TSG 38

To sum it up.

When the hospital was mentioned on the phone, Shin Tae-oh seemed to assume it was because Se-hyun was sick.

He called Chief Secretary Lee Jin-ho to drive him to the hospital. If it was really urgent, Shin Tae-oh could have driven himself. Anyway, Lee Jin-ho didn’t know why and thought he had an urgent schedule.

After driving there, he found Se-hyun suddenly there. Lee Jin-ho overheard something between Shin Tae-oh and Se-hyun that made him suspect something. Perhaps he was now confident he caught onto something between them.

“Anyway, I don’t know why it happened like this.”

Se-hyun glanced to the side while drinking his coffee. He came out of the hospital room with Lee Jin-ho under the pretext of going to buy coffee. Then they sat down to chat for a bit, and so Shin Tae-oh’s coffee had not yet met the owner.

They need to give it to him before the coffee gets cold. That way Shin Tae-oh can enjoy warm coffee…

“Ha.”

“Why are you sighing all of a sudden?”

“I suddenly felt like I have the secretary’s perseverance down to my bones.”

What’s the harm in cooling down a bit?

It wasn’t even during working hours, so why was Se-hyun worrying about why the coffee was cooling down when Shin Tae-oh had come unannounced?

He shouldn’t care but as soon as he saw the coffee, his whole body started to itch.

“But can we still do this?”

Lee Jin-ho asked at the right time.

“I guess I should bring the coffee after all?”

Se-hyun stood up holding a cup of coffee. Seeing this, Lee Jin-ho nodded belatedly as if he had just realized the coffee.

“Oh, right. We should give him coffee too. I was just asking if it’s okay to leave Se-hyun’s parents and the CEO alone.”

Lee Jin-ho said it casually, but Se-hyun’s body stiffened as soon as he heard it.

“The CEO is not the type to stay silent.”

“Why are you telling me this now?”

Se-hyun hurried to the hospital room, blaming Lee Jin-ho. Lee Jin-ho, who was left alone, muttered in a daze.

“Is it my fault?”

His small voice was drowned out by the sound of the hospital room door opening.

“CEO.”

Se-hyun urgently called out as he entered.

“Se-hyun, this isn’t a private room, don’t raise your voice like that.”

Casually, Shin Tae-oh turned his head towards Se-hyun and spoke softly.

Shin Tae-oh didn’t call him Secretary Ahn, but Se-hyun.

From there, Se-hyun got the feeling that something was strange.

That little Taenyang-i, what’s he up to now…

“I think we should move to another room because of Se-hyun. We shouldn’t inconvenience others like this.”

“Is… that so?”

“There happens to be a single room available. Shall we move there?”

Shin Tae-oh smoothly took Se-hyun’s mother’s hand and helped her up. As hospital staff entered through the door Se-hyun had left open.

“But a single room is a bit…”

Although reluctant, Se-hyun’s mother couldn’t readily move even as she took Shin Tae-oh’s hand.

“Don’t worry, the company covers all costs as employee welfare.”

“But Se-hyun isn’t the one who’s sick…”

“That’s why many people want to apply to our company. They love these benefits. Oh, don’t expect too much though. It’s not all expenses covered, just a deduction of 300,000 won per day.”

Se-hyun’s mother was already halfway swaying at the mention of quite detailed numbers.

And Se-hyun, seeing that all preparations were already made and only the move remained, couldn’t say anything.

As the hospital staff was moving the bed where Se-hyun’s father was lying, Lee Jin-ho came in and packed his luggage with his mother.

Meanwhile, Shin Tae-oh approached Se-hyun and looked at the coffee in his hands. Then, without hesitation, he took the coffee that seemed to be his and drank it.

“They cover the expenses for employees’ families too?”

Se-hyun couldn’t bring himself to ask in his mother’s presence. Shin Tae-oh nodded.

“Se-hyun, you were lucky.”

Whether it was truly luck or not…

“Thank you.”

Se-hyun bowed his head. A single room was not something he could afford. So, he expressed his thanks to Shin Tae-oh.

“This is why I like Ahn Se-hyun.”

Shin Tae-oh hadn’t called him Secretary Ahn today, it was either Se-hyun-ssi or Ahn Se-hyun. Why that distinction was important wasn’t clear, so Se-hyun put off thinking about it for later.

Meanwhile, Shin Tae-oh left the hospital room with coffee.

Se-hyun, who had intended to ask what conversation had taken place while he was away, sighed.

He had thought he could see through Shin Tae-oh’s intentions before, but he had missed it again just now.

“After all, how can you ever truly understand someone’s thoughts?”

Se-hyun turned around feeling a little weak and belatedly looked down at his hands.

One cup was taken by Shin Tae-oh, so the one he was holding must be the other…

“He took the wrong one.”

He happened to take the one Se-hyun was drinking.

⍣⍣⍣

Se-hyun, who entered the room last, stared at the unusually spacious interior of the room with a frozen expression. He might not have seen every room in the hospital, but he knew instinctively that individual rooms weren’t typically this large.

He couldn’t have been the only one to think so.

His mother looked around and tilted her head. She spoke cautiously, wondering if it was okay to ask this question.

“Are you sure this is… a single room?”

“Oh, if you’re worried that someone else might come in…”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just so spacious.”

“Ah…”

Shin Tae-oh looked around and nodded as if he finally understood.

“Indeed. It’s quite spacious.”

Was that all he had to say after acknowledging it?

Shin Tae-oh held Se-hyun’s mother’s hand tightly as if he couldn’t sense the shocked look in Se-hyun’s eyes.

“Se-hyun can also rest comfortably here and then leave. Ma’am, you can sit over there.”

Shin Tae-oh smoothly neutralized her mother’s hesitation by timely mentioning his name.

He’s really good with words.

“Just call it a VIP room.”

After hearing Lee Jin-ho’s muttering, Se-hyun realized that it was not a single room.

‘A VIP room must cost a fortune…’

Se-hyun looked around the VIP room. He had no idea how much it would cost per day. And he was at a loss as to how he could ever repay Shin Tae-oh for this.

“Don’t worry Se-hyun-ssi.”

Lee Jin-ho took a step closer and lowered his voice.

“My parents were treated like this when they were hospitalized too.”

“Oh… really?”

“Yeah. They had a minor traffic accident and got hospitalized, so they got tested while they were there.”

Jin-ho looked at Shin Tae-oh with a gaze closer to discomfort than gratitude.

“If they hadn’t taken care of that, they would have left even sooner.”

That was the reason for the dissatisfaction. Nonetheless, Se-hyun felt somewhat relieved by Jin-ho’s words, which eased his burden a bit.

“Please, have a seat here. Would you like something to drink?”

Se-hyun’s mother also expressed her gratitude to Shin Tae-oh and wanted to offer him something more.

“We have coffee, would you like some?”

“I’ll gratefully accept it if you offer.”

“Shall I slice some fruit for you?”

“I’ll eat anything you offer.”

“Do you have a favorite fruit?”

“I like them all.”

Since Shin Tae-oh accepted whatever Se-hyun’s mother said, the conversation flowed amicably. It felt like they had become close in no time, but on the other hand, considering Shin Tae-oh’s charisma, it wasn’t strange at all.

“But when are you going to go back?”

He asked Lee Jin-ho while looking at Shin Tae-oh.

“Well.”

Lee Jin-ho also shook his head as if he couldn’t remember anything and went to where Shin Tae-oh was. It looked like they were sitting in an empty seat and eating fruit together.

“Se-hyun-ssi, come and join us.”

Shin Tae-oh looked at Jin-ho before waving his hand to Se-hyun.

“Yeah. Come here.”

“I’m good.”

Se-hyun, who had already eaten the apple and the strawberry, shook his head. Instead, he went over to where his father was. Seeing him lying on the hospital bed, his face lit up with joy at being left alone, which made him smile.

His father reached out his hand towards Se-hyun.

“Show me quickly.”

Knowing what he meant, Se-hyun took out his phone from his pocket.

“There’s nothing different.”

“I have to see it with my own eyes. What if it’s not? Let me be number 1.”

“No, what are you saying?”

Se-hyun said to his father, who was always checking the contact information saved on his phone.

It was really no big deal.

As he became Ahn Se-hyun, his main purpose was to look around him and prioritize things.

First and foremost were his parents. Even when he was lost in the shock of becoming Ahn Se-hyun, his parents were always there by his side, waiting for him. And when he fell asleep, they would come to him and stroke his face.

Even though their lives were difficult, they never once complained to him. He promised to take care of his parents who had acknowledged him as their own. After that, he assigned numbers to his parents. Next, the numbers were assigned in order of the people he met while out in society.

“It’s still number 2.”

“I told you I didn’t change it…”

Se-hyun’s words trailed off as he sensed someone approaching.

Why did he forget about that strong presence?

“What does that mean?”

“Sir, you can leave now… ”

“Wait a moment. Secretary Ahn.”

Shin Tae-oh called him Secretary Ahn at times like this.

Se-hyun bit his lip in response to Shin Tae-oh’s instructions that came in an official approach. He already had some idea of ​​the meaning of the number…

“He assigned numbers according to who he likes the most.”

Father.

No matter how much the hospital room was moved, how could he reveal his son’s secret so easily…

“I thought the same thing, and it’s true.”

Shin Tae-oh looked at Se-hyun’s cell phone and smiled.

He has a sneaky cat-like look in his eyes that suggests he’s ready to pounce.

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have assigned numbers. Se-hyun sighed and said.

“Sir, you’re number three.”

So just leave my phone alone.