Crave You Forever
Chapter 51: Black rose

Chapter 51: Black rose

As they arrived at Red Phoenix, Haeun couldn’t help but notice how attentive the staff were. They were greeted warmly, the employees bowing deeply as they entered, and one of them even smiled at Haeun and said, "Welcome, madam."

"Madam?" Haeun whispered, blinking in surprise. His lips twitched not knowing how to answer.

He turned to glance at Yeongsoo, who gave him a knowing smirk, but he hadn’t said anything to the staff. It seemed like they had a keen eye. The fact that they were holding hands probably made things clear to them.

Another staff member ushered them towards the office, and as they walked in, the employee respectfully addressed Haeun once again, "Please make yourself comfortable, madam."

"..."

Haeun’s face flushed slightly as they entered the office. "Why are they calling me ’madam’?" he muttered under his breath.

Yeongsoo chuckled, squeezing Haeun’s hand as they sat down. "They probably figured it out on their own. Don’t worry about it too much."

Just as Haeun was getting used to these attention, the door opened, and Dohyun, Yeongsoo’s assistant, walked in with a stack of documents. He gave a quick bow and, like the others, greeted Haeun with a "Good morning, madam. Would you like a drink from the bar?"

"..." Haeun immediately shook his head with a strained smile "I’m okay, thank you.."

Dohyun nodded and turned to hand over the documents to Yeongsoo. "These are the ones you need to sign off today, boss."

"Thanks, Dohyun," Yeongsoo said, casually flipping through the papers.

Dohyun glanced between the two of them, and after a moment, he smiled politely before leaving them alone. Haeun couldn’t shake the weird feeling of being called "madam" multiple times, but before he could bring it up again, the door flew open, and Sean burst into the room.

"Yeong! I heard your lil omega is here! Finally, I get to meet—" Sean’s voice cut off abruptly when he saw Haeun sitting across from him.

Haeun blinked, startled by the sudden entrance. He hadn’t expected to meet anyone like this. Sean’s eyes widened for a moment before he composed himself, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Well, well, this is a surprise," Sean said, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. "I didn’t expect to meet your omega so soon."

"Sean, could you knock next time?" Yeongsoo said, his tone slightly irritated, but he didn’t seem too bothered by his friend’s arrival.

Sean chuckled, ignoring the scolding as he walked further into the room, eyes still on Haeun. "And you must be Haeun, right? The famous one who tamed our wild CEO."

Haeun shifted uncomfortably, not quite sure how to respond. "I don’t know who tamed who. But it’s nice to meet you," he managed, offering a polite nod.

Sean’s grin widened. "Nice to meet you too. I’m Bae Joomin but everyone calls me Sean. You’ve got good taste, Yeongsoo. He’s even cuter than you described."

Haeun felt his cheeks heat up at Sean’s bluntness, but before he could react, Sean turned back to Yeongsoo, his tone becoming more serious. "But I didn’t come just to say hello. I’ve got some news you might want to hear. Can we talk for a moment?"

The shift in Sean’s demeanor caught Haeun’s attention, and he exchanged a curious glance with Yeongsoo, wondering what was going on.

"Alright, let’s talk," Yeongsoo replied, his playful mood from earlier fading as he stood up. He glanced at Haeun. "Give us a minute, darling."

"Darling huh?" Sean stroked his chin with a grin appeared on his lips.

Yeongsoo crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall "Cut to the chase Sean.."

As Yeongsoo and Sean stepped outside the office, the atmosphere shifted, tension settling in like a sudden cold front. Haeun could see it on Yeongsoo’s face—whatever Sean had to say wasn’t going to be trivial.

Sean glanced around to make sure no one else was listening before speaking in a low, serious tone. "I didn’t want to bring this up in front of your little friend, but I had to come see you in person. We’ve got a situation."

Yeongsoo’s posture stiffened. "What kind of situation?"

"It’s about Black rose. We’ve got a rat," Sean replied bluntly. His usual playful demeanor had disappeared and replaced with a hard edge. "Someone’s been leaking info—financials, client lists, sensitive stuff. It’s subtle, but we’re starting to see the effects. A few key deals almost fell through. I’ve been digging quietly, and it’s coming from the inside."

Yeongsoo’s jaw clenched. "Who?"

Sean shook his head, his expression grim. "That’s the problem. I’ve narrowed it down to a few, but nothing concrete yet. I need more time. But whoever it is, they’re smart, careful. They’ve been covering their tracks well."

Yeongsoo’s eyes darkened, his mind already working through the possible suspects. "This can’t leak any further. If our clients find out about this—"

"Exactly," Sean cut in. "That’s why I came straight to you. We can’t afford to let this escalate. If this gets out, the reputation of Black Rose and Red Phoenix as a whole is going to take a major hit. Not to mention the financial damage."

Yeongsoo ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "And here I thought things were finally stabilizing. Give me list of culprits so far, all will be interviewed personally by me."

"..."

Sean gave him a sympathetic look. "I know. We’ve been growing fast, but that also makes us a target. There’s too much at stake now. We need to handle this quietly and quickly."

Sean sighed and brought out his phone, strolling for a few seconds and sending some things to Yeongsoo "This is the culprit list so far, we have about ten people."

Yeongsoo nodded as he took a quick glance at the list, his expression hardened a bit when he came across a familiar name.

He had worked hard to build Red Phoenix and its sister hotel Black Rose from the ground up, and now someone was threatening to undermine everything he’d built. "Alright," he said finally, his voice steady but laced with resolve. "I’ll talk to a few people on the inside, see if I can shake something loose. But keep digging on your end. We can’t let this go on any longer."

Sean nodded, his face still serious. "Already on it. But watch your back, Yeong. If this person is bold enough to go behind your back, they might be planning something bigger."

"I’ll be ready," Yeongsoo said, his eyes narrowing. "Thanks for the heads-up."

With a firm nod, Sean turned to leave, but not before giving a quick smirk. "Oh, and by the way, I wasn’t kidding earlier— Your hyung-nim really is cute. You better take good care of him, or I might steal him."

Yeongsoo rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the slight smile tugging at his lips. "You can try, but I assure you, you won’t get far."

As Sean left, Yeongsoo lingered in the hallway for a moment, his thoughts heavy. He had to protect what he’d built and he had to protect Haeun too.

When he returned to the office, Haeun looked up at him with curiosity. "Everything okay?"

Yeongsoo smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Yeah, just some business stuff. Nothing you need to worry about."