* * *
“Mr. Yoo, were you able to get your phone fixed?” Junhee’s team leader asked as he returned to the office.
With a face weighed down by despair, Junhee just shook his head silently, and the team leader nodded sympathetically and sent him back to his seat.
‘Maybe I’ll have to get a temporary phone.’
The issue was that he couldn’t afford a new phone right now.
He hadn’t even paid off the installments for the broken phone, which he’d bought with the intention of using for at least five years.
But it wasn’t just the phone payments.
The payments on household items and furniture he’d bought for his current apartment were still unfinished.
He’d even made a big purchase for his younger siblings recently, only completing the first installment on that too.
Dipping into his savings wasn’t an option.
The silver lining was that one of his savings accounts would mature next month.
If he could just hold out until then.
‘Wait, I already have a spare phone…’
Junhee rummaged through his desk drawer and pulled out an old gray phone.
It was five years old and definitely showed signs of wear, but it was still fully functional.
‘Just for a month.’
With care, he removed the SIM card from his deceased phone and inserted it into the old device.
Surprisingly, there was already a SIM card inside.
It seemed defective since it hadn’t been recognized before, but he saved it just in case.
Junhee powered down the phone to let the new SIM take effect, then turned it back on.
‘Downloading USIM information…’
As he waited, he caught a glimpse of another message flashing across the screen: ‘Information copying, transferring…’
It was so brief that he wasn’t sure if he’d seen it correctly, and the message window had already disappeared.
‘It’s probably nothing—just a SIM card swap.’
As he pondered, a flood of old messages began pouring in.
[Siwon: Hyung, did you get home safe?]
[Siwon: Oh right, your phone is broken.]
[Siwon: Junhee-hyung, I’m really sorry.]
[Siwon: Let me know once it’s fixed… I’ll be waiting.]
Most of the messages, unsurprisingly, were from Siwon.
But there was another unexpected message, too.
[Moon Doyoung: Junhee, how did it go? Are we still meeting today?]
Junhee closed the phone and started his work, albeit slowly and unenthusiastically.
After a while, he ran a hand over his face and finally stood up.
He couldn’t focus and figured he’d get some coffee instead.
While he was at it, he decided to get drinks for his team members, and as he looked around the office, he noticed Jiyeon’s desk was empty.
“Is Ms. Jiyeon at an offsite meeting?”
“Oh! Senior Jiyeon is in the meeting room with a client,” the intern answered. “It’s the VIP client.”
‘Ah, right. She said she might get assigned a VIP client soon.’
“Yes…”
“And it’s their first meeting today, so I guess she’s being thorough.”
Junhee nodded and sincerely hoped, for Jiyeon’s sake, that her VIP client wasn’t another nightmare like certain other clients they’d dealt with.
He left the office, mentally noting each person’s usual coffee preferences.
‘Iced Americano for the team leader, decaf latte with an extra shot for Jiyeon.’
Junhee reached the café in the building, placed the order, and planned to zone out a bit while he waited. But even that didn’t go smoothly.
‘It’s not that I like him; he just… intrigues me, that’s all. It’s not love.’
‘Who imagines being in bed with family?’
‘Promise you won’t lie to me anymore and that you’ll listen to me.’
A series of overlapping voices and thoughts flooded Junhee’s mind, leaving him flustered.
‘…What am I supposed to say to Doyoung?’
‘Siwon isn’t interested in you, and I’m the one he’s actually drawn to?’
If, on top of everything, the photos of him and Ki Taeryu together leaked…
His coworkers weren’t the issue; Doyoung would probably barge into the office and slap him on the spot.
Worse, as a shareholder’s son, he could probably use his influence to fire Junhee, barring him from any job in this field or beyond.
After years of climbing up from the bottom, his life felt like it was teetering on the edge.
“Sir? Your drink is ready.”
Snapping out of his daze, Junhee saw that the vibrating pager in his hand was buzzing frantically.
He hurried to the counter to grab the drinks and took the elevator back up.
After handing out the coffees to his team, he headed toward the meeting rooms.
Unable to focus at his desk, he thought he might at least meditate in an empty meeting room until Jiyeon’s meeting ended so he could give her the coffee.
Just as he passed by a room with a “Meeting in Progress. Please Knock” sign, he heard voices.
“Thank you, Manager.”
“No, thank you. I look forward to working with you.”
The office door opened just then, revealing two people.
One was, predictably, Jiyeon, but the other was an entirely unexpected figure.
“Uh? Yoon Junhee?”
“Assistant, Assistant! How do you know Cha Yoonjae?”
“…Well, it’s a bit complicated, but we’re loosely connected through a mutual acquaintance.”
“Wow, even so, he seemed really happy to see you! You’ve got quite the network, don’t you, Assistant?”
Jiyeon shook her head in amazement.
Meeting Cha Yoonjae here again had been as unexpected for Junhee as it surely was for him.
“Honestly, I was so nervous about handling a VIP member for the first time, but he seems like a great person! He speaks so kindly and even smiles at the little things, you know? You can really sense the dignity of a top Omega!”
Junhee took a sip of coffee, feeling his throat dry slightly.
“I think I finally get why people say good-looking people are often nice too. It’s usually the ones who feel insecure about their appearance that have nasty personalities, right?”
“…I’m not sure.”
Although he answered vaguely, Junhee couldn’t agree with that sentiment at all.
He knew someone whose personality was the complete opposite of their looks.
“Well, I mean, even Mr. Moon Doyoung looks like he could enchant anyone with just his appearance… Anyway, I really hope today’s meeting went well and that it stays that way. Unless he changes unexpectedly…”
Seeing Jiyeon fret, Junhee finally spoke up.
“I don’t think Mr. Cha Yoonjae would do that. Though brief, we chatted a bit in private, and he seemed like a kind person.”
What had happened with Kim Daehan could be excused as a lovers’ quarrel.
Hadn’t he even apologized to Junhee the very next day?
“Really? That’s such a relief. I really want to, without a doubt, match him with someone great!”
But that was the problem.
“He’s definitely still dating that doctor.”
It had only been last week that Jiyeon told him about handling a new VIP member.
Right after that, there had been Moon Doyoung’s birthday party, and he had seen the two of them there together.
As someone who had witnessed their reconciliation, Junhee found the situation perplexing.
Pretending I don’t know is easy enough…
But he worried about being misunderstood as if he were drawing Cha Yoonjae into matchmaking behind his back if it all came out later.
“Oh! I need to report to the manager, so I’ll get going now. Let’s chat again soon, Assistant!”
After Jiyeon left, Junhee began tidying up when a message notification pinged on his phone.
The sender’s number wasn’t saved, but it was one he recognized.
[Junhee, if you’re free after work, would you mind sparing a bit of time?]
A sleek car slid to a stop in front of a waiting Junhee.
The car was a rounded white foreign model.
“Hop in, Junhee.”
Junhee got into the car and greeted Yoonjae.
“Thank you for coming personally.”
“I was the one who asked for time; I couldn’t very well make you come to me.”
He hadn’t had any specific plans anyway, so making time wasn’t difficult.
Yoonjae had suggested they visit his studio since they were meeting, and Junhee had agreed.
When he asked about the location since it wasn’t on the business card, Yoonjae offered to pick him up directly. After two refusals, Junhee eventually gave in, seeing that he wouldn’t relent.
As the light changed, the car moved forward smoothly.
Yoonjae, hair tied back, looked over at him and spoke.
“You must’ve been surprised because of me today.”
“…No, I’m sure you were surprised too, Yoonjae.”
“Fate really seems to exist, doesn’t it? I never expected to run into you there.”
Junhee was having similar thoughts.
The world could feel vast and boundless at times, but also as small as a well.
“First things first, you must be hungry, so let’s go eat. I’ve reserved a French restaurant.”
Something about the mention of a “nice restaurant” reminded Junhee of the absurd prices at a Chinese restaurant he’d seen before.
“Oh, I’m fine. If you’re not that hungry, maybe just some tea…”
“Of course, I’m starving. I’d love to discuss a few things, and as a thank-you for listening to me, please let me treat you. It’s the least I can do for taking up your precious time.”
With that, Junhee could find no grounds to decline.
Yoonjae’s words had a strange power—flexible, like a bending blade that slipped in and made resisting pointless.
Maybe Junhee was simply weak to people who were thoughtful and kind.
They had dinner at a French restaurant with an exotic atmosphere.
Despite saying he had things to discuss, Yoonjae didn’t look especially troubled.
Junhee answered his questions, and they chatted lightly about daily topics.
“You treated me to dinner, so I’ll…”
“I’ll take care of the coffee at my atelier later. I’ve been waiting for a chance to use my barista certification.”
Yoonjae’s smile made Junhee put away his wallet.
Yoonjae’s atelier wasn’t far from the restaurant.
They walked a couple of blocks to a building tucked into a side street and climbed to the second floor.
On a small sign, “405 Atelier” was written.
With a soft click, Yoonjae turned the key in the lock, and the door opened.
“I tried to tidy up in a hurry, but it’s still messy. I should’ve kept it cleaner.”
Yoonjae flicked on the switch, flooding the dim room with light.
* * *
