Chapter 67
“Aw, Boss Moon. Just one bill. No more, no less, just lend me one big bill. You know me!”
Jeonghyeok’s brow furrowed at the whining voice. The woman with brilliant rings adorning all ten fingers paid no attention and banged on the table while raising her voice.
“It’s just one measly building that went to auction, but look how much land I have! How can you be so heartless, huh?”
The woman, who was the owner of the building that Taeju had gone through eviction procedures for a few days ago, was a well-known land-rich person in this neighborhood. Born and raised in a wealthy family, she had plenty of land inherited from her parents, and being skilled at buying and selling real estate, she owned several buildings at a young age.
Jeonghyeok had also lent her large sums of money for quite a long time. Despite the high interest rates, she was a VIP customer who had never missed an interest payment, so in a way, it was natural.
But that glorious past was all from before she fell into gambling. For some reason, the woman had started frequenting illegal gambling dens a few years ago.
She was marked as a sucker from the beginning and lost quite a lot of money every time she went, and while once or twice was okay, when such incidents kept repeating, she eventually lost all the money she had. Even the small building near the station, which was quite profitable despite its small size, going to auction was all because of that.
Thanks to acquiring the building at a cheap price, Jeonghyeok made quite a profit, but he had no intention of tolerating such unreasonable behavior.
“It’s noisy, so I’ll just throw her out.”
When Taeju, who was standing beside him, couldn’t stand it anymore and tried to drag the woman out, Jeonghyeok gestured for Taeju to stay put. Then he smiled at the woman.
“If I lend to you this time, can you really pay it back?”
“Of course. I’ll definitely pay it back, okay? I’m not lying, really!”
“I heard rumors around the neighborhood that you don’t even have money for food and are borrowing ten thousand, twenty thousand won.”
At the cold voice, the woman’s eyes widened. Indeed, because of the daily increasing interest, it was hard to even solve one meal a day, so she was barely surviving day by day by disposing of her belongings one by one. The rings she was wearing now were the last remaining valuables.
The woman with trembling dry lips screamed loudly.
“Ha! Th-those are all false rumors. I have land in Gangwon-do and land in Jeju-do too! It’s just ignorant people spreading rumors. Geez, it’s so ridiculous.”
She had disposed of both the Gangwon-do and Jeju-do land recently. That money was also all blown at the gambling den. The woman’s current assets were just the security deposit for a one-room monthly rental and the rings dangling from her fingers.
At the woman’s attitude of spouting lies without blinking an eye, Jeonghyeok muttered with a sneer.
“Maybe she’ll come to her senses only after having her tongue cut…”
It seemed like he was talking to himself, but the voice was too clear to ignore. It didn’t seem like he was just trying to intimidate her either. She could instinctively tell. The man in front of her was truly a man who could cut her tongue and more.
The woman trembled and looked down, avoiding his watery gaze. At times like this, it was best to keep her mouth shut quietly. She had that much sense.
As this atmosphere of silence continued, a short vibrating sound rang like salvation. Jeonghyeok took out his phone from his jacket’s inner pocket. When Jeonghyeok’s gaze turned to his phone, the woman finally let out the breath she had been holding.
[Just arrived home. Moved alone, and didn’t stop anywhere else.]
On the screen was Choi Seongsu’s message informing him of Yuwon’s location. When there were no particular incidents, he usually delivered the content briefly via text rather than calling separately.
However, Jeonghyeok’s expression slightly crumpled as he scanned through the message history. Yuwon, who usually sent messages promptly upon arriving home, hadn’t contacted him at all today.
Jeonghyeok got up from his seat, slowly buttoned his jacket, and called Yuwon.
―The customer is currently on a call, please try again later.
But all he heard was a stiff automated message. With a short tsk, Jeonghyeok said to Taeju beside him:
“I’m leaving.”
“Yes, hyung-nim. Please go ahead.”
“W-wait a minute. Boss Moon! Are you really leaving? Are you going to completely cut me off like this?”
When Jeonghyeok suddenly tried to leave, the desperate woman jumped up and grabbed him.
If she couldn’t borrow money like this, her path to survival was truly bleak. She already had unspeakably huge debts, so it wouldn’t be strange if she was sold off somewhere tonight. The gentlemanly Jeonghyeok was the last hope remaining for the woman in this world.
The woman deliberately pressed her body close to Jeonghyeok. No matter how coldly he acted, he was still just a man after all. This approach would be better than pleading with words a hundred times.
“Boss Moon, please I’m begging you. Think of it as saving a person’s life and help me out. If there’s anything you want, I’ll do everything. Huh? Just once. Please, please…”
Jeonghyeok quietly looked down at the woman’s pale hand gripping his arm, then laughed low as if dumbfounded.
“This really fucking ruins my mood.”
“…What?”
The bewildered woman tilted her head and looked up at Jeonghyeok. I must have heard wrong. The eyes she met with a glimmer of hope contained not a trace of affection. Far from affection, they were full of blatant contempt.
“Ah—!”
Jeonghyeok roughly shook off the woman’s hand and said:
“If you want to live, watch your tongue.”
“…”
“And never come here again.”
With that heavy warning, Jeonghyeok quickly left the office. With a bang, the door closed and the woman, having lost even her last hope, sat down on the floor in despair.
***
Seongcheol’s reply came just as Yuwon arrived home. It was about him getting leave next week.
[You remember our Minhyeon, right? I’d like the four of us to meet that day]
Yuwon sent the message while taking off his shoes. Although he conveyed the news of the reunion with Minhyeon as plainly as possible, he could clearly predict what the guys’ reactions would be.
He briefly considered adding more explanation, then gave up. Anyway, he’d tell them the detailed story when they met, so he thought there was no need to say it in advance.
Yuwon hung up his coat and picked up his phone again to send a message to Jeonghyeok. Just then, Jaejoon called out of the blue.
“Oh, Jaejoon.”
―What are you talking about? Meeting with Minhyeon?
As expected, Jaejoon’s voice was highly agitated. He seemed quite surprised by such a sudden suggestion. Yuwon explained the situation bit by bit.
“Ah, well… I happened to meet Minhyeon, and he said he missed seeing you guys. If you don’t want to, we don’t have to meet.”
―Why wouldn’t I want to? I’m fine with it, I’m just wondering if you’re okay with it.
To Jaejoon who was worrying about him so much, Yuwon spoke in an unnecessarily brighter voice.
“I’m fine, that’s why I’m suggesting we meet. You don’t need to worry about me, just make some time when Choi Seongcheol gets his leave.”
Despite Yuwon’s words, Jaejoon confirmed several times whether he was really okay, and was also curious about how he ended up meeting Minhyeon again.
Yuwon postponed answers to all questions until their meeting day. This later, that later, saying he’d tell them later, so Jaejoon, who had been asking this and that, let out an “Ugh!” sigh.
―Why do you have so many secrets? I have to meet you just out of frustration.
“Yeah. We’ll talk when we meet.”
―Got it. See you that day.
After ending the bickering call, Yuwon was about to send the remaining message to Jeonghyeok when he discovered the missed call list on his screen and was a bit startled.
“Huh…?”
In just about 5 minutes, there were as many as five missed calls. The caller was Jeonghyeok for all of them.
Wondering if something had happened, he was about to call back immediately when the phone rang first. Startled, Yuwon hurriedly pressed the call button.
“Ajeossi?”
―What call were you on for so long?
At the tone that seemed to scold him right away, Yuwon was a bit flustered and spoke complainingly.
“Just… I was talking with a friend.”
―Which friend?
“Jaejoon.”
―What were you talking about?
At the persistent questions, Yuwon’s face crumpled. Could it be that he kept calling just because the line was busy? His heart, which had been startled with worry, felt coldly disappointed.
―Why aren’t you answering? What were you talking about?
He was hurt by the pressing tone. Do I have to tell him about all these things? Feeling wronged as if being treated like an unfaithful spouse, he blurted out blunt words in his anger.
“We made drinking plans. This time the four of us will meet including Minhyeon.”
―What are you suddenly talking about?
“Minhyeon said he wanted to see my friends after a long time, so it ended up that way. This time we’re going to drink, so don’t tell me not to drink. And don’t come to pick me up either. I can come home by myself.”
As he shot out everything without breathing, the other side became quiet. Yuwon held his rapidly beating heart and waited for Jeonghyeok’s response.
Then after a while, a low voice flowed out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
