TSG 74

It wasn’t the first time Se-hyun had come to Shin Tae-oh’s house, so now that he was here, he had gone to sit on the familiar sofa.

“Coffee? Tea?”

Shin Tae-oh made a move himself as if he wanted to treat Se-hyun as a guest. As a secretary, Se-hyun couldn’t just sit idly while his boss worked.

“I’ll have coffee.”

…Though sometimes, it was nice to have coffee made by the boss, especially when he was lured here by Shin Tae-oh.

Se-hyun waited silently for Shin Tae-oh without getting up. While Shin Tae-oh was in the kitchen, Se-hyun’s head quickly turned to the side. But since what he wanted to see wasn’t visible just by doing that, he leaned his upper body forward and even lifted his hips slightly.

While at Shin Tae-oh’s house, what Se-hyun wanted to see was the safe. The safe where Shin Tae-oh caught Se-hyun for the crime of not being able to distinguish between sunflowers and daffodils.

He didn’t know what was in the safe. Just that it had something to do with Yoo Jin-ha. In the original work, Shin Tae-oh had wanted to show the safe to express his feelings. He believed it was the best way to convey his heart, but Yoo Jin-ha had firmly refused to see that intimate part of him.

That had been the catalyst for their relationship to completely break down.

‘It’s a shame.’

When actually reading the novel, Se-hyun hadn’t thought much about it. Knowing what was in the safe was less interesting than seeing how Yoo Jin-ha would overcome difficulties and how the plot would progress.

So now, even though he knew where the safe was, he had no idea what was inside.

‘No, I shouldn’t be curious.’

With all of Shin Tae-oh’s attention focused on him right now, even a small butterfly wing flap of curiosity towards the safe could turn into a big storm.

“You could go look for yourself…”

Like now.

At Shin Tae-oh’s sly remark about knowing where he was looking, Se-hyun pretended not to understand and turned his eyes away.

“Thank you.”

He expressed his gratitude firmly when receiving the coffee, trying to lighten his heavy heart. Focusing on the rich aroma, he tried to push away the faint pheromones emanating from Shin Tae-oh.

Once he became conscious of it, he could sense even the faintest scent, so it was even more noticeable in Shin Tae-oh’s house.

To think that after coming all this way, he was thinking about the safe and pheromones. This wasn’t the time for such thoughts… Forcibly suppressing these ideas, he recalled the various figures he had seen in the documents and the inconsistencies he had noticed, remembering why he had sought a private space.

“I think we need to take another look at the third quarter financial statement posted from the Ulsan factory.”

Unlike when he sent a message to Chief Secretary Lee Jin-ho, he had to be more cautious in reporting to Shin Tae-oh.

“The accounting reports should have already been fully approved, though.”

“That’s true, but suspicious circumstances were found in the statement of changes in equity. I think we need to verify the facts. Would it be alright if I went there?”

Se-hyun didn’t mention Director Park and Managing Director Cho. It wouldn’t be too late to speak when things became certain. But if he mentioned it now, he hesitated, fearing he might falsely accuse someone who had worked at the headquarters for a long time based on a mere possibility.

“Why suddenly the Ulsan factory?”

“…I found out by chance.”

It wasn’t a satisfactory answer. He couldn’t easily mention that the whistleblower was Ha Jin-seong. If he revealed it was Ha Jin-seong right here, he wondered what kind of conversation would follow.

What if the focus shifted to Ha Jin-seong instead of the corruption right away? He could mention Ha Jin-seong later, so let’s put out the urgent matter first.

“How many days do you think it will take?”

“I estimate three days.”

“Have you checked my schedule?”

“Yes.”

Se-hyun recited off Shin Tae-oh’s schedule for the next three days without even taking out his phone. Shin Tae-oh was lost in thought while drinking coffee, and Se-hyun looked at him after saying everything he wanted to say.

“The most important thing is the team project between Planning Team 1 and PR Team 1.”

He also knew they were putting a lot of effort into preparing their presentation for the CEO.

“Why don’t we go and see it together instead?”

“Pardon? You mean the factory?”

“I’ll go to the factory with you too if you want.”

Shin Tae-oh playfully suggested that he could accompany him there if he wished.

“I’m sorry.”

“I wanted to tease you a bit more, what a shame.”

Since he had no intention of doing that, he quickly apologized.

Shin Tae-oh put down his coffee cup on the table and stood up. Realizing there was no point in hiding anything from him, Se-hyun also put down his cup and followed him.

There was a rather large frame hanging on the wall after a few steps. It was clear that what Shin Tae-oh had meant by “going together” was this, not the factory. He recognized from Shin Tae-oh’s sly smile that he wasn’t referring to the painting but something else.

Se-hyun pretended not to know about the safe and examined the painting. It was different from the previous daffodil painting.

“It’s a sunflower. It’s a work of art brought in from the Netherlands.”

Hearing it was from the Netherlands, Se-hyun realized it was the work that Chief Secretary Lee Jin-ho had personally gone to buy. That day was unforgettable, perhaps because he and Shin Tae-oh had gone to the new product launch together and met various people.

If only the Chief Secretary had been there that day, his heart wouldn’t have raced unnecessarily, and he wouldn’t have blurted out excuses about the desire for recognition.

Shin Tae-oh caressed the edge of the frame, then grasped the corners with both hands and removed it from the wall. Surprised by his sudden action, Se-hyun couldn’t hide his bewilderment but still examined the wall.

The wall behind the frame appeared empty at first glance, but a long, square crack caught his attention. It was so subtle that an ordinary person would never think it was a safe.

… Should he act a bit surprised too?

“You knew there was something on this wall, right?”

It was too late to ask what this was in response to Shin Tae-oh’s question. In fact, it was better to admit it than to claim he hadn’t guessed anything.

“I’ve never seen it, but I just assumed.”

“How did you know?”

Se-hyun tried to maintain the most calm voice possible in response to Shin Tae-oh’s question.

“There’s always been a painting in this spot.”

He mixed a bit of truth into his otherwise evasive explanation.

“This is a safe. It only opens with my iris recognition.”

No wonder there was no keypad. Only then did he notice the blue sensor blinking in the middle of the wall.

“Aren’t you curious what’s inside?”

“If I am, will you tell me?”

“I might consider it if you want.”

The answer was in Shin Tae-oh’s words. The original Shin Tae-oh would have opened the safe and shown its contents without hesitation. But now he added a condition, subtly conveying a different message.

Se-hyun had yet to respond to Shin Tae-oh’s confession.

And that confession would be the key to opening this safe.

“It’s alright.”

“How petty.”

Did you think I’d ask you to show me?

“What if I say I want to show you?”

Do you really have to go that far?

Se-hyun made it clear he wasn’t interested. Feeling deflated, Shin Tae-oh hung up the picture frame back.

“There will be plenty of opportunities to show you later.”

His muttering gave Se-hyun the feeling that he’d be standing in front of this again. If he could clearly settle things with Shin Tae-oh before then…

“Oh, come to think of it, I had something to say to you, Se-hyun.”

Shin Tae-oh brought it up as if he’d just remembered. It seemed so natural, but Se-hyun inwardly scoffed. He was deliberately saying this now. Since Se-hyun had refused to look inside the safe, Tae-oh was subtly trying to get something else.

Whatever it was, Se-hyun had no intention of accepting it.

“Do you like photography?”

This sounds like a sequel to “What kind of gifts do you like?”

“I don’t like them.”

“The other day, I wanted to see you, but there wasn’t a single photo of you saved on my phone.”

Didn’t he hear Se-hyun say he didn’t like them?

“It’d be nice to open it up and look at you whenever I miss you.”

Is that what he wanted? If so, Se-hyun’s answer is the same.

“I’m sorry.”

Se-hyun didn’t even try to subtly express his unwillingness to take photos. Having made his intentions clear, Se-hyun was now only thinking about returning to the office.

“About the Ulsan factory.”

As Se-hyun turned to leave, Shin Tae-oh spoke up.

“I’ve been thinking about how you might have found out, and I have a theory.”

Se-hyun half-turned away, not wanting to look at Shin Tae-oh.

“There’s a very loyal secretary in my company. That secretary told a very sly fox that all the allegations related to SR would be tied to that fox.”

“…”

When Se-hyun went to see Ha Jin-seong after the scandal broke. Shin Tae-oh had heard everything Se-hyun said.

“Did you meet Ha Jin-seong today?”

In response to Shin Tae-oh’s innocent question as he asked with bright eyes, Se-hyun turned around holding his cell phone without saying a word. As he hunched his body as if not wanting to show Shin Tae-oh, there were clicking sounds. After taking several photos, Se-hyun straightened up towards Shin Tae-oh and put away his phone.

“I’ve sent you a few photos.”

“It’d look better if you held the phone up like this to take the pictures.”

“It’s okay.”

“Okay. I’ll forgive you. But next time, tell me beforehand. Whether it’s Park Ha-seong or Ha Jin-seong… Just make sure to tell me about anyone with ‘Ha’ and ‘seong’ in their name.”

Shin Tae-oh got what he wanted very easily. Se-hyun turned away, not wanting to see his gleeful smile.

Belatedly looking at the photos sent to his phone, Shin Tae-oh chuckled.

“What is this?”

Shin Tae-oh asked Se-hyun, who pretended not to notice.

“Where’s your face?”

Every photo only showed Se-hyun’s hands, not a single one of his face. Muttering that he’d been tricked, Shin Tae-oh still saved every picture he received.