Winter Season Chapter 45

The employees seemed to know that the black car stopping in front of the company was one of those belonging to the owner’s family, as Yihyeon could feel curious gazes flying in from everywhere. Pretending as if it were nothing, Yihyeon moved into the building as quickly as possible.

He was waiting for the elevator after pressing the button when the sound of shoe heels approached from behind. Even without turning around, he knew who it was by the familiar scent of perfume brushing past the tip of his nose.

Ding.

With a cheerful sound, the elevator doors opened, and Yihyeon boarded first before turning around. Seunghyeok, who had been standing facing him, looked down at Yihyeon with cold eyes before stepping inside behind him.

In the silence, only the sound of the elevator machinery moving asserted its presence. He hoped someone would get on at another floor, but the elevator did not stop and only went up toward its destination. He felt a gaze on his back, but Yihyeon did not turn his head even once.

Ding.

Once again, the doors opened with a clear sound, and Yihyeon stepped out of the elevator as if he had been waiting for it. For a moment, he exhaled the breath he had been holding in relief at escaping that suffocating space, but soon, the sound of shoe heels began to follow from behind.

What is it?

Before he could even turn around to check what was happening, his arm was grabbed and his body was spun around. Looking up, he saw Seunghyeok with a frigid face.

“Hey, Kwon Yihyeon.”

His cold voice echoed through the hallway.

“Was Gu Jinhyeok the one you went looking for after leaving the house?”

“What?”

“You came here together in that bastard’s car since this morning.”

“…”

“And the clothes, too.”

Seunghyeok lowered his head slightly toward the nape of Yihyeon’s neck and whispered lowly. At the low voice tickling near his earlobe, Yihyeon’s body shuddered and the fine hairs on his skin stood on end. It seemed he had noticed the scent of Gu Jinhyeok’s characteristic perfume remaining on the clothes and hair.

Escaping the tense contact, Yihyeon hurriedly took a step back and met the eyes of Gu Seunghyeok, whose face was even fiercer than a moment ago. A cold sneer seeped onto Seunghyeok’s face as he looked at Yihyeon.

“Did you sleep with him?”

“…”

“With Gu Jinhyeok?”

Lowering his eyes, he muttered coldly.

“Already?”

Enticing Gu Jinhyeok was the job he had given to Yihyeon. If he had truly rolled around with Gu Jinhyeok, the person who should welcome that fact more than anyone else was Gu Seunghyeok. And yet, this was his reaction.

“…”

Whether he took Yihyeon’s silence as an affirmation, Seunghyeok burst into a hollow laugh. He straightened his bent waist and looked down at Yihyeon with a crooked posture.

“You’re smart, Kwon Yihyeon. It seems I found the right aptitude for a slutty bastard like you.”

Yihyeon didn’t know what he was angry about, but listening to the one-sided sarcasm, he began to feel unpleasant as well. Yihyeon shook off the gripped arm and glared at Seunghyeok.

“I have no reason to hear such things from you.”

“…”

“And if I did sleep with him, you should be happy, even if no one else is.”

In any case, for Gu Seunghyeok, this was a contract to obtain a six-digit password. In that process, Gu Seunghyeok had no need to care, nor any right to interfere, with whatever Yihyeon did with Gu Jinhyeok.

Who was the one who told me to approach Gu Jinhyeok from the beginning, and now he’s reacting like this?

As Yihyeon looked up at Seunghyeok with strength in his eyes, Seunghyeok clenched and unclenched his teeth until his jaw muscles bulged. Then, grabbing Yihyeon’s forearm more weakly than before, he opened his mouth.

“Yesterday, I—”

Ding.

Just as Seunghyeok was about to say something, the elevator doors behind them opened and someone stepped out. Yihyeon and Seunghyeok turned their heads simultaneously toward Jinhyeok, who was just stepping out of the elevator.

Looking down at his phone, he lifted his head and twitched an eyebrow upon seeing the arm held by Seunghyeok.

“I came by to grab some documents for a moment. If I’d known it would be like this, I should have just come up together with you.”

Hearing Jinhyeok’s words, Yihyeon belatedly shook off his arm again. He then took a step closer to Jinhyeok. Seunghyeok’s face crumpled.

“Do you two have more to say?”

Jinhyeok asked Yihyeon with a casual attitude. Yihyeon remembered that Seunghyeok was in the middle of saying something, but he didn’t want to hear it. It would just be more mockery to get under his skin anyway.

“No.”

“…”

“Let’s go, General Manager.”

After meeting that cold gaze once, he turned his back and followed Jinhyeok. The sound of two sets of footsteps echoed in the long hallway. He wondered if Seunghyeok, who was left alone, would be watching them, but Yihyeon never once looked back.

The place the car headed after leaving the company was a high-end Japanese restaurant similar to the one he had gone to with Jinhyeok before. It was a structure where a Japanese-style garden was located in the center, surrounded by individual rooms.

Guided by the employee, Jinhyeok went deep inside and pushed open a sliding door with a calm face. In the place he followed him into, a familiar-looking middle-aged man was sitting.

“Hello, Assemblyman. It has been a long time.”

“Oh, oh, General Manager Gu Jinhyeok. It has been a long time indeed.”

As soon as he heard the word Assemblyman, a scene from a hearing he had caught a glimpse of on television recently flashed through his mind. The man, who had a full head of hair and a genial impression unlike his middle-aged years, was a certain member of the National Assembly from the opposition party who was said to have quite a strong influence in political circles lately.

Yihyeon’s eyes widened slightly as he hadn’t expected to meet such a person like this. As Yihyeon, standing behind Jinhyeok, bit his lip and bowed, Assemblyman Choi’s gaze turned toward him.

“And this person is, perhaps?”

“He is a secretary I have as an intern for a while. I brought him along to introduce him to you, Assemblyman.”

“Hmm. He has quite a good appearance. What is his name?”

Though he was smiling with a good-natured face, for some reason, it felt alien. Yihyeon smiled awkwardly and bowed his head.

“My name is Kwon Yihyeon.”

“Right, right. Everyone, please sit comfortably.”

Not long after Jinhyeok and Yihyeon sat down, the door opened and various seafood and dishes were placed on the table. Yihyeon quietly moved his chopsticks next to Jinhyeok and Assemblyman Choi as they conversed.

“By the way, you. I hear you’re preparing a big one soon.”

Assemblyman Choi, having put down his chopsticks, wore a mysterious smile. Jinhyeok raised the corners of his mouth slightly, then picked up a napkin and brought it to his lips.

“I am simply grateful that so many people are looking forward to it. We are busily preparing.”

Was he talking about the completion party Seunghyeok had mentioned? The chopsticks picking up the salad in front of him paused, and Yihyeon’s gaze slowly lifted. It was meant to gauge the people talking, but as soon as he looked up, his eyes met those of Assemblyman Choi sitting across from him.

“It will be quite a sight to see.”

The gaze looking at Yihyeon while wearing a good-natured smile felt somewhat repulsive. It must be his imagination. Yihyeon smiled awkwardly, nodded in greeting, and lowered his head over his plate again.

He listened in case there was more talk about the party, but the topic didn’t come up again. Talk about playing golf together sometime, talk about how a certain assemblyman caused a scene at the National Assembly, and incomprehensible talk about business expansion and funds crossed over the table.

Because he couldn’t eat his fill in the uncomfortable atmosphere, Yihyeon had at some point placed his hands on his legs and was only reacting like a machine. Assemblyman Choi, sitting across from him, would occasionally stare at Yihyeon with heavy eyes before turning his gaze away.

He couldn’t understand the reason Jinhyeok had brought him here. Was he just planning to bring him and feed him a good meal? By the time he was uselessly drinking only water, Assemblyman Choi stood up first.

“Anyway, General Manager Gu, the meal today was pleasant. I have some business to attend to, so I must head out first.”

“Yes. Please get home safely.”

“I’ll be looking forward to the party.”

Following Jinhyeok, Yihyeon stood up and saw Assemblyman Choi off. The gaze that slowly scanned him from top to bottom was unpleasant, but he didn’t show it and bowed his head. Silence flowed in the space after Assemblyman Choi left.

“If you’re finished eating, let’s head out as well.”

Because he had been walking on eggshells in the uncomfortable atmosphere, very little food had actually entered his mouth, but his chest felt heavy. No matter how famous he was as a National Assembly member with a good impression and character, he didn’t feel like meeting him again.