“I threw away the clothes.”
Threw what away? For a moment, he was dumbfounded and quickly raised his head. How much were the cameras attached to it, and how much was the phone? Do you know how much the SIM card costs? He wanted to demand answers right away, but he was so astonished that no sound came out.
“There’s no need to keep belongings of someone who might not return.”
“No…”
He could only sigh deeply and blink stupidly.
It wasn’t just clothes, there was a phone inside, wasn’t there? Couldn’t he feel it? Couldn’t he feel the weight? Even if you never plan to see someone again, wouldn’t your first thought be to return a phone they left behind?
Jae-young silently moved his lips and slowly took a deep breath. Was he deliberately irritating him despite knowing better? Even though he wanted to coax him with kind words, it wasn’t as easy as he thought.
“Did you really have to go that far?”
A voice soaked with indignation burst out grumpily. Even that was just a timid rebellion he had barely managed.
“It seems to me that it was Do Jae-young-ssi who rejected the opportunity I gave. Or perhaps my memory is distorted.”
“That’s…”
There were plenty of arguments to make, but somehow it seemed like this person wouldn’t understand no matter how much he explained. After standing face to face with Sa Gong-hyun’s emotionless eyes for a while, he finally averted his sulky gaze.
“Where did you learn the bad manners of avoiding eye contact in the middle of a conversation? You’re not young enough to not know better.”
Sadly, that’s what Jae-young should have been saying.
You’re not in a position to lecture about manners. If you had a conscience, you would reflect on how you’ve lived your life until now and know how to repent. He had been suppressing his complaints so much internally that it seemed he might soon fall ill with anger.
Despite being told to make eye contact, Jae-young stubbornly kept his gaze down.
“…If our eyes meet, we might as well press our bellies together too, I can at least express this much intention.”
“Ah, so you’ll admit to some extent?”
He put on airs unnecessarily, but it only earned him anger in return.
As Seung-kwon said, it didn’t matter whether he maintained a relationship with Sa Gong-hyun as a sex partner or as a lover, but he didn’t like what he didn’t like.
If the situation wasn’t favorable, he had compromised with himself several times to be treated as a pushover during the act. Still, the result was the same. There would be no change to the future plan. He had to establish a romantic relationship with him. If not, his pride would be hurt, and even after the job was done, he would surely lose sleep for days.
“That’s not what I meant. I can’t be satisfied with just that kind of relationship.”
Jae-young raised his head which had been lowered. His face exuded an overall indifferent expression. Jae-young put strength into his pressed lips.
Sa Gong-hyun, who had been looking down at Jae-young impassively, suddenly wrinkled his eyes. His expression quickly relaxed, but he replaced his displeasure with a sigh.
“Unlike your appearance, you’re quite demanding to please.”
“…”
“If you don’t want money, and you don’t want sex, then there’s no reason for you to stay by my side.”
“Stop pretending you don’t know when you do.”
Sa Gong-hyun, as if tired, covered his face with one hand and rubbed both temples. His hand was so large that it comically covered most of his face.
The action continued longer than expected. His jaw muscles bulged and disappeared repeatedly, as if he was clenching his molars tightly. It seemed like he was quietly swallowing some unpleasant feeling.
Jae-young tensed a bit, worried that Sa Gong-hyun might do something in his agitated state if he couldn’t calm his anger. While Jae-young was heavily swallowing, Sa Gong-hyun lowered his hand.
“If you’re so desperate for it, I guess I’ll have to accept your concern this time.”
“…Concern?”
“I haven’t slept at all since then. Because I got all worked up because of someone.”
After finishing his words, Sa Gong-hyun reached out to enter the password on the gate. Feeling that the distance between them had become much closer, Jae-young unconsciously stepped aside.
“…”
He had roughly guessed that would be the case, but there was not the slightest hint of remorse in Sa Gong-hyun.
It was actually Jae-young who should have been worked up, and Jae-young had also lost sleep due to the anger that surfaced every day. But he didn’t have time to understand why Sa Gong-hyun looked more tired.
The man was truly consistent. At this point, Jae-young even suspected he might have antisocial personality disorder.
Seeing that he kept a dog, he didn’t seem to lack sociability, but he also thought it could unexpectedly be a disguise.
But do typical sociopaths disguise themselves that way? Rather than creating troublesome tasks, they would probably avoid suspicious behavior from the beginning.
Click—
While he was thinking about this and that, the gate opened with a loud noise. Making his stepping aside meaningless, Sa Gong-hyun pushed the gate while pressed closely against Jae-young. Because of this, Jae-young held his breath and awkwardly blinked his large eyes.
Sa Gong-hyun went through the gate without adding anything. Once he passed by with neat steps, Jae-young could finally exhale.
He half-turned his body and stared at Sa Gong-hyun’s back. As he stood outside, staring blankly, Sa Gong-hyun, who had been walking ahead, turned around.
“What are you doing?”
He spoke with irritation deeply etched all over his face. Jae-young examined his face closely with a puzzled expression.
“I think I said it. That today, Do Jae-young-ssi might need some concern.”
He slightly parted his tightly closed lips only to let out a heavy sigh.
Well then say so, you human. When did you ask me to worry about you? You’re glaring at me because you’re angry and couldn’t sleep, but who would interpret that as an invitation to come in?
Jae-young pursed his lips and carefully took a step forward, having kept his feet planted on the ground the whole time. Sa Gong-hyun’s way of speaking was still frustrating, but he vaguely understood that this was his way of giving in to Jae-young’s temper once more.
He hadn’t expected their conflict to subside before even trying to mend the relationship. And without even making the first move.
Despite showing indifference rather than expressing regret for the incident, it went surprisingly well. Though there was a hint of displeasure in his demeanor, Sa Gong-hyun didn’t bring up the issue any further.
Was he that tired? Or was he just all talk? Either way, it couldn’t be anything but good from Jae-young’s perspective.
The house he entered after two days was still empty. In the space that showed not even the slightest change, what caught Jae-young’s eye was a familiar coat.
Jae-young blinked slowly and approached the sofa. He picked up the garment that was draped over one side of the sofa.
Feeling the weight of the coat, he realized the phone was still in its place. Next, he checked the special camera attached to the coat. The camera was also intact.
Jae-young raised his head to look for Sa Gong-hyun. As soon as he turned around, Sa Gong-hyun appeared behind him and grabbed both his shoulders. Startled, Jae-young backed away a step with a surprised face.
“This… you said you threw it away.”
“It was a joke.”
“……”
At any other time, he might have laughed at such a ridiculous joke, but when it came from Sa Gong-hyun, it was a bit bewildering. The response delivered with a face completely devoid of humor was also disconcerting. Besides, that situation was hardly one where jokes would be appropriate. Not just Jae-young, but anyone would have failed to recognize those words as a joke.
Looking at Sa Gong-hyun’s nonchalant face, Jae-young felt like his own dumbfounded reaction seemed strange.
Is this how he’s covering up words said in anger and on impulse? Jae-young stared at Sa Gong-hyun with a suspicious face. Without realizing it, he hugged the coat he was holding close to his chest.
“What’s with that thoroughly dissatisfied face?”
Sa Gong-hyun reached out and placed his hand on the sofa. Since he bent his waist slightly, their eye levels became nearly equal. When Jae-young leaned against the back of the sofa, Sa Gong-hyun’s other hand extended over the sofa, trapping Jae-young between his arms.
“If you see that your belongings are intact, shouldn’t you at least pretend to be happy?”
“…It didn’t seem like a joke at all. I really thought you threw it away. I thought you never wanted to see me again, so I…”
“You sure ran away boldly for someone who’s so restless now.”
Jae-young lowered his eyes. Timidly, he reached out and tugged at the front of Sa Gong-hyun’s dress shirt.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
