Winter Season Chapter 15

When Yihyeon connected his phone to the power bank he had tucked inside his locker, the number 0 appeared in the center of the screen. He stared blankly at his face reflected in the liquid crystal display, then closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.

The touch of a cold that had been subtly lingering since the day he spent with Subin was heavily weighing down his entire body today. Despite taking medicine, he had a severe headache. It felt as if someone were stabbing the crown of his head with something sharp, like an ice pick.

I should stop by a clinic or something after work. But will there be a clinic open at that hour…

At the very least, it was a relief that today was a weekday. He felt quite reassured by the fact that he wouldn’t have to weave through a crowd of dead-drunk people filling the club. The thought of melting into the thumping music made him feel at a loss even before the work had started. Yihyeon, sighing as he wiped his face, braced himself and straightened his body.

The good thing was that he wasn’t on the opening shift, so there wasn’t anything special to prepare. While he was pinning his name tag to the chest of his shirt, the sound of someone’s urgent footsteps approached from the hallway.

“Has anyone seen Hyeon hyung? Is hyung here yet?”

It was the voice of Yunjin, who should have been busy preparing for the opening upstairs. Since they were in charge of different halls in the first place, she was someone who had no reason to search for him so urgently at this time. Yihyeon, after checking once more to see if he had locked his locker properly, stepped out of the breakroom.

“Yihyeon hyung!”

Her already large eyes grew even rounder upon discovering Yihyeon. Yunjin walked quickly with short steps and grabbed Yihyeon by both arms.

“Hyung, did you get into some kind of trouble?”

“…Trouble?”

“The President is making a scene right now, telling me to bring you immediately! No, and why was your phone turned off?”

“The battery was dead…”

At the unexpected words, Yihyeon’s brow furrowed slightly. Not only could he not think of anything he had done, but even if he had made a mistake, it wasn’t something the President would go to such lengths to find him for.

If he were in a part-time position where his job was to grab passersby to bring them in or subtly suggest stamps dusted with white powder like Subin did, that would be one thing, but from the start, Yihyeon’s duties here consisted entirely of odd jobs.

Since there was nothing among those tasks that could lead to an accident, Yunjin’s words came across as even more puzzling.

“What is going on?”

“I don’t know either! But what did you do for the President to turn pale and look only for you? Do you have any idea at all?”

Reflexively, the face of Gu Seunghyeok, whom he had seen in the VIP lounge downstairs, flashed through his mind. However, quite a bit of time had already passed since that incident. If he had intended to do something, he would have done it long ago.

His head throbbed. Yihyeon lowered his eyes, pressed his lips together once, and then shook his head. Yunjin, seeing Yihyeon looking particularly pale today, wrinkled her face in worry and urged him.

“Ah. How strange, really…! The President almost never personally looks for general staff. Anyway, hyung, go down quickly. Don’t get caught on some technicality for being late—”

As she spoke, Yunjin’s eyes seemed to move toward something behind Yihyeon, and her voice trailed off abruptly. Before he could even turn around to see who she had spotted, a slouching voice pierced his ears from over his shoulder.

“Ah… I was wondering why President Kim was taking so long to bring him, and here’s our Mister sitting here and shooting the breeze.”

Yihyeon slowly turned his head toward the source of the sound. Standing behind him were several burly men dressed in matching black shirts.

Every time the man at the very front loudly chewed his gum, the thick gold necklace hanging around his neck glistened.

“What are you two doing here with this pretty unnie?”

These people, who looked like they came straight out of an outdated noir film, were figures who had started appearing in the club a few weeks ago. They roamed and interfered with various parts of the establishment with an attitude that suggested they had nothing to fear, and none of the guards could stand up to them.

Ever since everyone saw the President bowing and unable to lift a finger around them, the employees and part-time workers had followed suit.

“Ah, hyung, th-then I’ll head out first because of opening preparations…?”

Yunjin, whose eyes were darting back and forth as she read the room, turned around with an awkward smile. She then quickly made her escape, dragging along a few other part-time workers who were approaching.

Watching Yunjin’s retreating back as she hurried away, one of the group let out a long whistle. They snickered among themselves about something, then approached Yihyeon while chewing their gum loudly.

“Kid. Our hyung-nim wants to see you for a moment. Did you hear me?”

As a heavy arm was draped over his shoulder, the smell of cheap perfume and stale cigarette smoke wafted over him. Yihyeon looked at the blunt tip of the man’s pinky finger, where a fingernail should have been, then slowly closed and opened his eyes.

One accidental reunion with a stale, ill-fated connection was enough. He could pass off the last incident as a simple happening, but not a second time.

What are they calling me for this time? Are they trying to pick another ridiculous fight like last time?

It seemed they were bored with nothing to do, but he had no intention of playing along with him anymore. It wasn’t as if they had some leverage over him, and there was no reason to be called away like this every time.

Yihyeon frowned slightly and, with an attitude that could by no means be called gentle, slapped the hand draped over his shoulder with a sharp smack.

“Oh my, look at this temper.”

At Yihyeon’s action, the men actually chuckled. Yihyeon, looking up expressionlessly as they giggled and exchanged glances among themselves, turned around and started walking away. The men, their faces contorting, grabbed one of Yihyeon’s arms with brute force.

“Hey, hey. I told you to follow me while I’m being nice, so where do you think you’re going, you little shit?”

Pain flared in his tightly gripped arm. He tried to shake the arm off, but the force holding him only grew stronger. Yihyeon looked up at the men with a glare. Seeing him like that, they let out a hollow laugh as if it were absurd.

“Wow… This kid has some guts. Hey, what are you going to do, looking at us like that? We caught you and that part-timer bastard plotting together to rob the CEO’s office. Who do you think you’re glaring at?”

“What did you say?”

He questioned them at the unexpected words, but they only pulled Yihyeon’s arm with fierce faces. It was useless even as he struggled to break free from them as they headed somewhere, practically dragging him along.

They called someone and said they had found Yihyeon and were bringing him in. At that point, Yihyeon had no choice but to give up.

He didn’t know what they meant about robbing the CEO’s office, but he figured that if he ran away now, it would only make him look more suspicious.

As Yihyeon, who had been biting his lower lip so hard it turned pale, relaxed the strength in his fists, the man dragging him glanced down at him. Yihyeon muttered in a small voice.

“I get it, so let go of my arm.”

“…….”

“I said let go, I won’t run away.”

His white, translucent face was slightly flushed from the physical struggle. His resigned appearance even looked somewhat pitiful for some reason. Seeing that, the organization member slightly loosened the strength in the hand gripping his arm. It was an unconscious reaction.

༘⋆🤍˚ .❄️₊˚ෆ

The place he arrived at following the men was the executive office located in a corner of the second basement level. There was no specific nameplate attached, but because the President mainly stayed there, the employees called it the CEO’s office.

The interior was a mess, as if a thief had broken in. A few guards were busily tidying up things like papers. The men leading the way didn’t seem to care about the cluttered items and moved forward without hesitation.

Yihyeon followed about three steps behind them, maintaining his guard.

He couldn’t fathom the reason why they had brought him to an empty CEO’s office, saying Gu Seunghyeok had called. Yihyeon, stopping in his tracks, looked at the men with a tense gaze.

However, contrary to his concern that they might harm him, the place they headed toward was a small storage door attached to the back wall of the desk.

Knock, knock.

It was strange how they knocked on the storage door when they hadn’t even done so upon entering the CEO’s office. No answer came from the other side, but they waited a moment before pushing the handle.

As soon as the door opened, a damp smell of mold and chilly air wafted out. Just as he stopped in his tracks, feeling an ominous premonition, someone pushed Yihyeon’s back.

Creeeeak, thud.