Bombshell Statement (5)
No matter how he looked at it, Mo Yeon was exactly like a cat in Tae Young-won’s eyes.
The way he rarely approached first, how he secretly enjoyed being pampered, how he sometimes got irritable when his own behavior felt unfamiliar—not just his sharp gaze or actions, but every aspect of Mo Yeon often seemed no different from a cat.
If he had really been a cat, Tae Young-won could have kept him from going anywhere. He didn’t know how many times he’d had such ridiculous thoughts.
Moreover, Tae Young-won knew he was asking for more than what a sex partner should. He couldn’t deny that he had overreacted when he saw Mo Yeon with Kim Hyun-soo.
As Mo Yeon said, Tae Young-won had constantly been doing things beyond his role as a sex partner.
Wanting to keep him close, even trying to control his private life—all of it.
This felt familiar because he had experienced it before. Until now, whenever someone showed such signs toward him, Tae Young-won had cut off the relationship without hesitation. So he should have been the first to notice how strange this relationship was, and who was really holding onto it.
But he only realized how oddly he had been behaving when he attended the funeral of a family elder he wasn’t even particularly attached to.
Throughout his time there, he pretended to be sad on the outside, but inside he was only thinking about the cat that wouldn’t stay still in his arms. Since he was actually in a very bad mood, the pretense wasn’t as difficult as it usually was.
At that time, he kept replaying their previous conversation—certain things Mo Yeon had suddenly brought up.
That conversation that seemed to hint at an end.
Even he found it hard to understand why he had been so displeased then. It sounded too much like such a thing was about to happen, and he couldn’t focus on the conversation. He only remembered responding carelessly.
Perhaps that conversation had made a strong impression, because when he saw Mo Yeon with Kim Hyun-soo, he immediately connected it to that conversation. One of the reasons for his sudden rage was that he didn’t recognize himself becoming so angry.
He certainly became strange quite often when it came to matters involving Mo Yeon. It had always been that way.
Moreover, Tae Young-won’s current behavior had similarities to his former partners whom he despised. And this behavior intensified whenever Mo Yeon showed signs of distancing himself.
How did it come to this? He had clearly wanted a relationship without emotions.
He was the one who first felt displeasure at the thought of dating someone who didn’t even like him, yet he was also the one trying to keep Mo Yeon close under the name of “sex partners” even while saying they should end everything. While Mo Yeon may have initiated things, at some point Tae Young-won had become the one clinging on.
Fuck, was it because he’d become gay?
Even knowing this, he had no desire to stop, so he went to Mo Yeon’s place with birthday gifts he had prepared in advance.
He had planned to say that he wouldn’t cross the line anymore. But what he received then was a confession.
The very thing he had been wary of—those pathetic claims of love between sex partners.
The moment he heard those words, which had only ever made him feel tired, everything made sense—Mo Yeon’s attempts to distance himself, his refusal to be partners. Every moment that had made him anxious had happened because Mo Yeon liked him.
And the one question that had always followed him was “why Mo Yeon had started stalking him in the first place.” To think it was because of yang energy.
And then to say without blinking that he would replace him with another man.
“This is why I…”
This is why he couldn’t let go. He couldn’t just leave Mo Yeon to live however he wanted.
After confessing, why was he pushing him away?
He was still thinking about other methods. Staring blankly at the dark window, he picked up his glass to wet his throat.
He had never been fond of alcohol. The reason was simply that he was annoyed by watching others become disheveled by drinking. He hated seeing others like that so intensely that he thought it would be better to die than to become that way himself.
As a result, he often ended up handling the cleanup at school gatherings, and his disgust for drunkenness grew even stronger. To him, the sight of grown adults pathetically staggering around drunk was truly lower than insects.
However, after his last conversation with Mo Yeon, he had sought out alcohol for the first time in a very long time.
But even that only lasted a day or two. He learned for the first time that when he was truly in a bad mood, even alcohol wouldn’t go down.
“…I miss my cat.”
Muttering absentmindedly, he reached for the glass he had put down.
His hand, stretching back to where he had placed it earlier, had been touching only a clear water glass, ignoring the liquor glass. He gulped down the remaining water as if it were alcohol. Some of the clear water also spilled on his chin, but he didn’t care.
He had stopped drinking because the alcohol was too bitter, but he didn’t understand why even water tasted so bitter now.
When he had asked if Mo Yeon would break off their relationship and return to seeing ghosts, he felt like he was swallowing stones. He had no idea asking one thing that came to mind would be this difficult.
Many things had changed after Mo Yeon’s seemingly impulsive confession. Yet the fact that Mo Yeon wanted to leave Tae Young-won remained unchanged. Tae Young-won found this difficult to accept.
He had said there wasn’t really another substitute. While that was a relief, the fact that Mo Yeon still wanted to leave him was painful.
So the confession, was it really meant as a plea to let him go?
No matter how much he tried to understand if there was a hidden meaning, he couldn’t reach any conclusion other than that. And Mo Yeon’s answer was exactly as he had predicted.
Don’t do that, wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t see those strange things anymore?
Rather than waiting for a second or third person to appear…
I think we’d be better together.
Then am I doing things I’ve never done before constantly now because I like you?
It’s all so strange and unfamiliar that I want to stop, but I just can’t stop.
No matter how he thought about it, these feelings were a violation of their contract. Not just for Mo Yeon, but for him too.
He slowly raised his body from where it was sprawled on the sofa. Then he picked up his phone from the table.
Several days had already passed since their last conversation. Mo Yeon truly hadn’t initiated even a single contact with him. A cat with firm resolve was this determined.
The reason Tae Young-won hadn’t contacted him first was because he couldn’t think of the “other method” Mo Yeon had mentioned.
In truth, he wasn’t confident about accepting the idea that had immediately come to mind. But no matter how much he doubted it, it kept pointing to one thing.
And the moment doubt became certainty, there was no reason to delay anymore.
Mo Yeon’s contact information was already displayed on the unlocked screen. He called without hesitation.
Even until the connection tone ended, Mo Yeon didn’t answer. Undeterred, he called again.
-…
With a clicking sound, the connection tone was cut off. Mo Yeon couldn’t reject his call twice.
“Mo Yeon.”
-Why did you call?
Just as Tae Young-won was about to speak, a voice was heard from the other end.
-Hyung, where should I put this?
-Uh…
Just as he was about to say something, an unfamiliar voice that wasn’t Mo Yeon’s was heard. It was clearly the voice of someone other than Mo Yeon, and Tae Young-won could immediately recognize who it belonged to.
That annoying guy who kept bothering people.
“…”
Raising one corner of his mouth, he reached out his hand. This time, what his hand touched wasn’t the emptied water glass but the liquor glass.
After waiting briefly, Mo Yeon’s seemingly flustered voice was heard.
-…I’ll call you back later.
And the voice was completely cut off.
Click-.
Whether that was the sound of the call ending or a fuse blowing, there was no way to tell now.
