SRSYT C11

Chapter 11

The place he had not expected to hear made Seojin’s eyes wander with nowhere to land. Then he remembered Euni and Manager Kim were right there and slowly evened out his breathing.

His face smoothed over, and he spoke as if it were nothing.

“If it’s JS Gallery, the night view of Seoul should be gorgeous from up there too.”

It sat on the mountain skirts past the edge of the city, and as he recalled, the scenery was lovely.

Ah. And before that, it’s the place where Shin Seyeong’s first ordeal happens. Where the thread between him and Yoon Haegang gets tied.

Still, as long as he did not get out of the car, he would not get dragged in himself.

“Thanks for saying that, Seojin-ssi. Honestly, you’re my savior.”

Manager Kim kept pouring gratitude at him in big emotional waves. It was a little much, so Seojin quickly took Euni’s hand and headed for the front door.

The three of them went down to the ground floor. Only three cars sat in the open piloti lot, and one enormous foreign car jumped straight out at the eye.

“Oh… what. Seojin-ssi, don’t tell me.”

Manager Kim, trailing behind, sounded genuinely shocked.

“…are you secretly a rich kid?”

“No. Not a chance. If I were, would I be living in a villa like this?”

“Then what’s this?”

“…a gift?”

Probably.

“So you’re car-poor…”

“I am not. The apartment’s mine too.”

“Huh? So you are a rich kid?”

“I said no.”

“Then what is it?”

“…a gift.”

Manager Kim clearly wanted a real answer, but Seojin kept putting him off while he opened the back door and settled Euni into her car seat.

“That’s not uncomfortable, is it?”

“Nope!”

Her feet were swinging in the air. She was thoroughly thrilled about going for a drive. Seojin smiled and shut the door.

“I’ll drive. You sit in the back with Euni, Seojin-ssi.”

A very practical worry flitted through Seojin’s head. What if they got into a fender bender?

“Nobody’s going near a car this expensive. They’ll swerve out of the way on purpose, so relax. And I’ll have you know I’m a twenty-five-year veteran with a spotless record.”

Having apparently read exactly why Seojin was hesitating, Manager Kim drove the point home.

“More than that, wouldn’t Euni rather ride with her dad than with me?”

Put like that, Seojin had no choice but to hand over the keys and trust him.

And above all, nobody would know the fastest route from the office to the gallery better than Manager Kim.

“All right, let’s get going!”

At Manager Kim’s cheerful shout, Seojin checked Euni in her seat one more time.

“Yaaay… let’s gooo!”

The child was busy staring out the window with a giddy face. Manager Kim glanced at the pair of them in the rearview mirror, nodded, satisfied. Only then did Seojin let his back sink into the seat.

Before long they pulled up at the building where the office was.

“Wait right here. I’ll be back in a second!”

Manager Kim scrambled out and was back in no time with a document envelope. It was a Friday evening and the roads were thick with traffic, yet he wove through it neatly. In under ten minutes, the night view of Seoul began to unfurl beyond the windows.

“Wow! It’s so prettyyy!”

Euni pressed her nose flat to the glass and gasped. Seojin stroked his daughter’s hair, soft and slow. Even so, his other hand, resting on his knee, would not stop fidgeting.

The trouble started at the security post just before the parking lot.

“Eh? What do you mean we can’t go in?”

“No vehicles unless you’re an invited guest or staff. Tonight’s event is VVIP-only.”

Manager Kim had the driver’s door open as he talked with the guard, and his face clouded.

“Haa, then can a person go in at least? I’ve got important documents that have to be delivered inside.”

“And the name of the guest, sir?”

“Yoon Haegang.”

“One moment, please. I’ll check.”

Manager Kim drummed his fingers on the wheel, restless. Seojin scanned the outside too. Only a handful of streetlamps were lit at the entrance, leaving it fairly dim.

Follow that road a little way and you would probably reach the gallery. Which meant Yoon Haegang might be out front, waiting. The thought curled his fingers in again.

Just then a blaring trot melody poured out of Manager Kim’s phone.

“Yes, yes, President! Aigoo, we’re at the gallery already. Only they say vehicles can’t come in, so we’re stuck at the entrance. One second, I’ll pass you over!”

Sounding thoroughly put out, Manager Kim held the phone out to the guard.

“It’s my boss on the line. Take it.”

The guard took it with a dubious look, spoke briefly, then handed it back.

“The vehicle stays out. Someone can carry the delivery in, but they come straight back.”

“Sure, but then what am I supposed to do with the car…”

That’s your problem, not mine. The guard’s eyes said as much. Manager Kim clicked his tongue, at a loss.

“Appa, Euni needs to peeee…”

Euni had been watching it all and now whispered it into Seojin’s ear. He had not planned on getting out of the car at all, but with that, he had no choice.

“Yeah? Okay. Hold on a moment, then.”

Seojin bit down hard on his lip, let it go, and tapped Manager Kim on the back.

“Manager, give me the documents. I’ll take them in.”

“What! Seojin-ssi, are you sure that’s all right?”

Too busy wrangling with the guard to have caught the whisper in the back seat, Manager Kim lit up. And yet he could not hide how sorry he felt either.

“Euni needs the bathroom anyway, so I’ll hand these over and come right back. I just give them to the president, right?”

“Yes, yes. Thank you, Seojin-ssi.”

Seojin smiled and climbed out. He took the documents first, then gathered Euni into his arms.

“He says he’s at the gallery entrance right now, so you should run into him as soon as you get there.”

“Got it. Back soon.”

Seojin set off at a quick pace. Past a handsome garden dressed with ornamental trees and sculptures, a single-story building came into view.

The museum married traditional tiled roofing to modern construction with uncanny elegance, and under all that bright lighting it pulled the eye even harder.

But what caught his eye before any of that was Yoon Haegang, breathing out a plume of white smoke. Seojin had not even reached him yet and already the air felt thicker, like it was pressing down.

“Appa, when are we gonna get theeere?”

Seojin, who had faltered a step, snapped out of it at Euni’s nagging. He pulled in a deep breath and hurried on. The moment he stopped in front of the man, Yoon Haegang tipped his chin toward Euni and asked,

“And what’s that, exactly?”

That? Calling someone’s precious daughter a that. Seojin’s brows pinched together before he forced them smooth again.

Euni was right here. He could not let her see him scowling.

“My daughter. Euni, say hello. This is the president of Appa’s company.”

“Hellooo, I’m Noh Eun, Appa Noh Seojin’s daughter.”

Having a handsome man gaze steadily down at her made Euni squirm with shyness. Burrowing into her dad’s chest and sneaking little glances up at him, she was unbearably cute, but instead of smiling, Seojin held out the documents to Yoon Haegang.

“President, here are the documents.”

It had been a while since Euni said she needed the bathroom. She had to be right at her limit. There was not a second to waste.

“I’ll be going, then.”

Seojin waited just long enough to see Yoon Haegang open the envelope and check the contents, then breezed straight past him.

“Where are you going?”

Except Yoon Haegang came striding after him on those long legs, falling into step beside him as he asked.

“Uh, to take care of some business.”

“Ah. Let’s go, then.”

And with that he jerked his chin toward the entrance. Seojin swallowed his protest and walked into the gallery with Yoon Haegang glued to his side. Thankfully, a restroom sign was visible not far past the doors.

“I’ll see you Monday, President.”

Desperate to part ways, Seojin ducked his head in a quick bow and turned around. Yoon Haegang was already out of his thoughts. Euni squirming nonstop in his arms registered as a warning that she had hit her limit.

“Appa, Euni has to peeee…”

“I know. Euni, we’re almost there. Just a second.”

Seojin scanned ahead anxiously. He had seen the sign a moment ago, but the restroom refused to appear.

Where on earth is it?

Only after several turns did he finally spot his destination, and his pace picked up. Someone was trailing along behind him, unhurried, but he had no room to notice.

Seojin bolted into the restroom, ducked into the very first stall, and sat Euni down. Watching the child’s face ease let him finally breathe out in relief.

“Okay, Euni. Ready to head out?”

“Yeah!”

Seojin got a firm hold of Euni as she threw herself into his arms, beaming, and stepped out of the stall, then stopped short. The smell of roses was drifting from somewhere. He definitely knew that scent.

Shin Seyeong’s pheromones. The ones he had brushed past by chance on the street at lunch today.

The instant it clicked, Seojin reflexively pulled Euni tighter against himself. He inhaled carefully, but no, he had not been mistaken. That damp, water-soaked sweetness seeped straight up into his nose.

“Hnngh…”

Then a moan, almost a sob, came from the stall furthest back in the row.