Not that anyone was listening. The room erupted in applause, with employees happily declaring that loyalty was the most admirable quality an athlete could have. Jiheon wished he could just walk out of the room. He would have, too, if he could.
Then, as if by some miracle, his phone rang. Jiheon happily glanced at the name of his would-be savior—and froze. The call was from Mrs. Shim.
✦ ✦ ✦
“You said you had something to talk about with Jaekyung. Was it the contract?” Mrs. Shim asked, frowning.
“No. Not at all,” Jiheon said immediately.
He wanted to explain the real reason—he really did. but doing so would mean saying words like omega, pheromones, chips, smells, and so on. And he wasn’t exactly eager to go there. Mrs. Shim seemed upset that the contract had been decided without her knowing, and Jiheon didn’t want to make the conversation any more unpleasant than it already was.
“In any case, I’m sorry. You should have been the first person to know about this,” Jiheon said.
He had decided to lead with an apology instead of an explanation. They were in the hotel coffee shop, where every table seemed to be occupied by couples on their first blind date. Real flowers decorated the place, and graceful classical music played in the background. And here he was, bowing his head deeply across the table. He was sure he looked quite silly. In fact, he felt like a villain who had lured some innocent boy into a shady scheme. If Mrs. Shim said something along the lines of, How did you talk my son into it? it would have really seemed like a scene from a soap opera. Thankfully, though, she said no such thing.
“No need to apologize. This concerns him. It’s only right that you spoke with him first,” she said.
Despite her words, however, she didn’t look all too pleased. Jiheon was still trying to figure out what to say when she continued.
“I will be honest with you. I was a little taken aback. Wouldn’t you be? He goes off to train, and when he comes back, he tells me he’s agreed to a contract with ProEdge. It was downright confusing.”
So he’s just as uncommunicative with his family, too?
“ProEdge isn’t the agency we have been considering all this time. He didn’t even know it existed until yesterday. And at the meeting, he didn’t exactly seem interested.”
“Yes. Of course. I completely understand,” Jiheon replied calmly. And he really did.
“Your black tea and iced americano,” said a server, setting down their drinks.
Mrs. Shim picked up the teacup in front of her and took a sip. As soon as she put the cup back down, she let out a sigh.
“But then again, you work there. I suppose it’s better than most places. That’s probably why he decided the way he did.”
She leaned back into the sofa, her posture loosening along with her expression.
“I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, but Jaekyung only agreed to work with an agency because I insisted. I thought it would be convenient to have one in place if he was going to take on a few advertising deals before retiring, at least.”