresistible that Heeyoung also let out a soft laugh.

“Thank you, Cheonghyun.”

Whenever the two were together, it was as if flowers and hearts bloomed anytime, anywhere. Gyojin watched the cringe-worthy scene with displeasure before venting his disappointment.

“Ah, seriously, you little punk. Don’t they teach you things like, be dutiful to your parents, at school? This place comes first before you go delivering side dishes over there. Huh?”

He seemed upset that his child was being particularly affectionate only towards Heeyoung. Afraid that he might be disliked if he unnecessarily chimed in, Heeyoung desperately remained silent and only chewed on his rice.

In the meantime, the two quarreled childishly. Whether his father was upset or not, Cheonghyun, as if annoyed by the nagging, snapped off the fish tail and placed it on Gyojin’s rice. It was filial piety performed reluctantly.

Dumbfounded by his son’s neglect, Gyojin raised his voice further, asserting his bewilderment.

“Eeh? The fish tail?”

And with that, he started tapping his rice bowl with his chopsticks. It was clearly a meal for three people, but the surroundings were as noisy as if they were at some large barbecue restaurant.

Heeyoung, who had been silently moving his mouth, swallowed the food he was chewing and watched the two of them. When he looked at Gyojin, he could not hide the feeling of thinking how pathetic he was.

A moment ago, he was asking me if I wasn’t taught proper table manners…….

“What’s wrong with the fish tail!”

What’s worse, Cheonghyun had already learned the bad habit and was imitating it. He was holding his chopsticks and tapping his rice bowl just as his father had done, and Heeyoung almost shouted, ‘Everyone, stop!’

His opponents were the Boss and a young child. Forcibly calming his boiling insides, Heeyoung wiped his mouth and calmly put down the chopsticks in his hand. Then, with a formulaic smile on his face, he met Gyojin’s eyes.

“Boss. The child is copying you. Don’t you think it would be better not to do that, tapping the rice bowl like this?”

At the voice, which was packed with many suppressed emotions, both of their mouths snapped shut at once.

Gyojin stared intently at Heeyoung, who was smiling with his eyes but without a single glint in them, and drank some water. ‘The last time he smiled, I thought there were stars in his eyes, but did I fucking see it wrong? This is somehow strange.’ he wondered.

As the surroundings quieted down, Heeyoung, as if he had never made such a smile, played innocent and continued to use his chopsticks.

Gyojin, the main culprit who caused the commotion, shamelessly scolded his son.

“Hey, when we’re eating, let’s just eat quietly, okay?”

As if he himself had done nothing wrong. As if he had been well taught in table manners and knew how to dine with grace.

🌿

Heeyoung was a little, no, very disturbed.

“What on earth should I do about this……?”

Looking at the test paper he had taken out of Cheonghyun’s bag, his heart filled with worries and concerns.

[-Math-

Name: Cha Cheonghyun / 30 points]

A bad score was not a fault, but seeing the test paper drenched in a rain of red ink did not make him feel good.

Next to the score of 30 was a stamp that seemed to have been put there by the teacher. It was a stamp with the words ‘You can get a better score with effort!’ written in a circle.

Cheonghyun had not even gotten the easiest question, number 1, right. Seeing that he had written 11 as the answer to 6+6, it seemed he had miscounted on his fingers.

Perhaps a review was necessary. Pushing a young child to study too relentlessly was a problem, but it was also not right to leave him to be complacent.

However, Gyojin, his father, did not seem to care about his child’s studies. It was the same that morning. When Cheonghyun showed him the test paper and boasted that he got 30 points, he exclaimed ‘Wow’ and clapped for him.

He wondered if it was okay to let it slide like that, but Heeyoung did not think his nonchalant reaction was entirely wrong. It was because the child, despite getting 30 points, was not discouraged at all and was confident he would get 100 points next time. Although he did not pay attention to his studies, Gyojin knew how to nurture his child in his own way.

Therefore, Heeyoung decided that he would take responsibility for the parts that he could not provide for the child. As a caregiver, he decided not just to handle his school commute and playtime, but also to teach him his studies.

“Cheonghyun, come here. Want some jellies?”

“Jellies?!”

First, he needed to assess how much Cheonghyun knew. Heeyoung lured the child to the desk with jellies he had secretly bought, making him promise that today’s business would be a secret from his father, and had him seriously solve just five problems.

“Now, don’t just write anything. You have to think and solve it, Cheonghyun, okay?”

“Ung.”

As if thinking he would not get another chance like this, the child grabbed a handful of jellies, stuffed them into his mouth, and moved his pencil. His skill in counting using his fingers and toes was a given, and the way his hand moved to write down the answers was unhesitating.

And the result was, he got only one right and all the others wrong.

This is…… this is not right. If this continued, Cheonghyun might not be able to keep up with his school classes.

The ever-cheerful child grabbed the whole bag of jellies and ran away.

“Hyung! I’m gonna eat all of this!”

And he got on the bed, jumping up and down and singing.

Becoming a little serious, Heeyoung immediately sat down at the desk and started to create a study plan for Cheonghyun. It was very simple, so as not to burden the child. Just enough to have him solve two worksheets a day and read a science book published in a comic book format.

However, after making the plan, there was one thing that bothered him. He needed money to buy the worksheets, and more importantly, he needed to get permission from his father, Gyojin, on whether it was okay to educate the child in this way.

Getting up from his seat, Heeyoung quickly went down to the first floor to find Team Leader Jeong. He saw him, who happened to be wiping the large window in the living room, put down his hand rag as he noticed Heeyoung approaching with urgent steps.

“Is something wrong?”

“Um, I wanted to know when the Boss will be returning home today.”

As he whispered the question, Team Leader Jeong’s head tilted. After thinking about Gyojin’s schedule in his head, he soon shrugged and answered.

“Well. He’s busy these days. He’ll probably be late.”

“Ah……”

“What’s it about?”

“I have something to discuss with him regarding Cheonghyun.”

“Then I can’t interfere. Try to talk to him when you get the timing right later.”

It seemed Gyojin would be coming home late again today. He had been so busy with work for the past few days that he would only come home late at night. If his busy schedule continued for a while, it was obvious he would not even be able to have a word with him, let alone a discussion.

Should I leave a text message then. He was fiddling with the phone in his pocket, contemplating.

“You must have a lot of free time for someone getting paid to work, huh? What a good life.”

Lee Seowon, who had come out of his room, spotted Heeyoung standing blankly in the living room and spoke sarcastically. At the hysterical voice, Heeyoung snapped to his senses and reflexively bowed his head first. Team Leader Jeong did the same.

He, who consistently ignored the polite greetings of the staff, slammed the coffee cup he was holding onto the living room table irritably and commanded Heeyoung.

“I clearly told you to change the coffee beans. Do you have no sense for work, or can you not use your head because you weren’t taught properly? No, I’m just asking because it’s so frustrating.”

“I’m sorry. I will go and make it again.”

“You are sorry? Then hurry up and bring it.”

He had asked him to brew coffee with the newly bought beans, so he had made it as ordered, but he was nitpicking for no reason and making him do the work several times. On days when Cha Gyojin was not home, he always tormented the staff in this manner. Currently, that vile behavior was focused on Heeyoung, who had been marked for dislike.

Heeyoung watched Lee Seowon’s back as he returned to his room and let out a deep sigh.

In the first place, the only task Team Leader Jeong had assigned to him was to care for Cheonghyun. But from some point on, he ended up taking on the tasks Lee Seowon ordered as well, and Heeyoung’s body was not holding up.

Whenever Lee Seowon had a chance, he would call him over and assign him trivial errands. Like making coffee, or cleaning his room which was messy with clothes. They were tasks that could be finished in less than five minutes, but he would often nitpick for an hour, putting him through dog training.

Today was the same. Heeyoung entered the kitchen, poured out the cold coffee, and brewed a new pot. Then Team Leader Jeong, who followed him in, patted him on the shoulder as if to say he was going through a lot.

Even though he was a team leader, he himself knew that in front of Lee Seowon, he was just another employee, so he could not rashly step in.

Heeyoung smiled as if it was perfectly fine and poured the freshly brewed coffee into a cup, comforting himself by recalling how he dealt with difficult customers while working at Ignis, thinking that making coffee several times was no big deal.

He then carried the steaming cup on a tray. As soon as he opened the door, Lee Seowon glanced at the cup and, while nonchalantly tapping his phone screen, commanded again.

“Ah, fuck this……. Hey, bring it iced. Do I have to tell you every single thing like this?”

It was already the fourth time he had changed his mind. Heeyoung, who silently left the room, stretched his stiff neck by rolling it in a circle.

Stamina was the most important thing to look after a child, but since he was needlessly expending it on things like this, fatigue was bound to build up. He was so tired that he would fall asleep as soon as he lay down at night.

But what could he do. Heeyoung, hoping this dog training would end soon, headed to the kitchen to find some ice.

He moved the hot coffee aside, took out a glass cup, and filled it to the brim with ice. After that, he brewed new coffee. It was unlikely he would notice, but he repeated the troublesome act just in case Lee Seowon nitpicked that he had reused the coffee.

Knock, knock.

Heeyoung, carrying the new coffee, cautiously opened the door again. Lee Seowon, who was looking at his phone, was smoking an electronic cigarette with the window open. Phew, as he exhaled, a cloud of smoke with a disgusting smell billowed out.

It seemed to be mixed with an artificial fruit scent, but it did not feel refreshing at all. Heeyoung endured the urge to frown and held out the tray.

“I brought you a new one, iced.”

As he spoke calmly, Lee Seowon, who had been blowing smoke in Heeyoung’s face, let out a short laugh. As if he had seen something pathetic, he scanned Heeyoung’s expression with his eyes before sneering.

“Are you pissed off? You’re feeling damn wronged right now, aren’t you. Your face says you feel wronged for just bringing coffee a few times.”

“No. It’s not like that.”

“Don’t deny it. Hey, this is the kind of work that people like you are supposed to do. Shutting your mouth and doing everything you’re told. But fuck, why can’t you control your expression. Pissing off the person who’s giving you the work.”

“……I’m sorry.”

It seemed he had unconsciously twitched his facial muscles because the smell of the electronic cigarette was so awful. Instead of adding an excuse, Heeyoung obediently apologized. In situations like this, talking back would clearly only fuel the other person’s anger, so he lowered his gaze and bowed his head.

Then, Lee Seowon, who had approached him, took the cup that was on the tray.

Clatter. The cup was lifted, and the sound of ice clinking echoed. And a moment later.

“……Hheup!”

Coffee and chunks of ice poured down like a waterfall in front of Heeyoung’s feet.

A startled gasp escaped him. The coffee that Lee Seowon had poured had narrowly missed his body and crashed onto the floor. He was sure it was being poured towards his face, but it seemed it had not quite reached that far.

The stream of liquid, unable to pool in one place, began to spread across the marble floor.

Heeyoung curled his toes, feeling the soles of his slippers getting soaked. Even though the liquid was seeping into his socks, the bewilderment that filled his mind was so overwhelming that he did not even think to step aside.

“Hey, I don’t like the fact that you’re blathering on about being sorry. As if your words are the only thing that’s sorry.”

“…….”

“Don’t you have a clue? I don’t even want to touch the coffee you made, so just clean all this up and get out. It’s gotten dirty.”

In this situation, the person who should have been apologizing was clearly Lee Seowon. But he was brazenly unapologetic. It was not enough that he had spilled the coffee someone had taken the trouble to prepare; he even got annoyed, telling him to clean the floor.

“Clean it up spotlessly and get out, okay?”

Afterward, he tossed the empty cup onto the tray and turned away indifferently. Hooo, the electronic cigarette smoke that flowed out with a long breath was once again polluting the quality of the air.

Heeyoung, who had been frozen on the spot, quietly crouched down and began to pick up the ice that had fallen on the floor and put it on the tray. An unpleasant feeling arose every time his coffee-soaked sock stuck to the sole of his foot, but he tried his best to ignore it and focused on tidying the floor first.

As luck would have it, one piece of ice was rolling around at Lee Seowon’s feet. As he approached and reached out his hand, the foot in the fluffy slipper kicked the ice cube away.

The ice slid far away, leaving a trail of water. Heeyoung bit his lip tightly and changed direction.

After picking up all the ice, he hurried to get a rag and wiped the floor. Unlike his own soaked feet, the floor quickly became spotless.

Heeyoung gave a slight bow towards Lee Seowon, who had his back turned, and quietly exited the room.

Was it because of the coffee he was soaked in, or was it because of the wave of sorrow washing over him? Heeyoung’s small chin trembled. A sigh escaped him automatically.

🌿

Gyojin returned in the early hours of that day. Heeyoung, who had forgotten to send a text because he was being tormented by Lee Seowon, tried to find a good time to talk to him, but it was not an easy task.

It was too late to talk in the early morning, and in the morning, Cheonghyun was too busy getting ready for school. By the time he dropped the child off at school and returned home, Gyojin had already left for work.

In the end, it was not until the next afternoon that Heeyoung sent him a text message.

Boss, this is Lee Heeyoung. I have something
I’d like to discuss with you regarding Cheonghyun.
Could you possibly spare some time for me?

It was a politely worded text, but no reply came back from Gyojin.

Time passed like that, and just as Cheonghyun had finished his dinner, the silent phone rang. The reply he had been waiting for from Gyojin had finally arrived.

I don’t have time to spare

If you really want to talk, come to Ignis

After checking the message, Heeyoung felt a slight curiosity at his reply telling him to come to Ignis. The Boss, who usually left all the management to the manager and would visit the establishment maybe once a month, why on earth was he at Ignis?

It was a mystery, but Heeyoung did not miss the opportunity that had come his way and seized it.

Yes. What time should I be there?

After quickly sending a reply, he diligently packed the study plan for Cheonghyun that he had prepared in advance and a memo with a list of worksheets to buy.

The time he was supposed to meet Gyojin was 11:30 at night. As soon as the short hand of the clock pointed exactly to 11, Heeyoung left the house and caught a taxi.

Perhaps because it was well past rush hour, the roads were unusually quiet. Heeyoung stared blankly out the window at the streets, which felt strangely different. The tall buildings with their lights still on, and groups of office workers who looked as if they had just finished a company dinner…….

Ah, right, this is what the night streets I knew were like.

To them, it might have been just another ordinary day, nothing special, but to Heeyoung, it was a daily life that looked incredibly special.

The ordinary night scenery he had not seen in a long time seemed to clear his head. It was only for a moment, but Heeyoung opened the window and felt the cool night breeze. However, that small happiness ended there.

The taxi soon entered a street cluttered with neon signs, and Heeyoung frowned at the flashy yet utterly messy sight. It was an alley that was never welcoming, no matter when he saw it.

“Goodness, it’s chaotic. Is it okay to drop you off here?”

“Yes. Please drop me here. Thank you.”

The taxi driver, who had finished the payment, sped out of the alley as if disgusted by the thought of a drunk person getting in.

Left alone among the drunkards, Heeyoung passed through the familiar yet strangely alien alley and arrived in front of Ignis.

As he entered the establishment, the eyes of the staff, who had been greeting him like automated response machines, all went wide. They were surprised to see Heeyoung appear without any notice.

“Hey! What are you doing here? Huh? I heard you went to the Boss’s house, why are you suddenly here?”

“Crazy, did you get fired? Were you fired?”

The first ones to jump out were Hyungseok and Seohun. They shook Heeyoung’s shoulders repeatedly, expressing their delight. For them, who had been constantly envious and jealous of Heeyoung, the employee who had left this place with special treatment, his return was indeed a very welcome event.

Heeyoung, who had come purely to meet Gyojin, had no choice but to smile silently and look for the manager.

“Excuse me, is the manager perhaps……”

“The manager? Why the manager? Did you really get fired?”

“Oh, Heeyoung is here. Hey, all of you, stop making a fuss and go back inside. Are you not going to work?”

Fortunately, the manager appeared at just the right time and sorted out the staff who had gathered around Heeyoung.

He was busy scolding the staff, who could not let go of their curiosity and kept glancing this way. Saying things like, are you going to be so lax when there are customers, or, do you want your salary cut.

Once the chaotic atmosphere was settled, the manager finally whispered to Heeyoung.

“The entertainment is over, so you can probably go in. The Boss is in room 8.”

Arriving in front of room 8 as instructed, Heeyoung knocked on the door first.

Knock, knock.

The habit from his time working as a waiter was still ingrained in his body.

No reply came from inside telling him to enter, but silence was permission. Heeyoung felt a strange tension and swallowed dryly. It was not just anywhere, but having a private meeting with the Boss inside a room felt very strange.

But it would be rude to stand there sluggishly after knocking, so he cautiously opened the door and went inside.

He had said there was entertainment just a moment ago, but the table was neatly cleared. In fact, new appetizers and alcohol were set up. Heeyoung stealthily rolled his eyes to find Gyojin.

He was sitting in a languid posture in the middle of the sofa. Perhaps because he had thrown off his tie and even unbuttoned two or three buttons of his shirt, the feeling that he looked like a gangster was particularly strong today.

“Sit.”

Just as Heeyoung was looking at the limp, large frame and thinking, ‘Is he drunk?’, Gyojin straightened his back and beckoned with his finger for him to sit.

Looking closely, his face was not the least bit drunk. He had been worried about what to do if he was too drunk to have a conversation, so it was a huge relief.

Heeyoung sat down on a seat a little distance away from Gyojin. Come to think of it, it was his first time sitting on a room sofa. Heeyoung had only ever stood or knelt on one knee on the floor in this room.

The sofa was even plusher and the material softer than he had thought. However, Heeyoung felt as uncomfortable as if he were sitting on a cushion of thorns. He had definitely visited this place as a guest, but strangely, sitting here made him feel like he had become a host.

Unable to bear the discomfort, Heeyoung resolved to get out of this place as quickly as possible and got straight to the point.

“Um, I have something to tell you regarding Cheonghyun’s studies.”

As he said that abruptly and rummaged through the bag he was carrying, Gyojin, who had approached him at some point, stopped his action.

“You’ve come all this way, why don’t you wet your throat first?”

For some reason, he showed kindness and placed a glass in front of Heeyoung. Then, out of nowhere, he started pouring whiskey.

Tilting his head at the situation that was unfolding differently from his thoughts, Heeyoung pondered deeply, trying to deduce the reason why the Boss was suddenly pouring him a drink. And before long, he scowled and pushed the glass away.

“Um, I’m not a host……”

It was an action he took because he felt that Gyojin was pressuring him to serve him drinks. But it seemed he had once again misunderstood something gravely.

“So what about it. Who doesn’t know? You just got here, so don’t rush to talk and just wet your throat. What the fuck do you take people for? I show some damn courtesy and you still give me shit.”

Gyojin, who was suddenly treated like a nuisance after trying to be considerate of someone else, exploded in anger. Heeyoung, who always calmly apologized with ‘I’m sorry’ first, was genuinely flustered and did not know what to do.

He felt so sorry for having such a trashy misunderstanding about a perfectly fine person that he felt like disappearing on the spot.

“No, I just, that is, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for misunderstanding.”

His ears turning bright red with embarrassment, Heeyoung swallowed the drink Gyojin had poured for him as if to prove a point. He was so startled that he gulped it down without even knowing what kind of alcohol it was or what it tasted like.

He thought that would get him through the crisis, but this time his throat felt like it was on fire, and he could not stop being flustered.

Heeyoung, who had never properly drunk a whole bottle of soju in his life, had drunk whiskey, and straight at that, so it was natural for his body to be shocked.

After difficulty calming his throat, Heeyoung stuck out his tongue and put down the glass. Then Gyojin, who had been angry just a moment ago, let out a short laugh and started talking to him.

“Goes down smooth, doesn’t it.”

“My throat just hurts. I don’t really know the taste……”

It was hard to understand why people enjoyed drinking such a liquid so much. Heeyoung shook his head and rambled on with a serious critique. Saying it felt like his throat was burned, and that it would not be strange if his liver was ruined overnight.

As he was staring at the empty glass with resentful eyes, Gyojin suddenly bit his lip hard.

“Then have some appetizers.”

He suppressed his laughter and pulled the plates of appetizers one by one in front of Heeyoung. They were all quite expensive appetizers.

Yukhoe, Korean-style beef tartare, with an appetizing color, and thickly sliced sashimi, beautifully plated. They were menu items he served every day, but they were foods Heeyoung would never have dared to taste. But to think he could now taste these luxurious appetizers. Honestly, it was a windfall.

However, no matter how much the Boss offered it first, he was a person with some sense, so he could not readily reach out. The cost of the food here alone would easily exceed several hundred thousand won…….

Heeyoung, who was stealing glances at Gyojin, asked cautiously.

“This, is it really okay for me to eat this……?”

As he asked with caution, Gyojin’s expression crumpled as if he was fed up.

“Then fuck, if this isn’t food you can eat, then what, is it a decoration? Eat your fill.”

While speaking curtly, he pushed the plate of appetizers closer to Heeyoung’s side.

What a relief. He said I could eat my fill. As the fresh and savory smell of the yukhoe hit his nose, he gulped. Heeyoung, realizing for the first time in his life that he was a person weak to such temptations, picked up his chopsticks.

With a timid use of his chopsticks, he tasted a bite of the yukhoe and unconsciously held his breath. It was so delicious, the taste of the yukhoe that melted and disappeared as soon as it entered his mouth was so exquisite that he could not even breathe.

Wow, what I ate at the wedding buffet wasn’t yukhoe.

Admiration gushed out of him. It was fantastic, feeling only a fresh umami taste without any greasiness or fishiness. His appetite suddenly whetted, Heeyoung quickened his chopsticks and tasted another bite of the yukhoe.

“Is it good?”

Gyojin, who had been staring intently at Heeyoung, asked as he leisurely crossed his legs. He watched Heeyoung, who was nodding with his eyes fixed solely on the appetizer, and thought of his son.

He did not know why his son, who would act all cute, saying Daddy, Daddy, when he wanted a toy, but would then focus only on the toy as if nothing had happened once he got what he wanted, popped into his mind right at this moment.

Gyojin almost pinched Heeyoung’s cheek. The urge to playfully touch his soft cheek and say, ‘Is it that good, huh? Is it so good you can’t see anything else?’ and bother the kid who was eating well, was boiling up inside him.

As the somewhat burdensome gaze continued, Heeyoung regained his composure and stopped his chopsticks.

“It’s good, it’s delicious. I just understood why the customers order so many appetizers.”

“Yes, you did? Please eat a lot.”

As he wiped his mouth with an embarrassed expression, Gyojin gestured towards the plate with a polite hand gesture, telling him not to mind and eat to his heart’s content. He even personally pulled the plate with the sashimi on it closer, so Heeyoung did not hesitate any longer and resumed using his chopsticks.

The thick sashimi, like the yukhoe, was a taste that melted and disappeared in his mouth. Gyojin poured him another glass of whiskey around the time Heeyoung’s chewing jaw stopped moving.

“What’s the use of eating only appetizers. It’s no good without a drink.”

It was just painful when he first drank it, but after eating the appetizers, strangely, he craved that fiery alcoholic taste. Heeyoung bowed his head towards Gyojin and downed the drink he had poured in one go.

Ugh, just as he felt his throat burning, he chewed and swallowed the yukhoe, and his insides quickly calmed down. Heeyoung cautiously put down the empty glass as if asking for another.

At that utterly shameless attitude, Gyojin let out a hollow laugh.

“Hey, at this point, fuck, am I not the host?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking if I’m not serving you right now.”

“How could the Boss be such a thing, absolutely not!”

It was a statement that sent shivers down his spine just hearing it. For him, a mere waiter, to treat the boss of an entertainment establishment like a host, wasn’t that just ridiculous.

Heeyoung jumped up and down on the spot, denying Gyojin’s words. He could eat on his own, and it was he who had poured the drink, so it was unfair to corner him like this.

“I’ll eat on my own, so you should have some too, Boss.”

Perhaps because he was getting tipsy from a little alcohol, Heeyoung did not hide such feelings and pouted his lips, glaring at Gyojin.

It was an act of having lost all fear, but Gyojin did not get angry. Rather, every time he met his triangularly shaped eyes, he was busy chuckling as if he was about to die from laughter.

After laughing with his shoulders shaking for a good while, he began to earnestly watch Heeyoung tasting this and that. When he rested his elbows on the table and propped up his chin, Heeyoung, who glanced this way, continued to eat as if it were nothing.

At first, he timidly tasted one or two pieces, but after just a few glasses of alcohol, his use of the chopsticks became bold.

His body was as thin as someone who had never had a proper meal, but it was fascinating to see him stuffing down heaps of yukhoe as if trying to survive. Heeyoung, who did not look the part, had a surprisingly good appetite.

Every time he picked up two or three pieces of sashimi and put them in his mouth, his cheeks, puffed up like a balloon, bobbed and moved. He’s not a squirrel, so does he have some kind of storage space in his mouth?

Watching that sight, Gyojin found himself unconsciously staring at Heeyoung’s right cheek.

It was the spot that had been red and swollen after Lee Seowon hit him last time. Fortunately, it seemed he had applied the medicine well, as it had returned to its original clean skin without any bruises.

Wait, fortunately……?

Gyojin, who had been thinking absently, flinched by himself. Fortunately, my ass.

He deliberately turned his gaze away from Heeyoung. But his eyes, unable to follow his reason, kept rolling in Heeyoung’s direction.

“……Is there something you want to say?”

Finally unable to stand it anymore, Heeyoung met the burdensome gaze and asked. Why on earth does he keep staring at me. There was a limit to ignoring it.

He had bravely spoken up, thinking his blood would run dry if this continued, but Gyojin just kept his mouth shut without giving any particular answer.

Heeyoung, who had been trying to figure out the reason, belatedly thought, ah, shoot. Come to think of it, he had been the only one eating all this time.

It was Gyojin who had ordered all this food, yet his chopsticks were perfectly clean. Heeyoung, thinking he had been clueless, put a little yukhoe on Gyojin’s plate. At the same time, he intended to naturally lighten the mood.

“You should eat some too, Boss. You did have a proper dinner, right?”

It was merely a formulaic question, but Gyojin showed an excessive reaction as if he had been struck by something.

“Dinner? Augh, that tickles. Are you really determined to play the role of my wife?”

It was a completely irrelevant answer. He scratched his chest area irritably, giving the reason that his voice tickled, and spouted nonsensical words. Heeyoung was genuinely flabbergasted.

If your voice tickles, don’t you usually clean your ears? Why is he scratching his chest like that. And what was that about being determined to play the role of his wife? It was difficult to understand the flow of this conversation, and it was overwhelming to keep up.

“No, when did I ever. I have never done such a thing, Boss.”

He tried to show his bewilderment with his whole body, but Gyojin did not seem to have any intention of listening. He snorted with a very arrogant face.

“Then why did you ask if I had dinner. Why are you asking something that only people who live and jostle together ask.”

“What? We live together, don’t we. That is, we don’t jostle together, but anyway…… we live in the same house. And I was just asking as a formality.”

As Heeyoung answered with his eyes wide open, he said he was at a loss for words and leaned back sharply against the sofa backrest.

Ha, haha, laughter of disbelief was endlessly bursting from Gyojin’s mouth.

“Wow, fuck. Why didn’t you become a host? Your lines are insane. With that innocent face, what? We, live together, you say?”

I don’t know why he’s been like that since a while ago. Heeyoung looked at Gyojin, who was exaggerating what he had said and going wild, with annoyance. He had a feeling that if he talked back again here, he would be ridiculed even more.

So, he pulled the whiskey bottle towards him and filled the empty glass to the brim. Heeyoung, regardless of whatever Gyojin was babbling about, chewed his appetizer and swallowed his drink alone.

Even the terribly bitter alcohol started to feel sweet as he kept drinking it. He felt like he could finally understand what it meant for it to go down smoothly.

“Eeh? Ignoring me now?”

Gyojin did not get worked up even at Heeyoung’s attitude of blatantly ignoring him. If he had been in a bad mood, he would have scrunched up his face in a frown, but his face was a mix of playfulness and laughter in equal measure.

Reassured, Heeyoung truly ignored him and checked the label on the whiskey bottle. He did not remember the exact name, but it was an alcohol that the customers who spent the most money would occasionally order.

It must taste good because it’s expensive…….

After drinking one more glass, the alcohol started to kick in and his cheeks flushed. Seeing that he kept getting hotter, it seemed his body temperature was rising.

Heeyoung, who was fanning himself with his hand, muttered that he should stop drinking now and pushed the bottle away. Then Gyojin cut in and pulled the pushed-away bottle back.

“Why are you suddenly backing out.”

Of course, he was stopping because he was getting tipsy, but Gyojin filled the glass as if the real fun was just beginning.

Gulp, gulp, gulp. Heeyoung, who was staring blankly at the glass being filled, shook his hands limply from side to side.

“I get drunk. I think I’ll get drunk if I drink more……”

At that feeble and innocent refusal, Gyojin felt something twist within him. Suddenly, he wanted to see Heeyoung drunk. He himself did not know why.

It was not that he had some sinister thought; he was just curious about things like, would Lee Heeyoung be that calm even when drunk.

He was simply curious about these trivial things, like whether he would mumble in a soft, lullaby-like voice, or get angry like on the day they first met.

It was the first time in his life he had ever been curious about someone else’s drunken state, and he was lost in a sense of bewilderment at himself.

Heeyoung, who had rummaged through his bag and taken something out, placed the study plan on the table.

“Boss, you see. Cheonghyun. He took a test.”

“Forget it. Let’s have just one more drink.”

“Pardon? No, I can’t. I’m already a little drunk……”

“Don’t you want to try cream pasta with truffle?”

Just as he was about to get to the main point, Gyojin cut him off. And then he suddenly tempted him with food. Heeyoung firmly shook his head, yet he gulped down his saliva.

As he became tipsy, he kept feeling hungry. And on top of that, truffle. He had eaten cheap versions of yukhoe or sashimi, but cream pasta with truffle was a dish he had never tried even once.

He was not a child, and he felt pathetic for losing his composure over mere food. Heeyoung suddenly thought of Cheonghyun, who would solve a problem and jump around for a single jelly. He was no different from eight-year-old Cheonghyun in terms of mental age.

But what sin could the food have committed? Besides, Gyojin was insisting on ordering it for him, so, well, there was not really a reason to refuse, was there.

“Just that, then……”

Heeyoung hid his excited feelings and answered with a deep sigh. He hoped it would not be obvious, but Gyojin’s intuition was faster than a ghost’s.

“Wow, this is funny, isn’t it?”

He chuckled as if he had seen something hilarious. As the embarrassed Heeyoung fidgeted with his fingers, he stopped teasing him and called for the manager.

Soon, the manager entered room 8, and Gyojin ordered him to make a menu item that only the Boss could order.

“Go and make one pasta. With a shit ton of truffle in it.”

The manager, who immediately replied, ‘Yes, Boss!’, glanced at Heeyoung, whose face was flushed red, before leaving the room.

In that fleeting glance, curiosity, puzzlement, and a strange slyness were mixed.

Fortunately, Heeyoung did not notice it, but Gyojin had clearly witnessed the manager’s meaningful gaze. It was around then that he, who had been wearing a playful expression all along, hardened his mouth for the first time.

The manager, who had been deliberately moving sluggishly, trying to read the atmosphere between the two, noticed Gyojin’s ferociously changed expression and reined in his rude nosiness.

“I’m sorry. I will prepare it for you quickly.”

True to his nature as someone who had worked with Gyojin for a long time, his actions were swift and cunning. The manager quickly apologized and then bolted, lest he get cursed at by Gyojin.

“That foxy bastard, anyway.”

If you were going to be sorry, fuck, you shouldn’t have looked at me with those eyes in the first place.

Gyojin, thinking to himself, tilted his head at a question that momentarily arose.

Was there anything seriously wrong with the situation just now. Why did I get angry even after receiving an apology. The funny one was not Lee Heeyoung, but Cha Gyojin himself.

As he downed a drink due to the suffocating feeling that arose again, Heeyoung, who had been sitting quietly, held out his glass.

“Since we’ve ordered pasta anyway, I’ll just drink a little more. I don’t think I’m that incredibly drunk yet……. Please pour me a little, too.”

That tingly way of speaking again.

Gyojin clicked his tongue, tsk, and frowned.

“Yeah, let’s drink. We have to drink.”

The two men’s glasses were continuously filled, emptied, and then filled again.

Unlike Gyojin, who was pleasantly tipsy, Heeyoung was completely drunk. It was because he kept craving more alcohol as he twirled and ate the pasta, which was generously topped with truffle. With each glass, one, two, his face became redder and he became more talkative.

“You know, I’ve never eaten something like this before……. Did you buy things like this for Cheonghyun, too?”

Heeyoung asked, putting his glass down on the table. Gyojin’s eyebrow muscles twitched as if to say, are you even saying that as a question.

“Of course, he’s my son, I feed him things better than this.”

A week ago, he would have doubted whether that answer was the truth. However, Heeyoung smiled brightly without any particular suspicion.

“That’s a relief. I’m envious. If I had a lot of money, I would have bought my younger brother lots of delicious things too……”

The emotion contained in the voice that said he was envious was heavy. Heeyoung pointlessly fiddled with his fork, erasing the bitterness that was welling up in his chest.

As the alcohol went in, it seemed not only his body but also his emotions were becoming honest. Of course, he became envious of Cheonghyun, who saw only good things, had good things, and ate good food. No, to be precise, he was envious of Gyojin, who could do anything for his son.

“……I want to feed my Heemin expensive pasta like this, too.”

At the small mumble, a huge curiosity bloomed in Gyojin’s mind.

A younger brother?

At the sudden mention of a younger brother, Gyojin suddenly became curious about Heeyoung’s family relationships. He was sure his resume was somewhere in his desk drawer, but he had never seen it before.

Usually, his underlings managed matters related to debt. Bringing debtors who had no ability to repay to Ignis and making them work was also handled by his underlings and the manager, so Gyojin did not know about the personal circumstances of the employees.

There was a time when he had managed Ignis himself, but after he started working under Chairman Baek, he had focused more on the company’s affairs, so it would be correct to say he had no time to pay attention to Ignis.

But now that Heeyoung was bringing up his younger brother like someone with a sob story, it was impossible for curiosity not to arise.

“A younger brother? What younger brother.”

When he could not hold back his curiosity and asked, Heeyoung mumbled his answer vaguely.

“I have one……. A younger brother.”

The small fellow had a knack for making people antsy, more than one would expect. Gyojin revealed his persistence and began to probe relentlessly.

“What are your family relationships like.”

“Just, similar to others. Or maybe not……”

Heeyoung, oblivious to Gyojin’s intentions, just poured himself another drink. Gyojin let out a hollow laugh, ha, and saying out loud that his answer was so neat, followed Heeyoung in downing a drink.

After a moment of silence, just as he was about to ask the same question, Heeyoung naturally changed the topic of conversation.

“Boss, but I came here because I wanted to talk about Cheonghyun. Will you listen? Cheonghyun took a test, and his score was,”

“Did you look after the kid well because you have a younger brother? Or, no way, did you get married early? Fuck, are you a married man? You’re not, right?”

However, Gyojin rejected it. Even though he had gone to the trouble of changing the subject, the topic returned to its original place before veering off to a completely different one. To the topic of marriage, no less. It was utterly absurd.

“No, what are you talking about. Why would I be married?”

When he answered with a hint of annoyance, Gyojin nodded his head with a strangely relieved face.

“Right, there’s no way you’d be married already at that age.”

“No, Boss. Please listen to me. Cheonghyun—”

“Then have you been in a relationship?”

Heeyoung, who had been trying to stubbornly continue the conversation, was cut off again and finally frowned. He was getting really irritated because Gyojin had been spewing nothing but nonsensical questions from the beginning.

“No. I haven’t been in a relationship either. I never had a reason or the time to pay attention to alphas. I’ve never been close with alphas either. More importantly, Boss,”

“Wow, then you’ve hit the fucking jackpot. The first alpha you’ve ever gotten close to would be me.”

At this point, it felt like Gyojin was testing his patience. Heeyoung was physically feeling what it meant for one’s insides to be boiling.

Absurdly, Gyojin was striking an extremely arrogant pose. Looking at him sitting with his legs wide apart and his arms draped over the back of the sofa, anger flared up for no reason.

Heeyoung glared at him fiercely and retorted in a timid voice that did not match his expression.

“What did you mean by that just now?”

“What are you asking. Do I have to say it for you to know? Do you think you can fucking go out and see an alpha who looks like me?”

His confidence was so overflowing it was piercing the sky. Honestly, it was not a wrong statement, but Heeyoung, who found the boastful him strangely unpleasant to look at, deliberately did not acknowledge it.

Instead of a yes, he clamped his mouth shut and only swallowed his drink. Gyojin let out a breath of disbelief as if he was dumbfounded. Who was the one who was truly speechless and dumbfounded here.

“Huh? Look at this, suddenly clamping his mouth shut.”

“…….”

“Hey, even you think I’m handsome, right.”

Thud!

In the end, Heeyoung’s patience reached its limit, and he firmly put down his glass.

He could no longer tolerate Gyojin, who was just spouting nonsense. Heeyoung grabbed his thick arm and pulled it sharply. At that, the large upper body leaned forward until it was right in front of him.

They say people change when they drink, but he had never even thought that he had such a tough side to him.

It seemed Gyojin thought the same. He, who had been pulled along by Heeyoung’s unexpected action, had a slightly flustered expression.

The two men’s bodies were pressed tightly together. Heeyoung’s shoulder was touching Gyojin’s broad chest, and a gap of less than 15cm was precariously maintained between their faces.

Wow, fuck, what is this?

Too surprised to even open his mouth, Gyojin could only stare blankly at Heeyoung’s face, which filled his vision. Unable to do anything about his strangely pounding heart, he repeatedly cursed harshly in his mind.

He tried to take the opportunity to subtly pull his upper body back, but even that was blocked by Heeyoung.

Heeyoung, who was so drunk that he was blinking his eyelids slowly, suddenly cupped Gyojin’s face with both hands.

As soon as the delicate hands wrapped around his cheeks, Gyojin flinched, unlike himself. Regardless, Heeyoung forcibly pulled his head down, making him check the study plan and the test paper.

“Boss, please look at this. First, this is Cheonghyun’s math test. Cheonghyun doesn’t know what six plus six is. As a father, aren’t you upset……?”

He said this with his eyebrows drooped pitifully and tapped the first problem on the test paper with his finger. When no particular answer came back, Heeyoung turned his head and looked up at Gyojin’s face. Their lips almost brushed, but it seemed he did not notice that at all.

The only one maintaining his sanity here was Gyojin. Raising an eyebrow at Heeyoung’s defenseless action, he pulled back, creating distance.

However, Heeyoung did not allow it. Confirming that the thick upper body was moving away, he mercilessly grabbed Gyojin by the collar.

If he had been sober, he would not have been able to put it into action, let alone even imagine grabbing the Boss’s collar. In short, Heeyoung was now nothing more than a drunkard who was just speaking coherently.

Gyojin, who was unexpectedly grabbed by the collar and pulled, was flustered for the second time. In this world, besides Cha Cheonghyun, how many people would dare to grab his collar?

“Hey, hey, you’re just grabbing the Boss’s collar like that. Without a shred of fear.”

At the characteristic playful tone, Heeyoung let go of his hand but did not give up and held onto his forearm tightly. The premise of not touching Gyojin’s body was nonexistent. Right now, in Heeyoung’s small head, there was only one thought.

I have to hold him tight and talk so the Boss can’t say anything else.

Without knowing what kind of repercussions that would cause. As Gyojin said, he acted without a shred of fear.

“So please look at this. For Cheonghyun to enjoy his school classes more in the future, we need to stick by his side and help him with his studies. He might feel discouraged if he’s the only one getting problems wrong that all the other kids get right. So, I made a bit of a study plan. First of all……”

Heeyoung babbled on, explaining something, but nothing entered Gyojin’s ears. It was because a faint pheromone was leaking from the drunk Heeyoung.

He looked down blankly at the nape of the neck, which lay appetizingly before his eyes. It was white and clean skin without a single mole. Whenever Heeyoung spoke, his small chest would rise and fall, and his calmly settled hair would sway softly, and each of those small movements was tinged with a subtle pheromone scent.

It was a cozy and sweet scent, just like Lee Heeyoung himself. A mysterious scent that made one feel at ease when smelling it, yet at the same time, paradoxically, made a sinister dark thought bloom.

He wanted to listen to his son’s story somehow, but Gyojin could not concentrate at all. The tickling in his chest intensified, and his lower abdomen tingled. It felt like a rough curse, ridden with desire, would escape through his clenched teeth.

Heeyoung, belatedly realizing that his mind was elsewhere, grabbed Gyojin’s hand and placed it on the table. Then he forcibly unfolded his long, thick index finger.

It was a sudden action, but Gyojin was no longer flustered. Rather, he watched Heeyoung, who was fiddling with his hand, with a blatant gaze and saved his words.

At some point, two hands were layered on the table. They were two hands that were different in everything: skin color, size, and the thickness of the fingers.

Gyojin’s hand was large enough to cover Heeyoung’s entire face, and blue veins protruded from the back of his hand.

In contrast, Heeyoung’s hands were long and slender, like a pianist’s. His skin was slightly rough due to a hard life, but a reddish hue around the knuckles of his fingers made one feel that they were pretty.

With those pretty hands, Heeyoung firmly clasped Gyojin’s rough hand and placed his outstretched index finger on the words written ‘Worksheet Purchase List’.

“I looked it up, and they say a lot of people have their kids solve this worksheet. The solutions are well-structured in a picture format, and the problems seem to be diverse. So I was thinking of buying this one, but, um, I don’t know what to do about the money. Umm, I’m also curious about your opinion, Boss.”

“…….”

“Are you listening……? I, I’m really drunk now and I’m dizzy, you have to listen now……”

Heeyoung, who had been diligently chattering, looked up with a desperate gaze. Gyojin ended up avoiding his gaze. It was an act done purely on impulse, and he did not know why he had avoided it.

And that action of Gyojin’s was enough to hurt Heeyoung’s feelings.

This time too, Heeyoung grabbed both his cheeks and made him look his way. He forcibly turned his head to meet his eyes and spoke firmly.

“Stop doing that and answer me properly. Okay?”

Answer, my ass. Gyojin was losing his mind from the warmth of the hand that touched his cheek.

If Gyojin had been testing Heeyoung’s patience until a while ago, now it was Heeyoung who was testing Gyojin’s patience in reverse.

It was because his cheekbones, flushed red, and his dazed, unfocused eyes appeared excessively erotic.

Wow, I’m going crazy.

Gyojin stared blankly at the face that seemed to be seducing him, then hastily pulled away the hand resting on his cheek.

As he swatted it away with a thwack, he saw Heeyoung’s two arms fall limply.

However, the brightly shining eyes did not fall. Gyojin thought to himself.

This little punk, looking like a deer, he keeps acting cute since last time.

It was a thought close to a compliment, but the words that came out of his mouth were brusque.

“I’ll give you a card, so you can buy it or not as you please.”

“Really? Yes! Thank you……”

As soon as permission was granted, Heeyoung’s face lit up and he started to rummage and put the study plan into his bag. While doing so, he mumbled his thanks, subtly mixed with nagging.

“Thank you, Boss. I’m really grateful. But you know, I think you need to pay a little more attention to Cheonghyun’s studies.”

“…….”

“You’re a dad, a dad. Still, because you’re his dad, you know……?”

In the midst of it all, it seemed he was still wary. Heeyoung, who had been nagging while cautiously observing Gyojin’s expression, picked up his fork again and continued his meal.

As he twirled the pasta and put a mouthful in his mouth, he immediately felt a chill. Ugh, the more he chewed, the more a greasy taste rose up, and his stomach rapidly became queasy. It seemed the food had cooled down and lost its original taste.

“Uuep.”

Heeyoung, who barely managed to chew and swallow the food, covered his mouth and dry-heaved. When he put down his fork and lifted his head, the world was spinning slowly.

“Hey, why are you suddenly dry-heaving and all that.”

The horrified Gyojin tapped his shoulder and asked, but an answer did not come out right away.

Is it because my stomach is churning? The world kept spinning. The table was spinning, the plates were spinning, and Cha Gyojin was spinning.

Heeyoung, shaking his already dizzy head, opened his mouth. The pronunciation was accurate, but nonsensical sentences flowed out one after another.

“It’s nothing, Boss. It’s just…… the Earth is rotating. I’m just, rotating along with it. I’m sorry it’s so fast……”

Anyone could see he had lost his mind. Heeyoung, who had relaxed after finishing his talk about Cheonghyun, had finally let go of his senses.

“Why, why does it keep spinning. Is it because my stomach feels greasy? I should, I should drink some water.”

He tried to drink some cold water to come to his senses, but his hand naturally went towards the glass of alcohol. At that, Gyojin swatted his hand away and left a piece of advice that was close to a warning.

“Stop drinking. You’ll regret it if you do that.”

One moment he was continuously pouring him drinks, saying he should not just eat the appetizers, and now he was telling him to stop drinking. It was truly an unfair situation. Heeyoung whined and talked back.

“But you were the one who told me to drink. I said I wouldn’t drink, I said I thought I would get drunk, but you were the one who just poured it, Boss. I have so, so many things I feel wronged about.”

Thinking he was wronged, and then saying it out loud, his emotions began to swell up like a large ball.

Heeyoung, who recalled all the unfair things that had happened to him like a flashback, was finally on the verge of tears.

It was unfair that he was dragged away by Lee Seowon and slapped, and it was unfair that he had to suppress his shameful and miserable feelings every time he was put through dog training…… come to think of it, his life was full of unfair things.

When he bit his lip hard and a little dimple formed on his chin, Gyojin, for once, opened his sharp eyes wide and stared at him.

“Alright. Fuck, it was all my fault. But what, are you going to cry and all? Huh?”

It seemed he was flustered by the sudden tears. He, who had been holding Heeyoung’s chin and asking, narrowed his eyes as soon as he met the moist ones.

For some reason, he too felt his stomach churn and felt like he was going to throw up.

“Ah shit, hey, looking at you is making me feel like I’m going to puke too.”

And he abruptly let go of Heeyoung’s chin.

In that moment, Heeyoung, who was already soaked in alcohol and unable to keep his balance, collapsed onto Gyojin’s thigh. His limp, melted upper body tilted forward, and before long, his round head was buried between his legs.

He had not imagined this. The posture was strangely provocative. To collapse right between his legs of all places.

Gyojin looked down at the scene that was perfect for misunderstanding, then ruthlessly grabbed the back of Heeyoung’s neck and pulled him up.

“Who are you trying to hit on. Aren’t you going to get a grip?”

It was no use even when he deliberately warned him in a cool voice.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I feel wronged. It hurts……”

What could one do with a drunk person? As Heeyoung made a crying sound and dragged out the end of his words, Gyojin felt a sense of guilt and roughly let go of the back of his neck.

Due to the inconsiderate gesture, Heeyoung’s face was once again buried in his crotch.

“Hheup, euk……”

From the completely drunk Heeyoung’s perspective, it was no different from falling off a cliff. Since his body had fallen in a nauseous state, his stomach was bound to be turned upside down. The fact that he opened his mouth and let out a weak dry heave was an instinct for survival.

Gyojin, who had no way of knowing this, screamed in horror as soon as the front of his pants got wet.

“Did you just throw up?!”