* * *
A chill crawled up his spine, making it hard to focus.
Odd. He’d already drunk the Ssanghwa tea Saheon brought—filled to the brim with nuts and herbs—but still felt off.
Wookyung tilted his head up to check the ceiling.
Maybe the air conditioner was on?
But no, it wasn’t.
“Assistant Manager Gil, are you alright?”
Assistant Manager Pyeon had just hung up from another department’s internal call and looked over at him with concern.
“Oh… I just feel like there’s a bit of a draft from somewhere.”
“Oh no! I must’ve left the window open after airing the place out earlier. Just a moment—I’ll go close it.”
Realizing it only now, Assistant Manager Pyeon hurried out of the seat.
Wookyung followed him movement with his eyes.
There was a window open near the hallway to the break room.
But it wasn’t even open ten centimeters.
No way a breeze from that could reach his desk.
“But Assistant Manager Gil, you look even worse than before. Are you sure you’ve shaken off that cold?”
He asked with genuine concern as he returned from closing the window.
Officially, Wookyung had been out with a cold.
He shook his head.
“I think it might be some kind of stomach bug.”
Truthfully, the incident in the conference room had been weighing on him and left his stomach unsettled.
Even now, it felt like motion sickness.
The sour saliva pooling in his mouth suggested it might be indigestion.
It didn’t seem like just one cup of Ssanghwa tea could’ve caused this, though.
“I have some antacids—want one?”
“I don’t think it’s that bad. I’m sure I’ll feel better soon.”
Assistant Manager Pyeon hesitated a moment, then walked to his desk and brought back a small glass jar with black sticks inside.
“This is a diffuser. The lemongrass scent is really fresh—it might help settle your stomach.”
“Oh… Thank you.”
Wookyung didn’t reject his thoughtful gesture.
Maybe it was the placebo effect, or maybe it really worked, but he did start to feel a bit calmer.
Still, the chills weren’t going away.
Just as he was about to get up and make some hot tea—
“Assistant Manager Wookyung.”
A slightly sharp voice called his name as a hand grabbed his shoulder.
But the pain wasn’t there—it came from his abdomen.
“Ah!”
A stabbing pain escaped him in a groan, and his shoulder was quickly released—though the hand didn’t fully let go.
The one inspecting him in alarm—of course—was Saheon.
“Director, is there a reason you’re doing this?”
Assistant Manager Pyeon was still in the office.
The design team was out dealing with furniture issues, Assistant Manager Oh was at an external meeting, and Associate Choi was meeting the Vice President Choi, but still—he wasn’t alone.
So Saheon needed to be careful not to act suspiciously.
“…Why does it smell like that?”
Saheon’s sudden remark only confused Wookyung more.
He grabs him like that and the first thing he says is… what? Smell?
“What smell?”
“You can’t smell it, Wookyung?”
“What exactly are you talking about?”
Wookyung frowned.
Saheon looked puzzled but continued inspecting him closely.
There was definitely a faint, sweet and citrusy scent coming from Wookyung.
“Maybe it’s the diffuser?”
A third voice suddenly broke in, as if to remind them they weren’t alone.
It was Assistant Manager Pyeon.
“Diffuser?”
Saheon furrowed his brows—clearly confused.
Wookyung finally shrugged off the large hand still clutching his shoulder.
Thankfully, Saheon stepped back without protest, but his gaze remained fixed on Wookyung, silently urging him to explain.
Why was he acting so hypersensitive?
And in front of other people, no less.
That was so unlike him.
“This one,” Wookyung said, nodding toward the glass bottle on his desk.
Saheon’s eyes followed the gesture and finally noticed the diffuser.
Only then did he realize the scent filling the office was the same as the one coming from it.
“…Ah.”
Saheon let out a low sigh—an uncharacteristic mistake.
“Sorry for startling you, Assistant Manager Gil.”
He apologized to Wookyung first, then bowed to Assistant Manager Pyeon as well.
Wookyung studied him carefully.
Saheon’s overly sensitive reaction clearly had something to do with him.
And he couldn’t talk about it here.
Not with Assistant Manager Pyeon around.
Wookyung gave him a subtle nod to follow and walked past him.
He could feel Saheon trailing close behind.
Assistant Manager Pyeon gave them a curious look, but neither had the bandwidth to care.
Inside the break room, Wookyung quickly scanned the space.
It was only about 1.5 pyeong (roughly 5 square meters) and empty.
Far enough from the office, too, so voices wouldn’t carry.
“Why did you act like that earlier?”
Wookyung asked without hesitation.
But Saheon only looked away, troubled, and said nothing.
“Saheon!”
Wookyung’s voice rose slightly.
If he had acted so irrationally, there had to be a reason.
But now he just clammed up?
What was he supposed to do with that?
If Saheon didn’t explain properly, Wookyung wouldn’t be able to understand or move past it.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“Wookyung.”
“Yes? What?”
“After that night… did anything about you change?”
Wookyung narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.
What kind of deflection was that?
He’d asked for an explanation, and this is what he gets?
So instead of answering, he just quietly looked at him.
A brief silence settled between them.
Saheon’s gaze still lingered on an indistinct spot.
It was Saheon who surrendered first.
“…I didn’t mean to bring it up like this.”
The words slipped out, more like a sigh.
Even then, it was hard for Wookyung to grasp exactly what he meant.
So, what about it?
“I know about your traits, Wookyung.”
In that instant, something heavy dropped in his chest with a dull thud.
At the same time, the nausea he’d barely held down surged back up in a flash.
“Ugh—!”
Wookyung’s upper body lurched forward.
He clamped a hand over his mouth, but he couldn’t completely suppress the guttural sound that escaped.
“Wookyung!”
“Urgh…”
Wookyung, now pale as a sheet, couldn’t even respond to his name.
Brushing past Saheon, he broke into a sprint.
His destination: the restroom not far from the break room.
He flung open the first stall, not even bothering to close the door behind him before collapsing to the floor and retching dryly.
As he heaved again and again, a large hand began to gently pat his back.
“…I’m okay. It’s settling down now.”
Though the queasiness hadn’t fully subsided, it wasn’t at the level of violently throwing up anymore.
But he still felt so drained that when he stayed seated, Saheon silently offered something.
It was a bottle of water.
Wookyung took it without resistance, rinsed his mouth a few times, and drank the rest, emptying it.
Compared to before, he felt much calmer now.
“…May I help you up?”
Saheon asked quietly.
When Wookyung silently extended a hand, Saheon slipped an arm under his armpit and gently lifted him.
Then he lowered the toilet lid, sat him back down on it, and carefully studied his expression.
“Wookyung, are you still unwell?”
“It’s just indigestion. That’s all.”
Wookyung quickly shook his head.
It was true.
Now that he’d emptied his stomach, he really did feel better.
His head throbbed a bit, but that might’ve just been from the earlier exertion.
“…Should we go to the hospital—”
“It’s not that serious, so don’t worry. Assistant Manager Pyeon has some digestive medicine. I’ll just take that.”
Maybe he should’ve just asked for it earlier.
If he had known he’d end up showing Saheon this miserable sight…
Now that he was feeling better, the embarrassment came rushing in.
Feigning the need to wipe his lips with the back of his hand, Wookyung averted his gaze.
He really wished he could get out of here now.
That was when he caught the subtle scent of pine wafting through the air.
‘Did he put on cologne?’
Without realizing it, he wrinkled his nose to take in more of the scent.
Somehow, even the lingering unpleasantness in his chest seemed to fade away.
Now that he thought about it, he’d smelled this same faint scent in Saheon’s car.
Perhaps Saheon wore it for his sake, knowing Wookyung couldn’t detect pheromones.
“Then… go home early and rest today.”
“I’m fine.”
He had already missed two days of work, and things had piled up.
He couldn’t cause more trouble.
Besides, Choi Siwon from his team was also out, and once the design team came up after inspecting the furniture, they had a meeting.
“…Don’t overdo it.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Saheon, realizing that Wookyung wouldn’t budge, looked down at him in silence for a moment.
Then he finally nodded, albeit reluctantly.
* * *
