Chapter 75: Chapter 75

The Country Life Diary of a Gangster's Secretary - c75@@novelbin@@

If he remembered correctly, it was around his second year of university. That year, on his birthday, Dohyun had thrown him a surprise birthday party. He vaguely remembered Dohyun decorating his own studio apartment, ordering food delivery, and preparing gifts.

In fact, that day, Dohyun had acted much more strangely than usual, so Hyeseong had a feeling something was up, but he didn’t know it was actually for his birthday party. In that sense, Dohyun’s plan could be considered a success.

Of course, Hyeseong was grateful to Dohyun and happy that someone sincerely celebrated his birthday, but on the other hand, he wondered if it was necessary to prepare the party in such secrecy. To that question, Dohyun had said,

He had said it so innocently. Of course, to Hyeseong, the words about the impact being doubled didn’t resonate at all, but he didn’t say anything more, thinking of his friend who had struggled for the party.

“Ahjussi, please go towards 00 intersection.”

“Yes.”

Hyeseong got in the taxi. And now, he was planning to do the same thing he had asked his friend in the past about why he did such a difficult thing.

Today was Ihyeok’s birthday. He had forgotten about it due to Kim Doo-sung’s issue, but it suddenly came to him recently when Pilhyun said he wanted to give him a gift as a reward.

That his birthday was coming up soon.

When he was Taesung’s secretary, he was always with Ihyeok, so when his birthday came around, he would personally congratulate him in the morning and prepare gifts when he had time. However, that was only possible when things were relaxed. After Taesung started to grow in size, both Ihyeok and Hyeseong became extremely busy, so birthdays were just treated as slightly more special days.

There were many times when they couldn’t celebrate on the actual birthday and had to congratulate in advance the day before or the day after. And given Ihyeok’s personality, there was no way he would have a grand event like a birthday party.

So Hyeseong had also planned to give the gift today if he was lucky enough to run into Ihyeok when he got off work, or give it to him tomorrow morning if he couldn’t. Ihyeok would be busy with the UK business trip and the Haein City redevelopment project, and his body would be tired, so he didn’t want to take up his time just to give a gift.

But suddenly, a thought occurred to him. The thought of wanting to see his face in person and give it to him on his actual birthday, the thought of wanting to do the incomprehensible thing that Dohyun had done in the past.

In other words, he wanted to do something he wouldn’t normally do.

Hyeseong thought as he got out of the taxi. He knew very well that the source of this ridiculous act was a feeling that should be buried. But right now, he just genuinely wanted to put this gift in Ihyeok’s hands before his birthday passed, without needing anything else.

“I didn’t expect to come back here.”

Hyeseong looked up at the tall building. It was his former workplace that he had frequented countless times until not long ago.

It was now a little past 8 PM. Today was Wednesday.

On Wednesdays, Ihyeok’s time off was a bit later. That’s because the regular meeting related to work took place every Wednesday before getting off work. The meeting would have ended long ago, but Ihyeok often stayed late, organizing the meeting content and reviewing work-related materials.

If he remembered correctly, it was around 8:30. Of course, this could be close to gambling. Ihyeok might have left right after the meeting, or the time he remembered could be slightly different. So it was a situation where they could easily miss each other, but Hyeseong decided to just wait and see for now.

He thought about going inside the building and waiting in the 1st-floor cafe, but he was worried about running into too many familiar employees, so Hyeseong took a spot and stood next to the building entrance.

For some reason, with his heart pounding, Hyeseong didn’t have any thoughts right now.

What would Ihyeok say if he suddenly came and gave him a gift? He felt nervous and excited at the same time. He took out his phone to check the time again, but to his surprise, the battery was completely drained as if it had died.

“Ah, did I come out without charging it?”

Moreover, unlike usual, he had been running around here and there all day today, so it was no wonder the battery drained quickly. There was still quite some time before Ihyeok would come out. It seemed best to ask the nearby convenience store to charge it until then.

Reviving his phone was the top priority in order to go back home later. Hyeseong ran into the convenience store next door. He couldn’t find a portable charger. When he asked the employee, the gloomy answer was that if it wasn’t there, they were all sold out. While buying a hot coffee and paying, he asked for a charge, and fortunately, the employee gladly plugged his phone into the charger.

Even while drinking coffee inside the convenience store, he didn’t forget to check that the gift wasn’t getting crumpled. Maybe 10 minutes would be enough? He planned to charge for that much and go back in front of the Taesung building.

“Um, excuse me. Customer?”

Just then, a young employee who seemed to be a part-timer peeked out from behind the counter.

“Yes?”

“Your phone turned on after charging, and calls keep coming in… A lot of text messages too…”

That couldn’t be. Hyeseong quickly walked over and took the phone from the employee.

But just as the employee said, the screen showed five missed calls and countless text messages. And they were all from one person.

[Hyeseong, where are you?]

[Who are you going to meet?]

[Forget it, let’s meet first. Please answer the phone.]

Hyeseong was frowning at Ihyeok’s messages. The screen rang again with a ding, and Ihyeok’s name appeared.

“He-hello?”

Hyeseong greeted the employee with his eyes and went outside.

– Where are you?

“Pardon?”

– That bast… No, forget it. Where are you? Let’s meet first.

Hyeseong was even more confused by Ihyeok’s urgent voice. What? Did something happen? He also had something to take care of, but Ihyeok’s reaction was quite startling.

There’s no way he figured out his surprise plan.

“I’m here in Gangnam…”

– Gangnam? That hotel again?

Hotel? Hyeseong tilted his head.

He could hear Ihyeok muttering over the phone, wondering why that guy kept taking the kid to hotels. Of course, it was something Hyeseong couldn’t understand at all.

“No. Ahjussi, please calm down. I’m not at a hotel, I’m here… in front of Taesung.”

– …What?

The other end of the phone suddenly went silent.

– Just wait there for now. Make sure to wait. Okay?

“Wait a minute…”

Before he could say anything, the call ended. What on earth? Hyeseong blankly stared at his phone screen, unable to understand his behavior.

“Hotel? That guy?”

He pondered the words Ihyeok had irritably spat out. No matter how much he thought about it, if he wasn’t mistaking the person on the call, it was a topic he couldn’t follow.

Hyeseong was tapping on the innocent asphalt ground when a familiar car skidded to a stop in the distance. Hyeseong’s head slowly rose.

And from inside, Ihyeok, who looked somewhat frustrated or even angry, got out. The missing tie, the unbuttoned top buttons, the hair covering his forehead in a mess. Hyeseong widened his eyes at his appearance, which was more disheveled than usual.

Ihyeok quickly walked towards Hyeseong.

“Cheon Hyeseong.”

“Ahjussi.”

Ihyeok still looked around sharply with angry eyes.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

Then Ihyeok narrowed his brow and blinked his eyes cleverly.

“Is that guy in the car? Or have you not met him yet?”

“What do you…”

“Whatever it is, don’t go today. No, just don’t go at all.”

Ihyeok grabbed Hyeseong’s wrist and pulled him. Hyeseong, who was defenseless, was dragged by him and ended up dropping the shopping bag he was holding.

“Wait a minute.”

Hyeseong tried to reach out for the shopping bag that had fallen to the floor with a thud, but even that was blocked by Ihyeok. To stop both of Hyeseong’s hands, he hugged him straight into his arms.

“Ahjussi? Just a moment, I dropped my stuff. Let me pick that up…”

Hyeseong was not only surprised to be suddenly embraced by Ihyeok, but he was also worried that the gift might be damaged, so he struggled to escape his arms somehow.

But Ihyeok didn’t let go and only used more force.

“You even bought an expensive gift for that guy. Following him to the hotel without knowing the dangers of the world. You really… I told you. Stop wasting your life.”

Ihyeok’s growling voice settled from above.

Even in the midst of confusion, Hyeseong began to calmly turn his mind. If he had to classify Ihyeok’s current mood, it was on the angry side. And he had no idea why.

It doesn’t seem to be because of him… But there was one thing that bothered him. The thing that had been mentioned since the phone call.

That guy, that bastard. Who on earth is that?

“Ahjussi, wait a minute. Please let me go.”

“No.”

“If you don’t let go, I won’t see you again.”

“…”

It was a declaration made half in desperation. For now, conversation was the top priority, but it didn’t seem like Ihyeok would back down if he didn’t do this. Fortunately, the threat worked, and his arms loosened.

Hyeseong, who escaped from his embrace, took a deep breath. Ihyeok had hugged him so tightly that he almost suffocated.

“Let’s go home. I’ll take you.”

Ihyeok, who had seemed angry, now even looked sad. Hyeseong blankly picked up the shopping bag he had dropped earlier. Then Ihyeok suddenly frowned.

“You…”

Ha, Ihyeok ran his hand through his hair as if he was angry.

“Give it to me. If you want to give it to that guy so badly, I’ll deliver it for you.”

“…I don’t know who that guy is, but there’s no need for that. This is for you.”

“Yeah… What?”

Hyeseong patted the shopping bag as usual.

“I don’t know what misunderstanding you’re having and what drama you’re filming on your own, but may I ask you one question at this point?”

Ihyeok stared at Hyeseong’s moving lips with a blank face.

“Who exactly is that guy or that bastard you’re referring to? Why do I have to go to a hotel and give a gift to someone I don’t know?”