Chapter 15: The Unbuttoned Truth

For ten minutes, Do-ha had been self-imprisoned in a restroom stall, struggling at the urinal. He had feared the awkward encounter of someone else walking in.

He pulled his phone from his pocket.

He couldn’t remain trapped indefinitely, and his continuous efforts had already left his left hand on the verge of cramping.

At this hour, contacting Jia or Hyun-woo, who would be at school, was out of the question.

As Do-ha idly scrolled through his contacts, his hand paused.

‘I’m relatively close with them at work, and they seem discreet, but can I really ask for such a favor?’

[Assistant Manager Choi, are you busy?]

Do-ha’s fingers moved as he sat on the closed toilet lid.

[No. Why the sudden text…? What’s wrong? You’re not even at your desk.]

[I’m truly sorry, but could you please come to the restroom at the end of the right hallway on the 16th floor?]

[?]

[ㅠㅠ. Please just come. And clear your throat once as you enter.]

[Yes, please wait a moment.]

Do-ha let out a long sigh of relief at Assistant Manager Choi’s reply, who had agreed to come without prying. If only he had worn his jacket, he could have somehow awkwardly slipped out and taken early leave.

He slowly got to his feet, holding up his pants with his right hand to keep them from falling.

Standing pressed against the unlocked door, ready to open it at any moment, he pressed his ear against it. His entire focus was on the sounds from outside, lest he miss the clearing of a throat.

“Hm-.”

As the sound of a throat clearing came from outside, Do-ha swiftly opened the door. He stretched out his arm, grabbed the sleeve of the person standing there, pulled them into his stall, and then closed the door.

“Assistant Manager Choi, I am so, so sorry. It’s just, could you please button up my pants?”

Do-ha mumbled in a dying voice, his head bowed, not daring to look Assistant Manager Choi in the face.

He expected the other person to either refuse or button his pants as requested, but neither action nor sound followed.

“Your hand, what happened?”

Goosebumps erupted all over Do-ha’s body at the sound of a voice he absolutely should not have heard in that situation.

“The hospital?”

The moment his left wrist was grabbed and lifted to eye level, Do-ha’s head, which had been facing the floor, also lifted, revealing Tae-jun’s stern, hardened face.

“Hiccup-.”

He hurriedly covered his mouth with his free right hand, but couldn’t stop the hiccups that escaped. With that foolish movement, Do-ha’s jeans slid down.

“…….”

After a brief silence, Do-ha blankly watched Tae-jun, who had been standing opposite him, kneel on one knee.

He vividly felt his jeans, which were caught at his ankles, being pulled up from below.

Even as he watched the long fingers delicately tapping and moving across his fly, all Do-ha could do was clamp his hand over his mouth.

That was everything.

Even the occasional hiccups were beyond his control. Standing blankly, his face flushed to the point of bursting, he then heard his name being called from beyond the door.

“Do-ha? Are you in here?”

He had been staring, lost in thought, at the black hair that was putting his clothes back on when the black hair moved. Slowly, Tae-jun’s face was revealed.

The long, slender fingers that had just brushed against his fly were now held vertically before Tae-jun’s lips.

“Shh-.”

Tae-jun and Do-ha’s gazes tangled in the confined space. As Tae-jun slowly stood, Do-ha’s head, which had been slowly tilting to match his rising height, gradually leaned back further.

“Do-ha? Ah, is he not here?”

Unlike Do-ha, who visibly flinched at Assistant Manager Choi’s voice from outside, Tae-jun’s gaze was once again fixed on Do-ha’s bandaged left hand.

“Where did you get hurt?”

His relief at Assistant Manager Choi’s departure was fleeting. At Tae-jun’s next words, Do-ha squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to leave, but there was no escaping as long as Tae-jun blocked his path.

“Th-thank you.”

With his head angled downward, Do-ha raised a hand and awkwardly pushed Tae-jun, subtly expressing his desire to leave.

Was there no consideration for the shame and embarrassment he felt right now? A subtle anger began to simmer within him towards Tae-jun, who remained perfectly still and showed no intention of moving.

As the events of last night at the restaurant came to mind, the myriad of complex emotions he had just felt vanished in an instant.

“Please move aside.”

Shaking off the embarrassment and shyness, Do-ha looked up at Tae-jun with his face still flushed, and retorted sharply.

As Tae-jun hesitated and stepped aside, Do-ha grasped the doorknob without hesitation.

Hadn’t he just moved aside? Just as he was about to leave, a large hand covered his own on the doorknob, making Do-ha’s already large eyes widen even further.

“I’m asking where and how badly you got hurt.”

“Don’t interfere!”

Do-ha, who had been about to shake off Tae-jun’s hand and hurriedly open the door, suddenly found himself trapped between the door and Tae-jun.

“Answer me.”

“You don’t need to know, Team Leader.”

“Seo Do-ha.”

Inside the cramped restroom.

Do-ha bit down hard on his lower lip, overwhelmed by Tae-jun’s heat engulfing him. While they had seen everything there was to see of each other, they weren’t exactly in a tender, affectionate relationship.

It was a one-sided, unrequited love.

Seeing Tae-jun grab his left wrist again and lift it to his eye level, a sense of injustice surged up once more. It was because of such actions that his feelings had only grown.

It was impossible, of course, but he felt a strange bittersweet pang in his chest, happy that Tae-jun seemed worried, yet knowing it was unlikely.

“Surely you’re not asking because you’re worried about me, are you? You’re just simply curious, right?”

“Just answer my question first.”

“Whatever I do, stay out of my life. I told you yesterday, I don’t need you anymore, Team Leader.”

As Tae-jun’s face drew even closer, Do-ha lifted his foot and stomped hard on Tae-jun’s foot.

At Tae-jun’s momentary pause, Do-ha moved his small body and swiftly darted out of the restroom.

Entering the office with hurried steps, Do-ha sat down at his computer and quickly opened his work folder. He immediately printed out the approval forms for early leave and half-day leave.

Scribbling his name and ‘hospital visit’ as the reason for his half-day leave, Do-ha hurriedly submitted it to the department head.

“Alright. Make sure to get it checked at the hospital. I’ll report to the Team Leader, so go on.”

Do-ha bowed his head and left the office.

“Crazy bastard, total lunatic. Who does he think he is talking down to me? Is being a team leader everything?”

A stream of curses flowed nonstop from Do-ha’s mouth as he left the company building.

****

Leaving Do-ha, who had fled like a flying squirrel, Tae-jun leaned against the wall and ran his hands over his face. Perhaps in shock and embarrassment, Do-ha’s peach scent still enveloped the surroundings.

After letting Do-ha go like that last night, Tae-jun hadn’t slept a wink all night.

Yet he never imagined he would find him in such a state, of all places, here today.

‘To call Assistant Manager Choi in that situation? What was he thinking, trusting that guy?’

As the thin, pale legs, with their fine, downy hair and little body hair, came to mind, Tae-jun clenched his molars.

Since they weren’t ordinary jeans but had five buttons, it must have been difficult for him to button them with a bandaged hand. But what if he hadn’t come in then?

The mere thought made his head spin.

“Kang Tae-jun, you’ve really gone mad.”

If Do-ha hadn’t stomped on his foot and left, he might have pressed him further without realizing it. That would have only fueled Do-ha’s anxious feelings.

All he was supposed to do was quietly watch over him, yet he found himself pathetic for getting aroused just by seeing Do-ha’s flustered, flushed face.

“What is this?”

Tae-jun frowned, looking at the document the department head held.

“Seo Do-ha hurt his hand while working today, so I thought we should send him to the hospital. I approved his half-day leave and sent him. Please approve it too, Team Leader.”

Pulling the document he had been holding at a distance closer for a detailed look, Tae-jun’s expression hardened. It was illegible handwriting, difficult to tell if it was English or Korean.

“It’s quite difficult to make out, isn’t it? Perhaps he was feeling unwell; it’s worse than his usual handwriting.”

“Yes, but how exactly did he hurt his hand?”

“He was trimming paper to fit a file size, a consequence of a printing error, when he was startled by a stack of files tumbling to the floor. His hand slipped in the shock. The company infirmary reported that it wasn’t severe enough for stitches, but…”

“I understand. You may go back to your work.”

Even after the department head left, Tae-jun stared at the document Do-ha had left behind. He then picked up a red pen and drew a line over the words ‘병원 방문’ (hospital visit). Next to it, he rewrote ‘병원 방문’ in neat, easily legible handwriting.

****

“What’s that now? Did you hurt your hand?”

At Jia’s words, which greeted him as soon as he entered the house, Do-ha, instead of answering, found a pair of scissors and entered the dressing room.

The most urgent task, above all else.

Carelessly tossing his jacket onto the floor, Do-ha struggled to unbutton and take off his jeans before flopping onto the floor.

Jia, who had followed Do-ha—who seemed a bit strange again today—into the dressing room, ended up screaming at his action of silently taking scissors to cut the buttons off his jeans.

“Damn it, I freaking… Damn it, this is humiliating.”

“Hey, Seo Do-ha. Are you crazy?”

Jia, seeing Do-ha’s face as he muttered to himself and ripped off all five buttons, quickly shut her mouth.

‘Since yesterday, why is this guy crying and acting up!’

“And you… I told you I’d wash my own! Why did you—the leopard print… Damn it, why did you wash them all without asking?!”

Jia bit down on her lower lip, trying to suppress a laugh, as she looked down at Do-ha, who was screaming, tears streaming down his face like chicken droppings. Was this truly cause for such an outburst, sitting on the floor in a suit shirt and leopard-print boxer briefs, holding scissors and jeans, and crying?

“You like leopard print. But your hand, is it hurt?”

Jia had missed it earlier due to Do-ha’s sudden, absurd outburst, but now the bandage wrapped around his left hand caught her eye.

“Leopard print… What do you mean, leopard print?!”

Do-ha frantically stood up, opened a drawer, pulled out all the leopard-print clothes, and threw them onto the floor. Watching him, Jia, for the first time, found herself unable to scold him.