TSG 14

After the meeting, Shin Tae-oh walked away with a serious expression, as if deeply engrossed in thought. He had been reflecting on his deeply shaken heart these days.

Starting from the time he first met Ahn Se-hyun.

‘Hello. I’m the new member of the secretary team, Ahn Se-hyun.’

Shin Tae-oh turned his head as if fascinated by the sweet voice that caught his ears. There was a man in front of him wearing a suit that was obviously bought for his new job. Whether it was due to his fair skin, as white as his shirt, or his calm expression crafted by his youthful face, Shin Tae-oh couldn’t look away for a moment.

They said they were hiring a new secretary this time, but did I look at the resume? Could it be that the Chief of Staff selected them? Otherwise, there was no way I could forget that face.

‘I’m Shin Tae-oh.’

He spoke while looking into Ahn Se-hyun’s dark eyes. His pupils were so dark that his irises were barely visible. It felt as if his entire body was bound tightly by the invisible threads of that gaze. Where did such a creature suddenly come from? Shin Tae-oh couldn’t regain his composure as he watched An Se-hyun’s sudden presence, which caused a big rift in his world.

Forcing himself to turn away from Ahn Se-hyun, Shin Tae-oh tried to regain his composure as if nothing unusual had happened. Just a new secretary coming in, what’s the big deal?

What was I doing just now? Ah, shopping. I was shopping. Shin Tae-oh reached out and grabbed something at random.

When he realized that what he had grabbed was a padded jacket that was far from his taste, he was about to put it down when Ahn Se-hyun spoke up.

‘This…’

He thought of Ahn Se-hyun wearing this white padding. It was the first time he had seen this person, but why on earth did he have such an absurd thought?

‘Would you like to give this as a gift?’

It seemed that Ahn Se-hyun had noticed that the padded jacket didn’t match his preferences. He didn’t keep it for long, but Ahn Se-hyun looked to have good insight.

‘If you let me know the recipient, I will purchase the appropriate size according to their body shape.’

You.

‘… Jin-ha.’

‘I understand.’

Se-hyun continued to discuss the purchase of the padded jacket directly with the employee. He didn’t notice it because his face was small, but when he looked at his back, he was quite tall.

Shin Tae-oh glanced disapprovingly at the secretary department chief as he remembered the first time he saw Se-hyun.

“Why do you look at me like that? Are you still not happy that I’m the fourth?”

As if there were eyes on the back of his head, the chief of the secretary department asked why he was still bothered by it.

“Why on earth are you in fourth place?”

“I don’t know either. So stop talking about it.”

The chief secretary got annoyed, saying, “How much do I have to tolerate? It feels like I’m raising a jealous child rather than serving the boss.”

“I’m the boss, how can you speak informally like that?”

When Shin Tae-oh pointed at himself, the chief secretary responded.

“You know I’m your senior, right?”

“You know I’m taller and bigger, right?”

“If you’re going to say such bullshit, why did you scout me?”

“Because I like my senior.”

“Then do well, junior.”

Lee Jin-ho sighed at Shin Tae-oh’s revealing actions that even made him mention his seniority.

“I didn’t notice him for no reason…”

Lee Jin-ho, who had been murmuring as if being entangled with Shin Tae-oh as a senior/junior was the worst stain on his life, suddenly lost his temper. It was because Shin Tae-oh’s eyes were still half-closed.

“Open your eyes properly. Why on earth are you doing that?”

“Ahn Se-hyun.”

“What’s wrong with Secretary Ahn?”

“You shouldn’t have chosen him without telling me.”

“What bullshit. What do you mean I didn’t tell you? I even pushed the resume in front of you. Do I have to shove it in your face?”

Lee Jin-ho grumbled as if he had heard all sorts of nonsense, and Shin Tae-oh tilted his head.

“I don’t remember seeing the resume. But there’s no way I could forget a picture of Secretary Ahn’s face.”

“Ah.”

It was only then that Lee Jin-ho realized why Shin Tae-oh had said such things. He entered the employee’s personnel information page and held it out to Shin Tae-oh.

“Look. This is the first ID photo. It came out so bad that I told him to take another photo after he joined the company.”

Shin Tae-oh took the tablet and looked at the photo at the top of the resume.

“Ah…”

He remembered this. The bangs covering most of the face, and the distorted nose from the retouching.

“I remember being so surprised when I saw the real him that I asked him to change the photo.”

Lee Jin-ho turned off Se-hyun’s personal information and pressed the elevator button.

“Make sure Secretary Ahn doesn’t run away. There’s no one else who knows and matches you so well.”

Shin Tae-oh said nothing in response to the nagging. Lee Jin-ho’s eyebrows furrowed at Shin Tae-oh’s serious face reflected in the elevator. Why is he like that?

“What’s wrong? Why no response?”

“He knew me so well. That’s right. Why didn’t I think of this?”

Shin Tae-oh had mentioned Jin-ha as someone he wanted to give padding to when they first met, and while he’d only blurted out what came to mind when he tried to suggest someone other than Ahn Se-hyun, the unexpected reaction came from that.

Ahn Se-hyun didn’t ask who Jin-ha was. He even bought a padded jacket in the right size for his body.

“What are you talking about?”

“Secretary Ahn knew Jin-ha from the beginning.”

It was as if he had known me since before… Did he know me and volunteer for the secretary position? Then since when did he know about me?

It had been over three years, and he was appalled at his own foolishness for only asking this question now. Perhaps this could be a clue to getting closer to Ahn Se-hyun?

“And what did I say? I taught him.”

“Oh, really?”

Shin Tae-oh’s face looked like an idiot as the question was solved faster than expected, and Lee Jin-ho clicked his tongue.

“I told him because you said you should marry Jin-ha.”

“Did I say that?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why you’re choosing a marriage partner like picking out clothes. Anyway, you suddenly began showering him with gifts, all of which were sent through Secretary Ahn. He handled it well, considering he was just hired at the time…”

Lee Jin-ho muttered a lot of dissatisfaction.

Shin Tae-oh thought seriously about why he was like that in the past.

“I had clear intentions of marrying Jin-ha. But it’s strange.”

He had considered Yoo Jin-ha as his destined partner. It felt like someone had built a dam on his affection for Jin-ha that was flowing naturally like water.

There was only one way to handle this.

“I have to confront it myself.”

⍣⍣⍣

Se-hyun wondered why he was standing here in front of Yoo Jin-ha’s house, where he came again from yesterday.

‘Jin-ha suddenly called me and said he wanted to meet me, and I said I’d come.’

He couldn’t ask what the reason was. Jin-ha suddenly stopped speaking and muttered in a weak voice, so Se-hyun offered to come and listen.

“What is this?”

Se-hyun tilted his head nervously as he looked at the bag he had brought, thinking that it might be too much to come forward like this just after seeing him yesterday. He had thought he could just handle his business and leave, but this was really… He got caught by none other than Yoo Jin-ha.

“Maybe it’s a heat cycle or stress.”

He was usually healthy, but he was getting sick when it came to Ha Min-hyuk. Se-hyun was at the point where he wanted to just tell him not to meet Ha Min-hyuk.

Anyway, recalling that memory, he had prepared the medicine. He brought a specific cycle suppressant that suited his body well, a medicine to reduce fever, and just in case he hadn’t eaten, he brought porridge and an ion drink to relieve thirst.

“Whatever.”

He had already bought everything and now the only thing left to do was to give it away. Se-hyun pushed his doubts about his actions aside and rang the bell. Se-hyun made eye contact with Yoo Jin-ha, who came out shortly after and forced himself to swallow a sigh that was about to come out involuntarily.

“Are you still sick?”

He was sick yesterday and he was sick again today. How many days have he been sick?

“Ah… I’m okay. Please come in.”

When Yoo Jin-ha shook his head and went inside first, Se-hyun watched his back for a moment before following him inside. Se-hyun sat on the sofa in the living room, staring at a familiar box, while Yoo Jin-ha went into the kitchen.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“It’s okay. I’d like to hear what you have to say.”

“Yes…”

Yoo Jin-ha sat across from him with an embarrassed look and looked at Se-hyun.

“I apologize for calling you when I should be the one coming to you.”

“I said I would come, so you don’t have to worry about it. Instead, take this.”

“What is this?”

Yoo Jin-ha’s gaze wandered between the plastic bag and the paper bag.

“I bought medicine because it seems like you have a fever. And this is porridge and an ion drink.”

“Why did you…”

“Well, why hasn’t Mr. Yoo Jin-ha’s condition improved?”

Se-hyun was hoping that everything he bought was useless.

“Did Tae-oh hyung send these?”

“Ah…”

Since he always came to Yoo Jin-ha with gifts from Shin Tae-oh, it could be seen that way.

‘Should I say so?’

Shin Tae-oh would get points for taking care of a sick person.

“… No.”

Although he had thought so in his head, the spoken answer was the opposite.

The reason was simple.

‘If I shake Yoo Jin-ha, it will be my loss.’

It was natural for Shin Tae-oh to show his feelings towards Yoo Jin-ha, but Yoo Jin-ha should not be swayed by Shin Tae-oh.

It was a bit frustrating that Taenyang-i had not done a good thing, but there was nothing to be done.

“Eat everything. If you’re full, you can share it.”

“… Thank you.”

Yoo Jin-ha embraced everything Se-hyun had bought. Se-hyun turned his head and pointed to the box while Yoo Jin-ha was hesitating as if he had something to say but couldn’t.

“Are you trying to return this?”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, he hadn’t thrown away the receipt yet.

“All right. May I know the reason for your refusal?”

Se-hyun asked while carefully gathering the boxes. There was no particular reason. Since Jin-ha didn’t outright reject it as usual, he felt like he needed to convey anything to Shin Tae-oh.

“Because it’s right to refuse.”

Se-hyun’s eyes shook as he read Yoo Jin-ha’s apologetic feelings. It occurred to him once again that Shin Tae-oh was a sub-supporting character who liked Yoo Jin-ha.

Maybe Shin Tae-oh falling for me because of an event that happened during my heat cycle.

‘Pull yourself together.’

It was a good thing that he had come to meet Yoo Jin-ha. Now he could firmly rebuild the slightly shaken wall.