#103
Gyo-ha looked at Hwi-kyung’s message full of typos and thought: This person isn’t in their right mind, are they?
Gyo-ha knew that teams would have dinner gatherings since it had been a while since the last orientation training. Hwi-kyung had warned him in advance not to tactlessly join their drinking session.
Without that warning, Gyo-ha would have happily been there to enjoy a drink. He wanted to drink with Hwi-kyung at least once.
Despite all the things they had done together, they had never experienced drinking together. Hwi-kyung clearly wasn’t someone who enjoyed drinking and singing, and Gyo-ha didn’t insist on something Hwi-kyung disliked.
For this reason, Gyo-ha saw drunk Hwi-kyung for the first time. Originally, Hwi-kyung had never had even a drop of alcohol in front of Gyo-ha.
As far as Gyo-ha remembered, Hwi-kyung was the type to avoid drinking occasions if possible. So he thought Hwi-kyung smoked but didn’t drink… but it seemed Hwi-kyung indulged in all kinds of unhealthy habits.
After quickly figuring out the PR team’s accommodation location, Gyo-ha got up, intending to bring Hwi-kyung to his room. On the way, he deliberately stopped at a convenience store to buy a hangover remedy.
If he had known this would happen, he should have insisted on drinking together at least once. Despite having looked into someone else’s unconscious mind, it was hard to believe he didn’t know Hwi-kyung’s alcohol tolerance.
According to Gyo-ha’s experience with party culture, seemingly quiet people like Hwi-kyung were often surprisingly heavy drinkers. Gyo-ha, who looked like he could drink well but passed out after half a bottle of wine, could instinctively recognize people who could handle their alcohol.
No one stopped Gyo-ha from leaving the accommodation late at night without notice. At times like this, being the chairman’s son was truly fortunate. Gyo-ha slipped out of the accommodation, imagining getting Hwi-kyung to drink.
“Hwi-kyung.”
“Huh… why did you come out?”
“Your message made you sound drunk. How much did you drink?”
Fortunately, Hwi-kyung was sitting alone on a bench near the accommodation. Like a still life, he was easy to find sitting there. Gyo-ha plopped down next to Hwi-kyung. Whether from the cold air or the alcohol, Hwi-kyung’s pale face was flushed red.
“I didn’t drink much.”
“That’s not true. You smell of alcohol.”
“Really? I really only had a few bottles…”
“A few bottles?”
“We were all drinking together, so I don’t know how much I had.”
Hwi-kyung was speaking quite articulately, but he seemed more languid than usual. When Gyo-ha subtly grabbed his hand, it was ice-cold from prolonged exposure to the cold wind, unlike his flushed face.
“Let’s go inside now instead of staying out here. You’ll catch a cold.”
“…You’re wearing gloves.”
“I’m wearing them because you gave them to me to use. This way you can’t see the scars, right?”
“Yes. I like it.”
“You like it?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re really drunk…”
Normally, Hwi-kyung would have scolded him for acting so familiar in a place where others might appear at any time. But Hwi-kyung seemed dazed, as if he didn’t have the presence of mind for that. Seeing him take Gyo-ha’s hand first and fiddle with it, he was clearly not in his right mind though he could still communicate.
Gyo-ha was conflicted. He couldn’t decide whether to take advantage of this opportunity to bring Jung Hwi-kyung to his room and do this and that. While it would be easy to persuade him now, the aftermath was the problem.
He wouldn’t like it if strange rumors spread around the company, right? Having just joined as a new employee, what good would come from being involved with a team leader who everyone could see was a parachute appointment? Gyo-ha, who had gained intellect and intelligence through regression, just stared endlessly at Hwi-kyung’s round crown as he showed no intention of letting go of his hand.
“If you keep holding hands like this, others will think it’s strange.”
“Like holding hands is a big deal…”
“The person who usually makes the biggest deal about it shouldn’t say that. Are you going to blame me again later?”
“I won’t blame you. I grabbed your hand first.”
Should I just take him to my room after all? Take him to my room, do this and that, and then insist to everyone that I helped him because drunk Hwi-kyung threw up?
Gyo-ha’s mental calculator was working busily. At this hour, everyone would either be busy drinking or already passed out. As long as they didn’t kiss outside, conservative South Korea wouldn’t even think it strange for two men to sleep in the same room.
“Want to go to my room?”
Hwi-kyung, who had been kneading Gyo-ha’s hand like a sensory play slime, looked up at those words. His round crown was quite cute, but Gyo-ha preferred his face with its clean, sharp lines that made him look particularly cold.
In the end, before getting an answer, Gyo-ha leaned down slightly and kissed Hwi-kyung. Everyone would be busy drinking, so it was obvious no one would come out here.
“Oh my.”
But as they say, daytime words are heard by office workers, and nighttime words are heard by office workers working overtime. Manager Kim, who had detected signs of a scandal and approached silently, discovered Gyo-ha three steps behind.
Hwi-kyung was nestled snugly in Gyo-ha’s arms. Distracted by holding and pecking Hwi-kyung, Gyo-ha didn’t notice Manager Kim’s approach.
There had been much talk about why the youngest son of the BK Group had joined Entertainment, bypassing all other affiliates. The prevailing theory was that he came to Entertainment because he wanted to be a model, but there was also a popular rumor that he had a lover in this company.
Manager Kim had thought the lover story was nonsense. No matter how much you love someone, does it make sense to join a company just to follow them?
But looking at it now, it seemed to make sense. Manager Kim watched the new team leader continue his eye-catching skinship, unaware that she was standing behind him. The streetlight clearly illuminated Gyo-ha’s face, but Hwi-kyung’s face, buried in his arms, wasn’t clearly visible.
I should only tell Deputy Lee about what I saw today… Manager Kim thought as she backed away from the scene. While she wanted to tell everyone, there was no telling what trouble might arise.
Then it was right to only tell a trustworthy and close deputy that the king’s ears were donkey ears. At least Deputy Lee wasn’t the type to post on anonymous workplace websites.
* * *
After the new employee orientation ended, a debate raged within BK Entertainment about who was the chairman’s son’s lover.
Manager Kim told Deputy Lee exactly what she had seen, and as Deputy Lee passed this information around, the story spread throughout the company.
Since there had already been talk that the parachute team leader had joined BK Entertainment because of a lover, Manager Kim’s eyewitness account spread endlessly like fire on a haystack.
“Just keep it between us” was originally a magical phrase that made words spread faster. Similar variations included “Don’t tell anyone else” and “If this story gets around, I’ll be in trouble.”
Manager Kim, who hadn’t expected the story to spread so quickly, whined to Deputy Lee about what to do. But Deputy Lee, despite having spread the word everywhere, was surprisingly confident.
“Manager Kim, don’t worry too much.”
“How can I not worry…”
“You can’t be the only one who saw the team leader like that.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s what I’m saying. I didn’t tell anyone, but the story has already spread.”
That wasn’t true. Deputy Lee had told everyone.
But even from Deputy Lee’s perspective, the rapid spread of the story was unexpected. Everyone must have been avoiding work, gathering in small groups to gossip about the chairman’s son.
Deputy Lee was quite uncomfortable with having spilled what Manager Kim had trusted him with. Since his casual gossiping had become a company-wide issue, it wouldn’t be good for Manager Kim to find out he had been the one running his mouth.
So Deputy Lee created a smokescreen, claiming that others must have also seen Gyo-ha and Hwi-kyung. He judged it safer to create other fictional witnesses than to be labeled as a loose-lipped employee.
Manager Kim, who was often swayed by Deputy Lee, fell completely for Deputy Lee’s theory about fictional witnesses. Since the drinking had gone on for a long time and many were drunk, anyone could have gone out for fresh air.
“So who is the team leader’s lover? We don’t even have a ban on office romance, why is it a secret?”
“I couldn’t really see the face properly… but, sigh, keep this just between us.”
“What is it?”
“It was dark so I’m not sure, but I think the team leader’s lover is a man.”
Manager Kim once again deployed the “keep this just between us” tactic with Deputy Lee. Despite having responded “I don’t have anyone to tell,” Deputy Lee copied the content exactly into a private messenger group where his colleagues were gathered.
The moment anything is uttered, a secret becomes public knowledge. This tendency was particularly evident in industries full of people sensitive to rumors and fond of talking about others.
However, Hwi-kyung was too busy learning his new duties to properly understand what was being said behind his back. Normally, new employees wouldn’t be given work for the first month, but Hwi-kyung had been deployed to all sorts of projects as soon as the orientation ended, as if he had hit the jackpot of work.
That wasn’t so bad. BK Entertainment paid overtime, and supported both meal allowances and taxi fares. Apart from company benefits, the project Hwi-kyung was assigned to was also necessary for him.
Investment Proposal
Because this time, he needed to see Kim Tae-pung’s concert without incidents or coughing up blood. Hwi-kyung focused on his work toward the grand goal of recruiting Kim Tae-pung, completely walled off from the rumors circulating in the company.
All while the speculation that the parachute team leader’s lover was probably a new PR team member spread throughout the neighborhood…
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
