According to Yu-jun, Kang-hyun was definitely the heir to Seokyung Industries, a major corporation famous for manufacturing cosmetics and various household products.

For Hae-wan, who had never even brushed past someone like that, let alone known one personally, his only image of third-generation conglomerate heirs came from dramas and movies. He could only picture parachute-like figures who dropped from the sky at a ridiculously young age to be called executive director or board member.

Even that was limited since he’d been too busy with work lately to properly watch TV, so the only scenes wandering through Hae-wan’s mind were from the provocative morning dramas he’d glimpsed at restaurants during early breakfast.

As Hae-wan imagined handsome scumbag third-generation conglomerate heirs getting slapped with kimchi or spaghetti after doing terrible things, projecting this onto Kang-hyun, he startled at the low voice repeatedly calling his name and looked up.

When their eyes met, Kang-hyun frowned his thick eyebrows and said.

“Someone’s calling you and you don’t even answer. What are you thinking about so intently?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Though there was no way Kang-hyun could see into his thoughts, Hae-wan’s cheeks turned bright red.

“So is it okay? You’re not going to complain again about me giving you a lot of money, are you?”

Kang-hyun’s words made Hae-wan’s face even hotter.

Honestly, he already owed him a huge debt, and receiving triple what he currently earned seemed absurd.

However, thinking that the more pathetically he acted, the faster Kang-hyun might get tired of him, Hae-wan cleared his dry throat and forced himself to say.

“No. I said I like easy money.”

Hae-wan unnecessarily lowered his head and fidgeted with the cold coffee cup in front of him.

But for some reason, Kang-hyun said nothing.

Had he really gotten tired of him?

At that thought, Hae-wan peeked up his head and immediately met Kang-hyun’s jet-black eyes staring at him expressionlessly.

Even after their eyes met, Kang-hyun said nothing and just stared through Hae-wan. He didn’t even seem to blink once, making it even more bewildering.

Was staring at people like that his habit? Just as Hae-wan was getting restless, Kang-hyun suddenly spoke.

“Let’s go with Bori.”

At the completely incomprehensible words, Hae-wan asked in confusion.

“…What?”

“The alias I’ll call you. I’ll call you Yoon Bori.”

“What’s that supposed to be?”

At Hae-wan’s displeased voice, Kang-hyun’s eyebrows twitched.

“You said you’re not Yoon Hae-eon and didn’t want to tell me your name. Then I have no choice but to call you whatever I want, right?”

“You don’t need to call me by a name. You can just say ‘you’ or ‘hey’ or whatever.”

“I don’t like that. It’s too impersonal.”

Throughout their conversation, saying “I don’t like it” had been Hae-wan’s role, but Kang-hyun’s tone was firm, like he was getting revenge. Speechless, Hae-wan muttered timidly.

“Still, what kind of name is that? It doesn’t even sound like a person’s name.”

“Because it’s like a wheat field.”

“What?”

“Your hair color. It looks exactly like a wheat field. But calling you Wheat would be a bit awkward, so I chose a similar grain. Barley. Good enough?”

Wasn’t wheat or barley basically the same thing?

It didn’t seem like it would help much, so Hae-wan swallowed his retort and instead raised his hand to touch his hair. Hae-wan had pale hair color and iris color to match his white face, and during his school days, people sometimes mistook it for dyed hair.

And that was…

“The Yoon Hae-eon I knew also said his hair color was light brown.”

At Kang-hyun’s words, Hae-wan’s hand slowly dropped.

Hae-eon had been the same way.

Though they didn’t greatly resemble each other in height, build, or facial features, their shared lack of pigmentation was one of the major factors that made people think of them like twins.

“For a coincidence, there are quite a lot of strange similarities. Don’t you think?”

Though Kang-hyun’s words had an edge, Hae-wan squeezed out his voice and tried to answer nonchalantly.

“…I suppose so.”

At those words, Kang-hyun fell silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up abruptly. When Hae-wan looked up at him, Kang-hyun looked down at him and spoke slowly.

“Anyway, come starting next week. I’ll send you the location.”

Because of his prominent brow bone, it was hard to see what kind of expression he was making. With those final words, Kang-hyun again left Hae-wan behind and quickly left his seat.

Sweat had broken out, so Hae-wan rubbed the back of his neck to wipe it off.

* * *

The location of the shop Kang-hyun sent was in the middle of some affluent neighborhood, far removed from busy commercial districts.

Located on a hillside far from bus stops or subway stations, Hae-wan had to keep checking his phone’s map application as he walked.

The surroundings were quiet and peaceful except for the occasional passing cars. Whatever wealthy people thought about while living, it seemed completely wrong for selling anything.

Moreover, Kang-hyun hadn’t told him the business name and only gave him the address. When he searched for it, he couldn’t find any information, suggesting it might not be registered as a business, so Hae-wan’s curiosity about his ‘shop’ only grew.

That must be it.

Seeing the destination in the application pointing to a white-walled building across the street, Hae-wan awkwardly adjusted his appearance for a moment.

Though he didn’t think Kang-hyun would give him anything too demanding to do, if customers came and went, he shouldn’t look shabby. He had agonized all last night over his few pieces of clothing. Even knowing that however he dressed, he couldn’t satisfy the eyes of people who would visit such a place, he couldn’t help feeling nervous.

After crossing the street and arriving in front of the building, he stopped before the simple black entrance that was firmly closed. The single-story building with high ceilings, finished with white, rough-textured walls, had no sign and no windows except for opaque glass blocks at the entrance, making it look completely unwelcoming to outsiders.

Hae-wan carefully tried the door handle, then hesitated when he found it locked. Since it wasn’t even 3 PM yet, it shouldn’t be outside business hours. Was this really a shop? Had he come to the wrong place?

Flustered by such thoughts, he hesitantly pressed the bell beside the entrance.

The moment he pressed the bell, the door opened with a click.

After passing through the entrance corridor and going inside, what he immediately saw was a D-shaped corridor surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows and an extremely luxurious and beautiful courtyard with a single tree planted in it.

Hae-wan watched with half-admiring eyes as the winter afternoon sunlight streaming into the courtyard passed through the tree to illuminate the corridor.

Next was the smell. An indescribably pleasant fragrance permeated the entire building.

“You’re right on time.”

Hae-wan, who had been standing there momentarily dazed, startled at the deep voice from his left and turned his head.

Kang-hyun, who had appeared at some point wearing a black knit sweater that revealed his neckline, was leaning against the wall and smiling at Hae-wan.

“Come this way.”

Still unable to shake off the tension of standing in an unfamiliar place with no information, Hae-wan followed behind Kang-hyun nervously.

When they turned right along the corridor, the revealed space was enclosed except for the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the courtyard, but with high ceilings and elegant unity in white tones, it didn’t feel cramped at all.

Voluminous and sophisticated circular lighting hung from the ceiling, illuminating walls and floors made of marble tiles. A marble table with a gold frame finish sat in the center, matching the overall atmosphere, and dozens of small bottles positioned in storage racks on top particularly caught the eye.

“Should I get you something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay? Then sit comfortably.”

Hae-wan sat down hesitantly. Even though several minutes had passed since entering, he still couldn’t even guess what kind of ‘shop’ this was. The small bottles on the table seemed like they might be clues, so his eyes naturally went to them, but from the outside, he couldn’t even tell what was inside them.

“Those are fragrances.”

Startled by Kang-hyun’s voice noticing his gaze, Hae-wan turned his head.

“Fragrances…?”

Kang-hyun, who had been leaning back in his chair, leaned slightly forward. With his build, even small movements should seem noisy, but he moved like slowly pushing through air, strangely drawing attention.

“I’m a perfumer. That’s what I do for work.”

At a profession he had never even thought of, Hae-wan’s mouth fell half open.

“This place… I called it a shop, but it would be more accurate to call it my workshop.”

“…”

“I’m a perfumer who makes custom-ordered perfumes. Sometimes I create new scents, but usually I make perfumes that perfectly copy people’s pheromone scents.”

With scenes swirling through his head, Hae-wan couldn’t say much. Like he could see into his thoughts, Kang-hyun smiled and fixed those black eyes persistently on Hae-wan.

“I should mention, I’m pretty good at this job.”

And he tapped his prominently raised nose and continued leisurely.

“It’s a natural talent.”

Hae-wan swallowed and lowered his head, avoiding Kang-hyun’s gaze.

‘I’m never wrong. You’re the only person who has this scent.’

That incomprehensible certainty and where it came from now seemed clear.

—

T/N: 보리 (read as Bori) is the Korean word for Barley. But I’ll translate Hae-wan’s nickname as Yoon Bori since Yoon Barley seems awkward (and to be honest, who wants to be called Barley?) “( – ⌓ – )