MGP 06

Chapter : 06

“I’m glad your appetite has come back.”

“…But how do I pay for this?”

Only then did Harang realize that Kim Hyun had merely suggested they go eat together; he had never actually said he would pay for him.

Did even the executive cafeteria allow employees to pay for their meals? The worry he had been too hungry to consider earlier now surfaced belatedly. Still, since it was a company cafeteria, it probably couldn’t be that expensive, right?

“Oh, my.”

Kim Hyun let out a soft laugh as he watched Harang’s eyes dart around anxiously. Then he placed the dessert plate in front of him and spoke gently.

“I’ll buy you meals often. We need to put some weight on our employee, Lee Harang.”

As if that weren’t enough, Kim Hyun wiped the sauce from the corner of Harang’s mouth with a napkin. It was such a natural display of physical affection that it seemed as though they had known each other for a long time. Harang flinched and leaned back, but Kim Hyun paid no attention.

“Mr. Lee Harang.”

“Yes?”

“I really hate seeing what belongs to me get damaged.”

Because of the laughter in his voice, it took Harang a moment to understand what he meant. The chopsticks he had been moving busily suddenly stopped a beat late.

“And employees who belong to my team are practically mine as well. At least while they’re under me, I find it difficult to tolerate them getting sick or injured.”

Contrary to his gentle words, the gaze hidden beneath his playfully curved eyes had darkened.

“So take good care of yourself. Those scars… don’t add any more to them.”

It was an ambiguous statement. Harang couldn’t tell whether it was concern or a declaration of ownership.

It was certainly a bizarre thing to say to a subordinate he had only recently met. But perhaps the problem was that man’s captivating face and voice. Something about them made Harang’s heart flutter strangely. From Harang’s perspective, it sounded almost like the first time in his life someone had declared, I’ll protect you.

Not wanting Kim Hyun to notice how shaken he was, Harang pressed his lips together even more tightly. But Kim Hyun continued speaking as though it didn’t matter.

“And the smell.”

“Pardon?”

“That stench from earlier. That sewer smell. I feel like I can finally breathe now that it’s gone.”

With a playful expression, he straightened slightly and leaned toward Harang.

“Now you smell like yourself again.”

“…?”

“Much better. I’d prefer it if you didn’t let any other smells cling to you from now on.”

At his matter-of-fact words, Harang couldn’t hide his bewilderment. His face quickly went pale.

“Um… I’m sorry you had to see me in such a filthy state against my will…”

“Hmm. No, not at all. Thanks to you, I had an enjoyable time.”

Kim Hyun murmured softly before putting on his usual friendly smile again.

“Go ahead and finish your meal. The dessert here is good too.”

After hesitating, Harang picked up his spoon again. As he buried his face over the pudding and put it into his mouth, he could feel Kim Hyun’s intense gaze boring into the top of his head.

Harang had come to Eton Company to gather information about the ‘Rift’ and seal it…

But instead of feeling as though he was getting any closer to his goal, he couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that his feet had somehow become stuck in the enormous swamp known as Kim Hyun.

After eating dinner at Kim Hyun’s expense, Harang was promptly sent home.

Kim Hyun had told him that if he had the confidence to walk into the office wearing his team leader’s clothes and endure the scandal that would follow, then he could go upstairs. Harang bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, thanked him, and headed straight home.

Even after entering his tiny rented room, perhaps because he was still wearing Kim Hyun’s clothes, the man’s scent wouldn’t disappear. He couldn’t tell whether the problem was the body wash he had borrowed or the fact that he had come home wearing Kim Hyun’s clothes.

“Haah. This is driving me crazy.”

Harang collapsed helplessly onto the bed.

Maybe it was because all he had accomplished was losing one precious water-vein detection unit and causing an incident. A wave of exhaustion suddenly swept over him, along with a deep sense of self-loathing.

The moment he closed his eyes, he fell asleep as though his consciousness had simply been severed.

Ah, this is a dream.

It was pitch-black.

From somewhere came the sound of shallow water splashing.

Slosh, slosh.

Then—

Clap clap clap!

Along with a sharp cracking sound, cheerful applause rang out, and white objects appeared before his eyes.

They were the toilet tanks Harang had encountered in the company bathroom that day.

Dozens, hundreds of toilet tanks surrounded Harang in a circle.

“…Now I’m dreaming about this too…”

Even knowing it was a dream, Harang let out a deep sigh.

How was he supposed to wake himself from this new nightmare where toilets were performing a ganggangsullae dance around him?

While he was pondering the problem, one unusually small toilet tank suddenly bounced into the air.

“Uh…?”

Harang reflexively caught the tank that came flying toward him.

The tank, which should have been smooth and cold, felt strangely warm and soft in his arms, like a stuffed toy.

Though it had no face, it burrowed into Harang’s embrace and whispered.

“Make more openings for us.”

“…What?”

“Make lots more.”

At that moment, all the toilet tanks circling around him began shaking simultaneously.

BOOM!

One of the tanks exploded, sending water and fragments flying in every direction.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Amid the consecutive explosions, the tank Harang was holding also began trembling violently.

Cold sweat suddenly poured down his body.

“Whoa—wait! Just a second!”

Harang threw the tank down as though tossing it away and curled up protectively.

Fragments of porcelain flying from every direction painfully grazed his entire body.

It’s a dream, so why does it hurt too?

A surge of indignation welled up inside him.

At the same time, for some reason, Kim Hyun’s words from earlier came back to him.

Don’t add any more scars.

BOOOOM!

Just as porcelain fragments poured down like a storm and droplets of water struck his skin like ice—

BANG!

A powerful impact slammed into his head, and Harang shot upright on the spot.

“Gasp… gasp… haaah…”

His heart was pounding as though it would break through his ribs, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

With trembling hands, Harang touched his head.

It was the exact spot where the fragments had struck him in the dream.

Then, suddenly, warm blood trickled from his nose and dripped onto the blanket.

“…This is really something else.”

Harang stuffed some tissue up his nose and gave a hollow laugh.

It had been a ridiculous dream, but its message was clear.

Eton Company.

That enormous vessel had reached its limit.

Was this a warning that it could no longer contain whatever was boiling inside it and was on the verge of bursting?

Come to think of it, perhaps today’s filthy little episode had been meant to give him that realization.

With a small sigh, Harang stripped off the clothes he had been wearing and tossed them into the washing machine.

When he checked the clock, he realized that not much time had passed since he had gotten home.

“A dream… It’s been a while.”

Not long after being chosen by Baektaek, he had often been able to read things through his dreams. But recently, that had hardly ever happened.

Was that a good thing?

Or was it an ominous sign?

With those thoughts weighing on him, Harang spent the night lying awake, endlessly imagining what might happen the next day.

And before he knew it, the morning sun had risen, and Harang once again headed toward Eton Company.

Fortunately, it was still early enough that none of his team members had arrived yet.

Harang collapsed into an office chair, where only the necessary lights had been switched on, and let out a long breath.

Maybe I should’ve gotten some sleep.

Coming to work after staying up all night made the exhaustion hit him all at once.

He glanced at the clock.

7:30 a.m.

He thought he might close his eyes for a little while before everyone arrived.

But at some point, something cold touched his cheek, startling him awake.

“Good morning.”

Kim Hyun was standing in front of Harang with a canned coffee in his hand, smiling.

Was that the can of coffee that touched my cheek?

Still not fully awake, Harang blinked blankly before belatedly getting to his feet.

“Ah, good morning, Team Leader. You came in early.”

“I always come in at this time. You’re early too, Mr. Harang. Coffee?”

As he accepted the canned coffee, which seemed completely out of place in Kim Hyun’s hands, Harang couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

There was no doubt that Kim Hyun was suspicious and clearly connected to the Rift.

And yet, there was definitely something strange about him that Harang couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Psst.

Kim Hyun opened the tab on his can and took a sip.

Then, as though he had been waiting for Harang to do the same, he pulled another can from his pocket, opened it, and lightly tapped it against the can in Harang’s hand.

He took another sip and smiled as though he found the whole situation amusing.

“Did you stay up all night? Your dark circles look like they’re about to reach your neck.”

“Ah, well… I had a rather unpleasant dream…”

“What kind of dream was it to leave you looking like that? Did I chase you around in it?”

Perhaps Harang had been captivated by his innocent, playful grin.

Normally, Harang would have given some vague excuse and moved on.

But for some reason, his lips began telling the truth instead.

“No. It was just a ridiculous dream where toilets exploded.”

“Toilets?”

Kim Hyun’s eyebrow twitched.

He stared blankly for a moment before suddenly letting out a burst of laughter.

“Ahahaha! You have a pretty cute side, don’t you, Mr. Harang? Was yesterday’s incident really that shocking?”