* * *
At the very time Junhee had been holed up in the meeting room, long past office hours.
His heart started beating faster for no reason.
Why hadn’t he taken his phone with him?
No—if he had, would he have answered?
More importantly, why had Taeryu suddenly called after all this time?
Questions with no answers swirled in his head.
“How’s work?”
Junwoo’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
“…What?”
“I asked how work’s been.”
“Oh. It’s completely different from what I used to do, but my team members have been very helpful, so I’m managing.”
“And me?”
“….”
“I guess I haven’t been much help to Assistant Manager Yoo Junhee.”
“Of course, I appreciate your support too, Team Leader.”
“This feels like I forced you to say that.”
Junwoo chuckled, but Junhee couldn’t bring himself to laugh along.
“I’ve said it before—if you ever need anything, just ask. It doesn’t even have to be work-related.”
Junhee had decided long ago never to say things he didn’t mean.
So instead of responding, he kept his head down, staring at the table.
A moment later, their food arrived, and they exchanged small talk about work.
“Oh, right. I checked the sample. That developer is seriously talented. He even implemented features that seemed too complex, proactively suggesting solutions himself.”
Junwoo continued with more praise—his Korean was excellent, he communicated well, and unlike most developers, he was flexible.
Junhee nodded along.
“Yes, he’s quite impressive.”
Just as he picked up a piece of pickled radish with his chopsticks, Junwoo asked, sounding intrigued,
“You must’ve gotten close?”
“…No, not really.”
How should he put it? Vincent was…
“He has a great personality.”
He didn’t bother adding that Vincent’s cat was ridiculously cute.
For some reason, he felt guilty even thinking about it.
Was it because he had spent too much time chatting instead of working?
Or because he had secretly looked at all the cat pictures Vincent sent during office hours?
Either way, whenever Junwoo was around, he found himself getting unnecessarily tense.
Thankfully, the meal wrapped up without issue.
“I’ll go pull the car around.”
“Okay.”
As soon as Junwoo headed for the parking lot, Junhee made a beeline for the counter.
Since he had said he’d treat dinner, settling the bill would put a neat end to their arrangement.
But—
“It’s already been paid for.”
…When had he done that?
Junhee asked them to check again, but the answer remained the same.
“A tall man already covered it.”
“…I see. Thank you.”
With no other choice, he turned to leave.
Just as he reached the exit, a couple walked in, and he instinctively stepped aside to let them pass.
As the glass door slid open—
“…!”
Like an illusion, a dangerous scent drifted toward him.
Junhee quickly lowered his head.
Please, just walk past.
But instead, the man’s steps came to a halt—right in front of him.
From his lowered gaze, Junhee could see polished leather shoes, shining like new.
“…Yoo Junhee.”
The weight of that voice dug into his ears, leaving him no choice but to look up.
From tailored pants to strong thighs, a lean waist cinched by a belt, and the familiar pattern of a tie resting above a well-defined Adam’s apple—
His eyes slowly, inevitably, traveled upward.
Dark, piercing eyes locked onto him with an unsettling intensity.
“…Good evening.”
He barely forced the words out.
Director.
At the softly murmured call, Ki Taeryu tilted his head slightly.
“What brings you here?”
The real question should have been the other way around.
“I came to eat.”
“Oh, I see. I thought you were here to keep an eye on me.”
What kind of surveillance?
Just as Junhee was about to ask, his gaze naturally drifted past Ki Taeryu’s imposing figure.
‘Ah, right… Earlier, there were definitely two people…’
Because of Ki Taeryu’s overwhelming presence, he had momentarily forgotten that there were two figures beyond the doorway.
At the end of Junhee’s gaze, a woman was smiling faintly.
Her delicate features and gentle impression were striking.
He was sure this was their first meeting, yet at the same time, she looked incredibly familiar.
“…Ah.”
Junhee soon realized why.
The reason her face seemed so familiar was none other than the fact that she was the woman from the ‘Recessive Omega Profile’—the one Junhee had personally handed over to Ki Taeryu.
‘My client was absolutely smitten. Said he had perfect manners and was just too ideal. He even requested an after-date right away—he called me first thing in the morning about it.’
Junhee recalled what the junior staff member had told him.
The woman, still staring intently at him, took a step forward and gently tugged at Taeryu’s sleeve.
“Do you know him?”
Junhee tensed, unsure of what Ki Taeryu might say.
“Oh, this is my manager.”
The reply was so flatly indifferent that it nearly made Junhee scoff.
Only then did the woman curve her lips into a polite smile and greet him.
“Oh, I see. Hello, I’m Na Nayoung.”
“…Yoo Junhee.”
Junhee returned the greeting with a slight nod.
As he lowered his head briefly, his gaze landed on their intertwined arms.
Ki Taeryu hadn’t shaken off the woman’s hold on him.
“Well then, I hope you both enjoy your time together.”
An inexplicable nausea welled up in his stomach at the sight.
Both of them responded with similar pleasantries, but Junhee didn’t linger to hear more.
He swiftly turned on his heel and left before anyone could stop him.
Only after stepping outside and closing the door behind him did he finally release the breath he’d been holding.
“…Ha.”
When the junior staff member had first mentioned it, it hadn’t felt real.
Because the idea that Ki Taeryu could appear refined and well-mannered in front of someone else was something Junhee simply couldn’t believe.
Yet, the man he had just seen looked perfectly at ease beside her—so much so that it was almost unfamiliar.
The woman was also a recessive Omega, just like Junhee.
But unlike him, she had a solid education, a stable job, and even came from a respectable family.
In other words, apart from being an Omega, she and Junhee had nothing in common.
‘Well. They’re a good match.’
At the very least, she seemed capable of satisfying Ki Taeryu.
And there was no reason for her to reject him either.
As Moon Doyoung had once said, Taeryu was the kind of Alpha that any Omega would desire.
Sometimes, he could be unexpectedly considerate, and he was sharp enough to always say exactly what someone wanted to hear.
Compared to someone like Kang Haesung, who threw his weight around and toyed with one Omega after another…
‘No. What am I even thinking?’
Junhee forcefully cut off his own train of thought.
Regardless, if things continued smoothly, they would eventually get married.
And when that happened, he would finally be able to put an end to his unfair contract with Ki Taeryu—something he had wanted more than anything.
That was what truly mattered.
Everything that had been in disarray was finally falling back into place.
‘…So why do I feel like shit?’
The fact that he didn’t even know why made it all the more unsettling.
If he was someone who could so easily form a connection with another person, then why had he burdened Junhee with so much turmoil all this time?
It wasn’t just frustrating—it was infuriating.
Grinding his teeth in an effort to suppress the emotions surging within him, Junhee suddenly sensed someone approaching.
“What are you doing out here? You disappeared without a word, so I was starting to think you’d been kidnapped.”
“…Oh. Team Leader.”
He had completely forgotten that Cha Junwoo was waiting for him in the parking lot.
Junwoo glanced down at Junhee’s slightly reddened eyes with concern.
“You didn’t get tipsy off a single beer, did you?”
He had been offered a drink during dinner and only had one glass.
But Junhee knew full well that wasn’t the problem.
“No, it’s not that. I just… suddenly don’t feel well.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Ever since catching a whiff of Ki Taeryu’s pheromones up close, his stomach had been in knots.
And now, with Cha Junwoo’s dominant Alpha scent in the mix, he felt like he might gag if he let his guard down for even a second.
…Just like that time at the Daejeon branch, when he had been caught between both of them.
“You said that last time too.”
“…Huh?”
“Wait here. I’ll grab some medicine from the convenience store… No, there isn’t one nearby.”
Junhee had only been honest because he wanted to go home as soon as possible, but unexpectedly, Cha Junwoo seemed flustered.
“Oh, I’ll go ask the restaurant owner for something. Just stay put for a moment.”
“No, really, Team Leader. I’m fine.”
“Just wait in the car. I’ll be right back.”
Junhee barely had time to protest before Junwoo tried to press his car keys into his hand.
Caught up in their back-and-forth, neither of them noticed someone approaching.
“Tsk. Look at you two.”
At the sharp remark, both Junhee and Cha Junwoo turned their heads at the same time.
Ki Taeryu stood there, leaning against the wall with a smirk curling his lips.
His gaze settled on their hands, nearly touching as they struggled over the keys.
Startled, Junhee quickly looked up at him, just as Cha Junwoo took a step forward to face him directly.
“It’s been a while. Do you remember me now?”
Ki Taeryu’s expression hardened instantly.
“…No. I have no idea who you are.”
Junhee, feeling like an awkward bystander, could only watch anxiously as the conversation unfolded.
“Well, we lived in the same neighborhood and ran into each other often,” Junwoo said. “Red brick house—does that ring a bell?”
At those words, Ki Taeryu’s face darkened, his expression turning a cold, stormy gray—like the sky just before a blizzard.
* * *
