CH 161

“It’s fine. I’ll take care of that myself. You can go now. And if you’re done with work for the day, you can go home,” Sehun said.

“Understood,” Secretary Tak replied.

After Secretary Tak left, Sehun sprawled out into a relaxed posture. His vision spun like he was hit with a general anesthetic. He felt like he would blackout at any moment. He had hidden how shaken up he felt in front of Mihee, but he was unfamiliar with this side of himself. It was the first time in his life that he had stepped forward to protect another person.

“Stop hitting the numbers on your calculator and have some compassion for the children of our teacher.”

Sehun couldn’t believe those words came out of his mouth.

Did he finally go crazy after overworking himself?

Whether it was from embarrassment or mortification, Sehun’s face grew warm.

‘He’s really making me do all sorts of crazy things.’ Sehun couldn’t believe that he was being so influenced by another person. He lost his cool and rubbed his face with his hands.

* * *

The spacious hotel hall, the event venue, was quite crowded. Yoonshin hadn’t been to an event like this, packed with distinguished figures from all spheres of society, in 10 years at his sister’s marriage.

Despite having been there for two hours, Yoonshin—who had been a bit dazed all along—was still shy and awkward. On the other hand, Sehun looked extremely accustomed to events like these. Watching him conversing with seniors in their field and figures in finance, politics, and the press skillfully, Yoonshin could truly get a sense that he and Sehun lived in two different worlds.

As he followed Sehun and greeted people, some showed interest in Yoonshin. At first, they were curious as to who Sehun—of all people—brought as his junior, and then when he revealed that he was Soohan Group’s brother-in-law and Professor Do’s son, they openly expressed their amity.

Whenever people talked about his sister, Yoonshin’s facial muscles twitched from his forced smile. Physically, he was still full of energy, but the more he heard about his family, the more his heart grew weary. When he finally found it hard to take, Yoonshin pulled at Sehun’s sleeve. He grabbed him cautiously, avoiding the eyes of people.

“Senior Attorney, do you have a moment?” Yoonshin whispered.

After signaling to his conversation partner, Sehun turned around. He briefly inspected Yoonshin’s face, then catching the crux of the situation, he asked, “Tired?”

“No joke, I’m completely drained,” Yoonshin tried to sound bright in his answer.

Sehun scanned the hall once, then determining that this was probably enough, he nodded. “I’ve greeted most people and picked up some useful information. We can get going.”

“Is that all right?”

“Sure. If you’re very tired, should we take a break upstairs before we head out?” His tone was exceptionally sweet. Yoonshin had been getting a strange feeling that Sehun was different these days, but Sehun’s attitude at this all was markedly different. He had kept Yoonshin right at his side for the entirety of the event and allowed him to listen in on all his conversations. When the other party showed interest, he personally introduced Yoonshin to them.

When he first heard that Sehun wanted him to accompany him to the party, Yoonshin had thought that Sehun wanted him to do small chores as needed, but Yoonshin was completely wrong. On the contrary, Sehun didn’t take his eyes off Yoonshin once and monitored him throughout. Rather, Yoonshin felt looked after. Sehun acted as if he brought Yoonshin to the party not as a work colleague but as his lover. So, when Yoonshin was asked if he wanted to rest upstairs, his mind naturally flowed in a more suggestive direction.

“Wouldn’t it look weird if we went to a room together?” Yoonshin suddenly lowered his voice into a whisper, his cheeks flushed pink and his head tilted acutely. Sehun stared at the flushed face and bit his lower lip. Yoonshin realized then that he must have overthought the situation again.