#160

Following Anjeong-ri, this location was also quite bold. Tae-heun had thought it would be a restaurant in a corner of Asan, but it was near Onyang Hot Springs. On weekends, group tourists from all over the country chartered buses and flocked there.

Tae-heun woke the man and entered the restaurant. It was almost 3 PM, so the staff were eating a late lunch.

The Man, still groggy, stared at the menu.

“Let’s have boiled pork slices and wheat noodles.”

At Tae-heun’s suggestion, the man nodded.

Tae-heun ordered the boiled pork slices and two bowls of wheat noodles, then wiped his hands with the wet towel the server brought. Then, he lightly kicked the Man’s shoes with his foot, as the man was also wiping his hands with a wet towel. The the man retaliated with his shoe, gently, very lightly touching Tae-heun’s sneakers.

As if they had planned it, the two kept their eyes fixed on the TV screen placed on one side of the restaurant while secretly playing footsie. Both the man and Tae-heun had a subtle smile on their faces.

“Is it still wet?”

Tae-heun asked, still keeping his eyes on the TV.

“What?”

“Down there. You said you put toilet paper in, right?”

At Tae-heun’s teasing words, the man responded curtly, “It’s all dry.” Still keeping his eyes on the TV.

“Already?”

“Of course. What time is it?”

“You said it was wet until an hour ago, I should have come more.”

As Tae-heun smacked his lips as if disappointed, the man grumbled, “I’m the only one suffering.”

“Hey, why do you say that again? If there’s anything I can help with, just say the word. I’ll do anything for you.”

“You haven’t experienced it. You just talk a good game.”

The the man grumbled.

“Do I have to experience it to know?”

“Yes. You have to experience it to know.”

The the man retorted. Then,

“I wanted to do it too… I can do it well.”

He muttered timidly.

Still a man at heart, he hadn’t given up yet. Even though he had enjoyed it so much in the early morning.

“How would Ki-beom do that? Is it 10 years, 11 years?”

“What?”

“How long has it been since you used it down there?”

“…….”

“Your dating life probably ended at twenty at most, and after that, you’ve probably only bought women a few times. You only sucked Yong-jun’s, right?”

As Tae-heun hit the nail on the head, the man flared up.

“Do you have to experience it to know? A man instinctively.”

“Instinct my ass. It’s all about practice. The one who’s done it a lot does it well.”

As Tae-heun sneered, the man said, “You’ll know if you let me try.”

“I can really do well too.”

He subtly appealed.

“Here we go again, trying to climb up.”

Tae-heun frowned and scolded the man as an adult would a child. The the man then made a sulky face. A handsome man acting cute was melting Tae-heun’s heart. The corners of Tae-heun’s lips rose sky-high.

“This won’t do. I need to prepare the paddle of love.”

Tae-heun said this and scratched the Man’s shin with his sneaker.

“You need to be severely punished.”

Adding these words, the man seemed to give up, saying, “Can’t I even joke?”

“Should I buy real chocolate this time instead of chocolate flavor?”

Tae-heun asked in a sweet voice.

“Ki-beom likes it, you know.”

He coaxed the Man.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to buy that kind of thing.”

The Man, not understanding Tae-heun’s meaning, reacted sullenly. He was clearly showing that he was sulking.

“Why? Ki-beom fucking loves it, chocolate.”

He said, puffing out one cheek and making a hand gesture implying oral sex. The the man was startled and waved his hands.

“Hey, why are you doing this? Seriously.”

He said seriously.

“What did I do?”

He feigned innocence.

“You’re a really weird person.”

At the same time as these words, the Man’s shoe flew towards Tae-heun’s shin. But he couldn’t bring himself to hit hard and only kicked him enough to tickle.

“Our Ki-beom is kind-hearted too.”

He said teasingly and stroked the back of the Man’s hand.

While Tae-heun and the man were exchanging lewd jokes and trivial conversations, the drama rerun on TV ended and commercials began to play. Just then, the food came out.

“Boiled pork slices and noodles.”

The server placed the food down with a voice filled with habit.

“Ki-beom, eat the meat first. Say ‘ah’.”

Tae-heun picked up a piece of meat and brought it to the Man’s mouth.

“I’ll eat it myself.”

“Just eat it. What’s the big deal?”

“Ah, it’s okay.”

The the man looked around, then opened his mouth. The Man, chewing the meat, gave a thumbs up as if it was delicious.

“Tae-heun, you eat too.”

Tae-heun opened his mouth towards the Man.

“Just eat it yourself.”

“I fed you? Ah!”

The the man chuckled and said, “Here, eat.”

“Dip it in salted shrimp for me.”

“You’re so demanding.”

The the man grumbled, but dipped the meat in salted shrimp and held it out again. Tae-heun opened his mouth as wide as possible and took the meat.

“The protein isn’t as good as Ki-beom’s.”

He also made a lewd remark.

The the man glared at Tae-heun with an exasperated expression and then shifted his gaze to the TV.

The commercial ended and the opening song announcing the start of the news appeared with the logo. Tae-heun tensed up without realizing it. He pretended not to know anything and drank the noodle broth. The the man also took his eyes off the TV screen and grabbed the bowl with both hands to drink the broth. The the man smiled contentedly at the rich broth.

The young anchor read about the movements of the president and major politicians, then moved on to accidents and incidents. At the beginning of the accidents and incidents, the fraud case involving Kwon Il-taek and his Father was mentioned. The Man, who was about to eat the noodles, hurriedly looked up at the TV at the words “Mr. Kwon and his Father.”

For about 20 seconds, the anchor reported in a dry voice that the body of Mr. Kwon in his 70s was found in the sea off Incheon around 1 AM today, and the cause of death is currently under investigation. To Tae-heun, those 20 seconds felt like 2 hours.

The the man completely froze. Without looking back at Tae-heun or sighing, he sat still like a still life. Even though the news was moving on to other accidents and incidents and then reporting the weather, the man couldn’t take his eyes off the TV.

He must have been greatly shocked.

Tae-heun decided to react when the man turned around, so he could read his expression.

The afternoon news ended in 5 minutes. The TV screen was showing commercials again, but the man was still in the same position. Then, he suddenly lowered his head and retched, “Ugh.”

“Are you okay?”

Tae-heun rushed to the man in a hurry.

The eyes of the employees, who had just finished their meal and were moving the dishes, were drawn to the sound of retching. They all frowned. They were worried that he might throw up on the restaurant floor.

The the man vomited the boiled pork slices and noodle broth he had eaten earlier right onto the floor. That was all there was to it. He hadn’t eaten anything but water since he got here, so only saliva flowed from the Man’s mouth.

Tae-heun grabbed a napkin and wiped the Man’s mouth. Large teardrops fell from the Man’s eyes. The the man couldn’t lift his head and just kept crying.

“Ki-beom, let’s get out of here for now.”

The the man nodded, but he didn’t have the strength to get up. He tried to stand up but just slumped back down in his chair. A sob burst from the Man’s mouth.

“Lean on me. No, get on my back.”

Tae-heun carried the man on his back. Fortunately, the man obediently followed Tae-heun’s words. The the man cried all the way to the car.

“Ki-beom, wait here for a moment.”

After putting the man in the passenger seat, he quickly returned to the restaurant, paid the bill, and got a bottle of water. Tae-heun hurried back to the Man, ignoring the stares following him.

The the man didn’t know what to do. He sobbed, choked up, and then stared blankly. He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it. Then he cried again.

Tae-heun hadn’t expected the man to react so strongly. Foolishly, even though he knew how much the man relied on and followed Kwon Il-taek, he naively thought he would just shed some tears and be done with it. He gnashed his teeth at his own carelessness. He belatedly realized that it was something that should never have been learned in that way, but it was already too late.

Right now, no words of comfort would reach the Man. Tae-heun moved the car to a secluded spot in the restaurant parking lot. He moved to the most remote place possible so that the man could cry to his heart’s content without being conscious of other people’s eyes.

Then he hugged the Man. He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. He just held him tightly and comforted him. He patted his back and stroked it gently. He said with his whole body that he was there, that he was by his side, so cry as much as he wanted.

Was it because of Tae-heun’s comfort?

The Man’s body heaved greatly, and he began to cry out loud like a child.

Tae-heun tightened his arms around the Man.

Even after crying his heart out for about thirty minutes, tears continued to fall from the Man’s eyes. His voice was hoarse, and he could no longer cry out loud, but only shed tears like raindrops.

No matter how much Tae-heun comforted him, no matter how much he hugged him and patted him, he didn’t seem to be able to take away his sadness. He felt miserable. He thought that if he was there, if only he was there, someone’s death wouldn’t matter at all.

How foolish he was. There was no way that the relationship with someone who was like a Father and his own relationship of just over a month could be the same, but he mistook himself for being great just because he had matched holes a few times.

He wasn’t upset. It wasn’t something to be upset about.

He just felt pathetic for not being able to do more for the Man.

“I miss Ji-hye.”

That was the first thing the man managed to say after stopping crying.

He said he missed the the child, that he was worried about the the child. He whispered to Tae-heun with tears welling up in his eyes that he wanted to hear her voice, even just her voice.

“I’m not even qualified to be a Father. My the child is far away, and I didn’t even ask for her phone number.”

He belittled himself, saying that he was a bad Father even though he was a better Father than anyone else.

Tae-heun couldn’t stand the man thinking of himself as a bad Father. That was absurd. His Man, that Man, was a better Father than anyone Tae-heun had ever seen.

“I’ll let you. I’ll let you talk to her right now.”

Before he knew it, these words popped out of his mouth.

Tae-heun released the arms that had been holding the man and immediately opened the phone folder. He didn’t even think that what he was doing could put not only himself but also the Helper, and even the the child, in danger. He just wanted to do anything if it could comfort the Man, if it could let him know how good a Father he was. That was all he cared about.

He should have used a pager or voicemail as promised with the Helper, or at least contacted him indirectly. But Tae-heun so naturally called the Helper’s personal contact number directly.

The Helper, who shouldn’t have answered in the first place, was surprised by Tae-heun’s call and ended up answering. He must have thought that Tae-heun was in danger.

“Let me talk to Ji-hye.”

Tae-heun said this abruptly.

After a moment of silence,

What are you?

The Helper shouted. It was close to a scream.

“I want to hear Ji-hye’s voice.”

Are you crazy?

“Don’t hang up. The the child’s Father wants to hear his the child’s voice.”

Before Tae-heun could finish speaking, the call was cut off with a deep groan.

Even though he reacted like that, he would call back soon with a different number. The Helper was that kind of person. A person who was ready to do anything for Tae-heun. Tae-heun believed that.

It didn’t take long for him to realize how dangerous his actions were. As soon as he closed the folder, he immediately realized how reckless he had been. But before he could regret it, he had to make the man understand first.

The Helper wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

161 – Chapter Title Without Number