The barren forests and fields whisked past the thin pane of glass.
The interior of the train was quiet.
He thought about his conversation with Choi Yoon-seok. The frantic exchange at the gas station, the substitute driver called to a rest area, and the black sedan he had rented under one of his aliases, then handed over to a courier service employee to drive away. Several worries and thoughts flitted through his mind and vanished.
The Mugunghwa train moved slowly.
Each time the train stopped at a minor station, people silently boarded and alighted, carrying their belongings.
In that silent calm, Lee Young-jin curled up and fell into a light sleep. The whirring heater gently stirred his hair, brushing his forehead.
The train stopped again.
The interior of the cabin was now quiet.
In a shallow sleep, he heard the soft footsteps walking down the narrow aisle. The sound of shoes softly but heavily stepping on the carpeted floor. Those footsteps stopped right next to the seat where he was sleeping.
Lee Young-jin wandered through a drowsy dream.
An alpha stood by his side. Lee Young-jin had his eyes closed but recognized its presence through the scent. A blend of bitter chocolate, sweet whiskey, pungent tobacco, and strong shower cologne – a unique body odor. Lee Young-jin had secretly thought, perhaps even the alpha’s pheromones would be as intense and peculiar as this scent.
“Young-jin.”
It was as sweet a dream as that low and gentle voice.
It felt as if someone sat next to him, the heavy weight and warmth felt real. The hot breath touching his ear was vivid.
“You’ve been running quite well, haven’t you?”
At that moment, Lee Young-jin woke up.
Simultaneously, a thick arm wrapped around his shoulder and yanked him close. His upper body was forcefully pulled against a hot, solid chest. Lee Young-jin couldn’t even scream, merely gasping for breath as he barely lifted his head.
There was Seo Seung-hyun, smiling at him.
Lee Young-jin thought he was still dreaming, but the arm tightly coiled around his shoulder and the smiling face, the warmth, and the solid chest pressed against his side and shoulder were all too real.
Lee Young-jin froze.
Sleep fled in an instant.
His shoulders shook, and his breath quickened.
A cheerful smile adorned the neat face that looked down at Lee Young-jin, who couldn’t avoid or even face that gaze directly. His black eyes, unable to even blink, just stared intently at Seo Seung-hyun.
Seo Seung-hyun’s lips tilted slightly, sharpening his smile.
He then slipped his hand inside the impeccably smooth cashmere coat and pulled something out. A piece of paper folded into thirds. It unfolded smoothly in his hand, covered by a black glove.
[Professional Employment Contract]
Familiar letters emerged on the stiff paper.
Seo Seung-hyun pushed the paper in front of Lee Young-jin’s eyes and fluttered it.
Lee Young-jin looked at it with a dazed expression.
“To you, does this employment contract appear as just a scrap of paper? Huh? What does the contract seem like to you?”
His voice, utterly cheerful and without a trace of shade, chirped.
“I, I am.”
Lee Young-jin stuttered.
He had envisioned several scenarios in his mind about being tracked and eventually captured by Seo Seung-hyun.
None of the three scenarios included this situation where he was being aggressively shown an employment contract.
His breath quickened automatically in the face of the unexpected situation. Rapid, thin breaths fluttered between his lips.
“I, I mean…”
How, here, why. Such interrogatives whirled in his mind, and words close to excuses spun wildly inside his lips. Then, just a second later, when none of them managed to escape his mouth, thin and soft fingers wrapped in black leather gently touched his chin and then his cheek. The fingertips lightly tapped his cheek.
“23.45 billion won in debt and a few tens of millions in penalty fees are nothing significant to you?”
In that moment, Lee Young-jin’s breath stopped.
His lungs that had been fluttering wildly stiffened.
“How, how did you…”
His diaphragm, tensed too tightly from nervousness, spasmed. Hiccup! A hiccup burst past his lips. Hic! Hic! After a few more, Lee Young-jin gasped heavily, and it finally stopped.
A slight smile appeared on Seo Seung-hyun’s lips.
“Well. Let’s set aside this pocket change.”
He crumpled the contract and lightly tossed it over the armrest. Lee Young-jin’s gaze followed its trajectory. The piece of paper fell to the carpeted floor, rolled back a few times with the train’s gentle vibrations, and then stopped. Lee Young-jin’s thoughts halted there as well.
Seo Seung-hyun’s hand around his shoulder briefly tightened.
Under the grip of an alpha that could easily crush his shoulder bone and joints, Lee Young-jin turned his head again to look up at Seo Seung-hyun’s face.
There was no sign of anger on the alpha’s face, just perfectly tidy lines forming a serene expression. The corners of his mouth curved faintly, and his eyes crinkled slightly with a smile.
“Do you even know what you’ve done? Do you know what you’ve diverted, what you’re messing with me over?”
Lee Young-jin clenched his mouth shut.
When he didn’t respond, the curve at the corners of Seo Seung-hyun’s mouth widened a bit more.
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