Chapter 104
“This won’t do. Ji-han, let’s order one more bottle each.”
“What are you talking about? Your eyes are completely glazed over.”
“Today’s a day when I can handle my alcohol well.”
“Then you’ll end up crawling home. There are quite a few people who recognize you now. Do you want to make headlines?”
Cheong-yeon ignored Kim Ji-han’s warning and drained the remaining alcohol from his bottle. Then he pressed the call button.
“Hey, why isn’t this working?”
The bell should have made a ding-dong sound, but it remained silent despite his repeated pressing.
“Are you crazy? That’s my phone grip.”
“Oh, is it?”
Cheong-yeon nodded, trying to appear nonchalant. But as Ji-han said, he might have already reached his drinking limit. Objects in front of him were starting to split in two.
“Hey, you’re not going to pass out right here, are you?”
“I’m not going to pass out.”
Cheong-yeon shook his head, brushing away Ji-han’s hand that was shaking his shoulder.
“Isn’t that Yoo Cheong-yeon over there?”
At that moment, someone in the bar glanced at the table where Cheong-yeon and Ji-han were sitting.
“Really? You mean that actor? Where?”
“Wow, I think it really is him.”
“Isn’t it just someone who looks like him?”
As soon as one person recognized him, the area around their table became instantly noisy.
Come to think of it, the question “Should he even be here like this?” flashed through Ji-han’s mind. He looked at Cheong-yeon with anxious eyes as his consciousness was visibly fading.
“Wow. So celebrities come to bars like this too.”
“Should we go ask if it’s really him?”
Unlike Ji-han, who was feeling increasingly cornered and urgent, the intoxicated Cheong-yeon didn’t seem to care much about people’s stares.
Deciding they needed to move somewhere else, Ji-han abruptly stood up and pulled Cheong-yeon to his feet.
“Hey. Ka, Kang Dae-chang! Get up!”
“Who’s Kang Dae-chang… What kind of ridiculous name is that?”
Cheong-yeon muttered incredulously as Ji-han dragged him out.
“Shut up and go home now, Dae-chang. We shouldn’t come to places like this anymore.”
“I wouldn’t have come in if I’d known it was a hunting bar either,” Ji-han retorted in a voice barely audible to Cheong-yeon.
The alcohol was hitting him hard, making it frustratingly difficult to control his voice.
“I’ll take care of him.”
Suddenly, an unfamiliar woman’s voice interrupted.
It seemed like she was arguing with Ji-han, but Cheong-yeon’s consciousness was fading and he couldn’t hear clearly.
He felt extremely sleepy and his body felt heavy.
*
The clattering sound of dishes disturbed his ears. Cheong-yeon, who had been in a deep sleep, frowned at the irritating noise that had continued for several minutes.
“Ugh.”
As consciousness returned, a terrible headache hit him. When he lifted his heavy eyelids, the interior of the officetel came into his blurry vision.
“Are you awake?”
“Huh? Who are you?”
His pronunciation slurred due to just waking up. With a somewhat dazed expression, he opened his eyes wide and turned his head to see a familiar person looking down at him as he lay in bed.
“…Madam?”
“Oh my, your eyes are quite swollen. Should I make you some honey water?”
Cheong-yeon quickly sat up, momentarily thinking he might have mistakenly come to Do-heon’s house after drinking too much last night. However, he confirmed that he was indeed in his own officetel where he lived alone.
So that meant he had made it home safely despite the drinking…
But why was Do-heon’s kitchen employee here?
“Ugh…”
Perhaps because he moved too suddenly, a wave of dizziness from his hangover hit him a beat later.
Cheong-yeon clutched his splitting head and let out a silent scream. Aaaagh.
“You should be more careful. Why did you get up so hastily?”
The surprised employee offered him warm honey water with a concerned look.
“Ah, thank you… wait, no. Why are you here, Madam?”
Cheong-yeon gulped down the honey water, determined to survive somehow. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if it would help with the throbbing pain, but it immediately relieved the burning thirst in his throat.
“Director is on a business trip and said he couldn’t check on you himself, so he asked me to come here instead.”
“…”
“You must be surprised, right? I should have told you in advance.”
He had a vague memory of someone Do-heon had sent supporting him just before he blacked out yesterday. Even without a lengthy explanation from the employee, he could roughly guess what had happened.
“Wait a minute. How did you know the entrance passcode to get in?”
“The Director told me.”
“Haa…”
Another wave of headache hit him.
If Do-heon wanted to know the password, there was nothing he couldn’t find out.
But isn’t it going too far to openly place someone to watch him and even send people into his home? Is one manager not enough? Does he think I might run away?
His mood sank upon learning the unwelcome news first thing in the morning that Do-heon was trying to constrain him excessively.
“I made some hangover soup. Would you like to eat now? I heard you have a schedule in the evening today.”
He had been thinking he needed to eat something as his stomach felt terribly sour. Cheong-yeon nodded slowly and got out of bed.
“You should cut down on alcohol… How much did you drink? You never used to drink this much.”
“That was when I was putting on airs in front of Moon Do-heon, ugh…”
“Goodness. Come sit here. I hastily made this with ingredients I brought from home, so I’m not sure if it’ll suit your taste.”
The employee quickly served soup and rice in front of Cheong-yeon. Seeing the clear broth with steam rising from it calmed his troubled mind and body.
Meanwhile, she seemed to have brought plenty of side dishes as well, as the table was being filled with appetizing food.
Although he didn’t have much appetite in the morning, Cheong-yeon took a spoonful of the bean sprout soup to survive.
Honestly, he wanted badly to ask why she had entered someone else’s home without permission, but considering that this place was provided by Do-heon, and she came because Do-heon sent her, it would be more appropriate to direct his anger at Do-heon.
Besides, his physical condition was so poor that even scolding someone felt like too much effort.
“You know the grandmother is coming to Korea next week, right?”
Cheong-yeon’s eyes widened as he was slowly sipping the cooled broth.
“Grandmother is returning? Is her health better? I heard she was improving when I called last time…”
“Yes. The treatment seems to have been quite effective. She’s coming back briefly to pick up new documents from the Korean hospital, but I heard that while she’s here, the family members will gather for a light meal.”
“…Really?”
Cheong-yeon’s back stiffened at the mention of “family members gathering for a light meal.” The faces of people he didn’t want to meet flashed through his mind.
“The Director didn’t tell you anything about this?”
The employee seemed puzzled by Cheong-yeon’s reaction, blinking as if hearing everything for the first time.
“He didn’t say anything.”
Cheong-yeon replied while taking another spoonful of soup.
The employee, who had been chatting casually, suddenly gasped and closed her mouth. Her expression clearly showed she had made a mistake.
“…Oh my. Look at me. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“I’ll think about it.”
At his indifferent tone, the employee, not knowing what to do, hastily added more words.
“Oh dear, Mr. Cheong-yeon. I’ve been preparing ingredients since dawn to make this soup and even packed all these side dishes. If the Director finds out, he certainly won’t let it slide.”
“Madam.”
“Yes?”
“Why is Moon Do-heon’s personality like that?”
The employee flinched, speechless at the abrupt gossip.
“…I don’t know how to answer that if you’re asking me.”
“My room in that house, it hasn’t been cleared out yet, right?”
“No, not yet…”
The employee mumbled hesitantly. Cheong-yeon tapped the table, gesturing for her to sit in the chair across from him.
“By the way, why have you been standing uncomfortably? Please sit down.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the employee sat in the seat Cheong-yeon had indicated.
“So, normally. When people get divorced, they should clear out their belongings, right?”
“Then maybe you should t-tell him to throw them away?”
“I tried saying that, but he said since I left the house, everything is now his property and told me not to interfere. Does that make any sense?”
“Well, that does have some logic to it.”
“…”
Cheong-yeon glared at the employee for her unnecessary commentary. However, he didn’t point it out specifically. After all, she was directly employed by Do-heon, so it was natural in a way for her to take his side.
Sighing, Cheong-yeon recalled what Ji-han had said at the bar yesterday.
“People like Moon Do-heon who are used to getting everything they want go even crazier when they can’t have something.”
“…”
“Is that why he’s acting so strangely toward me now?”
He wanted to hear something from someone who had closely observed his relationship with Do-heon. Though she probably didn’t have a clear answer either.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
