Junyoung forced a smile and tried to act casual, saying something instead of “get a grip” as Yeonwoo, who had been focused on his phone, turned toward them and became serious.
Unlike the others, he couldn’t hide his surprise at all. Seeing his face, Junyoung pressed his lips together and nodded.
Loosen up, he was trying to say.
But as Yeonwoo’s face remained stiff, Junyoung covered his forehead with his hand in dismay. Meanwhile, Junghyun gave Yeonwoo a slight bow as a greeting.
Yeonwoo returned the greeting with an equally stiff bow. Then with a face that asked “how should I handle this,” he glanced at Junyoung, looked at Suhyuk, then back at Jaehyuk, and suddenly widened his eyes in surprise.
“What happened to your face?”
At Yeonwoo’s concerned cry—the most affectionate reaction of anyone who had seen Jaehyuk today—Jaehyuk gestured with his chin toward Junghyun standing beside him.
“Ask this guy.”
At that gesture telling him to explain himself, Junghyun tried to be vague.
“There was a small accident.”
“…Accident?”
“You could call it a communication error.”
Unable to understand this explanation, Yeonwoo looked back at Jaehyuk with a face that asked “what does that mean,” but Jaehyuk avoided his gaze. Suhyuk also just smiled awkwardly.
In that strange atmosphere, Yeonwoo asked Jaehyuk again.
“Did you go to the hospital?”
This time Junghyun answered instead.
“It’s fine. This level of injury isn’t fatal.”
“But the bruise looks serious…”
“If no bones are broken, it’s fine.”
With Junghyun insisting it was nothing and Jaehyuk looking slightly irritated, Yeonwoo, who had been reading their expressions, couldn’t say anything more and just offered an awkward smile while avoiding their gaze.
And at that moment, silence fell.
As the five people stood in front of the elevator without speaking or making eye contact, Junyoung looked at Jaehyuk accusingly.
What are you going to do about this atmosphere?
Though it wasn’t Jaehyuk’s intention, the situation had become extremely awkward because Jaehyuk hadn’t told Junghyun in advance.
Without Junghyun, they would have had a fairly pleasant conversation, but with him present, everything changed completely.
Just as Junyoung gestured to Jaehyuk with his chin, suggesting that since he created this situation, he should fix it, with a face that said he could hardly breathe, Junghyun spoke to Yeonwoo.
“You haven’t pressed the button.”
Since Yeonwoo was standing right in front of the buttons, Junghyun indirectly asked him to either press it or move aside. Only then did Yeonwoo press the down button in embarrassment.
Seeing his stiff and extremely unnatural movement, Junghyun glanced around and, confirming no one else was nearby, spoke in a quiet voice.
“I know everything, so there’s no need to be so cautious.”
At that casually dropped comment, the already quiet hallway in front of the elevator became dead silent, as if cold water had been poured over it.
It was so quiet that not even breathing could be heard.
Quiet enough to hear the sound of machinery from far away.
A brief silence passed.
Junyoung, Suhyuk, and Yeonwoo, with pale faces, looked at each other, then at Jaehyuk, and finally at Junghyun.
Their faces showed they were quickly thinking: whether Junghyun was referring exactly to that issue or something else; if it was that issue, whether he was just making a guess or really knew something; and why he brought it up now and what he was thinking.
But surprisingly, Jaehyuk didn’t seem particularly shocked and was calmly looking down at Junghyun.
Under their gazes full of emotions, thoughts, and suspicions, Junghyun, still with an indifferent face looking straight ahead, answered their questions.
“There’s no need to look at me like that. I have a premium straw.”
At this still puzzling statement, Jaehyuk asked this time.
“Straw?”
“An informant.”
“Who?”
“That small guy I saw at the bar. Despite appearances, he’s a quite capable securities expert. He knows all the industry papers and rumors. The stress has made him, already baseball-obsessed, completely crazy since getting a job, but it’s better than doing drugs, so everyone just leaves him be.”
“Where?”
“LF Securities.”
“That’s our subsidiary.”
“I told you. His entire family is hardcore fans of the Hanju Elephants, so even though he deliberately got accepted elsewhere, he ended up at LF Securities. He handles quite large amounts of money despite appearances and regularly receives scouting offers from pension and fund sectors. That’s why everyone tends to overlook his crazy behavior. His nickname in the securities industry is Yorkshire.”
Following Chihuahua, now Yorkshire—Jaehyuk rolled his eyes and looked down at Junghyun, asking sincerely.
“…Don’t tell me ‘Yorkshire’ is for the reason I’m thinking?”
“It’s exactly that reason. Once he gets angry, he really goes berserk. That’s why even I approach him cautiously. Despite appearing slow, he’s surprisingly sharp. Good memory too. If you get on his bad side, it’s a headache.”
At this story, Jaehyuk looked at Junghyun with disbelief.
“You approach someone cautiously?”
“I dislike problems more than you might think. Honestly, I usually just leave things alone because it’s bothersome, but not with him. If he doesn’t understand something, he’s the type to not sleep and keep calling until he drives you crazy. I once saw him stay awake for three days straight harassing someone, and after that, I resolved never to fight with him.”
As Junghyun continued bragging about his friend, Jaehyuk pressed the back of his neck as if he had a headache. Then he frowned and asked.
“I’m asking this sincerely, are there no normal people around you?”
“That’s a hasty generalization fallacy.”
“Are you saying there are?”
“I said it’s a hasty generalization fallacy, not that there aren’t. Seojun is somewhat normal, but even he…”
“Who’s Seojun?”
There were definitely only three people at that bar, so who is this person, and do I need to know about more people? As Jaehyuk worried, Junghyun immediately revealed the identity of this mysterious person.
“My ex-lover.”
At that brief sentence, the area in front of the elevator became quiet again.
But still, only Jaehyuk didn’t seem particularly concerned.
He just asked curiously.
“Black bean noodles?”
“Braised pork belly.”
At this seemingly coded exchange, Junyoung understood and exclaimed “Ah,” and Jaehyuk immediately retorted.
“That friend seems the least sane of all.”
“In a way, that’s true. Anyway, I know everything, so stop being so cautious. It’s not even a big deal in that family.”
The moment Junghyun declared with that last sentence that he knew all the facts about that family, the elevator doors opened.
In that suffocating atmosphere, Junghyun stepped into the elevator first, and the other four also got in and pressed the buttons for the 1st floor and B3.
As the elevator doors closed again, Jaehyuk, standing next to Junghyun, asked.
“How much do you know?”
“Most of what’s necessary. But I don’t care. If I cared about such things, I wouldn’t have married you. Or, should I care?”
As Junghyun looked up at Jaehyuk, asking if there were still feelings involved, Jaehyuk answered briefly.
“Not at all.”
“Then it’s fine. You can breathe now. This industry is like an animal kingdom anyway, so what does it matter? Honestly, my family isn’t in a position to judge others either…”
“…What does that mean?”
“You’ll find out soon. And to continue our earlier conversation, let’s have black bean noodles.”
“Denied. We need to eat something different today.”
“No.”
“You don’t have a choice in this. We need to talk, so we’re going somewhere else. What about the board preparation?”
“It’s ready. But I won’t ride the big waves because it’s dangerous.”
“You’ll have to.”
“No.”
“You’ll still end up doing it. Dawn surfing, then big waves in the afternoon, and rock climbing at night.”
“Then I’ll die.”
“Don’t worry. If anyone dies, it would be me, not you.”
“My, being more fragile than an Omega, can you properly play the Alpha role?”
As Junghyun looked up at Jaehyuk with a pitying expression, Jaehyuk also looked down at him with a gentle smile. Then he voiced what he had been thinking all day.
“I don’t know who came up with it, but ‘Chihuahua from hell’ fits you perfectly.”
“For your information, my nickname in high school was ‘mad dog,’ and my official nickname in college was ‘the terror muzzle.'”
“They all suit you.”
“I actually think so too. If you want it so badly, I’ll ride with you. But I’ll probably ride better than you.”
“No way.”
At those words, Junghyun smiled.
As if to say, that’s nonsense.
At that confident smile, Jaehyuk retorted, seemingly hurt in his pride.
“Want to see who can ride higher?”
“What’s the bet?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Anything?”
“Whatever.”
At that statement full of confidence that he absolutely wouldn’t lose, Junghyun turned to Suhyuk.
“Is this person okay as a successor? Does he know what I might ask for?”
“Even so, my shares aren’t that much.”
“But it’s enough to exercise influence. Do you know what I could do with those shares?”
“At most, you’d probably sell them to my uncle.”
“No. I’d sell them abroad. Morgan.”
The moment Junghyun mentioned the name of an American company known to be very interested in Hanju Trading shares recently, Jaehyuk laughed.
With a face that said, you’re really crazy.
“I just changed my mind. ‘Terror muzzle’ fits you better than ‘Chihuahua from hell.'”
“I think so too.”
“Keep acting up.”
As Jaehyuk looked down at Junghyun fiercely, as if telling him to keep talking all he wanted, the elevator arrived at the first floor and the doors opened. As Junghyun stepped forward to exit, Jaehyuk firmly grabbed the back of his neck, pressed the close button again, and then pressed the B2 button.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
