DHG Ch 81

✮⋆˙

Jang Seungyung was already waiting in the underground parking lot.

Just by recognizing the man’s presence, Heewoo could feel the air change. A warmth spread to his fingertips, and the dark clouds that had suspiciously filled his head seemed to retreat. As if he had escaped from a trap, he slowly approached Jang Seungyung.

“Boss.”

The hulks, led by Mingeon, bowed respectfully, but unlike usual, Jang Seungyung barely acknowledged their greetings with a cold face.

The atmosphere was subtly subdued. Heewoo noticed that the man had changed his shirt. It was because Kim Jinhwan’s blood had splattered, albeit minutely, on his sleeve, but Heewoo had no way of knowing that.

“Is this all your luggage?”

The man naturally took the black bag Heewoo was holding. For some reason, unlike at the bookstore, Heewoo felt it was difficult to insist on carrying it himself, so he simply answered, “Yes.”

The hulks, who had been waiting nervously, quietly exchanged glances. Was it because of the appearance of the boy with an exceptionally pretty face? The boss’s intimidating aura had softened considerably. They let out a secret sigh of relief, having barely escaped the tense situation.

“Whew, I’m hungry. Let’s hurry up and go eat.”

Jang Seungyung, who was acting as if nothing had happened, slung the backpack over his shoulder. An old key ring attached to the bag dangled ostentatiously. Because of his overwhelmingly imposing physique, the yellow puppy plushie momentarily looked like a chickpea. It didn’t match his perfectly tailored suit, but the man didn’t seem to mind at all.

He’s so affectionate like this.

No matter how much he tried not to, the image of Jang Seungyung from the video Daol had shown him kept overlapping in his mind. Heewoo, who had been looking up at the man in confusion, not knowing what to do, suddenly noticed a gaze fixed on him.

“……”

The man’s eyes scanned him from top to bottom, as if exploring him. As if he would dig into every single thing. Heewoo closed and opened his eyes, forcing the corners of his mouth to lift.

“Let’s go quickly. I’m hungry too.”

In the brief moment of silence, Heewoo was seized by a feeling of guilt. A moment later, a smile appeared on Jang Seungyung’s lips.

“I’ve made a reservation at a restaurant. Shall we have a glass of wine too?”

An outstretched arm naturally wrapped around Heewoo’s shoulders. A faint smell of alcohol already emanated from the man, but Heewoo simply said it sounded good without showing any reaction. He answered the questions asked of him readily until they reached the car, trying to relax his expression naturally. But for some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the man had read his mind.

“Wait here.”

Jang Seungyung personally opened the car door and sat Heewoo in the back seat. He maintained a smooth expression and tone until the very end.

And after the door was closed.

As if it were a lie, his expression vanished, and he raised his eyes, which had grown as cold as ice. He aimlessly scanned somewhere on the ceiling, with its exposed steel beams, then slowly started to walk. A waiting subordinate began his report with practiced quickness.

“I ran into Executive Director Jang.”

“Is that all.”

“Yes. After that, a guy named Lee Daol went into the room with Bennie Sunsoo and packed his things, and that’s it.”

The subordinate relayed the trivial words of Jang Jooshin that he remembered in detail. Thanks to the help of his colleagues nearby, he was able to report without missing a single minor detail.

“Lee Sunsoo did seem a bit down, but he’s been like a wilted cabbage these days anyway.”

Lee Sunsoo, huh. Jang Seungyung remembered a Sunsoo he had almost bumped into in the lobby earlier. The one who was said to be close with Heewoo.

He turned his gaze to the car window with a thoughtful look. Due to the tint, only a silhouette was visible, but he could make out the round shape of the back of a head. The small, faintly dejected face seemed to form before his eyes.

Jang Seungyung’s contemplative gaze deepened. Was he simply surprised by the news that Kim Jinhwan had come? Or—.

“Alright. If you think of anything else, report it.”

Regardless of his uneasy feeling, he couldn’t keep his subordinates any longer than necessary. Jang Seungyung ended it there.

Meanwhile, Heewoo was still gripping his hands anxiously as he waited for Jang Seungyung to return to the car. He suppressed his nervousness.

“……”

There were two main thoughts churning in his mind. One was Jang Seungyung putting a necklace on a woman with whom he was supposedly in a good relationship. The other was… out of the blue, the last image of the twins who had long since disappeared from his life.

Manager Kang and Kang Sunsoo, who had been acting as Kim Jinhwan’s spies, had vanished as if they had never existed in this world. As had the man with the dyed hair who had been tailing him, disappearing without a trace.

Could Daol end up like that too?

Terrified, Heewoo stared at the man approaching the car with steady steps through the window. His chest tightened and throbbed with pain. The door opened, and the man who instantly intensified the density of the space got into the seat beside him.

“I heard you were with Lee Sunsoo.”

Just as he’d expected, Jang Seungyung immediately brought up the topic of Daol.

“Is Lee Sunsoo the close hyung you said you were meeting?”

Heewoo said nothing. Jang Seungyung watched his silent but stubborn-looking profile. Soon, the small Adam’s apple on his long neck bobbed. Heewoo nodded, avoiding his gaze.

“Yes. …He’s Daol hyung, a hyung who’s very good to me.”

In truth, Heewoo had already made up his mind after a difficult deliberation.

He knew that, despite the man’s endlessly generous attitude towards him, he could also be endlessly cruel. What would happen to Daol if he told the truth? His worries snowballed in an instant.

“I think Executive Director Jang Jooshin contacted Daol hyung first.”

If he hesitated any longer, he felt he would never be able to say it. Heewoo decided to squeeze his eyes shut and confess all at once, rather than be buried by an intangible avalanche.

“Maybe… hyung might have… betrayed Boss a little.”

When he stopped speaking, a heavy silence filled its place. Not having the courage to check the man’s reaction, Heewoo gripped his knees and continued in a half-resigned tone.

“Daol hyung said he was contacted unilaterally. He said he’s not a spy or anything. But still, being contacted is being contacted.”

Even then, there was still no reaction from Jang Seungyung. In the end, Heewoo had no choice but to lift his gaze. And then he found the man, who didn’t look surprised at all.

For a moment, a strange thought crossed a corner of his mind. Did this man really not know?

The moment his eyes met that firm, unwavering gaze, Heewoo felt his knees buckle even though he was sitting down. A strange premonition crept over him that this person might have known all along that Jang Jooshin had approached Daol.

“Thanks for telling me.”

At last, the man who had been silent spoke. His voice was still soft, but Heewoo suddenly felt short of breath.

“How did you know?”

he asked. Hearing the nonchalant tone, as if asking if that was all, Heewoo vaguely realized something. That while the man might have guessed about the relationship between Daol and Jang Jooshin, he didn’t know about the existence of the video.

Should I tell him that too?

However, unlike the matter of Daol being suspicious, that part didn’t seem like it would cause the man any harm. How long had he just been staring? Heewoo, who had been steadily composing his breathing, opened his mouth again.

“Hyung told me.”

“Hmm, you must have felt bad, like you were snitching on a close hyung.”

“……”

“……”

“…Yes.”

Silence again.

Heewoo became conscious of the paper bag with the bookstore’s logo on it, placed next to him. The rustling, lighthearted atmosphere from just a few hours ago felt like a lie. The air in the spacious car felt heavy. As if a heavy weight were attached to it, his gaze slowly dropped to the floor.

“I’m worried about Boss, and I’m worried about Daol hyung. I told you because I was more worried about Boss. So….”

He hesitated before adding his next words with difficulty.

“Can’t you not do anything to Daol hyung? Like just letting him go… on good terms.”

The twins and the man with the dyed hair once again floated in his mind like ominous shadows. It would be unbearable if Daol disappeared like them. Heewoo’s face turned expressionlessly pale.

“I’ll do anything.”

As he said that, Heewoo clenched his fists tightly. In contrast to his resolute words, his gaze, which wandered like a lost child’s, was fixed on the floor.

He was frozen in place. The man, whose thoughts were unreadable, opened his mouth and said briefly, “What’s this.”

“Why are you being shy.”

“…Ah.”

“Was I unknowingly being harsh to my lover?”

Jang Seungyung muttered. Only then did Heewoo raise his gaze.

The man, who had tilted his head, looked a bit dumbfounded, a bit bewildered. But the strongest emotion emanating from him was of a kind extremely familiar to Heewoo. The emotion in his eyes was clearly affection.

“Just say whatever you want. You don’t even have to ask. Give me an order. If you tell me to, I’ll even pretend to faint.”

“I won’t do anything to Lee Sunsoo.” Declaring it firmly, the man tapped the bridge of Heewoo’s nose. Heewoo blinked, dazed.

“That aside.”

His characteristically deep, resonant, and gentle voice continued.

“Is my little scaredy-cat okay? You must have been surprised by many things today.”

The man, who deliberately didn’t mention Kim Jinhwan’s name, smiled and slightly opened his arms.

A wave of relief washed over him all at once. Heewoo willingly leaned in and was enveloped in the wide embrace. As he buried his face in the surprisingly magnanimous chest, the tension drained from his body. A clear scent resembling a forest gently brushed against the tip of his nose, as if to soothe his heart.