#109
“That’s right.”
Yoo Sanho had changed.
Just one emotion had disappeared, but many things had changed. He was no longer caught up in Lee Chan’s unreasonable demands, and he could now question the unfair points that he used to pretend were okay and overlook.
Now Lee Chan’s misfortune didn’t feel pitiful. Even if it wasn’t satisfying, it wasn’t heartbreaking either. That was exactly how it was.
Thanks to the distance that had formed between us, I was able to see Lee Chan from a third-person perspective rather than a second-person one. Then, you, who had seemed so wonderful, now looked shabby and foolish.
“Solve your own problems.”
I said words I had never been able to say in my entire life, words I had never even dared to consider.
“It happened because you did something wrong.”
How long it took to be able to say these words.
“My mind won’t change, so let’s not waste each other’s energy trying to persuade. If you contact me like this again, I’ll change my phone number too.”
“…”
“And just in case, don’t come to my house either.”
“Why?”
Lee Chan, who had been listening to my words quietly, suddenly responded curtly.
“Because you’re living with Jin Woohyeon?”
“…Huh?”
“Is the reason you changed because you’re living with him, so you don’t need me anymore?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
I don’t live with Jin Woohyeon. Of course, he often visits my house and sometimes stays overnight when our schedules match, but it would be inappropriate to call that cohabitation.
Setting aside the facts, I couldn’t understand why such words suddenly came out. Because no one knew that we met like that. It was something I had never told not only the other participants who kept in touch after filming, but even Gam Seonghan.
For Lee Chan to say this with such conviction when it couldn’t have reached his ears…
“Don’t tell me you came?”
Lee Chan didn’t answer. But it wasn’t difficult to read confirmation from his expression.
I suddenly remembered something from a few days ago. Jin Woohyeon’s mood had looked quite bad when he came back from buying medicine, and it seemed like he had met Lee Chan then. It seemed like he had wanted to solve it by sending him away at his level.
I sighed, pressing my throbbing temples.
“You, really…”
Let’s say coming to my house was understandable. Because even I, in my pathetic days, had once recklessly gone to his house wanting to have just one more conversation with him.
What I really wanted to question wasn’t that he came without permission.
“Why is this because of Woohyeon?”
Because I met a new love, because there’s someone else so I don’t need to feel regretful anymore.
Lee Chan was once again looking for the reason for my coldness from the outside.
“It’s because of you.”
I said, frowning.
“Because you only used me when you needed me, because you didn’t respect me, because I was tired of being with you, so I decided not to meet you anymore.”
“…”
“I kept repeating that I’m not a part prepared for your life, Lee Chan. Do you understand?”
I said, closing my eyes tightly.
“You won’t be able to. It doesn’t matter. Your understanding isn’t important to me anymore.”
“…”
“If it’s difficult to reach an agreement with nice words, let’s do it with threats. If you come even once more, I’ll go on broadcast and tell everything. That you deceived me, that you were dating Lei from the beginning, and even if that’s not true, that you often looked elsewhere even before that.”
I said, looking down at him.
“If necessary, I can prepare evidence and witnesses too. You know what? Among the people you cheated with, there’s also my college classmate. And that friend still contacts me occasionally.”
“What? Who?”
“Would you know if I told you who?”
You probably have more than one or two people like that.
“I went to a class reunion and they complained to me. That they liked an Alpha they met for a day but couldn’t contact them well. They wondered if it wasn’t worth the face value, so they showed me a photo saying let’s at least see the face…”
You’ll never know how I felt when I met your eyes in that screen.
Back then, I pretended not to know because I didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere, but after the broadcast was released, I couldn’t hide it anymore.
Lee Chan believes it could be solved if only I stepped forward, but that’s not actually true. Even if I took his side, the bad things he did to other people wouldn’t disappear.
“Anyway.”
I said in a slightly tired voice.
“Let’s not go down to an even worse bottom than this, us.”
“…”
“Why do you hate Woohyeon so much…”
Shouldn’t you be grateful that he cleared away me who was hovering around you?
“Because he and I are similar.”
“What kind of nonsense is that again? How are you and Woohyeon the same?”
“I’m not just saying it.”
Lee Chan’s words stung my heart sharply.
“Being by your side only when needed, Jin Woohyeon is exactly the same in that regard.”
* * *
Messages
I’ll wait in front of your house.
On my way back from meeting Lee Chan, I discovered that a text had arrived.
As soon as I checked Jin Woohyeon’s message, I became impatient and quickened my pace. It’s not like I could run like others, so there wasn’t much difference, but I still wanted to make him wait even a little bit less.
When I spotted him standing at the entrance of the apartment building, I stopped right there.
“…”
He was a beautiful man as if carefully crafted and meticulously carved. Not just his face, but his unique atmosphere emanating from his whole body caught the eye.
Jin Woohyeon. A person who was soft, deep, and cool like the ground after rain, yet also kind and romantic.
There were quite a few times when I thought the fact that I had become lovers with such a person was just like a dream.
‘For guys like Jin Woohyeon, dating is just like a dream you have for a moment.’
The words I had heard from Lee Chan seemed to linger in my ears.
‘I heard through Lei that his family is quite a well-known conglomerate family even in America. That’s why his grandparents were quite opposed, asking why he had to go back to Korea. You know? They didn’t like him being an actor either.’
‘…I don’t know. It’s the first time I’m hearing this.’
‘See. Guys like that, nine times out of ten, might go back to America when it’s time to inherit the group. Kids from well-off families are always like that.’
I had half-listened and half-ignored the words that when it came time to settle down, he would choose the world they had lived in, and quickly left the scene.
I didn’t know. I had only vaguely estimated that he must be from a well-off family. I didn’t know he lived in America, and it was the first time I heard through Lee Chan that they opposed his acting.
It didn’t seem like words made up just to cause discord. His face didn’t look like he was lying, and there was no reason for him to do so.
“Hyung!”
Jin Woohyeon, who spotted me, waved his hand. When he smiled brightly toward me, his cool and urban impression melted away and warm warmth circulated.
“You came earlier than I thought. Why are you standing there like that?”
As if telling me to come here, he spread his arms wide, so I rushed to him and fell into his broad embrace. It felt like cozy pheromones were gently settling down.
“Why are you standing here like this? It’s not like you don’t know the entrance password.”
With the sticky and humid weather continuing day after day, it was natural to get irritated after standing for just a little while. Especially when he was tired from long filming.
“Just because.”
He answered with a voice full of laughter, pressing his cheek against the top of my head.
“I was worried you might come back crying.”
“I don’t cry.”
I said, patting his back.
“Crying is only possible when there are feelings left.”
In the past, I used to cry at the drop of a hat, which was torturous. I sometimes felt a bit embarrassed about that personality of mine, wondering if I cried whenever my emotions got slightly intense because my heart was too soft.
But now it wasn’t like that anymore. My soft heart had become firm, and the affection that always overflowed had long since scattered. Now I was confident that I wouldn’t cry no matter what Lee Chan said.
“Why didn’t you tell me? That you ran into Lee Chan in front of our house.”
“Ah, that.”
He said, hugging me a bit tighter.
“What good story would that be to bother telling? I wish hyung wouldn’t think of that bastard even as much as a fingernail. I didn’t think he’d come again either.”
I understand what he’s feeling. He probably didn’t want to get caught up in bad emotions by unnecessarily talking about the person he chased away.
“It was unnecessary in many ways, so I just omitted it. Were you upset?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Then is the reason you don’t tell me about yourself also because those things aren’t particularly necessary for our relationship?
I swallowed the words I couldn’t ask and smiled at Jin Woohyeon.
“Let’s go in. Tomorrow’s schedule is the same…”
Right. Someday I’ll naturally come to know. I resolved not to be swayed by Lee Chan’s words and pulled his hand.
“Want to sleep over?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
