106.
#The Reason for Being Wary of Choi Seon-gyeom
It seemed that all his emotions were indeed visible on his face. Dawoon lowered his gaze to the floor at Choi Seon-gyeom’s words, which were not quite comforting.
“But I…”
Choi Seon-gyeom started to speak but then sighed heavily. He too looked quite confused.
“I’m worried about you.”
At the word “worried,” Dawoon raised his eyes to look at him. Choi’s face was contorted with concern. His expression of not knowing what to do and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Dawoon were similar to Ui-hyeon’s when he first learned about Dawoon’s relationship with Hayun. That’s how Dawoon could tell he was genuinely worried.
“If it’s a relationship you want, that’s fine. Two men being together, in today’s world, it’s not even a flaw.”
Choi Seon-gyeom added.
“But I told you from the first time we met, didn’t I? That your expression bothered me. I couldn’t understand why someone your age had such empty eyes, but if it has something to do with Jeong Hayun, if that’s what’s making you struggle…”
He looked straight at Dawoon.
“I think I can help.”
His eyes, which had been showing complex emotions, became resolute as if he had made up his mind.
***
Knock knock. At the sound of knocking, Hayun replied, “Come in.” Director Park entered and placed a tablet PC in front of Hayun. Glancing down, Hayun saw a photo displayed on the tablet’s screen.
“It’s author Choi Seon-gyeom, isn’t it?”
The photo showed Choi Seon-gyeom entering a building.
“Please check the next photo as well.”
At his words, Hayun swiped the screen, and this time saw Dawoon entering the same building. Hayun frowned, swiped back to Choi Seon-gyeom’s photo, and zoomed in to check which building they were entering.
“There’s a Japanese restaurant on the second floor of the building. It seems they went there.”
“It looks like my warning was taken as a joke. Well, I didn’t think he would listen.”
Hayun put down the tablet PC on the desk with a thud. After returning from meeting Choi Seon-gyeom to offer sponsorship and warn him not to meet Dawoon, there had been no sign of Choi and Dawoon meeting. It was unclear whether Choi had restrained himself or if Dawoon had declined to meet due to his exam period.
It didn’t seem likely that Choi Seon-gyeom, who had his base overseas, would stay in Korea for long. However, he couldn’t leave Korea while working on a Jeju Island video shoot requested by the sponsor of his recent photo exhibition. Thinking that he might contact Dawoon during this time, Hayun had assigned someone to keep an eye on Choi Seon-gyeom.
“You couldn’t confirm what they talked about, could you?”
“No, that’s beyond…”
“If I had known this would happen, I should have installed a wiretapping function on Dawoon’s phone.”
Hayun commented lightly, causing Director Park’s expression to contort slightly before returning to normal. It was just a fleeting moment, but Hayun didn’t miss the subtle change.
“You think it’s strange too, don’t you, Director Park?”
Hayun asked with a smile, causing Director Park’s expression to harden further. Still, he refrained from saying it wasn’t strange, avoiding empty platitudes. Being so close to Hayun in his role, he couldn’t help but know what feelings Hayun harbored for Dawoon. It was admirable enough that he knew but never mentioned it out loud.
“I’ve found that there are some things you can’t give up, no matter what others think.”
Rarely, Hayun revealed his inner thoughts. Director Park listened with a stern expression. After staring at him quietly for a moment, Hayun smirked and stood up. He returned the tablet PC to Director Park and went to the window to look outside.
“Please set up an appointment with the president of Choi Seon-gyeom’s sponsoring company.”
“Pardon?”
Director Park’s voice jumped at Hayun’s instruction.
“Since he ignored the warning, I’m sure he’s prepared for the consequences.”
“…”
For some reason, Director Park’s response didn’t come immediately. Hayun turned to face him.
“Is there a problem?”
At the question of whether he had any objections, Director Park’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“May I ask why you’re so wary of author Choi Seon-gyeom?”
Director Park rarely questioned Hayun’s instructions. Not because Hayun was his superior, but because there had never been an instruction from Hayun that he couldn’t understand. However, this time he couldn’t quite comprehend. Even if Hayun regarded Dawoon as special, he couldn’t understand the reason for being so cautious about Choi Seon-gyeom. Dawoon had only met Choi a few times, and moreover, Choi was planning to leave Korea soon after finishing his current work. Was there really a need to make trouble with someone who would disappear from sight anyway?
“Is it related to the investigation into his past?”
Before Hayun visited Choi Seon-gyeom in person, Director Park had investigated Choi’s past in Korea, from over 20 years ago, on Hayun’s orders. Just as he was about to conclude that there was nothing special in the investigation results, he learned an unexpected fact. There was a rumor that Choi Seon-gyeom had been in a relationship with Kim Min-seo, the former vice chairman’s wife, during their college days.
Hayun’s expression turned cold at Director Park’s question.
“Well…”
Hayun’s answer was ambiguous.
“I just thought it would be better to be safe than sorry.”
Director Park still couldn’t fully understand Hayun’s words.
“How’s Dawoon’s graduate school application going?”
Hayun changed the subject, seemingly not wanting to continue this topic.
“We’ve gathered all the necessary documents from the university here and sent them to London. Given his excellent academic performance and high IELTS score, there shouldn’t be any problem with admission.”
Thanks to the Chairman, Dawoon had been quietly preparing for studying abroad, so having not only the IELTS score but also professor recommendations made the document preparation easier. The only change was that the graduate school he was applying to was not the one the Chairman had prepared, but the one Hayun wanted.
“What about Haram’s school?”
“That’s also been prepared. We’ve completed the dormitory admission procedures as well.”
Hayun just nodded at Director Park’s answer. The only thing left was to persuade Dawoon. After having a confrontation with the Chairman, Dawoon would probably learn today that Hayun had disrupted the Chairman’s plans.
Since I’ve involved Haram, he won’t be able to refuse anyway.
“Are you sure it’s alright to be away from headquarters for so long?”
Director Park expressed concern. If Hayun, the vice chairman, left the headquarters to stay at the London branch, someone would surely appear coveting his position. Especially Jeong Seo-in, who wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
“Did I seem like someone who would lose my position to others just because I’m away for a while, Director Park?”
At Hayun’s question, Director Park immediately shook his head.
“No, sir.”
“Then put aside unnecessary worries.”
Hayun smiled slightly and returned to his seat. In an era of online payments and video conferences, there was no reason he couldn’t control the headquarters while in London. He could work without any issues even if he were in space, let alone London.
***
“…Ah, hyung!”
At Haram’s repeated calls, Dawoon belatedly raised his head with a dumb “Huh?”
“Why are you so out of it?”
Haram asked, bringing his face close to Dawoon’s.
“Hyung, are you dating someone these days?”
After staring intently for a while, he asked an unexpected question.
“What do you mean, dating?”
“Then why are you so absent-minded? Who were you thinking about?”
“Does being absent-minded always mean you’re dating someone?”
Finding the child’s thought pattern cute, Dawoon asked back, and Haram tilted his head.
“Isn’t that usually the case?”
“Who says?”
“A girl in my class. She says when you fall in love, you become absent-minded.”
Dawoon couldn’t help but laugh at the ten-year-old talking about love.
“What were you thinking about then, huh?”
It seemed Haram believed Dawoon had fallen in love based solely on his classmate’s words. He kept prying, determined to continue until he got an answer about who Dawoon had been thinking about.
“Nothing in particular. I wasn’t thinking about anyone.”
“Liar! Hyung, it shows on your face when you lie.”
Haram proudly declared that no one knew Dawoon as well as he did. Dawoon smiled at his confident demeanor, thinking about how much Jeong Haram had grown.
“Really, I wasn’t thinking about anything special. Just random thoughts like what to do now that the university semester is over, maybe go on a trip, things like that.”
Despite Dawoon’s excuse, Haram’s skeptical look didn’t fade. Feeling embarrassed and wondering if his emotions really showed on his face, Dawoon wanted to brush his cheek with his hand but refrained, fearing it might reveal his true feelings.
“If you go on a trip, where would you go?”
Fortunately, a child was still a child. If it had been Hayun, he would have extracted every detail, but Haram couldn’t pursue it to the end when Dawoon denied it.
“Well…”
If he said he was going on a trip, Haram wouldn’t be suspicious later when he packed his bags and left. In a sense, it was like a trip. Just a much longer-term trip than others might imagine.
“When you go on a trip, can I come with you?”
Until now, whenever Dawoon went somewhere far, he always took Haram along. It was the same when accompanying Hayun on business trips. So naturally, Haram asked if he would be going too when Dawoon mentioned a trip.
“That…”
Dawoon struggled with how to explain. Should he say he was going with friends from school? But then if Haram asked who he was going with, he’d have to lie again.
“But you’re going to study abroad soon, is it okay to go on a trip?”
At the mention of studying abroad, Dawoon’s heart sank.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
