<6>
Jang Yeonhu had changed. Well, he’d known he’d changed for a while now, but…
“Hyung, other people are watching…”
“Who’s watching? I rented the whole place so we could eat comfortably.”
This son of a… Feeling like curses might burst forth at any moment, Han Jaekyung quickly pressed his lips with a napkin under the pretense of wiping his mouth. Honestly, despite Yeonhu driving him crazy with talk about sending drivers and whatnot, Jaekyung had been considerably relieved when Yeonhu came to pick him up this morning. Yes, caterpillars must eat pine needles, and if Yeonhu was going to be anyone’s sucker, it should rightfully be Jaekyung’s.
“Why aren’t you eating well? Doesn’t it taste good?”
“No. I’m full.”
“Already? How can you eat so little? Let’s eat something even more delicious for dinner, shall we?”
But that was a complete misunderstanding. Yeonhu, who had appeared at the entrance of the Legal Team as soon as lunch time arrived, bringing along his boyfriend and suggesting they eat together, seemed to think he’d die if he didn’t get on Jaekyung’s nerves at every turn.
If he was going to treat him like a borrowed sack of barley, why did he drag him along instead of just eating happily with his boyfriend? Ironically, if Yeonhu had ignored him and gone to have a cozy lunch with his boyfriend, Jaekyung would have been unbearably irritated about that too, but he could only grumble inwardly.
“Jaekyung, is there anything you want to eat? What should we have for dinner?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Tsk, Han Jaekyung. Such harsh language.”
“Hey…”
His blood pressure was rising to the point of madness. Jaekyung glared at Yeonhu with fierce eyes and put down his utensils with a clatter. From what he’d heard, the so-called boyfriend was just a twenty-four-year-old kid who had been an intern for barely two months. Watching Yeonhu press his finger against his lips, saying “such harsh language” in front of that twenty-four-year-old piece of flesh, Jaekyung was, in vulgar terms, starting to lose his mind. It might have been different if they were alone, but exposing his middle school buzz-cut era habits in front of a complete stranger was considerably damaging to his pride. Though if he mentioned it, Yeonhu would probably just smile broadly and say, “You have a pretty head shape, so even a buzz cut suited you well.”
“Take your hand off. It’s annoying.”
“Sorry, sorry. Are you angry?”
He was about to answer, “Hell yes,” but swallowed it back down. It was largely out of awareness of Choi Eunseong, who was looking anxiously back and forth between him and Yeonhu, as if worried they might be fighting. While his anger was rising, he also felt terribly hurt. Yeonhu, of all people, should know how much Jaekyung hated having his dignity compromised in this way.
“Sure enough, without proper roots, there’s nothing you can do,” or “We need to get rid of that orphan who’s muddying the waters from the young master’s side somehow”… Having heard all sorts of things during his upbringing, Jaekyung was particularly on edge in front of people whose relationship with him wasn’t yet clear. His innate temperament was also exceptionally sensitive.
“No. Just that today the food doesn’t taste good at all.”
“Both our Eunseong and Jaekyung… I’ll have to feed you both something more delicious for dinner.”
Not content with lunch, is he planning to make me participate in a dinner date too? Is this guy really insane?
“Ah…”
Sure enough, Choi Eunseong seemed to have had the same thought, letting out a sigh tinged with disappointment and awkwardly lowering his gaze. Jaekyung spoke to Eunseong in a tone as if bestowing a favor.
“Don’t worry, Eunseong. This is just because it’s my first day at work. Even I don’t plan to keep interfering with your dates.”
“Why would you say that, Han Jaekyung? I’m hurt. Interfering?”
“Isn’t that right, Eunseong?” Yeonhu looked at his boyfriend sitting across from him with that characteristically gentle and harmless gaze. Choi Eunseong bit his lip firmly and reluctantly nodded. It was like watching a rural comedy. That’s how it felt to Jaekyung, who was observing the scene.
“Fine. Then I’ll change my words. You and Eunseong are interfering with my schedule. I have an appointment.”
“What?”
“And from tomorrow, let’s eat lunch separately. I’ve arranged to eat with the department staff.”
“Han Jaekyung, how could you, without even telling me…”
The urge to snap back, “Did you say a word to me before getting a boyfriend?” was growing as high as a chimney. However, unlike Yeonhu with his thick skin, Jaekyung was a person who greatly valued saving face, so once again, he skillfully concealed his true feelings.
“Then I’ll leave first. It was nice to meet you, Eunseong. We might run into each other often at the company during my dispatch period, so let’s greet each other when we meet.”
“Y-yes, looking forward to working with you, Attorney Han…!”
I have no idea what he’s looking forward to, but there’s no need to criticize him when I’m leaving anyway. Since they had come to the restaurant, about a ten-minute drive from headquarters, in Yeonhu’s car, he’d need to catch a taxi immediately after leaving to get back.
After deliberately gathering his belongings and coldly leaving his seat, Jaekyung let at least four or five taxis pass before reluctantly catching one.
“You’ve completely lost your mind over this dating business, haven’t you…?”
“Excuse me? What did you say, sir?”
“Nothing. Driver, please take me to J Building in Gwanghwamun.”
Yeonhu didn’t follow him out to the end. He didn’t even ask what the evening appointment was. It was completely different from before, when he would have persistently clung to Jaekyung with a look of utter disappointment, begging to come along. Although Jaekyung had made up a non-existent appointment to provoke him, Yeonhu now seemed not to care much whether Jaekyung had plans with others or not. …Would he react the same if his boyfriend said he had plans with another guy? A sudden sense of suffocation welled up at the thought of that twenty-four-year-old’s innocent face, who hadn’t done anything wrong.
Looking at the bright Monday sky reflected in the car window, Jaekyung just wanted to scream out loud. Do you really not like me anymore?
* * *
If he had known it would be like this, he should have at least finished his meal earlier. Jaekyung grumbled as he thoroughly searched his empty refrigerator as if combing for lice. All he found was a slice of cheese with an expiration date that was cutting it close. It was too late; most delivery places had closed, and even the nearest convenience store was a ten-minute walk away, requiring him to completely leave the officetel complex. This was all because of Yeonhu’s sudden bout of insanity. Jaekyung easily jumped through several steps of logic and habitually blamed all problems on Yeonhu.
As the end of the workday approached, hunger had loudly made its presence known in his stomach due to the lunch he had barely eaten. The head of the Legal Team, who knew well both Yeonhu’s real background behind his nominal position as a manager and Jaekyung’s history as Yeonhu’s close friend, had suggested a team dinner, saying he must have had a tough first day.
But due to his fastidious temperament that prevented him from eating at the same table with people he was meeting for the first time, Jaekyung had to sit upright with a smiling face at the center of the table until past two in the morning, only downing plenty of water.
The department members, who started with hard liquor from the beginning, became so drunk that they didn’t care whether others were eating or not. Anyway, these lawyer types, you have to give them credit for their love of alcohol. Though a lawyer himself, Jaekyung spent the entire first company dinner thinking only that before finally making it home.
“This is so annoying, I’m starving to death…”
As he chewed the bland low-sodium cheese, his backlogged hunger protested even more vociferously, as if with interest added. Now his stomach almost felt like it was burning. Normally, in times like this, he would have called Yeonhu without a second thought. Even if Yeonhu had been sleeping, he would have answered Jaekyung’s call before the third ring, and like a faithful servant, he would have meticulously fulfilled Jaekyung’s requests. But now, Jaekyung could no longer easily call “My Sucker” saved in his phone as before.
The time was three-thirty in the morning. To be ready for work, even if he fell asleep right now, he wouldn’t get even four hours of sleep, but Jaekyung kept turning the problem over in his mind.
“No, that’s not right. He said with his own mouth that we’re friends. It would be strange if he suddenly stopped doing what he used to do just because he got a boyfriend.”
That thought suddenly occurred to him, and it seemed perfectly logical. Yes, a boyfriend is a boyfriend, and a friend is a friend. If the relationship between the two could be defined simply as ‘friends,’ then Jaekyung didn’t need to act any differently from before. Wasn’t it Yeonhu who blathered on about being best friends in front of his boyfriend?
Intoxicated by the early morning atmosphere, Jaekyung immediately threw away the cheese he had been munching on and grabbed his phone to make a call. Ring, ring… The dial tone rang twice. Probably next, Yeonhu would answer the phone. No, he had to answer, even if the sky fell.
Ring…
But when the dial tone rang for the third time, ring, and for the fourth time.
“…”
Yeonhu didn’t answer the phone.
Ring, ring.
The monotonous ringing tone was especially discordant. In those repetitive tones, Jaekyung felt he could read the intention that Yeonhu would never again answer the early morning calls he made, and his insides were burning up. The tip of his thumb, which he had been biting at some point, stung painfully.
And finally, after what must have been the tenth long ring.
“Hello?”
Someone answered the phone. Jaekyung’s lips, which were about to shout, “Why did you only answer now?” were stuck as if glued. He blinked several times and checked the name and number on the screen repeatedly, but it was indeed Yeonhu’s contact. Three-thirty in the morning, when the whole world was sound asleep, was a considerably intimate and private time for anyone. And now, at this hour, the person who answered Yeonhu’s phone instead was,
“…”
“Hello? Attorney Han. Please speak, hello?”
It was Choi Eunseong.
The twenty-four-year-old with the clear face who had been making Jaekyung feel gloomy since Monday noon—Yeonhu’s boyfriend.
A cry welled up to the tip of his tongue—Why are you answering his phone, are you together right now?—but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. What would be strange about two perfectly healthy adult men in a relationship being together at this hour? Anyone who heard the situation would undoubtedly conclude that Jaekyung, who called on the pretext of friendship at this hour, was the nuisance.
Jaekyung swallowed all the words he wanted to say, forcibly and disgustingly, and barely managed to ask, “Where’s Yeonhu?” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded excessively subdued, but there was no time to worry about that now.
“Yeonhu hyung is in the shower. If it’s urgent, please tell me! I’ll pass it on to him.”
Good heavens, he said he’s in the shower. Listening to Eunseong’s innocently cheerful words, Jaekyung just wanted to faint on the spot. His stomach felt not just burning but utterly wretched. The hunger pangs that rumbled indiscreetly sounded particularly forlorn.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
