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“I’m here right now. With Attorney Han.”
Even as he moved his lips at will, Choi Eunseong felt completely disconnected from reality. As if it would be more believable that he was dreaming with his eyes open.
“How do you feel?”
“…”
“Say something, anything.”
Han Jaekyung’s face, which seemed utterly devoid of humanity, grew increasingly pale every time Choi Eunseong opened his mouth. Unable to even think of responding, he awkwardly stood there before turning toward the counter, making an excuse that he would go place their order, almost like he was fleeing.
Watching him, Choi Eunseong felt even more wronged and angry. His handsome face was detestable. He ground his teeth and recalled the words Han Jaekyung had whispered so smoothly before.
‘I completely understand why you’re upset and suspicious given the awkward situation. But please wait quietly for just a few weeks. He will return, Yeonhu. He’s someone who has driven a stake through the hearts of his parents and grandparents just to be with you.’
‘It’s only a few weeks. Considering how many years you two will spend together in the future. Can’t you wait just a few weeks?’
Ha, just a few weeks, he said. Looking at the result now, it was truly an incredible deception.
At first, he tried hard to deny it. Because the relationship between Jang Yeonhu and Han Jaekyung was deeper than initially expected. Because Jang Yeonhu as Han Jaekyung’s lover was much more affectionate than Jang Yeonhu as Choi Eunseong’s lover. He thought it was simply a feeling of defeat and inferiority.
There were certainly times when he felt a sense of crisis, but at the very least, he hadn’t doubted Han Jaekyung’s intentions themselves.
But Han Jaekyung gradually changed. In the beginning, he at least pretended to care about Yeonhu and consider Choi Eunseong, but lately, he had been blatantly revealing his ambitions.
Perhaps that had been his intention from the start, but Choi Eunseong had been too foolish to notice.
Even without explicitly mentioning it, his intentions were crystal clear. He intended to take Yeonhu away.
Han Jaekyung no longer even tried to hide such intentions. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain why he kept interfering whenever Choi Eunseong and Jang Yeonhu were together, and whenever they tried to have a conversation, he would whisk Yeonhu away.
Choi Eunseong blankly stared at Han Jaekyung’s back as he stood in front of the pickup counter waiting for their ordered drinks.
Long, well-proportioned limbs, a slim waist, and neat attire. Even without seeing his dazzling front that seemed designed to intimidate others, his appearance was more than enough to draw attention.
Looking at that neat figure made him feel like his insides were twisting. He could still vividly remember those pale hands and slender legs wrapping around Yeonhu like seaweed, and the two of them rolling around on the sofa in the study that was too narrow for two grown men to be on at the same time. The wet, moaning sounds he made while repeatedly calling Yeonhu’s name were so lascivious.
Someone who hasn’t experienced it could never fathom how miserable and horrifying it is to helplessly watch your lover’s bed being taken by someone else right before your eyes.
It had been a long time since he noticed that the two of them frequently joined bodies. Everyone in the mansion knew it. How could they not notice when they slept and woke up in the same bedroom despite having separate rooms, or when Han Jaekyung looked particularly languid in the morning with Jang Yeonhu squirming uncomfortably beside him?
But simply knowing about it and witnessing it with your own eyes were completely different dimensions. Late in the evening after dinner. Even though he knew that Choi Eunseong would come looking for Yeonhu around that time under the pretext of a warm massage… Even though he had often ruined their rare chances to be alone…
‘Mmm, don’t get up. Hold me. Right now.’
Han Jaekyung had conquered Jang Yeonhu with such ease. At that very moment, as he draped his arm around Yeonhu’s nape and pulled him close. Despite clearly making eye contact with Choi Eunseong through the half-open door, he was so shameless.
That was a declaration more certain than any words. That he would not be satisfied with just borrowing the eighteen-year-old Yeonhu for a while, that he would insist on monopolizing all of Yeonhu’s present as well.
“…”
“…”
The coffee aroma that tickled his nose felt strangely unfamiliar. In the quiet cafe where an outdated pop song played softly. The two people sitting across from each other at a round table couldn’t readily open their mouths and just fiddled with their coffee cups.
It wasn’t that they had nothing to say. Rather, in Choi Eunseong’s case, he had so much he wanted to say that he was carefully choosing his words. Since this meeting could be either a beginning or an end, he didn’t want to waste time blurting out heated words in excitement. He didn’t want to shed tears either. At least not in front of Han Jaekyung.
Eventually, it was Han Jaekyung who spoke first. After moving his lips a few times, he abruptly started with an apology, saying, “I’m sorry.”
What was he sorry for? For pretending to help but then stabbing him in the back? For coveting a man who was no longer his?
“I’m sorry,” “Oh, it’s okay.” The situation had long since passed the point where it could be glossed over with such trivial word games. Choi Eunseong couldn’t help but laugh from the emptiness he felt.
“Ha… haha… What are you sorry for? Are you even sincere in your apology?”
“Choi Eunseong-ssi.”
“If you were truly sorry, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
That’s right. If Han Jaekyung had intended to regret and covet him now, he really shouldn’t have done it. After entering Yeonhu’s family home, Choi Eunseong had picked up various rumors about how the two had grown up from the servants. What was clear was… that it was Han Jaekyung who had both declared their breakup and made the other party completely give up on him.
So if Han Jaekyung had wanted to get Yeonhu back, he should have made his move before Yeonhu gave up on him, before Choi Eunseong fell in love with Yeonhu.
Ironically, it was thanks to Han Jaekyung’s misjudgment that he had the opportunity to meet Yeonhu. That’s what Choi Eunseong thought.
If that had been the case, the current Choi Eunseong might have been anxiously dealing with debt collectors’ harassment calls almost daily, but at least he wouldn’t have had to feel this miserable.
“If you were going to do this anyway, you could have at least been honest about it. Instead, you made me look like a fool. Why do I… Attorney, because of you, why on earth! Do I have to go through this…”
He didn’t want to cry, but the longer he spoke, the more his breathing became ragged. He felt like he was going crazy from the injustice and anger. He couldn’t help but resent Han Jaekyung, who was sitting across from him with that impeccably handsome face.
“Though you may not believe it, I really didn’t intend to covet him at first.”
As he said, it was unbelievable. For someone who claimed that, his movements as he burrowed into Yeonhu’s embrace just last night were quite aggressive.
Yeonhu’s voraciousness was also an unexpected point, having thought he was a rather simple type when it came to physical affection. It’s not his place to say this as he’s also a man in a romantic relationship with Yeonhu, but until he witnessed that outrageous scene with his own eyes just yesterday, Choi Eunseong hadn’t really been conscious of the fact that men could sleep with each other.
Having never considered men as romantic prospects before Yeonhu, in reality, deep kisses were about the limit of what Choi Eunseong could handle. For that reason, the physical intimacy between Yeonhu and Choi Eunseong was limited to holding hands, occasional hugs… just that much. If he counted all the kisses where they shared breath, it wouldn’t even exceed ten times.
Toward Choi Eunseong, who would mumble apologetically for not being able to accept it right away, Yeonhu would always smile maturely and kindly, saying it was okay. That he could keep waiting until Eunseong was mentally prepared, so not to worry. That this much was enough. Choi Eunseong had believed that Yeonhu’s simple attitude was evidence of true love.
‘Han Jaekyung, breathe. Where are you trying to escape to? If you lit the fire, you have to take responsibility until the end.’
How foolish and naive his judgment had been. Choi Eunseong realized it painfully only when he heard Yeonhu’s voice murmuring lowly as he sank his teeth into Han Jaekyung’s sobbing nape.
Consideration and patience… It might not have been such positive signals, but simply that he couldn’t find in Choi Eunseong the desperate thirst that made him feel like he couldn’t bear it without embracing someone right away.
He felt the urge to snap at him, asking if he was so proud of the spot he’d claimed by spreading his legs next to Yeonhu, but Choi Eunseong managed to swallow his rage.
“…I’ll give you time to sort out your feelings. Promise me that when hyung’s memory returns, you’ll disappear from his vicinity, whether as a friend or whatever.”
“Choi Eunseong-ssi!”
“This is the Maginot Line of what I can concede. I don’t want anything beyond this either. If you refuse, I have no choice. I’ll call hyung right now and tell him everything. It’s been quite a while since his surgery, so even if he’s shocked, he’ll recover faster than before.”
He must have been shocked. Han Jaekyung, with his eyes wide open, could only move his lips without being able to say anything. Then, with trembling hands, he tried to grab Choi Eunseong’s hand. Choi Eunseong roughly shook it off and spoke.
“I don’t care how intimate you two were in the past. Whatever happened, you lost him, and I haven’t yet. The eighteen-year-old Yeonhu, you can have him. He’s rightfully yours, so I won’t say anything. But my lover Yeonhu is off-limits. I absolutely cannot concede him.”
Watching Han Jaekyung’s gaze slowly crumble, Choi Eunseong tried hard to control his wavering heart.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
