Chapter 39
Only silence flowed in the car on the way home.
Yuwon fidgeted with his clasped hands, constantly stealing glances at Jeonghyeok. Should he turn on the radio? After a moment’s consideration, he gave up.
Gripping the steering wheel while silently watching only the road ahead, Jeonghyeok wore a perfect poker face. Even when Yuwon considered starting a conversation, seeing that cold expression made him clamp his mouth shut. The atmosphere wasn’t conducive to conversation at all.
“……”
When they came out of the cafe after exchanging brief greetings with Sohyeon, Jeonghyeok was already in the car. Getting into the passenger seat and fastening his seatbelt, Yuwon felt something was off. Too quiet, perhaps. Though Jeonghyeok was naturally taciturn, it felt like an especially cold wind was blowing.
It must be his imagination. That’s what he thought at first, but the gloomy atmosphere became increasingly hard to bear.
With his thighs pressed tightly together, Yuwon turned his head to look out the window. The warm spring sunlight illuminated the streets everywhere. It was a scene that contrasted starkly with the man sitting to his left.
The heavy atmosphere continued even when they arrived at the parking lot and took the elevator. It was the same even when they opened the front door and took off their shoes.
A sigh escaped without him realizing it. He couldn’t take it anymore. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Yuwon finally spoke first.
“Um… ajeossi.”
Despite mustering up courage, Jeonghyeok remained silent. Yuwon continued speaking as warmly as possible to Jeonghyeok’s unresponsive back.
“What should we have for dinner? I froze the seafood soup you bought a few days ago. How about that?”
“Do whatever you want.”
Jeonghyeok silently took off his jacket and headed to the kitchen. He took out a cup and placed it under the water dispenser. He quietly watched the water flow down.
During all this, he didn’t spare even the slightest glance at Yuwon. Feeling like he was being treated as invisible, Yuwon bit his lower lip hard.
Just moments ago, he had been treating him affectionately. Not only that, but he had even come to pick him up at the cafe personally. Why had he suddenly changed like this? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand the reason. His chest felt completely blocked up from frustration.
Yuwon strode forward and blocked Jeonghyeok’s path. Only then did those indifferent eyes finally meet his.
“Ajeossi, are you angry by any chance?”
“No.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
“What am I doing?”
Getting heated by the curt response, Yuwon widened his eyes and asked accusingly.
“You’ve been acting strange since earlier. Did I do something wrong?”
It wasn’t just strange—it was strangely unfamiliar. The current Jeonghyeok was like the Jeonghyeok from when they first met at Cheolpan-jip. He resembled that heartless man who had casually thrown away that expensive-looking coat, turned his back, and left.
Those darkly sunken eyes and endlessly cold attitude made a person feel powerless. Yuwon tried not to succumb to that sense of powerlessness.
“Ajeossi. Please say something…”
“Don’t be a bother and move aside.”
In that instant, cracks appeared in Yuwon’s clear eyes. A bother. That one thoughtless word made something surge up within him.
“What did you say? Am I a bother to you, ajeossi?”
His fists clenched tightly. That word—bother—struck his chest hard. It hurt much more than being called hateful or disliked.
He would have preferred anger. Rather than being treated so carelessly like this, it would have been better if he had gotten furious. Yuwon scrunched up his stinging nose and shouted.
“Tell me! Am I a bother to you?”
When he raised his voice, small wrinkles appeared on Jeonghyeok’s brow as well. It wasn’t a big change, but since he had been so expressionless, even that much completely changed the atmosphere.
It was like dark ripples spreading across a calm lake. His tightly closed mouth slowly opened.
“Yuwon.”
It was a call like a sigh.
“Say it properly. You’re the one who finds me bothersome.”
You find me bothersome? As if unable to understand, Yuwon tilted his head slightly, and Jeonghyeok said with a slight frown around one eye.
“You actually wanted to stay there longer. You only came out reluctantly because I came to pick you up. Am I wrong?”
His monotone voice was thoroughly devoid of emotion. There was no sign of anger, not even a hint of hurt feelings.
Coming out reluctantly—he should have immediately countered that it wasn’t like that, but Yuwon couldn’t bring himself to do so. Because what Jeonghyeok said was somewhat true.
When he was being harassed by Boss Park or couldn’t move properly because he wasn’t feeling well, Sohyeon had looked after him carefully just because she was the same age as her younger brother. Though they had met while working part-time, she was the friend he was closest to after Jaejoon and Seongcheol. She was also the only person he had confided in about his situation after becoming an adult.
So today’s meeting with Sohyeon felt regrettably short. Rather than just parting at the cafe, he had wanted to have dinner and drinks together. He wanted to gossip endlessly about Boss Park, which never got old, and ask more detailed questions about her university life.
It seemed all those feelings had been completely visible to Jeonghyeok. Even though he thought he had hidden them, it must have been woefully inadequate.
Yuwon shook his head and said.
“That’s not… it.”
“If that’s not it, then why did you smile so nicely at Yoon Sohyeon but make that kind of expression in front of me?”
“What kind of expression did I have…”
“‘Why did this ajeossi chase me all the way here?’ That’s exactly the expression you had.”
At this absurd misunderstanding, Yuwon’s eyes widened in circles. Though he had felt regretful about parting early with Sohyeon, he had been much happier that Jeonghyeok had come to pick him up. Hadn’t he even stared blankly at the man getting out of the car?
He didn’t know what part had given him that impression, but he was definitely seriously misunderstanding something.
“No! Absolutely, absolutely not like that. If that’s how you felt, I’m sorry. It’s just that I hadn’t seen noona in such a long time… I was just so happy to see her.”
“It’s been a year since you last saw her? Or was it half a year?”
Jeonghyeok lifted only one corner of his mouth in a sneer. Even at his sarcastic tone, Yuwon furrowed his brows and spoke. Wanting to clear up the misunderstanding somehow, his voice naturally became gentle.
“I was happy that ajeossi came to pick me up. I should have thanked you first, but I was too surprised to say anything. I’m sorry. So…”
“No need to apologize. We just won’t meet from now on.”
As if to end the conversation, Jeonghyeok turned his body. Yuwon turned his head in that direction and asked back.
“What?”
“Don’t you understand? Don’t meet Yoon Sohyeon anymore.”
“What do you mean…”
“Try to stay home as much as possible. I told you before so you should know, but I really hate waiting for people.”
His indifferent gaze soon moved away. As if he had no more business with you.
“Wait, hold on.”
Yuwon grabbed the arm of Jeonghyeok as he walked past him. When he gripped it strongly so it couldn’t be shaken off, Jeonghyeok stopped walking and looked back at Yuwon.
“So I shouldn’t meet friends and just live like that? Should I stay home alone all day waiting for ajeossi?”
“Why? Is that difficult?”
At his absurdly shameless response, Yuwon was speechless. In contrast, Jeonghyeok continued with a perfectly confident expression.
“Don’t create reasons to go out. Then it’s fine.”
Speaking as if it were the most natural thing, it was even more infuriating. Yuwon frowned deeply and protested.
“Don’t say ridiculous things. I have relationships too. It’s natural to meet friends occasionally for meals and drinks.”
It had only been a 2-hour outing. They hadn’t even eaten—just had a cup of coffee. But to nitpick with such an absurd misunderstanding and corner someone like this—wasn’t that too much?
Looking back, it had been the same when he met Jaejoon before. Just for leaving the house without saying anything, how furiously angry he had been. Those rough hands gripping his face so tightly that the little udon he had eaten nearly made him sick were still vivid in his memory.
This couldn’t continue. Yuwon gripped Jeonghyeok’s clothes tightly and said.
“Promise me. That you won’t interfere with me meeting friends anymore.”
“What if I can’t?”
As expected, he wouldn’t budge even an inch. But that didn’t mean he could just be swept along like this. No matter how much older the man in front of him was, no matter that he was the owner of the house where he was staying, wrong was wrong.
“Then… then…”
Yuwon rolled his eyes in contemplation, then spoke as if he had made up his mind.
“We’ll use separate rooms.”
It was a declaration of war.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
