“What about your father?”
“Hmm. My father-in-law pretends not to care, but I think he secretly has some interest. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, but I just feel it. Something’s there!”
That meant there wasn’t much of a reaction, contrary to expectations.
“I think it’s just a matter of time with your father too. He’s already slowly melting at my aegyo. Just wait, honey. I’ll completely melt your father-in-law with my charm.”
Hmm. That’s a completely impossible and ineffective thing to say.
“Yeah. Okay.”
But not wanting to rain on his husband’s grand dreams, Saebyeok simply said he believed him.
“Wait for me until I upgrade from a live-in servant to a visiting servant. Hah… But seriously, I feel like I should be more careful with my words.”
“Why?”
“I think I set a flag by going on about Gyeonu and Jiknyeo and all that.”
Ah. Right, we did talk about that. Who knew it would become foreshadowing and be cashed in at that timing? This is why they say in old proverbs that words become seeds.
“Let’s be careful with our words from now on.”
“Yeah… You really never know what will happen in life.”
“Hee. Love you.”
That’s one thing we don’t need to be careful about saying.
“I love you too.”
“My beloved Saebyeok, what should we do now? The timing is so awkward. Right?”
“Yeah. Too short.”
But still, it was good to see each other like this.
Saebyeok smiled contentedly as he stroked Gong Pyeonghwa’s face.
“Aish, you shouldn’t keep touching me.”
Gong Pyeonghwa put on a petty act of protest.
Though he said Saebyeok shouldn’t touch him, he grabbed Saebyeok’s hand that was caressing his face and kissed his palm repeatedly, touching him even more.
“Are you taking suppressants?”
“No, not yet. But I probably should start soon.”
“Just keep the suppressants with you but don’t take them yet. I’ll give you a pheromone shower as much as I can.”
Though Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok loved each other deeply, they hadn’t imprinted on each other yet.
When they were younger, they’d wanted to imprint right away out of insecurity, but as they grew older and trust developed between them, they didn’t feel the need to do it.
Certainty in their love, trust, the patience of adults… these were actually somewhat of an excuse. The real reason was that after long periods of communion, they had synchronized their heat cycles.
Neither Gong Pyeonghwa nor Shin Saebyeok wanted to give up their passionate nights during their prime years of sexual desire.
When heat cycles and rut cycles overlapped, it was incredibly intense!
“I’ll give you today’s dose. Should we go somewhere private? Is there a private place that’s not completely enclosed? I think I’ll get too excited if I go into a confined space right now. Can’t we go up to a rooftop somewhere?”
“Oh seriously, you’re such a pervert.”
Yet Saebyeok was also a pervert who hadn’t imprinted for the sake of hot nights.
“Okay, okay. I’ll try to control my lust.”
“There’s really nothing you won’t say in public.”
When Saebyeok glared at him, Gong Pyeonghwa smiled like a priest and showed him the vibrating buzzer.
“Oh! It’s vibrating. I’ll be right back.”
Smooch. He kissed Saebyeok’s cheek unexpectedly and ran to the counter as if escaping.
Shortly after, a tray overflowing with food appeared—sandwiches, hotcakes, cream soda, and… anyway, plenty of foods chosen to his taste.
“My Saebyeok, eat lots and lots.”
“Yeah. I wanted a sandwich.”
The hamburger he’d hastily chewed and swallowed at work had been greasy, but seeing the sandwich full of fresh vegetables made his appetite return.
“Don’t skip dinner because you’re meeting me. Eat proper meals. I like seeing you eat well, but it makes me a bit sad.”
“Yeah…”
“Ask my dad for his card and use it generously. Buy and eat whatever you want. Okay?”
Gong Pyeonghwa was already leading by example, happily using his father-in-law’s card as if it were his own.
“Ah, it’s nothing… The company provides meals, so I don’t really need to spend money.”
“You said you’ve been drinking coffee because you’re sleepy. What about coffee?”
“They have coffee beans in the pantry. And today the team manager bought me some.”
“Buying you food? Sounds like a good team manager.”
It was simple logic, but Saebyeok also didn’t think she seemed like a bad person.
“Still, you never know when a dangerous situation might arise, so keep this. Use it when it’s dangerous.”
Gong Pyeonghwa confidently gave Saebyeok a card in Chairman Shin’s name.
“What dangerous situations? You use it. You eat more than I do.”
“I can just ask your mom to buy things for me.”
“It’s fine. I don’t need it. I don’t have anything to spend money on. I don’t have freedom anyway.”
“…”
It was meant to be a clever joke, but far from laughing, Pyeonghwa became serious. The spoon scooping ice cream from the top of the soda froze in mid-air.
“I won’t forgive those capitalist bastards. How dare they mistreat my husband. I’ll dye the flag red. Those bourgeois pigs…”
“He- he’s your father. Our father. My father-in-law.”
“So what? He’s mistreating you. I bet Jiknyeo was anti-Jade Emperor too. This is the evil of nepotistic management!”
Such baseless incitement and fabrication.
“Anyway, it’s really fine. I did this kind of thing in America too, and actually it’s easier because I’m a new employee without much work. Reading the room is the real job.”
“As a new employee, all you need to do is greet people properly. Tsk, looking at you now, you seem to have lost weight. You look half your size. Is someone bullying you?”
“No. Really. Everyone’s too busy working to bully me.”
“Then why have you lost so much weight? Our company’s food should be delicious.”
Well, there’s no time to eat. And it’s stressful trying to eat while sandwiched between his father-in-law and brother-in-law.
“I think it’s just because everything’s new. Really, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll get through it quickly. Once the internship is over, our family can be reunited.”
“Ah. I’ll work hard to learn how to be a supportive spouse for the sake of our family’s reunion.”
Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok left the café with firm determination.
“We used to sneak around like this in high school too. Right? Should we go to the library for old times’ sake?”
“Hmm. I think time might be tight.”
“Then let’s just walk around the area before heading back.”
How do working people even date? There’s so little time. If you start work at 8:30, they should let you leave by 3 at the latest!
Gong Pyeonghwa had no one to complain to, so he swallowed his anger alone.
“Tsk… Three months is too long.”
“Come on, like you said, when else would I be able to add even one line of intern experience to my resume? Others want to do it but can’t.”
“Then they should let the people who want to do it do it.”
That’s a fair point. Saebyeok missed his chance to argue back because he was too busy deeply agreeing.
“Honestly, I think the working hours are too long. We’ve barely done anything and it’s already 10. Tsk… Let’s go. You have to go to work tomorrow. I’ll take you home.”
Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok waited together and got on the bus. Perhaps because it was past ten, the bus was quite empty.
Although he’d been able to endure the busy day, now that he had his partner beside him, fatigue hit him all at once. Saebyeok leaned on Gong Pyeonghwa’s shoulder and nodded off.
Gong Pyeonghwa gladly offered his shoulder.
Though his face was still handsome, it was full of fatigue. His skin seemed slightly roughened, perhaps from dry air in his room or an unsuitable lotion…
Saebyeok, charitably speaking, had good patience, or less charitably, was foolishly enduring. Seeing him nodding off on the bus meant it must be quite difficult for him.
He thought he would be nothing but happy to see Saebyeok’s face, but that wasn’t entirely true.
He felt sorry for him, affectionate, fond…
What could he do for someone like Saebyeok? What was within his power?
Gong Pyeonghwa was suddenly overwhelmed with depression at his own helplessness.
***
“Whew. Why am I so sleepy today?”
Falling asleep during a date was neither polite to his partner nor anything but embarrassing. Why didn’t he wake me up when we reached our stop instead of carrying me?
Still, the kiss after a week apart was sweet.
Saebyeok cooled the heat on his face and entered the house.
“You must have had a hard time working overtime. That place doesn’t usually make interns work overtime.”
His father-in-law greeted him solemnly, hands behind his back.
Far from working overtime, Saebyeok had spent the entire time playing, so he laughed awkwardly, but to Chairman Gong, it looked like pure modesty.
The more he looked at him, the more he liked him.
Not taking shortcuts, not seeking credit, silently doing his job diligently—it touched his heart.
Every action melted the heart of this capitalist old-timer.
“It’s nothing. What hardship could there be?”
How perfect. Chairman Gong, who had two lazy and grumbling sons, found Saebyeok so lovely. He couldn’t help but see him that way.
Though it rankled him to feel like he’d lost to that Shin fellow in raising children, he thought someone like Saebyeok might be acceptable as a son-in-law.
In truth, Shin Saebyeok looked so lovely that he almost wanted to trade his two sons for him.
“Ahem. Go in and rest. You have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Yes. Were you waiting for me to come home? If I’d known, I would have finished earlier.”
Even his flattery wasn’t dislikeable. It showed no shallowness or odiousness. He chose only the prettiest words.
Of course, what Saebyeok had actually meant was, “Did you seriously wait for me to come home? That’s intimidating. Can you tell me what time is the deadline for coming home?” But to Chairman Gong’s ears, it just sounded like pleasant flattery.
Noticing the father-in-law’s rising cheekbones and realizing his words weren’t having the intended effect, Saebyeok hastily added:
“I’ll probably be late often in the future, so please don’t worry too much and sleep well. When a ma-ma-ma-ma-man has bi-bi-bi-big work to do, he might be la-la-late sometimes. So don’t worry about someone like me…”
Goodness. I thought he was just a penny-pincher like his father, but he’s a man among men with ambition too. And he’s even worried about my sleep?
“…Of course! When a man has big work to do, he might be late sometimes. Do you think I wasn’t sleeping because I was worried about you? I was watching to make sure you weren’t fooling around somewhere. But it seems that’s not the case.”
No. I was fooling around with your son. We even kissed passionately under a streetlight.
Saebyeok felt cold sweat forming on his back.
“Do you think I find you lovely?”
He found him terribly lovely. Enough to want to adopt him. Enough to want to steal him from the Shin family.
“Wake up from that dream. What do you mean, lovely? Huh? Do you think I’ll give you shares because of that? Huh? Not a chance. At most, you’re only good enough for me to take along when I go somewhere.”
That sounds like he really cherishes me. Am I mistaken? Saebyeok simply responded with a business-like smile.
“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of it.”
After all, Saebyeok was the heir to a competing company. He belonged to Baeksan, not Taekang.
“Aish. A man should have ambition! From new employee to executive! Huh?”
If it was ambition, he had plenty. Because someday he would become the head of a competing company.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
