# Chapter 5
Are you kidding? When Seowoo frowned, Dohyun held out the pen again as if urging him.
“Look here, CEO. Didn’t you say we should have a healthy conversation?”
“That’s what we’re doing. Just a healthy conversation. Right?”
“…Didn’t you say I was an honored guest? Do you typically shove things like this at honored guests?”
“Ah, right. I should have carried you in like a princess for proper treatment. I’ve been disrespectful. It’s late, but would you like me to carry you in my flower palanquin?”
Dohyun patted his own shoulder and smiled mischievously.
Seowoo’s face changed color as he expressed his disgust. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand; this man was just pretending not to know.
Setting aside the fact that he couldn’t report it now, how could he sign something when he didn’t know what this guy might do using it as an excuse?
Saying “CEO” with proper honorifics every time was reaching the limit of his patience. He was on the verge of shouting “You bastard!” The letters ‘F’ and ‘U’ were already written in each of his eyes.
“I understand that as a company CEO, it’s convenient to exchange documents, but that’s not for me. Let’s just talk.”
“Talk? Oh, a verbal contract. That’s a bit difficult for me.”
“Why?”
“Because Mr. Han Seowoo doesn’t trust me.”
Dohyun rested his arm on the desk, supporting his chin with his finger. His big smile faded slightly into a faint smile.
The sound of Seowoo’s own voice from an hour ago echoed in his head, saying “I guess I shouldn’t trust you…” Could it really be because of that?
“…Are you holding a grudge now?”
“I do tend to leave a strong aftertaste. But that’s not what I meant…”
Seowoo didn’t have time to ask further. His whole body tilted as his arms waved through the air. Dohyun had grabbed his shirt collar and pulled.
A short cough burst out. His hand with nowhere to go flailed and pressed against the desk. Objects on the desk slid to the side.
It was a pain he had experienced before. The grip on his neck, the dust rising with large movements. If he opened his eyes, there would be shining black pupils in front of him. Eyes that bound his gaze like vines—
He tried to take a step back reflexively, but his foot slipped. Only the chair caught on his heel made a scraping sound as it moved backward.
“Urgh… what are you doing…!”
“Oh, did I scare you?”
Dohyun released his clothing with a big laugh. Seowoo swept his disheveled bangs with the back of his hand and caught his breath. A tingling sensation rose from his toes to the top of his head, a feeling he had momentarily forgotten.
“Ha, really, you crazy bastard…”
Whether Dohyun heard the quiet voice or not, he didn’t seem to care.
Seowoo gathered his trembling fingertips and straightened his shirt. As he was about to button his collar, he suddenly lowered his head and felt his chest.
His phone was gone.
He raised his head urgently. Dohyun was tapping on the familiar phone screen as if it were his own.
“You’ve set a good lock. Well, security should be thorough.”
“…”
“Hmm? But there’s less in here than I expected. Or do you use two phones? Managing scandals?”
Dohyun calmly unlocked the phone with his own hands.
How? While Seowoo was staring blankly, Dohyun stopped the recording and even deliberately pressed the play button. Although there was some rustling sound because it had been placed inside clothing, the voice was quite clear.
Dohyun kept exclaiming in admiration.
“Phones these days are really good. I should have gone into IT instead. It has a brighter future than entertainment.”
“…”
“Star Han, why so quiet? Are you upset? Because I checked your phone without permission?”
Dohyun returned the phone to its owner only after confirming the voice file had been completely deleted. He didn’t break or tamper with the phone at all. From the beginning, his only purpose was to delete that file.
Seowoo wasn’t particularly skilled at lying, but he was quite good at sitting without showing his emotions. That’s why he felt more confused.
“…How did you know?”
Seowoo asked glumly. Dohyun picked up the pen that had fallen to the floor and held it out to Seowoo again.
“You’re really not good at lying.”
Seowoo eventually wrote his name on that ridiculous contract. He had neither the energy nor the justification to resist further. The coolness tightening around his nape wouldn’t go away.
That action was no different from a threat, really. With death so vividly in front of him, being stubborn would have been a stupid choice.
Seowoo wanted to understand this person’s intentions, even if just half as much as Dohyun seemed to see through him, no, even a quarter as much. They say businessmen have snake-like qualities, but this was not someone who had swallowed a snake – he was the snake itself.
“…Can I go now?”
“Leaving already?”
What are you, a host trying to keep a guest?
Soon there was the sound of a door opening. One of the men who had been stacked in the corridor, dressed in a dark suit, walked in. Ignoring Seowoo’s displeased look, the man went straight behind the desk and stood at attention. His attitude clearly showed the vertical relationship between them.
Dohyun flicked his hand and passed over the contract. They exchanged some words, but apart from “Han Seowoo” or general terms like “process” or “confirm,” they were words Seowoo couldn’t understand.
Feeling Seowoo’s gaze persistently following him, Dohyun turned his head. The suited man paused his speech. Resting his arm on the desk, Dohyun asked kindly.
“Ah, yes. Would you prefer coffee or tea?”
“Am I… in a situation where I need to choose that?”
“Are you still upset that I didn’t carry you in a flower palanquin? You’re more narrow-minded than you look. Or maybe, grape juice?”
This is really ridiculous. When Seowoo couldn’t answer, Dohyun just said “Okay” on his own and looked at the man standing beside him.
“Star Han is craving grape juice.”
“Yes, CEO.”
“I haven’t, answered, yet, okay?”
Seowoo’s words came out with force on each syllable as he gritted his teeth.
“No juice? Why? Then what would you like?”
“Green tea! …Serve green tea.”
“Manager Gu, did you hear that?”
Only after the words came out of his mouth did Seowoo realize that he shouldn’t have answered. But the man had already bowed his head and was on his way out.
Dohyun looked at Seowoo with an expression that seemed to ask if he was satisfied now. Ah, this temperament.
“Excuse me, CEO. How long are you planning to keep me here?”
“Are you busy?”
“I am.”
“You cleared your schedule after the premiere, didn’t you? Why do you keep lying when you’re not even good at it?”
“…What?”
“Since I’ve received the documents, there are things I need to check, so I’m keeping you here. Let’s have some patience.”
Seowoo’s expression naturally became glum. In fact, he had no schedule after this, so Dohyun’s statement about lying wasn’t wrong. Did I tell him that? Even thinking for just a second, he knew that wasn’t possible.
Come to think of it, this guy easily unlocked his phone too. Even though the number combination was simple, it wasn’t narrow enough to guess in one try without hints. Seowoo’s cheeks turned white, then blue.
“Did you investigate me?”
Dohyun just smiled without replying. Literally feeling the back of his neck tighten, Seowoo’s nape felt numb.
Honestly, yeah, there were jokes about social security numbers being sold for pennies overseas, which actually reduced vigilance. If Dohyun had said he knew that, Seowoo would have just thought, he probably spent some money to get it.
But knowing his phone lock password or schedule details was different. It was more creepy because it was so trivial.
“…How much?”
“As much as needed?”
Seowoo felt a chill run up his stiff neck.
“Why do you need my schedule?”
“It seems useful right now, doesn’t it? For lie detection. Oh, but the password, I just tried it once.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Is it obvious?”
I need to change my password as soon as I get back. Seowoo made a deep promise to himself while looking at the smiling face.
When Seowoo snapped at him not to smile, Dohyun made him even more angry with a ridiculous retort: “If Star Han smiles.”
The door opened. The suited man from earlier came in person, carrying teacups on a transparent crystal tray. Should I greet him or not? Seowoo looked askance at the man as he kindly placed a small plate of cookies on the desk as well.
Dohyun looked back and forth between the two.
“Mr. Han Seowoo, why have your eyes been so passionate since earlier? Are you really interested?”
Seowoo’s expression naturally distorted. The man seemed either used to this sort of thing or had been trained not to react, as he remained indifferent.
“Don’t be shy. You two already know each other.”
“Both wrong. Not a single letter of what you said is correct.”
“Why? Both are correct. Your face is so red, it’s definitely because you’re shy. And you’ve actually met Manager Gu once before.”
Dohyun patted the man’s back, urging him to greet Seowoo.
The man bowed politely like some thug from a movie.
“Hello.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seowoo replied reflexively.
Manager Gu didn’t have a particularly striking appearance, but his build and aura were overwhelming. Now his memory hazily revived. He had been wondering where he’d seen him – this guy was the one holding a shovel next to Seo Dohyun during that incident on the mountain. Ah, right. They were acquainted.
“Then, excuse me.”
The manager exited sharply once his business was done. But Seowoo felt he would rather be with the wooden Manager Gu than with Dohyun. This place was completely a bed of thorns.
“Why aren’t you drinking? It’s going to get cold.”
“…”
“They say green tea is so good for the body.”
Who doesn’t know that? Does he think I’m not drinking because I don’t know? I’m not drinking because I feel like I’ll choke. My stomach feels blocked.
When Seowoo didn’t touch the cup, Dohyun added as a passing comment:
“I didn’t drug it, so drink.”
“…Do you actually drug people here?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
