TPG 2
by Cherry‘I have returned to the past.’
It wasn’t a dream. It was a second chance.
Lee Si-woo looked down at his pale, slender fingers. They weren’t the hands that had become rough from hardship. They were proof of the time before he left the house where he couldn’t even breathe properly.
His life had been one where his choices were excluded. His father decided everything according to his will, and Si-woo had no choice but to follow, but he had always wanted to escape. He was so desperate that he was willing to marry anyone—not knowing that it might push his life into the mud again. If he hadn’t met Han Soo-hyeok, he would have regretted his foolish choice for the rest of his life.
He had escaped from endless confinement under layers of watchful eyes, but to think he had returned…
‘I’ll probably marry him again.’
The thought of going through the process of escaping his father’s iron-clad authority only to enter a cage that had merely changed its form brought a sense of overwhelming despair.
Perhaps it might be an even more terrible situation.
Now he knew what Han Soo-hyeok was hiding inside. Could he pretend to know nothing in front of him and run away from the wedding?
‘I didn’t want to meet him.’
Just thinking of him made his whole body stiffen and gave him goosebumps.
‘If not now, there won’t be another chance.’
Next, he’d have a blind date with that Alpha.
Just as he was absorbed in thinking about what to do, Han Soo-hyeok’s voice was heard.
“Let’s get up now.”
He was flustered by those words as Han Soo-hyeok looked at his wristwatch, and his heart sank.
“J-just a moment.”
He had been lost in thought and had forgotten about Han Soo-hyeok.
“Is there anything else you want to say? I apologize for coming to this meeting and saying I have no intention of marrying, but I will not change my mind.”
“I have something to say.”
Why had he gone to see Han Soo-hyeok before?
He wanted to say thank you. He wanted to add that if it weren’t for him, he wouldn’t have had the chance to live as himself.
But could he say that now?
‘I have returned to the past, so Han Soo-hyeok didn’t know anything.’
Han Soo-hyeok hadn’t even helped him yet.
Even if he said thank you, he wouldn’t know why.
But he didn’t want to part ways with Han Soo-hyeok like this.
‘Let’s think of something else.’
He mustn’t just be flustered. Lee Si-woo bit his lip tightly and tried to pull himself together.
“Mr. Soo-hyeok, what are your hobbies?”
Han Soo-hyeok’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the sudden question.
“Hobbies?”
“I have many hobbies. Can I tell you about them one by one?”
Lee Si-woo didn’t know what he was babbling about, but he just blurted it out.
“You don’t have to.”
“You don’t want to hear them? Ah… but your suit looks great. Office workers are so cool.”
Han Soo-hyeok looked down at him silently, so Si-woo raised his trembling hand and pointed to his tie.
That was it.
“I’ve never worked in a company, so I’ve always envied office workers. So, um… can I try tying your tie?”
Why he would want to tie his tie—even he was dumbfounded, so how would Han Soo-hyeok feel?
In his imagination, he gestured here and there in the air as if tying a tie, then stroked his bare collar.
His neck was cold. His heart pounded, and his fingertips trembled, fearing that Han Soo-hyeok would leave just like that. He fidgeted, pressing the innocent floor with his toes.
‘If only I had a little more time.’
Then he would have had a chance to think of something else.
As he looked at Han Soo-hyeok with regret, Soo-hyeok raised his hand. He hooked his index finger on his tie and pulled it down.
It was nothing special, but Lee Si-woo couldn’t take his eyes off the smoothly flowing tie. When Han Soo-hyeok held out his tie, he took it with both hands.
“Thank you.”
He hadn’t expected him to grant the request so easily, so he put the tie around his neck with a dazed look. He was wearing a shirt, so it looked somewhat presentable, but the shirt was too big, so it didn’t look that good.
‘What good is any of that now?’
Anyway, the tie was just an excuse to buy time.
“In dramas, there are scenes where people tie ties. It looked kind of cool, and I wanted to try it, but I never had the chance.”
Lee Si-woo said as he tried to tie the tie this way and that, but it wasn’t just talk—it was really difficult.
He should have tried it before.
Actually, he hadn’t watched dramas much. At home, even using a cell phone was restricted, let alone watching TV. He had never been to school, so he recalled his experiences from when he lived alone.
‘So, the time really had returned.’
He vaguely recalled the memory, wrapped it around once, and tried to push it through the gap, but it only got tangled. If he had known this would happen, he should have practiced tying a tie knot instead of ribbons with shoelaces.
He was struggling with the tie, not even paying attention to Han Soo-hyeok, when a hand suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed the tie around his neck. Was Han Soo-hyeok going to take it back because it was frustrating?
But his fingertips weren’t harsh. Rather, with a gentle touch, he took the tie from Lee Si-woo’s hand and skillfully wrapped the fabric around.
Han Soo-hyeok tightened the knot in one go with a calm and powerful touch. As Si-woo watched his hand moving over the shirt, he felt a whiff of woody pheromones. It was as warm, intense, and sensual as sunlight seeping through the trees, and his heart pounded as if it would burst.
Even after finishing the knot, Han Soo-hyeok’s fingers lingered on the tie, slowly stroking it.
“Is it okay now?”
At the low, soft voice, Lee Si-woo’s lips trembled unconsciously. The tie resembled Han Soo-hyeok’s touch—neat and tidy, and conveyed comfort and affection more clearly than anything else.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
Han Soo-hyeok had said he had no intention of marrying. He hadn’t said why.
‘Could he already be in love with someone?’
Beyond his focus on work, Lee Si-woo imagined the moments when his heart fluttered for someone. Perhaps he couldn’t mention that he had someone to marry. The bitterness that it wasn’t him was fleeting, and another thought came to mind.
‘It doesn’t have to be marriage.’
He thought of a way to avoid the Alpha he would meet after Han Soo-hyeok and become independent on his own.
“Mr. Han Soo-hyeok.”
Han Soo-hyeok looked at him intently.
Looking into his deep gray eyes, Lee Si-woo spoke,
“I don’t want to let go of you, Mr. Soo-hyeok.”
The gray eyes, which only Alphas had, narrowed sharply. It was evidence that his senses were so sensitive he could capture even the slightest changes in someone’s mood.
So, Lee Si-woo had to act very naturally now so as not to be caught by Han Soo-hyeok’s senses.
“I felt it from the first time I saw you.”
He hid his nervousness with a light smile.
“That this meeting is an opportunity to change my destiny.”
Was that too much? Even he felt embarrassed, and his face flushed. Han Soo-hyeok raised his eyebrows slightly.
“So, please accept me.”
Lee Si-woo lightly gripped Han Soo-hyeok’s tie around his neck. He couldn’t let go of this.
“Are you proposing?”
“Ah, no.”
He quickly waved his hands and raised his voice.
“Not marriage, employment.”
Even after seeing Han Soo-hyeok’s expression subtly harden, Lee Si-woo spoke in a desperate voice, not paying attention.
“Could you please give me a job?”
Turning the blind date into a job interview, Han Soo-hyeok’s gray eyes were filled with disbelief. It was a look that said, ‘How can you say that?’ but this was the best he could do.
“I know I’m not reliable, but I will learn hard and become a necessary person for the company. I can confidently say that my passion is the best. You won’t regret choosing me.”
He put all his earnestness into it. In his current state of mind, this was no different from a job interview—and in a way, it was.
“So please accept me.”
Did his earnestness get through to him?
Han Soo-hyeok, who had been quietly looking down at him, sat back down.
Lost in thought, he rested his chin on his hand, tapped the table, and stared at Lee Si-woo straight on.
As his sharp gaze pressed down on his whole body, Lee Si-woo unconsciously straightened his shoulders and back. He tried not to avoid the gaze, pulled his chin in, and opened his eyes wide. It wasn’t a company, but he had a lot of experience with interviews, so it was a posture created by recalling those memories.
“Even if it’s an entry-level position, it’s fine. I can work hard at anything. Please just help me become self-reliant.”
He blurted out the thought that suddenly came to mind, but in the end, it was just blatantly asking for a job. Moreover, Han Soo-hyeok’s company was always the object of envy in the industry due to its high salary and lavish benefits, so the request felt even more embarrassing. He felt sorry for the job seekers, but what could he do?
‘I’m desperate for this opportunity too.’
It was an opportunity he got through death.
“Please help me.”
He hoped his earnestness would reach Han Soo-hyeok, but Soo-hyeok showed almost no change in expression.
Was it a failure?
A long silence flowed.
When Han Soo-hyeok stopped the fingers that had been tapping the table, the tension of that frozen moment was conveyed as it was.
“Do you know where I work?”
“Yes.”
He knew very well that Han Soo-hyeok was the CEO of a department store that was a subsidiary of SH Group and a leader in the industry.
“We are always hiring, so how about submitting your resume accordingly?”
“If it’s not now, I won’t have another chance.”
Han Soo-hyeok had told him about a good means of open recruitment, but it was actually meaningless to Lee Si-woo, who lacked basic qualifications such as education and experience. Moreover, his father would never provide support for his employment.
“If you help me get a job, I will definitely repay the favor.”
Even after that, Han Soo-hyeok didn’t say anything easily, and a heavy silence pressed down on the air.