TSG 60

Ha Jin-woong’s fist narrowly grazed Se-hyun’s ear and hit the wall. His large frame, the threateningly swung fist, and the dull thudding sound resonating from the wall were all means to intimidate Se-hyun.

However, Se-hyun looked at Ha Jin-woong without blinking.

“You’re relying on a medical certificate. What if I don’t care about that?”

Ha Jin-woong’s expression showed his annoyance at Se-hyun’s unresponsiveness.

“Internal matters should be handled internally, shouldn’t they? Why did you reach out to SR?”

“Not even flinching to say a word. Seems like you’re trying to come off as if you know something…”

“Ha Min-hyuk.”

Ha Jin-woong’s expression did not change, but the fact that he could not answer right away was evidence of his agitation.

“I don’t particularly want to worry about other owners’ affairs.”

“You… What do you know?”

“I know there’s more than just the rumor about me.”

Ha Jin-woong took a step back and stared at Se-hyun. The thought of trying to take out his anger by pushing Se-hyun up until now disappeared. Plus, the rumor wasn’t the end? This is what Ha Jin-woong has been asking Ha Jin-seong until now.

It was strange that they had only exposed one scandal when there should have been more.

“Don’t drag us into this. I hope no harm comes to my CEO.”

Then, as if realizing something from Se-hyun’s demand, a light sparked in Ha Jin-woong’s eyes.

“You… you’re not just a secretary, are you?”

Ha Jin-woong pushed Se-hyun’s chest.

“Is there really something going on with Shin Tae-oh?”

As if such a reaction couldn’t come unless that were true, Ha Jin-woong looked at Se-hyun with a leering smile. It was as if implying that there was more than just a typical relationship between Shin Tae-oh and the secretary.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed quite alright.

“Wouldn’t that be better? We helped make that happen.”

“Is that so? Then I can go and tell Mr. Ha Min-hyuk what you are planning to do.”

The smile on Ha Jin-woong’s face disappeared without a trace.

“I’ll help move things along quickly to a confrontation.”

Se-hyun threw Ha Jin-woong’s own words back at him. It was best not to engage in such childish fights, but…

“You little…”

There was no better way to arouse Ha Jin-woong’s temper.

“Gathering people and doing despicable things, so I’ll go gather evidence…”

Before Se-hyun finished speaking, Ha Jin-woong swung his fist again. This wasn’t a wall, it was being swung precisely at Se-hyun, so if he just stayed still, he would have been hit.

Se-hyun stepped back, but couldn’t fully evade the fist grazing his cheek as it passed. It packed enough force that a direct hit would have caused a serious impact.

“You bastard…”

The already riled up Ha Jin-woong grabbed Se-hyun by the collar. After grabbing Se-hyun to prevent him from running, he was about to hit him when Se-hyun raised his hands to defend himself.

The door opened and Shin Tae-oh’s shout followed along with the flowing pheromones.

“Ahn Se-hyun!”

As Ha Jin-woong was unable to react to the sudden intrusion and stopped, Shin Tae-oh approached him and roughly removed his hand, shielding Se-hyun behind himself.

“Ha Jin-woong, have you lost your mind?”

Just as Ha Jin-woong grabbed Se-hyun by the collar, Shin Tae-oh did the same to Ha Jin-woong. Ha Jin-woong turned his body and tried to take Shin Tae-oh’s hand away. The heights were similar, but even though Ha Jin-woong had a larger physique, he was unable to push away Shin Tae-oh’s hand.

“Let go of me!”

“I guess you grabbed him by the collar with the intention of letting go?”

Shin Tae-oh scoffed at the absurdity as he grappled with Ha Jin-woong, their rough movements knocking over desks and chairs around them.

“Please stop it.”

The helpless Se-hyun intervened between the two. It was supposed to be an attempt to keep them apart, but the result was different from Se-hyun’s intentions. Ha Jin-woong, as if disregarding Se-hyun entirely, swung his fist, and Sin Tae-oh quickly pulled Se-hyun into his arms and retreated.

Thanks to this, they were both able to avoid Ha Jin-woong’s punch, but Se-hyun found himself flustered, unable to move from Shin Tae-oh’s tender hold until a soft voice sounded.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Sin Tae-oh’s concerned voice snapped Se-hyun out of his daze. He tried to appear as unaffected as possible, stepping out of Sin Tae-oh’s embrace and straightening his disheveled clothes. It was better to let the two fight it out. At least Tae-oh wasn’t being overpowered, so why bother getting between them needlessly?

“I’ll leave the rest to you.”

So Se-hyun decided to ignore the two people and leave the place.

⍣⍣⍣

Se-hyun went straight to Ha Jin-seong. Ha Jin-seong must have heard from the secretary that he came, and was waiting for Se-hyun.

“It’s nice to see you again.”

“Thank you for waiting. That saved me the trouble of looking for you.”

After confirming Shin Tae-oh’s message saying he would wait outside, Se-hyun pocketed his phone.

“I saw the post you made on the anonymous forum.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Allow me to warn you while I’m here. Stop this now.”

Se-hyun spoke flatly while Ha Jin-seong wore an inscrutable smile.

“How rude. Not explaining what you mean at all…”

“I also know what you were planning to expose next.”

Ha Jin-seong’s brow furrowed.

“I’m telling you to let it end with just the scandal.”

Se-hyun acted as if he knew something that even Ha Jin-woong did not know.

It wasn’t necessarily going to end with just a scandal. The impact from that would be minimal. The fact that the CEO and the secretary had such a relationship was merely something to gossip about and then forgotten.

Nevertheless, Ha Jin-seong used that method first because he wanted to use it as a kind of stepping stone to move on to the next step.

He was planning to post the next article saying that Ahn Se-hyun did something illegal. While rumors were posted as light word of mouth, the illegal part would be accompanied by very detailed circumstances. Then, people will suspect that it was done behind the CEO’s back, and this could lead to a prosecution investigation. They wanted to put him through a difficult period until he was cleared of suspicion, no matter how long that took… Yet Se-hyun showed up nonchalantly, as if fully aware they were the ones operating behind the scenes.

“So it seems I underestimated you a bit.”

“You didn’t underestimate me.”

In reality, there were no signs or traces of Ha Jin-seong being involved in anything like that. So in an ordinary case, being unaware would be normal, but Se-hyun knew the original story, so he wasn’t confused.

“I’m the extraordinary one.”

He had a slight suspicion after meeting with Ha Jin-woong.

“From now on, I will consider Director Ha Jin-seong to be implicated in all suspicions related to SR.”

Se-hyun bowed politely to Ha Jin-seong before leaving the director’s office.

“Is everything resolved?”

Shin Tae-oh had been waiting, and Se-hyun silently looked him over in response to his question.

“Are you alright?”

Se-hyun had known there would be a confrontation with Ha Jin-woong, so he checked Tae-oh over, worried he might have been seriously injured. Shin Tae-oh placed a hand over his heart.

“If you stare at me like that, it makes my heart flutter. Have you forgotten about the rumor?”

“It’s not our company, and…”

He wasn’t worried because he knew the rumor would fade away quickly.

“Anyway, it’s resolved.”

“That’s a relief.”

Seeing Shin Tae-oh’s relaxed smile, Se-hyun later became curious and asked.

“How did you find me?”

Se-hyun patted himself down. This guy didn’t commit a crime and plant a tracking device on him, did he?

“Don’t misunderstand. I just found you, that’s all.”

Shin Tae-oh dusted off Se-hyun’s rumpled clothes.

“I don’t know if Secretary Ahn knows, but he’s been bewitching someone a lot.”

At the party, Ha Jin-seong said something to Shin Tae-oh.

“One’s heart beats for the person who recognizes them.”

Ha Jin-seong had clearly said his heart beats for the person who recognizes him.

“So let’s get it all out here and leave. So they can never bother you again.”

Sin Tae-oh meticulously brushed him off, and Se-hyun stayed still, noticing his rough breathing, and approached him. Not only that, but Se-hyun also frowned as he put his hand on Sin Tae-oh’s forehead.

“Why?”

“Your body is hot.”

“Ah, I did feel rather hot for some reason.”

Shin Tae-oh fanned his flushed face with his hand, trying to cool down. There was no way the fever would go away, and moving only made his breathing more difficult.

Witnessing the change right before his eyes, Se-hyun abruptly grabbed the back of Shin Tae-oh’s neck and pulled him close. As Tae-oh’s body bent forward, bringing his nape within reach, Se-hyun immediately tilted his head.

“You can’t be this proactive just because we’re not at the company. Someone might see.”

“Stay still.”

At a distance so close that each other’s breath could touch their lips, Se-hyun closed his eyes and focused on what he was feeling. The tingling breaths grazing his skin, his own body temperature seeming to rise from Tae-oh’s heat…

“I knew this would happen.”

Se-hyun opened his eyes and without any hesitations let go of his hand holding Shin Tae-oh’s neck. And he glared at the illusory pheromone that stuck to his hand.

Tae-oh’s condition didn’t seem good, and sure enough, his rut hadn’t fully subsided. Perhaps it had risen to a level the suppressants couldn’t contain from all his moving around since this morning.

“I guess we should go to the hospital instead of the company.”

Forget about the company; the priority was to suppress Sin Tae-oh’s rut immediately.

⍣⍣⍣

Having to go to the hospital suddenly, they ended up in the emergency room instead of a regular patient room.

Lying on a bed receiving treatment, Shin Tae-oh seemed to watch Se-hyun’s reactions while unable to stop smiling.

“Why are you smiling?”

His smile drew the stares of not just the doctor but the nurses too.

Because he’s handsome?

No, he keeps smiling so they probably think he’s crazy.

“Because I’m happy.”

Shin Tae-oh supported the back of his head with the arm that was not injected and looked at Se-hyun.

“Are you saying you’re happy to be hospitalized?”

Didn’t he hear what the doctor said?

He overdosed on suppressants, so now he needs to be admitted for an IV drip and an early checkup tomorrow morning. What’s there to be happy about?

Se-hyun was going to ignore Tae-oh’s persistent grinning, but couldn’t help it and said.

“Moderation is good for anything. Even hangover cures have side effects if you take too many, so why did you take so many suppressants?”

“Because I needed to move quickly.”

Se-hyun paused and sighed at Shin Tae-oh’s answer. Then, he slowly looked up at him.

“Why?”

“What?”

Why did you need to move quickly?

No matter how much Se-hyun thought about it, there was only one reason.

“Were you that desperate to eat king crab?”