* * *
He had been worried that Cha Junwoo would stick around like yesterday, sabotaging his efforts, but everything resolved in one go.
It seemed like after yesterday’s stormy fortune, today luck was peeking through the clouds.
The team leader’s office wasn’t as spacious as the headquarters, but it was neatly arranged with wide windows at the front, making it feel far from cramped.
A light gray bookshelf took up one wall, and there was a desk near the sunlit window.
In the middle was a small table with four chairs.
Just as Junhee was about to walk straight to the desk, something caught his eye.
“This is…”
Junhee approached the bookshelf. There, he saw something familiar.
[Award for Outstanding Employee]
Not just one, but three crystal plaques were displayed.
The plaques, which had been awarded annually, stopped abruptly starting last year.
‘Nation’s highest matchmaking success rate, highest success-to-meeting ratio, and after only two years of employment, twice awarded Outstanding Employee. Since joining Leeum, he easily shattered every record.’
‘It’s too improbable to chalk up to luck alone, the odds are just that high.’
Right.
How had he not realized this sooner?
Even though it was a branch office, it was extremely unusual for someone so young to hold a team leader position.
Let alone the position of overall team leader, not just a department head.
If Junhee had thought about what kind of results Cha Junwoo had produced at Leeum to reach that position, he could have predicted it earlier.
Before Junhee even joined. He had unintentionally taken away all the records and achievements that Team Leader Cha had set, even the Outstanding Employee awards.
It made sense that Cha Junwoo would not only be curious about him, but also wary.
“Sigh…”
The guilt that had been gnawing at him resurfaced, like a snake rearing its head and biting into his fragile conscience.
Junhee clenched his fists as he brushed his hand over the engraving on the plaque.
Determined, he turned around and sat at the desk.
Since there was a door lock installed, there was no separate password on the desktop.
The Leeum management program automatically logged in as well.
Junhee moved the cursor to the member search bar and clicked, revealing a list of recent searches.
[Ki Taeryu]
“What… is this…”
Junhee’s brow furrowed slightly.
He clicked on it, and the search results popped up.
Although he couldn’t access detailed profiles under his ID, basic information like birthdates was visible.
As expected, since Cha Junwoo had just arrived at work with him, this search had to have been from yesterday.
‘Did he come back later to check?’
To see if Ki Taeryu and the person Junhee knew were the same.
Junhee bit his lip and gripped the mouse tighter.
‘No time to waste on this.’
Opportunities don’t come twice. He didn’t know when Cha Junwoo would return, so there was no time to lose.
He quickly selected several options and hit search, and a list of members scrolled down the screen.
As expected, there were far more fervent omega members here than at the headquarters.
Junhee hurriedly pulled out his spare phone from his bag, but time was running short.
Over twenty minutes had already passed. Transferring them one by one would take too long.
‘I’ll just take pictures and transfer them later.’
Junhee grabbed his personal phone and switched to camera mode.
Click, click, click.
After several camera sounds, just as he was about to take the last member’s profile shot—
Beep, beep, beep—
The door lock release tone rang out.
‘Just one more…’
Click. The last shutter sound was followed by the door opening.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m late, aren’t I?”
“…No, not at all. Oh, I was just checking out the program we talked about on the desktop.”
Cha Junwoo’s gaze briefly flicked to the flat monitor screen before returning.
“Is that so? Good job.”
Thankfully, there was no sign of suspicion.
Junhee subtly slipped his phone into his pocket and prepared to stand up.
“If you need the desk, I’ll move right away.”
“You can keep using it.”
“You seem busy, Team Leader… I can borrow it later when you have more time. Your work is more important.”
Just as Junhee put his hand on the chair arm to get up—
“Assistant Yoo Junhee, wait a moment…!”
“Yes?” Junhee answered, but his body tilted to one side.
With a loud crash, he fell to the floor.
“Are you okay? Oh, sorry. I was going to tell you not to lean on the chair arm—it’s broken.”
Cha Junwoo rushed over to help Junhee up.
“…I’m fine.”
The broken chair arm loomed in his vision, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
Seeing Junhee about to bend down again, Cha Junwoo quickly stopped him.
“I’ll pick it up for you, just stay still.”
Cha Junwoo reached under the desk to grab the phone that had fallen, but his hand froze mid-motion.
When he picked up the phone and handed it to Junhee, his expression was slightly enigmatic.
“Agent Yoo Junhee, do you carry two phones?”
“…Yes. One for work and one for personal use.”
Junhee hastily took both phones, making up a quick excuse, and shoved them into his pocket while belatedly offering a word of thanks.
“Thank you.”
“It’s for your clients, right?”
“…Sorry?”
“You carry two phones because of your clients, don’t you?”
Cha Junwoo gave him a knowing look, nodding slightly.
“Ah… yes, that’s right.”
“Of course, there must be clients who contact you at all hours, thinking you’re their personal manager.”
As Junhee nodded slowly in agreement, Cha Junwoo added another remark.
“Like that client yesterday, for example.”
“Yesterday…?”
“That guy, Ki Taeryu, or whatever his name is. The one who’s supposed to be a VVIP.”
Junhee couldn’t help but notice that Cha Junwoo’s gaze had turned unusually cold.
It felt as though he was trying to draw a response out of him, but Junhee had no intention of offering one.
“My apologies for the trouble. I’m fine now, so please, carry on with your work, Manager Cha.”
“Wait a second.”
As Junhee tried to quickly walk past him, his arm was suddenly grabbed.
“Ugh!” A short, pained grunt escaped Junhee’s lips.
“Look at this. Does this arm seem fine to you?”
Junhee tried to pull his arm free, but he couldn’t muster enough strength to twist it away.
‘…I didn’t want to make a fuss.’
The truth was, Junhee had realized it the moment he braced his palm against the floor.
He had felt that ominous crackling sensation.
From that moment, his wrist had begun to ache.
“If it hurts, you should say so. If you just leave like this, how am I supposed to feel?”
“…It’s just a slight muscle strain. Don’t worry about it.”
“You should go to the hospital. It’s probably open by now.”
After gently removing Cha Junwoo’s hand, Junhee took a step back.
“I appreciate your concern, but if it were really that bad, I would’ve gone to the hospital myself.”
As Junhee spoke in a firm tone, Cha Junwoo’s gaze shifted downward.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment before Cha Junwoo broke it.
“Do you always draw such clear lines?”
Junhee remained silent, but it was as though Cha Junwoo had received his answer.
He nodded as if he understood.
“Alright. Even so, you should still consider going to the hospital, just in case. If it starts hurting again, let me know anytime.”
“…Yes. Thank you for your concern.”
Junhee bowed his head, and at that moment, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He knew all too well who was calling.
“Yes, this is Yoo Junhee.”
- You weren’t there.
The voice on the other end was hoarse, as if freshly awakened.
- If you were going to take care of me, you should’ve finished the job. Just leaving a cold towel and some medicine—is that all?
As irritating as it was, Junhee still felt a slight relief that the man was okay.
Of course, it wasn’t out of concern for him.
If Ki Taeryu had been in an uncontrollable state, Junhee would’ve been stuck carrying out that unpleasant favor he’d been asked for last time.
“I’m glad to hear you’re alright. About yesterday…”
The apology lingered in Junhee’s mouth.
He couldn’t quite decide how to phrase it.
Should he apologize for rising to the provocation?
Or for punching him when he tried to make a move?
‘…Either way, I should apologize.’
But the words didn’t come easily.
Though it was Junhee’s fault for hitting him, Ki Taeryu had tried to do something vile to him first.
It had only been for a brief moment, but… the hot, uncomfortable sensation of Ki Taeryu’s lips was still so vivid that it made the apology even harder to give.
Tentatively, Junhee asked, “Director, do you remember what happened yesterday?”
-Yesterday?
There was a pause on the other end of the phone, as if Ki Taeryu were trying to recall.
- I remember telling you to stay the night.
“…And then?”
- That’s it.
Junhee let out a long sigh of relief.
The alcohol and pheromones from last night must have wiped out his memory of the final moments.
- Why? Was there more to it?
* * *
Hohoho so excited