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Even Han Jaekyung himself found it hard to believe, but there were now no points of contact left between Han Jaekyung and Jang Yeonhu. This became even more true after Han Jaekyung moved his meager belongings to company housing and, unable to wait any longer for his phone that still wouldn’t ring, changed his number entirely. When he suddenly visited a nearby service center saying he wanted to change just his number while keeping the same phone, the employee repeatedly suggested he change the device as well. Han Jaekyung didn’t think twice and said no, just change the number.
After changing his number, Han Jaekyung selected all the saved contacts under the guise of a group notification and sent a message saying “This is Han Jaekyung from Shimwoo Law Firm. My number has changed, so please save it.” But there was no particular contact from Jang Yeonhu.
Others might sneer at what kind of courage that was, but for Han Jaekyung, who had never in his life been the first to express longing to Jang Yeonhu, that was truly the best strategy he could manage.
Even while sending the message with that one number he truly wanted to contact hidden among the countless saved numbers of company employees and clients, he could barely stand how pathetic he felt, but what was even harder to endure was that despite all this, the situation remained exactly the same without any progress.
Just by moving house. Just by cutting off contact.
With such an absurdly simple method, the meager connection between Jang Yeonhu and Han Jaekyung, which he had believed without doubt would last a lifetime, was cut off quite simply.
Was he very angry? …That day, should I not have sent him away like that?
Han Jaekyung was sometimes lost in thought, and most of those reflections ended in regret that he shouldn’t have done that.
Even though Jang Yeonhu had been cut out like a lie, Han Jaekyung’s life continued to flow. Today, as always, Han Jaekyung woke up at the designated time, prepared to leave without being late, and slowly set out. The fifteen-pyeong company housing with two rooms was much smaller than the officetel where he had originally lived, but it was livable enough for one person. Above all, it was a great advantage that it was only a ten-minute drive to the company, and on nice days, he could even walk to and from work without any burden.
“Hello, Lawyer Han! Here are the trial summary materials you requested.”
“…Yes, good morning. Thank you for your hard work organizing them.”
“Not at all. If you have anything else for me to do, please let me know!”
As he entered the office with an expressionless face, a new lawyer who had just graduated from law school and joined the firm greeted Han Jaekyung with a bright smile. Seeing how she cheerfully greeted Han Jaekyung, who was always aloof, without any concern, she seemed to have a naturally friendly disposition. Her neat bob cut and pink beige lipstick were bright enough to be pleasing to the eye while being appropriately neat for the situation.
“Shall I make you a cup of coffee?”
“No. That’s fine.”
“Come on, I’ve mastered Lawyer Han’s preferences by now. Trust me and let me handle it, okay?”
There was no way to resist her cheerful manner as she shook the espresso capsule. Han Jaekyung eventually nodded slightly with a faint smile. By the time the fragrant smell that chased away sleep filled the office, a couple of other lawyers had also appeared. They were associates who handled most of the paperwork instead of Jaekyung, who was a partner.
Finding something so amusing, they entered chatting warmly and naturally continued the conversation by addressing Jaekyung, who had arrived first. Most of it was talk about dramas they watched yesterday, bizarre cases taken on by other law firms where close friends worked, or how the new restaurant nearby was quite good—utterly useless talk. But even without saying much, when he mixed in with them, the anxiety and restlessness that had been burning black in his chest seemed to shrink considerably and hide deep inside.
“I went there with my boyfriend and the atmosphere was really nice. The tuna just melted in your mouth, the thawing was amazing. Let’s definitely go there for our next company dinner.”
“Right, right. We still haven’t had Lawyer Han’s promotion celebration dinner, so let’s use that excuse to use the corporate card.”
“Tsk, these people. Have you ever seen Lawyer Han attend a company dinner? Wake up from your dream.”
“Ah. Lawyer Han, you really won’t go?”
While he was lost in other thoughts for a moment, somehow the bouncing conversation had arrived at group dinners. Even the person clicking their tongue saying “Hey, Lawyer Han never goes to those things” had expectant eyes just the same. Jaekyung glanced over the three pairs of eyes staring only at him and opened his mouth.
“Well… Sure, then.”
“Wow! Really? This time don’t just eat and disappear!”
“When would be good? Since we brought it up, let’s make a reservation right away.”
It wasn’t like he was promising to do anything great, just saying let’s have a company dinner for one day, but people’s reactions were enthusiastic. …Have I been this uncooperative in social activities until now? With a strange feeling, he briefly searched his memory and indeed, unless he was too tired from working late, he would usually get into Jang Yeonhu’s car that came to pick him up in front of the company and leave right away.
Han Jaekyung lightly shook his head and focused his attention on the documents in his hand. As mentioned before, even if Jang Yeonhu disappeared, Han Jaekyung’s life had to continue.
* * *
“Lawyer Han, don’t you need to go to the CEO’s office?”
It was late afternoon after finishing a meeting with a client, with not much time left until official quitting time. An employee who poked their head in with a knock suddenly threw such a question at Han Jaekyung. Jaekyung took off the glasses he only occasionally wore when reading documents and asked what that meant.
“Well… I ran into ‘him’ in the hallway. You know, the one from Woojin Group who’s close with you, Lawyer. He’s in the CEO’s office right now?”
There was no need to hear more. It seemed Jang Yeonhu had come.
It sounded nice to call it touring practical work as part of management education, but since he had been exposed to the media from such a young age, anyone even slightly informed would know that Jang Yeonhu was the heir who would inherit Woojin Group.
Thanks to the quite capable legal team at headquarters, whenever Jang Yeonhu visited this place, his purpose was always consistently to meet Han Jaekyung. Greeting the CEO was more of an afterthought, so it wasn’t unreasonable for an employee who accidentally encountered Jang Yeonhu in the hallway to naturally come looking for Han Jaekyung.
“Thanks for letting me know, but I’m also busy today, so I don’t think I need to go see him. He seems to have business there, so he’ll leave on his own when it’s resolved. You don’t need to worry about it.”
He couldn’t recite in detail here his pathetically sordid story of why he and his nominal friend, who had lived almost their entire lives attached like one body, had suddenly become complete strangers—because his friend got a lover, and on top of that, he had directly offered that lover an envelope of money telling them to break up.
When he made an excuse with some work at hand, the employee who came to deliver the news seemed convinced and withdrew, saying they understood. Han Jaekyung was secretly excited. Expectations began to quietly surface that perhaps Jang Yeonhu, unable to hold out in the end, had come to show the white flag toward him.
But those expectations were never realized. Whether he had really come for official business, Jang Yeonhu, who had been in the CEO’s office for about an hour, neither called for Han Jaekyung nor stopped by Jaekyung’s office, and left straight away.
Han Jaekyung, who had volunteered for overtime by needlessly shuffling through documents he had already processed during the day, only set out on his shabby journey home after dawdling for another thirty minutes even after Jang Yeonhu had already left the law firm.
Jang Yeonhu’s visits continued for several days after that. While it was perfectly natural for the current Han Jaekyung, strangely to others, throughout his consecutive attendance, Jang Yeonhu never once sought out Han Jaekyung. He even flatly refused the CEO’s suggestion to have a meal together with Lawyer Han.
Avoiding once or twice was one thing, but coming each time with such blatant attitude to exclude Han Jaekyung, the lawyers—who would be second to none in quick wit—seemed to have noticed that troubles had arisen in the relationship between the two.
‘My nephew was saying… Jang Yeonhu has a lover now. Is that true?’
‘Ah, yes. That’s correct.’
Finally, this morning, the CEO who had summoned Han Jaekyung out of nowhere even poured out such questions. Ha… Come to think of it, was the class president I met at the alumni gathering the CEO’s nephew? Han Jaekyung, whose expression had hardened considerably in the uncomfortable atmosphere, awkwardly gave his answer, and the CEO’s reaction to that was truly a sight to behold.
‘Tsk tsk… I backed the wrong horse. I wondered why things seemed strange lately.’
The CEO, who had been smiling slyly and leaning his upper body toward Han Jaekyung until he heard the confirmation, immediately frowned deeply and arrogantly leaned back. Go on, go on. I can’t take back a promotion that’s already been given… Work hard from now on. How grating it was to hear him put on airs to his heart’s content.
Of course, it was true that Han Jaekyung had been promoted much faster than others with Jang Yeonhu as his background, but separately from that, it was also true that he had worked so hard his body was breaking down to the point where he should have been promoted fastest among his peers. It was yet another critical hit. Through the brief conversation with the CEO, he once again realized that the career he had gritted his teeth to obtain was also something easily acquired merely as Jang Yeonhu’s pretty accessory.
“Haah…”
Han Jaekyung let out a deep sigh and filled his soju glass to the brim. The small drinking establishment not far from the company was a place he had sometimes visited with Jang Yeonhu too. It seemed like he had enjoyed himself watching Jang Yeonhu, who would never have gone near a place reeking of so-called ‘common folk smell’ if not for Han Jaekyung, putting on quite a show with his chatter. Han Jaekyung would always drag Jang Yeonhu around to places like chicken soup restaurants full of hikers or shabby makgeolli houses in university districts.
At first, the pretty young master would show reluctance and couldn’t even hold his utensils properly as if he found it disgusting, but after just a few times, seeing him smile smoothly and skillfully receive service by calling “Auntie, Boss”… It was nothing but a fleeting illusion, but that fine and precious young master seemed like the same kind of human as himself. The mirage flickered of what it might have been like if Jang Yeonhu who wasn’t a chaebol and Han Jaekyung who wasn’t an orphan had met ordinarily and grown close ordinarily.
“Boss, please give me another bottle of soju here.”
“Yes, here you go. But you came alone today. Is your friend who always came with you busy?”
“…I suppose so. He must be busy these days.”
Completely forgetting about someone like me, with the young kid he’s newly dating. Han Jaekyung couldn’t bring himself to continue those words and swallowed them. The familiar shop owner put up a small bowl of fish cake soup as service and unnecessarily added, “Next time, come with your friend.”
Han Jaekyung forgot both that he had to go to work the next day and that his stomach was throbbing, and just kept gulping down soju as if it were some sworn enemy. The transparent green empty bottles lined up on the table kept increasing in number. After doing this for a while, like a blown fuse, Han Jaekyung suddenly collapsed and banged his forehead on the table with a thud.
“Hey, customer. Pull yourself together, customer!”
Late on a weekday. With Han Jaekyung as the only remaining customer, the owner who was about to start closing preparations showed reluctance and kept shaking Jaekyung’s shoulders. Still, since he was a regular familiar enough to recognize, he couldn’t just ignore him and leave him on the street, but what to do about this…
What saved the owner, who was only getting a headache from the customer who showed no signs of waking up no matter how much he tried to wake him, was the shop door that happened to open with a rattle.
Ignoring the words “We’re closed,” a face that walked steadily inside was quite familiar. The owner greeted him happily, saying it had been a while. Since the perfect person had appeared to take over the customer who was too difficult to handle because he wouldn’t wake up, the already welcome face was even more welcome.
Receiving the owner’s warm welcome, the one who entered the shop and took a seat right next to Jaekyung was naturally Jang Yeonhu. He paid the bill first and smiled reassuringly at the owner who was about to start cleaning the kitchen.
“Jaekyung, wake up. Han Jaekyung.”
“Mmm…”
He shook his shoulder lightly, but indeed Han Jaekyung showed no signs of waking up. Well, he hadn’t intended to wake him up from the start anyway, with his touch as light as a feather. It was about time to come out, but when he didn’t appear, he came in to find this state as expected. Perhaps because Han Jaekyung had been taking actions that kept deviating from expectations lately, Jaekyung’s drowsy appearance, moving according to Jang Yeonhu’s expectations for once, was unbearably lovable.
“What will you do if you try to die of sadness over just this much? Making people’s hearts weak.”
That said, he would never go easy on him. Jang Yeonhu smiled with his eyes and whispered in Han Jaekyung’s ear with a voice so tender it seemed to melt, yet deep and sinister. Han Jaekyung, whose drinking capacity had increased a lot compared to when he was young but who still couldn’t keep his wits about him when completely drunk, couldn’t hear that affectionate yet ominous voice.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
