“Eat as much as you want. As much as you want. I’ll come pick you up later.”
“Yes. Thank you. Sae-un… Yes.”
“Alright…”
After parting with Noeul, Gong Pyeonghwa drove straight to the Taekang Electronics headquarters.
Pyeonghwa, who had come to scout locations where he might accidentally-on-purpose run into Shin Saebyeok along his route, or find a place for a secret meeting, looked around with fire in his eyes.
Damn these big corporations. Squeezing their workers dry. Witnessing the current state of capitalism, Gong Pyeonghwa clenched his fist.
His husband, a worker, might be trapped in the company being abused.
Let those poor office workers go home right now! Let them go home! The Taekang Group owners need to wake up! Wake up!
The second son in the direct line of the owner’s family was furious.
Gong Pyeonghwa sent one more email with his sorrowful feelings.
Even Cinderella was free until midnight, but Gong Pyeonghwa, whose work-life balance was worse than Cinderella’s, turned the steering wheel with lingering regret.
He realized he needed to find a way to communicate directly with Saebyeok.
***
“Hey, oppa. Are you uncomfortable sleeping? You must be, right? The blinds will be installed tomorrow, and I’ll change your pillow and blanket right now. Hmm. The humidity is a bit low.”
“What? No, you don’t have to. There’s no problem. It’s fine.”
No matter how much Saebyeok insisted it was fine, Gong Sarang pushed forward like a bulldozer.
“You don’t have any loss of appetite or headaches, do you? I should have been paying attention to this from the first day, but I’ve been so busy.”
Have I lost my appetite? Have I had a headache? Shin Saebyeok thanked her for her concern, though he wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
“I’m telling you, only a younger sibling takes care of their older siblings properly.”
“Excuse me?”
“Phew.”
Gong Sarang let out a sigh of satisfaction as if drunk on something and disappeared.
“What was that about?”
***
Thanks to the human bulldozer’s attack, or for some other reason, his body and mind felt particularly refreshed today.
Perhaps he had been unconsciously tense. Or maybe he had slept well?
Although his father-in-law and brother-in-law bought him coffee for his commute, his mind was so clear that he didn’t even need it.
“New guy?”
While he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, a man exuding fatigue from somewhere slouched over and rested his chin on Saebyeok’s shoulder.
Goosebumps ran down his spine, but Saebyeok deliberately ignored it.
This person hadn’t been visible yesterday, and he didn’t appear to be of low rank. Of course, no one here was of lower rank than Saebyeok.
‘Is this Team Manager Dok?’
The way he ignored personal space and pushed in from the start matched the description Saebyeok had heard yesterday.
“Ah, yes! Hello. I’m intern Shin Saebyeok.”
“Didn’t the recruitment period end quite a while ago? I didn’t hear anything about this. Strange.”
That’s because I’m a parachute hire. No, not even a parachute—this is more like a ski jump.
“Just one sip of coffee.”
“Go ahead. I didn’t buy it to drink myself, so you can have it all.”
“Thank you.”
He snatched the coffee with one hand as if winning a claw machine prize and sat down, noisily sucking on the straw.
As soon as he sat down, he began enthusiastically hammering away at the keyboard, seeming more like a developer than a salesperson.
When Saebyeok booted up his computer and logged into the intranet, a flood of messages poured in.
[Overseas Sales Team 1 Manager – Dokgo Dahee: I have a lot of work piled up this morning]
[Overseas Sales Team 1 Manager – Dokgo Dahee: No time to train the new employee, so just browse internet gossip for now]
[Overseas Sales Team 1 Manager – Dokgo Dahee: Don’t think about doing anything enthusiastic, just fool around]
[Overseas Sales Team 1 Manager – Dokgo Dahee: Got it?]
So the name is really Dokgo Dai, no, Dokgo Dahee. Anyway, the name…
But don’t they usually tell you to look at the company website, intranet, or work files? What’s this about browsing internet gossip…
But Shin Saebyeok was more accustomed to compliance than raising objections. Thinking it was his superior’s order and he had no choice, he opened an internet browser.
He habitually logged into his personal email to read the economics newspaper he subscribed to, but found quite a few emails had accumulated.
[To. My beloved eternal lovely Saebyeok]
The subject line was intense, and it was clearly an email from Gong Pyeonghwa.
Saebyeok’s heart started pounding. Usually his heart didn’t race at such flattery, but perhaps because it had been so long, his heart was leaping wildly.
He felt as if he could hear Gong Pyeonghwa’s playful voice, sense the small vibrations transmitted when he smiled, and even smell the pheromones Pyeonghwa emitted when happy.
Saebyeok clicked carefully, making sure not to make any sound.
There were five emails detailing Gong Pyeonghwa’s every joy and sorrow in excruciating detail.
Saebyeok marked them as important emails and read them again slowly.
The more he read, the more they tugged at his heartstrings.
But honestly, he wasn’t overly worried.
After all, Gong Pyeonghwa had returned safely even when he was stranded on a deserted island.
It wasn’t survival he was worried about; he just felt sympathetic and sorry for not being able to see him for several days.
While his parents wouldn’t starve Gong Pyeonghwa, there were no snacks that Pyeonghwa liked at his house.
In Saebyeok’s imagination, Gong Pyeonghwa was sniffling with his bones showing through his skin.
Saebyeok immediately replied:
Since I’m at work, I think I can keep checking my email. Are you okay? Don’t worry about me. I’m glad we can talk even like this. I’m doing well. Fortunately, Iseul is doing well too, and everyone seems nice. I miss you too.
But as he was about to type that this shouldn’t involve an escape, Team Manager Dok suddenly stood up and said:
“On the hour. I’m going out on field work. Please email me the meeting details. I’m off.”
“Have a safe trip.”
Startled, Saebyeok sent the email as it was, hastily logged out, and looked around cautiously. Everyone was gathering their tablets and files to head to the meeting room.
Saebyeok also entered the meeting room with the other new employees.
The morning meeting, miscellaneous errands, and getting familiar with the products and clients completely consumed his morning hours.
Today he ate with the Gong family at the company cafeteria, and while the food was a bit more heavily seasoned compared to home-cooked meals, it was delicious.
Had office life always been this hectic? It didn’t seem like this in America.
Despite his good night’s sleep, he felt drowsy after lunch. He needed coffee.
Since he didn’t have money, he couldn’t use the cafeteria, so he made a strong instant coffee mix in the break room.
Just as he thought he could catch his breath, the afternoon schedule began.
Saebyeok was so busy that he completely forgot about the email he had hurriedly sent to Gong Pyeonghwa.
***
Today, Gong Pyeonghwa again prepared breakfast with his mother-in-law, did yoga, and went shopping.
Together they made dumpling filling and even kneaded the dumpling wrappers themselves.
For lunch, they steamed dumplings and also had soy sauce tteokbokki.
For dinner, they planned to make a hearty dumpling soup by adding dumplings to beef bone broth that had been simmering since yesterday, along with several side dishes.
“Mother-in-law, won’t we be short on dumplings?”
“I don’t think so…”
He thought that even professional dumpling shops probably didn’t make this many.
With no more space in the refrigerator, he wondered how many more they were planning to make.
“So what should we do now?”
“Rest.”
Mrs. Lee, whose shoulders were stiff from making so many dumplings, spoke in a tired voice.
“Would you like a massage?”
Gong Pyeonghwa massaged his mother-in-law’s shoulders while being cute.
His hands, which somehow found and pressed only the knotted areas, felt refreshing.
“Ah. Mother-in-law, may I go to the pharmacy?”
“Hmm? Are you sick?”
“No, but my rut is coming soon, so I need to buy suppressants.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, her son-in-law was also an alpha. As the wife of an alpha husband, Mrs. Lee knew how difficult ruts were for alphas.
She felt sorry for separating the young couple during their prime.
“Does Seobangie have… adverse reactions… like our Saebyeok?”
“I don’t. If I take medication, it’s manageable. May I go to the pharmacy?”
Mrs. Lee stood up.
“You must be tired, please rest. I’ll go quickly and come right back.”
“Ah…”
It should be… fine, right? Her husband had instructed her not to let the son-in-law out of sight for even a moment, but honestly, she thought he was being excessive.
At this hour, Saebyeok would also be working at the company, and with credit card statements showing up immediately, surely he wouldn’t do anything reckless.
“Go ahead.”
“The pharmacy isn’t far. I’ll be back! Should I buy something on the way back?”
How could someone with such an innocent face do anything reckless? Mrs. Lee didn’t think much of it.
Completely forgetting that that innocent face had impregnated her son.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
