# Chapter 47
Seowoo’s surprised gaze immediately fixed on the screen. It was an unexpectedly quick response.
“Is it Seo Dohyun? Did he call?”
“What, does a person check messages in one second? Does he have nothing to do?”
It wasn’t the first time he responded right after being contacted. Seo Dohyun always reacted immediately to Seowoo’s messages, almost excessively so. While grumbling, Seowoo put his phone to his ear.
“Hello?”
— Yes, hello darling.
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, I’m hanging up now.”
The smooth voice coming from the other end was familiar. When Seowoo returned his cold reply, Dohyun burst into laughter.
— You were the one who invited me to eat together, yet you’re being so cold?
“We would have eaten together anyway, even if I hadn’t said anything.”
— I never said that. Why would you think so?
His playful tone clearly showed his intention to tease. This was truly ridiculous. Seowoo’s expression automatically contorted.
It wasn’t like he had contacted him this way just once or twice. Whenever Seowoo mentioned when he’d be home, hadn’t Dohyun always prepared meals right on time? Seowoo wasn’t just imagining things. After the situation had repeated itself several times, it was simply a learned expectation.
— Just say you want to eat together if you do.
“No, it’s not that I want to… You always ask about the time because you want to have meals together. Hasn’t it been more than once or twice?”
— You remember what I say that carefully? I’m genuinely touched.
Touched my ass. When he follows the same pattern every time, who wouldn’t notice?
He didn’t know how to counter that, and he felt like curses might slip out. Seowoo clenched his teeth, then suppressed his anger and responded slowly.
“Fine. I won’t invite you. I’m hanging up.”
— You’re hanging up over just this?
“I’m busy, okay? Forget it, I’ll eat and then come home, eat. I’m going to eat with Woojae and come back.”
— Will you really eat before coming back?
Dohyun’s voice seemed deflated. After Seowoo had shown his temper, rather than responding in kind, Dohyun became quiet, which made Seowoo unable to continue being irritated and he pressed his lips shut.
“…Why are you pretending to be disappointed?”
— Because I am disappointed. I’ve prepared everything to eat together.
“So you were calling to eat together!”
His voice rose without him realizing it. This wasn’t just teasing!
Even though Seowoo threw his irritation like a bomb, Dohyun didn’t get flustered and just burst into laughter.
— Yes, that’s right. Since it’s true, don’t hang up.
“I told you I was going out, so why did you prepare in advance? What if I didn’t come home?”
— You always come home early, even when you say things like that. Or well, I could just set the table and eat alone, sad and lonely.
His choice of words was bothersome. It was an uncomfortable statement to just hear and let go. But to be swayed by those words—he had been fooled too many times.
However, even though Dohyun lied about everything else as easily as breathing, the fact that he put effort into meal preparations was true. What if he really had prepared the food? The image of his carefully prepared cooking appeared clearly in Seowoo’s mind.
If he didn’t know at all, he would ignore it, but having tasted it a few times made him feel more conflicted. Seowoo glanced at Woojae’s expression from the corner of his eye.
“But I still have things to talk about with Woojae… We should have dinner together. You should have contacted me before preparing.”
— Didn’t you leave a long time ago? Why are you spending so much time together when you see each other often?
“I left after lunch, is that a long time? It’s only been a few hours.”
— I’m getting jealous.
“You’re seriously crazy.”
Dohyun’s grumbling about jealousy and whatnot was something that even Seowoo couldn’t easily adapt to. Woojae stared intently at Seowoo, who was expressing disgust without any intention of reciprocating, as if watching an interesting drama.
Unable to not notice the gaze in front of him, Seowoo belatedly scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
Just as he was pondering how to bring him out, trying to find an appropriate reason, Dohyun casually threw out a suggestion.
— Or you can just come together.
“What?”
Seowoo unconsciously asked again in a dumbfounded tone, and then belatedly asked one more time properly.
“…You want to eat at home? The three of us?”
— You’re the one who said we should eat together, the three of us, right?
“That was about eating at a restaurant, not at home?”
Dohyun’s voice somehow seemed quite excited. No, rather than excited, he simply sounded pleased. For reasons Seowoo couldn’t comprehend.
— Whether at a restaurant or at home, we’re meeting as three people either way. Is there any reason we can’t?
“Well…”
Isn’t it a bit sudden to invite someone just like that? Even though Woojae is Seowoo’s friend, and they all know each other…
The home itself was too private a space to suddenly bring someone who wasn’t that close. Even though Seowoo and Woojae were quite close, what about Dohyun and Woojae? Wasn’t their relationship unstable enough for Seowoo to worry?
In the midst of all this, was it okay to casually bring Woojae along? And to the house they lived in together? As Seowoo hesitated, Dohyun responded in a soft and gentle tone, as if he understood everything.
— Well, if you feel like our honeymoon is being disturbed, I agree.
“…We’ll eat at home.”
As if there was no need to consider it at all, the answer came out without a pause. Dohyun snickered.
From Woojae’s perspective, not hearing Dohyun’s voice, it felt like the conversation topics were changing like a rollercoaster ride.
“I’ll be home in 30 minutes. Hang up.”
— Ah, but…
Dohyun tried to add something, but before properly hearing him out, Seowoo unhesitatingly ended the call.
“…Oh.”
It seems like he was trying to say something before I hung up…
He thought about calling back, but he was certain it wasn’t anything important. After all, it was that Seo Dohyun. Seowoo pushed his phone into his pocket.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Ah, he hung up.”
At the voice, which could have been admiration or an exclamation, Manager Gu glanced at Dohyun through the rearview mirror.
“Shouldn’t you call him back?”
“If I was just asking casually, maybe, but there’s no need to call specifically to ask. It would only increase his suspicions. Han Seowoo-ssi is quite perceptive.”
More accurately, rather than being perceptive, he has good intuition. Dohyun leaned deeply back into the seat and turned his head to look out the window.
Since there was no need to add comments to Dohyun’s decision, Manager Gu silently withdrew his gaze from the rearview mirror.
“About the meal talk…”
While meaninglessly taking in the scenery quickly passing by outside the window, Dohyun slowly opened his mouth.
“Anyone can see it’s Reporter Jung Woojae’s move.”
“Yes. Han Seowoo wouldn’t be the first to suggest a meal.”
The answer came so quickly it could be considered cold. It was that objective and clear a fact. Seowoo wasn’t the type to readily step up and arrange a meeting with Dohyun. Although it couldn’t be denied that their relationship had become much more intimate compared to before…
Dohyun couldn’t know exactly how Seowoo was defining their relationship. Comparing it to his attitude toward Woojae only made it clear that they weren’t friends.
“That’s right. I’ve been bitten so many times just trying to have a meal together.”
Dohyun pulled up one corner of his lips into a smile. He recalled Seowoo’s expressions of irritation and temper whenever he made a suggestion.
Manager Gu once again glanced at the rearview mirror.
“Is he still very wary?”
“It shows on his face, doesn’t it? He likes… you more than me.”
“I barely speak with him. We don’t contact each other apart from manager duties.”
“With your personality, it would be a miracle if you became close. If you had separate contact, I honestly would have thought you confessed.”
Although the tone was light, clearly indicating it was a joke, there was no playfulness in Dohyun’s expression. His gaze remained fixed outside, as if deeply absorbed in something. It was a rare sight.
“…You seem to have a lot on your mind.”
“Manager Gu, have you ever thought about marriage?”
This was a complete non-sequitur. At this unexpected question, Manager Gu’s face, which had maintained a consistent expressionlessness without the slightest change, cracked.
“I don’t have anyone to marry.”
“I’m speaking hypothetically.”
“I’ve never thought about it. I could do it if necessary, but right now, the constraints of a marital relationship seem to outweigh the benefits.”
The calm response didn’t really refer to marriage as the culmination of love. He was essentially considering marriage as a means to an end. Dohyun finally turned his gaze to stare at the rearview mirror. Their eyes met in the mirror.
“So you never thought about marrying for love?”
“…You know I’m not good at responding to jokes.”
In other words, he didn’t know how to answer. For a former gangster, talking about going from dating to marriage was nothing more than a joke or a fantasy, neither more nor less. Manager Gu’s reaction wasn’t anything extraordinary.
Dohyun lightly shrugged his shoulders as if he had anticipated this to some extent.
“Then are you going to live alone for the rest of your life?”
“Yes.”
The answer came immediately without the slightest hesitation.
“Why?”
Manager Gu’s brows furrowed, forming the number 11. He seemed to find it difficult to understand why such a question was being asked. However, since his boss often said outlandish things, and since he couldn’t ignore what his superior was saying, he sincerely provided an answer.
“Because I don’t think living with anyone, whoever they might be, would benefit me.”
“Hmm.”
Dohyun silently nodded his head. It was clear that the question was asked with some purpose in mind, but it was impossible to grasp what that might be. Manager Gu glanced at him cautiously and carefully dropped a comment.
“Do you have thoughts of marriage?”
Marriage thoughts. Since Dohyun had always taken an extremely skeptical stance on marriage, Manager Gu’s question was merely amusing. Dohyun raised his eyebrows.
“Do I look like I do?”
“If you don’t have such thoughts, you’re not the type to bring up marriage, so I was asking.”
Certainly, since he had rarely brought up the topic of marriage until now, it was understandable that Manager Gu was taken aback. Dohyun firmly shook his head.
“Living alone and then living together gives a different perspective, so I was asking. For us, opportunities to live with someone outside of marriage don’t often arise.”
“Are you talking about… Han Seowoo?”
“Is there anyone else living in our house besides Han star?”
Although he used the simple expression that his perspective was different, it wasn’t easy to guess what he was thinking about Seowoo. It wasn’t easy to pinpoint any emotion on Dohyun’s nearly expressionless face.
Manager Gu stared fixedly at Dohyun’s face through the rearview mirror.
“Do you feel sorry for him?”
“I chose him with my own hands, what good would pity do?”
However, since he neither affirmed nor denied the question, it almost felt self-deprecating.
Dohyun leaned forward from his reclined position, resting his elbows on his knees and propping his chin.
“Anyway, back then, when we encountered each other while burying President Park in the mountains. At that moment, Han Seowoo-ssi’s life was virtually over. Maybe it would have been better if he had died there, but…”
As his words trailed off, Dohyun slowly closed his eyes. His voice sank deeply to the floor.
“Since I decided to save him, his life is practically mine as well.”
It sounded less like a statement directed at Manager Gu and more like he was muttering to himself.
Manager Gu’s lips moved slightly. Just as he was about to add something, Dohyun opened his eyes. Once again, their gazes met in the mirror.
“Well, enough of this gloomy talk about life and death on a good day.”
Dohyun’s voice, naturally changing the subject, carried the same smile as usual. Straightening his hunched shoulders, Dohyun gestured with his chin.
“Let’s buy some things on the way. We need to prepare for a party.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
