The Country Life Diary of a Gangster’s Secretary

This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!

Inside the CEO’s office of Taesung Construction.

Kwon Ihyeok was staring intently at something, unable to take his eyes off it. It wasn’t a business document or an approval form.

“……”

Ihyeok was staring at his phone screen, holding it in his hand. Then, with a short vibration, a message preview appeared on the top bar.

[I sent it, so we’re good now, right?]

Ihyeok casually swiped away Dohyun’s desperate text with his finger and focused on the screen again. At the end of that intense gaze was a picture of Hyeseong smiling slightly in front of a retriever with fluffy fur. Thanks to the little guy taking a pretty good picture and sending it, Ihyeok had been unable to take his eyes off it for 10 minutes.

“Cute.”

It seemed like it had been a long time since he had seen Hyeseong smile so purely like this. Hyeseong was already a blunt person with an expressionless face most of the time. So much so that everyone said he looked cold and was difficult to approach.

Perhaps that’s why whenever the usually expressionless Hyeseong laughed or smiled, people would stare at him for a long time. Ihyeok turned off the phone screen and naturally recalled that day. The day he first saw Hyeseong’s quiet and gentle smile.

* * *

It was some time after Hyeseong had started coming to the Taesung office naturally. The members of Taesung, including Seongjin, welcomed the smart and somewhat timid college student Hyeseong and treated him intimately like a younger brother.

Of course, not everyone was like that. Some guys thought Hyeseong was rude for blurting out things he shouldn’t say despite being young.

“Why does the boss keep bringing that kid to the office?”

One member placed a mixed coffee in front of Ihyeok, who was lying deep on the sofa reading. Inside the office filled with cigarette smoke. Under the bright lights were rusted metal filing cabinets and desks. An old sofa with cigarette marks here and there. And sitting on it with two buttons of his dress shirt undone was Kwon Ihyeok, reading ‘Moby-Dick’ with a cigarette in his mouth.

It was a sight that truly didn’t match the surroundings. But it was already familiar to the members. The fact that Ihyeok had a reading hobby that didn’t suit his profession.

“Why? He’s smart.”

“What’s the use of being smart? He’s so rude.”

“Baekdae, do you think it suits us to talk about manners?”

Ihyeok gently turned a page and chuckled. Then, the member named Baekdae cleared his throat loudly as if he had been stabbed.

“Still, I’m telling you! The more you indulge the young one, the more he gets full of himself.”

“Well, I find Hyeseong entertaining.”

His personality and behavior that didn’t match his age had recently become Ihyeok’s greatest source of entertainment. At that age, people usually liked drinking and playing around, but Hyeseong was different. It seemed like he didn’t have many friends, and whenever he had time, he was busy looking into those boring major books instead of drinking.

Moreover, that wasn’t the only peculiar thing. The kid was so blunt and spoke so stiffly that not a single one of the members here had ever won against Hyeseong in a war of words. It was so enjoyable to see the rough-looking old men helplessly losing to a fair and gentle-looking college student.

“Since he’s someone the boss brought in, I’m not going to talk back, but please don’t be too lenient with him. We need to tighten the discipline…!”

Baekdae was about to clench his fist. That’s when Ihyeok’s gaze, which had changed significantly, poured down from beside him.

“Baekdae, he’s only twenty now. Do you really want to do that?”

His tone and voice were soft, but his expression and eyes were not at all. It seemed to contain a warning that if he insulted Hyeseong any further, he wouldn’t let it slide with just words this time. Ihyeok wasn’t the type of boss who was authoritative and made people kneel with force, but all the members feared him.

“No. I was rash.”

This was exactly why. Even though he seemed calm, the coldness contained within was as sharp as if it would pierce the heart at any moment. Only those who had felt it would know the clear fear that was felt without any threats.

“Okay. Then go out and work now.”

“Yes.”

Baekdae got up from his seat, hurriedly picking up his outer clothing.

“Oh right, Baekdae. Open all the windows when you go out.”

“What? Why?”

Baekdae, who was trying to leave quickly in the suffocating atmosphere, looked at Ihyeok with a puzzled face.

“It’s past 4 o’clock now. Hyeseong will be coming after his classes end.”

Ah, only then did Baekdae realize Ihyeok’s intention. He had heard that the naive little one really hated the smell of cigarettes. One member who had smoked next to him without knowing said that he had never received such a contemptuous and pathetic look in his life and had even talked about it in a depressed manner.

Anyway, thanks to that, Ihyeok kindly warned everyone not to put cigarettes in their mouths as much as possible when Hyeseong was in the office.

Ihyeok told Baekdae while stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray. Seeing that contradictory scene, Baekdae swallowed what he wanted to say and left the office after opening all the windows wide.

And a little while later, just as Ihyeok said, Hyeseong entered the office.

“Hello, Hyeseong.”

Ihyeok waved his right hand. Hyeseong bowed his head slightly and entered as always.

“It’s only you here today.”

“Yeah. Everyone went to work. Why, do you not like it when it’s just me?”

“No.”

Hyeseong answered lifelessly and sat across from Ihyeok. Then, he took out his laptop and textbooks from his backpack and spread them out. It seemed he was going to do his assignment here again today.

“What subject are you doing today?”

“If I tell you, would you know?”

“That’s too much. Are you looking down on me because I’m a high school graduate?”

However, there was more amusement than anger on Ihyeok’s face. If someone who didn’t know well heard it, they might have taken it as mocking and ridiculing someone with a lower education level than oneself, but Ihyeok knew. Hyeseong was genuinely curious and asking.

“Ah, I only have to be here for an hour today and then go back to school.”

“Why?”

Usually, when Hyeseong came to the office, he would sit for at least two hours. There were also several times when Ihyeok lured him to buy dinner and they ordered and ate seolleongtang together here.

“There’s a school festival today. The department is running a pub, and I’m assigned to the evening shift, so I have to go to change shifts later.”

If that was the case, instead of studying here, he should have played to his heart’s content at the university until the shift change time came. Thinking that Hyeseong was quite a piece of work, Ihyeok opened his mouth.

“You’re doing that too?”

“Even if I don’t want to, I have to. Everyone’s participating, so I can’t be the only one not doing it.”

From what he heard, it seemed that Hyeseong had deliberately volunteered for the most inconspicuous role in the pub kitchen. He didn’t like it, but he had a sense of duty or obligation, so he chose the easiest role where he only had to cook in the kitchen.

“Since it turned out this way, try to enjoy it a little. They say the flower of the university is the festival. Celebrities will come and there will be a lot of performances.”

Before he knew it, Ihyeok had closed his book and was watching Hyeseong typing on his laptop in a steady rhythm with an amused look. His white and long fingers, which were not manly, were dancing gracefully on the keyboard. Not even realizing that his gaze had been captivated by his beautiful hands, he raised one corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know. I’m just going to work for the set time and go home.”

“You’re not going to play at the festival?”

“No.”

Well, it was the answer he expected. The great Cheon Hyeseong was not cut out to wildly drink and enjoy like others during the festival.

“It’s your youth.”

“Playing isn’t the only thing that makes it youth. I think doing the things I need to do now for what I want to do later is also part of youth.”

“You really don’t lose in words.”

When it was said earlier that there was not a single person in this office who had won against Hyeseong in a war of words, that included Ihyeok as well. But Ihyeok enjoyed conversing with Hyeseong. While other guys said they would burst from talking with him, Ihyeok became more and more interested the more he talked with Hyeseong.

Ihyeok watched Hyeseong’s lips that were tightly shut without him realizing it as he focused on the laptop screen. His face was white, but his lips were as red as if they were holding a cherry.

“Why doesn’t Hyeseong smile?”

It would be nice if he smiled and went around with those lips like kids his age. As Ihyeok muttered absentmindedly, Hyeseong’s hands which had been moving without stopping suddenly halted.

“…You.”

Hyeseong, who had been diligently doing his assignment since entering this office, raised his head for the first time and met eyes with Ihyeok.

“Do you want me to smile?”

“Yeah. I want to see it once.”

“…That’s impossible. It’s not a situation where I can smile at all right now.”

Ihyeok grumbled, saying if he was going to be like that, why did he ask and make him anticipate it? But Hyeseong focused on his laptop again after a brief eye contact.

“I’m going to do my assignment now.”

“Okay.”

In other words, it meant don’t disturb me. Ihyeok also picked up his book. He began to read carefully from the part he had been reading earlier.

How many minutes passed like that? Ihyeok’s eyes began to close tiredly. He had used his body too much lately while working, so he got tired easily.

And so, without even realizing that he was falling asleep, Ihyeok’s eyelids slowly closed.

“……”

How much time had passed? Ihyeok slowly opened his eyes. And his eyes met directly with Hyeseong’s, who had been looking at him.

“…If you sleep like that, you’ll get cervical disc.”

How long had he been watching? Ihyeok mulled over the gaze of Hyeseong who had been staring at him and blankly watched him get up from his seat.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

Hyeseong said that he had to leave now to get back to school on time and hurriedly packed his things.

“Hyeseong.”

“Yes.”

“Can I come play too?”

Ihyeok asked playfully while stretching. Usually, when he said something like this, there were expected answers.

Things like “What would you do there?” 

Or “The kids might be scared of you, so you’re coming?”

He was sure he would say something like that. Ihyeok had asked playfully on purpose aiming for that, but strangely, Hyeseong wasn’t saying anything.

Hyeseong’s face slowly showed an expression as if he was contemplating while opening his lips. Ihyeok swallowed his saliva and didn’t say anything. 

This chapter is paid for by Nemuru!