Feeling relieved, Yeonwoo’s legs weakened as he came down from where he’d climbed and collapsed onto the toilet lid. After staring blankly for a while, Yeonwoo felt around his clothes.
Then he remembered putting his phone in the front pocket of the bag he was holding after ending the call with the woman.
“The phone, I need to call first…”
He didn’t know what Seongho might do with Ho Munbeom’s check. He needed to find it before anything happened. He recalled how strict the bank was when verifying a check that went toward his father’s hospital bills. It wouldn’t be easy to cash a ten-million-won check.
Returning to his room, Yeonwoo nearly tripped over the drawer pulled out onto the floor, but managed to maintain his balance and crouched down in front of his bag. His hands trembled so badly that he couldn’t properly grip the zipper. With difficulty, he opened the zipper, took out his phone, and dialed Lee Jonghoon’s number.
Though he was certain the culprit was Seongho, he didn’t know that guy’s number. His plan was to first get Seongho’s number through Lee Jonghoon and then call him.
After checking the number on the screen several times, he pressed call. At first, there was no answer, but after calling two, three times in succession, it finally connected.
[What are you doing now…!!]
“Did you tell Seongho my address and door code?”
Lee Jonghoon was raising his voice as usual, but Yeonwoo ignored that and asked accusingly, making him fall silent. Instead, he muttered something like, is this guy crazy, what is he talking about, then after a faint “excuse me,” he seemed to be quickly heading somewhere.
After moving to a quieter place, Lee Jonghoon raised his voice again.
[Why are you suddenly calling and saying this! I thought you were going to apologize for what happened last time, but why are you suddenly bringing up Seongho? Do you think Seongho is your friend?!]
“Should I call him brother then? You wouldn’t like that. No, more than Seongho, the woman would be the problem. She’d cause a scene.”
[You, you, what’s with that attitude? Have you been drinking in broad daylight? How dare you speak to me that way! I’ve let you live comfortably lately and now you can’t get your head straight! If this continues, the hospital bills and living expenses will all…!!]
“I’m tired of those threats, so stop it and just give me Seongho’s contact information.”
[…..]
Lee Jonghoon acted as he always did, but Yeonwoo was different.
Beneath his calmly questioning voice was anger that could explode at any moment. Sensing this, Lee Jonghoon fell silent for a moment before asking glumly, what’s wrong with you.
[Why are you suddenly acting like this? Did Seongho come around where you live again? If so, you can just speak nicely and send him away, why are you behaving this way! So rude! Hey!!]
Lee Jonghoon seemed like he was trying to appease him at first, but quickly revealed his true colors. In his mind, Yeonwoo wasn’t someone to be soothed gently, but someone who needed to be yelled at to make him listen.
With a throbbing headache, Yeonwoo spoke briefly.
“That bastard came into my house while I was away, stole my money and ran off. So give me that pathetic human’s contact information. Otherwise, I’ll file a report.”
[…W-what are you saying?! Who are you calling a bastard?! Have you lost your mind?!]
“It’s not me who needs to come to their senses, it’s that bastard Seongho.”
Lee Jonghoon didn’t listen to what Yeonwoo was saying and just kept getting angry. He seemed quite heated that someone like Yeonwoo would dare call his son a bastard. He brought up the blind date incident from a few days ago, shouting that Yeonwoo should be apologizing and groveling for forgiveness, not acting this way. Yeonwoo calmly responded.
“I’m really going to file a report. I won’t answer any calls until you send me his number, so remember that.”
Then Yeonwoo hung up, put down the phone, and sat on the floor.
He pretended to be calm and composed, but in truth, he was so tense that his stomach was churning. That’s because the checks Seongho had stolen were from Ho Munbeom. Remembering Ho Munbeom’s name stamped on the back of the checks, Yeonwoo put a hand to his head.
What if Seongho showed the check to Lee Jonghoon? Everyone thought he had ruined his relationship with Ho Munbeom. The truth was, they had been meeting steadily since that day, and had slept together many times. Just last week, he was with that person.
As Yeonwoo recalled the dreamlike memories, his body gradually leaned forward. Lying face down on the floor, he exhaled a long breath. His chest felt tight and his head hurt. With no strength left in his body, Yeonwoo let out what must have been his umpteenth long sigh, just to alleviate some of the discomfort.
He thought Lee Jonghoon might call back, if only because he was upset that Yeonwoo had hung up first. But the phone remained silent. Meanwhile, Yeonwoo roughly cleaned the living room and made food. He didn’t want to eat anything, but he felt he should fill his stomach to some extent in preparation for whatever situation might arise. However, even looking at the steaming rice, his mouth felt dry, and he stopped after just a few spoonfuls.
He divided the remaining rice into portions and put them in the freezer, then went to his room to clean. Throughout all this, Yeonwoo’s eyes kept returning to his phone. Time passed quickly, and it was almost 9 o’clock, but there was no contact from Lee Jonghoon.
So I won’t be getting Seongho’s contact information after all.
“…”
More than the three checks, the name written on them worried him more.
He couldn’t imagine what Seongho might think seeing that. If Lee Jonghoon found out, he would make a fuss. Asking what this check was all about. Demanding to know what kind of relationship he had with Ho Munbeom. If that happened, what should he say?
Yeonwoo, who had been staring at his phone for a while, reached for it and after several moments of hesitation, dialed a number. His fingers carefully pressed each number, then hovered over the call button before he exhaled deeply. With a trembling thumb, he pressed call and froze.
This is the last time. If he doesn’t answer, that’s the end of it, I won’t call a second time, Yeonwoo thought as he bit his lower lip.
Just then, the ringtone stopped.
“…”
Though it was really nothing, his body shook violently. Without time to be flustered, Yeonwoo saw the call time increasing and let out a small “ah.” Then, holding the phone with both hands, he put it to his ear.
“It’s, it’s Yeonwoo.”
While I was out, my half-brother entered my house without permission and stole the checks the director gave me. The incident itself is serious, but I’m worried about your name being on the checks and wanted to discuss it a bit. What should I do if my half-brother or father misunderstands our relationship? Those words rose to his throat but went back down.
It felt like anything he said would sound like excuses. It seemed like he would come across as very pathetic and strange. You might wonder why I kept the checks at home when it’s been so long since I received them. So, the reason I’m suddenly contacting Munbeom is…
Now even the things he was going to say didn’t come to mind. Feeling his head going blank, Yeonwoo moved his lips and said, “Director.”
“…What are you doing right now?”
This wasn’t what he had intended to say.
He wanted to say that there might be a problem because he had kept the checks improperly. But if the other person could just pretend not to know, he would handle it himself. That’s what he wanted to say. In other words, he hoped their meetings wouldn’t end because of this incident.
Yeonwoo painfully squeezed out the words.
“Could we meet today?”
The whole weekend had been wonderful. They ate nutritious chicken soup and spent the night at a place with a swimming pool, where they made love with Munbeom several times. Recalling that they had also done it in the car, Yeonwoo’s ears grew hot. It would have been great if that atmosphere had continued until the end, but it didn’t. Whether it was because of the couple that suddenly appeared, or for some other reason, his mood had deteriorated rapidly.
It would have been nice if he could have asked why.
He couldn’t bring it up then, but now he suddenly asked to meet. Thinking about it, this might be the first time he had spoken first like this. So he regretted it. If it was his first time saying such things, and he was rejected, then…
[Although I gave you my contact information separately, this kind of approach is difficult.]
“…”
[I’m hanging up now.]
Then it would hurt, quite a lot.
The call with Munbeom had ended long ago, but Yeonwoo was still holding the phone to his ear. The other person’s reaction was within the expected range, and Yeonwoo wasn’t even someone who could initiate a call in the first place. He was the one who had done wrong. So it would be strange to feel hurt or wounded by the other’s reaction. He should put down the phone and go back to cleaning the room before becoming an even stranger person…
But Yeonwoo couldn’t take the phone away from his ear for quite some time after that.
***
Young Munbeom was crouched in a corner, covering his ears with both hands. Though it was quieter than the main house, he still pressed his palms against his ears so tightly that there was no gap between them.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
