<18>
What is this bastard saying right now? Are all the people who were worried dead? After leaving me neglected and pushed aside for days. Han Jaekyung almost forgot that this was his uncle’s restaurant and nearly shouted in anger.
“Oh my, a student friend? Has your friend found a job? Your attire looks quite proper.”
The customers who had been offered drinks showed no particular disturbance at the sudden appearance of an uninvited guest. Han Jaekyung, who bowed saying “Please enjoy your meal,” mercilessly dragged the suit-wearing Jang Yeonhu away. He had to get him out before his uncle spotted Jang Yeonhu. Whatever they talked about, it couldn’t be here. Knowing his uncle’s personality, if he found out the young master he used to serve had come, he’d be too concerned to work properly.
“Uncle! I got a phone call, I’ll be back in a bit!”
“Alright. There’s no urgent work now, so take your time, take your time.”
Jang Yeonhu didn’t resist stubbornly either and obediently followed Han Jaekyung out to the parking lot.
“I told you absolutely not to go inside because it makes uncle uncomfortable.”
“Then what could I do, Jaekyung? You weren’t answering your phone… and it was obvious you were in there.”
Jang Yeonhu spoke as if acting cute, drooping the ends of his eyebrows pitifully. It was utterly unfamiliar to the current Han Jaekyung, but originally it was a sight he’d seen so often it could be kicked aside. When Jang Yeonhu deliberately lowered his posture like that, the heart that had been puffed up with complaints suddenly had a hole punctured through it like a lie.
It might only be momentary comfort, but it felt as if everything had returned to normal. To the original world where things like Choi Eunseong, where Jang Yeonhu loving someone other than himself, didn’t exist.
“Why? Are you feeling a bit uncomfortable now that you’ve come? I really thought you were trying to cut ties with me.”
Han Jaekyung’s mischievous side started revving up again as he instinctively sensed that Jang Yeonhu intended to take his side.
“I’m really sorry for making you feel hurt. But how could I do that? Jaekyung, how could I live cutting ties with you?”
Why? You managed to make another boyfriend just fine. Han Jaekyung somehow swallowed down the sarcasm that surged up. Between Han Jaekyung and Choi Eunseong, who occupied a bigger slice of Jang Yeonhu’s heart… it had become hard to gauge since the alumni association.
“I was really busy. Really. Stop being angry. Okay?”
This much wasn’t just a simple excuse but the truth itself. Han Jaekyung might not know what to think, but Jang Yeonhu had really been incredibly busy since that problematic alumni association, without a moment to breathe. The last time he’d met Choi Eunseong privately was when he’d sent him away at the alumni association.
There were already countless things to carefully examine before implementing his planned work, but from Moon Yeonu appearing at an unexpected timing to those dog bastards who didn’t know their place and bared their teeth at Han Jaekyung…
Those bastards’ families must have been living in hell for the past few days. Jang Yeonhu had personally made their somehow functioning businesses on the verge of complete ruin. If that measly right to act important in front of Han Jaekyung was just a few pennies, if that’s why they freely ran their mouths calling him a beggar bastard and such, then shouldn’t they pay an appropriate financial price?
He couldn’t even begin to describe how much effort he put into handling the work. Worried that his grandfather or father might find out later and even scold Jaekyung after discovering the cause, Jang Yeonhu had to move extremely carefully with the utmost caution. Did he even sleep three hours a day?
The moment he barely finished handling the work and received reports that had been piling up for days, Jang Yeonhu doubted his own eyes. To think he’d gone out on a date with Moon Yeonu right from Monday afternoon. He’d only been slightly annoyed and teased him a little, but to suddenly turn off his phone, take a day off, and disappear… Whoever had tamed him, he was truly an uncontrollable ruffian.
Still, he wasn’t that angry because he knew better than anyone that thirty-one-year-old Han Jaekyung had no decent acquaintances other than Jang Yeonhu.
The officetel contracted under Jang Yeonhu’s name. If not there, then the restaurant Mr. Song had opened.
Han Jaekyung’s routes were this simple.
“…Annoying.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.”
“I really hate bastards like you. I hate you most in the world. You’re so awful I could die.”
“It’s all my fault. Jaekyung, look at me.”
“Crazy bastard, get your face away from me.”
Han Jaekyung’s personality was far from easy-going, to the point where he could casually slap the cheek of someone offering an apology.
Saying it was far from easy-going was putting it mildly – in reality, he just had a nasty personality.
Even with a red handprint on his cheek, Jang Yeonhu didn’t seem to feel bad and kept grinning. Han Jaekyung’s such rudeness was also one of Jang Yeonhu’s carefully crafted works, so there was no reason not to be pleased.
Jang Yeonhu earnestly hoped that his beloved Han Jaekyung would become even more difficult and even more ill-mannered. So that no one but himself would dare to handle that temperament.
Just as Han Jaekyung disliked Jang Yeonhu coming to this restaurant, Jang Yeonhu also disliked Han Jaekyung coming here. The reason was simple. The countless thorn needles that Jang Yeonhu had painstakingly inserted and fixed in place would mysteriously melt away like magic whenever he came here and met Mr. Song.
“Oh my, our Jaekyung’s heart is very hurt. I’m sorry. I was very bad.”
Ignoring his trembling with rage and embracing him in one arm, Han Jaekyung, who had struggled for a moment, eventually grew quiet from exhaustion. Han Jaekyung was quite tall at over 180cm, but with his slender build, he was still just an armful for Jang Yeonhu.
“Jang Yeonhu. You…, you…”
Han Jaekyung, who had been held for a while, whispered very quietly, barely audible. Jang Yeonhu kept nodding, saying “Yeah, I’m listening, tell me.”
“If you’re really my friend… No, if you really think of me as a friend…”
“…”
“From now on, when you’re with me, don’t mention your boyfriend.”
The trembling voice and glass-bright eyes shaking with anxiety were incredibly magnificent even in the shabby back of a building where empty soju bottles and burnt cigarette butts were scattered.
“…Will you listen to me or not?”
Han Jaekyung seemed to feel anxious at Jang Yeonhu’s reaction of not giving an immediate answer. Though he pretended to be venomous, when peeled back one layer, there was only immature sorrow – that pale energy clung thickly to his eyes and red lips.
Instead of nodding in agreement, Jang Yeonhu just wanted to bite those particularly thin lips to his heart’s content. But it was still too early, so that impulse would have to be tightly bound and hidden away today too.
What kind of friend asks you not to mention your lover when you’re together, Jaekyung? He was curious what emotion would color that white face if he attacked unexpectedly, but…
“Alright. I’ll try.”
Knowing how cornered Han Jaekyung was these days, it wouldn’t be bad to allow him at least one breathing space.
Anyway, it wouldn’t be long before Han Jaekyung fell completely into his grasp.
Eventually, Han Jaekyung, who quickly said goodbye to Mr. Song, got into the passenger seat of Jang Yeonhu’s car and headed back the way they came.
“I brought my car too.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Do you not understand Korean? If I go in your car, what about my car? I’m saying I have to go up separately.”
“What does that have to do with you riding in my car? I’ll have a driver handle it anyway, so don’t worry.”
At times like this, Han Jaekyung would realize how vastly different his and Jang Yeonhu’s values were positioned. While offering his cheek with a grin for him to hit… he was utterly merciless with certain others.
“Well, there’s Mr. Song if needed.”
Just like this.
“Watch your words.”
Han Jaekyung immediately raised his head and glared at Jang Yeonhu.
“He’s my uncle, and he’s not your family’s driver anymore. Don’t treat him like a subordinate.”
“Alright, alright. Hurry up and get in. I took tomorrow off too, so let’s go see a classical performance you like after so long. I got tickets too.”
“Fix your way of addressing him too.”
“Yes, Lawyer Han!”
Anyway… he was a bastard who could make you happy like chasing clouds when you were together, but always gave you a headache at least once. That human called Jang Yeonhu.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
