Chapter 74
In reality, only a minority in this industry remained faithful after marriage. Having a lover was as common as an overused drama trope. Even if Woo Hyun-se got married, there was no real need for him to part ways with Si-yul. Seo-hee had even gotten a new house and kept her lover there.
Tae-joo smiled bitterly, hidden from Si-yul. He had to admit it. Out of petty jealousy, he had spoken unnecessarily. He couldn’t defend himself if accused of being petty and narrow-minded.
Si-yul kept his head down. Tae-joo’s tongue, which had been so quick to tease others, now felt stiff in front of Si-yul. He couldn’t even offer words of comfort. Tae-joo could only wrap his arm around Si-yul’s shoulders and pat him. It was like giving medicine after causing an illness, but the medicine had no effect.
He wished Si-yul would just move on from this.
The sound of approaching footsteps made Tae-joo look up. A stranger walked straight towards them, stopping a couple of steps away. Si-yul looked up at the man in surprise. Before Tae-joo could ask who he was, the man ignored him and focused solely on Si-yul.
“I’m here to escort you.”
Si-yul rolled his eyes sideways, looking troubled. He seemed to know the man. As Tae-joo moved to block him, Si-yul reached out and grabbed his clothes.
“I’ll go in a little bit.”
“I was instructed to bring you back immediately.”
Tae-joo belatedly realized who this person was associated with. He grabbed Si-yul’s arm, insisting there was no need to go. Si-yul smiled bitterly and removed his arm from Tae-joo’s grasp.
“Looks like I’ll have to buy you that drink another time.”
“Si-yul hyung, today just stay with me…”
Si-yul shook his head slowly. It was time to back off. Tae-joo withdrew his outstretched hand and stared at the man with his lips tightly shut. Despite the rather hostile gaze, the man seemed unfazed, giving Tae-joo a slight bow before turning away.
The back he saw looked smaller and more vulnerable than ever today. Fighting the urge to take Si-yul away somewhere right now, Tae-joo could only clench his empty fist tightly.
Although Si-yul had pretended to be mature in front of Tae-joo, when he actually arrived in front of his home, his feet felt heavy, as if glued to the ground. Si-yul sat with his hands in his pockets, deeply sunken into the car seat, staring blankly out the window. The driver’s voice announcing their arrival barely registered.
He didn’t want to go in.
He wanted to run away.
He didn’t want to see Woo Hyun-se.
On the way, he had thought about many things. What he should say first when he met Hyun-se. Whether he should be angry or curse at him for not telling him, or maybe ask what kind of relationship they had been in.
Was it due to his lack of imagination? He couldn’t guess how Hyun-se would react to his actions. That face, which he could usually picture clearly even with his eyes closed, now seemed blurry, as if its features had been smudged.
Si-yul dawdled in the car for a long time. He was aware of the gaze watching him through the rearview mirror but pretended not to notice. After a silent standoff, the man sighed lightly and got out of the car first. He walked around the vehicle and opened the back door where Si-yul was sitting. His expression suggested he found this as annoying as watching a child throwing a tantrum.
Feeling that he might be forcibly pulled out if he didn’t move, Si-yul reluctantly got out of the car. The man followed behind, monitoring to ensure Si-yul wouldn’t run away. Though he wasn’t being led to a slaughterhouse, Si-yul’s steps kept slowing down, and his eyes, which he had tried so hard to dry in the park, were heating up again.
He hoped the elevator would stop midway, but the numbers rose faster than usual. As soon as the “ding” announced their arrival, Si-yul felt dizzy, as if all the blood in his body had suddenly drained.
“Go in.”
The man was determined to push Si-yul through the door. Si-yul looked up at him, silently pleading if he could go somewhere else. Seeing irritation mixing into the man’s gaze, he lowered his head helplessly and grasped the door handle.
As he entered the familiar code, the door clicked open. The slowly opening entrance felt like one step away from the abyss. Si-yul stood outside with his head down for a moment, then, realizing he couldn’t keep the man waiting forever, he squeezed his eyes shut and went inside. The sound of the door closing behind him felt as heavy as the closing of a prison gate.
Si-yul held his breath with a gasp. As if holding his breath could help him avoid what was coming. A scent similar to what he had encountered in the concert hall lobby earlier seemed to grip his nape. It was like a dark, deep sea, with unknown things lurking beneath a pitch-black curtain. It wasn’t the usual quiet, calm forest scent.
It was a scent that amplified his anxiety. Si-yul hesitated, unable to move past the entrance. He still didn’t have the courage to face Hyun-se. He wasn’t mentally prepared. If he had just a little more time, he might be able to face this calmly, but he didn’t have that luxury.
“Kwon Si-yul.”
Though it wasn’t a thunderclap, the sudden voice felt like a whip. Si-yul flinched and looked towards the living room. Hyun-se was sitting on the sofa. Only his shadowy form was visible, buried in darkness. With his elbows resting on his knees, his upper body leaning forward, he looked ready to pounce and bite Si-yul’s neck or anywhere else at the slightest movement.
“Woo Tae-joo probably isn’t from an orphanage.”
“…”
“Since when?”
Si-yul kept his lips tightly shut. The sunset-colored entrance light above his head flickered and went out. The house was dark except for the faint city lights coming through the windows.
Until now, his misery had obscured everything else. Hyun-se’s interrogating attitude made anger well up inside him. Hyun-se was the one who had deceived him first. If anyone should be asking “since when,” it should be Si-yul himself.
Si-yul clenched his fist tightly. The entrance light, sensing movement, came back on. Just this morning, under this very light, he had showered Hyun-se with countless “I love you”s. In his arms, completely unaware of what was about to unfold.
“Why didn’t you tell me, hyung?”
“…”
“Were you ever planning to tell me?”
Hyun-se stood up. He approached one step at a time. Si-yul retreated in response. His back touched the cold metal door. It was the same temperature as the scent that seemed ready to devour him. Goosebumps rose on his arms.
Hyun-se’s tie was gone. It was the one Si-yul had tied for him this morning. He had worn the tie Si-yul put on him and gone on a date with someone else. Si-yul’s lower lip trembled slightly. He looked up at Hyun-se, shrinking back. The entrance light died again, plunging Hyun-se back into darkness.
“I should be the one asking first. Since when have you known Woo Tae-joo, and what’s your relationship with him?”
“We’re nothing. We just worked at the same place.”
Hyun-se let out a short, derisive laugh. It was clearly a sneer. He wiped his mouth and looked down at Si-yul.
“That’s not what Tae-joo said. Explain to me what exactly you did to make Woo Tae-joo so infatuated with you that he’s acting like this.”
“…”
“‘Just worked at the same place,’ you say. There must be more than that?”
“There isn’t.”
“Where did you two first meet?”
Although there was nothing between him and Tae-joo, that was the one thing Si-yul found difficult to proudly disclose. Even if he was innocent, his intentions had been impure.
“You’re quite good at lying, Kwon Si-yul. Good at deceiving people too.”
If that was the case, Hyun-se was in the same position. Si-yul turned his head away sharply. His eyes felt hot, and tears welled up immediately. He forced them back, trying not to let them fall.
“Why didn’t you tell me, hyung? About getting married?”
“Is that important?”
“Of course it’s important! Are you breaking up with me now…?”
Although they weren’t officially in a relationship with a stamp of approval, the word that crossed Si-yul’s mind was “breakup.” Even as everything pointed towards an ending, Si-yul didn’t want to say those words of breaking up. Fearing that speaking it might make it real, completely separating him from Hyun-se. He bit his lower lip painfully, then struggled to open his mouth.
“You’re telling me to leave, aren’t you? You’re telling me that.”
“What are you talking about? Why would that be a reason to break up?”
It was absurd. Si-yul was speechless. Hyun-se truly didn’t understand. He seemed to believe that marriage couldn’t be a reason for breaking up. Si-yul looked up at him, mouth agape in astonishment.
If Hyun-se had apologized for telling him late, or made excuses about things progressing quickly, Si-yul might have reluctantly accepted it. But Hyun-se treated marriage as if it were just a part of a normal daily routine.
Si-yul had prepared himself internally. He had come here thinking that at best, he might hear that since Hyun-se was getting married now, he’d like Si-yul to vacate the house soon, maybe with a farewell saying it had been fun. Hyun-se, completely unaware of the devastating emotions Si-yul had felt on his way here, looked at him as if Si-yul was spouting nonsense.
“How is saying you’re marrying someone else not the same as breaking up?”
“It’s just a formality. I don’t have feelings for that woman anyway. And neither does she.”
Hyun-se exhaled lowly, as if frustrated. His attitude of treating Si-yul like a pathetic child made anger rise to the top of Si-yul’s head.
“That doesn’t matter! It’s marriage, marriage! You’ll have a wife and a family. Everything will be completely different from how it’s been until now.”
