Winter Season Chapter 26

“It is not as if we had an appointment…”

He had merely received a unilateral notice to come. It was not even direct, but rather through President Kim’s phone.

“I am sorry, but unless there is a prior appointment, it is difficult to grant an audience with the Manager.”

“Ah…”

The mistake was heading straight here without any suspicion upon being told to come to the main office. He had not imagined the building would be this large and polished, and he had assumed he would be able to meet him immediately upon arrival.

Was this why Gu Seunghyeok called him? To make him feel for himself what kind of person he was?

Yihyeon pressed his lower lip firmly and cast his eyes down. His pride was not particularly wounded, but he felt that if he had known it would be like this, he should have just clung to President Kim until the end to get the money.

“…”

He did not know whether to feel relieved or frustrated at the fact that he might not have to meet Gu Seunghyeok. Only one thing was certain: there was no longer any reason to stand here.

Yihyeon bowed his head to the lobby employee. Just as he turned around to leave the desk, someone’s voice intervened from right beside him.

“Just send him up.”

Yihyeon whipped his head to the side, discovered a man, and instinctively took a step back. A tall stature and a black suit. He instinctively realized it was the man who had been watching him from the cafe just moments ago.

Yihyeon looked up at the man with wary eyes.

It was that man. The one who had come looking for Gu Seunghyeok in the storage room behind the club’s president’s office.

“You have arrived, Director.”

The employees at the counter desk bowed their heads simultaneously. Several employees passing by also discovered him and bent their upper bodies at a right angle.

Just like back then, only Yihyeon remained standing straight, looking at the man. The man gave a faint smile upon seeing Yihyeon and spoke.

“We are acquaintances, right?”

“…”

“Back then, at Nexus.”

The image of the storage room—filled with a fishy smell of blood that made his head dizzy and the chilling aura emitted by the men with their hands behind their backs—came to mind. He felt as if the man had said something to him while looking down at him there, but the memory was not clear.

What was certain was that this man had ended the situation back then. If not for him, the incident of kissing Yoon Subin like a clown in front of so many people would have occurred.

The thought that he should not let his guard down remained, but Yihyeon’s complexion softened subtly. Noticing this, the man smiled faintly and spoke toward the counter employees.

“It seems Manager Gu forgot to mention it in advance. Just send him in as my guest.”

“Yes, Director. Understood.”

With a single word from the man, the situation was resolved with lightning speed. The employee who had maintained a firm attitude saying he could not enter took Yihyeon’s ID with both hands and performed various checks.

Glancing up at his side, he saw the man looking at the work the employees were doing with an expressionless face. Should he at least say thank you for the help?

Perhaps sensing the repeated glances, the man turned his head to meet Yihyeon’s eyes and pulled the corners of his mouth up once more.

The feeling of dissonance from the way he smiled like a good-natured person while giving a nod… it must be his imagination. Yihyeon avoided his gaze first this time as well.

“You may take this visitor pass and go to the 11th floor.”

When Yihyeon received the card in the form of a necklace, the man left first. In front of the entry gates, a situation occurred that looked like Moses parting the Red Sea. Recalling the way the man behaved toward Gu Seunghyeok, he must be of a similar rank or higher. It was a natural reaction.

As he boarded the elevator someone held for him, the scenery of the street was fully visible. Aside from the side with the door, the three surfaces were made of glass. The man tapped his card and pressed the 11th and 25th floors in order. The image of the city visible outside began to recede further beneath his feet.

“…”

They were merely standing side by side in the same space, but his attention kept drifting toward the man. It was because the scene of him unfastening his watch in front of Seunghyeok kept flickering in his head.

The dark storage room where everyone had left, and Seunghyeok’s face, which had been a mess as if he had been beaten by someone. Yihyeon looked at the area near the man’s feet with his eyes cast down. The pitch-black shoes were sparkling without a single speck of dust.

“Do you like men?”

Yihyeon lifted his head at the sudden voice. Since when he did not know, but the man’s face was turned toward him.

Yihyeon grasped the point of the question belatedly and swept his lips with his tongue. It was likely said because of the scene he witnessed in the office storage room.

“…”

Yihyeon looked at the eyes staring down indifferently from behind glasses and then turned his gaze to the side of the elevator door. 6, 7, 8… The 11th floor the woman mentioned was soon.

“What is your name?”

Yihyeon did not open his lips even at the following question. He merely moved his steps toward the front of the elevator door.

Ding, it is the 11th floor.

Along with a clear voice, the elevator door opened its mouth. When he gave a slight bow toward the man, a small snort was heard from above his head. However, Yihyeon stepped out while speaking with a calm face.

“I will get off first. Thank you for your help.”

He felt a gaze on his back as he exited the elevator, but Yihyeon did not turn around.

He was a man who gave off a strangely chilling feeling. Emerging from the elevator hall and entering the hallway, Yihyeon stopped in his tracks with his back against the wall.

“…”

The image of the man asking what his name was kept swirling in his head, but he was not the one to worry about right now. This was because he could see a sign that said ‘Manager’s Office’ attached to the end of the hallway.

Standing alone in an empty hallway that did not seem to be a floor where people worked, the reality began to sink in belatedly. The fact that he came to meet Gu Seunghyeok of his own accord, and that he would be inside there.

He had done nothing wrong, so there was no reason to be intimidated, but his throat felt strangely parched. Yihyeon went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.

Yihyeon, who wiped away the droplets of water falling along his jawline with a stiff tissue, met his own eyes reflected in the mirror and bit his lip hard. Now that he had come this far, there was no taking it back.

Discarding the tissue and exiting the bathroom, Yihyeon stepped forward slowly. As he passed through the hallway where low-intensity lighting fell along the walls and reached the door labeled ‘Manager’s Office’, his heart beat rapidly. Yihyeon took a breath and raised his hand to knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

There was no word to enter, so he knocked on the door once more, but there was still no answer. Wondering if he might be away from his desk, he placed his hand on the doorknob.

Contrary to the expectation that it would be locked, the handle went down smoothly and the gap in the door widened.

“…”

The door opened as he pushed it slowly. Inside the revealed interior, the first thing that caught his eye was a desolate scene where almost no traces of human occupation could be found. The bookshelves on one wall were completely empty, and there were no other pieces of furniture except for a low table and a sofa. It looked exactly like an abandoned office that no one used.

“What are you doing? If you opened it, come in.”

Yihyeon, who had been staring blankly at the scene, turned his head toward the direction the sound came from as if possessed.

Gu Seunghyeok was sitting in a desk chair located in the middle of the room with his back to the window. As soon as he saw him looking dark against the backlight, his head, which had been complicated with various thoughts, turned white as if bleached.

Toward Yihyeon who was standing blankly, Seunghyeok spat out.

“Come and sit.”

Yihyeon swept his lips once with his tongue and then walked slowly toward the sofa Seunghyeok had gestured to with his chin. He sat down obediently, but Seunghyeok showed no reaction. He did not even come to sit opposite the sofa, but was merely on his phone with his legs crossed on his desk.

Cheerful sound effects like pew-pew echoed alone in the silent space.

“…”

Yihyeon, who was staring quietly at only the corner of the table, clenched his fists. He could not think of what words to bring up or where to start. Yihyeon bit his parched lips and spoke in a low voice.

“…Why did you call me.”

“…”

“You said let’s not see each other again.”

Having spat it out, it was a sentence that could sound quite resentful. Seunghyeok must have felt that too, as he let out a laugh with a wheezing sound.

“Well. Because your voice sounded quite urgent.”

“…”