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Part 5. The Deceiver’s Predation
“Jaekyung. Tell me the truth, we…”
The tips of his pale fingers trembled slightly. His startled eyes were busy blinking frantically. Jang Yeonhu had to bite his lip tightly to keep from bursting into laughter. He’d felt this way from the moment he received the message that Han Jaekyung had rushed out of his home, from the moment he heard the elevator arrival tone through the intentionally left-open door. When hurried footsteps wandered through the house as if searching every corner, his chest had swelled with such excitement.
“Y-Yeonhu, I’ll explain, I’ll… explain everything so you’ll understand. First, let me, uh, first let me—”
The moment he had been constantly dreaming of was far more wonderful than he’d imagined. He was truly grateful to Choi Eunseong for creating this perfect opportunity. He had been useful until the end.
It would have been even better if he could have burst into tears. Unfortunately, his tear ducts were completely dry despite being overwhelmed with joy. He opened his mouth carefully.
“We. We had already broken up, right?”
“…!!”
Han Jaekyung froze like someone stabbed in the lungs, having sharply inhaled. Even as he stood there, teardrops formed and streamed continuously down his pale cheeks. Jang Yeonhu thought about firmly gripping that delicate chin, wanting to lick and bite that tear-soaked face. He wondered if Jaekyung would run away if he knew these thoughts, while keeping them only in his mind.
He had been planning to pretend to recover his memory soon and extract Jaekyung’s surrender anyway. But now, conveniently, Choi Eunseong had delivered this delicious opportunity by mentioning the officetel. Han Jaekyung seemed to have reached his mental limit recently, so there was no need for a more dramatic setup. Still, it wouldn’t be polite to ignore food that someone had so kindly brought.
He sighed and extended the frame he’d been holding toward Han Jaekyung. Jaekyung’s entire body trembled violently as if struck by lightning. The photo behind the glossy glass showed Jang Yeonhu and Choi Eunseong with their faces pressed together, smiling brightly.
“That’s not right… I must have misunderstood…”
“Y-Yeonhu.”
“Why are you, having trouble speaking, Jaekyung? This isn’t true, right…? This can’t be true, right? There’s no way this could happen. How could I possibly be with someone else when I have you…?”
Even when Eunseong had pestered him to take photos together, and when he unnecessarily printed and presented that photo as a gift without being asked, Yeonhu had thought it was troublesome—perhaps because he was young—but now he was glad he’d gone along with it patiently.
Just looking at Han Jaekyung’s current expression—pale and moving his lips without words—made it all worthwhile. With each deep sigh Yeonhu released, Jaekyung crumbled a little more, but unmistakably.
What a pitiful sight he was, covered in wounds, trembling without even daring to put up the slightest defensive wall!
“Answer me. Tell me if what I’m thinking is right. Did we… really break up?”
Jaekyung, who had somehow sunk down onto the bedroom floor, stared up at Jang Yeonhu for a long time before slowly nodding. His sobbing sounded truly heartbreaking.
“This is so strange. I can’t believe it. How could we break up? I don’t understand, Jaekyung. No matter how much time has passed… how could I possibly love someone else when I have you?”
From now on was an important juncture for a satisfying finale. Jang Yeonhu bowed his head deeply and covered his face with both hands to hide the smile that threatened to escape.
“When did we break up? How did we break up? I just… I just met someone else in a moment of anger, right? It’s not like I really liked someone other than you, right?”
“I’m sorry, *hic*, I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Jang Yeonhu, *sob*, *hic*, I’m sorry…”
Finally, proper words began to flow from Jaekyung’s mouth, which had only been emitting sobs until now. Even then, it was just half-slurred apologies rather than answers to his questions. Han Jaekyung just kept repeating that he was sorry, as if he didn’t know how to say anything else.
That sight was indescribably satisfying and heartwarming to Jang Yeonhu. He was confident that Jaekyung had now clearly realized he should never leave him again.
He stood up and approached Han Jaekyung, who was sitting and just crying. As he slowly lowered himself to meet his eye level, Jaekyung unconsciously leaned his upper body back as if frightened. It was an extremely irritating reaction. Jang Yeonhu gently but firmly gripped Jaekyung’s forearm and voiced a polite accusation.
“No matter how much I think about it, I couldn’t have done that. I couldn’t have, done something like that. You’re the one who said we should break up. You’re the one who abandoned me, right?”
“*Sob*, *hic*…”
“Or tell me it’s not true. I always listen to whatever you say. If you say it’s not true, then it’s just a misunderstanding… I don’t care about the photo or anything, we never broke up, if you say that, I’ll believe you. Even if it’s unbelievable, I’ll absolutely believe it.”
After saying all that, Han Jaekyung’s sniffling finally transformed into full-blown crying. As he struggled to breathe between sobs, Yeonhu embraced him, and Jaekyung desperately wrapped his arms around Yeonhu’s back and clung to him. That desperate effort pleased him.
Instead of pressing further right away, Jang Yeonhu silently patted his thin back until his breathing calmed down. After some time, the torrent of tears finally subsided a bit, and Jang Yeonhu asked the question he had been waiting for the right moment to ask.
“Why… did you lie?”
What would he answer? It would be nice if he cried with a feverish face and apologized like just now, or if he gave an embarrassed answer saying that they did break up but he still loved him.
As long as he didn’t spout nonsense about going back to his actual boyfriend now that the truth was out. Whatever excuses those pretty lips made, Jang Yeonhu was prepared to accept them with a smile.
“…I hated it.”
“Hm? Jaekyung, what did you say?”
“How could I, say something like that with my own mouth? That we broke up. That you’ve been with someone else for a long time. I hated saying those words more than death itself.”
The damp voice soaked into all of Jang Yeonhu’s senses like the sweet cream between cake layers. Even his tearful, short breaths sounded sweet.
“That’s right. I, I did abandon you and we did break up…”
“…”
“Just keep pretending not to know. You’ve always looked after me no matter what I did. So this time too, this time too, you look after me. Let’s pretend we never broke up. Just love me, just, just like only me…”
Despite usually being clever enough to turn people inside out, when cornered, all Jaekyung offered was stubbornness and unreasonable demands without any logic or basis. He seemed to have neither the intention nor the mental capacity to explain why they had broken up or how deep the relationship between Choi Eunseong and Jang Yeonhu was. He was just stubbornly holding on while crying sadly like a six or seven-year-old child who had dropped their candy.
“If I pretend not to know?”
Jang Yeonhu asked tentatively.
“For now, we could probably live normally without much difference. But what if my memory returns, what will you do then?”
“…”
“Han Jaekyung.”
He called his name sternly, removing the warm body from his embrace after crying so much, and Jaekyung just bit his lower lip while avoiding eye contact. Jang Yeonhu felt like shoving something into those thin lips right away, abandoning all complicated back-and-forth. His tongue, or his fingers. He wanted to see that face whimpering helplessly with his small mouth stuffed full.
When he called again, “Jaekyung,” in a slightly softer voice, Han Jaekyung barely opened his mouth in a voice as quiet as a mosquito.
“…I don’t know.”
It was such a small voice that it was almost inaudible unless one listened carefully.
“Fuck, I don’t know. How am I, supposed to know that? I have no idea… I’ll just apologize. I’ll say I’m sorry, so you just say okay. And then, love me again… love me again.”
Even at times like this, his shamelessness of just stubbornly insisting was lovable.
“Will you abandon me again?”
“*Sob*, no, absolutely not, I’ll never abandon you…”
“You won’t ask to break up again either? Can you promise?”
“Yes, yes yes.”
Han Jaekyung nodded vigorously while still sniffling. Jang Yeonhu finally pressed his lips against those wet cheeks he had been dying to taste, and whispered gently in that position.
“Then promise, and quickly say you’re sorry.”
“I’m sorry. I, *hic*, I did everything wrong…”
“Okay. I love you too.”
He seemed to have realized that Jang Yeonhu was going to accept his unreasonable demands as he always had. Han Jaekyung finally seemed relieved and burst into loud sobs, wrapping his arms tightly around Jang Yeonhu’s neck.
His bad habit of always trying to run away when facing trivial walls like family or reality seemed to have been thoroughly corrected through this opportunity. Although it had been delayed a bit longer than planned due to an unexpected accident, it was no big deal since he had achieved a satisfying result.
It didn’t take long for those wet lips, still with remnants of tears, to reach Jang Yeonhu’s mouth. Jang Yeonhu completely devoured Jaekyung, who had rushed over in bare feet and pajamas. The cheap frame, now carelessly tossed aside somewhere, was of no concern to anyone.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
