MM 49

“Aaahh…”

“Huh? Assistant Han, is something wrong?”

As soon as Yu-young arrived at work, looking miserable, he ended up slumping over his desk. Just then, the team members were entering the office, greeting one another. Seeing Yu-young limp like a squid on his desk, Yoon-seok’s eyes widened and he rushed over.

As usual, Yoon-seok gently massaged Yu-young’s shoulders, and Yu-young lifted his head with a gloomy expression.

“Oh, it’s nothing… Haah… Actually, there is something.”

“What’s going on?”

“Well… it’s about my favorite photographer’s photo book. He only prints a very small number of copies every time, but it’s really popular. So I was waiting to preorder it…”

And thus began the tragedy. As Yu-young had said, Won always printed only a small number of photo books. Though his popularity was high, people often complained at photo cafes, asking why he only printed so few. But he was a photographer who was extremely reluctant to reveal his identity, and had never even given a proper interview. So no one really knew why he printed so few copies.

For Yu-young, whether he printed a few or a lot wasn’t something to complain about. After all, it was up to the person who was publishing it. But his desire to have it was so strong that he had approached getting his hands on the photo books with a combative attitude.

Following a limited-time pre-sale on a single platform, Yu-young had been waiting for the message from the publisher with the exact time for the limited quantity event. He had been ready and waiting when the time came.

While it wasn’t as frantic as rushing to buy concert tickets within a fraction of a second, it was common for reservations to sell out within 30 seconds to a minute, so Yu-young had been sitting in front of his computer, looking tense the entire night.

The reservation was one thing, but there was also a special postcard that came with the photo book, available only for the first ten people who preordered. Yu-young was determined to get his hands on that postcard, no matter what.

The reservation form would open at 10:00. Yu-young had already prepared, taking a shower at 9:00, and was wasting time by browsing the web. He had even already set the server clock. Watching the seconds tick by, his hands grew cold and his body began to tremble.

But then, at exactly 9:58, his phone rang—Do-won was calling. Yu-young, feeling restless, had no choice but to answer. It was the first time he was receiving a call from him at this hour. There was probably something urgent.

“Y-yes?”

-Sorry to call you at this hour, Deputy Han.

“It’s… it’s fine. But right now, I’m…”

Yu-young had been about to say, “I have something urgent,” while nervously biting his lips and staring at the screen of his laptop. It’s fine. He had already opened the waiting window, and no matter what Do-won said, he just had to click a few times with the mouse.

But then, the words from the phone made Yu-young freeze and forget about the photo book entirely.

-It’s about the presentation material for tomorrow at 9 AM. The file for your part is corrupted. Did you make sure to compile it properly earlier?

“Wh-what? Oh no, I’m so sorry! I’ll check it right now and send it again.”

Luckily, he always backed up his files, so he was at least somewhat saved. Just when he was about to rush back to the office, he stuck the USB into his laptop with frantic motions, just as the clock switched to 10:00.

Well, since things had turned out like this, he’d finish the photo book reservation in a minute and then check the file. With his phone wedged between his face and shoulder, Yu-young scrambled back to the internet window. Quickly entering his information and clicking the payment button, suddenly an error popped up.

“Damn it…!”

He cursed silently and tried again a couple of times, but each time an error message with a code popped up. With a silent scream, he slammed the mouse down. At this point, he had no choice but to make the reservation on his mobile.

However, even though the issue had been conveyed, Do-won’s call showed no signs of ending. In a panic, Yu-young switched the phone to speaker mode, but honestly, he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly while talking to him.

-Assistant Han. And…

“Team Leader, is there anything else I need to check? I’m in a bit of a hurry right now!”

Today, Do-won’s voice seemed unnaturally calm. Of all the times, it had to be now. Yu-young anxiously asked almost like he was rapping.

However, after hearing what Do-won said next, Yu-young couldn’t help but freeze in his tracks.

-It’s about both our fathers.

“Fathers… you mean?”

-Apparently, both our fathers have separately contacted each other and met up.

Hearing the tone of frustration in Do-won’s voice, Yu-young was stunned once more.

“So… are you saying our fathers met without us?!”

-They’ve already had a meal together and even went golfing.

Oh my god. Who met and did what now? Yu-young completely forgot about the situation and buried his face in his hands. It had been just over ten days since he had last met his parents at his house. What he thought was a peaceful weekend had actually been orchestrated by their fathers.

“So… what are we supposed to do now? Is there anything…?”

-They’ve already decided to have a meal together this Saturday.

A short sigh was heard through the phone. Since both families had already exchanged greetings, it was clear that Do-won couldn’t actively resist the situation. Yu-young stared blankly with his mouth agape.

It seemed he had underestimated fathers with sons of marriageable age. No matter how much they were leaders of organizations, who would have expected them to act with the force of bulldozers like this?

As Yu-young was at a loss for words, Do-won spoke in a somber voice.

-For now, I’ve asked for some time to think about it. Since we’ve already met each other’s family, we can’t just flat-out refuse. I’ll first discuss it with you.

“…Yes… I understand.”

-Please feel free to tell me what you think, Assistant Han. Since you said you have something urgent, we’ll end it here today and talk again tomorrow.

“Yes, understood. Have a good night.”

With a bewildered and absurd feeling, Yu-young hung up the phone. His head was spinning. How could the fathers meet and have a meal and play golf without saying a word to their sons? He could only laugh bitterly at the ridiculousness of it all.

Sitting on his bed in a daze for about a minute, Yu-young’s eyes absentmindedly lingered on the monitor that had been left on. When he saw the error code still displayed on the screen, his face slowly turned pale.

“Oh, right. My… my photo book!”

With almost a wail, Yu-young hurriedly grabbed his phone and opened the payment page. However, the only thing that greeted him was a despairing message starting with, “[This item is sold out…]”

“This… this can’t be true…”

It felt like the whole world was conspiring against him. How could this happen? Why, of all times, did the call come in now? And not with some trivial news, but with this bombshell?

Yu-young threw himself onto the bed, rolling from one end to the other. He buried his face in the pillow and screamed into it. No matter how much he struggled, the fact that their fathers had already met and that he had missed out on the photo book remained unchanged.

Seeing Yu-young’s distress, Yoon-seok gave him a sympathetic look and pointed at a photo on the desk.

“Aah… I see. This is the photographer you like, right?”

“Yes… that’s right. I’m trying to find someone who is willing to sell their reservation.”

Of course, Yu-young couldn’t tell Yoon-seok about the situation with Do-won, so he just said it was a problem that came up with an urgent call. Yoon-seok gently patted Yu-young’s shoulder and spoke kindly.

“I’m not an expert in this area, but… I’ll help you find someone! Do I just need to join some photo cafe or something?”

“Huh? No, it’s not that serious…”

“Good morning.”

Yu-young’s eyes widened at Yoon-seok’s kind words, and he was about to stop him, but a dry voice from behind took over. Both Yu-young and Yoon-seok turned around and greeted the person at the same time.

“Oh, good morning, Team Leader!”

“Assistant Han, you don’t look too good. Are you feeling unwell?”

As Do-won asked, Yu-young was about to say that nothing was wrong, but Yoon-seok cheerfully answered for him.

“Oh, Assistant Han couldn’t get the photo book reservation for his favorite photographer, so I was going to help him.”

“Oh, it’s fine. It’s nothing.”

Yu-young felt a little embarrassed to show his distressed face to him so early in the morning and quickly cut off Yoon-seok’s words. Do-won, who had been listening silently, stared at Yu-young for a moment with an unreadable expression before leaving the room.

Yu-young tilted his head as he watched Do-won’s retreating figure. Was he upset? Or something else? When he first greeted him this morning, he definitely seemed upset, but after talking about the photo book, his expression seemed a bit off. He couldn’t quite figure out why.

“Do you think the Team Leader doesn’t look too happy…?”

When even Yoon-seok whispered like this, it didn’t seem like it was just his own feeling. Just then, Ju-yeon appeared from behind and greeted them loudly.

“Good morning, Yu-young! Good morning, Yoon-seok! You two are always together, huh.”

“Hehe, good morning, Ms. Kim!”

“Seriously, Yoon-seok really likes you, Yu-young! By the way, about the part I looked at yesterday, there was a mistake. I’ll check it before work starts. Do you want to come to my desk?”

“Ah, yes. I’ll be there right now!”

As the two of them noisily left, Yu-young prepared to start his work. However, after seeing Do-won, the issue he had almost forgotten about crept back into his mind, and his mood became uneasy again.

A meal with their fathers this Saturday… it seemed almost impossible to escape since it was something they had already decided. Yu-young sighed deeply, feeling a sense of helplessness.