“Get up.”
“Why, why?”
With a visibly tense face, Heewoon became pale. Kangwoo coiled Heewoon’s half-standing waist and pulled him closer.
“I want to get you to sit on my knees.”
Kangwoo, who made Heewoon sit on his thigh, supported the back with his arms and patted the side of Heewoon’s thigh. Heewoon was a bit stiff at first, but since it was a familiar embrace, his tension gradually eased.
“Oh, you think easy of me because I do this.”
Almost muttering to himself, Kangwoo got a fleeting glance from Heewoon. When their eyes met, Kangwoo smirked.
“Are you purposely making this expression?”
“What expression?”
“Look at this, you’re sulking and pouting.”
Kangwoo held Heewoon’s chin with one hand and tapped his cheek. Heewoon denied with his lips sticking out, but Kangwoo ignored him.
“But what should I do? I really like it when you cry, Sunbae.”
“….”
“Shall I see it now after a long time?”
After saying such scary words, Kangwoo kissed Heewoon’s lips playfully. Heewoon’s lips, protruding like a carp, were amusing, and Kangwoo chuckled.
The playful kiss soon became more intense. Kangwoo wrapped his hand around Heewoon’s neck and gently captured his lower lip. His mouth seemed a bit swollen than usual, causing the corners of Kangwoo’s lips to curve.
Even though Heewoon was clearly showing that he was in a bad mood, it was amusing to see his lips opening up as if he couldn’t stand against Kangwoo’s tongue tickling between the gap. Not missing a beat, Kangwoo explored and licked Heewoon’s shyly retreating tongue, then pulled back, smiling.
“Don’t get upset.”
“…I’m not upset.”
Heewoon furrowed his brow. It felt strangely ridiculous to express this situation with the word “upset”. But in general, he found himself ridiculous in front of Kangwoo.
“Then you must be angry. That’s serious. When Sunbae gets angry, it’s really scary.”
“Don’t tease me.”
“Ah, look at this. It’s really frightening.”
Seo Kangwoo teased him for a long time because of his glare.
After that, Seo Kangwoo became sweet again. After hugging and teasing him for a while, when Heewoon mentioned feeling hungry, Kangwoo ordered a late-night snack that didn’t match his own taste. While eating fries with plenty of cheese, Heewoon talked about what happened at work. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but pretending to be difficult made him feel really energized. When Kangwoo prodded him about who made him feel difficult, it made his heart race, but he glossed over it.
“You still like this kind of thing.”
Fiddling with the bag of snacks, Kangwoo looked relaxed, but Heewoon vowed to himself. He must hide information about his coworkers from Kangwoo.
The weekend passed in peaceful times. After leisurely getting up and having lunch, Heewoon went for a walk with Kangwoo. Lexy also went along. When they returned, they bathed Lexy and made dinner.
Heewoon made kimchi stew himself, and Seo Kangwoo, all the while teasing and bothering him by pulling him close during cooking, was uncooperative. But he ate the kimchi stew Heewoon made and said he couldn’t eat elsewhere now, Heewoon’s mood eased a bit. Although Seo Kangwoo laughed as he watched Heewoon’s reaction, seeing him eat it all made it seem like that wasn’t an empty statement.
***
It was a slightly better week than last week. Heewoon was still in the learning stage, but he had received praise for doing well. So, putting in more effort to do better, he found himself still feeling exhausted after work.
It was now Friday again.
“Would Heewoon-ssi like to order more cider?”
“Water is fine.”
Heewoon had agreed with Kangwoo that he could attend the dinner but not drink alcohol. Fortunately, it wasn’t a pushy atmosphere, and when he said that he was alcohol intolerant, the team leader discouraged him from drinking with a serious face, as if it would be a big deal if he had an accident.
For Heewoon, it was a good thing. Thus, the company dinner turned out to be much more comfortable than he had thought. However, there were occasional uncomfortable questions.
“I heard you have a partner. Is she pretty?”
Is he pretty…?
“What does she do?”
Various illegal things…
“She must be thrilled that you got a job early.”
He hates it.
“Ahaha. Questions are pouring out, huh?”
Heewoon’s lips twitched as he couldn’t answer, and the assistant manager laughed. Heewoon awkwardly laughed along.
“Oh my, Assistant Manager. You shouldn’t ask personal questions like that nowadays.”
“Even this much is not allowed?”
“Yes.”
The assistant manager took a sip of soju, licking his lips. Everyone seemed to be drinking, and a complaining voice came from the team leader sitting a bit far away.
“It must be nice to have a lover…”
Heewoon wasn’t sure if it was directed at him or just a mutter to himself, so he just laughed. He had heard similar things before, but they could only say that because they didn’t have Seo Kangwoo as their lover.
While everyone was generally friendly to the new employee, the shy Heewoon found it challenging. To succeed in office life, it seemed necessary to say various things, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. All he did was nod in agreement or say yes, following what his seniors were talking about.
Since he neither had drank nor spoke much, when he told Kangwoo about it later, he would probably receive praise like, “You did well.”
In fact, Kangwoo had allowed him to join the dinner today because he also had a drinking appointment. He was going to have a drink with his grandfather and some others, and it didn’t seem like a very relaxed occasion. It was probably an extension of their work.
Heewoon drank the water he had in the cup all along. He didn’t send a picture of his dinner to Kangwoo today because he felt self-conscious about taking pictures, and he didn’t receive any pictures from Kangwoo either. If he had mustered the courage to take and send a picture, would Kangwoo have sent one back?
***
“Have a good weekend-.”
“See you on Monday.”
“Take care on your way home.”
Greetings were exchanged here and there. While catching a taxi on the street, someone was calling a substitute driver, and in the midst of the chaos, Heewoon also went around greeting others.
“Hey, Woo Heewoon-ssi. Good job.”
The team leader patted Heewoon on the shoulder and added a few words. You’re doing quite well, it’s a shame you can’t drink, but that’s not a problem. I don’t like drinking much either. The team leader seemed to not enjoy alcohol a lot, which seemed to contribute to the casual atmosphere of the company dinner.
After finishing his goodbyes and getting the hand off his back, it was only a little after 8 pm that Heewoon took a taxi. Heewoon sent a message to Kangwoo.
[I’m heading home now. When are you coming back?]
Although he checked his phone several times until he reached home, Kangwoo hadn’t read the message. The reply came when Heewoon was done showering and watching the TV, contemplating whether he should eat ramen or not.
[You can go to bed first.]
Heewoon placed his phone on the sofa after seeing that. He asked when Kangwoo was coming, but the answer he got was about something else. Anyway, it was Saturday tomorrow, so he would be sleeping late, it wouldn’t be hard for Kangwoo to just tell him when he would return, even if it was at dawn.
Heewoon glanced at his phone in the corner of the sofa, then at the clock, then at the TV for a moment, and eventually picked up his phone again.
[At what time will you be back?]
About an hour later, the notification that Kangwoo had read it appeared, but there was no response. Heewoon checked his phone frequently while watching a movie.
“It’s already past 12 am…”
Looking at the clock, Heewoon grumbled and rubbed his stomach. Since he had been feeling hungry, he thought it would be good to eat some ramen. After all, he didn’t plan on sleeping until Kangwoo arrived.
However, as soon as he started boiling the water for the ramen, he sensed someone’s presence. Heewoon turned off the gas stove and walked cautiously into the living room.
“…”
As he saw Kangwoo entering through the front door, Heewoon stopped abruptly at his feet. Seo Kangwoo’s steps were steady, his attire neat, but there was something different about him today.
Sitting down on the sofa, Kangwoo loosened his tie and took it off. Then he sprawled out, sighing, and Heewoon realized that Kangwoo was drunk.
It was the first time he had seen Seo Kangwoo in a drunken state. Comfortably stretching his legs and leaning his neck against the back of the sofa, Kangwoo stared into space. His disheveled appearance was unusual. Heewoon instinctively reached into his pocket, only to realize there was no pocket in his nightwear. Remembering that he left his phone on the table, he felt a bit jittery.
“Are you looking for your phone?”
Startled by the sluggish voice, Heewoon lifted his head. Seo Kangwoo, lying on the sofa, was watching him with a relaxed posture.
“Are you trying to take a picture of me again?”
With a raised tone at the end of his sentence, Kangwoo chuckled. Heewoon’s face turned red in an instant. He had never thought Kangwoo would find out about him secretly taking his pictures.
“No, I-I’ll get some water.”
Flustered, Heewoon tried to escape to the kitchen, but Kangwoo gestured for him to come closer. His hand moved slowly through the air. When Heewoon didn’t move, Kangwoo added as if annoyed.
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