TSG 140 Side Story END

Five years later.

Se-hyun walked through the company lobby, holding a tablet PC in his arms. It was already past lunchtime in the afternoon, as he had been out on external business. Having been away for three hours, he naturally quickened his pace, thinking he needed to go up quickly and assess the situation.

“Chief Secretary Ahn.”

Hearing someone call him, Se-hyun stopped his hurried steps and turned his head.

“Deputy Manager Yoo.”

Recognizing the voice as Yoo Jin-ha’s, Se-hyun’s face unconsciously lit up with delight. While they were close friends raising kids together outside of work, inside the company, they maintained a strictly professional relationship.

“You’re going to see the CEO, right? I’m heading that way too.”

Yoo Jin-ha briefly lifted and lowered the file folder in his arms.

“Are those the candidates for submission?”

“Yes.”

Se-hyun nodded, recognizing the content as the shortlisted candidates for the design award submission. They walked together. While waiting for the elevator, Yoo Jin-ha leaned towards him.

“Want to have dinner together tonight?”

Responding to the informal invitation whispered to avoid others hearing, Se-hyun pulled up his schedule on the tablet and looked at it.

“It might be possible if work finishes early.”

“Are you coming just with the kids?”

“As if Taenyang would let me go alone?”

Ever since Se-hyun accidentally revealed his nickname for Shin Tae-oh, he stopped hiding it in front of Yoo Jin-ha.

“Well, knowing that hyung, he’d probably say eating alone is lonely.”

Yoo Jin-ha sighed and glanced over Se-hyun’s tablet, documents, and phone.

“Isn’t it tiring to carry all that around and stick by his side all day? Have you ever thought about moving to a different department, Chief Secretary Ahn?”

Yoo Jin-ha specifically mentioned Se-hyun’s position, to which Se-hyun shook his head.

“If I was going to leave, I would have done so already.”

As the elevator doors opened, someone already inside greeted Se-hyun and Yoo Jin-ha warmly.

“At least before that person tries to pass the director position onto me.”

“Huh? Were you talking about me?”

As Lee Jin-ho held the open button and spoke, Se-hyun entered the elevator without denying it.

“We were talking about you, Director.”

Hearing the sign in Se-hyun’s voice, Lee Jin-ho looked questioningly at Yoo Jin-ha, who just smiled awkwardly. How could they explain that Se-hyun still held a grudge about Lee Jin-ho designating him as his successor when he got promoted?

Originally, when Se-hyun returned to the company, he had planned to move to the headquarters at an opportune time. Jeong Mi-jung had first suggested it to him, and Se-hyun thought it was a good opportunity to experience working at a different affiliate.

Lee Jin-ho had ruined that plan.

“Well, it seems you still have some resentment towards me… But isn’t working here better than anywhere else? You can see your Alpha all day, isn’t that nice?”

“Even when that Alpha is constantly looking at how he can devour me?”

“Oh? Oh. That must make it hard to concentrate.”

Office couples shouldn’t end up as office spouses.

“But the CEO does his job well, doesn’t he?”

“Who said he doesn’t? The CEO has always been capable.”

“Is that so?”

Then what’s the problem?

Lee Jin-ho stared at the back of Se-hyun’s head, completely clueless.

“What am I supposed to do when I’m the one who wants to devour him?”

Se-hyun blurted out his complaint to Lee Jin-ho and exited the elevator first.

“Ah… So the problem isn’t on that side, but this side.”

These guys want to devour each other.

***

Se-hyun watched Yoo Jin-ha enter the CEO’s office from behind, then turned to look at the secretarial staff.

“Nothing happened, right?”

“Well… Nothing except that the CEO hasn’t left his office.”

On the surface, it sounded like there was no big problem since the CEO was working hard, but if one looked a little deeper, the issue was immediately apparent.

“Didn’t he have lunch?”

“He only asked for a cup of coffee.”

So he skipped lunch, didn’t he?

Se-hyun put down everything he was carrying at his desk and went to the pantry to retrieve a box he had left there. Just then, Yoo Jin-ha also came out of the CEO’s office.

“The CEO is very passionate today.”

“Did you mention that?”

“That? Oh, yes!”

Yoo Jin-ha immediately understood that Se-hyun was asking if he mentioned their dinner plans and answered.

“That’s probably why he’s working even harder.”

He’s conveying that the CEO was eager to leave work together. Yoo Jin-ha gave an eye signal about meeting in the evening before leaving, and Se-hyun stood in front of the CEO’s office.

After taking a brief moment to catch his breath, he lightly knocked on the door.

“I’m coming in.”

There was no answer from inside, but Se-hyun opened the door and entered. Soon after, there was a soft thud as the door closed. As soon as Se-hyun entered the CEO’s office, the secretarial staff leaned in, glancing at the tightly closed door.

“They’re working, right?”

“The CEO probably getting scolded.”

Someone threw out a comment, which was immediately countered by another. One staff member immediately responded to the other’s speculation. It was the same woman who had earlier told Se-hyun that Shin Tae-oh had requested coffee. She clicked her tongue as if in pity.

“There were so many coffee cups piled up on his desk. I’m sure the Chief Secretary will definitely say something about that.”

The woman, who had worked in the secretarial office for a long time and was second in seniority after the Chief Secretary, tapped her cheek as she reminisced about the past.

“He used to drink only two cups a day, but once he loosened up, he started drinking so much.”

“Then why didn’t you clean them up beforehand?”

Another secretary chimed in, to which the woman shook her head as if the other didn’t understand.

“It’s better to be uncomfortable with the CEO than with the Chief Secretary. You clearly don’t understand office couples.”

“Is that so?”

***

“Is coffee flowing through your body instead of water, Mr. CEO?”

“Not quite, but I need coffee to concentrate.”

“Really? Should we just insert it into your arm like an IV drip then?”

“…I’ll drink in moderation.”

Shin Tae-oh busied himself tidying up the coffee cups, all while keeping an eye on Se-hyun’s reaction. Ever since his two-cup-a-day rule had been broken, Se-hyun would sulk every time he found out Shin Tae-oh had skipped meals and replaced them with coffee.

Determined not to let Se-hyun sulk this time, Shin Tae-oh grinned.

“You’re having dinner with Jin-ha today, right? It’s been a while since you’ve seen Han-gyeol and Dan-gyeol.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“Okay.”

Se-hyun opened the box he brought from the pantry. He had prepared it in the morning, anticipating this situation, and his prediction was spot on.

“Don’t wear yourself out trying to work fast.”

“I understand.”

“And don’t skip meals and fill up on coffee.”

“I won’t.”

“…Get back to work.”

Feeling that was enough, Se-hyun gestured for Shin Tae-oh to continue working. As Shin Tae-oh immediately turned his attention to the monitor, Se-hyun’s gaze softened.

Five years. Besides the change in their family size, there were changes between Se-hyun and Shin Tae-oh too.

Had their love cooled?

No, that wasn’t it. Shin Tae-oh still loved Se-hyun, and Se-hyun still liked him.

Rather, the trust from their stable relationship had deepened. They knew that even when they spoke bluntly while taking care of each other first, it all stemmed from affection.

While Shin Tae-oh worked, Se-hyun fed him bite-sized rice balls.

Se-hyun was considering how to feed Shin Tae-oh well to ‘eat him up’…

“Se-hyun, you’re going to bore a hole in my face with that stare.”

Shin Tae-oh showed a troubled look, as if subconsciously feeling like prey.

“Just work.”

“Okay.”

As Shin Tae-oh seemed to focus on work again, Se-hyun looked at him with eyes that wanted to devour him.

Shin Tae-oh occasionally reconsidered whether it was a good idea to have used Lee Jin-ho to keep Se-hyun by his side when Se-hyun wanted to go to headquarters.

***

Thanks to the determination that working faster meant leaving the company sooner, Shin Tae-oh was able to leave work with Se-hyun. The two headed not home, but to a kindergarten full of vibrant colors.

“Dad!”

Three sons holding their teacher’s hands.

The eldest Seo-jun and the twins Do-yun and Do-yi. The brothers, two years apart, ran over with excited faces.

While Se-hyun embraced Seo-jun who clung to his waist, Shin Tae-oh picked up the twins, one in each arm.

“Let’s go see Han-gyeol and Dan-gyeol today.”

The children laughed and cheered at Shin Tae-oh’s words as he kissed the cheeks of the twins who looked just like Se-hyun. Se-hyun held Seo-jun’s hand as they walked.

“Dad.”

“Yes?”

“Han-gyeol says he’s going to be an Omega.”

Se-hyun looked at Seo-jun adoringly. Having played together since they were young, Han-gyeol had now become his best friend. Seeing them kiss each other on the cheek saying they liked each other, they were clearly close.

“We won’t know about secondary gender until it manifests…”

After pondering Se-hyun’s kind explanation for a moment, Seo-jun asked:

“Han-gyeol might not become an Omega?”

“That’s possible.”

“Then what if I become an Omega and Han-gyeol becomes an Alpha?”

“Huh?”

Se-hyun was caught off guard by the unexpected question.

“Then we could get married, right?”

Seo-jun, with a build just like Shin Tae-oh’s, was considering ways to be with Han-gyeol no matter what. Se-hyun silently looked ahead. Seo-jun not only had Shin Tae-oh’s build but his personality too.

“Do you want to marry Han-gyeol?”

“Yes. I like Han-gyeol. I want to be with him forever.”

Seo-jun admitted his feelings for Han-gyeol without hesitation and then looked up at Se-hyun.

Curious about the gaze, Se-hyun looked at the child. Seo-jun tightened his grip on Se-hyun’s hand and asked earnestly:

“Dad, you married Father because you liked him too, right?”

Se-hyun was a bit surprised that Seo-jun mentioned marriage, but quickly smiled again.

“Yes. We got married because we wanted to be together forever.”

“How much do you like him?”

“I like him so much it feels like I could fly to the sky every day.”

Though he answered at Seo-jun’s level, it was also Se-hyun’s true feelings.

Feeling incredibly grateful that this novel had become his world, Se-hyun was living out his days in pure happiness.

<Side Story End>