And as soon as Kang Jinwook recalled who had been talking to Choi Sunwoo, he imdiately dialed a number.
Yes, Executive Director.
The call connected before it rang twice. The voice on the other end was Secretary Gwak’s.
“Find out who the guy Sunwoo t at the market is. He seems to work at our company.”
Understood.
Upon hearing Secretary Gwak’s response, Kang Jinwook imdiately hung up. He shook off the remaining water, threw on a robe, and headed toward the dressing room.
After finding a shirt and comfortable pants, Kang Jinwook removed the robe. His well-maintained body, the result of consistent exercise, was revealed in an instant.
His taut muscles, tightly packed with no excess, displayed nothing but a firm and elastic charm without any heavy feel. When he put on his shirt, the default ringtone of his phone rang cheerfully.
“Who is it?”
At Kang Jinwook’s question, Secretary Gwak imdiately reported.
It’s Kim Tae-yeol. He works in the Overseas Business Departnt and is a high school classmate of Choi Sunwoo.
“Classmate?”
It suddenly occurred to him that he had heard sothing about this the last ti they t. So that was why he had been acting so familiar.
Thinking about how Kim Tae-yeol had pretended to be so friendly made Kang Jinwook feel irritated.
Yes. They were in the sa class for three years and went to the sa university. They were in different departnts, but they seed to have t often.
Kang Jinwook’s eyebrows twitched. He and Choi Sunwoo had attended the sa school from elentary to middle school. But once high school started, they were separated. That’s because Kang Jinwook had gone to study abroad in the United States.
It seed that Kim Tae-yeol had beco close with Sunwoo at that ti. To be honest, Kang Jinwook hadn’t paid much attention to him when they had t before, so he hadn’t rembered him.
Also, it seems they lived together for a while.
“Lived together?”
Yes, before Kim Tae-yeol joined Taesung Construction.
Kang Jinwook’s mind flashed back to when he had seen Sunwoo. Kim Tae-yeol had always interrupted whenever Kang Jinwook tried to talk to Sunwoo.
It didn’t seem like just a simple friendship.
At the ti, Kang Jinwook hadn’t cared enough to rember. But now that he thought about it again, his evaluation had changed.
Of course, he didn’t realize he was doing so.
Could it be... that Sunwoo went to Jeju because of Kim Tae-yeol?
The thought struck Kang Jinwook like a lightning bolt. After Sunwoo had gone to Jeju, he hadn’t left the village near the beach for three days.
He had just walked around the nearby beach, strolled around the neighborhood, or visited a small hill near the shore. He had mostly spent his ti at ho and didn’t seem to have gone anywhere else.
Then, Sunwoo suddenly went to the city. He spent ti wandering around a few small, questionable bookstores, unsure if they were even doing business.
Later, when evening ca, he ended up going to a large supermarket, where, by coincidence, Kim Tae-yeol appeared.
“As if he was waiting for him.”
That thought made a surge of irritation rise within Kang Jinwook.
Yes?
Secretary Gwak, hearing Kang Jinwook muttering to himself, asked with confusion.
“So?”
Instead of answering directly, Kang Jinwook impatiently urged Gwak to continue. At the sa ti, his mind was focused on Sunwoo.
Sunwoo had asked for a week’s ti and then imdiately flew to Jeju, buying a house there. But after that, he had stayed in place for three days before eting Kim Tae-yeol? No matter how much Kang Jinwook thought about it, their movents seed suspicious.
There was, of course, one major flaw in his reasoning. Sunwoo had gone to Jeju alone, while Kim Tae-yeol had been with colleagues from work.
However, Kang Jinwook hadn’t considered that and suspected that Sunwoo and Kim Tae-yeol had planned things together in advance. But then, the next thing Secretary Gwak said made Kang Jinwook’s thoughts co to a sudden halt.
Ah, yes. But it seems they haven’t been in contact recently.
“They haven’t been in contact?”
No. There’s no record of any calls with Kim Tae-yeol in Sunwoo’s phone. They may have ssaged through a ssenger app, but it looks like there hasn’t been any texting or calling.
The idea that Sunwoo might have secretly contacted Kim Tae-yeol before going to Jeju disappeared from Kang Jinwook’s mind. His eyebrows returned to their usual position.
“Not even saved as a number?”
I can’t confirm that, but it doesn’t seem like they contacted each other separately.
Sunwoo had changed his phone when he moved to a small town outside of Seoul after quitting his job. He hadn’t shared his new number, and if they hadn’t been in contact, it was likely that neither knew the other had gone to Jeju.
“What’s Kim Tae-yeol’s trait?”
Ah, he’s a recessive Alpha. His mutation manifested when he was 16.
At the ntion of Kim Tae-yeol being a recessive Alpha, Kang Jinwook’s eyebrows twitched again. He didn’t like the idea of an Alpha being around Sunwoo.
Even though Sunwoo was a Beta.
Kang Jinwook ended the call and, as if waiting for it, a ssage arrived.
[Photo of Dinner]
It was from Sunwoo. Once again, the photo was blurry. It was obvious that Sunwoo had taken it carelessly, probably out of annoyance. But what bothered Kang Jinwook more was how the al appeared to lack protein.
Kang Jinwook looked down at the photo in dissatisfaction. His fingers tapping on the keypad were filled with annoyance.
[Eat well]
But that was all the ssage said. After receiving a ssage from Sunwoo a few days ago asking him to stop nagging, Kang Jinwook had been suppressing his urge to scold him. Sunwoo had probably sent this just because he was upset, unable to hold back.
Having forced himself to suppress his irritation, Kang Jinwook put his phone down.
However, a notification soon went off again, and Kang Jinwook looked at his screen, expecting it to be from him. But it wasn’t.
[Choi Sunwoo! Where are you staying?]
Sunwoo narrowed his brow as he looked at the ssage from an unsaved number. It was from Kim Tae-yeol.
“What does it matter where I am?”
He was about to respond, dismissing the question, but then rembered that Kim Tae-yeol was still considered a friend of Subsoo, so he reluctantly shared where he was. Soon after, a response ca from Kim Tae-yeol.
[Huh? You’re near here too? Hotel? Resort? Pension? Or are you staying at a guest house?]
They had only t twice, but Kim Tae-yeol’s chatty tone was apparent even in text.
[No. I’m at ho.]
As soon as Sunwoo sent the ssage, another reply ca from Kim Tae-yeol.
[Ho? Is it a guesthouse? Hey, why are you staying sowhere like that? You’ve got plenty of money, you should live a little better.]
It didn’t matter how much money Sunwoo had or how he spent it. That was his decision. And he wasn’t staying in a guesthouse; he was at his own house, which he had bought with his own money.
But again, he didn’t see the need to explain that.
[None of your business.]
Sunwoo quickly typed three words, sending them without care.
[Oh! Why do you have to be so difficult! Hey, you ca down alone, right?]
Kim Tae-yeol’s response made Sunwoo hesitate for a mont. But since there was nothing to hide, he replied with a simple “yes.”
[Then, want to co over?]
Just as expected, Kim Tae-yeol’s reply ca right away.
[Where would I go? Do you think there’s soone else there?]
Sunwoo pursed his lips, irritated, and sent the ssage with a dismissive tone. But Kim Tae-yeol didn’t give up easily.
[We t at the market earlier. The people with
are all my colleagues around your age. Since we’re all in the sa company, why not hang out together? What are you doing alone? It’s kind of pathetic.]
Having been called pathetic twice in such a short ti, Sunwoo furrowed his brows. For soone spending a peaceful, leisurely day in Jeju, to be called pathetic was absurd.
[Forget it. Go hang out with your colleagues.]
Sunwoo sent the ssage sharply, not wanting to be bothered. They were from the sa company, but they weren’t his concern.
More importantly...
Sunwoo rembered Im Haewon, whom he had unexpectedly run into earlier. She probably didn’t care about him, but that wasn’t the case with him.
How had things gotten so complicated? Facing the main character unexpectedly after everything seed so unpredictable was frustrating.
In his experience as an editor, whenever the characters in a story moved sowhere, sothing was bound to happen.
Sunwoo just hoped he wouldn’t be caught up in any of it. To avoid that, he needed to stay as far away as possible.
“Wait... what if Kang Jinwook flies to Jeju too?”
For a brief mont, the thought made Sunwoo shiver. He felt a chill run through his body, as if sensing sothing ominous.
But then again, he was just walking along the beach and staying quietly at ho, so there was no real reason to worry.
...Or at least that’s what he thought.
“Hey! Choi Sunwoo!”
Sunwoo frowned when he saw Kim Tae-yeol, waving his hands enthusiastically as if he was happy to see him.
He had just finished a late breakfast and was walking along the beach to digest it. If he kept walking, he’d reach the tallest peak in the area, where he could enjoy a clear view of the sea and feel the cool breeze. It was his favorite walking route.
He was also planning to stop by for a peach iced tea, which he had tried the day before.
But just after leaving the residential area and walking along the beach, he bumped into Kim Tae-yeol coming from the opposite direction.
“Unbelievable.”
Sunwoo couldn’t hide his frustration as he saw Kim Tae-yeol, and next to him, was soone even less welco.
Im Haewon.
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