Chapter 3
He hadn’t even expected a long conversation with him, but he hadn’t imagined the divorce would be handled by a lawyer as if it were just another annoying task to take care of.
Do-heon walked past Cheong-yeon toward the front door as if he had nothing more to say. Cheong-yeon stared blankly at his retreating figure.
Is divorcing a chaebol this easy? The past ten days of endless worry suddenly felt empty and wasted.
“…Take care,” Cheong-yeon unconsciously said his usual farewell. He had meant to say goodbye. That’s how scary habits can be.
Without a reply, the door closed, and the familiar silence once again enveloped the house.
Do-heon remained indifferent to Cheong-yeon until the very end.
Immediately after finishing his conversation with the lawyer who had visited in Do-heon’s place, Cheong-yeon went upstairs. Then he took out a suitcase from his room’s dressing room.
When he opened the drawer, the clothes and underwear he often wore were the first things he grabbed.
“Shit, we barely had sex once a month, if that, so why do I have so much underwear?”
Cheong-yeon grumbled irritably as underwear spilled out. Whether he wore rags or thongs, Moon Do-heon wouldn’t bat an eye anyway. How annoying.
While cursing, Cheong-yeon suddenly felt dizzy and briefly pressed his forehead.
“Ah, I’m lightheaded.”
His body had weakened from ten days of fasting, and now his head ached from just a bit of vigorous movement.
Having packed everything with more measured movements, Cheong-yeon was about to close the suitcase zipper when he paused.
“Should I take my skincare products…”
Those expensive cosmetics cost hundreds each set. Although he had retired after marrying as a former member of a failed idol group, he had still been in the entertainment industry. If news broke out that his skin went bad right after divorce, what would happen?
Even knowing that no media outlet would bother writing about him, Cheong-yeon finished rationalizing and carefully packed his skincare products.
“Sniff… This should be enough.”
Cheong-yeon closed the suitcase while wiping away the tears that had begun to leak out. He thought he hadn’t packed much, but the suitcase was bulging. It was heavy enough to make him grunt.
He was surprised at how heavy it was, not having lifted anything this heavy in years. Though treated as a nuisance in the household and always walking on eggshells, he had still been part of a wealthy family, with staff attending to him for everything, eliminating the need for any physical labor.
It felt strange to be doing such mundane tasks himself.
“Haah.”
Cheong-yeon set aside his distracting thoughts and stood up. Having not eaten properly for ten days, his body swayed whenever he moved with the suitcase. Still, he persevered and went downstairs to the first-floor living room.
He felt like he might have forgotten something, but there was no time to carefully check his belongings. He just wanted to leave this suffocating, lonely house as soon as possible.
“Are you leaving now?”
“Yes.”
The employees gathered, watching him carefully. They rushed to help Cheong-yeon, who was wobbling down the stairs with a suitcase almost as big as himself. But Cheong-yeon raised his hand to stop them all.
“It’s fine. I’ve finished talking with the lawyer, so I’m no longer a member of this household.”
“…Still.”
In reality, it would take a few days to fully process the paperwork, but since they had both signed the divorce papers, they were essentially strangers from today.
Normally, even with a mutual divorce, a one-month cooling-off period would be required, but the lawyer explained that for divorces due to an Omega’s infertility, even that wasn’t necessary, so the process would be completed in ten days.
Should he consider this shitty or fortunate? Cheong-yeon laughed inwardly.
Regarding property, Cheong-yeon firmly stated he had no intention of claiming any division, and since there was no recognized contribution on his part, the divorce proceedings were expected to progress at lightning speed.
“Thank you for everything. Take care.”
“I’ll drive you to your destination.”
As soon as he stood at the front door, the driver rushed out, trying to take Cheong-yeon’s suitcase.
“I’ve told you, I’m not part of this household anymore.”
“Still, if the Director finds out you left alone like this, he’ll surely be angry.”
“Why would that man get angry?”
“…Pardon?”
The driver was taken aback by Cheong-yeon’s blunt words.
This was understandable, as for the past three years, Cheong-yeon had always referred to Do-heon properly as “husband” or “Mr. Do-heon.” This was the first time he had disrespectfully called him “that man.” A strange sense of satisfaction and guilt alternately welled up.
However, Cheong-yeon neatly cut away the guilt attached to his conscience. He was no longer his husband, so it was up to him what he called Do-heon.
“I’ll manage on my own.”
Cheong-yeon opened the heavy front door himself and struggled out with his suitcase. The gazes piercing his back felt hot, but that was no longer his concern.
Because it was all over.
*
“Thank you for your support, Kkomangnun-nim, thank you! Huh? Why does it feel like it’s been so long since I’ve seen Kkomangnun-nim? Haven’t you been watching my livestreams lately? …What was I talking about? Oh! Right. I was talking about meeting a fan. At that tteokbokki place, an old fan recognized me and…”
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!
“Hey, Kim Ji-han! Open the door!”
Kim Ji-han, who had been sharing stories in front of two large monitors, frowned at the sudden loud knocking on his front door. Just as he was getting into the flow, an uninvited guest interrupted, making his irritation spike.
“Everyone, just a moment. Sorry. Some crazy person is banging on my door? I’ll go check and be right back.”
Kim Ji-han hurriedly turned off the camera and microphone and got up. Who could it be at this hour? There was no one who would look for him while making such a fuss. Had his home address been leaked?
Since quitting his idol activities and switching to being a BJ, he hadn’t had any stalkers. It was strange nonetheless.
“…Who is it?” Kim Ji-han cautiously asked at the front door.
“It’s me, you bastard.”
Kim Ji-han was dumbfounded by the confident voice of the person on the other side.
“Who the hell are you, bastard? How am I supposed to know who you are when you talk like that?”
“Oh my. You can’t even recognize my voice?”
Just as he was about to unleash a barrage of curses, tensing his core muscles, Kim Ji-han suddenly recognized the owner of this voice.
“…Yoo Cheong-yeon?”
“That’s right. Now you finally recognize your Hyung’s voice?”
As soon as he heard the answer, Kim Ji-han hurriedly turned the doorknob. The entrance door to the two-room apartment on the second floor opened with a creaking, squeaking sound.
As soon as the door opened, Cheong-yeon entered abruptly with a large suitcase.
“Wow, it really is Yoo Cheong-yeon…”
“Hey. Have you been living well?”
“What brings you here so suddenly?”
“Let me stay with you for a while.”
“What? You suddenly show up and what nonsense… W-wait. I was in the middle of a livestream, let me just turn it off. Wait here for now.”
Kim Ji-han, belatedly realizing he was still broadcasting, ran to his computer. He turned off the harsh broadcasting lights that stung his eyes and turned on the microphone to leave a farewell message.
“Everyone, I’m sorry, but a guest suddenly arrived at my house, so I’ll have to end today’s broadcast. I’ll share the fan meeting story in the next stream. I’m really sorry. Goodbye!”
While he was ending the broadcast, Cheong-yeon went inside and looked around. In front of the computer monitors were lights and a microphone set up. The broadcasting equipment was somewhat minimal.
“Were you in the middle of streaming?”
“Yeah. I’m a BJ now. Believe it or not, I do male cam shows.”
“…Is there demand for that?”
Cheong-yeon said, looking Kim Ji-han up and down. Aside from having styled his hair slightly, his outfit was ordinary compared to when they were both in the idol group DEX.
“Stop talking nonsense and tell me why you barged in suddenly. Did you have a fight with your spouse?”
“No, I got divorced.”
“What?”
Cheong-yeon calmly opened his suitcase on the living room floor. Kim Ji-han approached in surprise.
“Wait, that JT chaebol… what’s his name?”
“Moon Do-heon.”
“Right, Moon Do-heon. You divorced that chaebol?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Today.”
Cheong-yeon sighed as he took out his clothes. Kim Ji-han was momentarily speechless. With no explanation forthcoming, only the sound of unpacking filled the room.
Kim Ji-han was one of the same-aged members of the idol group DEX, which Cheong-yeon had debuted in at the age of twenty-two. Of course, the group had failed and disbanded long ago, and while Cheong-yeon had gotten married, Kim Ji-han had changed course to internet broadcasting to make a living.
“Hey… Were you kicked out?”
“I left on my own.”
Cheong-yeon answered absent-mindedly and then paused. Since he had been diagnosed as infertile, even if he hadn’t left on his own today, he would have been divorced sometime later anyway. He wasn’t sure if it was correct to say he left on his own.
“Well, it does feel like I was kicked out…”
“What the hell? Shit, and he was so eager to marry you back then. That’s what you get with rich bastards.”
Kim Ji-han, not knowing the full story, made a fuss.
“But weren’t you doing well, Yoo Cheong-yeon? Even though those people in that house were a bit rude, you said last time it was better than being an idol in that shitty company…”
“Idiot. Even doing manual labor outside would be more comfortable than running in circles as a failed idol in a shitty company.”
“That’s true… I guess.”
Having arrived at his former member’s house without warning, Cheong-yeon shamelessly took out clothes to wear for the night.
“But why did you come to my place? Since it’s come to this, you should have gotten a big payout and bought a house.”
“…”
“Don’t tell me you were kicked out penniless?”
