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Han Jaekyung quickly turned his thoughts. He couldn’t let Jang Yeonhu hurt Choi Eunseong anymore. It was already enough pain. It wasn’t because he felt sorry for Choi Eunseong or had any intention of being considerate to him. This time too, it was for entirely selfish reasons.
He was simply afraid that when Jang Yeonhu’s memories returned, he might give even a little more weight to Choi Eunseong out of guilt and sympathy.
“He’s a subordinate at my workplace. Don’t make things more difficult for me.”
“A subordinate? But among your team members, there’s no one like—”
Realizing his mistake, Jang Yeonhu abruptly cut himself off. Jaekyung immediately asked how he knew about his team members. The thirty-one-year-old Jang Yeonhu didn’t know that, so how could the eighteen-year-old Jang Yeonhu possibly know?
“…”
“Jang Yeonhu, aren’t you going to answer?”
“Um… don’t get angry, but listen, Jaekyung.”
“If you drag this out any longer, I might really get angry.”
“… Actually, I was curious since you kept leaving me to go to work, so I looked into it on my own.”
This was maddening. It was just one day a week, one day. Even when they were actually dating, before breaking up, he didn’t remember Yeonhu being this clingy.
Now Jang Yeonhu often acted as if he had separation anxiety when it came to Han Jaekyung. Dr. Park had said that since his recovery wasn’t complete, it was natural for him to be more emotional and not to worry about it, but…
“So who is he really? Was there someone on your team I don’t know about?”
“He’s not a regular employee, but a college student intern we hired separately.”
“Ah.”
“What do you mean, ‘ah’? Hurry up and apologize.”
Jang Yeonhu, looking embarrassed, scratched the back of his neck and bowed his head to the dumbfounded Choi Eunseong, saying, “I’m sorry.”
“I get a bit sensitive when it comes to Jaekyung’s work. I apologize for my rudeness.”
“No… no, it’s fine.”
Despite saying it was fine, Choi Eunseong’s face, already erupting in tears, didn’t look fine at all.
What if the situation had been reversed, and Jang Yeonhu had completely forgotten Han Jaekyung and remembered only Choi Eunseong, behaving like he just did? Jaekyung felt a lump in his throat just imagining it. He could fully understand why Choi Eunseong’s tears burst forth without warning.
“You must be shocked. It would be better for you to go home today, Mr. Choi Eunseong. Should I call you a taxi?”
Choi Eunseong firmly shook his head. His glances at Jang Yeonhu still showed obvious tears, as if he couldn’t let go.
“I understand. Then go safely, and I’ll contact you again.”
“Yes, Attorney Han. Definitely, *sob*, definitely. I’ll wait…”
Though he had decided to ignore his conscience, seeing someone turn away in tears like that—if you didn’t feel sorry, you wouldn’t be human. Jaekyung bit his lower lip and worriedly watched the retreating figure he couldn’t bring himself to stop.
“You said he’s just an intern. Why so emotional?”
Jang Yeonhu asked with narrowed eyes, adding with dissatisfaction, “I’m really starting to feel strange about this.”
“An intern is just an intern. It’s nothing special.”
“Hmm, Han Jaekyung. Who are you trying to fool? That look in your eyes just now told a different story.”
If anyone should be jealous, it shouldn’t be Jang Yeonhu being jealous of Choi Eunseong, but Choi Eunseong being jealous of Han Jaekyung, or Han Jaekyung of Choi Eunseong. Even this misplaced jealousy was endearing, and Jaekyung smiled bitterly as he changed the subject.
“I’ll explain everything later. It’s already seven o’clock. I need to be back by eight—do you want to spend all our time like this?”
“Oh, right! I made a reservation at a restaurant nearby. Let’s hurry.”
Jang Yeonhu startled and grabbed Jaekyung’s hand, leading him away. The sight of two grown men walking side by side with interlocked fingers certainly wasn’t common, and they hadn’t even left the law firm’s lobby yet.
They were already drawing all kinds of attention within the company. Jaekyung was certain that in less than ten minutes, he would become the subject of gossip in various company chat groups.
Something about how that company guy was pretty-looking, that the man holding hands with him was that Woojin Group heir, asking if they were “that kind” of relationship, and understanding why his promotion had been so fast… It was all too predictable what kind of stories would circulate.
“Mother recommended this place—she’s been here a few times with her tea party members and says the food is good. It’s a short walk from here.”
“…”
“You must be tired after working all day, and now you’re eating late because of me. Sorry, are you hungry?”
“No, not really.”
Still, he wasn’t particularly worried. Jaekyung gripped Jang Yeonhu’s hand more firmly. Right now, he just felt tremendously sorry—to Choi Eunseong, of course, but also to Jang Yeonhu.
I do like him. When I’m with him, life feels a little less like hell. I think about you… a little less. That’s why I can’t lose this person. I don’t want to lose him.
Yeonhu, today. Because of me, you hurt that person you said you didn’t want to lose, terribly.
“Order whatever you want. I’ll buy anything Jaekyung wants to eat.”
Don’t forgive me. You don’t have to forgive me. But please don’t hate me for this. And don’t go back to Choi Eunseong.
“…That’s funny. Mr. Jang Yeonhu, even when you had the title of assistant manager, I earned a much higher salary than you.”
“Wow, salary? I really can’t get used to this. You’ve gotten old, Han Jaekyung!”
“Look who’s talking.”
Just love me again, please. You’ve always granted whatever I asked for. Just do the same this time. It’s not even that difficult.
“Pfft… I still want to pay. I want to buy you anything, whether it’s food or whatever. I’ll do everything for you, absolutely everything.”
Unaware of the terrible and unreasonable demands Han Jaekyung was making inside, Jang Yeonhu simply smiled gently and placed a feather-light kiss on the back of Jaekyung’s hand.
The elegant Korean course meal Jang Yeonhu bought was delicious, and the stolen kisses they shared while slowly walking around a nearby park were incredibly sweet, but Han Jaekyung was uncomfortable all night long. So uncomfortable that he couldn’t even sleep properly.
* * *
“Continue what we were talking about yesterday.”
Jang Yeonhu was quite persistent. Especially when it came to matters concerning Han Jaekyung. Of course, that would only be true until before he started dating Choi Eunseong. In any case, it was natural for the amnesiac Jang Yeonhu to be sensitive about even the smallest things related to Han Jaekyung.
Knowing him as well as he did, Jaekyung had expected Jang Yeonhu to bring up this issue as soon as the sun rose. Although it was an uncomfortable topic, he had hoped otherwise, but the expected had indeed come to pass.
“Well, Yeonhu, I’m not sure what you’re talking about…”
As he averted his gaze and pretended not to understand, Jang Yeonhu’s voice came from above his head, stretching out his name, “Han Jaekye-ong.” Did he think it would sound stern? If so, it had the opposite effect. Jaekyung burst out laughing at the tone that he simply couldn’t take seriously.
“Ah, don’t just laugh like that. I was so bothered that I couldn’t sleep last night.”
“Hmm…”
How should he talk his way out of this? He also hadn’t been able to sleep due to his unsettled feelings, but now that Jang Yeonhu was asking, he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of appropriate excuses… but somehow, he didn’t feel like using them. Yet he didn’t have the courage to reveal the truth either—to say, “He’s your boyfriend, actually we broke up thirteen years ago.”
“Should I call Attorney Shim and ask him?”
Perhaps because he had already witnessed them talking in an unusually tense manner twice, Jang Yeonhu didn’t seem like he would easily let this go. The fact that he was mentioning the head of Jaekyung’s law firm showed that it would be impossible to dodge the issue any further… Jaekyung spoke with a sense of resignation.
“Like I said yesterday, he was just an intern on our team.”
“That’s just it. How can a mere intern come to a partner-level attorney, the team leader at that, and act that way? Unless there’s a personal relationship.”
…Damn it. He might be thirty-one on the outside, but inside he was just a teenager who hadn’t even taken off his school uniform, yet his ability to hit the nail on the head was exceptional.
Already, Jaekyung’s lips and tongue were thickly coated with lies. So what difference would a few more sins make at this point? He looked straight at Jang Yeonhu and spoke slowly and clearly.
“He’s a friend in a difficult situation. His internship contract ended, and he needs money for living expenses to return to school next semester… As his team leader, I took responsibility and promised to find him another part-time job. He worked diligently while on our team. He also formed close bonds with the team members.”
“…But.”
“So I was looking around for part-time positions when you had your car accident. Because of that, I was too preoccupied to look for anything. As a result, his financial situation became urgent, so he came to ask if there were any positions available, anywhere would do.”
After hearing Jaekyung’s defense, Jang Yeonhu seemed to organize his thoughts for a moment before bluntly stating, “I understand, but I still don’t like it.”
“I understand, but I still don’t like it. Why does he keep coming to you…”
“He’s pitiful. Don’t be so hard on him.”
Jaekyung felt a pang of guilt at his unconsciously uttered words. Who was really making that pitiful person pitiful, and wasn’t this disgusting sympathy?
“He said he’d contact you again. Will you really be in touch?”
It was a call he had to take eventually. Rather than lying about having no such plans and then sweating nervously if his sensitive nature detected the lie, it was better to boldly push forward. Just as Jang Yeonhu knew Han Jaekyung well, Jaekyung also knew his pushover well.
“I have to. There’s the part-time job issue…”
“Then invite him here instead.”
“What?”
“I don’t like you meeting him without me. I don’t like him using that excuse to contact you either. I know I’m being overly sensitive, but somehow… there’s something uncomfortable about that person.”
“Whether it’s how he looks at me, or how he looks at you,” Jang Yeonhu muttered softly.
“So I’d feel better if he was where I could see him. How many staff do we need in this house—couldn’t we find one part-time position? Just invite him to our home.”
This was something he had never even imagined. Choi Eunseong, together with him, in this house side by side…
He had thought that with Jang Yeonhu’s memory loss, there would be no way for him to get involved with Choi Eunseong, but how did it come to this? He should have listened to Jang Yeonhu when he asked him not to go to work and to stay by his side. He should never have allowed Choi Eunseong the opportunity to meet Jang Yeonhu, even by chance.
“Hm? Jaekyung, let’s do that. No, we will do that.”
Jaekyung suddenly feared that even the eighteen-year-old Jang Yeonhu might be taken away by Choi Eunseong.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
