Winter Season Chapter 18

“Did you suddenly develop an interest in playing homo? What is this?”

The moment the newly arrived man was spotted, Seunghyeok’s face contorted miserably. The organization members standing around also wore surprised expressions before quickly bowing their heads.

The only ones standing with their heads up here were Yihyeon, Subin, and Seunghyeok. Seunghyeok was looking up at the man while tightly clenching the fist he had placed on the armrest.

The man appeared to be slightly shorter than Gu Seunghyeok, but he was wearing a much more neatly tailored suit. Judging by the attitude of those around him, he seemed to be someone associated with Gu Seunghyeok’s company. Yihyeon felt instinctively that getting involved with him would lead to nothing good.

“What brings you here?”

“What do you mean ‘what brings me here.’ Rumors have already spread that someone got caught playing around in Father’s workshop. I just came to take a look at the face.”

Jinhyeok’s gaze, as he swept around the storage room once, lingered for a moment on the face of Jinseok, who was held in the corner. It was an ordinary face that showed not a single sign of surprise even though the subordinate he had planted was beaten into a mess.

He scanned Jinseok up and down slowly before tapping him on the shoulder a few times as if to encourage him. Terror dwelled in Jinseok’s swollen eyes, but the man quickly turned his gaze away as if it did not matter.

“Who are these two?”

The next place Jinhyeok’s interest headed was toward Yihyeon and Subin. As his curious gaze reached the two of them, Seunghyeok’s eyes grew sharp.

“Didn’t you come because you had something to say? Kwak Taeshik, you get all of them out of here.”

“Why. Let them stay so I can see their faces too. Is it a team of three? I’m curious to see how gutsy they were to do such a thing.”

His leisurely steps began to draw closer to Yihyeon and Subin. Seunghyeok, watching this, spat out as if growling.

“You bastards. I told you to get them all out. Do I have to say it again?”

“Leave them.”

What blocked Seunghyeok’s rising voice was Jinhyeok’s firm tone. The organization members, who were gauging the mood between the two contrasting commands, remained still in their places according to the words of Jinhyeok, who held a higher rank. The muscles in Seunghyeok’s jaw tensed and bulged.

Passing Subin nonchalantly, he lightly gripped Yihyeon’s chin with his hand and lifted his head. The area around Yihyeon’s eyes was flushed and heated with fever and tension. Seeing this, Jinhyeok spoke indifferently.

“He’s pretty.”

The person looking down at Yihyeon had a handsome face, but his eyes were strangely cold. When Yihyeon, with a sharp look in his eyes, slapped Jinhyeok’s hand away, a hint of mockery passed over Jinhyeok’s face. He let out a smirk at Yihyeon as if he found him amusing and then left the spot without any lingering attachment.

Jinhyeok walked with slow steps and stood before the chair where Seunghyeok was sitting. Letting out a faint, mocking laugh while looking down, he spoke.

“Gu Seunghyeok. If the Chairman gives you a good opportunity, you should just say thank you and do what you’re told. Why do you do such useless things?”

Jinhyeok tilted his neck from side to side as if loosening his body. Seeing this, Taeshik quickly pushed Subin and Yihyeon’s backs toward the door.

At the moment Subin assisted the unconscious Jinseok and tried to quickly head out the door, Yihyeon looked back and took in the sight of Gu Seunghyeok and Gu Jinhyeok. He saw Gu Seunghyeok turning his head while sitting in the chair and Gu Jinhyeok standing before him, unfastening his wristwatch.

As Yihyeon stood hesitating, unable to take his eyes away, Subin urgently grabbed Yihyeon’s arm and pulled him. As soon as he turned his head, a thud sounded behind his back as the door closed.

“…Phew, fuck.”

A low curse leaked from Subin’s mouth. Yihyeon merely hurried his steps with his lips pressed tight. In the awkward silence, only Jinseok occasionally let out a groan of pain.

“Oh my, oh my…! What is going on?! Isn’t that Jinseok?!”

When they stepped out toward the hall, someone broke the precarious atmosphere and shouted fussily. A group of staff members hurried over, saw the unconscious Jinseok, and quickly reached out their arms.

The heavy weight disappeared, but it still felt as if something were weighing down his shoulders. Yihyeon lowered his head and wiped his face with one hand.

“Hey, Mi-jung! Call 911, call 911!”

“Yes! I told them to come to the back door! No, but hyung, are you okay? What happened…!”

Amidst worried looks and curious gazes flying from here and there, a large man carrying Jinseok on his back quickly climbed the stairs. Other staff members followed behind them in an uproar.

And just as it feels exceptionally quieter after a bout of commotion has passed, an awkward silence heavily filled the space between the abandoned Yihyeon and Subin.

“Kwon Yihyeon. Do you know that person?”

They were in a brightly lit waiting room, but it felt as if his mind were still trapped in that pitch-black storage room from before. Yihyeon bit his lip hard because the last scene he saw strangely would not be erased from his mind.

“Kwon Yihyeon!”

“Hyung. Later.”

“…….”

“Let’s talk later.”

It didn’t seem like any words he could tell Subin “later” would come to mind, but right now, even just standing was an ordeal. The fever he had forgotten about belatedly heated his throat, and hot breath flowed from between his half-parted lips.

It felt as if the smell of blood were hanging at the tip of his nose. Every time he swallowed, a fishy taste rose up, and Yihyeon turned around unsteadily.

“If anyone looks for me, just tell them I went to the hospital.”

He had no confidence that he could do his work properly today. Yihyeon, with his lips tightly shut, turned his back. He spoke in a crawling voice, but no answer came back over his shoulder. Yihyeon walked away without hesitation.

༘⋆🤍˚ .❄️₊˚ෆ

Buzz— Buzz—

Barely moving his heavy arm to rummage around the head of the bed, his hand caught the phone that had been continuously vibrating.

After letting out a sigh and lifting his eyelids, he saw the name Yunjin appearing on the screen. Since meeting Gu Seunghyeok in the CEO’s office on the second basement level was already a week ago, the call had come later than expected. Yihyeon cleared his lowly muffled throat and pressed the call button.

“…Hello.”

— Oppa!

“Yeah.”

In contrast to Yihyeon’s cracked voice, Yunjin’s voice was full of energy.

Yihyeon, who narrowed his eyes because of his throat which stung as if it were tearing, gave a small reply, and Yunjin began to pour out her words as if she had been waiting for him to answer.

— Oppa, are you really quitting? No, the manager said last week that you were just resting for a week because you were sick, but when I asked again today, he said you’re not coming back! But you aren’t the type of person to quit like that without a word, and Subin oppa, I don’t know what has gotten into him suddenly, but whenever I bring you up, he immediately gets serious and talks about something else!

“Ah…”

— Did something happen that day? No, before that, are you really quitting?

The day after Jinseok was admitted to the hospital last week, it was the President, not Yihyeon, who suggested he take a break since the shop was in an uproar. It was accompanied by the words that the salary had been deposited into his account in advance.

It was only after hearing Yunjin’s words that Yihyeon belatedly realized that the promise to contact him when the atmosphere improved actually meant not to come back anymore.

He had wondered why a person who had never contacted him before would call. Thinking back, the words themselves—telling him to wait until the commotion settled—were strange. It was a place where days without incidents or accidents were rare to begin with.

— Oppa, are you listening?

Even though it was a place where he had worked for quite a long time, the news of the unilateral dismissal felt like nothing. He even thought it might be a relief that it ended at this level, considering he was in a state where he had been framed for robbing the CEO’s office.

As he recalled the fierce expression of Gu Seunghyeok and the sight of Jinseok lying collapsed like a pulp, his hazy mind gradually became clear.

“…Sorry. Something came up. That’s how it happened.”

— It would have been nice if you had at least told me beforehand… Oppa, but why is your voice like that? Are you sick somewhere?

“It’s just… a cold.”

— Oh no, what should I do. Did I wake you up while you were sleeping?

Yihyeon, who had been taking the call with his arm over his eyes, wiped his face with his hand. It didn’t seem like he could fall back asleep. Yihyeon brushed away the thin blanket clinging to him with cold sweat and sat up in bed.

“No, it’s okay. I heard Jinseok is doing a bit better? Nothing else happened after I left?”