TSG 118

“Isn’t it disadvantageous for just the two of us to be a team?”

Se-hyun fiddled with the wristband around his wrist as he watched the other teams. They leisurely strolled from one game to the next, letting whoever felt confident take the lead in each challenge.

It was the same for activities requiring two or more participants. But Se-hyun had to do everything with just Shin Tae-oh, narrowing their choices. He felt it might be good to bring one more person from the secretarial office to form a team, even now.

Maybe someone like Lee Jin-ho, or Chief Secretary Lee Jin-ho himself.

“I’m confident in everything.”

Shin Tae-oh absolutely refused to consider recruiting additional members. His confidence was so overwhelming that Se-hyun couldn’t even voice his longing for Lee Jin-ho’s assistance.

“Alright, then. Let’s give it our best.”

To obtain the company benefits offered as prizes.

“Good. Then shall we start there?”

Shin Tae-oh pointed to a game board he had been eyeing.

The Planning Team 2 members who were there first bowed slightly in greeting as Shin Tae-oh and Se-hyun approached. They weren’t surprised to see the two together as they’d seen it often, but they did look around to see if there were any other secretarial staff.

“Are you going to play basketball?”

“Yes. It’s the most basic for warming up.”

Shin Tae-oh stretched his muscles, rotating his head while holding his shoulders. He also rotated his arms forward and backward, getting into a proper gaming stance. Though unsure how good he was at basketball, Se-hyun had faith in him given his physical condition that was no less than a basketball player’s.

‘Besides, Tae-oh is good at everything.’

He’s a human made that way from head to toe. Born with all talents concentrated in him, basketball should be a piece of cake.

“Fighting!”

After confirming the simple rule of scoring a certain number of points within the time limit—Shin Tae-oh turned to the event staff and shouted confidently, as if in response to Se-hyun’s encouragement.

“Ahn Se-hyun will take the challenge!”

“…”

Se-hyun, who had been clenching his fists in silent determination, suddenly found a basketball shoved into his hands. He could only stare blankly, unable to react.

What? Why am I doing this?

“What about you sir? You had warmed up so much?”

“It’s no fun if I show everything from the start.”

“And it’s fun when I do it?”

“Everything Se-hyun does is fun.”

The Planning Team 2 members who happened to be there ended up hearing their unyielding conversation. Se-hyun retorted with articulate words while Shin Tae-oh wore a sly smile. The dynamic between them was so natural that it seemed they’d been working together forever. And considering that Ahn Se-hyun had been with the company longer than almost anyone except Lee Jin-ho, the rapport made sense.

“I knew this would happen.”

He’d been played by Shin Tae-oh. Se-hyun shook his head and stood in front of the basket as if he had no choice.

“Start.”

As soon as the staff member pressed the button at Se-hyun’s signal, basketballs that had been singular came rolling down the slope. Despite the clattering sound, Se-hyun threw the basketball without much surprise.

The ball drew a gentle parabola and went straight into the basket.

“As expected!”

Shin Tae-oh clapped excitedly. Unlike him who seemed to have expected this, Se-hyun remained indifferent as if unimpressed. Instead, as if he had gotten the feel of it, he quickly grabbed another ball.

Adjusting his stance slightly, he sent the second shot flying. This one also sailed smoothly through the net.

Shin Tae-oh, now standing with his arms crossed, watched with delight as Se-hyun continued making shot after shot. Even Planning Team 2, who had already finished the game, stood there expressing admiration.

It was only now that people were beginning to see Se-hyun’s true skill—hidden beneath his usual quiet demeanor and subdued manner.

“Secretary Ahn is really good.”

“Did you play basketball before?”

“What can’t you do?”

“Secretary Ahn’s popularity will rise even more.”

Some were amazed at Se-hyun’s skills, while others seemed to have fallen for him again. As their comments continued, Shin Tae-oh’s expression worsened. He had felt proud when others praised his lover’s skills, but rising popularity was a different matter.

“Perfect score. Here’s your stamp.”
Meanwhile, Se-hyun, having finished the game, received a stamp from the staff and approached Shin Tae-oh.

“What’s wrong? If you want to play too, go ahead.”

“It’s fine. Let’s go do something else.”

As Shin Tae-oh expressed his desire to quickly leave this place, Se-hyun tilted his head but obediently followed.

Hmm… I could probably handle the next one like this too.

***

The next game was not difficult- just pressing buttons matching colors. The only trick was that inside each color was written a word indicating a different color, so you just had to avoid that trap.

As Se-hyun approached with interest, he found the secretarial team already there. Lee Jin-ho was taking on the mission, staring intently at the screen and pressing buttons as if possessed.

“Chief, you stepped up confidently but you’re not doing well at all.”

The secretarial staff were filming, amused by Lee Jin-ho’s intense effort not matching his results. Se-hyun was also intrigued by their gathering material to tease him later.

There’s no rule saying he can’t collect stamps and some entertainment, right?

Se-hyun turned to Shin Tae-oh.

“Will you do this one, sir?”

“Hmm…”

While Tae-oh was pondering, stroking his chin, the mission ended and Jin-ho’s score came out.

“Failed.”

At the staff’s crisp response, Lee Jin-ho smoothly brushed off his team’s jeers and said to Shin Tae-oh:

“Think you can do better than me?”

It was a provocation.

“This looks easy but it’s surprisingly hard. When you’re so smart, you end up reading everything whether it’s Korean or English. It’s quite a tiring game.”

Despite doing poorly, Lee Jin-ho’s overconfidence reached the skies. Clearly, this was all a ploy to rope Shin Tae-oh in. However, someone else took the bait.

“I’ll do it.”

“Huh? You, Se-hyun?”

“Yes. I’m going to try to do better than Chief Secretary Lee.”

Lee Jin-ho didn’t understand right away. Why was he trying to do better instead of Tae-oh?

“Because a provocation aimed at the CEO is no different from one aimed at me.”

Lee Jin-ho was left speechless by Se-hyun’s weighty statement as if hit on the back of the head, while cheers erupted from teams other than the secretarial office.

“Now that’s office politics.”

“Wow, looking at it now, Secretary Ahn is not only skilled but sharp-tongued too!”

They found it intriguing, taking Se-hyun’s words as flattery to look good to the CEO. Regardless of what everyone was thinking, Se-hyun started the mission.

The word “Yellow” in English appeared in a red circle. Seeing this, Se-hyun pressed the red button without hesitation. His reaction speed was so sharp it seemed impossible he had read, processed, and acted in that short span.

“Wow…”

Lee Jin-ho’s mouth fell open as Se-hyun started flying from the beginning, not making a single mistake. What is this?

“Secretary Ahn is killing it here too?”

A Planning Team 2 member who had wandered over after finishing their basketball round commented, watching as Se-hyun effortlessly nailed every prompt.

“Pass.”

Shin Tae-oh, receiving the stamp on Se-hyun’s behalf, twitched his lips at the added comment that this was the highest score among all challengers so far.

“What’s your secret?”

Shin Tae-oh was clearly impressed, though he had expected Se-hyun to perform well. His question piqued the curiosity of others waiting to try, who leaned in to listen.

“Sometimes there are cases where you have to pretend not to see even if you do see, right? In those times, I blur my focus so I don’t see.”

“Ah…”

It made sense. By blurring his focus, Se-hyun avoided reading the words and identified the colors instead. People nodded in agreement, considering it a solid strategy—everyone except Lee Jin-ho, who asked a different question.

“Pretend you didn’t see… why does that sound so familiar?”

Lee Jin-ho’s gaze turned to Shin Tae-oh. Shin Tae-oh neatly ignored it.

“Let’s go to the next one.”

Before they knew it, Se-hyun was looking around like a hyena for where to get the next stamp. He didn’t want Shin Tae-oh to participate. So while he was looking for something he could do well, Shin Tae-oh put his arm around Se-hyun’s shoulder and leaned on him.

“How about darts?”

“Sounds good.”

Se-hyun confidently walked in that direction. He had to bring Shin Tae-oh along too, but he didn’t shake off the large frame clinging to him like a feather.

Facing a fairly difficult mission where he had to calculate short equations appearing on the screen and throw darts at that number, Shin Tae-oh extended his arm to block Se-hyun who was about to step forward again.

“I’ll do this one.”

After just watching Se-hyun do everything, it seemed he wanted to do this himself. Shin Tae-oh’s confident look also played a part.

Se-hyun stepped back, letting him.

Shin Tae-oh stood at the line holding a small dart.

“It’s been a really long time since I’ve done this.”

Shin Tae-oh’s voice was slightly elevated with excitement.

Looks like he’s finally going to show off his skills.

“Starting now.”

Se-hyun pressed the start button.