Midday Guest Chapter 82

A large hand ruffled through his hair. The moment Yiwon saw Cha Seokjoo meeting his eyes and waiting for an answer, he felt even the slight, lingering traces of alcohol recede and blinked his eyes.

“Is there something else?”

Ah….

What should I do.

Yiwon quietly met his eyes and whispered.

“Because I like you, Director.”

“I know.”

“Really? Since when did you know?”

“It’s been a while. But just in case you didn’t know this yet.”

“……”

“I like you a lot, too.”

Over their touching lips, ticklish whispers continued to pour out. It was a sweet whispering that made the long night feel infinitely short.

Yiwon, tossing and turning, opened his eyes, feeling the unfamiliar emptiness beside him.

Sunlight was pouring in from outside the window. Blinking his eyes open, Yiwon embraced the fragments of yesterday’s memories that came rushing back and then pulled the blanket over his head.

‘…Mister, please go to Songpa-gu…’

‘Mister, please go easy… I don’t feel well.’

‘…Oh. It’s the Director. It wasn’t a driver, it was the Director…’

“Ah….”

I should just die….

Yiwon let out a silent scream inside the blanket and rolled around. Then, feeling nauseous and getting a headache, he lay flat and looked at the ceiling.

Did Shin Heeyoung get home safely? Is he alive? He sent a message along with a bedridden emoticon and checked to see if there were any other traces.

17 missed calls from Cha Seokjoo. A record remained of a miracle-like call connecting at the very end, but his head spun at the sight of the number 17.

“…Ah, my head hurts…”

It felt like his head was going to split. I will never, never drink like this starting next time. While thinking that, the image of Cha Seokjoo warning him with a scary face came to mind.

‘If you drink alcohol outside from now on, consider yourself dead.’

While modestly celebrating the fact that he was still alive, he gripped his phone properly.

He felt certain that he had talked with Song Junhyeok yesterday and even exchanged messages. But there was no saved number, no messages—no records remained, as if there had been no contact at all.

There was something more important than that.

There was a new incoming message.

[Web Notice]

Your dormitory application has been canceled.

…What on earth have I done?

Even if I was drunk, I did something like this?

I couldn’t believe it.

While he was tearing at his hair, vzzzt, a vibration came through the phone.

Cha Seokjoo:

Drunkard, are you still sleeping?

He checked the content with eyes swollen shut. He had nothing to say because it was the truth.

I’m sorry…

I’ll be careful from now on.

Yiwon sent an emoticon of a bowing waist followed by one of two hands rubbing together in apology. Then he typed out and sent the words, “I’m really sorry.” With his dormitory application already canceled, it was Yiwon who would be in trouble if he got kicked out of here.

Cha Seokjoo:

Come down and have some hangover soup.

I told them to have a meal ready.

Is this what it means for the positions of guest and host to be reversed? The owner of the house goes to work while the guest stays like this until the sun is in the middle of the sky. Yiwon looked at the message that arrived next and replied with a miserable heart.

Yes…

Cha Seokjoo did not send any more messages. Yiwon stared at his phone for a moment and then staggered toward the bathroom with half-closed eyes. He muttered to himself, “If I ever drink until my film cuts out again, I’m a dog.”

He managed to wash up and came out to finish his meal. Just as Cha Seokjoo had said, a menu good for hangover recovery had been prepared. After curing his hangover with a soup containing dried pollack and bean sprouts, Yiwon went back upstairs.

His head was still throbbing. Huddled under the covers, Yiwon fell into a short sleep and opened his eyes again. By then, the sun was setting.

To think a whole day was deleted, is this for real… Shin Heeyoung was still either unconscious or unreachable. While he was staring blankly outside, a message came from Cha Seokjoo.

Cha Seokjoo:

What are you doing?

Reflecting on my actions.

He sent an emoticon of someone kneeling with both arms raised high. He was wondering what else he should do when a call came from Cha Seokjoo.

“Hello.”

— Your voice sounds fine.

“…Yes. I’m really sorry about yesterday, and also, thank you.”

— Stop the reflection there and come out.

“Outside?”

— Yeah, let’s eat out.

Yiwon stood up and looked in the mirror. What should I wear? Thinking that, he moved his steps toward the dressing room.

— Is there anything you want to eat?

“Something spicy and refreshing…”

A sound of a breath escaping through teeth came from over the phone.

— Fine. It’s still cold outside, so dress warmly and come out.

“Yes… Then I’ll go wearing my padded jacket.”

— Take care of that yourself.

Yiwon asked as he moved the phone to his other ear.

“Where should we meet?”

— Come to the company. We’ll go together once we meet.

“The company? What’s the address?”

— I’ll send a driver.

While Yiwon was answering “Yes, yes” as he picked out clothes, a sweet voice reached his ear,

— Today it’s a driver, not the Director.

“……”

— In case the baby gets confused. See you soon, then.

And then it scattered far away.

Scurrying to put on his clothes, Yiwon thought. He didn’t feel that sorry about the fact that his dormitory application had been canceled.

Having arrived at the Cheongun Construction headquarters, Yiwon headed straight for the top floor. A few secretarial staff members were at their desks, and on the sofa spread out before them, Oh Taesik, Ma Haeyoung, and some employees were lounging comfortably. As expected, the atmosphere was quite different from a typical company.

“Hello.”

“Oh, the Little Boss is here?”

Oh Taesik welcomed Yiwon warmly. While he had been enjoying snacks like peanuts and beef jerky on the sofa, he wiped his hands roughly on his pants and approached Yiwon.

“I heard you’re supposed to meet the Director?”

“Yes.”

“Is something going on?”

“It’s not really a big deal, we’re just having dinner.”

“…Dinner?”

Oh Taesik, his gaze snapping down to the floor, muttered to himself, “That’s strange, canceling an appointment with the Chairman just to set a new one to eat dinner with the Little Boss.”

“Is the Director busy?”

“Well, the Director being busy isn’t exactly a new thing.”

He only blinked at the vague answer. Just as he was thinking if he should just leave after seeing his face, Ma Haeyoung, who was passing by, suddenly approached and pounded on the office door.

“Director, Jung Yiwon is here.”

“Tell him to come in.”

“Yes.”

Ma Haeyoung opened the door and gestured inward with his arm.

“You can go on in.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Standing at the entrance, he looked into the office. In a space as wide as a playground, Cha Seokjoo was looking at a tablet and drinking tea from his spot on the sofa in the center.

Cha Seokjoo reached out a hand and gestured for him to come closer. Yiwon immediately walked toward him. As he looked down at him from a distance close enough for their knees to brush, Cha Seokjoo set down the tablet and tilted his head back. After quietly meeting his eyes, he hooked his fingers together with a slow movement.

“Wait just a moment. It’ll be over soon.”

“They said you were busy. I didn’t know.”

“No matter how busy I am, it’s just company work.”

“…Is it okay for the Director to say things like that?”

“Even if I work hard, it’s someone else’s company.”

He spoke like that, but in truth, Yiwon also knew. Just how much influence Cha Seokjoo had within the Cheongun Group. With the recent redevelopment contract win and the circumstances where the heir of Cheongun Group was caught trying to illegally distribute foreign drugs domestically, power was concentrating in his hands. Since a few days ago, rumors had even been circulating that he might be inaugurated as the CEO.

“Think about what you want to eat.”

“Actually, I looked up a few places on the way here…”

“Tell me.”

Yiwon was pulled closer between his legs by Cha Seokjoo’s touch. It was just as he was about to fold his legs, rest them on the sofa as per a habit he’d picked up, and sit on his lap.

“……”

Ma Haeyoung hurriedly closed the door. Oh Taesik, who had been watching the two through the gap, wore an expression as if he’d been hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer and let out fragmented sounds like “Uh, that, what.”

Click, the door closed, and the two men stood in their spots just breathing.

“Hey, Young-ah.”

“…Yeah.”

“Have my eyes finally gone rotten, why does it feel like I’m seeing things?”

“They’re probably not rotten…”

Ma Haeyoung muttered, and Oh Taesik blinked his eyes shut and open.

“If they ain’t rotten. Does that mean I saw it right?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you see it too?”

“I saw it.”

“That cringeworthy, strange atmosphere—you’re saying you saw it too?”

Ma Haeyoung only nodded silently.

“What did I… what did I just see…. I mean, I mean our Director just now…”

Oh Taesik, repeating only the same words, gulped down dry saliva. He couldn’t bring himself to put the rest into words.

It had been over ten years since he stepped into this world and joined Cha Seokjoo. His Director, who looked at pretty women like they were stones whether they lined up or not, was making a tender expression he’d never seen in his life toward the Little Boss….

“Why aren’t you surprised. Did you know?”

“I haven’t known for very long either.”

“Since when was it.”

“I don’t know since when they started. I just happened to find out during the Hong Kong business trip.”