Chief Kim and Assistant manager Choi

“You can come to my house.”

This was an hour ago. Jihoon had never visited Woojin’s home before. Thinking about it now, it was probably because Jihoon was afraid he might bring bad memories or even bad luck to Woojin’s house.

Woojin traced the cup that sat on the table in front of him before turning to watch Shin’s bare feet next to him. Shin was reading a book on the sofa. When Woojin touched Shin’s ankle, Shin seemed surprised. He sat down his book and asked, “Are you nervous?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to give you a hug?”

“Yeah.”

Shin’s hands were huge. Woojin loved the feeling of being inside Shin’s embrace. He buried his face on Shin’s shoulder and breathed in deeply.

“Shin, do you think I am a bad person?”

“... Why would you think that?”

Shin hugged Woojin even tighter and asked with a deep echoing voice. Woojin looked up a little, wanting to hear Shin’s voice a little better. He kissed Shin’s neck on his way up and answered, “Because I didn’t do anything about it.”

“...”

“I just gave up. I assumed it was going to be a sad unfortunate life.”

Woojin slid his hand underneath Shin’s shirt and caressed Shin’s back. His slim sensitive skin moved up slowly, as if branding Shin as his own. Both Shin and Woojin were very possessive of each other. Shin lately realized this, and it became even more obvious every time their bodies were in close proximity.

The way Woojin watched him... The way Woojin fixated on Shin’s ankles and wrists...

During the weekends, all they did was make love. Shin refused to let Woojin sleep; Shin was obsessed with having sex with him.

Shin didn’t think their behaviors were abnormal; they just had a very deep and sticky relationship.

Ding dong.

Woojin stood up as soon as he heard the doorbell. It had to be Jihoon. When he slowly opened the front door, Jihoon Kang was standing there. He smelled like the wind.

“Hello.”

The way Jihoon smiled was surprisingly similar to how Woojin smiled. Woojin admitted that they were indeed related. Sometimes, Jihoon reminded him of himself, and this made Woojin now feel more apathetic towards his cousin.

Jihoon seemed very extroverted but he was very vague and secretly built a giant invisible wall around him.

Woojin was very introverted but he could be surprisingly direct and straightforward.

They were two very different people, but there had to be a point in the middle where they could coexist. And... it seemed they were getting closer to it.

“Come in.”

Shin was stood up from the sofa and bowed lightly. Jihoon took his coat off and smiled at him. Jihoon looked relaxed but oddly nervous as well. Jihoon began the conversation, “Chief Kim, I heard that you are living with Woojin now.”

“Assistant Manager Kang, I am so sorry for the misunderstanding between us. It was my mistake.”

“Oh well, I think I probably deserved it. I did act shady.”

“I see that you are as funny as ever.”

Shin laughed as he stood up. He whispered to Woojin, “I will be in the room.”

Shin then walked into the bedroom and Jihoon watched their interaction quietly. Jihoon no longer looked angry or tired like before. Perhaps it was because he now had someone who made him feel more relaxed and loved. Perhaps Jihoon had been lonely all this time.

Woojin walked to the kitchen as he said to him, “Shall we chat a bit now?” The wonderful smell of coffee filled the condo. Woojin brought two mugs to the table and Jihoon smiled, covered his mouth, and said to him, “I don’t drink coffee.”

“...Oh, right.”

“You are just like Siwoo sometimes.”

It had been a long time since Woojin and Jihoon talked comfortably with each other. The truth was, Woojin found it very uncomfortable to spend time with him, let alone talk with him. And for the longest time, it was never Woojin who tried to improve their relationship.

It was always Jihoon.

Jihoon continued, “I heard a gist of what happened from Siwoo. Just a simple version.”

“... So Siwoo knows now?”

“Yeah, because I took him to that restaurant for dinner the other night.”

Woojin felt a chill throughout his body. Ever since he began to date Shin, Woojin learned that there were so many different emotions in this world. At some point, he began to feel for not only his partner, but for the other people around him. Woojin began to understand how other people felt, and the more he learned to understand, the harder it had been for him to deal with it. Woojin now felt torn at this complicated situation. When he thought of how Siwoo must’ve felt, the pain he must’ve endured, Woojin found himself feeling sympathetic.

“Is Siwoo ok? Was he shocked?”

“... Woojin, I never thought you could worry about someone other than Shin Kim...”

“...”

“I can see that you have changed a lot, Woojin Choi.”

Jihoon smiled. He rubbed his lips as he leaned against the sofa. When he turned towards Woojin again, Jihoon had a cold expression on his face.

“He will be alright since I will be there for him.”

“...”

Woojin realized Jihoon Kang had changed as well. Jihoon said to him, “I don’t know Joowan Kim.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Then why did you take me there without explaining? Why did you keep it a secret from me?”

“Because I felt bad.”

Woojin meant it. He did suspect briefly that Jihoon could be the one behind Shin’s accident.

“But it’s true that that woman hates you.”

“But I also know that is why you hate her too. Your own mother.”

“I hate her because I am afraid that she might have killed her own family.”

Finally, the many pieces of the puzzle were coming together to reveal the truth.

“I still don’t trust my mother.”

“Why not?”

“Because we still don’t know everything.”

The only thing left for them to do was piece the puzzle together. Woojin brought out a small box from the coffee table.

“This is something that might help us in finding the truth.”

Inside the box, there were tiny little pills.

***

Woojin looked down at the text message on his cell phone.

-Yoonil is really worried about you. Even your mom called him yesterday. Woojin, you need to go see him at the clinic.

It was from Eejun. Woojin was at the team leaders’ meeting. Usually, Woojin didn’t attend these meetings, but because the policy department team leader was away on a business meeting, he had to be here to take notes for his superior. When he sat down, the general manager nodded at him subtly. The general manager never acknowledged Woojin before, so he was surprised. Woojin guessed that it was probably because his grandfather told him about Woojin.

‘Just what is his plan?’

Woojin’s grandfather was someone that was very distant to Woojin. He was the head of this family and he was interested in Woojin only as a potential heir to the company, not as his grandson.

In his grandfather’s home, which was like a castle, the Chairman was always surrounded by people. Family members, company people, business acquaintances, and so on. They never left him alone and most of these people didn’t like Woojin. Woojin’s own relatives hated him.

‘I wonder when this all started.’

During the meeting, all Woojin could think about was when Eejun Bae began to lie to him. Myunghoon Bae, Eejun’s grandfather, and the company’s previous attorney had been slowly but surely making sure Jihoon and Woojin drifted apart. And to do this, he needed his grandson.

To uncover the truth, Woojin had no choice but to contact his grandfather. It was a difficult task, trying to talk to his own grandfather without Attorney Myunghoon Bae knowing about it. Yoonil, Myunghoon Bae, and Eejun Bae... These three men were involved in everything and everyone that concerned his grandfather and the company.

But the general manager sitting across from him... He was one of the few who was independent of these three people. The general manager was an outsider who was promoted to this position by Woojin’s grandfather purely because of his talent.

Suddenly, Woojin saw that there was another text message from an unfamiliar number. When he opened it, it showed a simple message.

-We need to meet.

-From Joowan.

Woojin rubbed his eyebrows and began to write a text to Shin that he was going to be late tonight.