TCBW C35

Chapter 35

“…If you’ll pardon me asking, sir — what exactly is Chairman Lee after?”

While skimming through documents with a dry gaze, Dowoon responded casually, without even looking up.

“Who knows. I can tell you one thing, though — he certainly doesn’t wish me well.”

It wasn’t speculation, but a plain acknowledgment of a fact he had confirmed and remembered for a long time: a father who did not wish for his son’s well‑being.

Hae‑eon knew the two had deep conflicts, but hearing that truth spoken from Dowoon’s own mouth left him unable to continue the conversation.

Much earlier than the usual commuting hour, a black sedan pulled up in front of the Yongseong Finance building.

Stepping out, Dowoon acknowledged the greetings of employees and headed toward the elevators, with Hae‑eon following close behind, his usual neutral expression hiding the guilt that gnawed at him.

When they reached the elevator lobby, before Hae‑eon could even press the button, the floor indicator showed a car already descending.

Strange — at this hour, no one normally came down.

Before Hae‑eon could even wonder who might be inside, the elevator doors opened.

And there, returning from early‐morning cleaning, stood Gyubeom and Seo‑jun.

“Oh?!”

The moment Gyubeom saw the immaculately tailored luxury suit, and the man in it with Hae‑eon standing straight behind him like a shadow, he knew without doubt that this was Dowoon.

He usually timed the cleaning to be finished before the president’s unusually early arrivals, but today there had been more work — and so he’d finished late. Of all days, the one day he ran over happened to be the day he crossed paths with the company president.

“Ah, good morning, sir.”

He bowed instinctively. Though his paycheck came from this man, it wasn’t as though gyubeom had ever been face‑to‑face with him — normally he only saw him in photographs or the news.

He had always thought of him as one might a celebrity, but actually standing before him, he found Dowoon’s presence so overwhelming that even looking him in the eyes felt daunting.

“Thank you for your work, Chief.”

Recognizing Gyubeom, Hae‑eon gave him a short bow in return.

Meanwhile, seeing the gruff older man bow, Seo‑jun tilted his head and whispered to Gyubeom:

“Who’s that?”

Outraged, Gyubeom yanked on his arm to bend his back. His expression clearly said he couldn’t fathom how the kid could be standing there so casually.

“The president, the president!”

When Gyubeom mouthed the words through clenched teeth, Seo‑jun finally nodded.

Ah — so this was the “ill‑fated gentleman” famously said to be a guk‑useong alpha¹ and heir to Yongseong Electronics, but cast aside.

Dowoon’s story was well‑known in the business world; the affairs of Korea’s top conglomerate made for excellent gossip. In particular, the saga of the eldest son, once praised as exceptional, was so notorious that even those outside the corporate sphere — like Seo‑jun — had picked up the broad strokes.

Dowoon’s gaze turned to his wristwatch. And at that tiny movement, it was Gyubeom — watching him most intently — who reacted first, bodily nudging Seo‑jun aside.

“Ow! Hey—”

“Shut it, you fool!”

Clutching the back of the younger man’s neck, he dragged him clear of the elevator doors. The boy’s small noises of complaint and Gyubeom’s hissed reprimands broke the quiet of the morning lobby.

Just then, as they were passing, Dowoon stopped short.

Turning sharply, he looked back at Seo‑jun — now already past him — and stood there, watching for a long moment.

“Sir?”

Only when Hae‑eon called to him did Dowoon step into the elevator.

As it hummed upward, Gyubeom, watching from afar, jabbed an accusatory finger at Seo‑jun.

“You don’t even recognize the president’s face?! That’s a chaebol³ heir who’s on the news every time you turn it on!”

Seo‑jun, unaffected by the older man’s ire, responded airily:

“Ah~ I know. I’ve seen the news. I’m just out of it — didn’t sleep at all last night.”

“Why are you never sleeping? Tch. …What’s that smell? Did you even shower?”

Sniffing in distaste, Gyubeom glared at him.

Seo‑jun sniffed his own shoulder and arm, then grinned.

“Yeah — yesterday. Hehe.”

Appalled, Gyubeom smacked him on the back.

“You filthy brat!”

On the way up, Dowoon said nothing, seeming deep in thought.

Even after reaching his office floor, he slowed to a stop just inside the doorway.

Before Hae‑eon could ask if something was wrong, Dowoon spoke first:

“…Grass scent.”

“Sir? Grass?”

“Yes. From that man earlier — and here. In this office.”

Trying to follow his employer’s meaning, Hae‑eon sniffed the air but caught nothing.

So he failed to understand: grass scent… that man… janitor?

As he turned over the words in his mind, it hit him — everything Dowoon had said was pointing to something. Realization pricked him with a shock.

Madam…!

A cold chill crawled up his back.

Though he hadn’t yet received a report on exactly what duties Suhoe had been given, it was entirely possible he had cleaned this office yesterday.

And as an extreme‑dominant alpha, Dowoon could very well have picked up on the pheromones Suhoe had left.

His senses were razor‑sharp — unnervingly so. Hae‑eon half‑joked to himself that even if someone claimed Dowoon, not Suhoe, was the one from Unbang‑san, he could believe it.

The thought filled his head with worry. That the two might end up crossing paths here before Suhoe quit seemed suddenly plausible.

Even Gyubeom, working here for years, had never met Dowoon face‑to‑face until today — so if schedules aligned, Suhoe could just as easily run into him.

Considering that, Hae‑eon began to dread the consequences of his own meddling.

Should he admit it now?

“Sir…”

But Dowoon didn’t respond to the call.

“…Could the scent really be exactly the same?”

Ignoring Hae‑eon’s discomfort, he stood there, work forgotten, considering the pheromone signature lingering in a place Suhoe had “no reason” to be.

Hae‑eon never did speak up, instead worrying over how best to handle matters. Having Suhoe confess on his own — or leave the job — would be best; he greatly preferred the latter.

Meanwhile, that same morning, still feeling the heavy fatigue from his first day on the job, Suhoe forced his aching body upright.

“Achoo.”

The moment his feet touched the floor, dizziness and a cough hit him. The mild fever from yesterday was still there — his body was sending warning signals.

But he dismissed it as just a touch of a cold, thinking the symptoms would fade by midday as they had before.

[ I have work today before you wake. Don’t be late heading out. ]

Reading the note Kim had left, he took his pheromone suppressant and began getting ready to work.

“Achoo…”

A chilly ache seeped through his whole body, not easily ignored, but he bundled up more thoroughly than yesterday, deliberately ignoring his condition.

Stepping outside, he climbed into the same car that had been waiting and mentally reviewed yesterday’s routine: leave the vacuum in the supply cabinet, the spray bottles…

Before long, the car drew up at Yongseong Finance.

After exchanging sheepish greetings with the security guards from yesterday and being welcomed by the lobby staff, he went up to the third floor.

“You’re here?”

“Yeah. Morning.”

He met Seo‑jun outside their office, sipping a drink, and went in with him.

They began looking through the communal lockers for his uniform, Seo‑jun sitting right behind him as he waited.

“How was it yesterday? First‑day work often knocks people flat.”

“Mm, it was fine.”

In truth his whole body ached, but he didn’t want to trouble Seo‑jun by bringing it up — so he said nothing about it.

“That’s good. You’re doing great for someone so ‘frail.’”

“…Huh?”

At the word “frail” slipping from his mouth without thought, Seo‑jun saw Suhoe tilt his head in confusion — and realized he’d just repeated what Gyubeom had told him yesterday.

He hurried to change the subject.

¹ Guk‑useong (극우성) –“extreme‑dominant,” a rare top‑tier alpha classification with more potent pheromones and social dominance.

³ Chaebol – A large, family‑owned corporate conglomerate in South Korea, often controlling multiple subsidiaries across industries.