PIA 55

The people urging him and Secretary Yoon were going back and forth, while Ji-an was lost in complicated thoughts amidst it all. Secretary Yoon, who had been looking towards the open lounge door, suddenly stood up and gestured here and there, instantly making the atmosphere chaotic.

When Ji-an turned his gaze to follow the people moving around in a hurry, he saw Jeong Hee-seo behind them. He just walked into his office without saying a word, and the team members sat in their seats neatly, like disciplined soldiers.

Transfixed by the trailing hem of his dark gray suit jacket and his long legs, Ji-an stood there blankly until he felt nudges in his side.

“Yes?”

When he turned around, Secretary Yoon silently mouthed words while waving his hand, though not in sign language. It was clear what he meant.

‘What are you doing? Go in quickly.’

Ji-an gathered his open laptop and carefully held it against his chest as he approached Jeong Hee-seo’s office. The closed door, which had opened easily before, made him strangely tense when he reached for it. After knocking lightly a couple times, a voice called out from inside, “Come in.”

Jeong Hee-seo was standing in front of the coffee machine. Because of the sound of coffee beans being ground, Ji-an’s gaze naturally turned towards him. As he walked to the desk prepared for him, Jeong Hee-seo called out to Ji-an.

“Ji-an-ah, want some hot chocolate?”

“Yes?”

It was such a sudden question that Ji-an was startled without realizing it. Only then did Jeong Hee-seo raise his eyes and make eye contact.

“Chocolate.”

“Uh… you can make it yourself?”

“Don’t you like sweet things?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Alright.”

Silence fell as Ji-an averted his eyes and sat down awkwardly. Only the humming of the coffee machine filled the space.

Instead of going further inside, Jeong Hee-seo gathered something and placed it on Ji-an’s desk. It was a generously stuffed sandwich. Freshly made hot chocolate came with it too.

“…Thank you.”

Just the sight of the plump sandwich made Ji-an’s mouth water instantly. Until 3 minutes ago, he had been regretting why he had come here, but he immediately changed his mind. Ji-an’s stomach, which had been growling desperately last weekend due to the absence of Jeong Hee-seo’s pheromones,cheered as he drank the hot chocolate right away.

Jeong Hee-seo took his finished coffee and sat down without a word.  Eating the sandwich with his pheromones as a side dish in the same space, Ji-an’s gaze kept wandering over to him. He glanced at the straight ends of the jacket sleeves, the slightly protruding white shirt cuffs, the large hands, the white steam rising from the black mug, and the lips touching the edge.

‘He looks handsome again.’

Perhaps due to the pheromones, the sandwich tasted incredibly delicious. As his reawakened hunger was sated, his heart pounded rapidly. He couldn’t tell if the inexplicably pleasant feeling was from being full, the pheromones, or Jeong Hee-seo himself.

After furtively watching him for a while and finishing three sandwiches, Ji-an wiped his hands and opened his laptop, attempting to log into the messenger as Secretary Yoon had instructed. But then Jeong Hee-seo suddenly chuckled, a soft, gentle sound that Ji-an clearly heard.

Ji-an jerked his head up. The gaze he had been avoiding the whole time was met with a sharp look that made all his attempts to be cautious seem pointless.

“…”

“…”

The awkwardness made Ji-an curl the corners of his mouth into an awkward smile. Only then did Jeong Hee-seo let out a small cough and stiffen his expression.

“It’s nothing.”

As if making an excuse for something he wasn’t even asked about, he muttered like talking to himself.

“Seeing you sitting there like that made me feel like such a foolish person.”

“…”

“I am indeed. I wonder what I am doing.”

Ji-an’s eyes widened and habitually fiddled with his wrist. He had been touching it so much all weekend that his delicate skin was getting chafed and it was getting even redder. As he kept his gaze lowered, Jeong Hee-seo asked again.

“Did you eat well over the weekend?”

“No.”

The original plan was to lie in moderation, but his mouth freely told the truth. When I raised my head, I saw Jeong Hee-seo frowning until the bridge of her nose was wrinkled.

“On Saturday, I could still eat white rice and seaweed. On Sunday, I couldn’t even drink water, so I only ate candy. My mom bought me lemon drops, and the really sour ones were somewhat edible.”

Though it was a funny contract, a contract is still a contract. Yet Ji-an couldn’t stop rambling about proudly disappearing for two whole days without a word, not knowing what he was bragging about.

He spoke at greater length, it seemed, in an attempt to lighten the mood at least a bit, thinking it was better than saying nothing at all. However, Jeong Hee-seo’s expression became increasingly strange.

“…You broke the contract quite a lot.”

Jeong Hee-seo suddenly stood up and approached Ji-an. Despite the office being quite spacious, it only took a moment for him to cross the small desk and stand right in front of him, casting a dark shadow over him. It reminded Ji-an of the first day he stumbled awkwardly in front of him in this world.

Jeong Hee-seo’s head also moved along with the direction in which Ji-an’s eyes moved.

“Oh, right, I remember. You bumped into the corner of that table.”

Here? Jeong Hee-seo bent down and placed his hand on Ji-an’s thigh.

Startled by the touch, Ji-an pulled his foot back, pushing his chair back a little. However, the wheels on the chair were so smooth that it rolled away easily, causing a comedic scene as it hit the wall with a soft thud.

“Weren’t you bruised then?”

Jeong Hee-seo asked again with a smile on his face. Ji-an held onto the handle of the chair as if it were a lifeboat and looked up at Jeong Hee-seo.

“Well… it did hurt quite a bit.”

“Hmm.”

Jeong Hee-seo stood at an angle with his buttocks on Ji-an’s small desk. He crossed his arms and scanned Ji-an with inexplicable eyes, then asked another question as if something suddenly occurred to him.

“Are you going?”

Where? Before Ji-an could ask, another sentence followed.

“To the company dinner.”

It seemed Jeong Hee-seo had overheard their earlier conversation. Ji-an reflexively glanced at the closed door and then made an embarrassed expression.

“I don’t have a reason to refuse, so I said I have time.”

“…”

“But if you tell me not to attend, I won’t go. It might put Hyung-nim in a difficult position. I don’t really mind either way.”

“Go… I’ll go with you.”

Um, that doesn’t seem right. Ji-an had never experienced office life, but even he knew that much. As he pondered how to phrase his response, there was a knock on the door, and Secretary Yoon opened the door and came in.

Secretary Yoon, who was met by Jeong Hee-seo standing there as soon as he entered, hesitated because he thought he might have come in at bad timing, but soon adjusted his clothes and approached the desk.

“Chairman Kim of Hansung Holdings arrived ahead of schedule and is in the reception room. I received a call from the Chairman’s office asking the General Manager to handle him first.”

“…”

Secretary Yoon, who had been quietly waiting for an answer, asked again.

“General Manager?”

Jeong Hee-seo, who had been looking at Ji-an, spoke in a low voice.

“Yes. Tell him I’ll be there now.”

Jeong Hee-seo uncrossed his arms and stood up. He stared at Ji-an with eyes as if he had something to say and walked away.

Ji-an became a little dazed. Jeong Hee-seo gave minor instructions to Secretary Yoon and left the office like the wind. His strides were so wide that he disappeared in just three or four steps.

Secretary Yoon called out to Ji-an, who was standing up and bowing his head at Jeong Hee-seo’s retreating back.

“Mr. Ji-an, come with me. What are you going to do sitting alone in an empty office? Help me with some simple tasks.”

The brightly smiling face relieved Ji-an’s tension. Jeong Hee-seo may not have intended to do that at all, but Ji-an felt like he was being watched, and his nerves were on edge until the very end. Now, his stiff body finally relaxed.

As they walked side by side in the hallway, Secretary Yoon handed Ji-an several pieces of paper.

“This is today’s internal test schedule, this is the list of examinees, and this is the classification of examination programs by type.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Come with me to check the list.”

Ji-an nodded as he read the paper handed to him by Secretary Yoon. It was a list with the names and job numbers of about 40 people.

“Just come with me and check the list. It’s simple, all you have to do is match the numbers. Then we can go back. I’ll show you the cafeteria that you can use with your employee ID on the way back.”

Ji-an’s eyes widened as they stepped out the elevator on their destination floor. A bright and pleasant atmosphere that was so different from the General Manager’s office.

“Hello. Secretary Yoon.”

“Hello.”

People who recognized Secretary Yoon greeted them as they passed by. Ji-an smiled awkwardly and followed closely behind Secretary Yoon.

At that moment, Ji-an was finally able to vaguely understand the strange emotions he had been feeling. 

It’s been a month since Ji-an saw the other side of Jeong Hee-seo that wasn’t seen in the drama, but it was still unfamiliar to him.

Aside from the superficial appearance of the script written by his older brother, his eating habits and preference, the way he moved his eyebrows when he was displeased, or the way he smiled and curled up the corners of his mouth was always new and shocking.

However, when he encountered the subtle details that had never been shown in the drama, that was, the dense underpainting that confirmed that this was a ‘real world,’ made him feel suffocatingly overwhelmed.

Maybe it was because he got a glimpse of the grand whole that made even the main characters feel like they were just a small part of the world.

Ji-an thought that this might be because this place where he was now felt like his own world, and he was beginning to lose track of how much of his original life’s memories he had and how much of this world’s.