Dating with Doyul was good. We were noisy not because of our own issues but due to external problems. It was a relationship that, when observed only between Doyul and me, was not significantly different from others.
When we were together, it was the kind of relationship where we wanted to be together and missed each other when we weren’t.
“It’s more like going for fun than a workshop. Doesn’t that suit us better?”
Beside the bus heading to the workshop, Mr. Jang Wooseok looked at the piled-up alcohol, stuck out his tongue, then made a fist and turned to me.
“By the way, Seo-seok, I didn’t think you were going.”
I thought so too. I didn’t want to go. So, I tried not to go. Doyul, his mentor, and mentee, both absent, seemed like they wouldn’t go to the workshop. That is, until he suddenly changed his mind.
“Uh… the HR team is short-handed, and the team leader personally asked for help. How can I refuse to go?”
Doyul, who had protested vehemently that he didn’t want to go, was now laughing and talking with the HR team employees. He was a perfect socialite.
Seeing Doyul, who was energetically running around even in the company jumper he hated wearing, made me wonder if the weight of a company employee was like that.
Even though it wasn’t his job, was he running around so energetically?
While silently watching the busy Doyul, my legs began to move toward that direction involuntarily.
“Who is your mentor?”
“My mentor is on childcare leave.”
“And your mentee?”
“My mentee left the company quickly.”
I asked a question I already knew the answer to and received an answer I already knew. Despite Doyul’s eyes telling me to leave quickly, as if signaling to hurry and leave, someone had assigned work to Doyul.
A displeased expression.
Since childhood, I had been sensitive to the gaze of others and easily picked up on people’s emotions. In that radar network, I felt a sticky and dirty gaze from someone named Manager Kim in the HR team.
I couldn’t know for sure. Someone with no connection to Doyul and me. I didn’t know why, but I was sure it was not a good feeling.
“This time, the best team will definitely come from our tech side, right?”
“What are you talking about! We made quite an achievement in bio this time!”
“Haha. Still, we couldn’t follow the contract with the New Zealand company this time.”
As the night grew darker, people who were drinking as if competing began to drink spicy and pour out various stories. Over 80% were useless stories that went in one ear and out the other.
I touched the edge of the paper cup filled with foamy beer and hoped for time to pass quickly, thinking about what Doyul and I would do and play next weekend.
“No! My Team is the best! You Know that?”
As the alcohol kicked in, the team leader, who started speaking in English, hugged the shoulders of the Tech Research Lab Director, the leader of the tech team with few hairs left.
“Shouldn’t we stop him?”
With an uneasy look, Researcher Lee Kyunghoon spoke to me, but who would stop that jerk? I shrugged and earnestly chased Doyul with my eyes.
Doyul was quite busy. Doyul, who used to run errands everywhere, seemed to have found some leisure as he sat in a corner, chatting with HR team members.
Thinking that I might need a massage as soon as I return tomorrow, I raised my phone and searched for a massage shop. When I turned my head again, Doyul was not in his seat.
“Where did he go?”
“What?”
Researcher Lee Kyunghoon, who was next to me, asked about my muttering. I turned my head and wandered around again to find Doyul.
Then, I realized that I couldn’t see someone named Manager Kim in the HR team.
“Where are you going?”
“Wait, I’ll be back after using the restroom.”
I left the seat. After leaving the noisy hall, the corridor was quiet with no one around.
“Where did he go…”
Should I make a phone call or something? I held up my phone.
“Eek!”
A scream echoed. It was small but clear. Definitely nearby. I opened a closed door with a creak.
“Darn it.”
It wasn’t here. I quickly ran to another place. When I opened the next door, at that moment, my ears heard nothing.
Underneath the jerk named Manager Kim, Doyul was lying down and crying. I couldn’t remember much afterward.
When I came to my senses, my hands were already covered in blood, and the owner of that blood, Manager Kim, was crouched down with his eyes closed, tears, blood, and mucus bursting out of his eyes and mouth.
My hands rose again at that sight. However, I couldn’t hit him anymore.
“Don’t. Don’t do it.”
I couldn’t do it at the sobbing voice of Doyul. Trying to stop me, Doyul, who had stood up, seemed to lose strength in his legs and sat down. I approached Doyul. I took off my clothes, seeing the dirty blood on my hands, and wrapped Doyul.
I hugged his trembling body, but he didn’t calm down easily.
Thinking it would be better to get out of this dirty place, I took Doyul to a quiet place where there were no people. Fortunately, he seemed to have calmed down a bit, smiling and saying he was fine. I felt overwhelming guilt at that sight.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
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