<7>
“It wasn’t anything important. I’ll hang up now.”
The caller, who had maintained an untimely silence for quite a while, ended the call abruptly with a firm statement. Even before Choi Eunseong could finish saying, “Just a moment, Attorney Han!”
“What’s this… Calling so suddenly at this hour…”
Eunseong unconsciously muttered in a sulky voice. It wasn’t his call, but considering the time, it was truly inconsiderate. If Yeonhu had been sleeping, he would have woken up awkwardly and felt uncomfortable going to work the next day. Judging by the clear, crisp voice, the caller didn’t seem particularly drunk or to have any urgent business.
Click.
“What are you thinking about so seriously?”
“Ah, Yeonhu hyung.”
A damp towel lightly tapped against Eunseong’s cheek as he sat there, frowning with discontent while holding a phone that wasn’t his.
The old workout clothes borrowed from the homeowner, with sleeves and pant legs much too short, would have looked ridiculous on anyone. But Yeonhu, wearing the gray workout clothes and casually drying his wet hair with a towel, looked refreshingly youthful, as if he’d just stepped out of a coming-of-age drama. Eunseong smiled back brightly at Yeonhu, who gazed down at him gently.
It felt as if his tired body, which had been sluggish until just moments ago, and his irritation from the abrupt phone call at this near-dawn hour, all melted away. It was always like this when facing Yeonhu, when his kind eyes with their gentle curve entered his field of vision. As if under a spell.
“You must be very tired, hyung.”
“You must be more tired than me, Eunseong. Go wash up quickly. Even if we go to sleep right now, we won’t get many hours of rest.”
“…I didn’t know Team Leader Bae’s drinking habits were this bad.”
“Heh, surprised you, didn’t it? It took me a long time to get used to it too.”
Today was Team Leader Bae’s housewarming party for his newlywed home. Originally, they had planned to sneak away just the two of them, but for some reason, Yeonhu came back after lunch with a sudden change of heart, decided to attend the housewarming, and ended up staying until the end.
The completely intoxicated Team Leader Bae began dragging the remaining guests to stay overnight, ignoring his husband’s attempts to stop him. The men agreed and settled in the living room to draw attention while secretly helping the female employees leave. This was the result. Behind Yeonhu and Eunseong, several team leaders and assistant managers were sprawled out randomly, scratching their bellies and snoring away.
Although he knew the situation was far from romantic, Eunseong still found it hard to calm his excited heart. Honestly, when he answered Han Jaekyung’s call, cutting off all context and saying Yeonhu had gone to wash up was somewhat intentional.
“By the way, Yeonhu hyung. There was a phone call just now.”
“I know. It was Jaekyung, right?”
“How did you know?”
“The soundproofing in this house isn’t great. I heard you talking.”
“Oh… I see. I’m sorry for answering on your behalf without saying anything.”
“No, you did well.”
You really did well. I mean it. Perhaps to comfort Eunseong, who had somehow become dejected, Yeonhu added the praise and looked unusually pleased. This made Eunseong feel an even sharper twinge in a corner of his conscience.
Han Jaekyung had bothered him since they were first introduced. How could he not? Although Eunseong was called Yeonhu’s boyfriend, they had only been together for just over a month, whereas Jaekyung had been by Yeonhu’s side for well over twenty years. Even before their sudden meeting during overtime work, Yeonhu would often bring up his uniquely close and precious friend. Eunseong had felt quite jealous toward this friend whose face he didn’t even know.
‘Yeonhu hyung, have you been here? I heard it’s popular these days.’
‘Ah, Jaekyung doesn’t like crowded places, so not yet.’
‘If you haven’t been yet either, maybe we could go together on the weekend…’
‘I’m sorry. Jaekyung said he’s busy next week, so I really should meet him this week.’
Every other word was Jaekyung this, Jaekyung that. Though momentary jealousy had surged, he hadn’t felt particularly threatened as long as he didn’t know Han Jaekyung’s face. Of course, he had never even imagined that he would be outmatched externally by some thirty-something lawyer who probably just sat at a desk and studied all the time.
But eventually, Eunseong met Han Jaekyung.
When Han Jaekyung, with his pale and cool impression, pulled the corners of his lips into a smile, even the surrounding air seemed to tighten. The thick eyelashes, thin lips, and elegantly stretched limbs. It was a perfect defeat without needing further assessment.
‘Of course. You two look really good together. Congratulations.’
Was that why Jaekyung’s congratulatory words had pierced so deeply into his core?
“…”
By the time Eunseong, the last to wash up, came back, everyone was already in dreamland. Even Yeonhu hadn’t waited for him and had his eyes neatly closed.
Unable to fall asleep, Eunseong carefully looked around before tentatively reaching out to secretly pick up Yeonhu’s mobile phone. It didn’t even have the most basic lock screen. When he entered the message folder, the conversation at the very top was with a number saved as “Our Jaekyung.” His own contact, saved simply as the three characters “Choi Eunseong,” felt terribly insignificant.
< [I heard you called, are you sick?]
< [Jaekyung]
< [I got the message that the legal team dinner ended late]
< [Did you get home safely?]
< [Did you drink a lot today? Is your stomach okay?]
< [Jaekyung, please reply]
< [You know I worry when you’re like this]
< [Han Jaekyung]
The stream of messages Yeonhu had sent appeared as if they had been waiting. Eunseong unconsciously drew in a sharp breath. Even through just text, his anxious feelings were clearly evident. Yet Han Jaekyung, who received these messages, had only bothered to send a couple of perfunctory “mm” in response.
< [Okay. I’m glad you got home safely.]
< [Thanks for replying. Sleep well.]
Yeonhu didn’t seem upset at all and continued to send affectionate messages despite the cold attitude. Eunseong swallowed hard and checked Yeonhu’s condition once more. He seemed deeply asleep with no intention of waking up anytime soon.
As Eunseong scrolled up, all the conversations between Yeonhu and Jaekyung were revealed before his eyes. Other conversations weren’t much different. Yeonhu would send five or six lines in a row, and Jaekyung would barely respond once or twice. Even those were very perfunctory one-word answers. Anyone could see that in the relationship between the two, Jaekyung held the upper hand.
…Somehow it felt like he had seen something he shouldn’t have. His heart pounded mercilessly.
* * *
“Attorney Han, aren’t you pushing yourself too hard on your first day?”
“Yeah, you look terrible. Go to the break room and get some rest.”
He didn’t have the luxury to refuse an offer he would normally have flatly declined. Though he hadn’t actually had a single shot of soju at yesterday’s dinner, which he was using as an excuse, everyone had been busy getting drunk themselves, so they naturally assumed his haggard appearance today was due to overdoing it at his first company dinner.
“Haha… Then I’ll just sleep for thirty minutes. Thank you.”
In the end, Jaekyung, who hadn’t slept a wink last night, bowed his head and hurriedly made his way down to the 12th floor where the break room was located. Using the emergency stairs when he could have taken the elevator. As he passed the 14th floor where the planning team was located, his pace automatically slowed.
Even though Yeonhu knew he had called, he had only left several dramatic messages without calling back. Was it because his nerves were on edge? Everything felt suspicious. Why at that hour, why would someone else answer your phone? Why would you make me go through that? Accusations that shouldn’t be made and that he had no right to make rose to the tip of his throat.
In truth, when Yeonhu first made that unbelievable claim about having a boyfriend… he didn’t believe it.
A kiss? Sure, at our age, one could kiss without feelings. Knowing what kind of person Yeonhu was, a boyfriend? Really? Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to pretend to die at my word. Now? He must be struggling to get my attention somehow. That’s what he thought. But strangely, as time passed, his tiny anxiety began to blaze fiercely.
When he faced Yeonhu’s unfamiliar aspect of looking straight ahead and gazing lovingly at his boyfriend even with him by his side. When he witnessed Yeonhu’s change in choosing to stay with his boyfriend instead of following him when he left first. That anxiety grew moment by moment. Perhaps, really perhaps… Yeonhu might genuinely like someone other than himself. And finally, yesterday’s dawn phone call put the finishing touch on that anxiety.
Jaekyung, who had almost stopped walking, stood hesitating for a long time in front of the 14th floor emergency exit door. He was torn exactly half and half between the desire to open that door right now, grab Yeonhu who would be sitting at his planning team desk, and brazenly demand an explanation he could understand, and the fear of receiving an answer he really didn’t want to hear.
“Haa… My head really hurts.”
His head was not just throbbing but felt like his eyeballs were strained too. With just two more floors to go before a comfortable recliner waiting to embrace his entire body, Jaekyung found himself completely lost in an untimely emergency staircase.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
