NFS 3.10

Joo Seung-ha moved toward the bed without removing Seo Ahn-jae’s hand. This time there was no restraining force. Instead, as soon as Joo Seung-ha took off his robe and climbed onto the bed, large hands grabbed his shoulders and forcefully pushed him down onto the mattress. Ugh, Joo Seung-ha swallowed his groan and barely managed to lift his head before it could be buried in the mattress. However, he couldn’t turn his pinned body around. A large body pressed down on his back.

His chest rose and fell slightly with each breath. The soft breathing sounds that could only be heard in the dominance of dawn were addictive. Seo Ahn-jae lost track of time as he watched the sleeping Joo Seung-ha. No matter how long he looked, he couldn’t get enough. Even while thinking this might be the most useless thing he’d ever done in his life, he couldn’t take his eyes off Joo Seung-ha.

How can someone be this lovable? He felt he could spend his whole life just watching him sleep. Once realized, his feelings had swallowed everything like an unstoppable typhoon. All the standards and goals Seo Ahn-jae had set meant nothing inside this typhoon. If not for his deeply rooted selfishness, he might have gotten down on his knees before Joo Seung-ha, begging him to look his way.

“Ha.”

Just imagining this scenario made Seo Ahn-jae let out a short laugh in disbelief. Then he carefully ran his hand through the sleeping Joo Seung-ha’s hair. Though he hadn’t woken up despite being touched several times already, Seo Ahn-jae still found himself being cautious.

Fuck, what is it about this guy? His selfishness would occasionally flare up in frustration. But even this was also close to a tantrum because he couldn’t help but find the other person cute. Seo Ahn-jae resisted the urge to stroke the other man’s hair again, instead gently rubbing the strands between his fingertips.

A faint blue light began seeping through the gaps in the closed curtains. He hated the arrival of morning the most. He despised how the person before him would disappear into his own world whenever morning came around. Seo Ahn-jae watched the light through the gap with sharp eyes before lowering his gaze to Joo Seung-ha. He called out to him in a low voice.

“Joo Seung-ha.”

Only the sounds of rhythmic breathing answered him.

***

Joo Seung-ha thought this might be some kind of new power play. Five days since they’d last met, Seo Ahn-jae had been sending messages hourly, like clockwork. He tried to ignore most of them. In fact, he wasn’t responding to over 90% of them. The few replies he did send were either automatic responses triggered by his sales representative habits, or cases where the message content demanded a response.

“Which outfit do you like?”

Two photos appeared with the question. One showed casual attire with regular jeans and a T-shirt, while the other was a semi-formal style with a shirt and slacks. The shirt, in particular, was vibrantly colored, giving off a dressed-up impression. Joo Seung-ha immediately understood why the photos were sent. Ah, right, there’s an internal company filming at the broadcasting station today. As soon as he recalled this, Joo Seung-ha frowned, displeased with himself for knowing Seo Ahn-jae’s schedule so well.

But as it turned out, this kind of thing was unavoidable. Thanks to Seo Ahn-jae sharing every detail about what he was doing and his upcoming appointments, Joo Seung-ha could recite his schedule more fluently than his own. Still, why should I choose what he wears on broadcast? He was about to ignore the question, but as if anticipating Joo Seung-ha might turn off his phone, another message arrived.

“You just fell asleep last time. If you’re sorry about that, pick an outfit for me.”

Instead of sighing, Joo Seung-ha firmly closed and reopened his eyes. The “last time” Seo Ahn-jae mentioned was when they met at the hotel at dawn after Joo Seung-ha had been moving items from a warehouse due to a forest fire. Five days ago, then. Joo Seung-ha felt uncomfortable remembering that day.

He clearly remembered lying on the bed. He remembered the suffocating weight pressing down on his back. And he remembered Seo Ahn-jae’s hand grabbing his member, making him climax first. The touch wasn’t gentle at all, stroking him with mechanical stimulation as if the sole purpose was to make him ejaculate.

With his hips raised and shoulders pinned by large hands, he had to bury his face in the blanket. The memory of feeling suffocated and rapidly building pleasure mixed hazily with his panting breaths. Then his memory went blank.

He realized he had fallen asleep right after climaxing only when he woke up at the hotel the next day. What made him uncomfortable wasn’t that he’d fallen asleep without properly repaying his debt. His body felt refreshed. As if nothing had happened, there wasn’t a single kiss mark on his body, and his backside didn’t feel sore.

If Seo Ahn-jae had at least used his sleeping body and finished inside him, he could have cursed once and felt at ease. But it was unsettling that Seo Ahn-jae had left him alone while sleeping. Clean laundered clothes were hung up, freshly ordered breakfast was laid out, and beside it was a caring note.

‘Asked for a 10 a.m. wake-up call since you probably have work. Take your time eating breakfast before heading to the office.’

Seo Ahn-jae had left such notes before. When he’d slept at Seo Ahn-jae’s place, he’d left a simple ‘Eat.’ But now the content had expanded tenfold. That was why it was uncomfortable. The discomfort was unsettling because he couldn’t precisely define what emotion it was.

“You’re making the filming late now.”

An accusatory message popped up on his smartphone. For a moment, he almost retorted “Why didn’t you just finish inside me while I was sleeping?” but stopped himself. Even he thought this was too trashy a thought. Think normally, Joo Seung-ha. Scolding himself, he put his finger to the phone screen. Though he wasn’t sorry at all, falling asleep like that had been wrong, so he made a random choice.

“The first one.”

“Just as I thought.”

What do you mean ‘Just as you thought’? Joo Seung-ha forgot he should ignore it and replied to his words.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t like standing out.”

His finger froze above the smartphone. Ah, how does he know that? Joo Seung-ha let out a small sigh, thinking if Seo Ahn-jae had been in front of him, he would have caught the surprised look plastered on his face.

“Most people are like that. You don’t like standing out either, senior.”

“I stand out just by existing.”

“Ha, really.”

Joo Seung-ha burst into incredulous laughter alone in his car. However, his laughter vanished at Seo Ahn-jae’s next message.

“So do you.”

No, I don’t stand out as much as you…His fingers stopped mid-reply at the quick response that followed.

“That’s why you deliberately don’t smile much or talk much, to avoid standing out.”

“…”

Joo Seung-ha silently stared at his message before looking up. Someone understanding you well should be comforting in a way, as it means they understand you. But for that person to be Seo Ahn-jae…As Seo Ahn-jae said, Joo Seung-ha had disliked standing out because of his looks since childhood.

It was a defense mechanism that naturally developed after experiencing various problems due to his appearance. Seon had praised this defense as being solid, though. Seon was really kind. Joo Seung-ha pushed away thoughts of his friend, who seemed to come to mind more often since meeting Seo Ahn-jae, and typed out a reply.

“You’re really talkative, senior.”

This time there wasn’t an immediate response. But somehow, he could imagine him laughing loudly.  Seo Ahn-jae is really weird. Joo Seung-ha grumbled internally as he got out of his car. Today, Joo Seung-ha was at N Company as requested by Team Leader Kim from the online team. Just then, Kim’s phone call came through.

[Team Leader Joo, I’m in the first-floor lobby.]

Hearing the clearly nervous voice, Joo Seung-ha hurried his steps.

***

“Oh? Weren’t you going to change clothes, CEO?”

The PR team member assigned to assist with the broadcast filming asked in surprise as Seo Ahn-jae came out of the office.

“I was told to wear this outfit.”

“By whom?”

The PR team member turned sharply to look at Secretary Choi beside Seo Ahn-jae. Secretary Choi quickly shook her head, and Seo Ahn-jae revealed who had advised him.

“The person I like.”

Secretary Choi was definitely cleared of responsibility. Admiration briefly flickered in the PR team member’s eyes before she shot Secretary Choi a disapproving glance. Why didn’t you stop him? Secretary Choi felt truly wronged.

“Sir, since it’s for filming, I think you should wear that other outfit…”

When she spoke quietly but firmly to her superior, Seo Ahn-jae responded dismissively.

“That outfit would make me stand out more.”

“Ah, did the person you like object for that reason?”

“No. They just don’t like standing out in general.”

The PR team member couldn’t help but break into a bright smile.

“Are you finally dating them, CEO?”

“No, it’s a one-sided pursuit.”

Still unrequited love. Nevertheless, Seo Ahn-jae’s expression softened as if just this fact made him happy. The PR team member’s eyes sparkled even more seeing the CEO in love. Secretary Choi’s eyes also shone—with shock. Is he crazy? How can he go around showing this off when the other person isn’t even reciprocating?

Secretary Choi really couldn’t understand for the life of him. To think Seo Ahn-jae would go around bragging about his unrequited love. By now, everyone in the company knew about Seo Ahn-jae’s one-sided love. The rumors had even spread that the person Seo Ahn-jae liked was 10 years older with three children.

That they were rejecting Seo Ahn-jae’s love because of their circumstances. What nonsense. In reality, the person was younger, good-looking, and had great qualifications. So the reason for rejection was more likely due to Seo Ahn-jae’s personality. But since this speculation couldn’t be shared with anyone, Secretary Choi desperately needed a bamboo forest to vent to.

“Still, couldn’t you ask them once more for permission? You’re about to be the face of the company, but the outfit is too simple and casual.”

“It’s not even the main filming today.”

When Seo Ahn-jae dismissed it as if the clothes didn’t matter, the PR team member tried to persuade him once more. Secretary Choi quickly stopped her. Seo Ahn-jae never easily changed his mind once he made a decision. And he hated wasting time on such issues most of all.

“We’re an IT company anyway, so casual attire fits our image better. It would be ridiculous to dress up just because it’s for broadcast.”

The PR team member’s expression turned ice-cold. She had dressed up for today. Though she wouldn’t appear on broadcast, she was in charge of company tours, so she might end up on camera somewhere. That was why she had bought the second most expensive outfit in her life after her sister’s wedding.

“What should we do? All the employees scheduled for interviews today must look ridiculous to Secretary Choi.”

Indeed, everyone had dressed up. While Secretary Choi was at a loss for words, Seo Ahn-jae, who had been checking his smartphone, headed out first.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

The PR team member followed Seo Ahn-jae with a brightened face. She seems really excited. Though Secretary Choi grumbled internally, it wasn’t incomprehensible. After all, there would be chaos when Seo Ahn-jae showed himself to the world. The Internet would surely explode.

***

“The Internet shopping broadcasts here are really hot these days. Though today’s meeting is aimed at getting into the premium sales section, our team leader said it would be worth it just to get information about the shopping broadcasts, so we should definitely try it out.”

Team Leader Kim explained to Joo Seung-ha about N Company’s hot shopping broadcasts. Since Joo Seung-ha was in charge of offline store sales and wasn’t familiar with it, he responded with a simple “Is that so?” but honestly wasn’t very interested. Though Joo Seung-ha had heard about these broadcasts, the content was mostly about major brand products from large companies.

Above all, such bulk sales required unit price discounts and high sales commissions. Furthermore, handling the flood of consultation calls from mass sales required establishing a CS team. Joo Seung-ha was already aware of these issues from previous discussions about home shopping sales that had fallen through. So while he was about to explain these points to the dreamy-eyed Team Leader Kim, a short message vibration rang out. Checking his smartphone, Joo Seung-ha’s eyes immediately filled with disbelief.

“My filming is done.”

What? He couldn’t have filmed for even 5 minutes. He knew that for such a busy person like Seo Ahn-jae, his schedule changed hourly. Maybe that was why Seo Ahn-jae had refused even if they’d asked for more filming time. He disliked how he could now naturally imagine Seo Ahn-jae’s situation in his head like that.

“Did you receive some bad news?”

At Team Leader Kim’s worried question, Joo Seung-ha realized he had tensed up.

“No, just another trivial message.”

Team Leader Kim immediately remembered the person from their previous conversation with an “Ah.”

“Um, the person you need to repay money to…”

“Yes, that’s right. The creditor.”

When Joo Seung-ha replied with a slight smile, Team Leader Kim relaxed and smiled along.

“Wow, you must have a lot of debt.”

“Yes, though it’s not my debt.”

Joo Seung-ha answered lightly again, but Team Leader Kim’s expression froze. Seeing him avoid eye contact and turn away, Joo Seung-ha realized his mistake. Though it had been a month and a half since his mother had come to the company, apparently it wasn’t long enough for people to forget. But he had no excuse to offer Team Leader Kim. It was indeed his mother’s debt.

“Ah, actually, I once had to pay off family debt too. Since they’re family, you have no other choice but to pay it off like swallowing bitter medicine, and it’s really tough.”

Team Leader Kim nervously shared his experience as if to comfort him. Though Joo Seung-ha didn’t particularly need comfort, since Team Leader Kim couldn’t look at him properly, he went along with the conversation.

“Is that so?”

“Yes! After all that effort saving money, to have it taken like that. God, if they weren’t family, I’d never want to see them again, but you just can’t cut off family ties.”

Team Leader Kim suddenly focused on his own misfortune and vented his grievances loud enough to echo through the lobby. Now Joo Seung-ha was the one taken aback.

“How much did they take?”

“170,000 won.”

“…Ah.”

“It was for drinking. Oh, my money. Oh…”

Team Leader Kim’s face reddened as if just thinking about it made him upset. Joo Seung-ha blinked and couldn’t help but ask again.

“But couldn’t you have just paid that much as family…?”

“No. Money matters should be handled clearly, especially with close people.”

Well, that was true. Joo Seung-ha nodded in agreement as he turned his attention to a short man about their age walking up to them. He quickly scanned the company ID on his chest. This was the MD they had an appointment with. But they’d been kept waiting in the lobby for over 15 minutes. When Joo Seung-ha raised his indifferent eyes to meet his, the approaching man hesitated slightly.

“Are you from the pet food company?”