<14>
“What, what…? Han Jaekyung, what did you just say?”
“What do you mean what? Has your comprehension gotten so poor that even your ears are blocked now?”
The voice clearly filled with mockery seemed to be openly sneering. Thanks to that, the humiliation and misery Han Jaekyung must have felt in that cramped stall couldn’t even be traced.
“I’ve been watching and watching, and this beggar bastard…!”
The fact that his name didn’t even remain in Han Jaekyung’s mind meant his family was incomparably lower level than Jang Yeonhu’s. To hear “beggar bastard” from such a guy… I really have hit rock bottom. Han Jaekyung just found himself chuckling. Nothing surprised him anymore.
The man, filled with rage, seemed to have completely erased from memory the rude words he’d exchanged with his companions as he snorted angrily and tried to grab Han Jaekyung by the collar.
Han Jaekyung easily avoided that clumsy hand by smoothly stepping back. However, as they say, when whales fight, the shrimp’s back gets broken. Only Choi Eunseong, who intervened saying “P-please don’t!” got pushed and fell backward with a thud.
But what really made one’s head spin happened next.
“Gasp…! A-are you… are you okay…”
The other crowd that had been giggling and watching the situation when their companion tried to grab Han Jaekyung’s collar immediately hardened their expressions and approached once Choi Eunseong fell. Even adding awkward, clearly clumsy honorifics.
In that gap, Han Jaekyung realized bone-achingly once again. Without Jang Yeonhu, Han Jaekyung, stripped of his qualification as Jang Yeonhu’s most cherished doll, was nothing more than a beggar bastard who posed no threat to them.
That wasn’t the only fact that became clear. If Han Jaekyung had truly been Jang Yeonhu’s honorable ‘friend,’ he wouldn’t have lost everything so futilely like crashing waves just because Choi Eunseong appeared.
Everyone already knew without saying it. What kind of feelings Jang Yeonhu and Han Jaekyung had been exchanging under the nice-sounding pretext of friendship.
Han Jaekyung had also roughly sensed it, but this was the first time he realized it so clearly.
“It’s fine. I can get up by myself.”
Uncharacteristically, Choi Eunseong stiffened his face and rejected all the extended hands, standing up alone. Having only seen him smile gently like weak tea in front of Jang Yeonhu, he hadn’t realized it, but his eyes were surprisingly sharp.
He must have fallen hard – his short steps to the sink to wash his hands were particularly limping.
“…”
“…”
Swoooosh.
In the bathroom packed with untimely visitors, only the sounds of Choi Eunseong washing his hands and brushing off his clothes could be heard. It was right then that Jang Yeonhu’s voice could be heard saying, “Eunseong, why aren’t you coming out?”
“Eunseong. Hm? Jaekyung was here too?”
You came chasing after your boyfriend’s tail, but only now noticed I left my seat? Han Jaekyung suddenly felt his insides twisting like a pretzel.
It wasn’t even that small an area, but with almost six or seven grown men packed into the bathroom including Jang Yeonhu who just entered, an eerie silence flowed. Jang Yeonhu, who as always wore his good-natured smile, seemed to notice something amiss before long.
He alternately looked at the group of alumni standing meekly with downcast eyes like dead mice, and at Choi Eunseong who was biting his lips tightly with a tearful expression. This time too… that gaze passed by Han Jaekyung.
Are you going to treat me like I don’t exist at all now? To you too, am I – someone who’s neither your toy nor your boyfriend candidate – a person of no meaning at all? Really? Han Jaekyung couldn’t move at all, feeling like such a scream would pour out if he opened his mouth even slightly. Everything was a mess. His head, which had been throbbing since earlier, was now at the point where it would hurt less if it just shattered completely.
“I don’t know exactly what the situation is, but… it seems like I should be angry right now. Right?”
“Y-Yeonhu… No, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“Eunseong, say something. We didn’t say anything to you, did we?”
They jumped up waving their hands in denial and kept glancing at Han Jaekyung who stood rooted to the spot. As if saying please understand that what they attacked wasn’t your precious Choi Eunseong, but just some friend named Han Jaekyung. That’s how it felt to Han Jaekyung.
“I won’t say much. Apologize right now.”
“…!! O-oh. Then, alright. Of course we should.”
At the opportunity Jang Yeonhu offered as if doing them a favor, they immediately bowed their heads. Of course, the target of their apology was Choi Eunseong, not Han Jaekyung.
“We’re sorry, Choi Eunseong. We were a bit drunk… You understand, right?”
Saying he’s an orphan bastard with nothing, that he has a decent face so maybe he could make something of himself… as if they didn’t care at all who had been mercilessly beaten by those blind stones.
This is driving me crazy. This was the limit. Hadn’t I endured well enough? This kind of alumni association was something I’d consistently ignored every year as usual. I’m being punished for meddling unnecessarily. Now I really must never, truly never get involved even a speck in anything related to Jang Yeonhu or Choi Eunseong. Having solidified his resolution, Han Jaekyung quickly headed outside, pushing through the people blocking his way with his shoulders.
During this, he seemed to have hit Choi Eunseong’s back hard too… Well, he didn’t want to care anymore. Would Jang Yeonhu tell them to apologize to him too? And so what if he did? Smiling brightly without meaning it and bowing his head to say sorry – it’s not like he couldn’t do that.
“Jaekyung! What’s wrong? What happened inside?”
Jang Yeonhu followed closely behind Jaekyung asking what had happened. Only after handling all his boyfriend’s affairs. Like giving charity to a begging beggar. Only now remembering that someone like me exists? He wanted to sneer sarcastically, but…
“I’m leaving. Let go.”
“Talk to me, okay? Jaekyung, I need you to talk so I can understand. How can I just let you go when your expression is like this?”
Afraid that tears would pathetically burst out if he said anything, Han Jaekyung instead put strength in his eyes and endured.
“It’s annoying… Can’t you just get lost from in front of me?”
“Han Jaekyung, why are you talking like that?”
“Fine, fine. I’ll get lost. I’ll get lost on my own!”
“…”
“Forget it. Go to your wonderful boyfriend.”
Han Jaekyung, biting his lips tightly from the surging grief, went straight to the lobby and got any room without even thinking about retrieving his bag and coat left in the banquet hall. He needed somewhere to be alone. Anywhere, anywhere would be fine.
* * *
“Hah…”
It’s been a while since I’ve been this angry. Jang Yeonhu only relaxed his facial muscles he’d been struggling to control after confirming Han Jaekyung taking the elevator up from afar. He could feel his expression twisting hideously. Anger surged up from within incomparably more than when Moon Yeonu had been clinging to Han Jaekyung earlier without knowing his place.
Han Jaekyung acting clueless without knowing whose palm he was dancing in seemed endlessly cute, but watching other humans besides Han Jaekyung act clueless was absolutely disgusting.
Today’s plan to buy clothes for Choi Eunseong and bring him along, even playing with dolls that didn’t suit his taste, was intended to make Han Jaekyung appropriately anxious, never to hurt him beyond the limit he’d set.
Only Jang Yeonhu was allowed to hurt Han Jaekyung. And only Jang Yeonhu was allowed to heal those wounds.
Han Jaekyung standing there barely holding on with a tattered expression, Choi Eunseong standing firm, and those stupid bunch continuously apologizing to such Choi Eunseong. Even in a very brief moment, understanding the situation wasn’t difficult.
He knew they’d be dull and stupid, but he hadn’t expected them to fail to grasp the situation this much and bare their teeth at the wrong target. Jang Yeonhu decided to clearly store in his head the faces of those pathetic humans who kept bowing to Choi Eunseong, not Han Jaekyung, until the very end.
“Director. Everything has been processed as you instructed.”
“…Good. And from next time, don’t allow rental permits for such vulgar gatherings again.”
“Yes.”
Since it was a hotel run by his maternal relatives where Jang Yeonhu also served as an outside director, it was convenient to give separate instructions for small details like room upgrades, late checkout, and room service. When he returned to the banquet hall entrance, Choi Eunseong, who couldn’t enter alone and had been waiting for Jang Yeonhu’s return, immediately approached and spoke.
“Hyung, how is Lawyer Han? Actually, rather than me, Lawyer Han—”
The voice he’d thought pleasant because it resembled Han Jaekyung’s was particularly tiresome in its chattering. He frowned and immediately cut off mid-sentence.
“…I’ll handle it myself. Do you want to go back first today? I can’t take you. Sorry.”
“No! I’m fine, so really don’t worry about it.”
“Alright. Then I’ll contact you later.”
Once his mood was disrupted, even the plausible acting he could usually continue without difficulty no longer felt worth doing. Jang Yeonhu rambled whatever came to his tongue and lightly pushed Choi Eunseong’s back. He didn’t have time to care what his expression looked like as he sent Choi Eunseong away.
For years he’d been anxiously worried that those who didn’t know their place might scratch even a speck on Han Jaekyung, sticking close by his side playing the role of a faithful servant that wasn’t even in his destiny. He hadn’t expected humans who would boldly ignore Han Jaekyung to appear already over just this much.
Well, even inside the banquet hall, those with quick wits would typically be cautious and repeatedly gauge Jang Yeonhu and Han Jaekyung’s reactions, so it must be because those particular ones were exceptionally stupid and dull.
The table with empty seats where several had left felt somehow desolate. Moon Yeonu sat there boredly like he was guarding Han Jaekyung’s clothes and briefcase, with a face that didn’t know what had happened. The stupid bastards who’d been laughing and chatting about Han Jaekyung just moments ago had long since fled with their tails between their legs. Jang Yeonhu silently approached and gathered Han Jaekyung’s belongings first.
“What? Why are you taking that? Where’s Han Jaekyung?”
“…Mind your own business. And if not me, who would dare take Han Jaekyung’s things?”
“What’s with this attitude? I’m Han Jaekyung’s boyfriend.”
Moon Yeonu, who fearlessly grabbed Jang Yeonhu’s wrist, spoke as if he really was Han Jaekyung’s boyfriend. Hah… Now all sorts of ridiculous things…
“Moon Yeonu, stop the games there. Do I have to point out with my own mouth that you two are nothing to each other?”
For Han Jaekyung’s dignity, he’d pretend to be fooled in front of him, but it was clear there had been no contact between Moon Yeonu and Han Jaekyung all this time. Moon Yeonu also didn’t insist further and released his grip on Jang Yeonhu’s wrist.
“Anyway, congratulations on getting a boyfriend. I mean it. I hope it lasts long.”
Very, very long. Until Han Jaekyung gets exhausted and falls away. The additional voice overflowed with poorly hidden delight.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
