Chapter 39: An Alpha Holds a Grudge

Actually, Qi Huai’s fishing skills weren’t particularly brilliant. He wasn’t even trying to hook anyone; he was just acting on a whim.

But some people were willing to take the bait, getting their hearts pounding and heads spinning from just a few words.

Qi Huai was completely unaware.

Seeing that Yoon Nam-hyuk hadn’t replied for a long time, he sent another message: 「Are we giving each other the silent treatment again? President Yoon.」

Yoon Nam-hyuk stared at his phone, holding his breath.

Although he wasn’t replying to Qi Huai’s messages, a full report on his every move was delivered to his email at 9 a.m. sharp every morning. Even Manager Byo Yoon-jung, who was in charge of taking the artists to the audition, was one of his informants.

However, when Assistant Yoo forwarded him the photo of Qi Huai laughing and chatting with Eun Chul-woo, he immediately lost his composure. First Baek Soo-kyung, now Eun Chul-woo. Regardless of whether they were actually having an affair, Yoon Nam-hyuk was annoyed, plain and simple.

He couldn’t help but think, That guy Qi Huai is laughing and talking with Woosan’s competitor, and he even took his business card. What, is he already looking for his next employer before his contract is even up?

Yoon Nam-hyuk really wanted to ask what was going on, but asking directly would seem like he cared too much. Yet, for some reason, the words that came out were inexplicably passive-aggressive.

Maybe I should just forget it, have Assistant Yoo ask…

Just as Yoon Nam-hyuk was at a loss for words and about to give up, Qi Huai sent another message.

「Qi Huai: Still at the company?」

This question was much simpler, much easier to answer than “Been busy lately?”. Ha! He should have just asked that last time!

Yoon Nam-hyuk pursed his lips: 「Mmm.」
His tone was very cold.

Qi Huai’s lips curled: 「Have you eaten?」
President Yoon continued his aloof act: 「No. What is it?」

「Qi Huai: How about seafood udon, sweet and sour pork ribs, sukiyaki, and a mojito?」
「Yoon Nam-hyuk: What?」
「Qi Huai: Come to my place for dinner ^^」
「Qi Huai: Didn’t you want to know the details of my conversation with Eun Chul-woo? I’ll tell you in person.」

A full five minutes passed.

「Yoon Nam-hyuk: Can’t drink and drive.」
Qi Huai laughed out loud: 「Then Pu’er tea.」

The System, having witnessed the entire exchange, suddenly understood something. Some things were like flying a kite. It didn’t matter who had the loudest voice or the highest status; it was all about who held the string. Host Oppa was truly a master of control. To make President Yoon obedient, all he had to do was give the string a little tug.

And so, Yoon Nam-hyuk once again found himself inexplicably stepping into Qi Huai’s home. He sat primly in the familiar living room, looking at the familiar furnishings, sneaking glances at Qi Huai’s busy figure in the kitchen. His ramrod straight back unknowingly relaxed, and he curled up on the sofa, hugging a pillow.

When Qi Huai finished cooking and came out, he saw Yoon Nam-hyuk resting on the sofa, his sleeping face peaceful.

He must have been very tired lately; there were faint dark circles under his eyes. Even in his sleep, his lips were pressed tightly together, his brow slightly furrowed.

Since the last scandal, some shareholders and investors had expressed their dissatisfaction with Yoon Nam-hyuk. To shut them up, he had accelerated the development of new projects, hoping to have more good content to wow the public in the new year and strengthen everyone’s confidence in Woosan Entertainment.

Letting results speak for themselves—those shareholders and investors, in order to make money, would swallow their disgust and continue to invest. Who would go against money?

Therefore, during the time he hadn’t been in contact with Qi Huai, Yoon Nam-hyuk had barely rested. And only by doing so did he have an excuse to avoid the blind dates arranged by his father.

At least in the short term, he could use the excuse of prioritizing restoring investor confidence to turn them down.

He had found a clue about his mother’s last memento. That item should have been personally handed to him by a lawyer when he turned 19, but his father had secretly taken it first, using it as a bargaining chip to make Yoon Nam-hyuk continue to contribute value to the Yoon family.

His relationship with Yoon Tae-min was like a taut spiderweb, connected by blood but actually fragile and weak. He had already made up his mind: as soon as he got his mother’s memento, he would leave that house immediately.

“Yoon Nam-hyuk?”

Qi Huai leaned in close and pinched Yoon Nam-hyuk’s earlobe, watching as the soft flesh turned from white to pink before the other slowly opened his eyes.

That handsome face, with its gentle smile, came into view. Yoon Nam-hyuk was stunned, and it took him a moment to remember where he was.

“Dinner’s ready. Still not awake?” Qi Huai smiled. “I didn’t want to wake you, but the vegetables in the sukiyaki are about to get overcooked. Eat first, then sleep.”

His tone was incredibly gentle, and his face was getting closer and closer. Yoon Nam-hyuk almost thought the other was going to kiss him. He closed his eyes tightly in nervousness, and suddenly heard the other say in a low voice, “See, you closed your eyes.”

“Hey!”

Yoon Nam-hyuk instantly exploded!

Did he call me over just to prove this! This man is all about revenge! What’s wrong with closing my eyes! They’re on my face, I’ll close them if I want to!

The ambiguous atmosphere vanished into thin air.

Qi Huai left with a smile, leaving Yoon Nam-hyuk to sulk on the sofa.

The System was bewildered: [Host Oppa, honestly, are you straight…]
You’re a master at ruining the mood. Why didn’t you just say President Yoon has sleep in his eyes? He would have slapped you for it.

---

It was the same cramped dining table, but the meal was lavish. The two of them ate in silence, heads down. Yoon Nam-hyuk gnawed at the pork ribs fiercely, as if he were gnawing on Qi Huai himself.

Half an hour later, they were full. Yoon Nam-hyuk put down his chopsticks, and Qi Huai wiped his mouth. They spoke almost at the same time.

Qi Huai: “Eun Chul-woo and I…”
Yoon Nam-hyuk: “Give me your phone.”

Qi Huai was taken aback. “What?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk lifted his chin, his tone flat. “Although Assistant Yoo is your manager in name, you should understand that you are my direct artist. As a new artist, even as an actor, for the sake of the company’s image and profits, you are no different from an idol during your contract period. The company has the right to manage your social circle. This is written in the contract. Give me your phone. I want to check your communication records.”

From eating too many pork ribs, the president’s lips had turned a rosy red. The official-sounding words that came from his mouth somehow didn’t seem very formal, more like a petulant attempt to be serious.

System: [Wow, he’s checking up on you, Host. Hehe.]

Qi Huai: “…”
Just because I said you closed your eyes, you’re getting back at me with this?

Seeing that Qi Huai didn’t speak, Yoon Nam-hyuk’s brow furrowed. “What, did you chat about something you can’t let me see?”

Was it with Eun Chul-woo or Baek Soo-kyung? Don’t tell me that guy Choi Min-jun is in on it too! Or maybe…

Remembering the growing number of Qi Huai fans in his assistant team, the pinned “Actor Qi’s OOTD” post on the internal forum, and the crazy comments from his fanboys and fangirls, Yoon Nam-hyuk frowned deeply. Don’t tell me this guy’s sunshine has spread to the entire company?!

Seeing Yoon Nam-hyuk’s eyes widening, his imagination running wild, Qi Huai sighed and took out his phone. “…I didn’t talk about anything with Eun Chul-woo. Here, you can look. I’ll do the dishes.”

He handed it over so readily that Yoon Nam-hyuk was a bit taken aback. He stared at it for a long time before swiping the screen on. “What’s the unlock code?”

Qi Huai: “123456”

Yoon Nam-hyuk frowned. “So simple? What if someone peeks at your phone?”

I’m not Choi Min-jun, Qi Huai thought. I don’t go around secretly filming people every day. What am I afraid of? “Is it simple? Then you can help me change it.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk was stunned. “To what?”

“To your birthday.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Yoon Nam-hyuk’s scalp tingled.

Qi Huai smiled. “Mmm, just kidding.”

“Hey! Are you crazy!”

Yoon Nam-hyuk almost died of anger. Qi Huai just laughed. The fuming President Yoon fiercely entered the password and decided to conduct a thorough search, only to find that the other had a pitifully small number of friends on both KKT and Instagram.

Instagram was a bit better; at least he had followed many celebrities for appearance’s sake. KKT was pathetic. The total number of friends didn’t exceed twenty, and some of the contact names were ridiculous things like “Salad Uncle” and “Kimbap Auntie.”

Is this fake?

This guy cooks so well, how could he possibly eat takeout? Could he be the type to deliberately change his lover’s name to something like takeout or delivery to cover up their relationship?

He tapped on these conversations. Colorful menu pictures and concise dialogues flooded the screen.

「Qi Huai: One roasted chicken salad, please. Broccoli for lettuce.」
「Salad Uncle: Ne!」
「Qi Huai: One roasted chicken salad, please. Broccoli for tomato.」
「Salad Uncle: Ne! Do you want to add an egg, sir?」
「Qi Huai: Okay.」
「Qi Huai: One roasted chicken salad, please. Broccoli for mushroom.」
「Salad Uncle: Ne! Do you want to add a banana milkshake, sir?」
「Qi Huai: Okay.」

Yoon Nam-hyuk: “…”
How much does he hate broccoli?

Besides that, Yoon Nam-hyuk suddenly discovered that Qi Huai seemed to have this concise style of chatting with everyone, even Baek Soo-kyung. The other would say three to five things before Qi Huai would reply with one, unless Baek Soo-kyung was asking about acting or work, in which case Qi Huai would reply a bit more.

So… Qi Huai is actually quite enthusiastic with me?

Yoon Nam-hyuk pursed his lips, his ears burning. He continued scrolling and suddenly saw a familiar profile picture—Eun Chul-woo.

Qi Huai had already added Eun Chul-woo, but he hadn’t had a chance to reply to his message yet: 「Hello, I’m Eun Chul-woo, the one who saved your life today ^^. I suddenly thought of how you can repay the second favor. Let’s have dinner together next time, what do you think?」

“Eun Chul-woo saved you? What does that mean?” Yoon Nam-hyuk frowned. Assistant Yoo hadn’t told him about this.

Qi Huai: “That park must have had a Christmas event. The staff were cleaning up the Christmas decorations. A Christmas tree almost fell on me. Eun Chul-woo just pulled me out of the way.”

Ha?

Yoon Nam-hyuk was incredulous. “Why were they cleaning up while actors were coming and going for auditions, and there was even an accident? Are the people at RC Entertainment incompetent?”

The auditions were only for a day or two. Did they really have to do it at this time?

This was also something Qi Huai found strange, but after thinking about it, first, it wasn’t important. The most important thing was to divert Attack Dog Number Five’s attention from Baek Soo-kyung. Second, a person of Eun Chul-woo’s status wouldn’t be Attack Dog Number Five if he couldn’t play tricks. Qi Huai decided to just turn a blind eye and not dwell on it.

So he just smiled. “Don’t worry. The Christmas tree was already tied up. It fell very slowly. I could have dodged it even without Eun Chul-woo.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk sneered. “Ha, then why is he being so attentive? He wants you to treat him to dinner for such a small thing?”

President Yoon muttered. Qi Huai didn’t catch it. “What?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk paused. “Nothing.”

As he spoke, he used Qi Huai’s KKT to try and transfer 500,000 won to Eun Chul-woo, with the message: 「^^Been busy lately. Chairman Eun, you should eat something good. Don’t be polite.」

For the payment password, Yoon Nam-hyuk tried the unlock code 123456, and it worked. He was just about to question Qi Huai’s password security when a pop-up window indicated insufficient funds.

Yoon Nam-hyuk started to bristle again. “Hey! You don’t even have 500,000 won in your account!”

As his artist, not only does he live in a dump like a rooftop apartment, but he doesn’t even have 500,000 won in his pocket? What about his salary? Did this guy go gambling?

“…Account? Are you using my phone to transfer money to someone else?” Qi Huai, who had used all his money to pay off debts and invest, leaving only enough for salads and kimbap, was a bit confused.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s face was tense. He didn’t answer Qi Huai’s question. He took out his own phone and said flatly, “I’m transferring you 100 million won for emergencies. Don’t embarrass Woosan Entertainment when you’re out, understand?”

100 million won was just pocket change in President Yoon’s eyes. He actually wanted to transfer more, but thinking about Baek Soo-kyung’s 600 million won debt, he immediately dismissed the idea, afraid that Qi Huai would get a sudden impulse to do favors for others.

So poor, and still wants to help others pay off their debts! Just thinking about it makes me angry!!! Shibal!

Qi Huai: “…”
Feels a bit like being a kept man…

After transferring the money, Yoon Nam-hyuk felt much better and even completely forgot about Eun Chul-woo. He looked up happily and found Qi Huai looking at him with a smile.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s heart skipped a beat. “What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing. Thank you for the emergency funds, President Yoon,” Qi Huai said with a smile and a shake of his head. At least he could eat some decent meals now.

Yoon Nam-hyuk snorted. “Then how are you going to thank me? Besides treating me to dinner.”

He refused to be treated the same as Eun Chul-woo.

Qi Huai tilted his head. “How do you want me to thank you?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk thought for a moment, then hesitated and frowned. “Haven’t decided yet. You can owe me for now.”

Qi Huai now owed both Yoon Nam-hyuk and Eun Chul-woo a favor. Life was tough.

And so, the meal was eaten, the dishes were washed, the phone was checked. Yoon Nam-hyuk seemed to have run out of reasons to stay. He sat by himself for a minute, then stood up. “I should go.”

Qi Huai stood up with him. “I’ll see you out. You drove here yourself, right?”

“…Mmm.”

I drove myself because I didn’t want to drink, to maintain my composure in front of Qi Huai.

Qi Huai, on the other hand, regretted this. He still remembered Director Ahn Yonghe complaining about Yoon Nam-hyuk’s poor alcohol tolerance. He really wanted to see what Yoon Nam-hyuk was like when he was drunk, if he was even more passionate than that night.

It was the same black Bentley. Qi Huai drove, while Yoon Nam-hyuk, the president, unusually sat in the passenger seat.

President Yoon looked calm but was actually tense, he even forgot to buckle his seatbelt, waiting with a serious expression for the car to start.

Qi Huai turned his head to look at him, his gaze almost tangible. Yoon Nam-hyuk fidgeted, his palms sweating, the side of his neck so red it looked like it was about to bleed.

Just before Yoon Nam-hyuk could burst out with a question, Qi Huai asked, suppressing a laugh, “Do you need me to help you with your seatbelt?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk snapped back to reality and reached for his chest, only then realizing he hadn’t buckled his seatbelt. The president, who was pretending to be aloof, was almost embarrassed into anger. Qi Huai laughed out loud. “Let me.”

He leaned closer to Yoon Nam-hyuk, slowly pulled out the seatbelt, and buckled it snugly. He slid his index finger between the seatbelt and Yoon Nam-hyuk’s chest and hooked it. “It’s buckled. Is it tight?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk felt the heat of his finger and the breath tickling his ear. He forced himself to be calm. “It’s fine.”

“Good then,” Qi Huai smiled.

So pliant.

Makes my hands itch. I want to tousle his hair, or take a bite. A certain Alpha, whose biological traits were suppressed, inexplicably felt his canines itch.

The car started. The driving was skilled and steady, like someone who often drove luxury cars. But Yoon Nam-hyuk wasn’t thinking about that. All his senses were still focused on the spot on his chest that Qi Huai’s fingertip had touched.

He closed his eyes tightly, restraining himself.

A new album by a Woosan artist was playing in the car. It was the kind of rap that Yoon Nam-hyuk didn’t like, Qi Huai didn’t understand, but was very popular online. Fortunately, the noise was just right, so the atmosphere in the car didn’t feel awkward due to their silence.

Qi Huai focused on the road. Yoon Nam-hyuk was seemingly looking out the window, but was actually tracing Qi Huai’s reflection in it.

He still had a sense of absurd unreality, as if, somehow, he and Qi Huai had become a pair who could eat together and bicker like friends, but had done things more intimate, more fiery than friends.

Qi Huai knew all the secrets of his body. His emotions, his desires, were all inexplicably pulled by the other.

Hearing that the other was laughing and chatting with Eun Chul-woo, he would get jealous. When the other asked him to dinner, he would obediently finish his work and go. When the other had no money in his account, he would transfer 100 million won without a second thought…

It was absurd.

Am I being controlled?

Mind control?

Hypnosis?

Witchcraft?

“Which building is it?”

Qi Huai’s voice suddenly startled Yoon Nam-hyuk. He cleared his throat. “Inside. The one with the lights on.”

“Building 10?”

“Mmm… wait.” Yoon Nam-hyuk suddenly stopped him. “You can just stop here.”

Qi Huai paused.

Yoon Nam-hyuk pursed his lips. “I’ll walk the rest of the way myself. You can take the car. Bring it to the company tomorrow and give it to Assistant Yoo… Goodbye.”

Qi Huai lowered his eyes and let out a noncommittal “mmm.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk got out of the car and walked away.

The car was parked between buildings 7 and 8, about fifty meters from building 10, where the Yoon family lived. Yoon Nam-hyuk forced himself not to look back. Qi Huai watched his back as he walked further and further away, until he disappeared.

The System was confused: [It’s only a few steps. Why is he walking?]

After a long moment, Qi Huai said flatly, “He’s probably afraid his family will see.”

[Huh?]

“Didn’t he just have a scandal? Maybe his family recognizes me. It wouldn’t be good if they saw.”

The System said, 「Oh, oh.」 It observed Qi Huai’s expression and tactfully remained silent. Qi Huai’s face was expressionless. He stayed there for a long time before driving away.

Yoon Nam-hyuk couldn’t completely ignore his family, the group’s shareholders, or even the investors. Qi Huai understood this.

But there were two things he also hoped Yoon Nam-hyuk would understand. First, an Alpha couldn’t stand being neglected. Second, an Alpha holds a grudge.