* * *
“…Pardon? Oh, yes.”
Since the uncomfortable team dinner a few days ago, Cha Junwoo had not once mentioned Ki Taeryu.
As a leader and team manager, his professionalism surprised Junhee.
It even dispelled Junhee’s fears of a worsening work environment—for now, at least.
But the future remained uncertain.
“Haa…”
Junhee glanced at the clock under his monitor.
Fifteen minutes until the end of his workday.
After agonizing all day, he finally began typing a message.
[Me]: I’ve scheduled the meeting. Saturday at 12:30 PM. Please confirm the location.
Barely a minute passed before his phone rang.
He rejected the call.
It rang again, and then a third time, before finally stopping.
Ever since he had taken Ki Taeryu to his home, Junhee had been intentionally avoiding him.
[Me]: Check the location.
He sent a link with the address and closed his phone. Regret washed over him.
He should’ve done this sooner.
Ki Taeseong, Ki Taeryu—whatever their circumstances or past, it wasn’t Junhee’s concern.
He reminded himself of his role.
“I’m just a matchmaker. I’ll do only what’s required.”
If that meant introducing Ki Taeryu to an omega who met his absurdly specific conditions, so be it.
The omega in question was a new member, recently assigned to Team 4.
Except for being a recessive omega, they were a perfect match: strong credentials, attractive appearance—ideal for that insufferable alpha.
“Perfect fit.”
For someone like Ki Taeryu, who prioritized appearances, it was more than enough.
“I’m heading to Team 4 for a bit,” Junhee told Cha Junwoo briefly and headed for the elevator.
He needed to discuss details with the member’s manager.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened on Team 4’s floor, and as Junhee stepped out, a voice called from a distance.
“Hold the elevator, please!”
Junhee pressed the open button and waited as the sound of hurried footsteps drew closer.
“Thank you!”
“It’s nothing,” he replied, intending to leave, but froze when he heard the next words.
“Yoo Junhee? Junhee, it’s you, isn’t it?”
“…”
“It’s me! Don’t you remember me?”
The owner of the voice stepped forward, wearing a faintly smirking face.
Baek Seunggyo.
“Wow, what a coincidence running into you here. How’ve you been?”
Baek Seunggyo sipped his iced Americano, smiling warmly as if this was a pleasant reunion.
“To think the kid I knew back then has grown so much. Look at you, all sharp in a suit. You’ve come a long way.”
Junhee turned his head slightly, scanning the empty café.
“Why so quiet? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“Do we have any reason to be?”
Junhee’s curt response didn’t faze Seunggyo, who merely smiled.
Of course, he wouldn’t know.
He had no idea that Junhee had already seen him multiple times—at the launch event, at the banquet hall.
He could only laugh so casually, unaware of the impact his words had on me.
“I thought we were pretty close… Was I the only one who thought that? It hurts a little, you know, to see you leave without even saying anything.”
Baek Seunggyo brushed aside the long bangs that hung low enough to obscure his vision.
His eyes, as always, held a warmth and tenderness that seemed almost out of place.
“Being close means it’s okay to sell someone out?”
Junhee’s barbed words caused a faint stiffening in Baek Seunggyo’s expression.
Did he truly believe Junhee might have missed those days? That he might have missed him?
“Sell you out? I thought you needed money, so I introduced you to a job. If you put it that way, it hurts, you know.”
“…Crazy bastard.”
When Junhee finally spat out a curse, Baek Seunggyo covered his mouth in mock surprise, his eyes wide with exaggerated disbelief.
“You’ll say anything to me, huh?”
“Don’t call yourself ‘hyung.’ You’re nothing but a miserable lover I regret.”
Junhee’s words, sharp as knives, didn’t faze Baek Seunggyo.
If anything, his lips quirked as though holding back laughter.
Still chuckling to himself, Seunggyo propped his chin on one hand and abruptly turned serious.
“Hey, Junhee, it was your dad who asked us to live together, not me. You act like I’m some kind of villain.”
His words fell like condescending raindrops, as though addressing an upstart child crawling at his feet.
“To me, you and him are the same.”
“Unbelievable.” Baek Seunggyo clicked his tongue in amusement.
“Junhee, your dad’s the one who drained your money dry and sent you to work at a bar. Me? I just followed along and fed some clueless kid who didn’t know a damn thing about the world. I even found you a job. Is that what makes me worse? Worse than him?”
At last, his true colors emerged, wielding Junhee’s painful past like a knife, digging into the wounds.
“Fucking bastard…”
Junhee’s fists trembled as if barely containing a storm.
His fingernails dug into his palms, breaking the skin.
Baek Seunggyo’s lips curved upward as he watched Junhee, shaking with rage.
“Junhee, why do you think I’m here?”
The air around him shifted, taking on a menacing edge.
“By the way, Junhee, I’ve been curious about something.”
Leaning forward as though to share an intimate secret, Baek Seunggyo’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Does your company know? About you being a recessive omega? Or that you used to work at a bar?”
“Shut that filthy mouth.”
“My manager from earlier couldn’t stop singing your praises. I thought they were your biggest fan.”
Junhee’s eyes reddened with unshed tears as Baek Seunggyo’s mocking laughter spilled out.
“Come on, answer me. Why do you think I’m here?”
Junhee gritted his teeth and glared at him.
Delighted, Seunggyo bit the straw from his cup, smirking slyly.
“You know why, don’t you? It’s because of him.”
Gi Taeryu. That name rolled off his tongue as though it carried no weight at all.
“Honestly, there are dozens of ways I could ruin you. But I’m holding back out of old times’ sake.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit.”
“If you’d just cooperate, things would be a whole lot easier. What do you say? Want to hear me out?”
Fragmented memories clawed their way back, like a waking nightmare.
With a few casual words, Baek Seunggyo pushed Junhee back into the abyss he had barely crawled out of.
“Get lost. I’m not falling for it again.”
“Is he that important to you? More than yourself?”
No, it wasn’t for Ki Taeryu.
It was because being entangled with Baek Seunggyo again might make Junhee want to abandon himself all over again.
The clinking of ice echoed as Baek Seunggyo stirred his empty cup with its garish yellow straw.
“I told you, Junhee. This world is no place for recessive omegas. Why do you think he keeps you around? Because he likes you? Oh, he said he likes you? Don’t get your hopes up. The moment you cling to that illusion…”
You’ll be discarded again.
The misfortune Junhee thought he had escaped was there, trailing behind him like a shadow, always just out of sight.
Everything Junhee had desperately wished for slipped away as if mocking him.
Only misfortune clung to him faithfully, stretching out like a shadow.
No matter where you go, it’ll follow you.
No matter who you meet, you’ll be abandoned.
The thought of himself, running so desperately to escape, felt pathetic.
It always ends up like this.
“Call me, Junhee.”
Leaving behind a card as white as snow, Baek Seunggyo walked away, his silhouette growing smaller.
When Junhee finally climbed up to the office, it was empty.
As he absently tidied up his desk, his eyes caught sight of something unfamiliar.
Employee of the Month Plaque
It sat within a transparent display case against one wall, proudly displayed.
He read the name engraved beneath it.
“…Cha Junwoo.”
Unlike the one who proudly displayed his achievements, Junhee’s own plaque was buried somewhere in his house, discarded and forgotten.
Hidden away in a dark, storage-like corner, far from sight.
Because it wasn’t really his accomplishment.
Because it wasn’t something to be proud of.
Nothing in Junhee’s life had ever truly belonged to him—not the plaque, not his parents, not anything he had encountered.
They were all fake.
As the elevator descended, Junhee thought about how he’d throw that damned plaque away the moment he got home.
10, 9, 8… The numbers ticked down.
By the time it reached 1, the elevator doors slid open.
Stepping out into the lobby and walking outside, someone grabbed his shoulder.
* * *
