Chapter 71
[I can’t live with ajeossi anymore. I’m sorry.]
Looking at the irresponsible one-line message, Jeonghyeok burst into a hollow laugh.
What kind of fucking joke was this? A sharp pain spread like he’d been hit in the head, and his neck stiffened all the way up.
Jeonghyeok adjusted his grip on the phone he’d been clutching as if to break it, and called Yuwon. But only the tedious connection tone continued endlessly, and he couldn’t hear Yuwon’s voice.
Though his heart seemed to shatter into pieces at this unbelievable reality, he tried his best to think rationally.
Anyway, Yuwon had no money. He hadn’t been able to work part-time until now and had been living using only his cards. He would need money to move anywhere, so his tail would definitely be caught before long.
Jeonghyeok stopped trying to call Yuwon and instead called Choi Seongsu.
Ring, ring.
The sound he heard every day felt unbearably cruel. Every second felt like his breath was breaking off with each beat.
Get it together. He needed to stay calm at times like this. First, he should locate Yuwon through the surveillance he’d put on him, and also have them find out as quickly as possible where phone location tracking was available.
He planned to thoroughly search every place that guy might go. Since he had no connections, it would be difficult to suddenly leave for somewhere far, and there was a high possibility he was temporarily staying at the orphanage or friends’ houses.
Could he be at Kim Minhyeon’s house? Since that guy lived alone without parents, wouldn’t he think he could stay comfortably without having to worry about anyone?
The image of the two people lying side by side in the same room naturally came to mind. Even Yuwon’s face laughing comfortably was vivid. Thinking that far, a sharp pain crossed his temples. At the same time, his vision went black.
Are you with that guy right now? After abandoning me, in the end.
Suddenly, a hot mass surged up his throat. It wasn’t tears for sadness, and he felt endlessly like crying for anger. He was terribly confused by emotions he’d never felt before in his life.
In the midst of this, his darkened vision didn’t return. It was the same no matter how many times he blinked.
He needed to move as quickly as possible to find Kim Yuwon. Jeonghyeok only chewed his innocent lips in his impatient heart. In his ears, ring, ring, only the cruel connection tone still rang like a hallucination.
Fuck. Why won’t you answer the phone like this?
He put down the phone while suppressing his rising anger. He was about to press the call button to call Choi Seongsu once more, but since he still couldn’t see ahead, he kept missing. Jeonghyeok muttered low curses and moved his fingers randomly.
That’s when it happened. An unexpected sound came from behind him.
The sound of rattling and touching kitchen utensils. The sound of water falling with a splash from the sink. It was very small noise, but he definitely heard it. Suddenly, there was a sign of someone in the kitchen.
It was strange. He had definitely confirmed that no one was in the kitchen just a moment ago, so why were these sounds coming?
That wasn’t the only strange thing. At some point, the phone he’d been holding in his hand disappeared, and it was bright outside the window as if dawn had broken. His puzzled feeling was brief, and soon warm heat enveloped his entire body.
At that moment, Jeonghyeok opened his eyes with a start.
“Haa, haa…”
Rough breathing filled the bedroom. Sunlight was pouring through the drawn curtains, and from outside came the sound of chopping on a cutting board – thump, thump, thump. It was truly a peaceful morning.
Jeonghyeok, who had been breathing heavily for a while, wiped the cold sweat flowing down his forehead. After barely collecting himself, he first checked his phone. There was no record of calling Choi Seongsu, nor any message from Yuwon.
Even after confirming with his own two eyes, his heart was still uneasy, so Jeonghyeok left the bedroom while tightly gripping his phone.
“Kim Yuwon.”
Calling Yuwon softly and going to the kitchen, he could see Yuwon’s back as he was taking dishes out of the cupboard.
“Oh, did you wake up?”
Yuwon glanced at Jeonghyeok and greeted him, then went back to what he was doing. He put miso soup in a bowl and served rice. On the table, side dishes and two sets of chopsticks and spoons were already placed. Seeing the scene no different from usual, Jeonghyeok dropped his shoulders.
It was a dream.
The moment he fully realized it, a low gasp escaped. The damn dream had been so vivid that his heart was still beating like crazy. Jeonghyeok swallowed dry saliva and spoke as calmly as possible.
“You got up early.”
Yuwon nodded without any particular response, then moved the rice bowl and soup bowl to the table. After bringing water and sitting down, he gestured to the seat across from him as if telling Jeonghyeok to sit down too.
Though he wasn’t in the mood to eat, Jeonghyeok silently pulled out a chair and sat down. He placed the phone he was holding on the table.
“Why did you get up so early on a weekend?”
“I just woke up.”
“You did that yesterday too. You seem to keep waking up early these days.”
“Well, I’m naturally diligent, you know.”
Yuwon shrugged and said after taking a sip of water first. Jeonghyeok took in every corner of Yuwon’s appearance like taking a photograph.
His slightly messy hair from just waking up and his clear face beneath it, his white nape and straight shoulders. This was definitely the Kim Yuwon he knew. Just that fact alone made a corner of his chest ache dully.
“Should we go out for some fresh air after eating?”
“Suddenly?”
“We could eat outside and watch a movie… well, even just driving around would be fine.”
It was something he said hoping Yuwon would be even a little happy. But Yuwon didn’t seem very interested and only smiled awkwardly.
“It’s fine. We can watch movies at home too.”
He didn’t like how Yuwon simply finished his response and immediately looked down. It seemed like an expression that he didn’t want any more conversation.
Just as his heart became needlessly anxious and he clenched his jaw, the phone placed on the table vibrated briefly. When he glanced sideways, he could see the message content from the real estate agent.
[Boss, would it be possible to have a call?^^]
He remembered her saying she would contact him immediately once the contract date was set. Jeonghyeok picked up his phone and got up from his seat, saying:
“I’ll go make a quick call. Keep eating.”
“Okay.”
When Jeonghyeok went into the bedroom, Yuwon put down the spoon he was holding with a thud.
“Hah…”
He stared blankly in the direction where Jeonghyeok had disappeared, then shifted his gaze to his own rice bowl that he’d barely touched.
Even though he’d served less rice than usual, the amount wasn’t decreasing satisfactorily. He’d been in this state for the past few days. To be precise, since that day when the sex that started in the bathroom continued all night.
That day when every corner of his body was laid bare by Jeonghyeok’s force. His own body, which dutifully reached climax even while screaming to stop, felt strange. When clear liquid dripped from the tip of his cock at the end, it was shameful enough to bring tears.
Because of Jeonghyeok, who pushed forward as if to see it through to the end, he had even come to dread sex lately. There had definitely been times when just touching skin made his whole body tingle with pleasure. Those days now felt distant.
A fine crack had formed in his heart. His mind was complicated with mixed thoughts that something was wrong and vague worries.
Yuwon rubbed his nape once for no reason. Though they had faded considerably, red marks remained here and there. Because of the marks left conspicuously on exposed places, he’d had to take out shirts he rarely wore and button them up to his neck for several days.
His chest felt as stuffy as his tightly constricted neck. To be honest, the ajeossi was also scary. He who got angry just for not answering the phone and pressed him relentlessly had become somewhat frightening now.
Other people say dating is fun, that it’s just exciting and happy. Why do I have to have these feelings?
No matter how ignorant he was about dating, he knew that being afraid of your lover wasn’t normal. Not being able to speak comfortably with a single word like now, and not being able to look properly into the other person’s eyes were also problematic.
Yuwon let out a deep sigh and picked up his chopsticks. He placed dried seaweed on top of his rice and spaced out for a while again. His thoughts led from one to another and reached a conclusion.
Should we break up?
The sentence that suddenly came to mind took over his head. If he said let’s break up, then what would happen? Since it was a situation he’d never considered before, his mind went blank for a moment.
Then click, the bedroom door opened and Jeonghyeok came out. When he returned to the table and saw Yuwon’s rice that hadn’t decreased at all, he slightly frowned.
“You’re eating, right? Why.”
“We should eat together. Sit down quickly, ajeossi.”
Yuwon spoke with an unnecessarily bright expression. He picked up his spoon energetically and deliberately took a big bite of rice.
Breaking up with ajeossi. Even though it was just his own thought, he felt like he’d committed a sin, and his chest trembled finely.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
