Chapter 114
After dealing with the rush that came along with the manager, it was finally almost time to clock out. Today was the regular day off for the meat restaurant, so there were no plans afterward.
“Hey, Si-yul,” the manager called out to Si-yul, who had just handed over food to a delivery driver. When he turned around, the manager gestured towards the window. Perhaps due to the nice weather, a few customers were sitting in small groups on the terrace. However, the person the manager pointed to was alone.
“Do you know him?”
From the broad shoulders, straight back, and the round, pretty earlobes shaped like a question mark, Si-yul knew who it was at once. Si-yul’s eyes widened. How did he know that Si-yul worked here, and more importantly, how could he just show up suddenly without any contact?
His feet twitched, wanting to run out immediately. The sound of his heart pounding was so loud that he couldn’t tell if it was bursting from his chest or ringing in his ears.
“He’s been sitting there for a while now. I see him looking inside occasionally, seems like he might be looking for you.”
The manager tilted his head. Si-yul looked up to check the time. It was just time to clock out.
“Manager, I’ll just brew two cups of coffee before I go.”
“For that friend… I mean, for that person too?”
The manager corrected himself mid-sentence, perhaps thinking the age difference was too great to call him a friend. Si-yul nodded emphatically.
“Yes. He’s someone I know.”
“Oh, then that’s fine. Sit over there. I’ll bring it out.”
“No! I’m just going to take it out. I’ll do it myself.”
Si-yul wanted to go out right away, but fearing it might show that he had been eagerly waiting for the other person, he deliberately dawdled at the bar while pulling shots. He glanced over, but the other person didn’t turn his head. He just sat loosely with his legs stretched out, as if enjoying the sunshine. As if he wasn’t here to meet Si-yul, but just taking a break in the spring sun while passing by.
Si-yul completed the two cups of coffee, occasionally clenching his trembling hands from nervousness. It seemed particularly messy, but he didn’t dare to make it again.
After arguing with the manager who insisted he didn’t need to pay, he finally put cash in the till and said goodbye, saying he was clocking out now. He pretended to be very relaxed, but the tips of his fingers gripping the cups were white from tension.
The bell tinkled, and the person turned around. The other customers on the terrace had already left. The lone customer was indeed Woo Hyun-se.
“You came without any notice.”
Woo Hyun-se turned around. Upon seeing Si-yul, his indifferent expression relaxed.
“I wanted to surprise Kwon Si-yul. Were you surprised?”
“Just a little. Really, just a little.”
Hoping his voice wouldn’t tremble, Si-yul sat across from Woo Hyun-se. As he put down the coffee he had brought on the table, Woo Hyun-se picked up a plastic bottle from the chair next to him and pushed it towards Si-yul. As soon as he saw the familiar packaging, Si-yul burst out laughing.
“Why did you buy this?”
“I saw it. Now I notice this everywhere I go.”
Si-yul put down the coffee he was about to drink and picked up the drink Woo Hyun-se gave him. It was still cold.
“Is the… settlement finished?”
Si-yul stared at Woo Hyun-se. Woo Hyun-se’s upper body was slightly tilted towards him, as if wanting to be a little closer.
“Yeah. I broke off the engagement.”
“Oh,” Si-yul’s lips parted into a round shape. It was the moment when what he had thought impossible became reality. His lips went dry as soon as he heard it. Si-yul slipped his hands between his thighs. He didn’t know what expression to show Woo Hyun-se.
“So it was true.”
“I wouldn’t lie to Kwon Si-yul about something like that.”
Si-yul turned his head sideways and pouted. He was happy but didn’t want to show it. He felt unnecessarily embarrassed.
Woo Hyun-se thoughtfully tapped his cheek with one hand under his chin. Only then did Si-yul notice the wound. It was long and horizontal on the other’s cheek. Just like last time, he didn’t put a bandage on even when he was hurt. Was he protesting, wanting people to notice? Si-yul’s eyebrows curved into a frown. He quickly turned his head, hiding the expression that might have shown his concern.
“How did you get hurt?”
“Hurt?”
“Here.”
He pointed to his own cheekbone. Woo Hyun-se felt the area and then chuckled, saying “Ah.”
“It’s a wound of honor.”
“Honor?”
Instead of answering, Woo Hyun-se suddenly held out his phone to Si-yul. At the sound of “Here,” Si-yul turned his gaze.
“Press it.”
Tilting his head, he tapped the play button in the middle of the screen. Immediately, unexpected flesh colors moved inside. It was the video the clothing store owner had mentioned. Thankfully it was muted, otherwise he might have been irreversibly branded as a pervert by everyone around.
Si-yul gasped and turned off the video with lightning speed. He even flipped the phone over and looked at Woo Hyun-se with a face flushed red. Despite committing such an indecent act in public, the other was smiling proudly.
“Are you crazy?”
“This is my great-uncle.”
“…Pardon?”
“The man who took you away. This man kept pushing me to get married. This video…”
Woo Hyun-se put his lips close to Si-yul’s ear. The breath tickling him made Si-yul raise his shoulders, but what he heard was quite shocking.
“I leaked it.”
“Wasn’t this person your family?”
He asked urgently, pulling his head away from his shoulder. Woo Hyun-se took a sip of the coffee Si-yul had given him and shook his head.
“Not since the moment he touched you.”
“…”
“From now on, I plan to show Kwon Si-yul all the cards I hold. Feel free to use them as you wish. You can even blackmail me.”
‘I’ll give you the yeouiju and everything else.’
It was unclear why the fortune teller’s words suddenly came to mind. His lips tingled and he felt as if feathers were fluttering in his chest. His fingers wiggled involuntarily.
“…Why? Why did you go that far?”
He didn’t think that the congressman had received too much retribution compared to what he had done, nor did he feel sorry for him. However, on the other hand, he was concerned that Woo Hyun-se had taken action himself instead of Si-yul.
Still, weren’t they family connected by blood? No matter what bad things he had done to him.
Even to Si-yul, the glimpse of the video seemed very far from normal. It was the most shameful of shames, a video so embarrassing that one would rather die face down in a puddle than have it discovered.
“I have exactly one thing left. Everything else is useless.”
What could that one thing be? Instead of asking directly, Si-yul stared at him. Perhaps reading the question mark in his eyes, Woo Hyun-se called out, “Kwon Si-yul.”
“Will you date me?”
A warm spring breeze blew, ruffling Woo Hyun-se’s hair. The cool river breeze from his memory was pulled out. Along with the conversation they had in front of the dark river water.
Despite being a spring breeze, it was too hot. That’s why his cheeks were burning. Si-yul cooled his cheeks with the plastic bottle in his hand. Still, the heat didn’t subside. Instead, it spread to his nape and reached his chest, which had been pounding loudly for a while.
“…Hyung, do you like me?”
He managed to voice the question that had been lingering in his throat. He should have asked from the beginning. He was stupid for buttoning from the middle. This time, he wanted to button up properly from the bottom.
“Yes.”
“Do you love me?”
“Yeah.”
The answer came immediately even to the blunt question. Si-yul bit his lips and then released them.
“Then can you love me more in the future than before, than now?”
“I’m already doing that.”
He had heard enough of the answers he wanted. There was nothing more to be curious about. Si-yul turned his head and covered below his nose with his palm. He didn’t want Woo Hyun-se to see his reddened cheeks and the corners of his mouth that kept rising.
“Your answer.”
Woo Hyun-se asked subtly. Should he ask him to wait, should he stall, should he make him anxious? But Si-yul didn’t like any of those options. He regretted the time they had wasted. He just liked Woo Hyun-se.
Si-yul reached out slightly. He placed his hand on top of Woo Hyun-se’s hand, then slid his fingers between Woo Hyun-se’s thick fingers as if interlocking them.
“I’ll give you one chance.”
Did he understand that there wouldn’t be a second chance? Si-yul gathered his courage and gently looked at Woo Hyun-se.
Si-yul’s eyes widened. Woo Hyun-se was smiling with a face he had never seen before. The simple process of his eye corners curving and his lips rising up was completely different with just one look. It seemed as if it would slowly melt anyone who saw it, like a candle on fire. The emotion in his eyes reached Si-yul as well.
The scent of spring mixed with Woo Hyun-se’s body odor, which had been like a winter forest. New sprouts breaking through the frozen ground, raising stems and buds, and finally blooming flowers announced the arrival of spring. The sweetly wafting scent was like warm spring rain soaking Si-yul.
From ‘me and you’, back to ‘us’.
Si-yul tightened his grip on Woo Hyun-se’s hand. He didn’t want to let go. One experience of being trapped in a cold winter was enough.
Now it was a brilliant spring day. Because all the seasons to come would be eternal spring if by Woo Hyun-se’s side, Si-yul was no longer afraid of anything.
– The End.
