# Chapter 67
After ending the call with Jeongyun, Domin threw his phone far away. Feeling like he might break something else if he didn’t control his anger, he made a fist and took a deep breath.
Glancing at Domin through the rearview mirror, Junyoung guessed today would be another difficult day. Even though Domin was unusually holding back his anger now, it was obvious his patience wouldn’t last long.
“Fuck!”
As expected, it didn’t take long before Domin slammed the car window with a vicious curse. Fortunately, it was reinforced glass so it didn’t break, but if it had been a normal window, it would have been completely shattered.
‘What does he want? He complains when I treat him well, and he complains when I don’t.’
Two thoughts coexisted in Domin’s mind.
One thought was to terminate the Dedicated contract as Jeongyun wanted, remove the Imprinting, and return ten times the pain to him. The other was to somehow continue the Dedicated contract.
These opposing thoughts kept alternating, giving him a headache, and on top of that, Jeongyun was adding more troubles.
Domin picked up his phone and checked his account history. There was no money from Jeongyun. So he decided to accept it after all? If that was the case, he could have just said thank you from the beginning instead of stirring things up.
‘Why?’
Jeongyun’s attitude had suddenly flipped from someone who couldn’t hide his feelings for Domin. Seeing him act cold and distant, as if he no longer had any feelings for Domin, made him feel bad.
No, feeling bad wasn’t enough. It was irritating, annoying, infuriating – like all negative emotions were bundled together.
Yet even Domin found it strange that he was swallowing all those feelings and trying to persuade Jeongyun. He didn’t understand why he occasionally wanted to be kind to him.
“It doesn’t have to be Yeo Jeongyun.”
This was the biggest question. If Jeongyun had been obedient, that would be one thing, but now that he was refusing Guiding, Jeongyun, who was only C-class, was of no help to Domin.
Still, Domin wanted to continue the Dedicated contract with Jeongyun. This feeling was probably similar to wanting to be closer to Jeongyun during Guiding. Though he had no idea what that meant.
“Why Yeo Jeongyun?”
Junyoung tactlessly asked after overhearing Domin’s mumbling. Domin kicked the driver’s seat, telling him to focus on driving, which made Junyoung pout with displeasure.
Suddenly, Domin recalled Junyoung saying that he was unusually concerned about Jeongyun. Why did this guy who never asked a single question about Ju Saeon have so many questions about Yeo Jeongyun?
“Do you really like Yeo Jeongyun?”
Surprised by the unexpected question, Junyoung pulled the car over to the side of the road. He turned to look at Domin, whose eyes were getting more fierce. He needed to clear up this misunderstanding quickly.
“Not at all.”
Junyoung strongly denied it. But Domin couldn’t easily dismiss his suspicions. Junyoung’s eyes darted around as if flustered, and his ears were turning red – there were too many suspicious signs.
“Why would I like Yeo Jeongyun- no, he’s not even my type. I’m serious.”
Junyoung denied Domin’s words with genuine indignation.
But considering Junyoung’s behavior so far, his strong denial could only be heard as strong confirmation. Kim Junyoung likes Yeo Jeongyun. That was the conclusion Domin reached.
“Kim Junyoung. Stay away from Yeo Jeongyun.”
“…”
Junyoung couldn’t respond to Domin’s unexpected warning. Did he even understand what his own words meant? Looking at his expressionless face, Junyoung realized Domin had no idea.
“Answer me.”
“Fine…”
Domin’s mouth curled up slightly, satisfied with Junyoung’s answer. After kicking the driver’s seat one more time, Domin reclined his seat, saying he would sleep until they arrived.
‘No matter what you say, Mr. Choi Domin, nothing will change.’
That’s how Jeongyun had responded to Domin’s proposal, even though he had set aside his pride. Domin was too angry to notice it then, but after going over the situation countless times, he realized something.
Despite his firm words, Jeongyun’s eyes had been trembling endlessly. At that moment, Domin was convinced that no matter how much Jeongyun’s attitude had changed, he still had feelings for him.
With that certainty, his terrible mood improved a little. There was still an opening.
* * *
The first thing visible when opening the Guiding room door was the messily rumpled portable bed. Besides that, the room was full of things to clean up, with signs of a hasty departure everywhere.
Sighing deeply, Jeongyun ignored all the things that needed to be tidied and sat comfortably in a chair, leaning back. Only after coming to this familiar space did his tension ease.
‘This is hard.’
From the burdensome private room to Domin’s issues, it was enough to make anyone overwhelmed. But with the Deputy Director’s sudden appearance on top of everything, it was amazing that Jeongyun had even managed to walk here.
‘There’s something I want to ask Guide Yeo Jeongyun.’
To get to the point, Jeongyun hadn’t heard what it was yet. The conversation seemed like it would be long, so they needed to move somewhere else, but Jeongyun wasn’t in good condition.
Jeongyun could only agree when Semin suggested they talk another time. So Semin had helped support him all the way to the Guide building entrance.
‘I wonder what he wants to ask about.’
Domin’s matters were already overwhelming, and Jeongyun doubted he could handle whatever Semin wanted to ask of him too. If he terminated the Dedicated contract, his Guiding schedule would become tight again like before.
‘…Ah, I should have contacted Hwayeon.’
Hwayeon didn’t have a pager yet since he hadn’t been officially assigned to a team. If he had one, Jeongyun would have sent a message saying something urgent came up and he couldn’t come.
He could have contacted the Center, but until now, he hadn’t had time to think about anything else. In fact, he only just remembered that he couldn’t go to Hwayeon.
‘I’m really out of it.’
He had planned to pack his things and go straight home, but he couldn’t move right now. Just as he was thinking he should rest a little and closing his eyes, someone knocked on the Guiding room door.
“Who is-“
Before he could finish speaking, the door opened and Wooyeon peeked his head through the gap. Jeongyun tried to greet him happily, but when he attempted to stand up from the chair, his vision swayed greatly.
Instead, Wooyeon came inside and stood in front of Jeongyun. When Jeongyun weakly waved his hand, Wooyeon let out a deep sigh and asked with concern:
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
“…No, not that much.”
But contrary to his words, Jeongyun’s face was pale white without any color. Moreover, cold sweat had formed on his forehead, making it surprising that he could even sit like this.
“Are you looking in a mirror when you say that?”
“No, I haven’t. Do I look that sick?”
“Yes, like you’re about to collapse any moment.”
Jeongyun smiled faintly at Wooyeon’s words. Wooyeon wiped the cold sweat from Jeongyun’s forehead with his sleeve and scolded him, asking how this could possibly be considered “okay.”
Jeongyun looked up at Wooyeon and opened his mouth.
“Wooyeon.”
“What?”
“I asked Choi Domin to terminate our Dedicated contract.”
Surprised by Jeongyun’s bombshell statement, Wooyeon’s eyes widened. It seemed unlikely since many people had seen Domin come for Guiding recently, but Jeongyun wouldn’t lie.
“You asked him?”
“Yes, I did.”
Jeongyun answered with a bright smile. Wooyeon pulled up a chair and sat in front of Jeongyun. Considering how exhausted Jeongyun looked, he should have offered comfort first, but he couldn’t contain his curiosity.
“Why did you do that?”
Wooyeon asked carefully.
Why? Because it was too hard being by Domin’s side. If this situation continued, as Wooyeon had said, only Jeongyun would end up getting hurt.
‘What would it take for you to continue the Dedicated contract?’
For some reason, Domin seemed unwilling to let go, but Jeongyun wasn’t going to back down. He had already realized it painfully – that he meant nothing to Domin.
“I finally realized you were right.”
“What I said?”
Wooyeon tried to recall what he had told Jeongyun. It must have been related to Domin, but all he could remember were insults. Bastard, jerk, trash – just things like that.
“Are you okay?”
This should have been the first question. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn’t matter, but Wooyeon knew how sincere Jeongyun had been about Domin.
This was a guy who had cut ties with his family to become a Guide just to meet Choi Domin. One minute he was happy about finally achieving his dream, and now he was asking to terminate the Dedicated contract with a face that looked half-dead.
“I’m fine.”
Though he forced a smile as he spoke, even without looking in a mirror, Jeongyun knew his expression was very bad.
Swallowing many words, Wooyeon just patted Jeongyun’s shoulder gently. The kind comfort almost brought tears to Jeongyun’s eyes, but fortunately, he held them back.
“At times like this, we should drink, but you’re not in good shape.”
“If I drink now, I’ll be sick for another week.”
“Well, we can drink next time.”
Wooyeon shrugged lightly and patted Jeongyun’s back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
