“There probably isn’t a more useless gift than that.”
Sa Gong-hyun complained as if he was tired of it, but Jae-young didn’t mind. The reason was simple. Because Sa Gong-hyun was smiling at him, he could tell that the sentiment wasn’t genuinely sincere.
The car parked near Jae-young’s house. Since the potted plant was a gift for Sa Gong-hyun, he left it in the car when he got out. After getting out of the car, Jae-young’s chattering voice continued endlessly as they walked hand in hand towards the house.
Just as Jae-young was about to enter the house with Sa Gong-hyun, someone roughly pressed down on his shoulder, which had been wearing a broad smile. The force was stronger than expected, causing his body to be pulled backward.
“Do Jae-young!”
Startled, Jae-young opened his eyes wide and identified the owner of the hand. The husky voice and unpleasant laughter belonged to Ju-seong.
“Hey, man, your house was fucking hard to find? I wandered around for a long time.”
After calmly scanning Sa Gong-hyun’s complexion, Jae-young immediately smiled like a child. As if he were delighted to see Ju-seong more than anyone else.
“Hyung! You should have called first. Then I would have come to meet you. You surprised me.”
Sensing that Sa Gong-hyun’s gaze might have shifted to Ju-seong’s hand, Jae-young hurriedly removed it. He looked up at Sa Gong-hyun with an awkward smile.
Han Ju-seong. This rat bastard. He really wanted to kill him.
“Hyun-ssi, this is my cousin. I’m sorry. You must have been surprised too, right?”
“What? Is that all the introduction I get? Hello, I’m Song Woo-sik. I run a small business in the provinces.”
“…Hyung, what are you doing?”
Ju-seong, like a hyena waiting for the right moment, thrust a business card at Sa Gong-hyun. Jae-young grabbed Ju-seong’s hand in alarm, but he didn’t withdraw it. He followed with a hearty laugh.
Sa Gong-hyun, who had been looking down at Ju-seong’s business card with arrogant eyes, laughed briefly. His gaze was like that of someone looking at an insect. His laugh was clearly derisive.
Jae-young hurriedly intervened between Sa Gong-hyun and Ju-seong.
“Hyun-ssi, I’m really sorry, but could you leave for today? It’s been so long since I’ve seen my cousin, and we have a lot to talk about. I’ll come to you later. I’m sorry.”
“Ah, shibal, it’s getting wrinkled.”
With one hand, he held Sa Gong-hyun’s hand, and with the other, he firmly gripped Ju-seong’s hand. As the business card got crumpled in the process, Ju-seong expressed his disgusting discontent.
Sa Gong-hyun looked down at Jae-young without saying much. Eventually, he took out a business card from his inner jacket pocket and handed it to Ju-seong.
“I’m Sa Gong-hyun.”
“Ah, you’re giving it to me now. Wow, Sebin? You’re an incredibly successful person, huh? Right, Jae-young?”
It was hard to maintain a smiling face. Even squeezing his hand tightly as if to say “please stay still” was of no use.
Ju-seong snatched the business card with his free hand, and Sa Gong-hyun turned around leisurely. Jae-young, who had been staring blankly at this scene, hurriedly pulled Ju-seong’s arm.
He unlocked the door with a key and went inside. Anger surged wildly. Jae-young irritably ran his hand through his hair.
“A jerk who says he’s doing well lives in a place like this?”
More infuriating than the mocking tone was the fact that Ju-seong had come looking for him with some dirty scheme. To be precise, not for him but for Sa Gong-hyun.
“What are you doing?”
Just as they say people become calmer when they’re truly angry, despite his senses standing on end, his voice came out very calmly.
“Do you clean? Well, with your personality, you wouldn’t do that. Can I sit anywhere?”
Like clearing away trash, Ju-seong kicked around the bare floor with his foot before sitting down anywhere. Jae-young ran his hand through his hair once more and exhaled leisurely. It was a struggle to somehow calm his anger.
“Get up.”
“Jae-young, I was really surprised?”
“I said get up.”
“I didn’t know Sebin was under surgery, I almost thought you had really switched sides? But if you’ve started an operation, why are you still using your real name?”
The unpleasant sound of laughter continued to stick to his ears. The laugh, choked with phlegm, was fucking annoying, to put it crudely.
Where could Han Ju-seong have heard that story? Jae-young tightly closed his lips, which had been repeating the same words.
“So why didn’t you answer your phone, you fucking bastard?”
Ju-seong’s expression hardened in an instant. It might have been better to call him right after checking his missed calls. He never dreamed that momentarily forgetting would come back to bite him like this.
“Your brother comes to visit and you don’t even offer a glass of water? Kid, your lack of manners hasn’t changed.”
It was quite composed how he quickly relaxed his coldly stiffened face and smiled.
That’s it, he’s caught a weakness. Jae-young, with his hands stuffed in his pockets, leaned his buttocks against the dining table.
“Hyung.”
“What, kid?”
“You didn’t come all the way here just for a glass of water. Just tell me what you want.”
He had lied that Ju-seong was his cousin just in case Sa Gong-hyun might misunderstand their relationship, but now he regretted it. It might have been better to let him die like Kim Jung-min.
Song Woo-sik? It wasn’t even funny. He could tell from the fake name and non-existent business card he was wearing.
Ju-seong had come with a purpose. Knowing that Jae-young was operating on Sebin, he intended to use this.
“Right, well… we’re not close enough to visit each other’s homes just to say hello, are we? Maybe if it was Seung-kwon.”
Ju-seong nodded his head as he stood up. He looked around at the objects Jae-young had arranged just for appearances.
“Sebin is for you guys to take.”
“…”
“It’s what we implicitly promised. Not touching each other’s rice bowls.”
His tone was arrogant, as if he were doing a favor.
“Then why did you come here?”
“Instead, you just provide the connection.”
Ju-seong said while picking up a frame containing a picture of Jae-young from his childhood. Eventually, his head turned toward Jae-young.
“Between that guy and me.”
The hand buried in his pocket tightly clenched into a fist. Regardless of what was happening inside his pocket, Jae-young didn’t show the slightest disturbance to Ju-seong. Showing a disturbed appearance earlier had been enough.
“Ah, was I too vague? That guy, you know, Sa Gong-hyun.”
“…”
“Your lover, Jae-young.”
“…”
“You were denying it earlier, you dirty bastard. You must have done all sorts of things with that guy, sucking and licking, right? Well. Our Jae-young has an incredible face? I wonder if down there is as delicious as your face.”
“Move it.”
Ju-seong, who had somehow approached Jae-young, reached for his buttocks. Jae-young struck away his hand in one swift motion.
“I thought you were doing a Ponzi scheme. Why suddenly Sa Gong-hyun?”
“Why ask, want to die? Jae-young, when a good business item comes to mind, you go for it first. Putting everything else aside. Got it?”
“Whatever you do, try not to touch Sa Gong-hyun, hyung. If you want to live.”
That was probably the first and last warning. Whatever his plan, Ju-seong intended to use Sa Gong-hyun. He must have investigated Sa Gong-hyun before taking action, but strangely, he was confident.
It wasn’t that he was worried about ruining the job; he was sincere. Look at Kim Jung-min. If Ju-seong’s operation were ever exposed, he would suffer worse than Kim Jung-min.
Along with Jae-young, who had introduced Ju-seong as his cousin.
That’s why he had waited for the right timing to visit Jae-young. Knowing that Jae-young, in a difficult situation, would somehow give him what he wanted.
Ju-seong, who seemed to have been momentarily speechless at the chilling warning, soon burst into hollow laughter.
“Don’t tell me you’re… protecting this?”
Between the broken phrases, he held up and waved his pinky finger. The stupid bastard was causing trouble without understanding the situation.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
