chapter 14

After the meeting, Tae-oh walked with a serious expression, as if deeply immersed in his thoughts. Lately, he had been closely examining his own wavering emotions.

The cause of it all was from the first time he met Ahn Se-hyeon....

During the interview

"Hello. I'm Ahn Se-hyeon, the new employee."

Tae-oh turned his head as he was captivated by the sweet and melodic voice. Before him stood a man wearing a freshly bought suit, clearly indicating that he was a newcomer.Whether it was due to his fair skin that matched his white shirt or his calm expression that belied his youthful face, Tae-oh couldn't take his eyes off him for a moment.

Although they were hiring a new secretary this time, did he see his resume? Did the deputy office manager select him and hire him? If it wasn't the case, there was no way he could forget that face.

"I'm Tae-oh."

As Tae-oh opened his mouth, he looked into Ahn Se-hyeon's deep eyes. The colour of his pupils was so intense that his irises were barely visible. Because of that, Tae-oh felt as if his entire body was tightly bound by unseen threads, leaving him at a loss.

How did such a being suddenly appear out of nowhere, causing a significant rupture in his world? Tae-oh couldn't regain his composure as he looked at the unexpected presence of Ahn Se-hyeon.

Forcing himself to turn his gaze away from Se-hyeon, Tae-oh tried to regain his composure as if nothing happened. It was just a new secretary, that's all.

'What was I doing just now? Ah, shopping. I was shopping.' Tae-oh reached out his hand aimlessly, trying to grasp something.

As he belatedly realized what he had grabbed, a padded jacket that was completely out of his taste, he was about to put it back when...

"This..."

He remembered Ahn Se-hyeon wearing this white padded jacket. It was the first time he had seen the person in front of him, yet why was he having such absurd thoughts? Still he asked se-hyeon..

"Would you like me to give it to you as a gift?"

It seemed that Se-hyeon noticed that the padded jacket was not to Tae-oh's liking. Despite not holding onto it for long, Se-hyeon seemed perceptive.

"If you could let me know then I will tell the recipient to pack the size that fits their body."

"You......Jin-ha", tae-oh was at a loss but still didn't say anything to stop  him.

"Understood."

Se-hyeon personally continued the purchase of the padded jacket with the employee, and as Tae-oh saw his back, he realized that Se-hyeon was quite tall, something he hadn't noticed before due to his small face.

****

Recalling the first time he saw Se-hyeon, Tae-oh came back to present and cast an irritated gaze at the deputy office manager(it's the chief secretary which se-hyeon save as fourth number in his phone).

"Why are you looking at me like that? Is it still bothering you that I'm the fourth person?" The deputy office manager, seemingly unable to let go of the matter, asked if Tae-oh was still hung up on being the fourth person.

"I don't know either. So just stop bringing it up."

The deputy office manager grew irritated, saying that Tae-oh should only take so much as if he were raising a jealous brat rather than serving the CEO.

"I'm the CEO. Can you speak to me informally like that?"

The deputy office manager snapped back at Tae-oh, pointing to himself.

"Do you know that I'm your senior?"

"Do you know that I'm taller and bigger than you?" Tae-oh also fire back.

"If you're going to talk nonsense like that, why did you even scout me?"

"Because the senior liked me."

"Let's just do well, junior."

Lee Jin-ho(chief secretary) sighed at Tae-oh's insistence on mentioning their senior-junior relationship.

"Don't attract unnecessary attention from him..."

Muttering to himself as if Tae-oh and the tangled relationship of senior and junior were the biggest flaws in his life, Jin-ho suddenly became annoyed. It was because Tae-oh's eyes were still half-closed.

"Open your eyes properly. What's wrong with you?"

"Ahn Se-hyeon."

"What about Ahn? Why are you bringing him up?"

"I didn't appreciate the way you hired him without even talking to me."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Why should I talk to you? I had his resume right in front of me. Should I have shoved it in your face and made you read it?"

Lee Jin-ho grumbled as if he had heard all sorts of strange things, prompting Tae-oh to raise an eyebrow.

"I don't remember seeing the resume. How could I forget the picture of Ahn Se-hyeon's face that was pasted on it?"

"Ah..."

Only then did jin-oh realize why he had asked such things. Lee Jin-ho handed him the tablet.

Tae-oh accessed the employee's personnel information page and looked at the picture that was attached at the top of the resume.

"Look. This is the initial identification photo. It was the first time I've seen such a bad picture, so I told him to retake it after he joined."

Tae-oh received the tablet and examined the picture that was pasted on the top of the resume.

"I remember this. The bangs covered most of the face, and the nose looked flattened. I recall telling him to change the photo after seeing him in person."

Lee Jin-ho turned off Se-hyeon's personal information and pressed the elevator button.

"Take good care of Ahn Se-hyeon so he doesn't run away. There's no one else who knows you as well as I do."

Tae-oh remained silent in response to the nagging, just as Lee Jin-ho expected. Lee Jin-ho's eyebrows twitched as he saw Tae-oh's serious face reflected in the elevator.

What's wrong with him?

"What's the matter? Why aren't you responding?"

"He knew me well. Yes, why didn't I think of that?"

When they first met, Tae-oh dragged Jin-ho into a conversation about wanting to give him a padded jacket. It was just a slip of the tongue, thinking of someone other than jin-ha, but Tae-oh's unexpected reaction was immediate.When se-hyeon didn't ask who Jin-ha was. He even purchased a padded jacket in a size that would

fit his body.when he didn't even tell about the person to se-hyeon.

"What are you talking about?" Lee jin-oh inquired

"Ahn Se-hyeon said he knew Jin-ha from the beginning."

As if he had known him all along... Could it be that se-hyeon knew himself and volunteered for the secretary position? Then when did he actually know about Tae-oh and his personal life?

After over three years of working together, Lee Jin-ho was frustrated with his own ignorance for only now questioning these doubts. Could this be a starting point to become closer to Ahn Se-hyeon?

"And what did I say? I taught him."

"Oh, really?"

Tae-oh's face brightened with the question being resolved faster than expected, and Lee Jinho clicked his tongue.

"I told him that  you wanted to marry Jin-ha, didn't you?"

"Did I say that?"

"Yeah, you were acting like you were choosing a marriage partner as if picking clothes.Anyway, you suddenly started showering him with gifts, all sent through the secretary. The secretary did a good job discreetly handling it, even for a newly arrived employee..."

Lee Jin-ho grumbled with dissatisfaction.

Tae-oh pondered over why his past self had acted that way, his expression becoming serious.

"I was definitely thinking of marrying Yoo Jin-ha. But something feels off."

He had believed that Yoo Jin-ha was his destined partner. It felt like someone had built a dam, disrupting the natural flow of their growing fondness.

There was only one way to handle this.

"I need to confront it head-on."

***

Standing in front of Yoo Jin-ha's house again, Se-hyeon wondered why he was here.

"Suddenly, I received a call, and he said he wanted to meet. I agreed to come."

He didn't ask for the reason behind it. There was a sudden silence in the middle of the conversation, and Yoo Jin-ha's voice sounded weak as he said he wanted to meet and listen.

"What is he up to?"

Se-hyeon tilted his head, looking at the bags he had brought with him. He wondered if it was okay for him to come forward like this just because they had met once yesterday. He should have just dealt with what needed to be done and left, but this was just... And it was none other than Yoo Jin-ha.

"Maybe it's about cycling or stress."

Normally, yoo jin-ha was healthy, but whenever it was related to Ha Min-hyuk, he felt a strange ache.so maybe it's about him that his voice was weak.

Regardless, Se-hyeon prepared the medication based on his recollection. He brought a specific medication to suppress the cycle of a certain condition that Yoo Jin-ha was responsive to, as well as a medicine to reduce fever. He also brought an ion drink to relieve dehydration and thirst in case Yoo Jin-ha hadn't eaten.

"I don't know either."

He had already bought everything, and now all that was left was to give them. Se-hyeon pushed aside his sceptical feelings about his own actions and pressed the doorbell. Yoo Jin-ha appeared shortly after, and when their eyes met, Se-hyeon involuntarily swallowed the sigh that was about to escape.

"Are you still in pain?"

Jin-ha was in pain yesterday, and he's still in pain today. How many days is he going to suffer?

"Ah... I'm fine. Please come in."

Se-hyeon nodded and entered first, and jin-ha followed, watching his back. When they entered the living room, Se-hyeon sat on the sofa and noticed a familiar box.

Yoo Jin-ha went into the kitchen.

"Would you like some coffee?"

"I'm okay. I want to hear what you have to say."

Yoo Jin-ha sat across from Se-hyeon with a slightly awkward expression, gauging his

reaction.

"I'm sorry for calling you over when I should have gone to you."

"You said for me to come, so don't worry about it. But before anything else, please take this."

"What is it?"

Yoo Jin-ha's gaze shifted uneasily between the plastic bag and the paper envelope.

"I bought the medicine because I thought you might have a fever. And these are porridge and ion drinks."

"Why did you...?"

That's what I'm wondering too. Why hasn't Yoo Jin-ha's condition improved?

I was hoping that everything I brought would be useless and you were ok. But he choose to remain silent.

"Did Tae-oh hyung send them?"

Since he always come with gifts from Shin Tae-oh, one could think that way.

Shin Tae-oh would earn points for taking care of a sick person.

"...No."

Although se-hyeon had hesitated in his mind, the words that came out of his mouth were the opposite.The reason was simple....

'If I shake Yoo Jin-ha, I'll be the one at a loss.'

It's true that Shin Tae-oh expressing his feelings towards Yoo Jin-ha bothered him, but it's not acceptable for Yoo Jin-ha to waver towards Shin Tae-oh when he didn't put efforts in buying the medicine.It's a bit frustrating that Tae-oh didn't do a good job, but there's nothing he can do about it.

"Please have it all. If you're full, you can share it."

"Thank you."

Yoo Jin-ha embraced everything Se-hyeon had brought. There seemed to be something he wanted to say but couldn't, and while he hesitated, Se-hyeon turned his head and pointed to the box.

"Are you trying to return it?"

"Yes."

Thank goodness. He haven't thrown away the receipt yet.

"I understand. Could you tell me the reason for refusing?"

Se-hyeon asked while carefully gathering the items in the box. There was no particular reason. Just like usual, he thought he should refuse and not accept anything from Shin Tae-oh, so he acted that way.

"Because it's right to refuse."

Se-hyeon's pupils flickered as he sensed Yoo Jin-ha's apologetic emotions. It reminded him once again that Shin Tae-oh was just a supporting character who liked Yoo Jin-ha.

Perhaps Tae-oh's feelings had shifted due to the events that unfolded in the cycle.

'Pull yourself together.'

It was a good decision to come to meet Yoo Jin-ha. It allowed him to firmly rebuild the wall that had wavered slightly.