* * *
“Assistant Manager Gil, where are you going?”
The ever-curious Assistant Manager Kim immediately asked as Wookyung got up from his chair.
“Coffee.”
“Get me one too. I want an iced Americano.”
“Same here. But I’m craving something sweet, so make mine a vanilla latte.”
The moment he made an excuse to leave, Assistant Manager Kim and Senior Associate Park latched on without hesitation.
Where was their sense of shame?
Wookyung stood there in disbelief, only to lock eyes with Manager Shin.
“Put it on this.”
Manager Shin extended his long arm, handing over the company card.
No matter how many times he received it, it was always a welcome sight.
He took it immediately and turned to the hesitant Associate Lee.
“What do you want?”
“Oh! Then, um… I’ll have a lemon mint tea. Iced.”
Moments like these showed how well the team worked together.
His original destination was the rooftop garden, but with this detour, he had to change plans.
A café was a much better option than some supposedly mystical place.
‘Obviously.’
As he slid the company card into his pocket, Wookyung reached for his phone but paused.
‘Huh?’
Something flat, smooth, and hard was in his pocket.
The weight and thickness weren’t that of a phone.
He didn’t remember putting anything like that in there.
The elevator doors opened, so he stepped inside and pressed the button before pulling out the object.
“…….”
A matte black card that didn’t even reflect light.
The business card Director Choi had given him.
‘Damn it. Why did I forget about this?!’
He should have returned it earlier!
‘Why didn’t Director Choi remind me?!’
Just earlier, Director Choi had no problem summoning him over something completely trivial.
Yet, he left his card in Wookyung’s possession and hadn’t even checked on it?
What if, later, he realized it was missing and assumed it had been stolen?
‘What if he reports it lost or stolen and the police get involved? And then they find out I used it?’
Would he end up getting arrested?
Why hadn’t Director Choi contacted him about it yet?!
By the time Wookyung reached the lobby, he hesitated but ultimately pressed the button for the executive floor again.
He needed to get rid of this cursed card as soon as possible.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, his phone vibrated in his hand.
“Yes, Choi Siwon…?”
— Assistant Manager, where are you?
He had answered automatically, then hesitated.
Wait… Maybe this was a perfect excuse to cancel his meeting with Associate Choi.
He decided to take advantage of it.
“Sorry. Something urgent came up. I won’t be able to meet you. But if it’s quick, I can take a call now.”
Silence.
He checked his screen to see if the call had disconnected, but it was still ongoing.
He waited, but there was no response.
Just as he was about to say they could talk later and hang up, Associate Choi finally spoke.
— Then… would it be okay if we met after work for a bit?
“What’s this about?”
Meeting a coworker outside of work?
Absolutely not.
Wookyung barely even attended company dinners unless he had no choice.
He had clearly given Associate Choi the option to speak over the phone, but the man didn’t get the hint.
“Let’s just talk later.”
He didn’t have time for this. Returning Director Choi’s card took priority.
Earlier, he had been so desperate to escape that he ran for his life, yet now he was willingly heading back.
Ending the call, he trudged toward the executive office.
Oddly enough, despite being an executive, Director Choi didn’t have a secretary to greet visitors.
Usually, companies either assigned someone from the planning team or hired externally, but there hadn’t been any mention of that happening.
That thought crossed his mind because he was hesitating in front of the door.
He had come all this way to return the card, but now that he was here, he felt reluctant.
Meeting Director Choi was a hassle, but not returning the card was equally troublesome.
‘Please don’t be here.’
That way, he could just leave the card with Manager Shin and pretend he knew nothing.
Still, he had to at least try knocking once.
Knock, knock.
He took two deep breaths and knocked lightly.
No response.
Maybe he knocked too softly?
Knock, knock, knock.
He knocked three more times and waited.
Still nothing.
Maybe Director Choi answered, and he didn’t hear?
He pressed his ear to the door, but there was only silence.
“He’s not here.”
That was enough effort.
He had done his part—he came straight here as soon as he realized he had the card, and he knocked.
If Director Choi later noticed someone had been there, he’d figure it out.
Not wanting to linger, Wookyung hurried toward the emergency stairs.
He planned to take the elevator from a different floor to avoid running into him.
He stopped by the café on his way back, picking up the drinks his colleagues had ordered.
By the time he returned to the office, there were no new messages.
“Here, this one’s for you, Choi Siwon.”
Wookyung casually set down an iced coffee in front of Associate Choi, who had already returned to his desk.
“Assistant Manager, where did you go?”
“The Director’s office.”
“Again? Why?”
Why? Because of work, of course.
But why was Associate Choi looking so disgruntled?
Was Choi Siwon sulking because Wookyung was supposed to see him but ended up elsewhere instead?
Wookyung gave his shoulder a light tap.
“I had to relay something urgent. Sorry, Choi Siwon. Let’s talk later when things settle down.”
It wasn’t like he was avoiding meeting him after work. Definitely not.
Ignoring the way Choi Siwon seemed like he wanted to say something more, Wookyung handed out the other drinks to the rest of the team.
He saved the last one for Manager Shin—intentionally.
“Manager, here’s the corporate card.”
“Huh?”
Manager Shin turned to look at him, eyes filled with curiosity.
“What’s this, Assistant Manager Gil?”
“It’s Director Choi’s card.”
“Hmm?”
“I paid with it at the café earlier, but somehow, I ended up walking out with it.”
“Ah…”
He explained it step by step, but Manager Shin still looked at him like he should’ve just returned it himself.
Adding another reason seemed necessary.
“I just came from the Director’s office, but he wasn’t there.”
“Ahh.”
Finally, Manager Shin nodded in understanding.
Wookyung thought he was in the clear—he’d pass the card off and be done with it.
“Then you should return it to him later, Assistant Manager Gil.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Since you’ll be working with Director Choi more from now on, you should get used to seeing him often.”
…Did it have to be today? Over something like this? Was that really necessary?
Wookyung looked at Manager Shin, hoping to convey his unwillingness, but it seemed like his reluctance didn’t register.
“Thanks for the coffee, Assistant Manager Gil. And for earlier, too.”
Damn it.
He couldn’t shove this off on someone smiling at him like that.
Resigned, Wookyung turned away—only to meet Choi Siwon’s gaze.
‘What’s with that burning stare now?’
He had no clue.
Today just wasn’t going his way.
At this point, the best thing to do was wait for quitting time, wrap things up as fast as possible, and escape home.
His beloved bed and a 500ml beer awaited him.
Just imagining the cold, crisp taste of alcohol made his mouth water.
Since he couldn’t drink right away, he settled for sipping his straw instead.
Slurp.
The cool, slightly sweet, and faintly tangy flavor spread across his tongue.
“Mmm…”
“You know, Assistant Manager Gil, sometimes you…”
As he passed by Senior Associate Park, he looked up at him, his tone laced with pity.
“Sometimes I what?”
“You’ve got the kind of face that could star in a soda commercial, but… what exactly are you drinking?”
“This?”
He held up his half-finished drink and swirled it.
“It’s plum tea.”
Senior Associate Park sighed dramatically, as if he’d expected that answer.
Beside him, Associate Lee peeked up from his keyboard.
“It’s fine. If you don’t ask, it just looks like some kind of herbal tea. And honestly, a fragrant tea suits Assistant Manager Gil’s image pretty well.”
“Ah, that’s true. That would’ve been nice… if it weren’t plum tea.”
Ignoring their back-and-forth, Wookyung returned to his seat.
What was wrong with plum tea?
He just didn’t feel like coffee since he already had one earlier!
One hour until quitting time.
Wookyung decided to handle his “Choi Siwon mission” first, calling him to the break room.
But after all that effort, Choi Siwon just blurted out something weird before leaving.
“Assistant Manager, you really are fair to everyone.”
He even pouted.
“Me?”
“Yeah. You’re nice to everyone.”
And then he smiled—but why did it feel so loaded?
No, it wasn’t just a smile.
It was the look of a child whose favorite toy had just been taken away.
‘Wait. Why am I getting this kind of reaction from him?’
It was ridiculous.
But more than that—
‘That’s not it. If I gave you special treatment, it’d be way too obvious.’
After all, you’re the CEO’s son.
Of course I have to be careful with you.
* * *
