“I didn’t... do anything.”
Sitting awkwardly, the shoe he had been pressing suddenly slipped. As his upper body pitched forward, Heewon instinctively grabbed Kwon Youngjae’s knee to catch his balance.
...Huh?
This posture, this angle—it felt oddly familiar. If he just bowed his head from here...
‘Is he crazy about... oral?’
The horrific scene from that day replayed vividly in his mind. He clearly rembered Youngjae clicking his tongue and grabbing his hair tightly. The naughty breathing that had tickled his ear echoed like an auditory hallucination.
“No!”
Startled, Heewon shot upright. Without thinking where he was, he hastily stood, banging his shoulder against the underside of the desk.
Bang!
The sound was quite loud, enough that Youngjae reached out to steady him.
“Let see. Did you dislocate sothing?”
“...No, I’m fine, ah! Oof!”
The pressure from Youngjae’s firm grip hurt more than the collision with the desk. It seed less about checking his condition and more about pent-up frustration.
Though dragged out from under the chair, Heewon was still firmly caught in Youngjae’s grasp. He groaned as his right shoulder blade was forcibly exposed.
“Ugh, Executive Director, it hurts... hng.”
Every ti Youngjae pressed on the joint, his waist twisted like grilled squid. Instead of words, moans spilled from Heewon’s mouth—anyone would recognize it as pain.
Youngjae’s brow furrowed tightly at the sound. His hand imdiately dropped from Heewon’s shoulder. As if wanting nothing to do with him, he pushed back the wheeled chair and deliberately distanced himself.
“Why are you panting like that?”
“...?”
“Then did I do that?”
Heewon straightened his slumped back. Watching Youngjae’s displeased expression, he truly felt he’d made so mistake.
Had he? No, he was only complaining about the pain. If you squeeze a person that hard, moaning is inevitable.
Not knowing what to say, he blinked helplessly. Youngjae shot him a sharper glare than before.
“Did you leave your brain back in Japan?”
“I honestly did it without thinking.”
“Use your brain. You said we’d forget it, but it can’t just be like it never happened.”
“Ah... yes.”
Heewon answered in a voice that seed to crawl on the floor.
Outwardly, Executive Director Kwon seed unchanged and as if he’d cleanly forgotten that day. A man with excellent control, he assud Youngjae was just acting like before.
In truth, he was just hiding it. And Youngjae was right: having sex couldn’t simply be erased from mory. Heewon himself kept flashes of it coming unbidden; it was no different for the other party.
“I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“Let’s avoid contact as much as possible. It’ll be better for both of us.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
Heewon gave a polite bow and gathered the papers he’d picked up. He couldn’t show Youngjae the damaged docunts, so he’d have to print new copies.
As he left the office, he clenched the wrinkled papers tightly. The complicated thoughts would be wiped clean the mont he stepped out. Since Youngjae had warned him, there was no room for further mistakes.
Around lunchti, the secretary room was unusually noisy.
Returning from a short break, Heewon glanced at the gathering murmurs before returning to his seat. As he moved his mouse, the secretaries quickly approached with sly, aningful smiles.
“Director.”
“What’s all this crowd for?”
“Did you hear? The PR team said our advertising model has changed.”
“To who?”
“To Han Jinseo.”
Heewon lifted his gaze from the monitor to the secretaries. When their eyes t, they all grinned knowingly.
“That’s unexpected.”
Apex had long employed only Oga actors as ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) promotional models — soft, familiar, gentle images. That was the brand image Apex pursued.
Using an Alpha as a model was a first since the company’s founding. He’d heard he was popular, apparently quite influential.
“Han Jinseo... doesn’t he seem kind of rude?”
Heewon recalled a neighboring acquaintance from his mory. Ah, scratch that—he’s not rude. The Han Jinseo shown on broadcast dia certainly gave a reliable, solid impression. He himself had felt so favor when first introduced, despite seeing so raw sides.
Celebrities, after all, sell a polished image no matter their true nature. Packaging matters more than anything. That ant Heewon’s opinion wasn’t really important.
“Director, do you dislike Han Jinseo?”
“I don’t care enough to like or dislike him.”
“They said he’s coming around two o’clock to sign the contract...”
Secretary Ji dropped the hint subtly. Of course, that was why they’d all gathered in front of Heewon.
“Can we go watch for a bit?”
“They’re going even if you say no.”
“We’ll just see his face, really.”
Heewon swallowed a smile and gave them a stern look.
“It’ll probably be like a market. No signing or photo requests allowed. Don’t embarrass the Executive Director. Keep your dignity.”
“That goes without saying!”
They all promised in confident voices, saying they’d behave politely. Heewon nodded to grant permission.
Around two o’clock, secretaries checked the wall clock repeatedly while working. Notification sounds pinged from conversations with PR staff.
Secretary Ji gave a signal, and the secretaries began tidying their spaces. One by one, they stood and straightened their clothes.
“Director, it’s two o’clock.”
“Go ahead.”
Heewon replied distractedly, focused on work. Secretary Ji glanced nervously and cautiously spoke.
“Would you like to co with us?”
Heewon looked at the monitor and chuckled.
“When have I ever gone to watch sothing like that?”
“...Just asking out of courtesy.”
“Go ahead. Don’t worry about it.”
Just then, a phone rang at an empty desk. Heewon pressed the button and answered.
“Yes, Secretary Kim Heewon speaking.”
Though working alone, he efficiently handled the work of four people. The secretaries exchanged glances and silently slipped out of the office.
Soon after, the executive office door opened and Kwon Youngjae briefly appeared.
“Secretary Kim.”
Seeing the empty office, he didn’t ask if anything was wrong. He never cared if other secretaries were present.
“Yes, Executive Director.”
Heewon responded imdiately. He added no explanation about the secretaries’ absence, waiting only for Youngjae’s instructions as usual.
“See if the three o’clock eting can be moved earlier. As soon as possible.”
“Yes, understood.”
Heewon quickly contacted the legal team. Soon, with the phone pressed to his chest, he relayed the answer to Youngjae.
“They said it can be anyti.”
“Tell them we’re leaving now.”
Youngjae responded lightly and returned inside. While preparations for departure were underway, Heewon shared the order with legal staff. The situation had suddenly beco busier. He sent ssages to the secretary team to prepare for the eting.
[Change 3 o’clock eting to current ti, everyone return.]
Emoticons of crying faces ca in rapid succession.
Less than ten minutes after leaving to watch, calling them back already was sowhat embarrassing for Heewon. But there was no choice—company matters ca before personal interests.
The short eting ended in less than an hour. On the way out, Heewon spotted a large crowd gathered at a distance.
Among heads of similar height, a tall face stood out. Even from afar, a glowing aura surrounded it, making it seem extraordinary.
Scanning the crowd, Heewon cautiously said,
“Actor Han Jinseo visited headquarters today. He’s signing the promotional model contract...”
“I know.”
Youngjae answered as if uninterested. From his voice alone, Heewon guessed his expression was cold.
Han Jinseo’s image was quite bad in many ways. If Heewon had co to ignore him gradually, Youngjae disliked him from the start. Maybe he would have talked if it was soone he liked, but it was more like a blind dislike at first sight.
Since Han Jinseo was far away, it didn’t seem necessary to bother him with conversation. Heewon subtly pointed toward the ergency exit stairs.
“The elevator looks crowded. Would you like to walk down?”
At that, Youngjae briefly nodded. Just as he turned toward the ergency exit,
“Oh, Executive Director!”
Executive Director Park from PR saw Youngjae and waved enthusiastically.
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