129.
#That’s Not the Only Reason
Dawoon, unable to blink, stared at the registered deed for a long time before finally taking a deep breath and putting the envelope down on the table.
“You want us to live here? Just you and me?”
Even as he asked, he couldn’t believe it, but Hayun smiled as if it were natural. He really must have lost his mind.
“What about the company? You’re not going to say something crazy like commuting from here, are you? No, before that, didn’t you say you moved to the London branch?”
It was absolutely not a commutable distance. And it was ridiculous to think that someone as high-ranking as the group’s vice chairman would work only via video calls without coming to the office.
Hayun just smiled again without saying anything. For some reason, that smile felt unsettling.
This can’t be happening.
Ignoring the rising anxiety, Dawoon turned his head away. He didn’t want to play along with Hayun’s rhythm. Even if he acted like this now, he’d rush back at dawn if there was an urgent matter at the company. Dawoon thought this was just a reaction to his disappearance without a word. If he went along with it for a day or so, maybe Hayun’s mood would improve.
“What about the engagement ceremony?”
When he last checked the internet before booking his flight to Korea, there were no articles about the engagement being canceled. He thought the engagement with Choi Yu-na should have been called off since he said he’d return.
“It’s proceeding well.”
Dawoon frowned at Hayun’s answer, wondering what he meant.
“Weren’t you going to cancel it?”
“I never said I would cancel it.”
What was he trying to do with this wordplay? Dawoon glared at Hayun with a displeased expression, and Hayun reached out to ruffle Dawoon’s hair.
“It’s grown quite a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this long before. It suits you better than I expected.”
His hair had grown long enough to cover his neck.
“That’s not what’s important. What about senior Choi Yu-na?”
If he had involved an innocent person in this engagement business, shouldn’t he properly wrap it up? Dawoon really disliked that a third party was being harmed because of their emotional conflict.
Hayun, who had been quietly looking at Dawoon, smirked. It was different from the gentle smile he had earlier.
“You still care about others more, don’t you?”
“…”
“You came back because you didn’t want Choi Yu-na to be harmed, is that really the only reason?”
Faced with the sharp gaze that seemed to pierce through his inner thoughts, Dawoon remained silent. He wanted to avoid that gaze, but felt he shouldn’t. Hayun had started to sharpen his attitude with a complete 180-degree change in atmosphere. At times like this, it was best not to provoke him with any words.
“You gave up your life to protect Choi Yu-na’s? You barely escaped from me, and it’s for such a trivial reason?”
“…”
No. That’s not the only reason.
The words lingering on the tip of his tongue didn’t come out as sound.
They stared at each other in a suffocating silence. After a while, Hayun let out a bitter laugh.
“I really have to give it to your stubbornness.”
Hayun’s voice softened again.
“If that’s what you want.”
Hayun took out his phone and typed something. Then he showed the screen to Dawoon. It was a plane ticket for tomorrow sent to Choi Yu-na. Below it was a message saying he would sort out the engagement after she went out to get some air for a while.
“You’re not canceling the engagement ceremony?”
There were instructions for Choi Yu-na to go out because it was obvious the family would pester her, but there were no orders to cancel the engagement venue or preparations anywhere.
This time too, instead of answering, Hayun pulled Dawoon’s suitcase into the bedroom.
“You must be tired. Go wash up and come out. There’s a bathroom inside. When the sun sets, let’s burn some firewood in the courtyard. I should have bought some sweet potatoes. To roast.”
When they came in, he had briefly seen a brazier where wood could be burned in the middle of the C-shaped building. There was also a good stack of dry firewood. Even so, it wasn’t the season for sweet potatoes. Hayun must know that, so Dawoon wondered why he was talking nonsense. He was really strange today.
***
After showering, Dawoon came out drying his wet hair with a towel and saw Hayun putting firewood into the brazier in the courtyard through the full-length window of the bedroom. He stood there for a moment, watching. As Hayun stirred the firewood, the flames grew fiercer, flickering angrily red.
Even though summer had passed and the heat had subsided, it seemed like it would be hot being so close to the fire, but Hayun continued to stoke the fire without concern. He had mentioned that fire-gazing was trendy and that sometimes it might be nice to sit blankly, and it seemed he was serious about it.
For Dawoon, he had spent the past two months doing nothing but staring blankly. But Hayun was different. There was no word less suited to him than “spacing out.” For such a person to be fire-gazing…
He roughly dried his hair until it stopped dripping and hung the towel on a chair. Then he sat on the bed, watching the flickering flames and Hayun’s back. It was quiet. Thanks to the glass window, even the sound was blocked, making it look like a painting.
So a scene including Jeong Hayun could be peaceful too. As he said, it seemed possible because this wasn’t Seoul, because it was a place unrelated to Haedo Group. It felt similar to when they spent time in Jeju Island.
It’s probably just a fleeting moment anyway.
Swallowing a bitter smile, Dawoon leaned over and lay on his side on the bed. He didn’t think he was particularly tired, but as his body relaxed, his eyelids naturally became heavy. Blinking a few times, Dawoon soon couldn’t lift his closed eyes anymore.
After stoking the firewood flames sufficiently, Hayun turned around, thinking it was time for Dawoon to have finished showering, and let out a small laugh. Beyond the full-length glass, Dawoon was sleeping like a baby, lying face down on the bed, wrapped in warm light.
Acting all prickly like a cat with its fur standing on end… He had worried that Dawoon might not be able to sleep because he was wary of him, but it was an unnecessary concern.
“Either be wary or feel at ease, just pick one. Don’t confuse people.”
Muttering to himself, he walked towards the bedroom. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to do the fire-gazing he had prepared, but he didn’t mind much. Rather, he was relieved by the fact that Dawoon still felt safe enough to fall asleep near him.
He went inside and sat next to the sleeping Dawoon. The sheet where his head lay was getting wet because of his not fully dried hair. It seemed he had tried his best to dry it, but when Hayun reached out to touch Dawoon’s hair, it was still damp. He apparently hadn’t even thought of using a hair dryer.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
A gentle smile played on his lips as he murmured softly. He gave up on bringing a hair dryer to dry Dawoon’s hair and just gently played with it. He didn’t want to wake him with the sound of the hair dryer. Instead, he turned off the air conditioner that had been set on low.
As he sat there for a while, playing with Dawoon’s hair, he heard a vibration. His phone on the table was ringing.
After looking at Dawoon one more time, he swallowed his reluctance and got up. Director Park’s name was displayed on the phone screen.
“Yes.”
At his short answer without any unnecessary words, he heard Director Park take a deep breath.
[Have you arrived in Goseong?]
“Yes. How are the things I instructed going?”
There was a moment of silence at Hayun’s question.
[Are you really going to proceed with this?]
Director Park asked once more for confirmation. Since he didn’t say he hadn’t done it, it seemed he was proceeding as instructed.
“No one should know that I’m here. Please make sure Choi Yu-na leaves the country properly. I don’t intend to stop her if she wants to stay in Korea, but it would be better for her to leave.”
[Ms. Choi Yu-na left for the airport an hour ago.]
He smiled slightly at the words indicating that everything had been taken care of even before he gave instructions.
[It’s going to be chaos.]
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Hayun answered in a relaxed tone to Director Park’s concern. He heard Director Park let out a low groan, but he didn’t add anything else. If it was about persuasion, he had done plenty before Dawoon arrived.
[How long do you plan to stay there?]
His voice sounded resigned.
“Well, that depends on Jeong Dawoon.”
[Vice Chairman…]
Director Park seemed like he was about to say something more, but he took a deep breath and swallowed his words, saying it was nothing. Even without hearing it, Hayun could guess what he was going to say.
Won’t you regret this?
Probably anyone, not just Director Park, would have asked the same question. It was because it was Director Park, who knew best how Jeong Hayun had endured each day for the past two months, that he swallowed his words.
He had already had enough regrets over the past two months.
***
The sunlight pouring over his eyelids was dazzling. He covered his eyes with his arm, but couldn’t block out all the brightness. Taking a long sigh, he forced open his heavy eyelids. The sunlight flooding his vision was so bright it hurt his eyes.
If they were going to make the bedroom with full-length windows like this, curtains are a must.
He smiled bitterly at the sudden thought and sat up. Still not fully awake, he stared blankly at the sparkling view outside the window.
“Did you sleep well?”
Turning to the voice from beside him, he saw Hayun standing at the entrance of the bedroom.
“What time…”
His voice came out more hoarse than expected, perhaps because he wasn’t fully awake.
“It’s not that late. It’s just barely noon.”
“Noon?”
Dawoon’s voice jumped.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
