DFLT 49

Contrary to his worries, the effects of the medicine did not appear. Though it might be because not even half a day had passed since he took it.

While Yeonoh was busy with work, waiting for Heonyoung, who was away on an appointment, to return, a preview of the company messenger popped up on his laptop screen.

[Kim Jinwhan: Mr. Yeonoh, the schedule is running late. Go down to the conference room first and put up the materials. I will be there soon.]

Yeonoh was scheduled to accompany him for the upcoming appointment, but the previous one seemed to be continuously delayed. Yeonoh left a reply of understanding and went down with his laptop.

“Oh, only you are here, Mr. Yeonoh?”

While he had entered the conference room first, set up the screen and laptop, put up the materials, and even set up the minutes form, people started to trickle in one by one.

“Due to his schedule, the Executive Director will be a little late.”

“Ah, is that so? I was having a hard time with the back-to-back meetings anyway, so I’ve got a moment to catch my breath.”

After the dry greetings were exchanged, a brief silence fell in the conference room.

“By the way, I saw you yesterday, Mr. Yeonoh.”

Strategy Team Leader Yoon Soohui broke the silence with a smile.

“Me? Where?”

“Didn’t you have dinner at the Italian restaurant near the company yesterday?”

Ah, she was talking about the restaurant he had gone to with Dojin yesterday. Yeonoh nodded his head in agreement.

“You were with a really handsome alpha. Is he your boyfriend?”

“Wow, you have a boyfriend, Mr. Yeonoh? An alpha, no less?”

“Weren’t you a beta, Mr. Yeonoh?”

At Team Leader Yoon’s joking question, the people around them murmured and asked various things. Yeonoh, who was flustered as Dojin had been turned into his boyfriend in an instant, scratched his head.

“I didn’t know you were into that. You look so neat and proper, Mr. Yeonoh.”

Is there some kind of law that says you can’t date an alpha if you look neat and proper…. He felt the urge to find fault with Team Leader Yoon’s words, but he wanted to avoid any unnecessary noise. Yeonoh smiled awkwardly and waved both his hands.

“He’s not my boyfriend! He’s a sunbae from university.”

“Come on, what do you take us for? What kind of person in the world just eats dinner with an alpha at an Italian restaurant with candles lit?”

I’m not even an omega, so, what, am I supposed to sing a serenade of love or something? This is truly ridiculous…. Feeling that it was not even worth the effort to respond, Yeonoh was just smiling silently when, all of a sudden, the door was flung open without a sound, and in walked Seo Heonyoung.

The conference room door was an auto-closing one that blocked sound from leaking out, so there should have been a click when the handle turned, but everyone stared at the silently appearing Seo Heonyoung with bewildered eyes.

“What are you doing? Aren’t we having a meeting?”

If one were to personify the north wind and the heavy snow, this is surely what he would look like. Seo Heonyoung was not just stiff, but cold, as if something had gone wrong in his previous appointment.

Seo Heonyoung did not bat an eye during the presentation that Team Leader Yoon was giving with a tense face. Although he was the type to refrain from unnecessary words, he wasn’t usually this expressionless.

“A-are there any questions?”

Team Leader Yoon, who seemed to be sweating down her back, asked in a trembling voice, but the reply that came back was.

“Well done.”

Just a contradiction between words and actions. He maintained a face that did not match his kind attitude. Only then did Seo Heonyoung, who had belatedly grasped the frozen atmosphere, open his mouth.

“Why is everyone reacting like that? I said it was well done because it was well done.”

“……”

“Ah, was my expression bad?”

You call that a question? He just wanted to express his regret for Seo Heonyoung’s still-lacking ability for self-assessment.

“That’s strange. There is no reason for me to be in a bad mood.”

It seemed he needed to correct his thinking. Perhaps Seo Heonyoung’s intention was for humanity to simply disappear from the face of the Earth.

And so the meeting, which had been as nerve-wracking as walking on thin ice from beginning to end, was over. At Seo Heonyoung’s words to end it there, people quickly disappeared from the room with farewells of ‘good work’. Yeonoh, too, wanted to escape from this room with them.

When only the three of them were left in the conference room that everyone had left, Seo Heonyoung suddenly stood up again and disappeared outside. Jinwhan and Yeonoh, who briefly exchanged glances that contained the unspoken question of whether they had sensed the unusual atmosphere, immediately left the conference room.

Heonyoung was already far away. Jinwhan, a tall dominant alpha, quickly caught up to right behind Heonyoung, but Yeonoh, for whom a fast walk was not enough to keep up with their strides, had to flounder and run. But then, Seo Heonyoung suddenly came to a dead stop.

He silently watched for a long while as Yeonoh walked, flailing his legs until his thighs cramped.

“Ha….”

Seo Heonyoung, who let out a long sigh laced with genuine irritation, looked down at Yeonoh quietly. Yeonoh, who had no way of knowing what he was annoyed about, did not know what to do and dropped his gaze to the floor, waiting for the scathing remarks from Seo Heonyoung that would be directed at the crown of his head.

However, instead of unleashing his temper on Yeonoh, Seo Heonyoung snatched the laptop Yeonoh was holding in his arms and handed it to Jinwhan. And Yeonoh, whose shoulders shot up as he blinked in bewilderment at Jinwhan, who had suddenly received his laptop, was because Seo Heonyoung had grabbed the back of his jacket collar.

“Please go up first with that. I’ll have a talk with Secretary Ji and then go.”

Like a thief caught by the owner while stealing snacks at a supermarket, Yeonoh, literally caught in Seo Heonyoung’s grasp, was dragged like that to an empty conference room right next to them.

Heonyoung, who let go of Yeonoh’s collar and closed the door with a slightly rough hand, swept his hair back with a long motion.

“Is being a slow walker something to be proud of?”

“…Pardon me?”

This was the first time he had been scolded by Seo Heonyoung for being short. The Seo Heonyoung he had known for three years was definitely not the type of person to poke at people for such things. Which meant that the fact that he had dragged him all the way here meant that there was indeed something bothering him.

“Executive Director, um, if by any chance I did something wrong….”

He had asked Jinwhan via messenger while the presentation was going on, but he said that the previous schedule had gone smoothly and Heonyoung’s reaction had been nothing out of the ordinary. The meeting preparations had also been perfect and had concluded without any trouble, but for Seo Heonyoung’s mood to be the variable. Yeonoh’s pupils shook rapidly as he retraced his memories, reflecting on his company life to see if he had committed any sins.

“…Ha, damn it.”

Seo Heonyoung, who was staring at the bowing Yeonoh, let out a small sigh. He trailed off his sentence, his lips closing in a way that somehow brought to mind a swear word.

Seo Heonyoung, who usually never uttered such things as swear words…. Yeonoh inwardly doubted his ears and avoided his gaze. The only hopeful thing was that his voice was somewhat softened, as if he had finally regained his reason.

“Ji Yeonoh.”

“Yes, Executive Director.”

“Make a reservation at Huiumchae for 7 in the evening.”

“…Yes, I understand!”

And so, Yeonoh, relieved that Seo Heonyoung’s precarious mood curve finally seemed to be drawing a stable horizontal line, secretly wiped his chest.

Huiumchae was a Korean formal dining restaurant that operated on a 100% reservation basis, a place Seo Heonyoung often visited to treat outside personnel or overseas guests. Usually, it was difficult to make a same-day reservation as the schedule was packed for several weeks, but Seo Heonyoung, whose reservation guaranteed sales and who only brought important people, was an exception. So today, too, he was able to easily reserve two seats for 7 in the evening, as Heonyoung had wanted.

Heonyoung’s last schedule for the day ended at 6 o’clock sharp. However, he had not been informed about whom he was having dinner with, so he was just guessing it was probably a private occasion. He might be meeting Sehyun or Dojin.

Yeonoh, who had entered Huiumchae, stopped the car in front of the entrance of the traditional Korean-style building.

“I will be here on time, Executive Director.”

However, Seo Heonyoung did not get out and just stared blankly at Yeonoh.

“What are you doing, Ji Yeonoh.”

“Pardon me?”

“Park the car.”

Is this a dinner where he needs his secretary? Is an urgent guest coming…. Yeonoh, who answered that he understood, opened the glove compartment and took out a tablet PC. As he followed Heonyoung into the restaurant, the owner, who was waiting for him, guided the two of them to the innermost room. When the door opened and he checked inside, it was empty, as if no one had arrived yet.

Seo Heonyoung sat in the inner seat, and Yeonoh naturally walked to one side of the room and stood there. He always waited like that when he went to a dining engagement, as it made it easier to greet the other party when they arrived.

“You’ve been making me ask this question since a while ago, what are you doing.”

Seo Heonyoung, who had suddenly crossed his arms, gestured with his chin to the empty seat opposite him.

“Sit.”

“Pardon me?”

“I said sit. So we can eat.”

“……”

You mean, the reason you wanted to come here wasn’t to treat a guest, but to eat with me? Yeonoh was bewildered.