Feeling Do Won-cheol’s blatantly obvious stare, Han-gyeom jolted in surprise and quickly bowed his head toward him. Greeting an adult was basic courtesy, but the situation had been so sudden that he’d completely forgotten.
“Hello.”
Do Won-cheol’s gaze landed on the neat crown of his head, then shifted to the two hands the pair were clasping tightly together. Secretary Min, having also noticed their joined hands, merely pushed up his glasses for no reason.
“Who is he?”
He did not ask Han-gyeom. He simply tossed the words out as if telling Won-hyeok to explain directly. Han-gyeom only moved his lips in flustered silence. No matter that they were dating, Won-hyeok might not want to reveal to his family that he had a lover. Han-gyeom had heard there were plenty of people who stubbornly hid their relationships from their families for all kinds of reasons.
So he tried to pull his hand away, but Won-hyeok only tightened his grip even more.
“My lover.”
“……”
Do Won-cheol didn’t seem particularly shaken. Seeing the two of them standing there openly holding hands right in front of him, perhaps he’d already expected it. Still, Secretary Min standing beside him glanced at Won-hyeok as though this was a little unexpected.
In a way, Secretary Min could probably say he knew Won-hyeok better than Won-cheol, Won-hyeok’s own father, did. So to him, the sight of Won-hyeok not only dating someone but boldly introducing that person to his own family felt genuinely unfamiliar.
“Han-gyeom, sorry. I introduced him late. This is my father.”
Then, in the gentlest voice in the world, he introduced Do Won-cheol to Han-gyeom. That soft attitude was enough to make even his father flinch this time.
“Ah, I’m Kang Han-gyeom.”
Thanks to Won-hyeok introducing him as his lover, Han-gyeom felt like his heart was trembling so hard it might burst. Right here, in this very place with Won-hyeok’s family present, he had become his “lover.”
Han-gyeom greeted him politely, but Do Won-cheol said nothing. He neither returned the greeting nor addressed him.
“So a brat who’s going to be a senior next year has time for this dating nonsense.”
And with that one sentence from his mouth, the air around them froze instantly. Secretary Min squeezed his eyes shut, Won-hyeok furrowed his brows like the remark was absurd, and Han-gyeom was still floundering in the overwhelming joy of having just been introduced as Won-hyeok’s lover.
“Yes. I’ve got more than enough time for dating nonsense.”
“And are you preparing properly for graduation? Have you even thought about how you’re going to make a living after you graduate? Other people at your age are struggling however they can to climb higher, and you’re off carefree, just dating… Tch, how pathetic.”
Do Won-cheol had kept a blank expression the whole time, but as he poured the words out, cracks slowly formed in it, as though emotion had finally risen to the surface. Won-hyeok silently listened to every word falling from his father’s mouth. His own face had instead gone expressionless, but Secretary Min knew very well that wasn’t because he wasn’t angry. On the contrary, it was the look that appeared when he was feeling extreme rage.
“Sir, I don’t think this is something you should be saying here right now.”
Secretary Min stepped in between father and son while carefully watching Han-gyeom. For one thing, Han-gyeom was Won-hyeok’s lover, and he must already have been flustered from suddenly meeting his boyfriend’s father, only to get dragged into conflict between the two of them. And besides, this wasn’t something Won-hyeok would want Han-gyeom to see either.
“I’ve told you again and again. If you’re not certain about what you want to do, then prepare for law school. You’ve been given every possible advantage, and yet because you won’t put in the effort, you’ve ended up like this.”
“Sir, that’s enough now…”
Secretary Min, who had been glancing back and forth between Do Won-cheol—who had started pouring out his scolding—and Han-gyeom, faltered slightly. That was because Han-gyeom, whose cheeks had been flushed red until just moments ago, now wore a blank expression.
“To begin with, I—”
“Um…”
At that moment, Han-gyeom timidly raised his hand. Another silence fell instantly. The father, who had been about to continue scolding his son, and Won-hyeok, who had been holding back his anger because Han-gyeom was there, both widened their eyes and looked at Han-gyeom. At him, standing there with his hand raised like a student wanting to ask the teacher a question during class.
“I know this is rude, but… would it be okay if I said something too?”
His voice was so soft it almost trailed into nothing, but ironically, his attitude somehow looked bold. Maybe that was why Do Won-cheol, without realizing it, found himself nodding as though spellbound.
“Well, um… he’s someone who works hard. During exam periods, he studies really hard, and he’s never once lost first place. He always gets A+ on the assignments the professors give too. It might sound easy when you say it like that, but it’s absolutely impossible unless you work hard. I know because we go to the same school! And also… to begin with, I th-think getting into Hankuk University itself is impossible without hard work.”
Trying his best to speak as clearly as possible, Han-gyeom continued in a rapid-fire rush.
“So maybe f-father, you just didn’t know that well, and that’s why you were saying those things? So what I’m trying to say is… that he’s not someone who deserves to be called pathetic…”
With Secretary Min, Do Won-cheol, and Won-hyeok all staring fixedly at him, embarrassment seemed to crash over him all at once, and Han-gyeom’s voice trailed off at the end. In that situation, no one could easily add anything, when suddenly a sound like someone holding back laughter came from Won-hyeok.
The sight of him covering his mouth, the corners of his eyes crinkled as though he were happy, was something deeply unfamiliar to both Do Won-cheol and Secretary Min.
“I-I’m sorry. I was way too out of line saying all that… sunbae, I’m sorry.”
The flustered panic blooming across his reddened face was painfully obvious. Before he knew it, Do Won-cheol was staring fixedly at the now openly fumbling Han-gyeom.
“What did you say your name was?”
“Huh? Ah, Kang Han-gyeom. I’m 21, and I’m a second-year in the English Department at Hankuk University. My GPA isn’t super high, but it’s still in the 4-point range anyway… Ah, and m-my home is in Seoul…”
His intention was so transparent—rattling off his personal details just because this was his lover’s father—that even Secretary Min couldn’t help but suppress a fond smile in the end.
“…Call your mother. We’ll leave it at that for today.”
The conflict between father and son, which had always ended in disaster, eased into a lull for the first time ever. Secretary Min couldn’t help swallowing his surprise, because he’d never imagined Do Won-cheol would be the one to step back. With his rigid personality, he hated rudeness and bad manners more than anything, and he was a man with very firm personal standards.
Just now, Han-gyeom had acted in a way that went against those standards, yet Do Won-cheol didn’t point that part out.
“Yes.”
Won-hyeok answered flatly as well. Just as this unexpectedly arranged meeting was roughly coming to an end, Han-gyeom busily darted his gaze around, studying the faces of both Won-hyeok and Do Won-cheol.
“Hmm?”
Do Won-cheol must have noticed, because he turned his gaze toward Han-gyeom too.
“Ah, well…”
“Do you still have something else you want to say?”
“It’s not really anything important, but… sometimes when I look at sunbae’s face, I think a lot about who he must take after to be this handsome. But I only found out today.”
“……”
At those words, Do Won-cheol froze stiff.
“Sunbae really looks a lot like his father.”
When he’d looked through the photo album before, Han-gyeom had thought Won-hyeok had inherited more of his mother’s genes. That refined, elegant, beautiful atmosphere had been exactly the same. But if you looked at each of his features one by one, he actually resembled the father standing before him now more than his mother.
The sharp eyes, the straight, high nose bridge, and especially that attractive line at the corners of the mouth—they were basically identical.
“I guess the power of genetics is amazing.”
Said with a shy smile, the remark might at first sound like a compliment toward Won-hyeok, but it was actually aimed squarely at his father. And it was a compliment on his looks, at that. Secretary Min turned his head away completely and bit his lip hard to keep from laughing, while Won-hyeok frowned between the brows like he didn’t like this at all.
Part of it was because hearing he looked like his father wasn’t particularly welcome, but more than that, he absolutely hated that Han-gyeom had praised someone else’s face besides his.
“…Ahem. Secretary Min. Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ah, goodbye.”
Han-gyeom bowed politely. Do Won-cheol, who hadn’t accepted his greeting the first time, gave a small nod this time as they parted and accepted it. Even so, he awkwardly cleared his throat in that rare way of his, then passed by the two of them together with Secretary Min.
“Kang Han-gyeom, don’t compliment anyone’s face except mine.”
“Huh? Not even sunbae’s father?”
“Yeah. Absolutely no one but me. Got it?”
Han-gyeom nodded brightly. As he walked away, Secretary Min glanced back at the two of them. They really did look like a perfect match. When Won-hyeok had introduced Han-gyeom as his lover, Secretary Min had wondered how someone could possibly date a person with that kind of temper, but apparently it had all been unnecessary worry.
“How should I put it? He’s an incredibly cute student.”
“……”
Do Won-cheol didn’t answer. That stirred a strange sort of curiosity in Secretary Min. He felt a sudden urge to probe a little and see what Do Won-cheol was thinking.
“Well… should I maybe talk to Won-hyeok? If you’re very worried, I could tell him he should focus on his studies rather than dating.”
“…No need.”
“Pardon?”
“There’s no need for that. To begin with, the kind of idiots who can’t focus on school because of dating were only ever going to amount to that much anyway. Since that brat said all that so boldly, I suppose he’s confident.”
Those words were practically the same as saying he wouldn’t interfere with Won-hyeok dating Han-gyeom. It was a rather contradictory thing to say for someone who’d just been complaining a moment earlier about him getting distracted by dating nonsense, but Secretary Min quietly ended the matter with, “Yes, understood.”
“Still, it’s been a while.”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Since I’ve heard someone say I look like my son.”
Secretary Min glanced sideways at Do Won-cheol’s face. His expression, normally stiff as stone, looked soft in this moment alone.
