Bad Relationship – Chapter 97

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At the proposal that didn’t fit the situation at all, Yoonho slightly furrowed his brow.

He already knew from Junghyun that they were maintaining the marriage, but this felt like something more.

It didn’t feel like they were just maintaining it out of necessity.

“…I know it’s an impertinent question, but… are you really going to maintain the marriage?”

“That’s why you’re sitting here, isn’t it?”

At the response implying that if he had intended to end things with Junghyun, he wouldn’t have called Yoonho to give him a chance to explain, Yoonho was genuinely impressed.

It was just as Junghyun had said.

But what he couldn’t understand was something else.

“…Why?”

At that question penetrating the most fundamental issue, Jaehyuk looked up at Yoonho.

His eyes said, why should I tell someone like you?

He had expected that too. That’s why he had apologized in advance for the impertinent question, but it didn’t work with this person.

He was the type who believed that if you knew something was inappropriate, you shouldn’t do it.

But Yoonho couldn’t help asking.

“Even if you’re in a situation where you can’t divorce, overlooking something like this doesn’t seem like you.”

If they had to maintain the marriage somehow, they could just not file for divorce. There are many people who maintain only their relationship on paper that way. And neither of them would feel aversion to such an arrangement.

Neither Junghyun nor Jaehyuk.

So when Yoonho honestly said he couldn’t understand how they could brush aside an incident of this magnitude as if nothing had happened, Jaehyuk smiled.

As if to say, you’ve said something interesting.

“Since you ask that way, I’m curious too… Why would someone who knows me so well do such a thing?”

At the question that came back like a boomerang, Yoonho immediately regretted asking.

“…I’m sorry about that.”

“Your answer?”

He meant that they both knew he was sorry, and no amount of apology would change anything, so just answer the question.

So Yoonho immediately gave the honest answer.

“…Honestly, it was fun. That guy had such a terrible temper in college, causing trouble wherever he went. So it was fun being with him, and I wanted to stir things up a bit. And partly, I wanted to help him too.”

“Why?”

At a question he had never considered before, Yoonho awkwardly scratched his head.

Despite sticking together all this time, he had never thought about the reason.

It just seemed natural.

So…

“Just… well…”

After saying that much, unsure how to explain it, Yoonho blurted out a phrase that suddenly came to mind.

“Somehow he’s a guy I can’t help worrying about…”

As he spoke without much thought, Yoonho slowly nodded.

Yes, that was it.

Honestly, despite his foul mouth and even worse personality—someone he would never want to be close to if judging by character alone—that was the only reason he had stuck with him until now.

It’s annoying when he’s in sight, but worrying when he’s not.

He doesn’t seem like someone who would get beaten up, so it’s not anxiety about him getting hurt or something happening to him, but rather uneasiness about what trouble he might be causing somewhere.

And actually, when that guy suddenly disappeared, he was either causing trouble or preparing to cause trouble with a high probability.

That’s why he thought Junghyun was such a pain in the ass.

A high-maintenance guy.

While reminiscing about the exciting chaos of the past and thinking to himself that it had been fun back then, Jaehyuk across from him picked up his glass and took a sip of alcohol.

As his words trailed off, silence began to fill the room.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t hear any music either.

It was complete silence.

In that suffocating atmosphere, Yoonho also began to empty his glass.

Thinking it would be better to just get drunk in this situation, he drained his glass in one go and poured more, and Jaehyuk also put down his empty glass.

Seeing that, Yoonho hurriedly filled his glass.

And then they started sipping their drinks again in silence.

Like that, one glass, then two glasses, and around the fourth glass, his consciousness began to fade.

And from the fifth glass, he couldn’t remember anything. What he did after that.

It was a blackout.

* * *

Two in the morning.

At a time when lights were scarce, Jaehyuk returned home, quietly opened the door, and headed to the bedroom, minimizing the sound of his footsteps.

Though quite intoxicated, his consciousness was clear.

But unlike his clear mind, his body was weary and a bit hot. Especially as he entered the house, a wave of heat rushed in.

Feeling suffocated, Jaehyuk quickly took off his coat and stood in front of the door, carefully turning the doorknob.

Then, as he opened the door and entered, he saw Junghyun sleeping under the dim light.

Approaching the bed with relief at that peaceful sight, Jaehyuk first placed his bag and coat on the bed bench. Then, loosening his tie, he moved to Junghyun’s side and sat down against the headboard.

But as expected, Junghyun didn’t stir at all.

He didn’t wake up even with someone near, even with the bed shaking.

He was in a deep sleep.

That was fortunate.

Last night, unlike himself, he had seemed uncomfortable, tossing and turning and making pained noises several times, which worried Jaehyuk, but today he seemed fine.

Today, Junghyun was sleeping quietly, just like when Jaehyuk first saw him—so still it made him worry if he might be dead.

As he reached out to brush aside the hair that had fallen across Junghyun’s face under the dim light, a clean and innocent-looking face was revealed.

His face was quite to his taste. That’s probably why he had noticed him at that bar five years ago.

No, in fact, he had caught his eye when he saw him at Surfication before going to that bar.

Partly because his long, flashy platinum blonde hair stood out, but also because his neat and elegant face was appealing.

That’s why he thought black would suit him better than platinum blonde, and indeed, he was right.

Junghyun with his short, clean black hair was definitely to his taste.

That’s why he didn’t discourage Junyoung when he deliberately approached Junghyun at GLAM.

Additionally, the biggest reason he had selected him from the matchmaking list was because he liked his face.

If they were going to live together anyway, it was better to live looking at a face he liked.

It was a strange feeling to think that meeting had ultimately led them here.

Calling Yoonho out was partly to confirm various facts, but also to ask him to look after Junghyun until he resigned.

But there was an unexpected gain.

Thanks to Yoonho, who had completely lost consciousness from drinking, he learned many things.

That Junghyun’s platinum blonde hair was actually the work of a friend’s older sister, and that the reason his nickname became “Chihuahua” was because he had actually bitten an Alpha at the same club. That he rarely gets drunk, but once intoxicated, he finds recent call numbers and calls them in order, picking fights like he’s delivering a rapid-fire diss track. That his future aspiration is to become a solitary elderly person with many hobbies after inheriting or receiving his father’s assets. And finally, that he actually loves dogs very much.

Moreover, he also found out that what this guy wants most is actually a family. But also that he gave up because the existence of “family” was too burdensome.

Despite everything, it seemed he opened up to Yoonho.

At first, that part bothered him, but soon he understood their relationship through Yoonho’s confession.

Yoonho became interested in Junghyun because his crooked attitude and way of speaking were so much like his own.

That attitude gave him chills as if looking in a mirror, so they clashed from the beginning, and even now he sometimes feels uncomfortable seeing Junghyun, but conversely, because he resembles himself so much, he can’t leave him alone.

Self-hatred and self-pity always come together.

He understood that.

And thinking that was okay, he didn’t press further.

Anyway, Junghyun also needs friends to open up to. Given the peculiarity of the Alpha and Omega world, he needs friends who understand that world, but most of Junghyun’s friends were Betas.

The only Alpha was Choi Seojun, but he didn’t want him around Junghyun, so the only one left was Seo Yoonho.

Although an Alpha, Yoonho with his strong self-hatred didn’t really have an Alpha-like temperament. Someone like that would be fine.

Junghyun also trusted and followed him quite a bit…

For now, planning to keep an eye on that side, Jaehyuk quietly looked down at Junghyun and then let out a small breath.

He had definitely become gaunt.

Looking at that face, he sighed partly with sympathy and partly with relief.

The fact that that shameless guy was this concerned meant he had feelings beyond just liking Jaehyuk.

No, he clearly felt Junghyun’s goodwill toward him.

He couldn’t determine exactly what kind of liking it was, but either way, it was enough to potentially develop into love.

He was definitely confident.

There’s no one in this world who would reject him.

So he just needed to start over, one step at a time.