“Hh…”
The imprint kept him from smelling anyone’s pheromones but his imprinted partner’s. It also made him not react to other people’s pheromones, and thanks to that, Eunseo had been able to avoid unexpected accidents since.
But as the flip side, having become unable to smell alpha pheromones, he had become far too sensitive to the alpha pheromones he had forgotten for nearly three years.
Sinking into his seat, Eunseo pressed hard on his lower belly. He was afraid that if he didn’t, the faint ember would burst into flame before he knew it.
***
Eunseo felt as if he were dreaming. There was still no sense of reality in this situation at all, and he couldn’t understand why Han Jaeheon was sitting right in front of him — right in front of him. Eunseo stared down at the soju glass holding clear liquid, turning over the words ‘of all things’ several times. It was a different ‘of all things’ from before.
Of all things, why had Eunseo ridden in the Display Materials Development Team leader’s car; of all things, why was this restaurant in such a hard-to-find place; of all things, why had the team leader taken a wrong turn; of all things, why had he suddenly needed the bathroom; of all things, why had only the seat across from Han Jaeheon been empty — it looked very deliberate.
Eunseo barely held back a sigh. In any case, he couldn’t sigh in a seat where an executive director sat across from him, an executive director next to that one, and a division head next to him. The seats were narrow, so he was sitting on his knees when Han Jaeheon said in a very considerate voice,
“Sit comfortably.”
“…Yes.”
As he settled, easing his slightly tingling legs, the door behind him rattled open and an employee came in. The alcohol was already all set out, and the dishes began to come slowly.
“Eat up. Thank you for your hard work today.”
Han Jaeheon met the eyes of the surrounding team leaders, the division head, and the CTO one by one. It was almost the first time Eunseo had seen someone at the company talk while making eye contact like that, so he found it a little fascinating. Come to think of it, even back in school, Han Jaeheon had slightly bowed his head or waist to make sure to meet his eyes when talking to him.
“You’ve worked hard too, Sunbae.”
“…It’s nothing.”
“You must have been nervous, being the only senior among team leaders.”
Weren’t those questions aimed only at him the problem, regardless of rank? The other team leaders’ materials were all old too, but Jaeheon hadn’t nitpicked theirs — only his — and the future-business stuff he’d asked only him about. Unable to argue with a superior anyway, Eunseo just shook his head as if to say it was fine, and Han Jaeheon, watching that, lifted his glass.
“Do you drink now?”
“Yes, a little…”
“Back then you wouldn’t even drink that expensive stuff.”
What was he talking about — Eunseo wondered briefly, then nearly dropped the glass he was holding in shock. Han Jaeheon was talking about that day. That day he’d ordered the expensive thirty-year Ballantine’s and drunk it all himself until his memory blacked out, and that day he’d held Eunseo like a beast and forgotten it all, that day he’d imprinted as he pleased.
Crack — the sound of glass striking glass rang out, and Han Jaeheon drank half the clear liquid and set it down. Eunseo watched the trembling surface of the drink, then just touched his lips to it and set it down. He wasn’t in the mood to drink.
“So you knew Senior Shin from university.”
“Yes, I was taking a required course in my graduating semester, and he helped me an enormous amount. If it weren’t for Sunbae, I’d have had to attend another year.”
Eunseo was very uncomfortable being the topic of this table. With nothing to say to each other, they were just saying whatever came to mind. The CTO wouldn’t have anything good to say with his standing shrinking, and no matter how dumb someone was, they knew that saying the wrong thing about company business in front of the chairman’s grandson, an executive director, would cause an uproar — so no one dared open their mouth in that direction. Han Jaeheon didn’t look like he intended to talk about work yet either.
“Come to think of it, you wore glasses when you were in school.”
“…Yes.”
“Don’t even get me started. When Senior Shin Eunseo started coming to work without his glasses, the whole research lab was in an uproar.” The Battery Materials Team leader, who’d already drunk more than a bottle, picked up the very topic Eunseo most wanted to avoid.
Fine, do what you want. Here, I was the only comfortable topic of conversation anyway.
“Really?”
“Yeah, some handsome, pretty young man suddenly started walking around the lab, and everyone thought he was a new hire, but it was Senior Shin, who’d been here three years — and no matter how thick and big the glasses were, we wondered how he’d hidden that face.”
“People from the development side all came over to stare in wonder, and I heard his photo was even taken and went around on social media.”
What? Eunseo’s eyes went wide as he stared at the team leaders — he hadn’t even known his photo had been taken. After that, the team leaders dragged out every rumor there was. They seemed to have completely forgotten that the subject of those rumors was right there. Eunseo, who couldn’t dream of stopping them, had to sit with his head bowed, listening to that endless bullshit.
“Haha, I thought only I knew, but it seems everyone knows now.” Han Jaeheon cut off the conversation in a voice with a film of ice over it, then turned his gaze back to Eunseo. Eunseo, who was finally feeling like eating something and had been wrapping ssam with just ssamjang on the leafy vegetables, stopped short.
“Eat what you were eating.”
Eunseo chewed and swallowed the crunching vegetables in his mouth and answered.
“…Yes.”
“Don’t eat only vegetables — have some of the raw fish too.”
But there was nothing to eat but vegetables… The dinner venue was a raw-fish restaurant, and Eunseo couldn’t eat raw fish well. Of the side dishes, the seasoned cockles and the fruit salad were about all he could eat, but the cockles were salty so he’d taken one bite and pushed them aside, and the fruit salad bowl was already empty.
Should he order rice? If there were even plain rice, he could eat the cockles with it and fill his stomach a little. But this was a pricey raw-fish restaurant with a pricey course — asking for a bowl of plain rice alone here would make the mood strange.
“Executive Director, might the development teams’ workplaces change?”
“That’s under consideration. My workplace is basically in Seoul, so it’d be good for the development teams to be nearby — but I’m also aware that changing the residences of so many people would clearly be unreasonable.”
“People who aren’t married would be fine, but those with kids seem to find it hard to move.”
“Yes, I imagine so.”
People who’d had a drink or two started talking about future work. At Han Jaeheon’s words, coming out so casually, Eunseo felt a slight chill run down his spine. This was… going to cause an uproar.
“General improvements and responses to buyer requests will be transferred to other teams. The team leaders’ biggest task will be designing duties that fit the development teams.”
“Then what about the work we’ve been doing…”
“It’s hard to transfer it to other teams right away, so the CTO and I will discuss and set a time frame.”
“And since the work itself is changing, all the team names will change too. That’s why Dr. Jin Seunghu came aboard. Dr. Jin Seunghu’s proposal was related to eco-friendly resins, right?” “Then will most of the work proceed in the eco-friendly direction?”
“First… what’s come down to all affiliates is the realization of zero risk regarding environment and quality. So this year the quality team and the environment-and-safety division will suffer a lot, and the development teams will have to agonize over eco-friendliness, zero harmful substances, and the like, as you said.”
It was over. Listening to Han Jaeheon’s words, Eunseo couldn’t shake the thought that it was over. His university research topic had been in that area. Of course it had been — he’d researched it together with Jin Seunghu. But most of the people on his team had nothing to do with it. Then… the tasks would clearly all come his way, and Eunseo bit down hard on his already-chapped lips without realizing it, worried. Their eyes met for an instant, and Han Jaeheon continued, as if reading his thoughts.
“So there will probably be quite a few team member changes too.”
“Sunbae, isn’t that good news?”
“Huh? Yes… good news.”
“You barely eat — shall I order some salmon for you?”
“…No, it’s fine. I’ve eaten a lot.”
“There’s a piece left of each kind here.”
“This place serves per headcount, so if you don’t eat it, it all goes to waste.” At those words, Eunseo finally looked at the plate of raw fish. Over the roundly curled kelp noodles, exactly one piece of each kind of raw fish remained. Gazing at it, imagining that strange texture of raw fish, just as Eunseo forced himself to lift his chopsticks, Han Jaeheon pressed the bell and called an employee.
“Yes, what can I get you?”
“Something other than the raw fish here, please.”
“Shall I grill you some fish?”
At the look asking if grilled was all right, Eunseo nodded again without realizing it. In front of Han Jaeheon, he simply couldn’t keep his wits about him. Shaking and nodding his head like a child, then a little embarrassed, the back of his neck reddening, he hung his head low. While Eunseo did that, Han Jaeheon ordered grilled fish and rice.
“You don’t like raw fish, do you.”
“It’s not that I dislike it.”
“Hm, I thought you disliked it.”
Then did you force that salmon on me back then knowing I disliked it? Anger surged for an instant and he lifted his head, only for Han Jaeheon to curl his lips in a devilishly bewitching smile. Those pink lips, without a single blemish — so sweet-looking, unlike his own lips, chapped and bitten and full of wounds everywhere — Eunseo couldn’t bear to look any longer and turned his head away.
“You’ve worked hard — you should at least eat something delicious.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
“Though you don’t look thankful at all.”
Han Jaeheon lifted his glass again. With no choice, Eunseo lifted his along and clinked it against Jaeheon’s. Why was it that Koreans couldn’t drink without making a toast. This time too, he just touched his lips to the drink and pulled away, and Han Jaeheon watched with a meaningful gaze.
“You drink a bit now, you said.”
“…I don’t like it.”
“I thought it was fine when you drank sometimes.”
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