IPSTDS Side Story Chapter 1

Side Story Chapter 1

“Ha… finally done.”

Nahyuk stretched his arms wide. Only now did he realize how dry and stiff his eyes felt after staring at the monitor for so long, forgetting even his fatigue.

A yawn slipped out against his will, and through his blurred vision, he saw a notification poking up at the corner of his screen, as if desperately calling for his attention.

Only then did he check the pile of unread messenger alerts that must have been accumulating for some time.

– Honeyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– You’re alive, right??ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ It’s past quitting time, why aren’t you answering?

– You haven’t forgotten me, right? Just send me a reply, even a “yeah.”

– I’m cryingㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

“Good lord…”

Nahyuk chuckled to himself, ignoring the sender’s anxious longing. No sooner had he checked the messages than another one popped up.

– You just saw it now?

Does he even work anymore these days?

Finally, Nahyuk pressed the call button. The moment the line connected with a click after a single ring, a voice close to scolding filled his ear.

“I told you not to overdo it. Do you even know what time it is?”

Now this was funny—he’d been so sweet in text.

Nahyuk began gathering his things to leave work as he replied.

“It’s only been an hour. That’s nothing. Besides, I really wanted to finish this today.”

“No way. Office workers should leave on time. Anything past 6 p.m. belongs to tomorrow’s you.”

Nahyuk was dumbfounded. Who was the one, just a few months ago, staying late night after night?

“So, Mister Principles—where are you now? I assume you’ve already gone home?”

“Well… I left early and came to my second job.”

“You’ve got a side job?”

“Not telling, it’s a secret.”

“Wow, over a year into dating and now you’re keeping secrets? Where’s the Kangil who used to say he couldn’t live without me?”

It had indeed been a full year since they started dating. Nahyuk realized he had been alive and well for all that time.

A flood of memories from that year passed through his mind.

Taking Kangil’s new drug consistently. Finally seeing improvement in the illness that had worsened for so long. Bickering with Kangil over trivial things. Days filled with happiness together…

Kangil had really created the perfect drug, just like in the original novel—one that could cure his illness completely. And he had done it far earlier than the timeline described in the story.

Thanks to that, Nahyuk was truly able to live. His coughing blood and sudden collapses decreased rapidly, and then one day stopped altogether.

The recovery had been so fast it was almost unbelievable.

Once he felt his health returning, he began doing the things he couldn’t before. Most of it meant dates with Kangil.

And then, Yoon Taesik called for him. It was to repeat the proposal Nahyuk had always refused before—asking him to come work at the company. Somehow, he had found out Nahyuk was healthy again.

Of course, he refused at first. He could never be sure when he might fall ill again, and besides, he enjoyed living idly and comfortably.

Some people said they would get bored staying home all the time, but not him. Not at all. Not even a little.

Before this possession, he had spent years sacrificing himself to his company, and now, living lazily was true happiness. If possible, he would never work again.

But when Yoon Taesik brought it up a third time, adding the promise that he would invite Daon—who was rising in fame as a cooking YouTuber—to the hotel for major promotions, Nahyuk’s thoughts began to shift.

Of course, Kim Daon would succeed even without his help. But still, Nahyuk wanted to support him, even if he had once rejected his confession.

“Noah, just try working for a little while. If it really doesn’t suit you, you can quit. I won’t ask again after that.”

And when Yoon Taesik went so far, Nahyuk couldn’t refuse anymore. He even asked him why he was pushing this so hard.

The reply was a stinging bark in his ear.

“You brat! You’re young and healthy—you should be working! I just can’t stand being the only one working.”

But the scolding was full of affection, the kind that felt like family, so it didn’t upset him.

To Taesik, it must have seemed wasteful for his grandson to sit idle when he had regained his health. So he gave him the same chance he’d given his other children.

Thus, Nahyuk joined the design department at Taekwang Construction’s headquarters as the youngest employee. It was a decision made considering his prior career in a design firm before he became Yoon Noah.

And to cut to the point, the work suited him well. Once he started, he found himself so motivated that he regretted ever hating the idea. He even volunteered for overtime.

The only discomfort was that people in the department, knowing he was Taesik’s grandson, treated him awkwardly.

Still, it wasn’t something that weighed too heavily on him.

In fact, he preferred people keeping their distance. Before possessing Noah’s body, in his past life, he had gone through something unpleasant with a coworker.

How could he ever forget the one who had acted like he was interested, only to turn on him the moment he confessed, making him out to be something strange?

So now, Nahyuk wanted to keep his distance from coworkers.

His thoughts didn’t continue further. From the other end of the line, Kangil’s voice came again.

– I still feel like I’d die without you. Honestly, even now I feel like I’m about to die.

Hearing Kangil’s serious voice, Nahyuk let out a laugh.

“Then do you want to see me before you die? I’m about to head out.”

Just as he finished getting ready and was about to step into the elevator, Kangil replied,

– Come down to the parking lot.

“Huh?”

He was about to ask if Kangil had come to pick him up, but the call had already ended. Instead of calling back, Nahyuk simply went down to the basement parking lot.

“So when he said he was at his second workplace… he meant my company.”

Kangil had every right to call Taekwang Construction his second workplace. That’s how often he came and went.

From the very first day Nahyuk started working here until now, Kangil had come to pick him up more than half the days in a week. Even during the busiest times when he was tied up with the foundation of his center.

Just like in the original story, Kangil had established a rare disease center in real life and served as its director.

He had been able to build the center because he had successfully developed a near-perfect drug that could cure the rare illness Nahyuk had suffered from. For that achievement, his name had spread even further as one of the country’s most renowned researchers.

Watching him, Nahyuk realized anew that the events of the original story inevitably came to pass. If Kangil hadn’t developed his drug earlier than in the novel, Nahyuk would have died without question.

The only reason “Yoon Noah’s death” turned out differently was because Kangil and Nahyuk had fallen in love with each other much earlier.

Nahyuk wondered what might have happened if he had loved Kim Daon or Seo Dowoong instead.

“Would I have been unable to escape death then?”

It was something he could never know for certain now.

Regardless, Kangil—the man who gave him both love and a new life—always insisted on driving him home no matter how much Nahyuk tried to refuse. Unable to find a way to stop him, Nahyuk had simply accepted his constant escort.

For that, he felt both sorry and deeply fond of him.

People often said love cooled with time, but for Nahyuk, his love for Kangil only grew stronger as the seasons passed. He could hardly even recall the past self who had once doubted his feelings.

“…I miss him.”

Just thinking of Kangil suddenly made him ache with longing. Even though he would see him in less than five minutes, he felt impatient.

As soon as the elevator doors opened and he stepped into the parking lot, his eyes caught a striking figure leaning against a sleek car. Dressed sharply, he looked far too refined for someone called a drug researcher.

It was as if a spotlight shone only on him in the pitch-black space.

A man who could hold his head high anywhere. Truly enviable.

And the thought that such a man loved him filled Nahyuk with a fresh warmth.