Side Story 7
The pale eyes sent chills down his spine, as if he’d faced a snake flicking its tongue. It was the moment when Ryu Jeong-woo, sensing something odd about the clerk’s expression, turned around after handing over his card.
The silhouette of a man striding deeper into the café looked familiar. The broad shoulders and long legs were wrapped in fabric that appeared expensive even at a glance.
However, since the man had his back turned, it was difficult to make out his facial features. While an uneasy feeling led him to keep his gaze fixed on the man’s retreating figure, he felt a touch on his arm that drew his attention sideways.
“Hyung, I was going to treat you.”
Eunsol, who had arrived a moment too late, wore a disappointed expression. The card that Hyun-oh had placed in Eunsol’s hand that morning trembled in his small palm.
“You can treat me next time. Let’s go sit down.”
“Okay.”
Words promising a future always felt good no matter when he heard them. As a shy smile quickly formed at the corners of Eunsol’s mouth, Ryu Jeong-woo pushed the strange feeling aside for the moment.
“Here’s your buzzer.”
“Thank you.”
As he returned to his seat with the buzzer from the clerk—whose complexion seemed poor for some reason—Ryu Jeong-woo looked around.
He had seen the strangely familiar man moving toward the back, but the café was so spacious that he couldn’t locate him.
“Is something wrong?”
His behavior seemed somewhat odd to Eunsol as well. Eunsol followed Ryu Jeong-woo’s gaze to where he was looking.
The space was filled with people enjoying their leisurely time, either alone or in small groups. There wasn’t anything particularly eye-catching.
“It’s nothing.”
Ryu Jeong-woo erased the lingering image of someone from his mind and focused on Eunsol.
“You’re almost due now, right?”
“That’s right.”
Eunsol gently caressed his rounded, swollen belly. A complex emotion flashed across Ryu Jeong-woo’s eyes.
He too had once desperately wanted a child with someone he loved, just like Eunsol.
Detecting the shadow that fell across Ryu Jeong-woo’s face, Eunsol hastily removed his hand from his belly. Just as he was desperately racking his brain for something to say, a heavy urge to urinate surged up.
The more his belly grew, the more frequently Eunsol needed to visit the bathroom. It was one of the common symptoms experienced by pregnant people.
“Hyung, I’ll just go to the bathroom for a moment.”
“Okay. Want me to go with you?”
“I’m fine.”
Eunsol shook his head with a faint smile. Though his body was heavy, he wasn’t so incapacitated that he couldn’t walk alone. Eunsol got up and looked for the bathroom sign.
Seeing that it was inside, he walked in that direction when suddenly a strange feeling came over him. A tall man was visible behind the corner.
In a bustling café, it wasn’t unusual for someone to be standing still like a statue. However, what made Eunsol’s eyes widen was that the man looked familiar.
“…I’d appreciate it if you pretended not to see me.”
“Ah…”
It was Min-hyun, Ryu Jeong-woo’s ex-husband. With the collar of his black trench coat pulled up to hide his face, he gave off a suspicious vibe despite his handsome features.
“I’ll be going now.”
Min-hyun disappeared elsewhere with an expression of dismay. Eunsol silently watched him leave, then used the bathroom before returning to Ryu Jeong-woo.
“The drinks and desserts are here.”
Their selections were arranged prettily on the table.
Certainly, until they placed their order, Eunsol’s mouth had been watering at the thought of sweet desserts. But now, his mouth felt bitter as if he’d chewed on something unpleasant.
“What’s with that expression? Did something happen in the bathroom?”
Ryu Jeong-woo cast a questioning glance at Eunsol’s troubled face. It was a moment of anxiety, wondering if Eunsol had experienced something unpleasant.
“Hyung… I saw your ex-husband. On my way to the bathroom.”
Min-hyun had asked Eunsol not to tell, but after thinking about it, Eunsol felt that Ryu Jeong-woo should know—that Min-hyun was following him around like a stalker.
“…That bastard showed up here too?”
Ryu Jeong-woo’s expression froze coldly for a moment. Eunsol’s eyes shook violently at the harsh word that escaped as if grinding molars.
Ryu Jeong-woo exhaled a long sigh and wiped his face. His stiffened expression soon softened to its usual gentleness.
“I thought I might have seen him earlier. I’m sorry, Eunsol. You’re worried because of me.”
“N-no, not at all.”
Eunsol waved both hands in embarrassment. This was absolutely not something for which Ryu Jeong-woo should apologize.
“I didn’t tell you because I was worried…”
At the sound that escaped Ryu Jeong-woo’s lips, Eunsol’s face took on a distant hue.
He’d heard that the person who stayed by Ryu Jeong-woo’s side while he was hospitalized was Min-hyun. Of course, measures were taken to prevent him from entering the room when Ryu Jeong-woo was conscious.
However, because he spent most of his days unconscious, whenever he woke up, he had to face Min-hyun keeping watch by his side.
The medical staff couldn’t completely block him, as Min-hyun was listed as Ryu Jeong-woo’s guardian.
“I filed for a restraining order with the court. So now he’s hovering around like a stalker.”
That bastard.
Ryu Jeong-woo clenched his fist, muttering the curse internally.
When he had been desperately in love with Min-hyun, the man had only caused him pain. Now that he was finally beginning to forget, there was no way that Min-hyun’s strange behavior would seem favorable.
“At that time… you said he was remarrying someone new…”
Eunsol had heard and seen things while by Ryu Jeong-woo’s side. Unable to have children, Ryu Jeong-woo eventually divorced Min-hyun.
Though it was a mutual divorce, in reality, Min-hyun’s parents had essentially thrown Ryu Jeong-woo out of the family. This was because the person pregnant with Min-hyun’s child had directly approached Min-hyun’s mother.
Blinded by the desire to see a grandchild, she chose to discard Ryu Jeong-woo.
Because of this, even Eunsol, who didn’t know how to hate people, came to dislike Min-hyun and Ryu Jeong-woo’s mother-in-law.
Conversely, he realized how fortunate he was to have such a good mother-in-law.
“Apparently it wasn’t his biological child. It was quite a mess.”
It was a story that seemed more likely to appear in a morning drama. While it might be an intriguing tale to curse at when watching as a drama, it was a nauseating affair from the perspective of those involved.
The day Ryu Jeong-woo stamped the divorce papers, he had vowed innumerable times never to get entangled with Min-hyun and his family again.
After all, the tears he had shed would be enough to fill a bathtub and more.
“I don’t know what kind of shock my near-death experience gave him, but he’s acting out of character.”
Eunsol deeply sympathized with that aspect. Hyun-oh had also acted like a changed person after Eunsol woke up.
Seeing the awkward smile that hung at the corners of Eunsol’s eyes, Ryu Jeong-woo wagged his index finger from side to side.
“Don’t tell me you’re comparing that jerk to Hyun-oh? They were wrong in completely different ways to begin with.”
At least after marrying Eunsol, Hyun-oh had cleared up all his past relationships. He had even cleanly cut ties with Min Sehyun who had been hovering around.
Hyun-oh’s only wrongdoing was making Eunsol feel lonely for a long time by not recognizing his own feelings.
“…I just want you to meet someone better, Hyung. Someone who only loves you and doesn’t look at anyone else.”
Just as Ryu Jeong-woo wished for Eunsol’s happiness, the same was true for Eunsol. From Eunsol’s perspective, Min-hyun had always only hurt Ryu Jeong-woo.
Looking at Hyun-oh, he truly felt that people could change, but the things Min-hyun had done were of an unforgivable nature.
“I will. I should be happy now too.”
Ryu Jeong-woo smiled brightly as if to say not to worry. There was no shadow to be found in his smiling face, which finally put Eunsol at ease.
* * *
“You don’t look well.”
“Ah, that’s…”
Hyun-oh interlaced his fingers with Eunsol’s as he sat down beside him. Eunsol naturally tapped the back of Hyun-oh’s hand with his fingertips.
In the past, when they held hands like this, a damp sensation would quickly form between their palms due to nervousness.
Now that he was used to it, Hyun-oh’s warmth transferred to Eunsol’s somewhat cold hands, infusing them with a pleasant warmth.
“Did something happen?”
Hyun-oh’s earnest gaze carefully examined Eunsol’s complexion. He had thought that after spending time with Ryu Jeong-woo, whom he had so wanted to meet, Eunsol’s expression would be brighter than usual. But his expectation was entirely off the mark.
Should he have watched from nearby instead of coming to pick him up at the arranged time? As Hyun-oh was considering this thought—which would have frozen Eunsol if he knew—Eunsol spoke up.
“I saw Min-hyun. He was following Jeong-woo Hyung around like a stalker.”
After a moment of consideration, Eunsol honestly confided in Hyun-oh. He didn’t want to create any hidden aspects between them.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
