DHG Ch 68

Heewoo was at a loss for a moment before pointing to the first purple orchid that was right in front of him.

“Because the flower is pretty.”

“Looked a bit like raw tuna to me. The cheek meat of a bluefin tuna.”

Stroking his shaved chin, Jang Seungyung, who was chattering away as usual, paused.

It was because Heewoo had let out a small burst of laughter upon hearing his words.

It was a small laugh, mixed with the sound of his soft breathing. His eyes curved into half-moons, and the plump flesh under his eyes and the shape of his cheeks were like a flower blooming.

He’s smiling.

Heewoo smiled.

For some time now, he had started to meet his gaze more often, instead of keeping it on the floor, and now he was even smiling brightly, without a doubt.

He didn’t know before, but he had a faint dimple on only one side of his mouth. As if bewitched by that concave trace, Jang Seungyung’s face unknowingly went pale as his eyes remained fixed on it.

Of course, Heewoo hadn’t laughed because Jang Seungyung had displayed outstanding humor. Though he didn’t know it himself, Heewoo was in a state ready to smile at any moment due to an accumulation of comfort and tranquility. Jang Seungyung’s trivial comment was merely a small trigger that had nudged the fully ripened bud.

Just as a plant that has absorbed enough water and sunlight will one day readily bloom.

“……”

Jang Seungyung’s eyebrows rose slightly. He had once concluded that Kwon Heewoo’s indifference and stoicism, unbefitting of his age, inexplicably drew people’s attention. That the melancholic aura of someone who had been through it all, who never let his guard down and always kept his eyes lowered, induced undue interest.

Looking at him now, that wasn’t it. He was prettier when he lifted his gaze, made eye contact, and softened his dry, frozen lips into a gentle smile. So much prettier that it couldn’t be compared to before.

“Pretty.”

Jang Seungyung, blinking a moment too late, said without thinking. It was a heartfelt remark that flowed out after seeing a smile that seemed to melt away, a smile that suited his age.

Heewoo blinked a couple of times. He met Jang Seungyung’s eyes, which shone brighter than the leaves he had carefully polished, and let his smile fade awkwardly. He was just thinking that the comment must have been about the flower.

“Really pretty.”

However, the moment Jang Seungyung repeated it with clear emphasis, he couldn’t help but understand what he meant.

Heewoo flinched, conscious of the gaze focused on his face like it was under a magnifying glass. Heat rose to his cheeks as if they were on fire.

He couldn’t find the words and hastily averted his eyes. Pretending not to know, he just wiped the leaves of the plant with the linen cloth in his hand and said.

“…That’s right. It’s pretty.”

Jang Seungyung’s eyes curved gently at the way he sidestepped the compliment, as if it were all directed at the orchid.

“I know you’re quick-witted, so is this self-praise?”

“……! No!”

Jang Seungyung hugged Heewoo, who was hurriedly denying it, from behind. He buried his lips in his soft hair. He wanted to tease him more, but the sound of his quiet, steady breathing in his arms was so pleasant that he just gently rubbed the tip of his nose against his soft earlobe.

Following the gaze of Heewoo, who was blushing innocently while silently and gently wiping the orchid leaves with the cloth, Jang Seungyung’s eyes swept over the unusually vibrant and shiny plants. It was Heewoo’s new hobby. He said he’d learned it from his grandmother, who used to sell potted plants, and boasted quite spiritedly that wiping the leaves was good for increasing photosynthesis.

“The plants are lucky. To have Kwon Heewoo’s attention.”

At those words, Heewoo, in his arms, snapped his head up. His gaze seemed to be fervently expressing that he had plenty of attention for him, too.

Jang Seungyung smiled slightly and reached out his hand. He took the cloth that Heewoo was still holding, placed it on a shelf, and held his slightly cold hand from behind, giving it a little shake.

“I knew your fingertips were deft. So this is why the CEO’s office was so sparkling clean.”

Gently rubbing the pretty fingers, Jang Seungyung was lost in a new appreciation. Come to think of it, with these meticulous fingertips, he had tied up condoms so well, too.

It had only happened once. He had made Heewoo wear a condom for the simple reason that he wanted to see his pink penis sheathed in smooth latex just once.

Naturally, the size was wrong and it was a mess, and Heewoo, under Jang Seungyung’s grasp, had quietly disposed of the condom that had been messily molested along with his own genitals.

Jang Seungyung recalled Heewoo tying a neat knot in the condom, even with a half-exhausted, dazed look on his face. The look in his eyes back then, his hot body temperature, and his unique sweet pheromones came rushing back, and his abs tensed up on their own.

While Jang Seungyung was engrossed in thoughts no different from an erotic magazine, Heewoo figured out the meaning between the lines.

“You knew I was the one cleaning?”

Twisting his shoulders to face him, his eyes were as clear and flawless as pebbles washed by water.

Suddenly, Jang Seungyung remembered that Heewoo hadn’t even had dinner yet and pushed aside his dark thoughts.

“That you’re the cleaning fairy? I found out not too long ago.”

As he answered, Jang Seungyung simultaneously reviewed the tasks Heewoo used to handle at Benny. Besides cleaning the CEO’s office, there were kitchen chores, organizing warehouse inventory, and so on.

Though he had graduated from middle school, his circumstances were pitiful; he had been tormented by Kim Jinhwan’s stalking even back then, and burdened with nursing his grandmother, he wouldn’t have been able to look at a single option for himself. It was even more so thinking about the object he had received from Secretary Hwang today, which was still stuffed in his back pocket.

In fact, the blooming orchid was an accessory; that was the main point. Hmm. After letting out a breath that made his chest heave for a moment, Jang Seungyung first took out his own phone.

“This bastard, no, do you remember this man?”

He asked, displaying a photo from his album on the screen. He wanted to fill those eyes and ears with only good things, but he had to confirm.

“We ran into him in the hospital building elevator.”

At Jang Seungyung’s explanation, Heewoo immediately recognized the man in the picture. It was him. The small-statured man with dyed hair who had been tailing him before. Jang Seungyung’s question followed.

“Why were you so surprised back then?”

It was a gentle enough question, but Heewoo couldn’t answer readily.

A gray motel, a palm-sized window, the man in the photo who seemed to work there. His own unclear memories and Hong Sunsoo, who seemed to know something about the motel.

The impressions that had briefly surfaced soon faded away powerlessly. His head felt dizzy, and Heewoo narrowed his eyes.

“…Because he’s someone related to Kim Jinhwan.”

He finally spoke after a moment.

“It happens sometimes. I… erase bad memories. I couldn’t remember this person at first either, but then I suddenly remembered…”

“……”

“That’s why I was surprised.”

“-Ah, right.”

Jang Seungyung replied as if it were no big deal. The man casually moved his thumb and deleted the photo from the screen.

“Why did you do that?”

Heewoo asked, a little anxiously. Jang Seungyung let out a small laugh and stroked his head with his large palm.

“It’s nothing. I just got something while investigating that man.”

Jang Seungyung gave a vague excuse and looked forward again. He held out the second cell phone he had brought in the back pocket of his loungewear.

“This is yours, right?”

Heewoo took the black, old-model cell phone. Looking at his surprised face, Jang Seungyung recalled the moment before leaving work today, when he was receiving the report about that phone from Secretary Hwang.

‘I believe this is Mr. Kwon Heewoo’s phone.’

A bright expression slowly spread across the small face. Jang Seungyung smiled, meeting the eyes that were clearly filled with delight. At the same time, one of the image files that had been secretly hidden on the device—which they had moved and then deleted—flashed before his eyes.

[Cheonghae Motel]

A photo of a shabby building with gray bricks and a dark blue neon sign, taken vaguely from the side. Under the hazy light, windows of a size that made one doubt they met fire safety codes reflected a dull light like the eyes of a dead fish.

‘Mr. Kwon Heewoo probably didn’t know. Or the file could have been planted after his phone was taken.’

Tensing his jaw as he recalled Secretary Hwang’s explanation, Jang Seungyung quickly composed a gentle expression again when he noticed Heewoo looking at him.

Fortunately, Heewoo didn’t seem to have noticed anything. Judging by the way he just said with a faint smile on his face.

“I thought I’d never find it again. Thank you.”

Jang Seungyung stared down at the distinctly brightened face. Heewoo examined the phone again. The phone, having been professionally handled, was likely cleaned up to the state it was in when he had originally used it.

Come to think of it, the old photos were quite nice to look at.

Jang Seungyung, who had taken a quick look through the photo album, cocked a dark eyebrow.

He couldn’t resist his curiosity about what the old Kwon Heewoo was like, so he had looked into the album. There were indeed photos from several years ago. Hidden one by one within compositions mainly of plants, the sky, and surrounding scenery was a very, very young-looking Kwon Heewoo.

Fuck, he’s so cute. Unconsciously spewing a stream of cheap exclamations, his eyes darted around, searching for the hidden Kwon Heewoo in the album. As Seungyung looked through the photos one by one, he soon found an elderly woman who appeared frequently. He recognized her right away. It was the boy’s grandmother, whose face he had become familiar with through photos in the background check report he had received on Heewoo.

The old woman, her mouth pursed, was making a V-sign from behind her grandson’s shoulder and smiling shyly.