Side Story 01
Snake
Trrrrr.
The moment the crude ringtone sounded, a man picked up his phone to answer the call. Soon, fluent English flowed from his lips.
“Yes, this is Chief Secretary Apophis speaking.”
It was midday in the office, with warm sunlight seeping through the half-open window. Thanks to recently acquiring a building in the heart of New York, they had secured a fairly good location, but unfortunately, Apophis didn’t even have time to look outside the tall company building.
“I’m sorry, but the CEO is not currently at his desk. Would you like to leave a message?”
Apophis pressed firmly between his deeply furrowed brows while ensuring his voice over the phone remained completely free of any irritable tone.
However, as the call dragged on unnecessarily, Apophis habitually flicked the split tip of his tongue. Soon after, he responded curtly in a dry voice.
“Yes, in that case, please call again later.”
Click, click, click, click.
After hanging up the phone with forceful fingers, Apophis muttered a quiet expletive. As an otherworld immigrant who had now perfectly adapted to this world, if asked about the advantages of modern civilization, he would say mobile phones; if asked about the disadvantages, it would also be mobile phones. Amid the flood of work-related communications, Apophis often contemplated smashing his phone to pieces.
But Apophis actually knew better. The problem wasn’t the phone. He tapped repeatedly on the keyboard while quietly murmuring.
“Seri.”
Ding.
“Call ‘Your Excellency.'”
-I will call ‘Your Excellency’ registered in your contacts.
The AI responded in a monotone voice and immediately began dialing using Apophis’s personal phone. However, there was only the continuous sound of the call connecting, with no sign of the long-awaited voice from the other end.
Apophis wasn’t one to give up easily. While continuing to work as the phone was ringing, when the call eventually disconnected without connecting, he repeatedly asked the AI to redial. Nevertheless, the other party stubbornly refused to answer.
“Damn it!”
Finally unable to contain himself, Apophis slammed his fist on his office desk. Yet even while doing so, he habitually pressed Ctrl+S, fearing that unsaved files might be lost.
Apophis suddenly turned his head to look at the window. He could see his own face faintly reflected in the glass. There was a gloomy man with dark circles that extended all the way to his chin.
“Why did I come to this world… No, no. The problem isn’t that I came here, but that I chose this damn job. No, that’s not it either—it’s that Your Excellency…!”
Ding-diri-ring…
At that moment, unlike his constantly ringing work phone, his personal phone, which had been quiet until now, lit up. Naturally, Apophis picked up the phone like lightning.
“Your Excellency!”
-…Apophis.
“Your Excellency, where on earth are you? How can you be so busy and yet come to work only to suddenly…!”
Apophis quickly pressed on, not giving the other person even a moment to answer. And for good reason—the CEO’s absence during the busiest morning hours of the corporation had caused all work to be dumped on Apophis.
Moreover, the CEO—that is, “Your Excellency” Set—hadn’t even failed to come to work. Because he had been using up his vacation days for the past few days, Apophis had been keeping a vigilant eye to ensure that he would at least come in today, but the CEO had suddenly disappeared right after arriving.
“Your Excellency, if you continue like this, I’ll have to get rid of the wardrobe in the office—”
-Apophis! This is no time for that!
“…Pardon?”
Apophis tilted his head, cutting off his words at Set’s seemingly urgent voice. Then Set conveyed these words in a heavy voice:
-Seho is… Seho is crying.
“The young master? Why is he crying?”
-…I think he misses Ji-ho.
Korean name Yeon Seho, English name Bael Gorgon.
The only son of Set and Yeon Ji-ho, the prince called “Young Master” by the Gorgon Knights—hearing the news that he was crying, Apophis unconsciously forgot what he was about to say and began to focus on Set’s story.
“Where is Ji-ho?”
-…A guest came to the pension, so he stepped out for a moment.
“Then he’ll be back soon! Leave the young master and come back to New York at once, Your Excellency!”
That made sense. As it turned out, it wasn’t anything special.
Young Master Seho was still in Korea with Yeon Ji-ho, who was running a pension there. The child suffered from separation anxiety as severe as his father’s. Even while frantically sucking on his milk bottle, if Yeon Ji-ho wasn’t in sight, he would cry loud enough to bring the house down, making it impossible for Set to bring him all the way to New York. So normally, he stayed in Korea with Yeon Ji-ho.
-Apophis. Couldn’t I just stay here until Ji-ho returns?
“How could you? How many scheduled meetings do we have this afternoon?!”
-Haah…
A deep sigh was heard over the phone. The sound made Apophis feel a bit guilty too. Set, the father of a mere three-year-old child, had been coming to work without properly taking parental leave due to bad timing.
Of course, Set wasn’t the only one who had suffered. The one who had suffered even more was Yeon Ji-ho. While Set was making money to fully adapt to this world after immigrating, buying an identity through illegal routes, and even establishing a company, Ji-ho had given birth and stood by Set’s side without a single complaint.
Knowing their unavoidable circumstances, Apophis had turned a blind eye to Set’s vacation days for the past few days. But not anymore.
“Your Excellency, no, CEO. Please come… Even if you don’t do anything, just come to work and sign the approvals! Please?!”
-…
Set gave no answer. The call simply disconnected with a click. At that moment, Apophis felt an inexplicable chill.
“…It’s not like I did anything wrong.”
Hmm, of course not.
Apophis, muttering to himself, tried to comfort himself. Soon, focusing on work again, he completely forgot the ominous feeling from earlier and waited for Set to return to work.
Not knowing what kind of storm his phone call would cause.
***
When Apophis saw Set again, it was about an hour after hanging up the phone. The morning work was almost over, and it was nearly time for lunch.
Apophis went to the empty CEO’s office with schedules and approval documents he had organized that morning. He wanted to help Set so he could start working right away when he returned. However, the moment Apophis entered the office, one of the elegant wardrobe doors on the side of the office swung open.
“Ji-ho, Ji-ho…! Ji-ho, wait!”
CRASH, rumble…
Set tumbled out from between the suddenly opened wardrobe doors. Unable to hide his bewildered expression, he hurriedly approached the wardrobe and opened the door, but the unauthorized wardrobe was just an empty piece of furniture.
Looking inside, Set couldn’t hide his sense of disappointment as he hugged his chest. Or rather, to be precise, he wasn’t hugging his chest but something he was holding against it.
“…Young Master Seho?!”
“Ma, ma, mama… Waaaaaah!”
A cry loud enough to shake the office began. Set, with an obviously panicked face, hurriedly began to soothe Seho, but that wasn’t what the child wanted.
“Your Excellency, what, what on earth is this…!”
“…Apophis.”
“Yes?”
“If I submit my resignation today, will it be accepted?”
“What?!”
Set mentioned his resignation with a heavy expression that contained not a hint of humor. Even though Apophis held a significant share, Set was the founder of this company, and it operated with him at the helm—resignation? It was nonsensical.
“Your Excellency… What kind of nonsense is that?”
Having become quite comfortable with Set, unlike when he served him as Duke in the past, Apophis grabbed his own head and questioned Set. But Set wouldn’t budge from his position.
“If I stay like this, I’ll get divorced.”
“Whaaat?!”
“I’ll definitely end up divorced.”
“Huuuwaah! Mama, mama! Where ish, mama! Waaaah!”
Seeing that the child showed no sign of stopping his ear-splitting crying, Set finally handed Seho over to Apophis as if dumping him and said:
“Apophis, accept my resignation. And please take care of Seho just for today.”
“Your Excellency, what are you saying?!”
“Damn it, I’ll get divorced if I don’t do this!”
SLAM!
Set kicked open the office door and left. Apophis, left alone with Seho in the office, could only stand there blankly.
“…Young Master.”
“Hic, hiccup, huuuck.”
“I’m asking this just in case, on the off chance…”
Apophis knew rationally that Seho, who had just turned three years old, wouldn’t be able to answer his question. But he simply couldn’t help asking.
The reason why Yeon Ji-ho, who had been quietly looking after Seho out of responsibility for the child, had pushed Seho into the wardrobe while he was in Set’s arms. The reason why Set had called for his resignation and hurriedly left. There was only one thing that could be the reason for all of this.
“Is Ji-ho angry…?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
