TSG 45

It was by chance that Shin Tae-oh found Se-hyun. He only had a rough idea of Se-hyun’s whereabouts and couldn’t pinpoint them exactly. With so many buildings around, even Se-hyun’s destination was unknown, yet he came with such confidence.

Intuition.

Shin Tae-oh had a vague feeling that he would be able to find Se-hyun even if others might not be able to. And there they met.

Facing the sinisterly smiling Ahn Se-hyun…

Shin Tae-oh stared at Se-hyun’s face and sighed before speaking.

“Where are you off to?”

Se-hyun couldn’t say that he was on his way back after connecting the main character and the villain, so he just muttered that he was going out.

“I feel sad if you do fun things alone without me knowing.”

“That’s not it…”

“Then is it not fun?”

“…”

It’s not that either.

“I guess you had some business to do here.”

Shin Tae-oh raised his head and looked at the building. Then he quickly realized.

“Ha Min-hyuk?”

“No.”

Since this was where Ha Jin-seong was, it was natural to think of Ha Min-hyuk, but he slightly missed the mark.

Se-hyun grabbed his arm, intending to suggest leaving before Shin Tae-oh noticed further.

“Ha Jin-seong is off-limits.”

Shin Tae-oh managed to figure it out.

“What do you mean he’s off-limits?”

“You can’t go to Ha Jin-seong even until dirt gets in my eyes.”

Se-hyun thought he could just sprinkle some dirt on him.

“It’s not like that.”

“If you go somewhere else, they won’t treat you as well as I do.”

Honestly, it was not that he got along well with Shin Tae-oh; it was that Shin Tae-oh was exceptionally accommodating…

Se-hyun nodded as the items at home came to mind.

“I understand that the CEO treats me well.”

He should’ve gone to Yoo Jin-ha, but he answered while fitting each finger into the gloves that came to him.

“So don’t go to Ha Jin-seong.”

He always called him a weirdo, but then he called him by his proper name. He was just calling him a weirdo to turn Ha Jin-seong upside down.

“I’m not going.”

He ignored Shin Tae-oh, who was talking nonsense, and passed by.

Then, realizing that Shin Tae-oh wasn’t following, he turned back.

“Tae-oh-ya, let’s go eat.”

If he came this far, he must’ve said everything.

As if to signify that he wouldn’t stop now, Se-hyun walked decisively, and Shin Tae-oh smiled and nodded.

“I’ve shot myself in the foot.”

He said it was okay to use informal language, but it’s not like he was messing with people’s minds by constantly switching back and forth.

⍣⍣⍣

“Not once?”

When Shin Tae-oh asked in surprise, Se-hyun nodded as he put tteokbokki in his mouth.

“I’ve received the offer several times.”

It was about Ha Jin-seong. Why did Se-hyun go to meet Ha Jin-seong, and what kind of answer did he give him?

“He’s crazy. He’s not in his right mind.”

Shin Tae-oh cursed Ha Jin-seong with a bitter laugh. Wasn’t it more important that he rejected all of them than the number of times Ha Jin-seong came to him?

“Wanting someone else’s…”

“I’m sorry.”

Se-hyun quietly picked up and then put down the fish cakes piled up in front of Shin Tae-oh. He put in a lot from the beginning.

“I wasn’t talking about fish cakes, so eat a lot.”

Se-hyun sucked the seasoning off his chopsticks, so Shin Tae-oh laughed and turned the pot entirely toward him. All the fish cakes that had been in front of Shin Tae-oh were now in front of Se-hyun.

They had come to an all-you-can-eat tteokbokki restaurant. It was surprising that they ended up here. They just stumbled upon it while walking, and since Se-hyun said he liked tteokbokki, Shin Tae-oh suggested going in right away.

Since it was lunchtime, the store was quite crowded. They shamelessly found a spot despite the stares they received. This time, as he didn’t act as a secretary, Se-hyun took the lead and found a suitable spot.

Following Se-hyun, Shin Tae-oh squeezed his large frame into the cramped table without a care. Se-hyun had said he would go alone to get ingredients from the self-serve counter, but Shin Tae-oh insisted on accompanying him and interfered with each step, leading to this outcome.

“Eat a lot.”

Se-hyun happily picked up a fish cake to eat, then realized something strange.

“Oh, sorry.”

So he apologized, and Shin Tae-oh’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

“I think the greeting was wrong.”

“I should have paid more attention, but I missed it.”

Se-hyun turned the pot entirely toward Shin Tae-oh.

“I apologize for only focusing on eating.”

“If that’s the case…”

Shin Tae-oh looked at the tteokbokki that had returned to him.

“Isn’t this something you should say before eating?”

All the fish cakes were gone.

Se-hyun ignored Shin Tae-oh’s words cleanly since he had apologized. If he missed this opportunity that had come to him, he wouldn’t be Ahn Se-hyun.

“You’ve heard why I came here, so now it’s your turn, Sir. Do you have any preferences? How can I assist you?”

Se-hyun asked Shin Tae-oh.

“What would make you feel special?”

“Is that a date invitation?”

Didn’t someone else say that earlier?

“Uh, well…”

Se-hyun hesitated slightly before nodding.

“I guess you could call it a date.”

Even cooking and eating tteokbokki together like this seemed quite similar.

Anyway, it couldn’t be said they were the same.

“What do you want to do, Tae-oh-ya?”

He asked while pushing the tteokbokki toward him.

“Hmm…”

As Shin Tae-oh picked up the tteokbokki, the way he ate it without spilling a drop of the broth was graceful. Like the pheromones enveloping his body right now.

“I want to go to your place.”

“Yeah. That’s not happening.”

Why did they keep targeting his house?

Shin Tae-oh said what he thought next.

“Then shall we go see your parents?”

“That’s not possible either.”

Why go to meet someone strict while suggesting a date?

As Shin Tae-oh muttered strange words, Se-hyun made a decision.

“Let’s go shopping.”

Se-hyun’s suggestion seemed unexpected, causing Shin Tae-oh to look up from his tteokbokki with surprise.

“I’ll buy it for you.”

For our Tae-oh.

⍣⍣⍣

Ha Jin-seong looked at the cafe that Se-hyun had told him about.

“I’m not feeling good.”

He crumpled the business card in his hand. He had come here to find out something, but all he received were strange recommendations. Ignoring that would have been better…

“I feel like I’ve been played by Ahn Se-hyun for nothing.”

He put the crumpled business card in his pocket and entered the cafe.

“May I take your order?”

As Ha Jin-seong he turned his head to face the person who asked him the question. The cafe was ordinary, and the person taking the order was even more ordinary.

“I’ve been tricked.”

Just as Ha Jin-seong turned around with a smile on his face, someone came into the cafe. Even though half of his face was covered by a scarf, the visible part looked quite neat and attractive.

Where has he seen him before? Ha Jin-seong’s eyes narrowed as he pondered. When the man passed by Ha Jin-seong, a faintly remembered face surfaced in his mind.

“Oh.”

The man brought in by the most disgusting bastard in the world.

When Ha Jin-seong immediately turned around, Yoo Jin-ha, who had just ordered coffee, glanced back at him and said,

“Please place your order.”

Ha Jin-seong did not hesitate in response to the consideration of the man who stepped aside as if he would not be disturbed and approached as ordered.

“Latte.”

Ha Jin-seong, who ordered while paying attention to Yoo Jin-ha, did not move away from the spot even after receiving the receipt. Then he spoke to Yoo Jin-ha, who was just receiving coffee.

“You know me, right?”

Yoo Jin-ha’s eyes widened at the question as Ha Jin-seong stared at his face. His eyes opened enough to reveal all of his pupils, making him look quite cute. Was this why Ha Min-hyuk was so infatuated?

“I’m sorry.”

Although Ha Jin-seong’s question was sudden and one-sided, Yoo Jin-ha bowed his head and apologized. He didn’t want to make others uncomfortable and avoided leading them into a false situation.

Despite not having had many conversations so far, it felt comfortable.

Ha Jin-seong looked down at Yoo Jin-ha for a moment. Since he claimed not to know him, Ha Jin-seong thought he should approach him without mentioning Ha Min-hyuk.

Ha Min-hyuk was already annoying. He had just released a new product with great success and had come straight to headquarters to secure his position.

To shake Ha Min-hyuk… he could provoke Yoo Jin-ha in front of him.

Coincidentally, he also met with Yoo Jin-ha. So…

“It seems I’ve confused you with someone too.”

He should have grabbed hold of it, but he let it go.

Ha Jin-seong lightly raised and lowered his hand as if he felt sorry for Yoo Jin-ha and turned around. Even with Yoo Jin-ha in front of him, he let go. It was as if he had pulled the trap away at the very moment he had dragged the rabbit into the trap. It was an uncharacteristic behavior.

But, strangely, he didn’t feel regretful.

“Boring.”

It was Ha Jin-seong’s impression of Yoo Jin-ha. In order to suppress Ha Min-hyuk, he needed to provoke Yoo Jin-ha, but he wasn’t attracted to him. The surprised expression on his face earlier was cute, but that was it.

“If it were Ahn Se-hyun, he would have played it off and asked who I was even though he knew it.”

Or saying he knows. He might have purposely put on a bored expression while saying it.

Whatever it was, Ahn Se-hyun was more interesting to me than Yoo Jin-ha.

“I also want to see that face distort.”

What expression would Ahn Se-hyun make if he were surprised?

“I want to see it because I’m curious.”

Ha Jin-seong thought of Ahn Se-hyun and took out the perfume from his pocket. Ha Jin-seong took a deep breath, smelling the scent that was sprayed on his wrist and enveloping his body.

‘If Ahn Se-hyun is really an omega…’

He also wanted to smell Ahn Se-hyun’s pheromones. What would his pheromones smell like? Sweet? Or as heavy as his calm demeanor?

Whether he’s a Beta or an Alpha, it doesn’t matter, but it would be even better if he were an Omega.

“It’s the first time I’ve thought about Omega pheromones.”

It didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.