Chapter 74
He had wondered if it might happen, and indeed it did. Yuwon looked at Seongcheol with an expression that said he found him utterly annoying.
Since moving from the pork belly restaurant to the beer hall, Seongcheol had been repeating the same thing several times. He alternated between bragging about himself and complaining without getting tired, and now it was complaining time.
“Shit, if only I hadn’t screwed up the college entrance exam back then! Huh? I would have gone to the same university as this bastard Yoon Jaejoon!”
“Then you should have retaken it.”
Jaejoon answered listlessly and popped some puffed rice from the basic side dishes into his mouth.
“Anyway, what a fucking, hic, unlucky bastard.”
Seongcheol’s eyes, grinding his teeth and trembling with anger, were completely unfocused. He definitely wasn’t this bad at the pork belly restaurant, but after coming to the beer hall and downing three mugs of draft beer in succession, he seemed to have gotten drunk quickly.
Yuwon shifted his gaze to Minhyeon, who was slumped next to him. He didn’t know when he had fallen asleep, but he was lying face down without moving at all. At least it was fortunate that Jaejoon was sober.
“Hey, Yoon Jaejoon. You really need to stop drinking.”
“I haven’t been drinking for a while now. Looks like I’ll have to take care of Choi Seongcheol and you’ll have to take care of Minhyeon.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll just go to the bathroom.”
After Jaejoon left his seat, Yuwon checked on Minhyeon’s condition. Even tapping his shoulder didn’t get a response, so he grabbed his back and shook him vigorously, which at least got him to half-open his eyes.
“Hey, Kim Minhyeon. Can you get up?”
“Uh-uh, yeah…”
“I’ll take you home, so walk properly until we get there. Got it?”
“Huu… can’t go. I can’t go, hyung. Yuwon hyung…”
Minhyeon, who kept repeating that he couldn’t go, buried his head on his arm and mumbled Yuwon’s name.
He’s completely out of it. Looking at Minhyeon lying face down, Yuwon let out a deep sigh. His vision went dark wondering how he was going to move this big guy.
Just then, Jaejoon returned from the bathroom and gathered his outerwear and wallet as he spoke.
“Hey, let’s go. I’ll pay the bill, so we’ll settle up tomorrow.”
“Okay. I’ll take Minhyeon and leave first. He doesn’t seem to be in his right mind.”
Jaejoon nodded and waved as if to say go ahead. His steps toward the cashier with the bill were hurried.
“Hey, Kim Minhyeon. Let’s go home now. Okay?”
Yuwon put one of Minhyeon’s arms over his shoulder and stood up with a grunt.
Fortunately, Minhyeon got up on his own feet and walked a few steps. Though he kept stumbling and falling repeatedly, he managed to get outside and successfully hail a taxi.
After first shoving Minhyeon into the back seat and getting in the taxi, Yuwon told the driver the name of the apartment complex where Minhyeon lived. It was fortunate that he remembered hearing it once. Minhyeon, who had been leaning his head against the window with his eyes closed the entire ride, seemed to have fallen asleep as he was quiet.
“Thank you, driver.”
After paying and getting out of the taxi, Yuwon dragged Minhyeon out like luggage. Only after groaning and seating that heavy body on a bench in front of the complex could he catch his breath.
“Ha, really… What did you eat to grow so tall?”
Even though it wasn’t particularly hot weather, sweat had formed on the back of his neck. After roughly wiping away the sweat with his hand, Yuwon approached Minhyeon, who was sitting with his head deeply bowed, and asked.
“Tell me the building and unit number.”
“…”
“Hey, Kim Minhyeon!”
“Uh, uh…”
Only after he shouted loudly did Minhyeon seem to hear Yuwon’s voice and react slightly.
“Aren’t you going to get it together? Which building and which unit do you live in?”
When he asked once more with patience, Minhyeon began to speak the address in fragments. Building 102, unit 602. Looking around, he could see the building where Minhyeon lived right in front of them.
“Lucky it’s close. Let’s go now. Get up.”
“Mmm. Okay.”
Perhaps sensing Yuwon’s anger, Minhyeon began walking alone while staggering. Since he looked quite unsteady, Yuwon firmly held onto Minhyeon’s arm and got on the elevator. He felt like he needed to see him get inside his home to feel at ease.
The elevator arrived at the 6th floor and the doors opened. After bringing him to the front door, Minhyeon habitually pressed the door lock passcode. After confirming that the door properly opened with a cheerful beep, Yuwon let out a sigh of relief and said.
“Ha, I’m leaving. See you tomorrow.”
Just as he was about to turn around.
“Don’t go.”
“Huh?”
Minhyeon, who couldn’t even open his eyes properly, was desperately holding onto Yuwon’s wrists with both hands.
“Don’t go, please.”
“Hey, Kim Minhyeon. Let go of this…”
Yuwon, who had been trying to shake off his hands, could only freeze in place after facing Minhyeon’s expression.
“Hng, don’t leave me alone…”
Minhyeon shed a single tear and collapsed right there.
***
Site Manager Kim was dead.
Jeonghyeok was at a loss for words in front of this unbelievable reality. Taeju, standing beside him, also couldn’t say anything with his head deeply bowed.
“Honey, sob, no. Honey…”
Site Manager Kim’s wife, who had been wailing since earlier, finally collapsed in the middle of the hospital corridor. Taeju helped her up and seated her on a chair by the wall. The agonized crying didn’t stop for a long time.
Since Site Manager Kim had been healthy without any chronic illness, the shock was bound to be even greater. Jeonghyeok’s eyes sank low as he watched the woman crying with her thin shoulders trembling.
Over her image, his mother who had lost his father overlapped. His mother in her youth, who would scream and cry, then eventually force herself to swallow her tears. His mother who endured and endured but eventually left him.
At the feeling of a cool wind brushing across his chest, he clenched his fists tight. The despair he had forgotten for a long time crashed over his entire body like a tsunami.
Taeju approached Jeonghyeok, who was standing like a stone statue, and said.
“All the children are in America, so they won’t arrive until tomorrow.”
“…”
“I’ll keep watch here. You should…”
Seeing Jeonghyeok’s empty-eyed appearance, Taeju couldn’t continue speaking for a moment. He wasn’t unaware of what kind of existence Site Manager Kim had been to his boss.
“Please go home and rest first. You look very tired.”
Jeonghyeok nodded silently. Taeju was right. If he went home and saw Kim Yuwon’s face once, held him in his arms and slept, then woke up. Then he thought he might feel a bit better.
Jeonghyeok, who took the elevator through the long corridor, pressed the button for the underground parking garage and then took out his phone from his pocket. Messages from Choi Seongsu were piled up on the screen. He had been dutifully sending Yuwon’s movements on schedule.
First was a pork belly restaurant, then a beer hall. He thought it would end there, but there was one more unexpected piece of content.
[Yeonkyo-dong Garam Apartment Complex 3, Building 102. This is Kim Yuwon-ssi’s current location]
[For reference, this is Kim Minhyeon’s address]
A hollow laugh escaped as he read the last line.
Jeonghyeok slowly closed his eyes and opened them. For a moment, his temples throbbed as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his head.
Even while getting off the elevator and heading to his car, he reread the message content several times before calling Yuwon. Fortunately, Yuwon answered the phone right away.
“Hello.”
“Where are you?”
An instinctively gentle voice flowed out. Even in this situation, he felt self-deprecating about his desire for Yuwon not to be afraid of him as he opened the driver’s door.
“I’m at the beer hall we went to before. I’m just about to leave.”
A lie. He barely swallowed the words that were about to burst out of his mouth.
“Didn’t you see the message I sent?”
“…I didn’t see it. Why?”
This is also a lie. A short sigh escaped from the corner of his slightly raised lips.
It felt like experiencing the limits of patience. Just how much could he endure? How much could he tolerate?
“I told you to contact me if you moved locations.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s been so long since the four of us met… Are you angry by any chance?”
Fear was evident in Yuwon’s hesitant voice.
Was he angry? If he was asking whether his feelings amounted to just that.
“It’s not that.”
Once again letting out a scoff, Jeonghyeok fastened his seatbelt and started the car.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to pick you up.”
Feeling the seat vibrate weakly underneath, he continued in a calm voice.
“An acquaintance had a death in the family, and the funeral hall is quite far. It’s in Busan.”
“When will you come home?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Even while shamelessly spitting out lies, Jeonghyeok desperately hoped. Since they had each deceived the other once in a friendly manner, please let your lies end here.
“So contact me when you get home.”
“I understand.”
After hanging up, Jeonghyeok entered Kim Minhyeon’s home address into the navigation system. As he watched the route appear on the map, a fierce pain shot through his head, which had been heavy since earlier.
“Huu…”
Why did it have to be today of all days? The day when he needed him more than any other day.
He didn’t want to let go of the thread of hope until the very end. There might be some misunderstanding, there might be unforeseen circumstances.
Suppressing his heart that felt like it might burst at any moment, Jeonghyeok turned the steering wheel.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
