#112
KimTaepung_Concert_Final_Real_ThisIsReal_ThisTimeReal_Final_ReallyFinal.xlsx was approved without opposition from upper management. Since none of the employees strongly objected, once the final proposal was submitted, processing happened quickly.
Because Gyo-ha, the chairman’s son, was involved from recruiting the singer to planning the concert, no one dared to say they disliked it. Unusually, there wasn’t even anyone picking fights about disliking the font or letter spacing in the proposal.
If you submit according to the approval format, it goes through the approval line and passes… But when the chairman’s son is in that line, the procedure becomes simplified…
In truth, Gyo-ha didn’t work much. He had a talent for treating the company like a child’s game. It’s nonsensical to expect someone who never intended to work to be good at a job they’ve never learned from the start.
Someone who had been running away from successor training since childhood only learned basic management thanks to time travel. In the first iteration, Gyo-ha didn’t know even the basics of management before developing intelligence and intellect.
Of course, even after time travel, Gyo-ha’s purpose remained simply “stamping” and “taking responsibility.” As he said himself, people didn’t entrust him with important duties. He was a good person, but separately from that, he had a tendency to act however he felt.
In a company pursuing corporate profits, entrusting everything to someone like Gyo-ha who was all-or-nothing was a huge gamble. Even if he was the chairman’s son, they couldn’t let him engage in operational gambling that could result in hundreds of millions in losses.
However, people naturally develop diligence when something important is at stake. He didn’t work not because he couldn’t, but because he wouldn’t. After all, Gyo-ha had successfully run his own business in the twelfth iteration.
Moreover, unlike Hwi-kyung who had the condition of “forced return if not employed by thirty,” he could move freely throughout each iteration, so he knew more about the future than Hwi-kyung. Despite being an airhead, he thoroughly utilized the benefits of being a time traveler.
Thus, with the backing of BK Entertainment and Chairman Lee Baek-gyeong’s trust, Gyo-ha could strongly push forward with Kim Tae-pung’s concert. Even a running tank couldn’t have better momentum. No one stopped him from drawing on next quarter’s budget.
Even Lee Sung-ha, who might have challenged Gyo-ha, was distracted, bewitched by Yoon Se-young. While Se-young played with Sung-ha, picking him up and putting him down, Gyo-ha quickly began preparing for Kim Tae-pung’s concert.
Kim Tae-pung, who was having a concert immediately after joining the agency, was confused, asking, “Do major agencies always push artists this well?” He seemed bewildered that his solo concert was being arranged even before the national tour of “The King of Trot” contestants.
“Did negotiations with the program go well? Usually they don’t let go of winning contestants until after a national tour.”
“I have connections at the broadcasting station, so it’s been resolved well. They said they’d postpone the schedule until after the solo concert.”
“…”
“Why are you silent?”
“I’m just thinking that Korea really is all about blood ties, regional ties, and school ties.”
“I absolutely did not lobby unfairly.”
“…That sounds like a lie.”
“I negotiated legitimately with money.”
Isn’t that lobbying?
Hwi-kyung decided not to question too deeply. If Gyo-ha’s wealth and connections could make Kim Tae-pung’s concert happen even a day sooner, he could turn a blind eye to social corruption.
Kim Tae-pung’s concert was that important to Hwi-kyung. Especially in the current situation where he couldn’t expect another iteration.
Ok-ja’s health was improving, but it could worsen again at any time. Waiting idly for Kim Tae-pung to hold a concert while Ok-ja was as fragile as a candle in the wind would be too late.
“Anyway, don’t worry too much. I’ve reserved separate VIP seats on the first floor.”
From Gyo-ha’s possession came not only talismans but also concert tickets. Unlike the talismans that Hwi-kyung had carelessly kept regardless of wrinkles, he received the concert tickets with both hands as if they were sacred.
* * *
Ok-ja was overjoyed to hear that they had secured tickets for Kim Tae-pung’s concert. If her physical condition had been even slightly better, she would have jumped up and down like a child receiving a Christmas present.
But proportionally, Hwi-kyung’s obsession and anxiety about the concert also grew. Even though he thought things would be different without the system window, Hwi-kyung was so on edge that he was biting his nails to pieces.
It wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction. In the fourteenth iteration, the concert he had so desperately wished for had come to nothing. Having been blindsided after thinking he had safely achieved his goal, it was natural for the aftermath to linger.
“Stop biting your nails. You’ll make holes in your hands at this rate.”
“Ah.”
“You can’t bear to see my hands hurt, but you treat your own hands roughly. Don’t you know how to put yourself in others’ shoes?”
“That’s not how you use that idiom.”
“I’m asking you to consider my feelings as I look at your hands that have become like rags, from a perspective of putting yourself in others’ shoes.”
Gyo-ha pulled down both of Hwi-kyung’s hands. Hwi-kyung’s hands had become like rags in recent days. Despite not doing any hard labor and being an office worker whose most strenuous work was typing, his fingertips were red and inflamed from how much he had bitten his hangnails.
“If you bite them one more time, I won’t let go of your hands.”
“…Is that a threat?”
“Of course. I’ll hold your hands tightly even at work.”
“That is a threat.”
“If you must bite something, bite my hand instead.”
“Are you crazy? Your hand is already like a rag.”
“I have my left hand. It’s not a rag yet.”
Hwi-kyung looked incredulously at Gyo-ha, who was suggesting that if his mouth needed something to bite, and if his right hand wasn’t available, he should bite Gyo-ha’s left hand. Why would he bite something carefully wrapped in a half-glove to prevent further injury?
However, Gyo-ha stuck to Hwi-kyung like a leech and persisted. The main content of his stubbornness was telling Hwi-kyung to stop worrying about Kim Tae-pung and relax by playing with him.
“Don’t play, work, work…”
“How can you say such things on a weekend?”
“You don’t work on weekdays either…”
“I worked intensively recently, so I don’t need to work for the next three months.”
The sound of BK Entertainment employees’ hearts breaking could be heard. Hwi-kyung thought that for employee welfare, he should send Gyo-ha to America as soon as possible after Kim Tae-pung’s concert. Though smaller than the domestic branch, there was a branch in America too, so he could push him there.
But Gyo-ha, not even dreaming that Hwi-kyung was trying to send him overseas, clung to him annoyingly. After kneading the hands he had grabbed to prevent nail-biting for a while, he suddenly placed those hands on his own chest.
Hwi-kyung was startled and tried to remove his hands. What’s with the chest showing off! His palms touched the Pacific Ocean-like broad chest. Gyo-ha, reminiscing about his past desire to dunk Hwi-kyung in the Pacific Ocean, manipulated Hwi-kyung’s hands to tease himself.
“Let go, ah, really… You’re just disgustingly strong…”
“If I let go, you’ll just bite your nails again.”
“I won’t.”
“Can you promise?”
“I’ll promise… ugh, really… You’re heavy.”
Unable to properly resist, Hwi-kyung collapsed onto the sofa. Due to Gyo-ha pressing down with his weight, he could only flutter like a paper person.
Though Hwi-kyung wasn’t short either, it was difficult to handle Gyo-ha, who was like a walking door. Gyo-ha, though appearing slender, was quite heavy.
Normally, Gyo-ha would have gotten up first at the mention of heaviness, but now he seemed to have no intention of detaching from Hwi-kyung. He periodically acted spitefully like this toward Hwi-kyung when he didn’t listen.
Hwi-kyung had no choice but to helplessly endure when Gyo-ha acted like a child like this. What on earth was this about today?
Looking back on what he might have done wrong, there were too many possibilities to be certain. Biting his nails? That had been pointed out all week, so it wasn’t a special issue.
Or was it immediately rejecting the suggestion to go out and play because it was the weekend? But that was something extroverts should be considerate of introverts about. Hwi-kyung didn’t want to go out on weekends. Going out again besides commuting to work was unthinkable for him.
Despite knowing Hwi-kyung’s tendencies, Gyo-ha frequently wanted to take him out. Whether shopping or watching movies, Gyo-ha’s logic was that going outside was needed for a change of mood.
However, for Hwi-kyung, whose energy drained by the hour when going outside without purpose, weekend outings were something to avoid as much as possible.
As a result, Hwi-kyung had only traveled between Ok-ja’s hospital and the officetel both last week and this week. His radius of movement was essentially limited to just three places: the company, home, and the hospital.
Gyo-ha persistently tried to pull out Hwi-kyung, who had no intention of leaving the bedroom. His reason was that staying in bed without seeing sunlight would make a person sick.
“If you won’t go out, at least exercise.”
“I told you I don’t want to go out on weekends.”
“You can do it indoors. If it’s too bothersome, just stay still. I’ll let you exercise.”
“What?”
“I’ll make you exercise and eliminate your anxiety. Let’s kill two birds with one stone. They say physical contact is good for mental health.”
“What are you saying…”
“Now, let’s start by taking off your clothes for a healthy mind.”
Pinned under Gyo-ha, Hwi-kyung’s clothes were being removed. Stop thinking about Kim Tae-pung! With that thought in mind, Gyo-ha gently caressed Hwi-kyung’s face with one hand.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
