When Jiheon returned to the parking lot, Jaekyung was on the phone. He didn’t seem to notice Jiheon—maybe because the baseball cap was pulled over low, covering his eyes. It gave Jiheon the chance to witness something unexpected.
“Not nearly as good as you might think. You probably have no idea how I feel every single day,” Jaekyung was saying.
He was actually smiling. His tone was gruff, and his words were no warmer than usual, but the curve of his lips beneath the cap was unmistakable.
It wasn’t a smile of pure enjoyment. To Jiheon, it looked more like one of weary self-mockery. And paired with his rare show of complaints—Jaekyung hardly ever whined—it almost sounded like he was doing fine, just blowing things out of proportion.
It came as quite a shock to Jiheon. That smile—so masculine, so grown up. I didn’t know he was capable of that.
The smile vanished, however, as soon as Jiheon opened the driver’s side door. Jaekyung slipped right back to his usual blankness and spoke into the phone.
“I gotta go. Let’s talk again later.”
Jaekyung put away his phone and glanced over.
“You’re back early.”
“I told you I was only going to say hello,” Jiheon said, getting into the driver’s seat.
“Mr. Cho was a real blast,” he added, fastening his seatbelt.
“Just what you might expect of the president of a large corporation,” Jaekyung said, not quite seriously, but not quite joking either.
“So, where in Itaewon should I drop you off?” Jiheon asked as soon as they had left the house.
“We’re meeting somewhere else. He’ll give me a call, so just go wherever you need.”
“Oh yeah? Then I’ll head straight to the Korea Aquatics office. That cool with you?”
Jaekyung just nodded and took off his cap, placing it on the dashboard. He ran a hand through his hair out of habit, but today, the gesture felt strangely unfamiliar to Jiheon. His handsome side profile and the casual movement were no different than usual—but there was something masculine about him today.
A strange sense of wonder stirred in Jiheon as he recalled that subtle smile Jaekyung had worn on the phone.
So he can look like that—depending on who he’s talking to.
It was a side of him that Jiheon hadn’t expected at all. He didn’t even feel discriminated against—simply intrigued. Jiheon decided to ask Jaekyung about the call.
“So, who were you talking to on the phone earlier?”
Jaekyung gave him a look—like he couldn’t figure out why Jiheon was asking.
“Well, you seemed to enjoy yourself quite a bit. I was just curious.”
“Nobody you know,” Jaekyung said curtly.
Then he picked his cap, pulled it down over his face again, and leaned back with his arms crossed. That was clearly the end of the conversation.
All right, fine. As you please.
Jiheon let it drop and turned his focus back to the road.
The drive from Banpo to Yongsan took about as long as the trip from Jamsil to Banpo, at least in terms of time. But it felt much shorter, and Jiheon knew why: the destination was the Korea Aquatics office.
Jiheon had always been uncomfortable around the people from Korea Aquatics. Cho was right about them. They rarely did anything meaningful, but they meddled like their lives depended on it.
They had practically begged Jaekyung to sign with Kavva—probably because they'd been bribed. But ProEdge had snatched the big fish away, and Korea Aquatics probably hated them for it. The contract with Kavva was already done by then, but that wouldn’t matter to them. They were probably just waiting for a chance to unleash a barrage of criticism on ProEdge for daring to snatch up Gwon Jaekyung without having the resources to support him.
Jiheon forced back his sighs, not wanting Jaekyung to notice the turmoil inside him. He’d done that at least fourteen times by the time they finally arrived and parked the car.
Jiheon looked into the rearview mirror and checked his outfit. He even checked his hair, doing whatever he could to leave Korea Aquatics with as little to nitpick as possible. He reached for the door, about to get out—but Jaekyung suddenly unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out first.
“Wait, you’re coming?” Jiheon asked, surprised, as he followed suit.
“Well, since we’re here.”
Then, without another word, he started walking ahead with long strides.
What the… He was dead set against seeing the president. Does he know someone at Korea Aquatics?
Still confused, Jiheon followed him into the building.
The office was on the second floor. They knocked on the door with a sign that read Korea Aquatics and went inside. A desk employee shot up from his desk.
“We’re from ProEdge. We have an appointment with the vice president at three,” Jiheon said.
“Yes. This way, please.”
The employee showed them to the executive office, where the vice president was. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Jaekyung.
The employee knocked on the door.
“Sir, some people from ProEdge are here to see you.”
“Tell them to come in.”
At the voice from inside, Jiheon opened the door himself.
“There you are,” the vice president said, seated on a sofa. Sitting across from him was a man who seemed to be in his mid-to-late thirties.
“Well? Don’t just stand there. Come on in.”
“Ah—sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Jiheon said.
“Come in,” the vice president said with a wave of the hand.
Jiheon had spoken to the man on the phone earlier that morning. When he realized that Jiheon was the Jung Jiheon—the swimmer—he’d suddenly switched to informal speech and said, “Ah, yeah, I heard you were working there now, Jiheon.” Ten years ago, the man had been a Korea Aquatics executive, and Jiheon a young athlete. Technically, Jiheon was his junior, though only in the loosest sense. But this was a business meeting. That kind of behavior just didn’t make sense.
Of course, the vice president knew exactly what he was doing. He was simply trying to assert dominance in any way he could.
Jiheon had braced himself for this, but still couldn’t shake the thought that these people were a cancer to the sport. Jiheon stifled a sigh and stepped forward, but Jaekyung, who had been standing behind him, suddenly grabbed Jiheon’s shoulder and strode in first.
“What? You’re here, too, Jaekyung?” shouted the vice president.
The man sitting across from him stood up awkwardly, clearly taken aback.