DFLT 7

It was quite an enticing proposal. Seeing that Do Hyungwoo was so readily willing to show his patented technology, it seemed that he was pleased with Heonyoung’s opinion as well.

“Very well.”

Heonyoung, who had been about to pick up his phone to arrange for a car to be on standby since Ji Yeonoh would be arriving soon and the plans had changed, paused. At The Heritage Cheongdam, any kind of corruption or misconduct could be discussed, but making a simple phone call was impossible.

“Well, since this is a sensitive matter, there’s a security issue, so we’ll have to move in our car. Let’s go through the back door.”

“Let’s do that.”

Heonyoung was about to leave a message but decided against it. Yeonoh wasn’t a child; he’d probably figure things out on his own. Heonyoung slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket.

Knock knock.

Yeonoh, standing in front of the door, curled his pale fingers to knock. There was no response from inside. Wondering if he had knocked too softly, he put a bit more force into it this time. Still, there was no answer.

“Is no one there…?”

He was muttering to himself pointlessly when about four or five staff members approached, opened the door, and went inside. Through the wide-open door, the revealed space was completely empty, and the staff began clearing a table filled with untouched food and coffee cups. There really was no one there. As Yeonoh stood there blankly, one of the staff members called out to him.

“Are you looking for someone?”

“Where did the people who were here go?”

“They left earlier.”

“What? I was at the entrance.”

“They probably went out through another exit.”

Oh, so that’s why they hadn’t crossed paths. Since phone calls didn’t work here, they wouldn’t have been able to let him know they were leaving early.

…Or so he wanted to believe. Even if he didn’t believe it, it wouldn’t change anything.

Parking his car in the lot of Heonyoung’s residence and turning off the engine, Yeonoh rested his head on the steering wheel. A heavy sigh escaped through his teeth, and his eyes, filled with gloom, blinked slowly.

“…Is he really going to get married?”

The marriage between a dominant alpha and a dominant omega was the ideal union everyone dreamed of. Heonyoung himself had been born from the marriage of parents with dominant traits, and he probably considered such traditional customs a given. If Yeonoh had been a dominant omega from a wealthy and prestigious elite family like Do Sehyeon, would there have been a chance for him to be with Seo Heonyoung? As his delusions led to such futile thoughts, Yeonoh quickly shook them off.

The unrequited love he had harbored for the past three years was the result of repeated failures. Trying to let go of Seo Heonyoung always ended in frustration. Every time he boldly turned away, swearing to end this tiresome unrequited love, the moment he saw Seo Heonyoung’s face in the morning, his heart would leap as if nothing had happened. He knew full well that in the end, he’d be left alone like today, so what justification did he have for feeling this resentment? How shameless could he be?

As he let out yet another sigh, the growling of his stomach reminded him that this was reality. Only then did Yeonoh realize he hadn’t eaten anything until now, when it was already getting dark. His eyes caught sight of a convenience store as he trudged along listlessly. Like he was possessed, Yeonoh walked inside.

“Today, I’m really going to be reckless.”

A strange sense of compensation from working overtime on the weekend spurred Yeonoh to make a bold declaration, grabbing two triangular rice balls. Cost-effectiveness had been his life’s creed, but today, two rice balls weren’t enough—he even picked up a cup of instant noodles. At this rate, he wouldn’t envy the life of a chaebol.

“That’ll be 4,900 won. Please insert your card in the front. Do you need a bag?”

“No, I’ll eat here.”

Answering the staff’s question about a bag, Yeonoh pulled out a card from his wallet and inserted it into the machine. As the payment confirmation appeared and he was about to retrieve his card, his eyes fell on a container of lollipops by the counter. He wasn’t usually fond of sweets, but for some reason, he reached for one. Blaming it on that strange sense of compensation.

“Uh, I’ll take this too.”

“That’s 300 won.”

He inserted his card again, but a message appeared saying the transaction was declined. It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough balance, so what was going on? Checking his card, Yeonoh’s face went pale. He was sure he had picked his own card, so why was he holding Seo Heonyoung’s card?

He hadn’t returned the card Heonyoung had given him earlier at the lounge to buy coffee, and it had stayed in his wallet. Without thinking, he must have pulled out the card at the front. Apologizing profusely to the staff, Yeonoh canceled the transaction made with Heonyoung’s card, paid with his own, and waited for his noodles to cook. He picked up his phone. A payment notification had probably been sent to Heonyoung, so he needed to explain the situation.

[Director, I mistakenly used your card due to a mix-up. I canceled the payment immediately. I’m sorry.]

He was carefully composing the message, debating whether to add an emoticon, when a notification popped up. Puzzled, Yeonoh tapped the preview.

[[Web Message]

[HG Bank]

Deposit of 2,000,000 won, Seo *Young]

What? Two million won? Yeonoh doubted his eyes. Even after rubbing them, it was still the same. Was this entire amount for overtime pay? As he slowly processed the situation, another message came from Heonyoung.

[Talk to me. Don’t protest.]

Did he think Yeonoh was staging a protest over overtime pay…? It wasn’t like that. His message, complete with a detailed explanation and a bowing sticker, suddenly felt pathetic. Instead of replying, Yeonoh put down his phone and opened the lid of his noodles. The noodles had swollen excessively in the meantime, and when he took a big bite, they tasted like nothing but flour.

The Monday he had hoped wouldn’t come arrived. Yeonoh faced Heonyoung with a nervous heart, but Heonyoung acted as if nothing had happened. Yeonoh quickly understood. Why would Ji Yeonoh ever be significant enough to ruffle Seo Heonyoung’s feathers?

And so, an unremarkable day began. While Yeonoh was at his desk handling morning tasks, Team Leader Park Kyunghwan approached and handed him car keys out of the blue.

“Yeonoh, can you go down and check on my car?”

“Your car, Team Leader?”

“Yeah, the security team called and said the lights are on. I’m sure I turned off the engine, though? I have to go into a briefing with the Director now, so can you check it for me? It’s parked on B4.”

There were plenty of other employees, so why him? Probably because he was the easiest target. What a sneaky guy. While Park briefly looked away, Yeonoh scrunched his face and grumbled silently. The moment Park turned back, Yeonoh quickly wiped the expression off his face and gave a bright smile.

“Oh, yes! I’ll go check.”

With no urgent tasks and no excuse to refuse, Yeonoh took the keys and headed down. As Park had said, the car’s engine was off, the doors were locked, but the lights were on. He turned them off, double-checked that they were completely off, and headed back to the office, stepping into the elevator.

But was it bad timing? The elevator stopped at nearly every floor. Delivery workers, groups of employees chatting with coffee cups in hand, and people rushing into the elevator with laptops for early morning meetings. Yeonoh, who had boarded on B4 as one of the first, was soon pushed to the very back, like the bottommost leaf in a stack of kimchi cabbage.

“Excuse me, just passing through… Sorry. Sorry.”

Finally reaching his floor, Yeonoh barely squeezed out and caught his breath. Was Monday morning supposed to be this draining? Shaking his head, he opened the office door.

“Mr. Yeonoh, the Director is looking for you. Go in.”

The colleague at the desk next to him urged with a slightly worried look. Had something happened in the fifteen minutes he was gone? Feeling a bit tense, Yeonoh cautiously knocked on the door, and Heonyoung’s voice immediately called him in.

“Director, you called for me?”

“Mr. Ji Yeonoh, where have you been?”

Team Leader Park scolded Yeonoh, beckoning him closer. Just moments ago, this man had handed him the car keys and asked him to check the car—why was he suddenly questioning his whereabouts? As Yeonoh blinked slowly, frantically calculating the situation in his head, Park spoke again.

“The Director was looking for you.”

Yeonoh was dumbfounded. This was the man who had sent him away, yet he conveniently left that part out. Now Yeonoh had to face an irritated-looking Heonyoung. Fidgeting, Yeonoh lowered his gaze to his shoes.

“Meeting minutes.”

At Heonyoung’s curt word, Yeonoh opened the meeting minutes file on the tablet he was holding. Park took it and began reading the minutes from last Wednesday’s meeting with the advertising agency. From the conversation, it seemed there had been a communication error with the agency. After reviewing the minutes, Seo Heonyoung gave a brief instruction to verify the facts with the agency.

“Team Leader Park, you may leave. Mr. Ji Yeonoh, stay for a moment.”