TSG 77

“Are you going to keep your guard up even though we’ll be seeing each other often?”

The fox was the first to gently wag its tail.

“Is there any reason for us to see each other often?”

The wild dog(Seungnyang) retorted with an equally unyielding smile. He seemed to forget why he came to this bar in the first place as if he were igniting some strange determination.

The fox was provoking him, and the wild dog was waiting for the right moment to seize control… Perhaps this was a good thing? At least he could momentarily forget that Se-hyun had rejected him.

“One more drink, please.”

Feeling lighter, Se-hyun fixed his gaze on the bartender as if he had come alone and held out his glass.

“I’ve got it.”

It seems the fox has found something to gain the upper hand. Whatever it was, it piqued Se-hyun’s interest…

“I’ve been put in charge of the consortium.”

“Cough.”

Se-hyun hastily covered his mouth, but a cough slipped through. As he struggled to suppress his coughing, a handkerchief appeared at the edge of his vision. He quickly grabbed it to cover his mouth and tried to soothe his cough.

‘What’s going on?’

Ha Jin-seong was in charge of the consortium? But why did Ha Min-hyuk give it to him? It was already unexpected for Shin Tae-oh to join hands with Ha Min-hyuk, but Ha Jin-seong. His head was spinning from the confusion.

“Are you okay?”

Hearing the concerned voice directed at him, Se-hyun swallowed his remaining coughs and lowered the handkerchief.

“Yes. I think the alcohol was too strong.”

Using alcohol as an excuse to catch his breath, Se-hyun tried to act nonchalant, but it was hard to calm his racing heart. He found it difficult to hide his anxiety as the future kept deviating from his expectations.

As Se-hyeon was drinking water and alcohol alternately, Ha Jin-seong put away the handkerchief he had taken out earlier and picked up his glass with an irritated gesture. Ha Jin-seong, who was in a bad mood, took out his anger on Shin Tae-oh.

“Don’t think about making things sloppy. Work hard. Now that I’m in charge, I won’t let things slide.”

“Jin-sang-ah, since when did you work so hard?”

“Starting now that I’m up against you.”

Facing Ha Jin-seong’s challenging eyes, Shin Tae-oh merely curled his lips into a smile and took the glass from Se-hyun’s hand.

“Just don’t get too obsessed with me.”

He turned his body towards Se-hyun, but his words were clearly meant for Ha Jin-seong. Dismissing all of Ha Jin-seong’s attention as obsession, Shin Tae-oh switched to a lower-proof drink and placed it in front of Se-hyun.

“Why did you take away what I was drinking…”

Se-hyun grumbled in complaint, but the new glass was so pretty that he took a sip anyway. The taste was as good as the beautiful glass it came in, and soon Se-hyun’s face showed no trace of his earlier complaint as he sipped contentedly. His throat had been a bit raw from coughing, so the higher-proof alcohol from before had been a bit much.

“Try different drinks.”

“But I’ll get drunk…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Se-hyun wondered if Shin Tae-oh didn’t know that he worried about things like that because he was with him. Anyway, Se-hyun tilted his glass with a satisfied expression.

“Shall I recommend something else?”

Noticing Shin Tae-oh’s attentiveness, the bartender provided Se-hyun with complimentary snacks. As Se-hyun calmly thanked him and ate the snack, Shin Tae-oh rested his chin on his hand and watched.

Ha Jin-seong, who had been feeling like a third wheel in the atmosphere between the two, intervened.

“Shin Tae-oh, are you going to obsess over someone else now?”

Shin Tae-oh’s head turned to the side unnaturally. While he had a gentle smile when looking at Se-hyun, his expression was full of irritation and skepticism when he faced Ha Jin-seong.

“Do you know anything?”

Ha Jin-seong sipped his drink with an amused look in his eyes and caught Shin Tae-oh’s gaze.

“I might take it all.”

One of Shin Tae-oh’s eyes began to narrow. Taking it all was not just about the brand value that would be created through this consortium. Knowing that he was also aiming for Se-hyun, who was sipping his drink on the side, displeasure flashed in Shin Tae-oh’s eyes before they narrowed completely. Ha Jin-seong felt relieved at his reaction and could not hide his smile.

“Jin-sang-ah, you still haven’t come to your senses.”

Shin Tae-oh turned his body completely towards Ha Jin-seong. As Se-hyun was naturally blocked from view, Ha Jin-seong scoffed strongly, as if it wasn’t even funny.

“Shin Tae-oh, you are still the same. You shouldn’t hide behind anything; you should face things with confidence. What a waste of that build.”
Ha Jin-seong clicked his tongue while looking at Shin Tae-oh’s physique. While others might see it as an impressive build, to Ha Jin-seong it was just a useless wall.

“If you know me so well, you wouldn’t be saying that now. Can’t you see I’m confident I won’t lose this time?”

Talking about confidence, continuing to attack with that word – to others, it would look like a childish battle of nerves.

Normally, Se-hyun might have watched with amusement or mild exasperation, but this time…

“Can you tone it down a bit?”

“…”

“…”

Muttering his discontent, Se-hyun managed to silence both Shin Tae-oh and Ha Jin-seong. With the two quiet, the sound of the bartender making cocktails seemed unusually loud.

“I’m sorry. I was talking to myself.”

Se-hyun apologized with a face that didn’t look sorry at all and turned his gaze to the bartender. Somehow they had become friendly, and the bartender offered a cocktail made with smooth movements. Perhaps because it was the prettiest cocktail he’d had so far, Se-hyun took out his phone to take a picture.

“Please continue, don’t mind me.”

Se-hyun gestured to the frozen pair and took a sip of his cocktail. Disturbed by their bickering, he decided to save his thoughts for home. For now, he forced his complicated thoughts aside and focused on his drink.

“Are you drunk?”

Shin Tae-oh looked at Se-hyeon’s face and asked suspiciously.

“Are you drunk?”

“Unless it’s the heat cycle, I don’t get drunk easily.”

Se-hyun looked straight at Shin Tae-oh. The implication was ‘Can’t you tell by looking at my eyes?’ and since his complexion was unchanged, it wasn’t a lie.

Ha Jin-seong placed his elbows on the bar and leaned forward to look at Se-hyeon.

“Can I really keep going?”

Se-hyun nodded as he ate the cheese the bartender had provided as a second complimentary snack.

“You two are friends, right? So there’s no reason for me to stop you.”

Sehyeon looked extremely calm as if he was going to sit on one side and watch the fight.

“I think I’ve lost my motivation.”

Shin Tae-oh lost all motivation to engage in a war of nerves, and the same was true for Ha Jin-seong.

“Give me the same one.”

Shin Tae-oh, who ordered the same cocktail that Se-hyeon was drinking, tapped the table. Ha Jin-seong saw Shin Tae-oh suddenly lost in thought and got up from his seat to approach Se-hyeon.

“What do you like?”

Realizing the abruptness of his question, Ha Jin-seong quickly added,

“I’m asking so I don’t mess up like last time. Coffee doesn’t seem right, so what do you like to eat?”

If he put it that way, it wouldn’t be difficult to answer.

“I like alcohol and meat.”

Ha Jin-seong’s sharp eyes glanced at the drink in Se-hyun’s hand before nodding.

“You’re already drinking, so I guess I’ll have to buy you meat.”

“Thank you.”

Se-hyun accepted without refusal. Jin-seong, realizing why, touched his forehead as if exasperated.

“I should have tempted you with food from the start. Why did I give you documents?”

He regretted giving Se-hyun incriminating documents as a form of apology, thinking he should have just offered him food and apologized.

Se-hyun also liked it better that way. Regardless of not wanting to get involved with Ha Jin-seong, if he had to receive an apology, it would be better if it was less burdensome.

“I’ll buy you meat, so come out when I call you.”

Ha Jin-seong waved to Se-hyeon and glanced at Shin Tae-oh. He flashed a relaxed winner’s smile at Shin Tae-oh, who must have heard his entire conversation with Se-hyun and left the bar.

“You shouldn’t follow just anyone who offers you something delicious.”

Shin Tae-oh expressed a mild resentment towards Se-hyun as if asking why he did that. And right in front of him, no less…

“I met with Director Ha the other day. There wasn’t a special reason; he apologized for the scandal and informed me about the Ulsan factory.”

Since Ha Jin-seong had muttered about why he gave the documents, there was nothing left to hide. So Se-hyun calmly explained about his meeting with Ha Jin-seong.

“I couldn’t tell you yesterday because I thought the conversation might take a strange turn, but I had no intention of hiding it.”

Se-hyeon drank the cocktail as if he was relieved that everything was revealed now, and Shin Tae-oh had a complicated look in his eyes.

While Se-hyun was asking the bartender for a new drink, Shin Tae-oh muttered quietly.

“I’m starting to feel a little anxious.”

Shin Tae-oh knew that Se-hyun had never let anyone close to him and had always been alone, so he had planned to soften Se-hyun’s heart. He intended to gradually close the distance after making sure Se-hyun didn’t feel burdened by his presence.

But now, something seemed off.

Shin Tae-oh had ignored Ha Jin-seong’s challenging words about taking everything, but Se-hyun’s lack of wariness towards him made Tae-oh uneasy.

What if he ends up losing Se-hyun to Ha Jin-seong?

“I don’t want that to happen.”

Shin Tae-oh’s intensely obsessed eyes were fixed on Se-hyeon, unwilling to look away.

⍣⍣⍣

As Se-hyun was leaving with his suitcase for his Ulsan business trip, he stopped in his tracks upon seeing a familiar car. While he was staring blankly, wondering why this car was parked in front of his house, the driver’s window slowly rolled down, revealing the driver’s face.

It was Shin Tae-oh in casual clothes, wearing a light padded jacket instead of his usual coat.

Shin Tae-oh, ho had even put on sunglasses as if the winter sunshine was too bright, nodded at Se-hyun.

“I thought I was going to die from missing you.”