PEN Vol 2 Ch. 22

“I, too, could manage the men like you do… or oversee things… it’s not like I don’t know how to do that…”

Han Jonghyun clearly had no idea what Cheon Sejoo actually did. Most people in the organization probably had no clue how Cheon Sejoo supported Shin Gyoyeon’s operations either. If they knew, Han Jonghyun wouldn’t be saying things like this.

Displaying a cynical smile, Cheon Sejoo adjusted his posture, sitting up straighter as he looked at Han Jonghyun who was sitting there, spouting such pointless nonsense. He leaned back comfortably in his chair and crossed his arms as if inviting him to continue with his drunken rambling. Completely intoxicated now, Cheon Sejoo watched Han Jonghyun sniffle like an addict and launched into his life story.

Although Cheon Sejoo wasn’t interested at all, the gist of it was this: Han Jonghyun was the youngest, good-for-nothing son of a wealthy family, wasting his life away doing nothing.

One day, while frequenting clubs in Cheongdam-dong, he met Shin Jiho and, through him, he got introduced to Shin Gyoyeon. Intrigued by the organization, Han Jonghyun was invited to join by Shin Gyoyeon, and naturally, he accepted. Shin Gyoyeon immediately gave him the position of Director, leading Han Jonghyun to believe he had secured a real spot in DG.

Having been a complete troublemaker, Han Jonghyun, drunk on the title, indulged in all sorts of reckless behavior, including drugs. But at some point, he came to his senses and realized that five years had passed.

Reflecting on his time, Han Jonghyun realized that, despite holding his position, he hadn’t accomplished anything as an actual member of the organization. Feeling regretful, he went to Shin Gyoyeon to apologized then begged him to give him any task he could do to which Shin Gyoyeon had simply responded with a smile and told him to wait.

That was already six months ago. The same day Cheon Sejoo had delivered the items to Han Jonghyun by the President’s orders.

However, until now, nothing has changed. Han Jonghyun hadn’t been given any real responsibilities and, growing sick of idleness, had started stirring things up and wandering aimlessly. As part of that, he had gone to visit places like Shinsa Capital and tried to boss around people like Kim Donggil, who was older than him.

However, Kim Donggil, though polite on the surface only pretended to listen, responding “yes, yes,” while clearly ignoring his words. Naturally, this fueled Han Jonghyun’s frustration and wounded his pride as a “Director.”

And then, as fate would have it, he had run into Cheon Sejoo, one of Shin Gyoyeon’s closest associates. Envy had welled up within him, and Han Jonghyun’s pent-up emotions finally boiled over.

As Cheon Sejoo listened to this long-winded, self-pitying story, he silently cursed Han Jonghyun for being such a fool. If he’d wasted five years basking in the title of Director, he should’ve come to his senses by now. But instead, here he was, drinking and whining like a complete idiot.

“And… d*mn it, you… you always just stare at me like I’m some kind of a nuisance…”

Muttering incoherently, Han Jonghyun began rummaging through the pocket of his suit lying beside him. Cheon Sejoo, watched him with a blank expression until Han Jonghyun pulled out a small packet of white powder, likely drugs. His brow furrowed, and he clamped his mouth shut.

For a moment, Cheon Sejoo debated whether he should stop him or not. If he interfered with a drunk guy, the situation could easily escalate if he caused a scene and the staff might come running and get involved, creating an even bigger mess. But if he didn’t stop him, this was clearly not the right place for drugs and it didn’t seem like a good idea either.

Cheon Sejoo’s internal debate didn’t last long. Before Han Jonghyun could inhale the powder, he collapsed forward, slamming his face onto the table, and passed out cold.

“You’ve got to be f*cking kidding me…”

Cheon Sejoo, at a loss, stared at the ridiculous scene and muttered a curse under his breath.

Hah.

He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair in frustration, then slowly combed it back into place before lighting a cigarette.

Even as he leisurely smoked the entire cigarette, Han Jonghyun remained unconscious. Realizing he would have to clean up after his mess, Cheon Sejoo got up from his seat, a look of disgust plastered on his face.

“Director.”

After slapping Han Jonghyun’s cheek roughly, with some personal satisfaction, he still didn’t wake up. Sighing again, Cheon Sejoo wrapped his arm around Han Jonghyun’s surprisingly slim waist and laid him down on the floor. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and carefully cleaned up the white powder scattered across the table. After that, he pressed the bell to call for a staff member.

When the staff arrived, Cheon Sejoo handed over a tip, explaining that his companion was too drunk and asking for a taxi to be called. The staff member bowed and promised to inform him once the taxi arrived.

Cheon Sejoo planned to send Han Jonghyun back to the club that was practically considered as his home base. He couldn’t care less about what would happen to Han Jonghyun’s car.

While waiting for the taxi, Cheon Sejoo sipped the now cold tea, his gaze quietly falling on the face of the unconscious drunkard. Though Han Jonghyun was undeniably pitiful, Cheon Sejoo couldn’t help but feel curious after hearing his story.

Han Jonghyun’s family, which ran a mid-sized company, was wealthy, but they weren’t influential enough to be of a significant asset to the organization. Moreover, Han Jonghyun himself was even less useful. He was nothing more than a liability, someone who flaunted the title of Director and caused trouble wherever he went.

Cheon Sejoo couldn’t understand why someone so useless was still being kept in that position. After all, Shin Gyoyeon wasn’t the type to tolerate incompetence, and Han Jonghyun was practically the embodiment of that. There was no reason for Shin Gyoyeon to keep such a person in his ranks.

Cheon Sejoo had always been puzzled by Han Jonghyun’s position as a Director, but hearing his story only made him more curious. He decided he would have to ask Chae Beomjun about it later.

“The taxi has arrived.”

At that moment, a knock came at the door, followed by the voice of the staff member.

“I’ll be right out.”

Cheon Sejoo replied calmly and then proceeded to try to wake Han Jonghyun.

However, no matter how many times he called out “Director,” “Director,” and even cursed him, Han Jonghyun remained unresponsive.

If he couldn’t handle his liquor, why didn’t he stick to beer?

Why the hell did he drink sake?

Cursing Han Jonghyun in his head, Cheon Sejoo finally hoisted him onto his back.

“Ah, let me carry him!”

“No, it’s fine.”

The staff, startled upon seeing him, hurried over, but Cheon Sejoo waved them off. He already felt bad enough showing up during their break time, so he didn’t want to burden the staff with this on top of that.

Luckily, Han Jonghyun wasn’t as heavy as Cheon Sejoo expected. His lightweight body, lacking any muscle, flopped around like a paper doll. Cheon Sejoo supported him by the waist and made his way out of the restaurant.

“Ngh…”

If only Han Jonghyun hadn’t partially woken up in a half-dazed state, it might not have been such a horrible experience after all. At least Cheon Sejoo had discovered that Sejin had lied to him and was working a part-time job after following Han Jonghyun. But halfway down the stairs, the jolt roused Han Jonghyun slightly awake. As if to prove that bad habits die hard, his hand went straight to groped Cheon Sejoo’s chest, which was right in front of him.

“Hey… haa… you’re… kinda small…”

“You son of a…”

“It’s okay… oppa ^[1]likes small things… too…”

The way he whispered into Cheon Sejoo’s ear while squeezing his chest muscles, his touch didn’t feel like it came from someone who was merely drunk. Suppressing a quiet string of curses, Cheon Sejoo resisted the urge to throw Han Jonghyun to the ground and barely managed to keep walking.

Soon, he shoved the half-conscious, grinning Han Jonghyun into the backseat of the taxi.

“Whoa, he’s really drunk. Where should I take him?”

The taxi driver asked, looking at Cheon Sejoo with an expression that seemed to question why such a young guy was in this state.

To calm his anger, Cheon Sejoo took a deep breath before giving the taxi driver the address of the club in Cheongdam-dong. As soon as the taxi pulled away, he headed straight for the parking lot.

Along the way, the sight of Han Jonghyun’s car tempted him to destroy it out of sheer frustration, but he managed to hold back. The valet attendants would take the blame if anything happened, and he didn’t want to involve them.

After leaving the parking lot, Cheon Sejoo parked his car in an alley near the restaurant. With his face scrunched up in frustration, he let out a deep sigh and pulled out his phone. Now that the drunkard had been dealt with, it was time to handle the next problem.

He sent a message to Sejin.

I have something to do, so I’ll be staying late at the office. When are you meeting your friend until?

17:29 

If there’s time, we can go home together.

Mutt

10 o’clock. You’re staying out late? 

17:43

The reply came more than 10 minutes later. Seeing that Sejin’s time of coming home was different from usual, it seemed like he had agreed to cover someone’s shift at the last minute. It looked like the restaurant closed at 10 PM. Despite his lie, it was clear he didn’t want to take the subway home alone.

Cheon Sejoo smirked as he typed his response.

Yeah. Send me the location at 10, and I’ll pick you up.

Mutt

Okay, see you later. 

17:47

17:47

It’s not ‘later’ (있다), but ‘later’ (이따).^[2]

Mutt

ㅡㅡ^[3]   

17:48

After finishing his conversation with Sejin, Cheon Sejoo reclined the driver’s seat and lay down.

Looking at the flickering streetlights in the dark alley which cast shadows across the car, all kinds of thoughts started bubbling up. His interrupted train of thought, which had been halted after meeting Han Jonghyun, began to resume.

A tangled mess of emotions swirled within him, feelings he hadn’t truly reflected on himself in so long that he wasn’t even sure what they were anymore. But the one emotion he could clearly identify, which wrapped around the surface of this tangled mess, was disappointment.

At that moment, Cheon Sejoo realized he felt hurt and disappointed by the fact that Sejin had been working part-time without saying anything to him.

What do I have to be upset about?

I told him not to work part-time, so of course, he might have hidden it from me.

Trying to dismiss his feelings, Cheon Sejoo reasoned with himself, the tangled feelings in his chest refused to loosen.

The reason was simple.

After dealing with Sejin’s assault case in December, Cheon Sejoo had thought he’d earned a place inside Sejin’s guarded inner boundary. But realizing that wasn’t the case, it made him wonder if his belief that they had grown closer was just a mistake.

It was clear Sejin had opened up to him more compared to when they first met. Though they both occasionally snapped at each other, that was a sign they were comfortable around one another, and Cheon Sejoo no longer felt uncomfortable around Sejin’s presence.

So, he assumed Kwon Sejin felt the same…

Was it just me?

Was I the only one who thought I had grown closer to Kwon Sejin?

The thought was childish, almost like something an elementary schooler would think. Cheon Sejoo found it ridiculous and let out a bitter laugh.

In any case, if such trivial matters were making him feel disappointed, this only meant one thing.

Cheon Sejoo cared about Sejin more than he had thought. Just like Shin Gyoyeon had said, Sejin hadn’t yet become his weakness, but there was a good chance he would in time.

What the hell am I supposed to do with this…

With these complicated emotions swirling inside him, Cheon Sejoo could only sigh.