<73>
It was a strange day from the morning. Jaekyung clearly remembered falling asleep in the same bed the night before, but when he woke up, he was lying alone. Judging by the cold feel of the bedding, it seemed like the other person had been up for quite some time.
Eight-thirty was too early for someone to have gone out for an appointment, and besides, Jang Yeonhu hadn’t made any appointments with others since losing his memory. If he had, he would have reported everything to Jaekyung without being asked, detailing who he was meeting, where they were meeting, and when he would return.
The sense of unease persisted even after Jaekyung came out to the common area. The other household members seemed to have already finished breakfast and gone about their schedules, but Yeonhu’s whereabouts remained a mystery. Even after the breakfast table was cleared, Jaekyung searched everywhere from the basement to the attic, but Yeonhu was nowhere to be found in the house.
“Madam, where is Yeonhu?”
“Well… I don’t really…”
The servants also seemed to sense something was off. Jaekyung asked everyone he met about Yeonhu’s whereabouts, but they were all armed with inexplicable gentle smiles, only giving vague responses that trailed off. Though no clear answers came back, the conclusion was already obvious from the fact that the household remained peaceful despite Yeonhu’s disappearance. Everyone except Han Jaekyung knew where Yeonhu was.
Calling or leaving messages yielded no results either. Rationally speaking, it wasn’t a big deal. There hadn’t been another strange accident, and judging by the calm demeanor of the Chairman and Madam Yu, Yeonhu’s memory hadn’t returned. He just didn’t know where Yeonhu had gone, so he could simply wait patiently and ask where he’d been when he returned.
But for Han Jaekyung, who had recently become so sensitive that he would tremble at the slightest breeze, “waiting patiently” was simply not an option.
The only fortunate thing was that Choi Eunseong was still in the house. If Eunseong had also been missing while Yeonhu’s whereabouts were unknown, Jaekyung’s unpleasant imagination would have run wild.
“Aish, no matter how much you look, he’s not in the house. Please eat something first. If Yeonhu finds out that Jaekyung has been starving on an empty stomach, we’ll be the ones getting scolded, you know?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Just sit down and wait calmly for a while.”
The servants, who couldn’t bear watching Jaekyung frantically going back and forth since he woke up, joined voices to dissuade him. They were right. If someone was definitely not in the house, wandering around aimlessly wouldn’t help find them. In this situation where contact was impossible, the best approach would be to simply wait, hoping that no news was good news. Jaekyung knew this clearly.
“…”
But sitting still made him too anxious and uneasy to endure. His pulse was racing so hard he could hear his own heartbeat, and cold sweat had been soaking his palms for a while.
The bright expressions of the people around him seemed almost comical, as if they were actors in a movie. Behind those subtle expressions, weren’t they actually laughing at him? Weren’t they cursing him, thinking it was amusing to see him fussing around, not realizing he had been abandoned by Yeonhu? Though these were clearly irrational thoughts, Jaekyung, who had already surrendered to the powerful wave of anxiety, couldn’t change his way of thinking.
Pfft, puhuhuh…
A brief but clear snicker pierced his eardrums just then. Jaekyung quickly turned his gaze.
“Ah, sorry. I tried to hold it in, but you’re not a dog that needs to pee, yet you’re pacing around the whole house.”
“…Choi Eunseong.”
“Your behavior is so unlike Attorney Han.”
“…”
It was an unfamiliar yet familiar sight. The thorny words and attitude. Surprisingly similar to the Han Jaekyung in the mirror. When Jaekyung first met Choi Eunseong, he felt a hint of misery at how completely different they were, but now that seemed meaningless.
Seeing Jaekyung’s stunned expression and loss for words, Eunseong continued triumphantly.
“I wonder if you know where Yeonhu hyung is and what he’s doing right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. I’m just curious too.”
Eunseong hummed a tune as he leisurely walked to the other side of the corridor. Jaekyung suppressed the urge to chase after him, grab his shoulders, and yell at him. It was too obvious that pursuing someone who had already made up his mind to mock you would yield no results.
His anxious feelings were now bubbling like boiling oil. Eunseong seemed to know where Yeonhu was, and it was clear that location wasn’t particularly good for Jaekyung. Where could it be? Where had he gone?
Just as Jaekyung took out his phone to try calling again, though it would be fruitless, a noisy stomping sound was heard. Looking up, he saw Choi Eunseong standing there with what appeared to be an indignant expression, though Jaekyung thought he had gone.
“Why, aren’t you going to ask? Where Yeonhu hyung is?”
“There’s no need to beg someone who has no intention of telling me anyway, right?”
“Ha…”
Eunseong’s rough breathing grew harsher, seemingly thoroughly provoked by Jaekyung who was muttering indifferently with his eyes fixed on his phone screen.
“Attorney Han, you really don’t back down until the end, do you? Well… fine. It doesn’t matter. Anyway, whether it’s you or me, one of us is going to be finished today. Yeonhu hyung should have arrived at your officetel by now.”
Han Jaekyung jerked his head up in disbelief. His officetel? Yeonhu had begged to visit there a few times when he first lost his memory, but he seemed to have calmed down when Jaekyung asked him to stay by his side. He shouldn’t even know the address, so how could he suddenly…
“No, to be precise, it’s not Attorney Han’s officetel, but Yeonhu hyung’s, right?”
“Why would Yeonhu go there…?”
“I told him, and he was so happy. He bought a cake and prepared various things since dawn, saying he wanted to surprise you… You don’t need to thank me.”
Suddenly, Jaekyung’s legs gave way. If it were anyone else, it might not matter, but Yeonhu would definitely know.
The mismatched interior and accessories that reflected neither Han Jaekyung’s nor Jang Yeonhu’s tastes. The pile of Jaekyung’s crude belongings locked away in the storage room. Just by entering that place and looking around, even if nothing else, Yeonhu would easily guess that the two of them were not dating.
The long-tailed lie was finally about to be exposed. Jaekyung gathered his trembling hands and grabbed Eunseong by the collar. His voice, having lost its composure, was shaking just as badly.
“Y-you said you’d wait! You said you’d give me eighteen-year-old Yeonhu… That I could have him at least until his memory returned!”
“Yes. I tried to do that as much as possible.”
Ah, please let go of this. Eunseong easily pushed away Jaekyung’s body. The gesture with which he brushed off his clothes, as if something dirty had gotten on them, was particularly neurotic.
“But no matter how I looked at it, you didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up thirty-one-year-old Yeonhu either.”
“…”
“Am I wrong?”
His lips automatically sealed shut. Why would he deny it? If he hadn’t had such resolve, he wouldn’t have revealed his true feelings knowing it would provoke Eunseong.
“So that’s why you were so openly all over him in front of me.”
“Ugh…”
“I’m curious. Will Yeonhu hyung still not notice anything even after seeing that place?”
That was as far as he could stand in a daze. Jaekyung frantically grabbed his car keys, still in his pajamas. The slippers he had hastily put on his bare feet were too big and kept flopping around, but there was no time to change shoes. He stepped on the accelerator like a madman as he drove to the officetel, trying to call several times, but…
Beep, beep, beeep…
The dial tone blinked cruelly. He covered a distance that would normally take thirty minutes in just over ten. After parking, he repeatedly pressed the elevator button, but today of all days, the number indicating the floors moved sluggishly, as if it couldn’t care less about Jaekyung’s state of mind.
“The door is opening,” before the clear mechanical voice could finish, Jaekyung hurriedly moved his legs.
“…!”
The officetel’s front door was half-open. He barely managed to grab the doorknob with trembling hands, forgetting even to breathe. As he opened the door a bit wider, the familiar living room came into view first.
Han Jaekyung cautiously stepped forward.
“Y-Yeonhu…”
On the living room table, torn paper bags were haphazardly placed. Colorful balloons, elaborately packaged cake boxes… As Jaekyung carefully examined the remnants of their contents, he swallowed hard and looked around.
Yeonhu was nowhere to be seen in the kitchen or study either. The guest room he anxiously opened was still filled with Jaekyung’s belongings. The scene, with dust that had accumulated in the meantime, somehow felt pitiful.
The only place left was the bedroom, with its door tightly closed. He wanted to run away, but there was no escape route anywhere. Wasn’t it he himself who had frantically rushed here, into this corner?
Loving Yeonhu. Giving up on Yeonhu. Taking advantage of the Yeonhu he regretted giving up. And then tirelessly trying to reclaim the Yeonhu who had left. All of these were his own responsibilities. As long as no one had forced Han Jaekyung to choose those options, that was truly the case.
Swoosh-
The master bedroom door, which was already unlocked, opened smoothly without a sound with just a slight push. For some reason, he was already out of breath. Jaekyung crossed the threshold, not even realizing he was crying.
“…Jaekyung.”
Yeonhu, whom he had been desperately searching for since he woke up, was indeed here.
“Tell me the truth, are we…”
With a shocked expression, sitting on the bed, holding some picture frame blankly.
“Y-Yeonhu, I’ll explain, I’ll… explain it all so you’ll understand. Listen to me first, uh, that is, listen to me first-“
Was it meant to be a gift for Jaekyung? The yellow marigold bouquet that had been precariously hanging on the small side table collapsed onto the floor. To Han Jaekyung, it sounded exactly like his heart taking a nosedive.
“We. We had already broken up, hadn’t we?”
Ah. Han Jaekyung just wished the world would end at this moment.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
