Hazardous Concentration Chapter 32

The moment he signed, he knew he had done something irreversible. Still, he didn’t expect that the ink on the contract wouldn’t even be dry before he was immediately asked to fulfill the contract conditions.

“Is something wrong?”

Eunhoo hesitated and barely moved his frozen tongue.

“But it’s already so late tonight.”

His complexion turned deathly pale, as if all the blood had drained out of him.

“I’m not… mentally prepared yet, either.”

“You should have finished that when you signed.”

At the sharp words, Eunhoo swallowed a ragged breath.

“That’s true, but tonight….”

What should he say? Eunhoo’s heart beat wildly as he scrambled to come up with an excuse.

“It hasn’t even been five minutes since you signed the contract.”

“…”

“I’ll tell you this in advance: I’m the type of person who hates being backstabbed or lied to.”

Eunhoo flinched at the low, gravelly voice.

Age, gender—none of it mattered. It wasn’t just one or two people who had seen Yeo Taejun’s smooth, handsome face, assumed his personality would be easygoing, and taken him lightly. Every time that happened, he would trample them with extreme viciousness.

“I’d prefer not to lay a hand on you if I can help it.”

While violence was one of his tools, it wasn’t a hobby to raise a hand at any given time. Especially not toward Joo Eunhoo, who had eyes that didn’t know a thing.

“So don’t even think about trying to use your brain for any tricks.”

He had never realized that a quiet warning could sound so sharp. Eunhoo bit his lip and nodded hurriedly.

“Y-yes.”

He realized how clumsy his determination had been on his way here. He didn’t know what to do, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.

Eunhoo lifted his gaze to look at Yeo Taejun. Through his wavering focus, the man’s face blurred and cleared repeatedly.

Eunhoo reached for his first button but stopped and asked,

“But, um, my mother… she can really receive treatment, right?”

Yeo Taejun raised an eyebrow. Intimidated by his aura, Eunhoo hurriedly lowered his eyes.

“…It’s not that I don’t believe you, but since I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, I’m, I’m just worried….”

As he mumbled with his soft lips and glanced up tentatively, Yeo Taejun frowned and answered.

“If you behave well, I’ll let you see her soon.”

Eunhoo nodded quickly, as if worried about offending him. He brought his trembling hand back to his button.

“I….”

But he hesitated again.

“There’s something I haven’t told you. Actually….”

“Joo Eunhoo.”

He had only been called by his name, but the sense of coercion was immense. Eunhoo’s throat tightened so much that he couldn’t say another word.

“No, it’s not that I’m trying to pull a trick; it’s just that there’s something I haven’t told Mr. Yeo Taejun yet.”

Originally, he should have said it before signing the contract, but his mind had been blank earlier, and he hadn’t thought of anything, so he had forgotten.

“It’s about my body.”

He had noticed that Yeo Taejun had investigated him. However, he had no way of knowing if that information included the fact that he was intersex.

“I, I am actually….”

“You’re long-winded. And I told you before. Don’t make me say things twice.”

How annoying.

Aside from business-related matters, Yeo Taejun basically lacked patience. Not only his subordinates, but even Yeo Gijoon, whom he cherished, would get scolded for rambling.

Yeo Taejun, who had approached him at some point, twisted his jaw and bent down to meet his eyes.

“If you don’t listen with words, I wonder if you’ll only learn once you’re hit.”

Eunhoo gasped in surprise.

Didn’t that mean he wouldn’t hesitate to use violence if he even dared to resist?

In the past, he would have doubted it, thinking it couldn’t be true, but because he had experienced his violent nature right in front of him, it didn’t sound like a lie.

A thick arm wrapped around Eunhoo’s waist as he stood there, frozen and unable to say a word.

“Ugh!”

He tried to brace himself by tensing his waist against the force pulling him in, but it was useless. Contrary to his appearance, he was stronger than he had imagined.

While he was attempting a futile resistance, Eunhoo found himself with his back against the desk before he knew it.

As he gasped for air, he suddenly stiffened at the feeling of something touching his back.

“I checked the top part, but I haven’t been able to properly check the bottom.”

Normally, checking the goods before signing a contract was standard.

“I’ve never done this kind of pushover favor for anyone, but I’m letting it slide because you at least helped Gijoon.”

Eunhoo had played some role in Yeo Gijoon stopping his wandering and starting to study again.

It had been a month before Yeo Gijoon was scheduled to leave for the United States.

‘So this is where it was.’

Yeo Taejun, who had been standing in front of the window smoking, turned at the sound. While packing, Yeo Gijoon had pulled an old notebook out of a box and brightened up.

Yeo Gijoon flowed with a faint smile as he flipped through the notebook.

‘Hyung, I actually had no intention of going to school or doing anything, you know?’

Yeo Taejun exhaled smoke without a word.

‘But the kid who brought me this notebook talked to me about school life every day.’

Honestly, the stories weren’t interesting. Yeo Gijoon said that he would talk about what happened day by day, and at first, it was even boring.

‘You know how every class has a kid like that? So quiet they have no presence.’

Except for when the grades were announced, there was never any reason for his name to be mentioned. Because of that, even Yeo Gijoon had been unsure if such a kid even existed.

‘So, at first, I was a bit surprised that he came to run errands.’

It didn’t look like he had come willingly, and it was obvious he was doing a teacher’s errand. So, Yeo Gijoon had acted bluntly, to the point of embarrassing the other person.

‘Even so, he kept coming, the next day and the day after that.’

He said he never failed to tell him stories about school whenever he did.

‘What was unique was that, usually, people say cliché things like “Come back to school” or “Everyone misses you,” but he didn’t. He’d just lay out what he had to say, hand over what he needed to deliver, and leave.’

So, one day, he held him back and asked him why he wouldn’t say anything. Then, that kid looked at Yeo Gijoon quietly and said this:

‘Does anything change if I talk?’

Yeo Gijoon had stared at him in disbelief, but after thinking for a long time, the kid added:

‘It’s a bit of a waste, though. You’d graduate if you just went for one more semester.’

It was really nothing special, but he said that hearing that made him think he should go to school.

‘I wanted to be close to him when I went to school, but I couldn’t. That’s a bit of a shame.’

Muttering bitterly, Yeo Gijoon put the notebook back in the box.

Yeo Taejun hadn’t remembered it until now, but while thinking of Joo Eunhoo, he recalled the event.

“So, what should you do? You should behave well, right?”

Eunhoo flinched and trembled at the breath that spread every time he whispered in his ear, and eventually, he let out a sharp gasp. He could feel the bulging lower body pressed against his own. This wasn’t the first time. Back then, he had also rubbed his endlessly hardened lower body against Eunhoo’s bottom repeatedly. The only difference was that back then, he was in a daze, and now, he was completely sober.

“I saw enough of your chest that time.”

The hand he thought would go up had moved down.

“No, I don’t want to!”

Having easily undone the buckle of his pants, he licked Eunhoo’s cheek slowly. He was unrestrained, as if sharp, fierce resistance was merely entertainment. However, as Eunhoo’s resistance became increasingly intense, he frowned, seemingly annoyed.

As the hand slipped inside his pants, Eunhoo gasped sharply.

It was the moment the secret he had hidden for over twenty years was about to be exposed. When that happened, he couldn’t think of anything.

Yeo Taejun grabbed his buttocks tightly. The skin felt as chewy as a freshly steamed rice cake.

Startled, Eunhoo twisted his waist.

I have to get away.

Afterward, he thrashed his arms in the air. His unclipped nails scratched across Yeo Taejun’s face.

At the moment he felt the sharp pain on his face, Yeo Taejun’s eyes turned cold and icy. As if bothered, he gripped Eunhoo’s exposed neck tightly with one hand.

“You’re baring your claws so freely. You need to be taught a lesson.”