130 – Recolor

Yeon-jun looked up. He had the face of a pouting puppy.

“……Then I might be a little upset…….”

“…….”

Just as Eun-ha’s expression unconsciously hardened at the frail voice, Yeon-jun glanced at him and let his lips relax, as if he had never been miserable. Like someone who couldn’t hold it back any longer, he smiled faintly and buried his face between Eun-ha’s neck and shoulder once more. I’m just kidding. It doesn’t matter…… At the whispered words, Eun-ha wondered silently. Is that true?

“Anyway, Hyung.”

“……Yeah.”

“I really like you.”

“…….”

“So, I hope you won’t be anxious.”

No matter what it is. The added voice sounded like a lullaby. Like someone slowly patting his back.

Feeling a sense of peace washing over him, Eun-ha closed his eyes. Thinking that he wanted that too. Or perhaps, hoping for it.

Meow. Lulu’s cry echoed from afar.

Chapter 5

But had life ever flowed smoothly according to one’s wishes?

It was one evening. Fiddling with his empty ring finger, Eun-ha looked out the window with dry, parched eyes. He was sitting at a window seat in a hotel restaurant. The night view of Seoul, looking down from a high altitude, was quite atmospheric, but he felt no particular emotion. He only felt complicated. Complicated and distressed.

After staring at the swirling snow outside for a while, he turned his head at the sound of someone approaching. He saw the woman, who had left for a moment to go to the restroom, returning. Pushing his complex thoughts aside, Eun-ha managed his expression. To the woman asking if he had waited long, he offered a carefully crafted smile and gave a polite response. As he did, his throat stung as if a thorn were caught in it.

The catalyst had been a call from Mom this morning. About a month ago, Eun-ha had a huge argument with Mom over the phone. The reason was the same as always. That damn marriage. A harmonious family. A normal life…….

Thus, he couldn’t ignore the phone call that came first, like an olive branch. Over the receiver, Mom grumbled about their past conflicts in a tone that wasn’t [visit our site]content">stolen contentparticularly sweet, before softening her voice as if to suggest they let it go. She suggested they have dinner together for the first time in a while.

Yes. That was all Eun-ha had been told. Having a meal with Mom after a long time. Seeing her face and talking.

However, the person who appeared before Eun-ha, who had arrived first, was not Mom but some unknown woman. While feeling bewildered internally, Eun-ha remembered that she was the blind date partner who had been pushed upon him a month ago, during the time he had fought with Mom.

The feeling at that moment—it felt as if something inside him had snapped. It wasn’t as if his conflicts with Mom over the topic of marriage were a new occurrence.

But isn’t this really too much? How could she do something so cruel to me…….

“Mr. Eun-ha, do you happen to like golf?”

He felt a strong urge to smoke. Suppressing the desire to sigh deeply, he focused his attention on the person across the table. After pretending to think for a moment, he gave a refined answer: that he had played a few times following his friends, but hadn’t found it interesting. In reality, he hadn’t followed friends, but had been forcibly dragged by Mom, and since Eun-ha disliked almost all sports, he naturally found no interest in golf. On the contrary, it remained a particularly worst experience. Because the atmosphere at the time felt less like a sport and more like a venue for socializing and flattery.

Despite the lukewarm answer, the woman smiled while maintaining eye contact. She followed up with the comment that, somehow, she thought Mr. Eun-ha would be like that. No matter what answer he gave, even when he provided only neutral responses to her attempts at conversation to build rapport, the woman remained consistently favorable. Just like now.

Needless to say, he felt pricks of guilt at a reaction so full of goodwill. Even if he had attended the meeting unintentionally and felt absolutely no heart or emotion toward her, it was still a blind date.

A meeting where a man and a woman meet with the goal of developing a positive relationship.

Naturally, thoughts of Yeon-jun came to mind. He couldn’t help but feel anxious with guilt.

Even if we are currently broken up.

Even if we haven’t been in contact for a week already.

His temples throbbed. He spent the dinner in a state of discomfort, as if sitting on a bed of needles. The other party seemed to want to prolong the meeting, but he created an atmosphere to end it by citing things he had to do. Thus, he was able to part ways after the meal. Fortunately, amidst the misfortune.

In his heart, he wanted to vanish instantly, but considering Mom’s face, he drove her to a reasonable point. Otherwise, she’d say, You just left without giving her a ride, how rude. I went through the trouble of setting up the meeting, what does that make me? And he’d reply, Who told you to set up such a meeting without saying anything? Why are you really like this……. He simply hated fighting.

Of course, he wanted to call her right now and raise his voice. He was currently in a very irritated mood. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say he was angry. To the point of inflammation.

But he had no motivation. Fighting is only possible if you have the stamina. It had been only a month since he had a conflict so intense his head felt like it was boiling, and just thinking about doing it again brought a wave of fatigue.

What a hassle……. Instead of starting the car parked by the roadside, Eun-ha sank deep into the seat. Perhaps it was because he had spent a couple of hours pretending to be the son of a wealthy family as if playing a role. Even driving home felt tiring.

He spent some time in a state of void, eyes closed. Then, snapping back to consciousness at the sound of a horn from afar, he slowly opened his eyes. After Read [visit our site]on Read BL Novelsstaring briefly at the quiet road, he let out a sigh. Before starting the engine, he picked up his phone. He opened Read on Read BL Novelsthe messenger app, checked a few accumulated messages from various people, and entered the chat room pinned at the very top of the list. The chat, which had stopped a week ago, immediately entered his sight.

See you later then, Hyung

Yeah

(Emoticon of a cat throwing a heart)

I want to see you soon

lol

What about you, Hyung?

Hmm

Don’t you miss me?

Go play well with your younger cousins

???

You have to answer me

Quickly

Quickly

Quickly

Quickly

Quickly

Ah

I get it

I miss you too

It was around the time just after the Lunar New Year holiday. Since he had long been excluded from family events, he worked at the cafe as usual during New Year’s, and Yeon-jun went to see elderly relatives with his family. It was the day they agreed to meet after being apart for about three days. They decided to meet outside around dinner time and eat out. Until they made the appointment, there were no problems. This was evident from the conversation where Yeon-jun pestered him for affection, spamming emoticons.

But how did it end up like this again?

It was a review of the past with no particular meaning. Because the responsibility generally lay with him. Including the act of calling for the breakup.

Chewing over the past, Eun-ha let out a sigh and touched the screen. He entered the boy’s profile. A week had passed since they broke up. Also, the last Yeon-jun Eun-ha remembered had a face that was stiff with slight irritation. A face that clearly showed he wasn’t in a very good mood.

Yes. They had definitely broken up like that.

Still, it was funny that the status message hadn’t been taken down.

[+980]

Eun-ha pondered the D-day anew. He had occasionally thought that it visit our sitestyle="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">Read on Read BL Novelswas soon, very soon, but now there really wasn’t much left until a thousand days.

Of course, it wasn’t the exact date. Because he hadn’t excluded the periods they had been broken up in between.

Eun-ha carefully estimated. If he subtracted all the days they were apart……. Forget 900 days. Would it even reach 800?

Counting how many days they had spent broken up, Eun-ha eventually gave up. It wasn’t a number he could easily calculate.