Winter Season Chapter 20

It was the man in question who roughly dragged Yihyeon somewhere, as Yihyeon stood there slightly frowning and gnawing on his lip. He staggered toward a sofa in one corner.

“We have a very interesting guest visiting, so I brought him over right away!”

Looking where the man’s gaze was directed, Yihyeon saw someone sitting in a sprawled-out position. Involuntarily raising his eyes to the person’s face, Yihyeon flinched and swallowed hard.

It was Gu Seunghyeok. And his face was a mess, as if he had been hit by someone.

“Hyung-nim, are you sleeping?”

Despite the man’s words, Seunghyeok remained motionless with his eyes closed, dressed in a bright blue suit. Because he was sitting on a dark, reddish-wine-colored sofa, the color stood out exceptionally well.

Hardly had Yihyeon wondered if he was asleep when the fingers holding a clear whiskey glass moved slowly. Transparent ice clinked as it melted.

“…….”

The closed eyes opened slowly, revealing black pupils. The moment their gazes intertwined, Yihyeon’s fists tightened.

Whether it was because of the expression that was more softly relaxed than usual, or because he discovered traces of the distant past in those sunken pupils, the face covered in mottled wounds didn’t feel unfamiliar.

One of his temples was bruised a purplish color, and a reddish scab had formed on the corner of his lip, as if it had burst and then healed. Over that face full of wounds, memories of the past seemed to overlap faintly.

For no reason, Yihyeon’s heart sank.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

As the voice, lowly muffled with drowsiness, spoke, the surroundings slowly began to grow quiet. Yihyeon felt the gazes of the other men sitting there move toward him. He clenched his fists tight and muttered quietly.

“I only intended to grab my things from the staff room and leave, so you don’t need to concern yourself.”

“Things? What things.”

“Do I have to say?”

At the sharp tone, Seunghyeok gave a smirk and tilted his whiskey glass. He looked down at the golden liquid flowing over the round ice and twisted the corner of his mouth indifferently.

“You have to say, of course. How can I just let you go without knowing what you’re taking.”

“…….”

“What kind of things are they that you tried to sneak them out like a rat when no one was around?”

Yihyeon must have bitten the inside of his cheek slightly, as he tasted the fishy tang of blood. Without avoiding Seunghyeok’s gaze, he stared down at him for a moment before sighing and answering in a small voice.

“…Shoes and a shirt. Since I’m quitting the job thanks to someone.”

“Is that all?”

“Then, should I take those internal documents you mentioned back then?”

“If you want to see a repeat of what happened last week, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try.”

Seunghyeok chuckled as he idly swirled the whiskey glass in his hand. Then, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. His prominent Adam’s apple drew Yihyeon’s gaze.

“…….”

The posture leaning back as if lying on the sofa, the disheveled clothing, and the relaxed, languid attitude—as if playing word games with a child—made Yihyeon’s expression harden.

He had no desire to bicker with him when there wasn’t much time left before opening. Yihyeon, who had been staring at Seunghyeok, turned his head first. The man standing beside him was still holding his arm. Yihyeon shook his wrist free.

“It seems you have nothing more to say, so I’ll be going. You all enjoy yourselves.”

What happened to the business was no longer any of his concern. If possible, he wanted to quickly pack his things and leave this place. Yihyeon gave a crooked nod and tried to leave, but Seunghyeok lifted one leg and blocked his path.

“Since you’ve come all this way, why not have a drink before you go?”

What would happen if he just stepped over that leg? He wanted to ignore the nonsense of a drunk person and just walk past, but the surroundings were filled with Seunghyeok’s lackeys.

Yihyeon stared blankly at Seunghyeok’s thick thigh and gnawed on the inside of his cheek.

“I’m not interested.”

“You ought to be interested.”

Just as the long leg seemed to find its place with a thud, Seunghyeok straightened his upper body from where he’d been leaning back. Leaning forward with his arms on his knees, he set the whiskey glass down on the table and pulled something from his inner jacket pocket, holding it out to Yihyeon.

“I asked you if that was all you were taking.”

What Seunghyeok held in his hand was a wallet of a familiar design. Seeing the object he thought would be stuck in a corner of the CEO’s office held in that hand made the events of last week resurface in his mind once again.

“I was bored, so this works out well. Sit down and have some pizza before you go.”

“I have no business—”

“Let’s not make me say things twice, Yihyeon.”

Yihyeon frowned at the sudden use of his name.

“Sit.”

The organization members, gauging Seunghyeok’s mood, slunk around to move their backsides and make room. At the touch of someone’s hand pressing down on his shoulders from behind, Yihyeon was forced to sit. An empty glass was placed in front of him and filled to the brim with soju.

While the men surrounding them glanced at one another, Yihyeon’s gaze remained fixed only on the glass.

“Play, boys.”

“…….”

“He said you should all keep enjoying yourselves.”

What broke the awkward silence was the click-clack sound of Seunghyeok’s lighter. At the following words—”We have a guest, so why not have a toast”—the organization members, who had been watching for cues, began to fill their glasses one by one.

Between the people awkwardly exchanging glances while fiddling with their filled glasses, only Seunghyeok and Yihyeon remained still.

Yihyeon looked down, staring silently at a point in front of him, and Seunghyeok observed Yihyeon while exhaling a long trail of cigarette smoke. Seeing Yihyeon stubbornly staring into space, Seunghyeok let out a huff of a laugh.

The organization members, who had been gauging the mood while holding their glasses, finally began to move again when Seunghyeok signaled with his chin for them to drink. As a drink or two went down, the stiffened men seemed to gradually loosen up.

Crude curses and sounds of laughter began to creep out from here and there.

“Hey, hey. Kkang-chi, give me one more bottle of soju over there.”

“Aw, hyung-nim, why soju when we have all this good liquor here? Soju?”

“This brat is still young so he doesn’t know the taste. Hey, soju actually goes better in a place like this, you little punk.”

Amidst the fairly rough language being exchanged, Yihyeon sat quietly and only looked down at the glass in front of him.

He couldn’t understand why he had to be sitting here doing this. Just as he clenched and released his fist and was about to stand up, someone threw a question toward Seunghyeok.

“But hyung-nim, are you very close with that person? Hahaha, I never imagined hyung-nim would have a gay friend?”

The atmosphere suddenly froze at the sentence that came over twisted as if the speaker were drunk. The person sitting next to the speaker quickly slapped the back of the man’s head, but the one hit unexpectedly didn’t even know what he had done wrong and merely knit his brows, rubbing his head as if it were unfair.

In the instantly chilled air, everyone except Yihyeon watched Seunghyeok’s reaction. Seunghyeok, who had been rolling his tongue against the inside of his cheek after hearing the man’s words, suddenly let out a sharp, hollow laugh.

“Friend?”

“…….”

“Him and me?”

Yihyeon tightly clenched his white, clean fist. A long time ago, it was none other than himself who had ruined their close relationship.

Even so, why did his heart feel as if it were sinking at Seunghyeok’s firm words?

Contrary to the concern of the organization member who was huddling, thinking a glass or an ashtray would fly at any moment, all Seunghyeok did was lift his whiskey glass and moisten his lips.

The members, sneaking glances, began to roll their eyes and laugh awkwardly again.

“Now, l-let’s stop talking nonsense and drink more. Uh, yeah, right.”

“…Hey, hey, Deokbae! Push that dry snack over here.”

Among the people raising their voices and laughing awkwardly to try and lift the mood, only Yihyeon sat with an expressionless, doll-like face.

It was then that something suddenly appeared within his downward-cast field of vision. Seunghyeok, who had carelessly dragged a pizza box from the middle of the table with one finger, spoke.

“Hey, I guess in their eyes, you and I look like friends.”

“…….”

“Have a slice of pizza, friend.”