11. A Push

"Alright, I got it." Giseok panted out as he ran up to her. Mirae glanced at him, standing straight with her arms folded in front of her chest. She glanced around, looking at the people walking in and out of the main door or the building as she stood in front of it. She was making sure that President Lee was not there to catch them. She looked at the white paper bag he carried in his hand, a sudden urge to check the contents inside. She had to admit that she was curious about her boss' past as well. But only because he tried to hide it so desperately.

"Do you think it would work? I don't think Taeho is really bothered about this."

Mirae frowned, pulling him into the building as she sensed that Giseok would just change his mind and walk away.

"Look, I am only doing this so that Taeho has some closure with Yejeong, whatever happened to them."

"Stop babbling and get things done, he is about to leave for his lunch soon. You'll miss him."

"No," Giseok huffed, stopping in his tracks. Mirae looked at him bewildered as she was suddenly pulled back thanks to his huge build, "I can't do this Yejeong, her life will be disrupted. Trust me, this sort of exposure is not good for people like us from the countryside. The internet is nasty, she will be traumatized."

"It's one time on Youtube, it will come and go. That's the whole point, besides if she doesn't agree to the plan, we are not doing it anyway. But President Lee has to be the one to go to her."

Mirae looked at Giseok, standing there with his face scrunched up with guilt. He sighed, running a hand through his short cropped hair, seeming even more reluctant than before.

"Let's do this for President Lee, he needs to meet this Yejeong anyway. How long will he keep living his life like that? It's pathetic. He drinks, throws some fake smiles around, and goes to bed with women he doesn't even remember."

"Haeson is there for him,"

"Haeson Unnie is there so that she doesn't have to—" Mirae sighed, glancing around. They were right smack in the middle of the lobby which was infested with visitors and corporate workers. She stepped closer, "Look, we can't have this conversation here. Just go and get it done. We'll talk after that."

"Okay," Giseok shook his head, as though he was trying to get rid of his doubts, "I'm doing this. You look beautiful, by the way."

He bent and placed a chaste kiss on her cheeks, then straightened up. He fixed the collar of his black dress shirt and walked towards the elevator. Mirae stood, rolling her eyes before she turned to look at him. Biting her lip, she touched her cheek, fighting the surge of emotions trying to surface.

****

Taeho glared at the screen, his right eye twitching as he stared on without blinking. The red dot on the screen went down once again and he groaned, slamming his laptop shut. His coat lay haphazardly hung at the edge of his chair and his white dress shirt was unbuttoned, his tie hanging loose halfway down his toned chest. The air conditioning in the room was not enough to cool him as he assessed the stock value of Phoenix Tech. It was performing badly even though there was a considerable rise on the first day of the scandal. But he was not so sure as the numbers had fallen. He rested his head back until the chair considerably creaked under his weight.

He was desperately and actively doing everything so that his mind doesn't go into 'that' place. The particular corner of his mind, the part which he thought that he had securely taped closed and thrown out. Turns out it was still sitting there, waiting to be opened and dealt with because apparently, you can't just throw away a part of your life that easily. He had tried so much that he would not think about his past but how was that possible? Everyone was made up of their own past. It was a defining factor as to who they were and who they would become.

A soft knock came in from the door, and Taeho called out a muffled 'Come in" without moving a limb. He was too tired mentally to care that he looked so sloppy and unkempt for a CEO.

"Taeho-ya."

Taeho looked up, seeing Giseok poke his head in the room before he slowly came in.

"Yeah, what's up?" Taeho groggily rubbed his eyes as he leaned forward.

"Ah, I just wanted to see you before I left…" Giseok stood awkwardly before he walked up to the table, "and I wanted to give you this. It felt only right."

"Is that food? You didn't have to get me anything," Taeho mumbled, but he left the bag as it was.

"Yeah, you should…deal with that. I am sorry by the way, I am laying off heavy drinks now."

"You are banned from ever drinking again, you asshole."

"Hey, you can't blame me. I was drunk and Mirae broke up with me, then you got engaged in the most ridiculous way. I can't help being sentimental."

Taeho glanced up and his eyebrow shot up with curiosity, "Why did you guys break up anyway? You make just the perfect pair of sappy disgusting couple."

Giseok chuckled to himself, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Taeho immediately recognised it and dread filled him out. Oh dear, why did he even ask? It was another disgusting couple thing. If he could turn the seconds back, he would do exactly that.

"She'll kill me if she knew I told you."

"Good, then don't tell me. You are dismissed."

"I have to tell you. You're my best friend, Taehooo…"

"Get out. Now."

"We were in bed—"

"Nope, get out. I order you to get out right now."

"..and.." Giseok laughed, seeing Taeho threaten him with another pen, "...she let out the cutest fart. It was so cute but Mirae was so embarrassed, she broke up with me on the spot—"

"Jang Giseok!"

Giseok smiled at him, glad that at least Taeho was full of energy now. He looked terrible when he first walked into the room.

"Well, then…" Giseok pointed at the bag and backed out of the room slowly. Taeho stared at the bag as though it was a bomb. Is this what they call an engagement gift? If so, Taeho didn't want to even touch it. But then Giseok rarely gave him anything without proper reason so he guessed that it was nothing big. He reached out, dragging the white bag towards him. It had a strange weight to it.

Warily, he lifted one side open and peeked into it. He paused immediately, he recognized it even though he could barely make sense of what was in the bag. Swallowing, he grabbed whatever was inside and took it out.

'WOOSUN HIGH' read the glossy emboss on the thick cardboard cover of the book and 'yearbook' in smaller letters below.

That asshole brought the junk right back to him. He was supposed to throw this away, that was why Taeho gave it to him but of course, Jang Giseok had to be 'that' dumb and emotional enough to lead Taeho back to square one.

Taeho tried to put the bag away but something was still inside it. He took that out as well, it was a thick envelope. Overcome with curiosity, he shook the contents out onto his table. A plethora of old photos fell out, creating a mess on his desk. With his brows knitted together, he picked the one on the very top and he felt sick to his stomach immediately. Like someone had just sucker punched his gut repeatedly and then pushed him right back into the past.

He stared at the picture and his scrawny younger self stared right back at him, smiling widely at the camera. He was much more tan and thinner, with overgrown thick messy hair that poked out straight from the bowl cut that made him look like he was wearing a terrible wig and his teeth were all crooked. He looked so horrible, and so…happy. What was he there? Fifteen? Sixteen? He recognized from the track shirt when it was taken and who took it immediately. And he knew what was written on the back of it.

With shaky hands, he turned the photo around.

"You owe me 700 won for this, Kang Taeho" scrawled in the handwriting he knew as his own. It was nothing, of course. The words didn't mean anything other than what he read but it made her very real. He knew that she wrote it and it was all coming back to him. He never did pay that 700 won back to her. He scoffed to himself, suddenly trying to take deep breaths before everything screwed loose in him. She was real and now he realized that the feelings that he had taped shut were threatening to burst open.

He looked away and his eyes fell on the yearbook.