By Zephyria 
It is a ridiculous kind of devotion.
The feeling of hating the idea that the person you like thinks you have a lover. Even when that person wouldn’t actually care whether you had one or not.
“It’s… it’s nothing…”
He doesn’t care. Knowing that, Seo Chi-young felt pathetic for adding excuses.
Jang Ui-geon remained silent in front of Chi-young, who stood frozen awkwardly, clutching his collar with one hand. But in the next moment, he stood up without hesitation. He walked around the table and came to a stop beside Chi-young.
“Look at me for a second.”
His voice was calm, as usual. However, the decisive tone that left no room for argument felt strangely unfamiliar.
With a touch as firm as his voice, Jang Ui-geon brushed away the hand Chi-young had been using to hold his collar. Startled, Chi-young let out a small “oh” and tightened his grip on the fabric.
“Ui-geon, I mean, it’s just…”
Chi-young stammered in embarrassment, struggling not to let go of the collar, but it was useless. Without answering, Ui-geon forcibly—almost roughly—pried Chi-young’s hand away and pulled the collar wide open.
“………”
Chi-young blinked, looking up at Jang Ui-geon with a bewildered expression. Ui-geon stared silently at Chi-young’s neck.
For a few seconds, as if time had stopped, Ui-geon gazed intently at the neck before raising his hand. He slowly stroked the area, as if confirming what it was.
Slightly above where the neck meets the shoulder. There was a vivid red mark.
“……I mean, uh, …..it just happened, somehow.”
Jang Ui-geon didn’t seem to hear Chi-young’s hesitant mumbling; he continued to stare at the neck. Only after a moment did he flick his eyes up to look at him. Their eyes met.
Chi-young’s heart chilled at that expressionless gaze, from which all traces of a smile had vanished. Unconsciously, Chi-young shrank back and fell silent.
After hesitating for a moment, Chi-young tried to gently remove Ui-geon’s hand from his collar, but the grip on the fabric suddenly tightened. Chi-young flinched as his hand touched the knuckles, which had turned white from the force of the fist.
“Uh…” Chi-young started to say something but closed his mouth again. Jang Ui-geon looked down at him in silence before slowly unfolding his fist. He glanced down at the nape of the neck once more, his lips pressed firmly together. As if to hide the mark, he bluntly pulled the collar together and began to fasten the buttons.
In the process of roughly pulling the collar, the fabric brushed against Chi-young’s chest.
“……..!”
Chi-young reflexively grimaced and recoiled from the sharp sting. Seeing Chi-young gasp, Jang Ui-geon, who was about to step back after finishing the buttons, frowned in confusion.
Ui-geon looked at Chi-young—who was hunched over with his shoulders shrugged—as if he were strange, and then dropped a suspicious gaze toward Chi-young’s chest.
“……Are you hurt?”
His voice was still calm, though slightly lower. Contrary to the voice, however, a faint crease formed in his expressionless eyes. Chi-young flinched, his eyes widening, and he quickly shook his head.
“N-no. I’m not hurt, it’s just, a little, ……”
But the more he spoke, the more his words trailed off, and Chi-young ended up closing his mouth awkwardly. Jang Ui-geon, staring down at Chi-young as he lowered his head in distress, suddenly narrowed his eyes. Without hesitation, he grabbed the collar he had just buttoned and pulled. Tug, tug, tug. Chi-young hurriedly grabbed Ui-geon’s wrist as he ruthlessly undid the buttons, but Ui-geon had already undone four or five of them and yanked the collar open.
“Oh…!”
Chi-young stared blankly at a couple of buttons that had ripped off and were rolling on the floor. Only then did he shift his gaze to his own exposed chest.
In that moment, Chi-young fell silent. His pale face flushed hot instantly, and unable to look at Jang Ui-geon, he hunched his shoulders and bowed his head.
Jang Ui-geon remained silent.
Inside the open shirt, on the bare skin, the nipples were erect and swollen red, looking as if they would hurt even from the slightest brush of fabric.
The wound, where the skin had been slightly peeled away from being bitten, entered the field of vision of the head-bowed Chi-young. Even to his own eyes, the wound looked stinging; at the same time, just thinking about how such a mark was made made his earlobes burn.
“…….”
Jang Ui-geon said nothing.
Standing as if frozen, Chi-young grabbed the hand that was still holding his collar open and slowly pulled it away. He then awkwardly closed the collar and refastened the buttons, keeping his back hunched so the clothes wouldn’t touch his chest.
Silence lingered for a while. Jang Ui-geon stood rooted to the spot, staring down at Chi-young, while Chi-young couldn’t even bring himself to look up, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor.
Finally, a low voice dropped from above Chi-young’s head.
“Who is it?”
At that quiet question, asked as if it were nothing, Chi-young shrank his shoulders as if he were being scolded. No words came from his trembling lips.
He didn’t want to show it. It wasn’t about whether a man was pathetic, ridiculous, or unsightly. If he had to put it into words, it was the same feeling he had when he first encountered him in the park—or at the bar he had followed him to.
A subtle sense of misery and emptiness.
Just as back then, Jang Ui-geon would likely laugh it off as if it were trivial, and Chi-young would only need to compose himself, yet that stinging sensation wouldn’t leave his chest.
Whether he interpreted Chi-young’s silence and bowed head as an admission, after a short pause, Jang Ui-geon’s voice was heard asking again.
“Do you have a lover?”
Chi-young gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.
“Then just a casual one-night stand?”
Again, he hesitated, not knowing how to answer. He didn’t know how to explain a “casual accident” that couldn’t even be called a one-night stand. No, explaining it wouldn’t be hard, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to speak in the face of that calm, indifferent voice.
“I thought you were always busy; where did you meet? That place you go to drive at night?”
When he nodded slightly again, a longer silence followed this time.
“…..You said there were no decent people, but you found someone worth spending a night with?”
“It’s… it’s not like that…”
Chi-young knew there was no need to make excuses, and he knew that even if he did, Jang Ui-geon would likely just laugh it off without caring, leaving only Chi-young feeling miserable.
“Just, sometimes, there are people who get like that when they’re drunk, …. so, that’s all it was. So…”
“……Then this isn’t the first time.”
A dry, short laugh was heard. The laugh, which sounded almost incredulous, felt somehow cold, though it may not have been intended as such.
He had seen this face once before. It was a time when Ui-geon was so terrifyingly angry that it felt like one would be cut just by standing near him. No, even then, he hadn’t been this scary. When was that? It was probably…
“Drunk antics… Right, since designated driving is a job dealing with drunks, there must be some absurd people. ……Chi-young, quit that job.”
The low, suppressed voice spoke. Perhaps Jang Ui-geon himself felt that his emotions were deviating from the norm; there was a precarious feeling that he was barely holding himself back.
“Oh, no… it’s not necessary to go that far. It’s not like the customers do that…”
As Chi-young spoke haltingly with a pale face, the corners of Jang Ui-geon’s mouth twitched. He let out a scoff, and his voice dropped even lower.
“Then you’re saying a coworker does it? Then you definitely have to quit. …..No, come with me. If it’s hard for you to say it, I’ll tell them you’re quitting for you. I need to meet the superior who manages their subordinates like that, and I need to see the face of the human who did such a thing.”
Watching Jang Ui-geon check his watch, Chi-young went from bewildered to distressed. This wasn’t right. Something was going wrong. Chi-young stared at him for a moment and then slowly shook his head.
“I’m not quitting.”
Jang Ui-geon frowned as if he were about to snap in anger and turned his gaze toward Chi-young. To him, Chi-young gave a small bow.
“Thank you for worrying about me. But I’m okay. Really. That person isn’t that bad, and… besides, ….this isn’t something for you to step in on, Ui-geon.”
Chi-young’s voice was quiet but firm.
Jang Ui-geon paused. He looked down at Chi-young with wide eyes, as if he had heard something unbelievable. His mouth opened as if to say something, but no words came out.
Closing his mouth, Jang Ui-geon glared at Chi-young in silence before speaking softly again. The voice leaking through his teeth was chilling.
“You’re saying you won’t quit even after being put in that state? Even though the same thing might happen again?”
Chi-young hesitated, then nodded.
He hadn’t started this job thinking it would be easy from the beginning. He had expected that he might encounter unpleasant situations. He hadn’t imagined this specific kind of thing, but since he had prepared himself for even worse situations, this was acceptable.
The most painful part of this entire situation was this very moment. Now, as Jang Ui-geon’s icy gaze flew toward him.
He said nothing for a long time. Chi-young did not turn his head. He felt that if he turned away now, he might never see his face again. His expression was that cold.
Eventually,
“Even if it happens again, you’ll say the same thing, Chi-young. That you’re okay. That it’s not something I should step in on.”
Jang Ui-geon spoke slowly. The quiet voice was clearly coming from his mouth, but it didn’t sound like his voice.
“Not something I should step in on…”
Jang Ui-geon muttered to himself. Suddenly, he fell silent. There was a sign of his breath stopping for a moment, his chest trembling. His jaw tightened fiercely, as if he were barely swallowing something surging up inside him.
For a split second, Chi-young thought he might hit him.
Even though he had never yelled or shouted at Chi-young, the terrifying coldness made it feel as if that would have been lighter. After glaring at Chi-young with a frightening intensity, he turned around without a word in the next instant.
Without a single word of parting, Jang Ui-geon simply walked out of the shop. Chi-young’s mouth opened to call him, but he closed it before any words could escape. Without looking back once at the dazed Chi-young, he strode away and soon vanished from sight. The sound of his angry footsteps walking down the alley grew distant and eventually faded completely.
He seemed angry. …… No, he was definitely angry.
“What should I do…”
Chi-young muttered to himself for the umpteenth time, staring only at the steering wheel.
Thinking back, this was the first time Jang Ui-geon had become so angry and walked away from him. He had occasionally looked displeased or spoken bluntly, but he had always resolved it on the spot and never carried negative emotions forward. He had never been so angry that it felt like his heart was freezing, as he was today.
What could have been so infuriating? It didn’t seem like something to get that angry about—but as he thought this, Chi-young shook his head with a low sigh.
Thinking about it again, he felt that it had crossed the line where Jang Ui-geon could intervene, but perhaps Chi-young had drawn the line too sharply. This is where you stop; there’s nothing for you to help with. …Something like that.
It wasn’t because there was a sense of distance between them. But perhaps he felt that way and was hurt.
…Yes. Thinking about it, it might have been more depressing if he had just laughed it off as if it had nothing to do with him.
Even as Chi-young tried to comfort himself, his heavy, sunken heart showed no sign of recovering.
After Jang Ui-geon had left, Chi-young had stood there frozen for a long time, unable to move. He had stood there blankly until he heard the radio time signal announcing midnight, and only then did he snap out of it and begin tidying up the shop.
Because of that, he forgot to bring the ingredients for the gopchang. Moving mechanically like a marionette, his mind was entirely consumed by thoughts of Jang Ui-geon; it was only after leaving home that he remembered the gopchang and clicked his tongue.
As soon as he remembered, he sent a message to Yoon Jun-young: ‘I’m sorry. I don’t think I can make gopchang today. I’ll definitely make it for you next week. Sorry.’ But there was no reply.
Come to think of it, he had forgotten more than just one or two things.
He had forgotten to put the ‘Closed Today’ sign on the shop shutter, and he had also forgotten to tell Jang Ui-geon that he wouldn’t be able to meet tomorrow because he was going down to the countryside.
Realizing this, Chi-young let out a sigh.
Anyway, in a situation where he had walked away so terrifyingly angry, it seemed unlikely that he would contact him tomorrow even if he hadn’t said anything.
He should try sending a message later, once the anger has subsided a bit. But when would that be?
Chi-young’s face clouded.
Since he had rarely seen Jang Ui-geon angry—and even when he was, it was temporary and quickly resolved—he had no idea how long this kind of anger lasted. Should he contact him after a while, or would it be better to do it right away?
“……….”
Fiddling with his phone, Chi-young opened the messaging screen and hesitated for a long time before closing the phone again.
He couldn’t think of what to say. …. And he was scared. Scared that this time, a cold, boundary-drawing reply would come back.
Chi-young scratched his head. It was a depressing night.
Upon arriving at the establishment, as expected, the rumors had already spread. Another driver he had only seen a few times approached him with a smirk and said, “The manager told me to take Lee Sun-mi home from now on. So you don’t have to worry about seeing that woman anymore. You’ve worked hard.” He offered a subtle smile and a word of consolation.
Gi-do, who chuckled and said, “That’s great,” had seen the situation yesterday, so that was understandable, but even a girl entering the shop gave a little smile.
Setting aside whether his pride was hurt or if he was angry, he was just depressed. More than anything, the most depressing thing was the frozen face of Jang Ui-geon, which clung to a corner of his mind and wouldn’t let go.
Chi-young leaned back against the driver’s seat and sighed. But only a few seconds after he closed his eyes with that sigh, the passenger door suddenly swung open.
It was only just past 2 AM; he wondered who was finishing work so early and sat up. However, seeing the person who sat in the passenger seat and closed the door, Chi-young’s eyes widened further, and he stared at him blankly.
“……Jun-young.”
“I put three stars on today’s date on the calendar. My gopchang.”
The man muttering gloomily with an indifferent face was Yoon Jun-young.
Hearing him speak, it seemed he hadn’t missed the message Chi-young sent. If so, there was no need to come here, so Chi-young just looked at Yoon Jun-young with bewildered eyes.
Without looking at Chi-young, Yoon Jun-young rustled through his bag and muttered.
“Tomorrow is your day off, Chi-young. Then the day after. You must fry the gopchang the day after tomorrow.”
“Yes.. ……..Oh, no, I’m off the day after tomorrow too… I think I told you before, it’s my mother’s 60th birthday, so I have to go down…”
As soon as he said he was off the day after tomorrow, Yoon Jun-young looked at him with wide eyes as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue, and Chi-young hurriedly finished his sentence. Then, perhaps remembering that Chi-young had mentioned taking time off at the end of the month, Yoon Jun-young nodded as if understanding.
“Then the day after that, Tuesday night. Gopchang.”
Seo Chi-young nodded instinctively as Yoon Jun-young spoke with a grim yet resolute tone, as if he could not back down any further. At that, Jun-young’s expression softened slightly.
Chi-young blinked, watching Jun-young mutter, “Tuesday, Gopchang,” while rummaging through his bag with one hand and entering the schedule into his phone with the other. After a moment, Chi-young asked hesitantly.
“But what brings you here today…?”
Unless they had arranged in advance to eat gopchang, Yoon Jun-young rarely came here. He recalled hearing that Kwon Kang-hee disliked it when Jun-young visited. Jun-young replied nonchalantly as he slid the phone into his pocket.
“I saw your message after I left the house. Since I’m already out, I thought I’d go back in with Kang-hee. He said he’d finish early today.”
“He should be inside right now,” Jun-young added, gesturing toward the building with a casual tilt of his chin. He muttered, “Ah,” as if he had finally found something in his bag.
“And also, while I’m at it, I have some business with you, Chi-young.”
“Pardon?”
As Seo Chi-young asked back, confused, Yoon Jun-young pulled his hand out of the bag. In his hand was a small tube of ointment.
“Take off your clothes.”
Jun-young spoke abruptly while opening the cap of the tube. Chi-young blinked and stared at him, responding in bewilderment, “What?… My clothes?”
“I heard your nipple was bitten. I heard it bled, too.”
Chi-young stared blankly at Jun-young, who spoke of such an embarrassing matter with complete indifference. It took a moment for the meaning to sink in. His face flushed instantly, and he shook his head in panic.
“No, I mean, that’s true, but… no, I’m fine.”
“Did you apply medicine?”
“Uh, only in the morning. I couldn’t apply it in the evening because I was at the shop… but anyway, it’ll heal quickly.”
Hearing this, Jun-young’s hand, which had paused for a moment, began to move again. He flipped the cap and squeezed the tube.
“If it’s a human bite, it can get infected if you’re not careful. Apply the medicine now so you don’t regret it later when you’re heading to the hospital. If pus starts coming out, the pain is one thing, but the mental trauma is horrific. A doctor will look at you with strange eyes asking how this happened, and whether it’s a doctor or a nurse, some stranger you’ve never met in your life will be rubbing your skin to apply medicine. And if you have to get an antibiotic shot, that’ll hurt too. Unless you want that kind of situation, take them off. Now.”
His voice was calm, but the content was among the most terrifying things Seo Chi-young had ever heard.
Chi-young began to unbutton his clothes slowly, mindful of Jun-young’s gaze. The process of unbuttoning his jacket, loosening his tie, and undoing the buttons of his dress shirt was somewhat tedious, but since he only needed to undo a few buttons and open the collar, it wasn’t too difficult.
“By the way… where did you hear that I was bitten?”
As Chi-young mumbled while undoing the buttons, Jun-young replied nonchalantly.
“From Kang-hee.”
“……And where did Kang-hee…”
“It would be easier to find someone among the staff at the shop who doesn’t know.”
At Jun-young’s blunt remark, Chi-young fell silent.
Indeed, it was a neighborhood where gossip traveled fast in many senses. Perhaps even the customers who had visited the shop yesterday and today knew.
“Don’t take even a minor injury lightly. If it gets infected, the cost, effort, and pain all increase several times over. If you actually have to go to the hospital…”
“…..Have you… gone to the hospital for this kind of problem before?”
He had asked without much thought, but seeing Jun-young’s face stiffen immediately, Chi-young felt he shouldn’t have asked.
Jun-young didn’t answer. The corners of his indifferent mouth seemed to tighten bluntly. Chi-young looked at him awkwardly and decided not to ask “how that happened.” No, he didn’t even have the chance.
As if to block Chi-young’s mouth instead of answering, Jun-young abruptly pressed his finger, laden with ointment, against Chi-young’s chest, where the wound was exposed.
“………!”
Startled and feeling a sharp sting, Chi-young flinched violently. He had intended to say he would apply it himself, but he had forgotten.
“Wait, I-I-I’ll apply it…”
As Chi-young stammered, Jun-young’s finger paused as if he had finally realized, but after blinking while staring straight at Chi-young, he began rubbing the wound bluntly again.
“You should have said so sooner. I’ve already got ointment on my finger, so it’s fine.”
“…….. Yes…”
Chi-young stayed quiet, feeling that insisting he do it himself would somehow be ridiculous.
Because it was embarrassing, stinging, and ticklish, he barely managed to keep his mouth shut, but his body occasionally jerked. Despite trying to suppress it, his body leaped involuntarily, and his face grew redder. He was just glad that Jun-young wasn’t saying anything.
However, despite his indifferent face, Jun-young also seemed subtly awkward; he didn’t even look at Chi-young’s face, staring only at the wound—which, for Chi-young, was even more embarrassing—and seemed to be bringing up any random topic.
“Ah… right. Come to think of it, Ui-geon called me on the way here, but I couldn’t pick up because my phone was on vibrate. When I called back, the line was busy. Is something going on?”
“Pardon? I… I’m not sure.”
If it was “something going on,” there certainly was something between Seo Chi-young and Jang Ui-geon. But Chi-young had no way of knowing if something had happened to Jang Ui-geon that would make him call Jun-young.
More than that, it felt strange that Jun-young was asking Chi-young if something was wrong with Jang Ui-geon. It was as if Chi-young were closer to him.
Chi-young said hesitantly.
“I don’t really know. …I think you would know more about things related to Ui-geon, Jun-young.”
“No, it’s just that you two seem to have become very close, so I wondered if you might know.”
“….About me?”
When Chi-young looked confused, Jun-young seemed to notice the tone and added, “Ah, it’s nothing strange.”
“Just things like, they went to the arboretum together and the autumn leaves have already withered, or he’s worried that the cost of ingredients for your shop might rise because livestock prices have gone up lately. Things like that.”
“I don’t know why he’s worrying when it’s not even his own shop,” Jun-young muttered. Hearing this, Chi-young felt a strange sensation. He didn’t know how to describe it.
He felt shy and happy that he was being regarded with such closeness. He worried that Jun-young might notice his heart starting to race.
Suddenly, he wanted to hear his voice. Even with nothing to say, he wished he could just call and hear his voice.
…But he must be angry. No, perhaps beyond anger, he had become cold.
Suddenly, his heart throbbed with anxiety. A tingling nervousness reached his fingertips.
“…..Excuse me.”
When Chi-young spoke, Jun-young gave him a brief glance.
“When… when Ui-geon is angry… if he’s very angry, how long does it last?”
“Ui-geon? Very angry? Well… it depends on how angry he is. He’s a decent guy, but he has a bit of a nasty temper.”
Jun-young paused his hand and tilted his head. He looked toward the car ceiling as if recalling a memory, then shrugged and shook his head.
“It varies depending on the situation, so it’s hard to say exactly how long. He’s basically a good guy, but when things go wrong, he can be a real headache… but if he’s just moderately angry for a day or two, he either doesn’t get angry in the first place or gets over it on the spot. So, if it lasts, it tends to last a long time. Depending on the case, there are times when he never sees that person again.”
“…….I see…”
Chi-young murmured gloomily and nodded. Jun-young, noticing the ointment was running low, squeezed out more and asked.
“Why? Is Ui-geon angry at you, Chi-young?”
“Pardon? No, it’s not that… or maybe it is…”
Chi-young trailed off awkwardly, not knowing how to put it. Jun-young pulled Chi-young, who had instinctively shrunk back, forward again, opening his collar and muttering to himself.
“That’s strange. He’s not the type to get angry easily, and with your personality, it would be hard to make him angry on purpose even if you tried.”
Chi-young fell silent.
Having meticulously applied the medicine to the wound, Jun-young finished by lightly tapping the area with his fingertips. Ignoring Chi-young’s flinching, Jun-young suddenly tilted his head and looked into the air as if something had occurred to him.
“……Eh? Now that I think about it, I feel like I’ve seen that car somewhere…”
Jun-young whipped his head around. Beyond the rear window of the car, a black vehicle was parked a short distance away. Originally, there had been another car between them, but it had moved a moment ago, and the car now visible directly behind them had been there since who-knows-when.
Following Jun-young’s gaze as he stared at the empty car, Chi-young also looked at it in bewilderment.
It was a very expensive car, but not an exceptionally rare model. Chi-young tilted his head, thinking, Huh. He blinked, wondering where he had seen it before… it was then.
A shadow emerged from the building and strode forward without hesitation. Just as Chi-young turned his head, the shadow reached the car and—BANG!!—slammed the roof. The car shook with the tremendous sound.
“Ui—”
But before Chi-young could even finish the name, the passenger door flew open. Jang Ui-geon was standing there in front of Jun-young.
With one arm resting on the wide-open car door, he looked at Jun-young, and then at Seo Chi-young sitting in the driver’s seat, with an expressionless face.
“Put your clothes back on. Now.”
The voice was cold. Only then did Chi-young hurriedly pull his open clothes together and shrink back. Yet, he kept glancing at the man, unable to understand why he was standing there.
Perhaps this wasn’t Jang Ui-geon. The appearance and voice were indeed Jang Ui-geon’s, but that was all; everything else was unfamiliar. The expression, the look in his eyes, the tone of his voice.
Yes. He was not Jang Ui-geon. Chi-young thought so as he watched the man shift his gaze from him to Jun-young. There was no way Jang Ui-geon would look at Jun-young with such a desolate gaze.
“Who the hell are you?”
Jang Ui-geon—the man who looked like him—spoke slowly to Jun-young. Jun-young frowned slightly.
“What do you mean ‘who’? Why are you acting so out of it? ……..Did you just come from seeing Kang-hee?”
Jun-young glanced in the direction Jang Ui-geon had come from, but the man didn’t answer and instead repeated his question.
“Who are you, and why were you letting that person do this here?”
“What?”
As Jang Ui-geon gestured toward Seo Chi-young, Jun-young frowned as if he didn’t understand. Chi-young, suddenly the topic of conversation, also blinked, unable to grasp the meaning of the words.
“Chi-young is helping out at a bar at night—even at a shop Kang-hee owns—and you all knew that perfectly well, so why didn’t that reach my ears? No, before that, why did you let it happen?”
Jang Ui-geon murmured so slowly he almost seemed languid. Even though he spoke softly without shouting or screaming, Jun-young frowned, looking at him as if this had become a headache.
“Hey, Jang Ui-geon. Get a grip. What’s wrong? What happened? Why have you lost your mind?”
To Jun-young’s seemingly worried question, Jang Ui-geon again did not answer. He merely clicked his tongue and frowned in irritation.
“Kang-hee too, why are you both talking nonsense… I’m asking why you kept your mouths shut and just watched Chi-young work here. Can’t you hear me, Yoon Jun-young?”
Jun-young, who had been staring intently at the faint wrinkle forming between Jang Ui-geon’s brows, finally seemed to process the words and wore a look of absurdity.
“What kind of nonsense is that? Chi-young isn’t a woman or a child; if he wants to work at an establishment, what’s there to ‘let’ or ‘not let’ him do? It’s not like he’s doing something dangerous involving fists, so why are you suddenly losing it and talking nonsense, Jang Ui-geon?”
Jun-young spoke in an incredulous tone and glanced back at Chi-young. He locked eyes with Chi-young, who was staring at Jang Ui-geon with a bewildered face. Chi-young blinked in embarrassment.
Jun-young looked up at Jang Ui-geon askew, let out a sigh, and continued.
“Besides, while you say you’re close with Chi-young, I don’t see any reason why I should have gone out of my way to tell you. Right, as you said, working at such an establishment isn’t something to be proudly flaunted, so that makes it even more so. If he doesn’t say it himself, why would I, even as a close friend, go out of my way to mention it? Or is there some reason I should have?”
“…….Reason.”
This guy and that guy… Jang Ui-geon let out a hollow laugh. A cold gaze suddenly shifted toward Seo Chi-young. Chi-young shrank back.
A face devoid of laughter, resentment, or rage—a face where all emotion had vanished—stared at Chi-young. “Reason, a reason, huh,” he muttered, and though he smirked, it didn’t look like a smile.
“Reason. Right, there isn’t one. There’s absolutely no reason.”
While his eyes remained on Chi-young, his words were directed at Jun-young, though it was no longer clear who he was talking to.
“As I was leaving the shop earlier, I thought about it a hundred times, and I realized there was absolutely no reason for me to be angry. Yes, to the point that the lack of a reason is what makes me angry. Whether this person gets their neck sucked somewhere, whether their nipples get chewed on, and whether they keep going back even though the same thing might happen again—yes, even if some bastard suddenly snaps them up, I have no reason to be angry and no right to say anything. Even if this person says they’ve developed feelings for some son of a bitch, I’m in a position where I should be helping them out and paving the way for them to do well.”
“Ui-geon, what are you talking about right now? Why are you suddenly like this—wait, there’s blood on your hand.”
Jun-young stopped speaking and frowned. Only then did Chi-young’s eyes widen as he shifted his gaze. There was a glimpse of blood on the knuckles of Jang Ui-geon’s right hand, which was resting on the car door.
As if he hadn’t noticed until then, the man glanced at his hand with an annoyed look.
“What? Ah, it’s fine. It’s not my blood. ——No, it’s probably not fine for you. Since it’s your lover’s blood.”
“What?”
Jun-young’s face froze instantly. But before he could say anything, Jang Ui-geon leaned in. Bringing his head close to the passenger seat, he looked at Jun-young and then at Seo Chi-young, frowning slightly.
“No matter how many times I thought about it, I just couldn’t find an answer. Well, it makes sense that I couldn’t. My head was so full of thoughts about which bastard put their mouth on that neck, which bastard put their hand on that chest, that I couldn’t think straight. I waited in front of the shop just to see where he worked, and as I followed him, all I could think about was how to wreck someone. So it’s natural that I couldn’t find an answer—but I do know one thing.”
Jang Ui-geon’s gaze was fixed on Seo Chi-young. However, his voice was low, as if he were speaking to himself rather than to Chi-young.
“Either way, it seems I need that damn ‘reason.’ Right?”
Jang Ui-geon seemed to smile. But before the hint of a smile in his cold eyes could be recognized, he suddenly reached out. And he grabbed Jun-young by the collar.
“Jun-young, I’m really glad it wasn’t you who put your mouth and hands on that person. Because if it had been you, honestly, I’m not sure if I could have just let it go, no matter how much you are my friend.”
The moment the low whisper stopped.
A dry thud echoed. Jun-young’s face whipped to the side, and a short groan escaped his lips.