CH 238

“Yesterday we talked to them first, but we all have the same opinion. There was nothing suspicious at all.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who was ready to go out, tilted his head slightly at Park Geon-ho’s report.

“Then did you really come there to work?”

“No joke, I was so busy.”

Cheon Sa-yeon laughed at the clever reply.

Yesterday I went with Ha Tae-heon, Park Geon-ho, and Kim Woo-jin, so today it was Cheon Sa-yeon, Woo Seo-hyuk, and Kwon Jeong-han’s turn. Edward, who was watching us before departure, opened his mouth with an apologetic face.

“I’m sorry. I have to find a way out quickly…”

“Don’t be burdened.”

Even we, not the producer, could fully understand how large and complex this space was. Edward had to figure out such a place by himself, not even a space control person, so there was no reason for him to be sorry.

“Please keep looking for it without overdoing it. That’s enough.”

“When the conversation is over, let’s leave immediately.”

I got up from the sofa and patted Kim Woo-jin’s head a couple of times who had worried eyes while clinging to my side. Park Geon-ho, who was silently looking at it, turned his gaze to Cheon Sa-yeon.

“Master.”

“Say it.”

“Han Yi-gyeol has been uneasy since yesterday, so it seems that he needs to be checked every time he works.”

“Yes?”

Surprised by the unexpected words, I looked back at Park Geon-ho. I didn’t expect Park Geon-ho would say that. Cheon Sa-yeon, like me, asked with a curious expression as if it was quite surprising.

“I didn’t know that you care so much about Talented Han Yi-gyeol, Team Leader Park Geon-ho.”

“Well, he’s so weak.”

Park Geon-ho smiled brightly with the answer. That’s right. He was just making fun of me.

“I’m not weak. Yesterday… I was just tired a bit.”

So, everyone was very quick-witted. Watching people keep saying that I failed to manage my facial expressions once again, I only sighed.

Yesterday… Kwon Se-hyun’s conversation with Ha Tae-heon felt much more uncomfortable than I expected, so I lost my composure. It was even more difficult because I was able to clearly see what Kwon Se-hyun was thinking while looking at Ha Tae-heon.

“My opinion is the same. I think you should rest in the hotel.”

“Han Yi-gyeol. You just go one more day. Take a rest here then. Ung?”

In the end, Ha Tae-heon and Kim Woo-Jin also stepped in and started to add words one by one. I really couldn’t go back to work if I let this go any longer. I hurriedly greeted the people and pushed Cheon Sa-yeon’s back.

“It’s really okay. I’ll be back, everyone, please take a rest.”

I hurriedly left the room, leaving behind the people who were about to express their worries out of their mouths at any moment. Woo Seo-hyuk, who was slowly pushed out, opened his mouth.

“Han Yi-gyeol-ssi, if you’re sick, you have to tell me. Hiding it can make it more dangerous.”

“Of course. I know it well.”

Even though I answered with an awkward smile, Woo Seo-hyuk’s eyes were still full of concern.

I was grateful for everyone’s concern, but today I couldn’t help it. While Cheon Sa-yeon was working, he and Kwon Se-hyun would be running into each other all day, I couldn’t leave it alone. Just imagining the two of them talking in a place where I wasn’t there gave me chills.

‘This time, no matter what happens, I will never show it.’

Today I had two goals. First, to prevent Cheon Sa-yeon and Kwon Se-hyun from meeting as much as possible. Second, to prevent the information that I was Kwon Se-hyun from leaking out.

No matter how fake Kwon Se-hyun was made… unless I could get out of here right away, it was natural for me to hide my identity. Both were important, so I should be careful not to make even the slightest mistake. I made up my mind and headed to Dies.

* * *

“Well…”

As the four of us changed clothes just like yesterday, when the four of us came out alone, Go Dong-ju made a complicated expression and touched the corner of his mouth.

“We must be terribly busy today.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. First of all, Han Yi-gyeol… is it? You go up to the third floor to meet Hyung-nim. I think the other three should work in the same position as the yesterday’s guys.”

“Is the red guy not coming today?”

A man who had dyed his hair bright orange and had a triangular tattoo on his neck suddenly stepped in from behind Go Dong-ju. It was Park Joo-won (박주원), one of the bartenders.

‘Have you become close with Kim Woo-jin?’

Even if they didn’t, it looked like he was on good terms with him yesterday.

Park Joo-won was 27 years old, so he was able to communicate with Kim Woo-jin to some extent. Then it wasn’t too much to make friends. If this space was real, I would have welcomed him with both hands up to see him getting close to Kim Woo-jin, but it was a pity.

“Kim Woo-jin didn’t come.”

“Oh, my. So, does anyone out there know how to make cocktails?”

I was about to answer yes, but a sudden thought came to me and I looked back at Woo Seo-hyuk.

“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi, do you know how to make cocktails?”

“I know how to make coffee, but I have never done cocktails.”

Still, among the four of us, I thought it would be better for Woo Seo-hyuk to take charge of the bar in many ways. Not to mention Cheon Sa-yeon and Kwon Jeong-han were such young masters, it would be their first time working in a place like this.

“Oh, if you’ve done with some coffees, you can do enough simple things. One has to come to our side anyway. We’re going to be full of customers at night like yesterday, but the three of us can’t handle it.”

Park Joo-won, who had the same opinion as me, brightened his eyes and smiled while holding Woo Seo-hyuk’s shoulder. His eyebrows lifted upwards and the pointed canine teeth I saw every time he smiled gave a particularly cat-like impression.

Just by looking at it, Woo Seo-hyuk was a lot older than him, but his informal talk was very natural. I had felt it before, but that Park Joo-won kid would have said the same to me if my position hadn’t been higher.

“Then this hyung will follow Joo-won. The other two will serve as the other guys did yesterday.”

Go Dong-ju, who gave orders in a sullen tone, continued to point upwards at me. It meant that I had to go up to the third floor to work quickly.

I’m going, I’m going. I groaned inwardly and climbed the stairs. I couldn’t believe I had to stick around with Kwon Se-hyun today. Of course, there were good points, but the inconvenience was unavoidable.

After knocking on the office door a couple of times, I went inside and saw Kwon Se-hyun sitting on the sofa and putting something on the table.

“You’re just in time. Come and sit down.”

“……?”

What is it? I skipped the greeting and sat down on the sofa opposite and Kwon Se-hyun pushed what he was holding in front of me. It was a lunch box.

“Eat.”

“What kind of lunch box is it all of a sudden?”

“I couldn’t eat and came in a hurry and ordered it separately, but the others ate it all. It’s leftovers, so you eat.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who explained in an unusually tired voice, picked up chopsticks. His face looking down at the lunch box was full of tiredness.

Only then did I remember what happened yesterday. My words that Go Dong-ju wasn’t a traitor had confused him to the point where he couldn’t even sleep.

“Well… that’s expected this time.’

I understood his feeling, so I didn’t say anything and picked up my chopsticks. The lunch box was an ordinary convenience store lunch box, nothing special.

So, Kwon Se-hyun and I sat face to face and ate a lunch box without a conversation. I looked at Kwon Se-hyun while putting a rolled egg in my mouth.

In the past few days, Kwon Se-hyun, who had lost a lot of weight before, had no appetite and ate a packed lunch. He only ate to satisfy his hunger and didn’t care much about the taste.

Me and Kwon Se-hyun left a lunch box similarly. However, before I came here, I had lunch with everyone, so the situation was different from Kwon Se-hyun.

“Are you not going to eat more?”

“It’s okay. Get up when you’ve finished eating.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who even took my lunch box and put it in a bag, got up.

“Let’s go get some coffee…”

The Americano, which I bought yesterday, added three shots, must have been a huge hit. He went down to the first floor with his shoulders drooping slightly from fatigue.

“Oh? Hyung-nim, where are you going?”

“Buy coffee.”

“Then I will go instead.”

“No. I’m going myself.”

Go Dong-ju, who had lost his energy after a clean rejection, looked at me secretly who was with Kwon Se-hyun. He meant to follow along and help out.

‘Ah, he really likes Kwon Se-hyun…’

Even though I knew it at the time, it wasn’t easy to believe it comfortably. I had several anxiety symptoms along with insomnia…

Kwon Se-hyun was also confused now, but after a while, he would become more comfortable. It became clear that the younger brother staying by his side wasn’t a traitor.

As I smiled awkwardly at Go Dong-ju and followed Kwon Se-hyun to leave Dies, I found Cheon Sa-yeon looking this way. Cheon Sa-yeon’s black eyes were focused on Kwon Se-hyun, not me.

“……”

The moment I realized it, a stinging pain passed through my heart as if it had been pierced by a needle. It happened so quickly that I had no idea why.

‘What is it?’

I went to the cafe I visited yesterday with Kwon Se-hyun, touching the painful chest. The staff I saw at that time greeted me with a smile.

“Welcome.”

“Two vanilla lattes please.”

Of course, I was surprised that I thought he would order drinks for himself, so I grabbed Kwon Se-hyun’s arm when he pulled out the card.

“I’m fine.”

“Why? You drank well yesterday.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who looked down at his arm that was caught by me for a moment, smiled and made the payment.

Kwon Se-hyun, who gave me a vanilla latte in my hand, took a straw and left the cafe. As soon as something sweet entered his mouth, his expression improved as if his fatigue had subsided. On the contrary, I was getting more disturbed and didn’t even want to drink coffee.

It was Cheon Sa-yeon who welcomed us back to Dies. Cheon Sa-yeon, who was sitting on the sofa in the hall, seemed to have been waiting since we left and as soon as he saw Kwon Se-hyun walking in, he approached right away.

Kwon Se-hyun, who frowned slightly at Cheon Sa-yeon’s behaviour, who was blocking his way, raised his head.

“What is it?”

“I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment. Only the two of us separately.”

“What the conversation… it’s opening soon, are you not working?”

Cheon Sa-yeon wasn’t offended by the answer filled with annoyance and asked again.

“Then will you give me time after the business is over?”

Kwon Se-hyun let out a deep sigh at the momentum that he would continue to bother until he gave a positive answer. After thinking about it while sweeping the back of his neck, he finally nodded.

“…10 minutes or so.”

“That is enough.”

As if Kwon Se-hyun’s permission was quite pleasant, Cheon Sa-yeon smiled brightly as he bent the corners of his eyes.

“……”

Watching it from behind, I felt a stinging pain in my heart again and numbly touched my chest.