Chapter 38: Poison Beneath the Glass

“It’s all right.

I know you didn’t mean for it to happen, sir.”

“But still….”

“Instead, if Hyunjin ever asks something like that again, please tell me as well.”

“…Understood.”

Sungyoon bowed deeply once again.

Hyunwoo looked at him in satisfaction and turned away.

“For now, Father’s in a foul mood, so be careful.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

After exchanging a light joke, Hyunwoo stepped outside.

He stood before the elevator to return to his office and pressed the down button.

Loosening the suffocating tie around his neck, he let out a long sigh.

He could still feel as if he were choking on Chairman Joo Munhyuk’s pheromones, which had flared up in anger moments ago.

‘Still overflowing with pointless energy….’

He already kept forcing Hyunwoo to marry, yet the Chairman himself hadn’t exactly been an early groom.

Now that he was well past his prime, he still acted like a man in his thirties, brimming with vitality.

Thinking of that made Hyunwoo quietly irritated.

He himself had delayed marriage under the excuse of work and enjoyed all the pleasures he wanted before finally settling down — so why demand differently from his son?

Wasn’t this what they called hypocrisy?

Of course, Hyunwoo wasn’t like the Chairman — he didn’t have a dozen omega lovers hidden away.

If anything, that would’ve been less unfair.

Maybe he really should just get himself a lover.

With that reckless thought, Hyunwoo let out a small laugh.

Ding.

The elevator arrived, and he stepped inside.

The elevator carrying him began to descend slowly.

Back at the office, Hyunwoo was too busy handling the flood of work to even breathe.

It had been nearly two months since he’d returned to the past.

Thanks to his efforts, he had fully adjusted to the workload from five years ago.

Listening to his secretary, Junghoon’s report, Hyunwoo tilted his head slightly.

“This case — we did request cooperation from Haesong, right?”

“Ah… I’ll double-check that.”

Flustered, Junghoon bowed and hurried out of the director’s office.

Hyunwoo stared at the tablet screen with a grave expression.

The current project was a collaboration with Haesong, a partner company.

It wasn’t a conglomerate, but a mid-sized firm known for its clean and efficient work.

That’s why they’d reached out to Haesong again this time.

Yet, with the deadline approaching, there had been no reply at all.

Resting his chin on one hand, Hyunwoo frowned.

Something didn’t feel right.

Bzzz.

“Hmm?”

The phone on the table vibrated.

A familiar name flashed on the screen.

Hyunwoo frowned and picked it up.

Lee Seunghyuk
I’ll stop by around the time you get off work.

“This guy again…”

Right after his regression, Seunghyuk’s barrage of annoying messages had given him headaches, but lately, they’d dwindled.

Since Hyunwoo now had Junghoon drive him everywhere, he rarely ran into Seunghyuk at all.

So why was he coming again?

Hyunwoo hesitated, then remembered — there was a conversation they hadn’t finished.

They’d argued after talking about Hyunjin’s incident, and Hyunjin had interrupted before they could finish.

He had vaguely promised to continue the discussion later.

So that’s why he was coming?

Hyunwoo decided to delay his reply and closed the message window.

Right then, Junghoon reentered the room.

“What did they say?”

“Director, um…”

“……?”

One look at Junghoon’s expression, and Hyunwoo knew something was wrong.

So his bad feeling had been right.

Pretending to stay calm, Hyunwoo nodded.

“Go on.”

“The person in charge of Haesong’s project… isn’t answering calls.”

“…Not answering?”

“Yes. This has never happened before, but…”

“……”

The project manager for Haesong — that would be Team Leader Kim Jongtae, right?

He hadn’t thought of that name in a long time, not since Haesong’s collaboration with them had faded near the end of his last life.

‘Ah.’

Right — the reason Haesong had drifted away was because of L&S.

Strictly speaking, Cha Kwon-oh had cunningly lured them away with sweet words.

It had been absurd, but Hyunwoo hadn’t had time to deal with it back then.

Still, that happened much later in the timeline.

Not now.

“Hmm…”

Tapping his fingers lightly on the desk, Hyunwoo thought hard.

Things were different from before — but his instincts rarely lied.

“…I’ll step out for a bit.”

“Sir?”

Junghoon blinked in surprise as Hyunwoo suddenly stood up.

Taking only his jacket, Hyunwoo walked straight out of the room.

“D-Director! What about your driver—?”

“I’ll handle it myself. Don’t worry.”

“Director!”

Ignoring Junghoon’s voice behind him, Hyunwoo kept walking.

His bad hunches had always been right.

So this time, too — he would trust his gut.

“……”

A moment later, outside the building, Hyunwoo stared at his dark phone screen — then dialed a number.

“Welcome, Director.”

“……”

Hyunwoo didn’t reply — he only scanned the room with sharp eyes.

The dim lounge was surprisingly neat and minimal.

He’d imagined something like the sleazy clubs shown on TV, but this wasn’t that.

A large leather sofa ran along the wall, and on the broad central table sat various bottles and dishes.

Drinking in the middle of the day — Hyunwoo couldn’t help clicking his tongue.

“Don’t just stand there. Sit.”

“……”

A man lounged arrogantly in the middle of the sofa, like the master of the place — and somehow, the role suited him.

Hyunwoo looked at Cha Kwon-oh’s beckoning hand and let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Shouldn’t you be working right now too?”

“So stiff. No one cares if I take a short break.”

“……”

Drinking in a club VIP room during work hours — and no one cares?

That was too much, even for him.

When Kwon-oh had sent the address, Hyunwoo hadn’t expected this.

It wasn’t a company, or even a café or hotel — but a club.

So that’s what kind of man he really was.

“I even brought out a fine bottle for you.”

“…I don’t drink during work.”

“Come on, you came all this way just to act shy?”

“……”

Hyunwoo stared silently at Kwon-oh’s smiling face.

There was nothing complicated about this.

Cha Kwon-oh was just doing his best to mess with him — as usual.

So, even if Hyunwoo wanted to walk out right now, he had to hold back.

That was exactly what that psychopath wanted.

Letting out another sigh, Hyunwoo walked over slowly.

Then, with clear reluctance, he sat — far from where Kwon-oh gestured.

“So reserved today, aren’t we?”

“Cut the crap and pour the drink. You seem confident enough.”

“Haha!”

Kwon-oh laughed loudly and snapped his fingers.

A waiter lifted a luxurious bottle.

Hyunwoo wasn’t interested in liquor, so he didn’t know how expensive it was — but he recognized it.

He’d seen bottles like it on TV under the caption ‘World’s Most Expensive Whisky.’

Each bottle worth a foreign luxury car, each glass several thousand dollars.

Honestly, he couldn’t understand why anyone would waste that much money on something gone in a single sip.

“Try it. It’s been aged over sixty years.”

“……”

Sixty years? That sounded more unsettling than impressive.

And to pay millions for something that old — he’d never understand the psychology of rich men.

Accepting the glass, Hyunwoo couldn’t hide his distaste.

“Kekeke, everyone else goes crazy for it.”

“Then give it to them.”

“No, I want to see you drink it.”

“……”

What the hell — did he poison it?

No, that couldn’t be.

No one would poison such expensive alcohol.

Besides, the liquor in Kwon-oh’s own glass was the exact same color.

Hyunwoo glanced at it — a darker shade than typical whisky.

He’d heard of a drink like this before… Black something?

He couldn’t quite remember.

Sighing quietly, Hyunwoo lifted the glass.

A deep aroma instantly filled his nose.

He hadn’t even tasted it yet, but the smell alone was intoxicating.

He frowned.

Would one sip of this knock him out?

He had drunk before in Joo Hyunwoo’s body, but didn’t know his true tolerance.

…Still, one glass of whisky should be fine.

“Well then… let’s drink.”

Hyunwoo spoke evenly and tilted the glass back.

He’d heard it was better to drink strong liquor in one go.

With that thought, he swallowed it all at once.

The cold liquid rushed into his mouth.

“Ugh…!”