Winter Season Chapter 51

At the sudden sound of a finger snap, I lifted my head to find two pairs of eyes fixed on me. As I straightened my back with a wary expression, the woman continued speaking.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the OTP number is checked through an app on Gu Jinhyeok’s phone. From what I glimpsed, I think it was a blue lock-shaped app, but I’m not entirely sure.”

His phone?

“Ah, and one more thing. There was a password on it, and I couldn’t figure that part out. I only saw the lock app by chance while he was on a call, so anything beyond that was impossible for me.”

Yihyeon’s brow furrowed at the mention of a password. Since it was impossible to ask Gu Jinhyeok for the password directly, it meant that even if he somehow got his hands on the phone, it would be useless.

“Ah, don’t worry about that.”

Seunghyeok, who had been leaning forward with his chin resting on his interlaced hands atop his knees, straightened up and reached a hand out behind him. Then, Taeshik, who had been standing stiffly in the back, handed him something. Placed in Gu Seunghyeok’s hand was a small box about half the size of a palm.

Thud.

As Yihyeon merely stared at the box tossed in front of him, Seunghyeok clicked his tongue.

“Open it.”

After staring blankly at the box finished in dark blue suede, Yihyeon reached out. The box was the type that opened upward, like a necklace case.

Upon opening the lid, a simply designed tie pin was revealed. He lifted his head to look at Seunghyeok, but it was Taeshik standing behind him who spoke.

“If you look at the back, there is a part that can be plugged into a phone. Once connected to the phone, the team members on this side will break through the security with a program.”

“…Team members?”

“Did you think this was a size you could handle on your own?”

It seemed the items on the table he had seen when entering were the traces of the team members he mentioned. Thinking that other people besides himself were involved in this matter made his already heavy shoulders feel even heavier.

“…If everything is successful and the password is found, then what? Do I just contact you?”

“No need for that. See the small hole on the front of the tie pin? That’s a camera. If you point the phone screen toward the camera, the kids watching in real-time will handle it.”

Looking closely at the tie pin, sure enough, a tiny piece of glass-like material was embedded in a spot difficult to find with the naked eye. Seeing that, the fact that this business was no joke finally felt real.

As Yihyeon stared down at the tie pin with an expressionless face, Seunghyeok made clicking sounds with his tongue and leaned back to lie sideways on the sofa. Covering his eyes with his arm as if exhausted, he muttered.

“It’s an easy job for something worth thirty million.”

“……”

“Right?”

Thanks to the unresponsive Yihyeon, silence flowed through the room. Unable to endure the lingering stillness, the woman clapped her hands and stood up as if trying to refresh the atmosphere.

“The problem is how to get access to Gu Jinhyeok’s phone…. Ah, before that, over there. Did you receive an invitation?”

Yihyeon turned his head at the question suddenly thrown his way. The woman was taking something out of her handbag.

A moment later, what she held in her hand was a small paper envelope in dark navy. It was likely the invitation to the party.

“Admission is absolutely impossible without an invitation, so you must remember to bring it on the day of the event.”

Yihyeon stared at the invitation with his lips pressed firmly together. This was because he had never heard about the party from Gu Jinhyeok, let alone anything about an invitation.

“…I haven’t received it yet.”

At those words, the woman narrowed her eyes as if troubled and looked at Seunghyeok. However, he remained lying on the sofa with his booted feet crossed. Unable to watch any longer, the woman spoke toward Seunghyeok.

“What are you going to do?”

“……”

“Shouldn’t we change the plan even now?”

When Seunghyeok said nothing, silence filled the space. Just as wrinkles began to form on the brow of the woman waiting for an answer, Seunghyeok’s closed lips parted and a pleasant voice flowed out.

“Go as planned.”

“…Mr. Seunghyeok!”

“There’s still time.”

Removing the arm resting over his eyes, Seunghyeok turned his head. As his gaze met Yihyeon’s, one corner of his mouth hooked up crookedly.

“Try some pillow talk, Yihyeon.”

“……”

“I think you’d be good at it.”

Because he was lying on his back, his languid, relaxed voice contained something like a hollow laugh. Without lingering, Seunghyeok pulled his gaze away from Yihyeon and placed his arm over his eyes again.

“Sigh. I really can’t tell what’s going on in your head. Just know that I’m not playing a prank this time because I’m bored. If things go wrong because of a mistake, it’s all your responsibility.”

“Taeshik, the guest is leaving. See her off safely.”

At the low, effortless voice that sounded like a mutter, the woman frowned and stood up. Nervously grabbing the handbag that had been on the sofa, she looked back and forth between Seunghyeok and Yihyeon before walking quickly out of the guest room.

Taeshik, who had been standing behind, gave a stiff bow to Seunghyeok and followed quickly after her.

“……”

Only silence flowed in the guest room the woman had left. Only Seunghyeok’s rhythmic breathing echoed. Yihyeon chewed the inside of his cheek before picking up the tie pin box placed in front of him. As he stroked the pin with his finger, a chilling sensation washed over him for some unknown reason.

What he held in his hand was both the evidence that this matter was no joke and a leash. Now that the task he had only thought of vaguely was becoming concrete, he began to worry whether he could actually carry this out properly.

Yihyeon lifted his head and looked at Seunghyeok. He was lying in the same posture as when the woman left. He couldn’t tell if the man had fallen asleep or just had his eyes closed, but there was something he wanted to say to him.

“Gu Seunghyeok.”

“……”

“I didn’t sleep with that man.”

No answer came back from the reclining Seunghyeok. Yihyeon gripped the tie pin tightly.

༘⋆🤍˚ .❄️₊˚ෆ

“Ms. Yihyeon can head in. You look very tired.”

Leaving behind Gu Seunghyeok, who had his eyes closed on the sofa, it was nearly dawn by the time he returned home, so Yihyeon went straight to work without even closing his eyes. Because of that, he felt dazed all day.

These were the words Secretary Yoon spoke upon seeing Yihyeon give a large nod as he failed to overcome his drooping eyelids.

“Ah, no. I’m fine.”

The sight of no one leaving their seats even though the workday had ended was familiar. With the year-end event commemorating the completion of the lounge just around the corner, the atmosphere in the secretary’s office was busy yet disorganized.

“Ms. Sujin, did you check the report materials regarding security personnel?”

“I’m currently in the middle of the final review for the catering layout. I’ll check that immediately after this.”

Although there was a separate department managing the event, since a final review was conducted once more in the secretary’s office before getting final approval, reports on various topics crossed over the desks several times a day.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

Yihyeon glanced at the people who looked busy and cautiously spoke to Ms. Sujin in the next seat. However, she waved her hand with an awkward smile.

“No, it’s okay. We’re reviewing materials that have already been organized, so it would be difficult if you don’t know the contents. You can head home, Ms. Yihyeon.”

The people who had ignored him as if he were a ghost when he first arrived were showing a cautious attitude toward him starting from a certain point. Tracing back his memory, it seemed to be around the time Secretary Yoon brought clothes to Gu Jinhyeok’s house.

“That’s right, Ms. Yihyeon. Please head home.”

Since everyone else was working busily, he couldn’t very well be the only one to leave without any sense of the situation. Yihyeon replied that he would just finish what he was doing and entered the information from the papers into Excel.

Although he was trying to act as nonchalant as possible ahead of the party, it wasn’t as if Yihyeon was at ease.

D-day was right around the corner, but while Gu Jinhyeok kept him quite close, he had never even mentioned the party itself. How could he draw the subject out?

Lost in complex thoughts, Yihyeon tightly gripped the tie pin box beneath the table.

“Mr. Seonghyeon, please check the attendee list one more time.”

He would have to be stuck to Gu Jinhyeok’s side on the day of the event to even get a chance to touch the phone.