TSG 49

Shin Tae-oh looked at Se-hyun with an unfriendly gaze. He didn’t even glance at the box he was holding.

“I’m sorry, could you please repeat that?”

“I said who told you to accept something like this as you please.”

Shin Tae-oh put his hands in his pockets as if unimpressed and tilted his head slightly. Since everything Shin Tae-oh saw was crooked, Se-hyun guessed the world appeared that way too. In response to Shin Tae-oh’s rebellious reaction, Se-hyun just rolled his eyes while holding the box.

Who was it?

If he asked whose feelings were in it, given that it was given to him to give it to Shin Tae-oh…

“Naturally, it contains the feelings of the giver.”

That’s what a gift is.

“Secretary Ahn. That’s not what I’m asking now. I never asked you to get this, so why are you bringing it?”

“Hmm…”

Se-hyun found himself in a dilemma over what he thought would be a simple exchange of gifts. Did he do something he had never done before? No. Did he receive a gift from a completely unknown person? No.

In that case, he felt he could explain the situation sufficiently.

“He said it was a token of appreciation for the gifts he had received from the CEO.”

“What are you talking about? Jin-ha hasn’t received anything.”

“You gave him your heart.”

Shin Tae-oh paused at Se-hyun’s calm reply.

“He didn’t receive the gifts, but you still gave him your heart.”

So, when Yoo Jin-ha asked him to deliver a gift to Shin Tae-oh, he accepted it without thinking it was strange.

“I… I gave him my heart?”

Shin Tae-oh asked somewhat bewilderedly, and Se-hyun looked at him wondering why he was acting like that, nodding his head in response.

“Because that’s what a gift is.”

So when Shin Tae-oh tried to give him a gift, he refused. The gifts that were meant to be sent to Yoo Jin-ha but couldn’t go were nothing more than empty shells. However, it felt burdensome to hear that he was giving him something directly.

Even though I think that way, I feel a little sad that I couldn’t say no a few times.

“Anyway, I gave it to the CEO, so if you’re going to refuse it, please let me know. I’ll return it to Mr. Yoo Jin-ha.”

Even so, it didn’t mean Yoo Jin-ha’s feelings disappeared.

Se-hyun held out the hand holding the box so close that it almost touched Shin Tae-oh’s chest as if asking him to make a decision quickly. It wasn’t heavy, but it was a bit awkward to just keep holding it.

“I… ”

Shin Tae-oh looked at the box and muttered. It was so small that Se-hyun couldn’t hear it, so he stared at the shape of his mouth.

“Ah, I see. So far, I’ve been… like that.”

Shin Tae-oh said that twice, so Se-hyun gave up listening and waited.

Shin Tae-oh couldn’t take his eyes off the box. It seemed to change size each time he looked at it. It was actually nothing. It was recalling the gifts that Se-hyun had given to Yoo Jin-ha so far.

Shin Tae-oh finally realized it. What kind of errands has he made Se-hyun do so far, and how wrong they were.

He said that he was inertially attracted to Yoo Jin-ha, and when he realized his feelings for Se-hyun, he stopped giving him gifts. And he subtly revealed his feelings to Se-hyun.

He wondered if there were other people in the world who were as pathetic as him. To casually treat Se-hyun, who had been conveying his feelings to Yoo Jin-ha.

What a big mistake he made. He didn’t have the courage to look up and see Se-hyun’s face.

“Sir?”

When Se-hyun tried to make eye contact, Shin Tae-oh covered his face with his hand and avoided it.

“Are you okay?”

“A moment…”

Shin Tae-oh stretched out his hand to stop Se-hyun from approaching.

“Please leave me alone for a moment. It won’t be long.”

“Understood.”

He heard the sound of Se-hyun stepping away and the front door closing.

“Ha. I really…”

Shin Tae-oh let out a hollow laugh while still covering his eyes.

Every time Shin Tae-oh remembered what he had done, he felt ashamed. It was no one else, it was Ahn Se-hyun. Being by his side, Ahn Se-hyun was the person who knew him best and could clearly feel the flow of his emotions. He did not explain to such a person what his feelings toward Yoo Jin-ha were. And… It seemed as if his heart had naturally turned towards him.

He also understands why Se-hyun feels reluctant about his gift.

Realizing how big of a disrespect this was to Se-hyun, Shin Tae-oh couldn’t even laugh anymore. It felt like someone was squeezing his heart tightly.

There was no excuse for this.

Maybe Se-hyun knew all of this and rejected him. In that case, he shouldn’t force his way into Se-hyun’s heart…

His train of thought was cut off the moment Shin Tae-oh lowered his hand and opened his eyes.

“…”

“Are you alright?”

It was Ahn Se-hyun, whom he thought had left.

“How…”

“Ah…”

Se-hyun turned around and saw the closed front door. And after thinking for a moment, he answered.

“I thought you might not notice because you weren’t looking, so I secretly stayed behind to see.”

“…”

He was so flustered that his mind went blank. So, as he just looked at him, Se-hyun flashed an awkward smile.

“I was joking because you looked so serious, but you really didn’t notice, right?”

His laughter restored Shin Tae-oh’s tightened heart to its original state.

⍣⍣⍣

‘I’m not the type of person who usually jokes around.’

This was something he would never do under normal circumstances. So, pretending to leave when he saw Shin Tae-oh covering his eyes and then closing the door as a prank was out of character for him.

Of course, he had all sorts of thoughts running through his head.

But still, he wasn’t one to joke around like Shin Tae-oh…

‘What am I doing now?’

Se-hyun didn’t know why he kept rationalizing his actions by saying he just wanted to play a prank.

It was because Shin Tae-oh seemed serious. He seemed shaken by Yoo Jin-ha’s gift, so Se-hyun felt like he should reassure him that everything was fine and he could go if he wanted to.

However, Shin Tae-oh could hardly relax. If he had known it would turn out like this, he would have just left.

“I will brief you on today’s schedule.”

Thinking about work now that things had turned out this way, he picked up his tablet. His phone vibrated, so he quickly checked the popup notification before opening the message.

“It’s Seongha’s representative. He wants to meet. What should we do?”

The existing schedule was also ruined because Seongha’s representative left somewhere. Since the fault lay with the other party, he asked for Shin Tae-oh’s opinion, feeling he didn’t need to meet.

Shin Tae-oh, who was looking out the window, responded without turning his head.

“Cancel it.”

Shin Tae-oh had praised Seongha’s representative for being quite intuitive. But now that Shin Tae-oh seemed disinterested, Se-hyun put his phone back into his pocket.

“Understood.”

Once instructions were given, it shouldn’t be asked. Without going against Shin Tae-oh’s wishes, Se-hyun picked up the tablet.

⍣⍣⍣

Shin Tae-oh, who was just having a drink, didn’t bother to speak to the man standing next to him as if he didn’t know him.

“If you’re going to ignore me like that, I won’t come next time.”

Shin Tae-oh called him over, and Yoo Jin-hyun sat down next to him while giving a warm greeting.

“I guess things aren’t going well with Se-hyun-ssi.”

“It was never going to work out from the start.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the old Shin Tae-oh.”

He was referring to the past when Shin Tae-oh was good at everything but showed a lack of confidence and a small attitude when it was crucial. Before giving up everything and living as he does now, Shin Tae-oh was a boy who suffered a lot from frustration.

“Yeah, it has been a while.”

Shin Tae-oh let out a self-deprecating smile and took another sip of his drink.

While spending time with Se-hyun, he had momentarily forgotten. What his life used to be like.

Everyone seemed to avoid him. Even when someone appeared to care for him, they didn’t stay for long. Despite having parents and friends, strangely, he felt lonely. Sometimes, when reading a book, he would empathize with characters other than the protagonist. Because he felt like he couldn’t live the life of such a protagonist.

So he gave up everything and lived like this. But in the meantime, he had forgotten and spent time with Se-hyun.

“I’ve done a lot of things to Se-hyun that I shouldn’t have.”

“Why? Did you behave meanly?”

“It might be similar.”

It wasn’t necessarily to torment him. Se-hyun was quickwitted, so he gave him many errands. Most of them were to have him give gifts to Jin-ha. And after doing so, he revealed his feelings for him. How despicable of a boss could he be to do such a thing.

He couldn’t see Se-hyun’s face today.

“So you’re going to give up?”

Yoo Jin-hyun pinpointed accurately, not liking the roundabout conversation.

Giving up on Ahn Se-hyun?

Unimaginable.

“Starting over from the beginning.”

Yoo Jin-hyun intervened at that moment.

“You’re good at something, aren’t you?”

“Me, good at something?”

“Yeah. Even while giving up on everything else, you always held onto one thing.”

Yoo Jin-hyun laughed softly. Considering the time they had spent together, he knew there was something Shin Tae-oh wouldn’t give up anyway. So, his current dilemma provided him with an entertaining diversion, no different from that.

“What was it? Something about how the world turned its back on you, so you had to hold onto one thing and then started offering Jin-ha gifts here and there?”

That’s right.

If he was not going to be the center of the world anyway, he would give up. Instead, he’d cling to one thing stubbornly.

As Shin Tae-oh pondered, Yoo Jin-hyun chuckled mischievously and secretly coated him with his pheromone. He had been looking for an opportunity anyway. Since this guy treated his pheromones as a nasty odor, he intended to return the favor someday. Opportunities like today were rare.

Let’s see how he reacts to an Alpha’s pheromones he dislikes so much.

“Huh?”

Shin Tae-oh didn’t even realize it, but his pheromones suddenly surged strongly, causing Yoo Jin-hyun to stop in surprise. It seemed like Shin Tae-oh’s pheromones, which were incomparable to the ones he covered, surged massively…