Winter Season Chapter 14

“I will send the additional materials for Nexus via Kwak Taeshik. And stop attending those gatherings yourself. Nothing good comes from leaving openings here and there.”

The orgy held in the basement of Nexus a while ago had been kept strictly under wraps by the CEO. Since Chairman Gu couldn’t have heard the news himself, the information must have leaked through Gu Jinhyeok’s side. That meant a rat was wandering around the establishment without any fear.

Seunghyeok, still standing by the door, slightly turned his head to check the face of Jinhyeok, who was sitting upright and tilting his teacup. Seeing him so composed, as if nothing had happened, a belated surge of pain seemed to rush through the inside of Seunghyeok’s cheek.

“If there’s anything you need to check, ask President Kim. On your way out, tell Secretary Yoon to come in.”

Seunghyeok, gripping the handle, let out a smirk in front of the closed door. As he pushed the door open, he turned around as if something had just occurred to him.

“Chairman. I’ll call Secretary Yoon for you, but when you two get it on in the office, let’s try to keep it a bit quiet.”

“What?”

“It’d be a bit awkward to look the boys in the eye if word gets out that the eldest son and the father are hole-brothers.”

This petty provocation was the extent of the miserable revenge he could take against Gu Jinhyeok. Seunghyeok stepped away, wearing a bitter smile at his own behavior, which even he found pathetic.

“I’m leaving.”

He felt a stinging gaze on the back of his head, but the door to the Chairman’s office closed with a bang. As soon as the sound echoed, the smile vanished from his face, turning it ice-cold as if it had never been there. Seunghyeok picked up his phone and called Taeshik.

“Taeshik, it looks like there’s a rat in Nexus. Let’s pick a day and do a clean sweep.”

— Yes, hyung-nim. I’ll get on it.

“Find out what kind of fun Gu Jinhyeok was having there, too.”

Listening to the reply from the other end, Seunghyeok walked on. As he wiped the wound on his split lip with his finger, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

Seunghyeok wiped the blood away roughly with the back of his hand and walked toward the elevator. The steady click-clack of his dress shoes echoed through the quiet hallway.

༘⋆🤍˚ .❄️₊˚ෆ

It didn’t take long to find the person leaking internal information from Nexus like a rat. Several sets of footsteps echoed in the hallway leading to the CEO’s office.

“The kid.”

“We have him tied up in the storage room. From what I heard, it seems he was just doing as he was told from above. He’s likely just a tail.”

Taeshik watched Seunghyeok’s mood as he rolled his neck and took off his suit jacket. Seeing one side of those well-shaped lips split as if he had been hit by someone, Taeshik could roughly guess what had happened at the head office a few days ago. He put a bit more strength into his posture to avoid getting on Seunghyeok’s nerves.

The interior of the CEO’s office looked like a storm had swept through. Document envelopes and scraps of paper were scattered on the sofa, the desk, and even the floor, and every single drawer was pulled open.

Standing with his weight on one leg, Seunghyeok surveyed the scene, handed his jacket to Taeshik, and headed toward the storage room attached to one side. The two men blocking the way bowed and opened the door, and Seunghyeok bent his waist to step inside.

In the center, a man was sitting on his knees.

Click, click-click.

The chilling sound of shoe heels echoed in the small space. Standing in the middle of the organization members who were lined up like a folding screen, Seunghyeok crouched down to meet the man’s eyes. At that, the body of the kneeling man began to tremble more violently.

“I heard you were caught rummaging through the filing cabinet in the CEO’s office.”

“I, I was just… cleaning there is my job, so…”

The sight of him tied up, covered in blood and trembling, was quite pitiful, but Seunghyeok showed no emotion. He merely turned the terrified face with one hand before letting go as if throwing it away.

Looking around the room with a bored expression, Seunghyeok approached a steel chair on one side and plopped down. As he put a cigarette in his mouth, someone quickly lit it for him.

Exhaling smoke while looking at the trembling man, he grimaced at the pain rising from his split lip.

“P-please spare me. I don’t know anything.”

“Why are you shaking so much if you don’t know anything?”

“Section Chief, Section Chief…”

“For a mere part-timer, how do you even know I’m the Section Chief?”

Ignoring the pleading voice, Seunghyeok exhaled a long trail of cigarette smoke. He tapped the armrest of the chair with his finger and spoke.

“Let’s see…. I don’t think President Kim would have told you to take out every single drawer and wipe them like that.”

“Ugh, that’s originally… it was already like that from the start before I came in…”

“The only one around me who fusses that much about cleanliness is Gu Jinhyeok.”

The moment the name Gu Jinhyeok was mentioned, a flash of surprise crossed the terrified face. Seunghyeok let out a smirk and continued.

“You must have leaked everything behind President Kim’s back, so it’s understandable you were shocked to hear there’s a ledger you didn’t know about. Even I get a bit of the creeps every time I see Gu Jinhyeok lose his mind.”

“H-how did you…”

“But you should have at least thought about the person cleaning up.”

Since the person in charge, President Kim, was Chairman Gu’s right-hand man, there would have been a limit to how much Gu Jinhyeok could order him around. It was easy to guess that he would have planted a new mole. The only thing was, he didn’t expect the rat to be stupid enough to get caught in such a simple trap.

Gu Jinhyeok, you must have been running this place however you wanted without even watching your back.

Remembering Chairman Gu, who was just feeling proud without knowing any of this, Seunghyeok smiled bitterly.

He toyed with his lighter and stared down at the part-timer. From the way he looked so terrified, it seemed he would spill everything he knew without much effort. Getting bored instantly, he checked his phone just as an organization member from outside approached him.

“Hyung-nim. This was dropped in the corner of the CEO’s office.”

What was placed in Seunghyeok’s hand was a small, worn leather wallet. Is this yours? He asked the part-timer, and as soon as he opened it casually, his eyes met a familiar face in the photo on the ID card.

“…Haha.”

Straight black hair fell just above the eyebrows. The ends of his thin, double-lidded eyes were slightly upturned, giving a chic impression, but his overall face looked gentle thanks to his calm expression. The beauty mark under his right eye stood out particularly well.

Perhaps it was taken shortly after he became an adult, as the face in the photo was close to the image in Seunghyeok’s memory. It felt as if very old, worn-out memories were flashing before his eyes. Looking down at the name Kwon Yihyeon written next to it with a blank expression, Seunghyeok ran his thumb over the photo.

“This makes things a bit interesting.”

Doesn’t he know that leaving a wallet with an ID inside right at the scene is a sloppy setup? Did they plant someone whose head doesn’t work that well?

Seunghyeok let out an empty laugh at the sight of the part-timer, who was watching his reaction after such a ridiculous stunt. The fact that the person they chose happened to be Kwon Yihyeon was also utterly absurd.

However, Seunghyeok stared down at the ID in the wallet for a moment before gesturing toward Taeshik.

“Where is President Kim?”

“I heard he just went up to check if the owner of the wallet came into work.”

“Find him and tell him to bring him here.”

“Yes.”

Even though he realized immediately that Yihyeon had nothing to do with this, the reason he told them to bring him was because he wanted to see those indifferent eyes fill with embarrassment or shame.

It had been bothering him how he acted as if he had nothing to do with the filth of the world, despite being a gay bastard. The filthiest kind who sleeps with men.

The few organization members who answered briefly left the storage room, and Seunghyeok slowly finished his cigarette. Every time he looked down at the wallet in his hand, his eyes kept meeting the face in his memory. A feeling, unsure if it was unpleasantness or irritation, simmered near his lower abdomen.

He didn’t want to drag up an old connection he had cut off long ago, but every time he saw Kwon Yihyeon’s face popping up, he felt as if his peaceful inner state was starting to boil over.

Seunghyeok exhaled a long trail of cigarette smoke, thinking of Yihyeon, who used to look at him with a blank, indifferent expression.