TSG 63

Yoo Jin-ha and Shin Tae-oh were conversing.

“Are you okay now?”

“I was originally fine.”

“That’s not how it seemed. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“You’re the one who shouldn’t come near me.”

“But I’m fine…”

“I’m not fine.”

Se-hyun became a complete bystander, lending an ear to their conversation. Yoo Jin-ha was the one expressing concern, while Shin Tae-oh responded that he was fine.

Se-hyun thought the atmosphere surrounding the two would be cozy since they were talking to each other as older and younger friends…

Yoo Jin-ha would act awkward when Shin Tae-oh opened up and wanted to get closer. But now, Yoo Jin-ha was starting friendly conversations, making the exchange appear smooth. Shin Tae-oh also seemed to be reacting nicely.

Still, there was an ambiguous feeling that couldn’t be expressed in words. Pondering what it was, Se-hyun realized Ha Min-hyuk had also become a bystander, just like himself.

Why is this guy just quietly watching? He must know Shin Tae-oh used to like Yoo Jin-ha… Does it not matter now that he’s dating Yoo Jin-ha?

“It’s changed.”

Ha Min-hyuk, who was looking at Shin Tae-oh and Yoo Jin-ha, turned his head and made eye contact with Se-hyun. What he said was so unexpected that Se-hyun couldn’t answer.

“The CEO is different from before.”

Ha Min-hyuk kindly added an explanation. Se-hyun understood this time. He had no choice but to know because it was similar to what he was feeling.

It was Shin Tae-oh’s reaction that made Se-hyun feel uncomfortable. Although he was kind to Yoo Jin-ha, he didn’t want to gain anything from him. Like asking Yoo Jin-ha to buy him a meal since he wasn’t feeling well, or suggesting they go to a nice restaurant together next time.

In short, there was no sense of Shin Tae-oh’s usual mischievousness.

Even considering Ha Min-hyuk’s presence, it was unusual for Shin Tae-oh, who always looked for opportunities, to do nothing. Moreover…

“Why do you keep sticking with me?”

Shin Tae-oh told Yoo Jin-ha not to come near him, but why did he keep getting close to Se-hyun?

“The air conditioner here is too strong.”

It’s winter now.

“I’ll turn on the heating.”

Se-hyun thought it would be enough to get rid of his complaints, so he turned up the heating temperature. Soon it would get stuffy enough to be unpleasant, so he gave Shin Tae-oh a look telling him to move aside.

“I have nowhere to go.”

“There’s plenty of space over there.”

“Then I’ll get close to Jin-ha.”

As Shin Tae-oh scooted even closer and said that, Se-hyun looked to the side in exasperation. Befitting a premium room, all four were seated comfortably on the sofa, and Yoo Jin-ha was indeed close to Shin Tae-oh.

“What if he’s affected by my pheromones?”

‘I was hospitalized because of you?’

Shin Tae-oh did not even have any gratitude for Se-hyun after drying his pepper so he wouldn’t turn feral, and still shamelessly sticking to him like this?

“Get even closer then.”

Annoyed, Se-hyun spoke sarcastically. To his surprise, Shin Tae-oh actually moved even closer, causing Se-hyun to frown.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Secretary Ahn frown.”

Se-hyun’s expression immediately relaxed after hearing Yoo Jin-ha’s words.

“My apologies.”

“No, it’s not about apologizing. Ah, I thought I’d see you at the charity party but didn’t get the chance.”

Yoo Jin-ha abruptly changed the subject to the charity party of all things. That’s when Shin Tae-oh’s rut cycle happened, Se-hyun calmed him down, and then went straight home – that was it.

“Something came up.”

Shin Tae-oh told him what happened instead. Thanks to this, Se-hyun didn’t have to speak and just kept nodding. Then he suddenly became curious about the part of the original story he had missed.

“By any chance…”

So he carefully asked Ha Min-hyuk.

Fortunately, no one was listening to their conversation because Yoo Jin-ha was talking to Shin Tae-oh about going to the party.

“Did anything happen that day?”

“With whom?”

Ha Min-hyuk immediately grasped that Se-hyun was referring to a personal conflict.

He spoke as if he could tell everything just by looking at my face – he was an insightful kid.

“With…your brother.”

Rephrasing it about Ha Jin-seong, Ha Min-hyuk quickly answered.

“Nothing happened.”

“Really…?”

To Ha Min-hyuk, it may have sounded like something should have happened, making Se-hyun slightly flustered. Did he really not notice Ha Jin-seong’s secret?

As Se-hyun seriously pondered this, Yoo Jin-ha excitedly asked:

“Do you know who donated the most at the party that day?”

It seems the announcement of the final major donor left quite an impression, befitting a charity party. At Yoo Jin-ha’s question, Se-hyun remained silent since he knew who it was.

“It was…”

“Hold on.”

Just as Yoo Jin-ha was about to reveal who, Shin Tae-oh suddenly reached out his hand, interrupting the conversation. Not understanding why, Se-hyun looked at Shin Tae-oh, and he turned to meet his gaze.

“Shall we make a bet?”

No.

There was no need when Se-hyun already knew the answer. His mind was already troubled by the conversation with Ha Min-hyuk, and he didn’t want Shin Tae-oh’s bet added on top of that.

“I don’t know everyone who went to the charity party.”

Se-hyun rephrased it as a refusal – since he didn’t know absolutely everyone there, it was an impossible question for him to answer correctly. But it seemed his excuse wasn’t convincing enough.

“It must be someone we know. That’s why Jin-ha is talking about it like that.”

He really doesn’t leave any openings at times like this. Countered with that undeniable reasoning,

Se-hyun nodded in resignation.

“I’ll do it.”

Se-hyun didn’t want to, but since Shin Tae-oh insisted, he decided to play along while giving a suitably vague answer.

“Instead of the usual ‘the winner gets their wish granted’, which is too ambiguous, shall we set more specific terms?”

As Shin Tae-oh crossed his arms, pondering, Ha Min-hyuk and Yoo Jin-ha eventually fell silent too, just watching.

They didn’t come just to spectate, though.

Anyway, to give something to the winner?

“How about giving the winner a bonus?”

“That’s selfish.”

And the person who suggested the bet wasn’t?

Without a bonus, there was nothing for Se-hyun to gain from the bet.

“How about the winner gets to visit the other’s home?”

“Pardon?”

“Depending on the result of the bet, we visit each other’s houses. Either I go to Ahn Se-hyun’s place, or Ahn Se-hyun comes to mine.”

“Why should we do that?”

“Because it’ll be fun.”

At Shin Tae-oh’s “Shall we do it?” reaction, Se-hyun wanted to simply say he didn’t want to, but…

“I’ll throw in a bonus too.”

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

Se-hyun agreed, using the bonus as an excuse.

‘If both of us are wrong, this bet is null and void.’

Se-hyun didn’t argue since it created a natural excuse for the bet to disappear.

“Since you’ve accepted, I’ll speak first.”

Shin Tae-oh’s gaze naturally returned to Yoo Jin-ha. Knowing that Yoo Jin-ha had the answer, Shin Tae-oh’s expression softened as he looked at him.

Even though Se-hyun now knew about Shin Tae-oh’s feelings for Yoo Jin-ha, he was confused just by looking at Shin Tae-oh’s eyes. That’s how warm his eyes were.

How should Se-hyun interpret this?

“Me.”

Shin Tae-oh confidently pointed to himself, his bright face unchanged from usual, convinced he was the biggest donor.

“So you mean yourself, Hyung? Okay.”

Yoo Jin-ha showed a bright smile towards Shin Tae-oh with an excited face that is rarely seen. Seeing that refreshing look, Ha Min-hyuk gripped Yoo Jin-ha’s hand tightly, revealing his possessiveness as Yoo jin-ha smiled at Shin Tae-oh.

“What about Secretary Ahn?”

Se-hyun closed his mouth for a moment at the question that came naturally to him.

His answer here would decide it. Shin Tae-oh was wrong, so he just had to mention someone else. Pretending to recall the attendees that day, Se-hyun turned his head for a moment.

“I was too shortsighted.”

Then Shin Tae-oh’s voice rang in his ear. Just as Se-hyun thought he was about to spout more nonsense, he seemed to hear his laughter engulfing his ears too.

“I must be number one for Ahn Se-hyun.”

“…”

“You respect me, right? Naturally, you wanted to say my name, but you couldn’t because I went first.”

This guy, again.

“I remember now.”

Just as Ha Min-hyuk showed his possessiveness when he saw Yoo Jin-ha smiling, Se-hyun also showed his possessiveness when he saw Shin Tae-oh smiling.

“It was Director Ha Jin-seong.”

But it was only possessiveness towards the bonus.

“Secretary Ahn got it right!”

The warm gaze Shin Tae-oh sent Yoo Jin-ha, the desire to win out of annoyance at his mischievousness, and the greed for the bonus – combining all those led to the correct answer result.

Se-hyun was about to look at Shin Tae-oh, wondering what to do now when he heard the sound of clicking one’s tongue from somewhere. He glanced back and saw that it was Ha Min-hyuk.

Ha Min-hyuk’s sullen gaze was strangely unpleasant. Although they weren’t exactly close, they weren’t on such bad terms to warrant that look.

As Se-hyun was looking at Ha Min-hyuk, warmth touched his chin and his head immediately turned.

“You should be looking at me.”

Shin Tae-oh muttered with an expressionless face as if he had never smiled, and his suddenly heavy atmosphere froze Se-hyun in place.

“Let’s go home.”

“Are you saying you want to be discharged from the hospital?”

The person who said he would handle discharge procedures through Lee Jin-ho was now suddenly saying to go home? If he meant for them to part ways, Se-hyun naturally thought he could ponder today’s events alone once discharged, but…

“We have to go. If we made a bet, we have to follow through on the outcome, right?”

Only then did Se-hyun realize why Shin Tae-oh wanted to leave right away.
⍣⍣⍣

‘Was I always this stupid?’

Following and observing Shin Tae-oh, everything seemed clear from the bystander’s perspective. Se-hyun could see everyone’s thoughts and how their relationships flowed.

Se-hyun accepted Shin Tae-oh and Ha Jin-seong’s childish squabbles as simply amusing, but the moment he became a participant instead of an observer, he ended up caught in a strange current.

For example, depending on the outcome of the bet, it was not determined whether the winner would go to the loser’s house or, conversely, the loser would go to the winner’s house.

“I lost, so I have to follow the winner.”

At Shin Tae-oh’s cheeky response, Se-hyun was conflicted.

If it were the other way around, that is, if Se-hyun lost, would he have gone to Shin Tae-oh’s house?

‘I don’t think so.’

Shin Tae-oh likely intended to come to Se-hyun’s place from the start.