TPG 3

With his hands clasped together, Lee Si-woo felt the sweat beading on his palms and tightly gripped his pants. His head grew hot, and he squeezed his eyes shut, bowing his head.

“You can do anything?”

Han Soo-hyeok looked at his hands, so Si-woo spread them out as if to show off.

“I’m more capable than I look. I’ve been praised a lot.”

He almost told him where, but he couldn’t. From the convenience store owner who gave him his first job, to the cafe, rice planting, driving service, moving company, and so on—many things came to mind, but he couldn’t say them. Because anything he claimed to have done could turn out to be a lie.

“Why do you want to work?”

At Han Soo-hyeok’s question, Si-woo raised his head and looked into his eyes.

He still couldn’t believe this situation. Rather, Soo-hyeok’s voice calling his name when he collapsed was more vivid.

There were many reasons why he wanted to work.

But there wasn’t much he could say to Han Soo-hyeok.

Not about his father, nor about the Alpha he was supposed to see on the next blind date.

But if he had to say one thing…

“Because I wanted to see you.”

He had had an accident on the way to meet Han Soo-hyeok. He didn’t resent him. Rather, he wanted to see Soo-hyeok, whom he had met again, for a longer time.

“A wider world…”

As he awkwardly smiled, adding words as if making an excuse, Soo-hyeok’s eyebrows rose.

But he didn’t delve any further.

“Let’s see where you can use those capable hands.”

A subtle smile flickered across Han Soo-hyeok’s eyes as he looked at Si-woo’s fingers. At that moment, Si-woo’s eyes widened without him realizing it. His face brightened, and he straightened up, placing his hands on the table.

“Thank you, hyung!”

Han Soo-hyeok seemed surprised but quickly regained his composure.

“Shall we start as brothers instead of blind date partners from now on?”

At his suggestion, spoken with a small smile, Si-woo was so surprised that a hollow laugh escaped him before he could even open his mouth.

“You can speak informally.”

“Okay.”

As soon as he said that, Soo-hyeok nodded as if he had been waiting for it.

“Then, is there anything you want to do?”

At his gentle question, Si-woo felt a sense of bewilderment pushing away the excitement.

“Ah, a department? Sales… team?”

He didn’t even know the difference between a team and a department, yet he blurted out words he had heard somewhere.

“Or the planning department…”

Han Soo-hyeok’s expression wasn’t good.

“Actually, I don’t really know.”

A heavy silence fell. Si-woo felt ashamed for saying, “Please give me a job,” when he didn’t know anything, and he lowered his head.

He wouldn’t have anything to say even if Soo-hyeok said no now. Just when he thought it was nothing short of a nuisance to cling to Han Soo-hyeok any longer, he heard his voice.

“I’ll find a suitable position for you.”

“Really? Seriously?”

He asked twice because he couldn’t believe it.

“I was in a difficult position to outright reject the blind date, but this worked out well.”

Han Soo-hyeok said with a light laugh. As it became clear that he had no intention of getting married, Si-woo’s heart sank without him realizing it.

“It’s not that I dislike you, it’s just that I have no intention of getting married.”

He added, noticing Si-woo’s expression darken.

You will get married. Someday you’ll meet someone you love and smile so beautifully.

Since that person wouldn’t be him, Si-woo swallowed the words and smiled.

Who cared about the future? Right now, he was just grateful that Soo-hyeok was giving him a job.

“In exchange for providing a job for a certain period, I won’t ask you to marry me. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

His voice rose along with it. Wasn’t this a good deal? Then a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he broached the subject.

“Can the deal we made change depending on the situation?”

Han Soo-hyeok narrowed his eyes and asked,

“How could it change?”

“I don’t know yet either. I’ll ask you again later. More than that, what… what kind of relationship will we have?”

When Soo-hyeok didn’t understand, Si-woo tightly gripped his tie.

“We’re not just people who went on a blind date—we’ll be something, right?”

Only then did Han Soo-hyeok seem to understand, and Si-woo was mesmerized as he watched him exhale in disbelief.

“This isn’t a dream, is it? This is reality, right?”

He kept asking because he couldn’t believe that he was existing in a new relationship with the person who had saved him, beyond being a blind date partner.

Han Soo-hyeok looked at him and answered calmly.

“Being close brothers would be good.”

***

Even after successfully concluding the deal, the day was still not over. Si-woo was about to go home when an unexpected obstacle awaited him.

As a black sedan glided toward him, he saw the headlight beams casting his shadow long, and his heart pounded. Instinctively, his breath froze, and his fingertips tingled.

Time had returned, but the impact of being hit by the car was clearly etched in his mind. Because of the pain at that time, even though the car had stopped, his hand couldn’t reach for the door handle.

“Young Master.”

He was startled by the voice of the man who got out of the car and raised his head. It was Kim In-soo who moved according to his father’s instructions.

The traffic accident wasn’t the only problem.

Lee Si-woo’s legs trembled as he faced the man who had directly bound his freedom. If he got in this car, he would be going to his father.

The traffic accident and his father—those two things were mixed together and began to strongly oppress his body. His mind was now so white that he couldn’t think of anything, and it was at that moment…

“Is it because you don’t want to go?”

The heavy air that had been constricting him disappeared like a lie at the voice filled with laughter.

He took a long breath and looked at Han Soo-hyeok’s face reflected in the window. He had been looking at him all along, but he felt his trembling body gradually calming down as Soo-hyeok approached him with a renewed sense of welcome. Si-woo swallowed the thought of wondering why he felt so relieved by this person’s voice and face, and said,

“I have something to say.”

He hesitated and continued,

“Our relationship… I mean, I have to tell my father. Is it okay to say that today’s meeting went well?”

It wasn’t just Han Soo-hyeok that he was meeting again after returning.

“Brag about it.”

No sooner had the words left Soo-hyeok’s mouth than he gently pushed Si-woo’s back and led him into the car. Through the closing door, Soo-hyeok’s face shining in the backlight was dazzling. Si-woo’s heart fluttered at the slightly raised corners of his lips.

Just as the car was about to depart, he hurriedly opened the window.

“Hyung!”

Han Soo-hyeok looked at him with a what-is-it expression.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

Those were the words he really wanted to say.

Han Soo-hyeok didn’t know, but Si-woo would never forget the hand of salvation he had extended to him.

“Okay, take care.”

Han Soo-hyeok lightly waved his hand in response. He didn’t know why Si-woo was thanking him, but the smile he showed was so wonderful.

Si-woo didn’t know what happened after that. He had no time to pay attention to the inside of the car or Kim In-soo’s gaze. He only focused on the scenery where the streetlights and the dim outlines of high-rise buildings passed by outside the window, and the headlights of passing cars left blurry trails.

Using the rapidly flowing scenes as an excuse, he kept replaying the moments with Han Soo-hyeok.

He really had met Han Soo-hyeok.

And with him…

***

The house Si-woo returned to after several years boasted its grandeur like a giant gray fortress. The darkly painted iron gate was firmly closed next to the towering stone wall, and the front yard was too desolate to be called a garden. The narrow windows on the walls were all made of translucent glass, creating a sense of pressure—as if someone were watching.

It was a place he never wanted to return to…

Kim In-soo, who was standing blankly toward him, seemed to have something to say. The way he had his hand in his pocket clearly meant he was about to take out his cell phone, so Si-woo reluctantly moved his feet.

It’s impossible alone.

Even before, he had only been able to escape after receiving Han Soo-hyeok’s help. That was only possible because of the special situation of the wedding and what happened suddenly in the hotel bathroom. It was impossible to get rid of all the people attached to him.

For now, let’s just live like before.

That was the only way to get another chance.

He entered the house. He squinted at the artificial light from the high, magnificent ceiling and the long, ornate chandelier—but only for a moment, as the back of a man came into view.

In the heavy atmosphere, the middle-aged man’s delicate touch and quiet movements as he caressed the orchid were strangely oppressive. He carefully wiped the leaves of the orchid with a thin towel wrapped around his finger, and somehow, it made Si-woo hold his breath.

It had been just as long since he had seen him as it had been since he saw Han Soo-hyeok, but he wasn’t someone he missed. Rather, his body was already stiff, as if he had become a mouse in front of a snake.

“What happened?”

The calm yet overbearing voice echoed through the space. There was only one person who seemed to be the owner of this house—his father, Lee Jeong-gyun.

“We’re scheduled to see each other tomorrow as well.”

Lee Jeong-gyun’s hand paused for a moment, then moved again.

“That’s good.”

Was it really good?

Si-woo tried to read his father’s expression, but he couldn’t read his inner thoughts at all in those cold eyes. He couldn’t tell if he was sincerely happy or calculating how to trap him. At the same time, a desire to escape this suffocating space welled up in one corner of his heart.

“Yes. Then I’ll go up.”

He accepted the silence as permission and went up the stairs. His footsteps were muffled by the soft carpet, and he naturally held his breath.

As he walked along the hallway and looked around the second floor, he opened a door that felt familiar. Seeing the space organized without an inch of error, he was once again aware of the reality that had befallen him.

He approached the window and looked at the iron bars, spaced a hand’s breadth apart, that had turned his room into a cage.

“I’m back again.”

He sighed and approached the most familiar space in the room.

He sat on the low sofa and leaned against the wall. As he closed his eyes for a moment and caught his breath, Han Soo-hyeok came to mind.

His straight eyes beneath thick eyebrows, the lips with composure etched below the high bridge of his nose that reflected the light—they were vividly drawn. Was that all? Not only that, but everything that made up Han Soo-hyeok, from his long, delicate fingers that tapped the table as he pondered, to the woody pheromones, felt new to Si-woo.

He had come to be by that person’s side.

Joy rushed in, pushing away the stifling emotions.