Chapter 013

✥ In the office, Sungyeol had made his appearance and was reading off Kyujong’s schedule for the day, “At eleven Mr. Park of Glorious Spa and you will be having lunch at Gyeomoon restaurant, I have already made the reservation. At two there will be a meeting with hotel ceos from all over Seoul, so you must be in Seoul before then. Then the files of the new hires will be faxed here back at six, you’ll have to take a look at them and memorize each employee,”

“Why don’t you handle the new hires?”

“Because President Kim you once said you do not care for a hiring manager and will handle everything on your own,” Sungyeol said bluntly, “so now you must manage and handle the hires application,”

Kyujong sighed, “Of course, I should be considerate of you and take care of everything on my own from time to time,”

“You’ve made the right choice,” Sungyeol commented.

“Is that all for today?”

“No, there’s also a supper scheduled between you and Mr. Kim Hyungjun,”

Kyujong raised a brow, “Hyungjun?”

“Yes, he checked in this morning after reserving a room from last night,” Sungyeol explained. Kyujong nodded and brushed it off until Sungyeol finished, “He had also checked Youngsaeng in into a room beside him,”

Thinking of what Sungyeol had told him, Kyujong couldn’t focus at all. Lunch with Mr. Park went by slowly as they discussed nothing but businesses, “Then, you sure you will have enough VIP rooms for our special guests on that day?” The older man questioned. Sungyeol, who was seated a few feet behind Kyujong was taking notes and noticed Kyujong’s distant behavior.

“Sure,” Kyujong replied, forcing a smile.

Kyujong was resting his eyes in the back seat when the hour long drive from Incheon to Seoul had felt like a lifetime. Sungyeol kept up with checking on the latter through the rearview mirror. After  sometime he started small talks, hoping Kyujong would join in, “I received the report from the recorder of last night’s meeting and I noticed you decided to invest in five different places. I don’t mean to nag but since a long time ago Mr. Park has always wanted you to invest in his spa, however you always declined his offer. I was wondering what changed your mind?”

“Sungyeol,”

“Yes, President?”

Kyujong heaved a sigh with his eyes still shut, “Let’s drive in silence,”

“Huh?” Sungyeol checked the reflection of the tired Kyujong one more time before complying, “Oh….Okay, go to sleep. I’ll drive around Seoul until it’s time for the meeting,”

Youngsaeng looked over Hyungjun’s open palm and see the taller man holding a waffle cracker, “Do you remember? We used to eat these even though we were in university?” he asked.

Youngsaeng reached and grabbed ahold of it, “You know that I liked strawberry?” he questioned while examining the pink wrap.

“Of course. You can thank Kyujong he beat it into my head,” Hyungjun said with a short smile before opening his own banana flavor one, “go in, I have some business to take care of so I’ll be in my room too. If you need anything—”

“Actually would you mind if I come in instead? We can use this time to catch up and maybe I can learn a thing or two about business,” Youngsaeng suggested, “you see my mindset is still only of a high schooler, so it’s a bit embarrassing,” he reminded his fellow friend. Without seeing any reason to decline his idea, Hyungjun nodded and invited the lad in.

It was a slow day but soon night was upon Incheon. Kyujong had finished looking over the application and resumes of the new hires, trying to recognize their faces to their names. Before he knew it, Sungyeol was already making his way toward his desk. “President,”

“Hm?” Kyujong asked before letting out a sigh.

“I hope you didn’t forget you were supposed to have supper with Mr. Kim Hyungjun,”

“Oh,” Kyujong uttered in realization, “what time is it?”

“It’s almost nine, Mr. Kim is already waiting you in one of the private rooms,” Sungyeol explained. “Also,” Sungyeol began.

“What is it?”

“Some of the stay in VIP guests are curious about what you plan to do with all the clips that has been going around…? They’re worried about the media getting involved….”

“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry,” Kyujong said, making eye contact with his assistant.

“Okay…,” Sungyeol answered shortly before excusing himself out.

Exhausted and tired, Kyujong rode the elevator in silence with hands in his pockets. With no expression on his face, Kyujong carried himself to the private room that supposedly only held Hyungjun. To his surprise, Youngsaeng was also present and was seated just across Hyungjun.

“Oh, you’re finally here,” Hyungjun said. Without any objection Kyujong took the seat facing the opposite direction of the two but is in between them. “I went ahead and already ordered so I’m sure the food will be here soon,”

“Why did you want to have supper? Is something going on?” Kyujong asked, looking only at Hyungjun. Hyungjun noticed how Youngsaeng’s eyes were only on Kyujong, waiting for him to make eye contact with the lad. A smile grew on Hyungjun’s face.

“What do you mean? Can’t the three have supper together? After all it has been a while since we did. Consider this a reunion and let’s put work aside for at least an hour,” Hyungjun expressed. Right before Kyujong could comment, the waitress brought the food over and Hyungjun helped her set up the dining table. Once she was done with place a total of fifteen dishes on the table, she straighten her back and bowed to them.

“Then please enjoy your food and I will check up on your table again in a few, dear guests and President Kim,” she said before leaving and rolling the food carriage cart away.

“Then, let’s eat,” Hyungjun gave the cue to start, but only he picked up his utensils immediately. Youngsaeng followed slowly while Kyujong leaned back in his chair and looked only toward Hyungjun’s direction.

“You’re making the atmosphere awkward, what is it you want to say?” He questioned his friend directly. In response Hyungjun sighed and lowered his eating materials.

“You’re the one making it awkward. I told you, think of this as a reunion meal as my treat and just eat comfortably,”

“I’m a busy man Hyungjun—”

“You really can’t spare an hour to eat and laugh with your old friends, Kyujong?” Hyungjun asked with a sour tone. He was getting angry but was also trying to hold back.

“Yeah I can’t. Who can laugh nowadays? There’s nothing funny going on so who can laugh?” Kyujong stated.

“Fine then let’s just eat together without talking. Talking will only make one of us angry,” Hyungjun cooed, “let’s just eat and not talk, can you do at least that much?”

“Say it directly Hyungjun, usually you have something to say or ask for when you buy someone a meal,” Kyujong said.

Hyungjun sighed once more before locking eyes with the hotel owner, “Aren’t you curious? Where was Youngsaeng last night? Where did he sleep? What did he eat this morning? Did he have lunch or was he waiting for you? Did he want to come down here to have a meal with us or did I force him to come?” Hyungjun asked.

Kyujong flattened his eyes, “So, just because we did something you think now everything he does should be my concern?” Hyungjun wasn’t liking Kyujong’s tone and Youngsaeng too was taken by surprise. Right then Kyujong looked over to Youngsaeng, their first eye contact since last night. Without any courage to get angry at him, Kyujong lowered his voice, “I’m regretting my action from last night, so please don’t think too much of it,”

“Kyujong, you—!” Hyungjun started but Youngsaeng cut him off.

“Do you mean it?” Youngsaeng asked Kyujong, looking right into his eyes as if he was looking at his soul. Kyujong diverted his eyes and hummed in response. “You mean you regret what you did last night?” he asked again.

“Yeah. Also, I think it’s best if you return to Junghwa,” Kyujong said in a low tone, “you shouldn’t have come here in the first place,” without further ado he stood up from his seat and left the room, ignoring Hyungjun’s calls trying to stop him.

“That bas—just what is he saying?” Hyungjun asked in a disbelief tone.

Youngsaeng scoffed a little, feeling offended and hurt.

When morning came, Kyujong was back to sitting behind his desk and listening as Sungyeol read off his schedule for the day. The color had left Kyujong and the bags under his eyes were heavier and bigger. His mind was scrambled due to all sorts of thoughts that he had missed majority of what has been spoken aloud, “...also Youngsaeng had purchased a bus ticket back to Seoul. I heard Hyungjun will be accompanying him,”

“So? What about Youngsaeng?” Kyujong asked.

Sungyeol blinked in confusion, “Hm….As I said he’s planning to return to Seoul—”

“So? I asked you what about Youngsaeng? Who asked you about Seoul?!” Kyujong asked looking up from his paperwork. Sungyeol frowned and noticed the ill look on Kyujong’s face.

“President? Were you drinking?”

Kyujong brushed a hand through his hair, “Tell me, what about Youngsaeng? Did his memories come back?”

“President?” Sungyeol tried to cut in.

“His memories came back didn’t they? I knew this would happen,” Kyujong said before resting his head against his arm and desk.

“Ah seriously, when did you even find the time to drink?” Sungyeol leaned in closer to Kyujong and sniffed the air around him, “Owf! How much did you drink? The smell of alcohol, oh my,” Sungyeol complained, “seriously what am I supposed to do about today’s schedule? It’s such a long list,” Sungyeol took a peek at the list and could only sigh sharply.

Before noon Youngsaeng thought he could clear the air between him and Kyujong before he leave. Hence it was the fourth time he had knocked on the lad’s office door, “Kyujong? It’s me. Are you in there?” Since he didn’t get an answer Youngsaeng assumed it was safe to enter and check for himself. “Kyujong?” Youngsaeng called with caution. He quickly scanned the room but saw no sign of Kyujong. Youngsaeng thought Kyujong could be sleeping on the couch again, and so he fully entered the room and went over to check on the couch but there was no Kyujong. “Did he go out again?” Youngsaeng whispered to himself. Suddenly the sound of running water could be heard and Youngsaeng knew it was coming from the bathroom.

Walking over carefully, afraid of what he might find Youngsaeng stopped at the door seeing how it was wide open. Slowly but surely Youngsaeng start to walk through the doors and stopped when he saw the reflection of Kyujong, leaning over the sink with his hair and upper body soaked in water. Youngsaeng’s eyes widen, his heart beating rapidly once he saw everything clearly. The color of Kyujong’s skin looked rather pale and blue, like someone who has been soaking in ice water. “Kyujong?!” Youngsaeng called out, not certain how his voice came out when all he could think about was how the sight scared him. Then seconds later he saw movement from Kyujong, the lad looked over and made eye contact with Youngsaeng. “Kyujong, what are you doing over there?” He asked.

Without answering, Kyujong left the side of the sink at a quick speed as if he was angry and in a hurry. With heavy and wet steps, Kyujong closed the gap between him and Youngsaeng. With no gentle measure, he wrapped his cold palms around Youngsaeng’s bare nape and used his other arm to pulled Youngsaeng toward him by the back of the waist. Carelessly he smashed the shorter’s warmer lips against his freezing cold ones and held it for a long time. Youngsaeng was shocked by another sudden kiss and the coldness of Kyujong’s skin.

Youngsaeng knew then that Kyujong must have been soaking himself in cold water.

But why?

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