Survive! Gwanggong!

Gwak Seon-woo, having had his lunch appointment canceled, had no choice but to immerse himself in work until the lunch break was nearly over.

Even before ending up in this situation—back when he was the original Gwak Seon-woo—he had worked tirelessly. When he thought about it, he had lived that way until he found himself in the body of a rich, healthy second-generation chaebol. And yet, here he was, unable to even buy himself a decent meal with all that money, just working nonstop…

For some reason, Gwanggong’s body seemed built in such a way that even skipping meals barely affected him. There was a slight feeling of emptiness in his stomach, but it didn’t seem like it would ever go as far as making an embarrassing growl. In fact, it was as if this body was incapable of doing anything that might undermine its dignity.

‘Should I ask my secretary to bring me a quick snack?’

As harsh as the world was toward Gwanggong, they wouldn’t actually starve him to death. It wasn’t a bad idea. Just as Gwak Seon-woo was contemplating it, someone knocked on the door. Thinking it might be his secretary arriving just in time, he lifted his head without hesitation.

“Come in.”

He had simply responded to the knock, but because of his tone, even this trivial phrase came across as cold. The person outside, however, seemed to have quite the nerve—despite the frosty reception from the CEO, they pushed the door open without hesitation.

Contrary to his expectations, it wasn’t his secretary who entered but Gwak Seung-hyeon, the same man he had encountered earlier.

He hadn’t expected to see him again so soon. Gwak Seon-woo narrowed one eye instinctively in mild surprise. Given how unpleasant their previous encounter had been just a few hours ago, he assumed tensions would still be high. Yet, Gwak Seung-hyeon looked surprisingly composed.

Gwak Seon-woo opened his mouth to ask why he had come. And just then, the now-familiar choice window appeared before his eyes.

▶ “What is it?”

▶ “What is it this time?”

▶ “Why did you come here uninvited? It’s not like either of us is happy to see the other.”

The options seemed to escalate in irritation, almost like a gradient of growing anger. Back at the front desk, every choice had been blunt and informal, but now, for some reason, they had all switched to polite speech. He had no idea what had changed in the past few hours to cause this shift.

Gwak Seon-woo selected the safest and least confrontational option.

“What is it?”

“The Executive Director told me to drop by.”

Gwak Seung-hyeon’s response was calm, as if the incident from earlier had never happened. Since Seon-woo had no idea who this so-called Executive Director was, he couldn’t say much in return. Unintentionally, he ended up holding his silence.

Seung-hyeon, however, seemed used to such reactions. He didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the lack of a response.

“I heard you canceled your lunch plans.”

▶ “Did Executive Director Kim also tell you to find out why I’m not eating?”

▶ “Are you some kind of errand boy, Gwak Seung-hyeon?”

▶ “If that’s all, you can leave now. Report back however you see fit.”

The options weren’t outright rude, but that somehow made them even harder to choose from. How was he supposed to respond when he didn’t even know the full context?

And now that he thought about it, Gwanggong had a pretty bad habit. Even in situations where he was supposed to go through all the dialogue choices one by one, he had a tendency to cut things off and only say a single line from the selection.

“If that’s all, you can leave now. Report back however you see fit.”

For now, the most important thing was avoiding the situation. His dismissive hand gesture carried a hint of annoyance, but compared to their previous conversation, this was considerably mild.

Yet, Gwak Seung-hyeon remained standing where he was. Seon-woo glanced up, sneaking a look at his expression. He didn’t seem particularly troubled. Well, if he were the type to leave just because he was told to, he wouldn’t have come in the first place.

‘So, I canceled my lunch appointment after uncovering corruption among the company executives, and now another executive sent this guy to find out why?’

Since there was no proper explanation, he had no choice but to piece things together himself. And as a total beginner at this game, Seon-woo found the whole thing exasperatingly difficult.

‘Maybe I should’ve just picked the first option from the start. Should I try to steer the conversation naturally now?’

After a moment of deliberation, he decided to act on that thought.

“Why are you still here? Did Executive Director Kim also tell you to find out why I’m not eating?”

‘Nice… That sounded natural enough!’

Feeling satisfied with his performance, Seon-woo leaned back in his chair, trying to settle into a pose befitting Gwanggong. Just then, the system—which had been quiet until now—finally spoke up.

Looked like he had passed the test. Encouraged by this, he adjusted his posture to something even more nonchalant.

Yet, despite all this, Gwak Seung-hyeon was still smiling pleasantly, making it impossible to read his thoughts.

“It’s something like that. But if I ask why you’re skipping your meal, will you actually answer?”

Seon-woo wanted to answer, but he couldn’t.

‘What the hell am I supposed to say? That I wanted to eat, but the system told me not to, so now I’m starving?’

There was no way the system would allow that. And even if it did, it was such a ridiculous and humiliating reason that he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. As he hesitated over how to respond, the choice window popped up again.

▶ “Ha… As if. Get lost.”

▶ “Enough already. Get lost.”

▶ “Are you deaf? Get lost.”

‘What the hell is wrong with this system…?’

Just moments ago, he was having a somewhat civil conversation, and now, all of a sudden, he was back to spitting venom. It was like dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Meanwhile, Gwak Seung-hyeon—who was about to get cursed out no matter which option Seon-woo picked—was still smiling with an expression so good-natured that it almost made Seon-woo feel bad. He didn’t know if the guy was actually kind-hearted or just had nerves of steel, but either way, his easygoing demeanor was enough to make Seon-woo feel increasingly uncomfortable.

Seon-woo lowered his head to avoid eye contact. But since visibly dodging his gaze would damage Gwanggong’s dignity, he made sure to rest his face on one hand, feigning exhaustion to keep up appearances.

“Enough already. Get lost.”

‘I’m sorry. I had no choice.’

Apologizing internally, he forced out the rude response. Gwak Seung-hyeon, apparently accustomed to such treatment, showed no signs of being offended.

“Well, I figured as much.”

If anything, he just responded with shameless indifference. A breath of laughter—half a scoff, half a sigh—escaped from Seon-woo before he realized it.

Seung-hyeon remained unfazed as he asked casually, “So, are you skipping lunch, then? Aren’t you hungry?”

‘I’m starving!‘

Internally, Seon-woo was screaming, but outwardly, he merely avoided eye contact with an increasingly conflicted expression. From an outsider’s perspective, it must have looked like he was outright ignoring the guy.

At that moment, Seung-hyeon glanced down at the plastic bag he was holding. Up until now, Seon-woo hadn’t even noticed that the man had been carrying something. His eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“This is what I got for my own lunch, but would you like one, sir?”

The bag Seung-hyeon held out had WESTWAY printed clearly on it. It was the same sandwich Seon-woo had tried—and failed—to eat that morning.

His heart practically jumped at the sight. He wanted nothing more than to nod eagerly and say, Wow, thanks! You’re such a great cousin! But his body refused to cooperate.

When he failed to respond, Seung-hyeon reached into the bag and pulled out a neatly wrapped sandwich. “Are you sure? You don’t want one?” he asked again.

Yet, before Seon-woo could move so much as an inch, another choice window appeared.

▶ (Violently throws the sandwich into the trash) Are you messing with me?

▶ (Aggressively tosses the sandwich into the trash) You think I’d eat this crap?

▶ (Furiously hurls the sandwich into the trash) You’ve really got a talent for pissing people off.

Internally, Seon-woo let out a silent, agonized scream.

‘Don’t play with food! If I don’t want it, I’ll just say no—why the hell do I have to throw it away?!‘

Seon-woo’s hand moved on its own. Without hesitation, he smacked the sandwich out of Seung-hyeon’s grasp, sending it sailing straight into the trash.

As if that weren’t bad enough, his voice followed, cold and cutting.

“Are you messing with me?”

Regret and despair flooded him. He wanted to drop to his knees in apology—both for wasting food and for being a complete asshole—but instead, his chin tilted upward arrogantly, his posture exuding nothing but defiance.

Meanwhile, Seung-hyeon’s expression, which had started as mild disbelief, slowly twisted into something much darker. Anger flickered in his eyes, creeping in like a storm about to break.