ACTSV chapter 27

Jingyeom arrived at Jinwoo’s company at the agreed time, dressed exactly as he had been the day before, with the same clothes and bag.

Jinwoo had taken the toothpaste in the morning.

Last night, when Jinwoo had carried the box, he had mentioned that Jingyeom might suffer from muscle pain.

And that prediction was accurate.

As Jinwoo had said, Jingyeom’s arms were shaking when he woke up this morning.

The box of toothpaste worth 300,000 won was quite heavy.

Even when he carried it home yesterday, it was so heavy that he had to put it down and pick it up repeatedly.

“…Ugh.”

As he massaged his arms with his hands, a tingling sensation surged through them, making them feel numb.

On top of that, he had heard that Mr.Tak would be joining them, which made him even more nervous and increased the discomfort.

He appreciated the peach sorbet he was given at the restaurant last time, but the pain from the wrist grab was excruciating.

Although the pain was quickly forgotten due to other discomforts, the memory lingered.

Moreover, he didn’t want to get involved too much.

Being entangled with Jinwoo was already unpleasant, and as a superior and secretary, there was nothing much he could do about it.

“Where is he…”

They were supposed to meet in front of the company at 11, but Jinwoo hadn’t shown up.

Standing on the crowded subway and bus made his legs ache as well.

‘I should have brought a hat.’

The forecast had said it would be cloudy, so he had left without one, but the sky was a clear blue with not a cloud in sight.

Jingyeom was standing still, trying to avoid the blazing sun, while enjoying the faintly cool breeze.

After waiting a bit longer, Jinwoo came running. As soon as he saw Jingyeom, he wiped the sweat off his face and shaded him with his hand.

“Come inside and wait.”

“I was sunbathing.”

“It’s too hot…”

While Jingyeom grinned and looked at Jinwoo, he saw Wonbeom walking up behind him.

Some employees recognized and greeted him, but Wonbeom ignored them all and approached the two.

“Hello.”

Since he was going along with them, Jingyeom felt it was necessary to greet him politely and bowed respectfully.

Wonbeom squinted one eye slightly and scanned Jingyeom from top to bottom.

“Looks like you’re doing okay now.”

“Huh?”

Jingyeom asked in confusion, but Wonbeom had already turned away. Jingyeom looked puzzled and raised his eyebrows at Jinwoo.

Jinwoo just led him to the shade with a faint smile.

“I’ll go get the car. Hyung, wait here for a bit.”

“Huh? Let’s go together. It’s in the underground parking lot, right?”

“You need to take the elevator, and it’s stuffy down there. Just stay here. Don’t go out in the sun, stay in the shade. Got it? I’ll be back soon.”

Jinwoo was a bit concerned about leaving the two of them alone, but since Wonbeom had volunteered to go with him first, he figured it would be helpful rather than a hindrance and hurried off to get the car.

Left alone, Jingyeom felt a bit awkward and fidgeted with his hands clasped in front of him.

Unlike himself, who was in the shade, Wonbeom stood firmly under the sunlight. Moreover, dressed in a black suit today, he exuded an almost untouchable aura.

Jingyeom glanced at Wonbeom. He was staring off into the distance, not paying any attention to Jingyeom.

After a moment of contemplation, Jingyeom cautiously approached Wonbeom, stopping at a distance where he had to spread his legs wide to get closer.

“Um…”

“…”

“Thank you for what you did at the restaurant.”

“What for?”

Jingyeom shivered briefly at the low voice and straightened his posture, slowly raising his gaze.

He made eye contact with Wonbeom, who seemed to be looking directly at him. As Jingyeom inhaled, Wonbeom’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Wonbeom had yet to understand why Jingyeom was so scared of him.

Although Soohyuk had said it was due to his intimidating appearance, he suspected there was more to it than that.

Even if he had no memory of it, he wondered if his previous actions towards Jingyeom might have unconsciously affected him.

He had never directly threatened or verbally abused him, merely treating him as if he didn’t exist.

Wonbeom waited silently for Jingyeom to speak.

“Back at the restaurant. When you held my arm and stopped me from scratching. I wanted to thank you for that. I heard that if I kept scratching, my skin could have been torn and left with scars…”

That was what Hoonil had told him.

By grabbing his wrist and stopping him from scratching, Wonbeom had prevented any serious scarring. The red marks lasted for a few days, but there were no permanent scars.

Jingyeom sincerely expressed his gratitude. Being scared was one thing, but being thankful was another.

As Jingyeom stared intently at Wonbeom, his face crumpled at Wonbeom’s response.

“Have you tried the toothpaste?”

“…”

“If it’s so good, why didn’t you give me some? With the number of employees at our company, I could easily boost your results.”

“…I’m not doing that!”

Jingyeom had anticipated that Wonbeom might know about the toothpaste, but he hadn’t expected him to be so direct about it.

Jingyeom scrunched his nose in frustration, and Wonbeom’s lips curled into a very subtle smirk.

He had never once associated a person with something else.

Even Baek Jinwoo, who had briefly caught his interest, had remained just Baek Jinwoo in his eyes.

But the person in front of him was different. His attempt to look intimidating by scrunching his nose seemed more amusing than threatening.

He looked like a small animal that would fall over if nudged.

How should he deal with this small creature that kept making him smile?

Determined not to lose, Jingyeom straightened his legs and lifted his chin with resolve.

Wonbeom tilted his head mockingly, his larger frame making Jingyeom appear particularly small.

“So, about the toothpaste? It costs 300,000 won, right?”

“That’s! …That’s.”

He wanted to say something, but the fact remained that he had bought 300,000 won worth of toothpaste.

He had no intention of denying it. It was just that Wonbeom’s teasing tone had made him a bit emotional.

Jingyeom firmly shut his mouth and turned away abruptly. He stepped back into the shade, glaring at Wonbeom with a sullen expression.

Suddenly, Wonbeom felt unfamiliar. Although they were not close, it was clear that this was not his usual personality.

He still remembered the gaze they first exchanged in the hospital room. At that time, he had shrunk his shoulders so much. If he had kept it up, his shoulder muscles would have stiffened, causing him trouble for a while.

Moreover, Wonbeom’s smiling face, which lacked emotion (though it was a mocking smile), had been seen too often. It was very strange.

Wonbeom silently stared at Jingyeom, who had moved into the shade. Sunlight filtered through the leaves above Jingyeom, who stood under the tree’s shadow in front of the company.

Until now, Wonbeom had never once paid attention to Baek Jingyeom. But recently, somehow…

Wonbeom approached Jingyeom without even realizing he was moving.

Just one step. The distance.

“Are you not interested in me anymore?”

As Wonbeom got closer, a subtle fragrance tickled Jingyeom’s nose. It was a cool scent, like a clean, blue sky—refreshing and oddly fitting for Wonbeom, even though it seemed out of place.

Unconsciously inhaling the scent, Jingyeom blinked. It was too close.

“I thought it was better than before… but it’s still not great.”

“…What?”

A large hand with calluses and scars reached toward the top of Jingyeom’s head. The pale brown eyes with a golden hue followed the movement.

The hand, which had stopped in mid-air, covered the light that danced on Jingyeom’s face as the leaves swayed.

Jingyeom’s eyes, which had been staring at the large hand, slowly moved to meet Wonbeom’s eyes.

It was different from before. He should have been scared if he stared directly into those eyes, but strangely, he felt none of that. It was like looking at the eyes of an ordinary person.

When Jingyeom looked up, Wonbeom’s head slowly tilted to the side.

“No matter how I look at it, it’s Baek Jingyeom.”

“….”

“Strange.”

As if to remove the shade from him, the hand disappeared.

Jingyeom’s eyes, unable to grasp what had just happened, swayed wildly. Wonbeom had approached him, and if his perception wasn’t mistaken, he had just repeated Jinwoo’s actions from earlier.

How should he interpret this?

Lost in thought, Jingyeom was pulled out of his confusion by Jinwoo. Jinwoo approached with the company car used for fieldwork, which he had brought along.

Originally, it was only for fieldwork. Although this wasn’t official company business, Jinwoo had used it without hesitation, saying it was indeed a field trip since he was going out with 이사.

While Jingyeom stood there dazed, Wonbeom naturally went to the car and got into the back seat.

“Hyung, let’s go.”

Jinwoo grabbed Jingyeom’s hand, which had gone limp from the shock, and pulled him. The hand, which would have been brushed off harshly before, was now gentle.

***

Jingyeom sat silently in the passenger seat during the drive. If it had been just him and Jinwoo, he would have said various things, but with Wonbeom in the back, he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

Fidgeting with the strap on his thigh, he glanced sideways. Jinwoo was focused on driving, looking straight ahead.

His younger brother was really handsome. As Jingyeom couldn’t help but smile, Jinwoo, sensing his gaze, gave him a sidelong look.

“What’s up?”

“You’re driving really well.”

“……Is that so?”

Jinwoo’s mood brightened at the unexpected compliment, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

“Even Hyuk-hyung drives well.”

“……Hyuk-hyung?”

“Yeah. Remember? At the department store. Hyung drove back then.”

“I know. But why call him ‘hyung’?”

Jinwoo’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, and the veins on the back of his hand stood out prominently.

Unintentionally, he tensed his legs as well and momentarily pressed the accelerator too hard before quickly easing up.

“He told me to call him ‘hyung.’ I’m not even a company employee, so why should I call him ‘director’?”

“……What about ‘Ahjussi’? You called him that last time.”