Chapter 73 – The Price of Misjudgment
After a long struggle on the bed, Yoon Ki-hyun was finally able to change into his laundered clothes. Checking the phone he had been told was charged, he let out a small sigh.
‘Crazy.’
A full day had passed.
It was yesterday afternoon when he had rushed to the underground isolation room after hearing the news. According to Jeong Si-jun, they had been at it until dawn, so he must have come to Jeong Si-jun’s house after that. That meant he had spent more than half a day doing nothing but sleeping.
‘Let’s just go home first.’
Trivial worries could wait until he got home. He had an intuition that if he lingered aimlessly at Jeong Si-jun’s house, he would get swept up in a strange atmosphere.
“Thanks for taking my clothes to the dry cleaners. Now that I’ve come to my senses, I’m going home.”
Yoon Ki-hyun glanced at Jeong Si-jun. Standing crookedly in a hoodie and sweatpants, the guy was pouting, radiating disappointment from every pore of his body.
“Eat something and stay one more night.”
“Why would I do that when I have my own home?”
“…Still. I almost had an outbreak, and you saved me again this time. I want to treat you to a meal to say thank you.”
Jeong Si-jun grumbled, shoving his hands into his sweatpant pockets.
“That’s why I hired you as my Guide.”
Yoon Ki-hyun stuffed his phone into his pocket and turned toward the entrance. Jeong Si-jun didn’t seem intent on holding him back further, as he followed closely behind.
‘Why the hell is this hallway so long? Crazy.’
He knew the guy was incredibly wealthy since he’d claimed money was the only thing he had, but it was his first time in a house this large, and it was almost absurd. He wondered what a guy living here thought when he saw Ki-hyun’s tiny gosiwon room…
Yoon Ki-hyun tried to ignore the sudden surge of unnecessary inferiority. Just as he stood at the entrance to say his goodbyes,
Jeong Si-jun hugged him tightly, as if reluctant to let him go. Pressed against the broad chest, Yoon Ki-hyun took a small breath.
“Ah, what should I do? I’m so sad that you’re going home.”
“Sad, my foot.”
“Ki-hyun hyung.”
The sudden use of his name was unfamiliar, and an answer didn’t immediately come out.
In the moment Yoon Ki-hyun stood there blinking, hesitating.
“I’ve been thinking about it.”
“…”
“I think I like you.”
Jeong Si-jun murmured the nonsense while still holding him tight. To dismiss it as nonsense, it was far too clear of a confession.
‘I should have noticed when the atmosphere got weird.’
Since he had known about Jeong Si-jun’s feelings for quite a while, he wasn’t flustered. If anything, he felt it had taken longer than expected for the other to open up.
“So, about that.”
Perhaps anxious at the lack of a response, Jeong Si-jun tightened his grip. Then, his chest expanded as he took a breath, and a voice of utmost sincerity landed in Ki-hyun’s ear.
“Would you consider dating me seriously?”
It was a confession.
Because he was still held in those arms, the loud thumping of a heart was vividly audible.
‘Ha…’
Yoon Ki-hyun took a moment to clear his cluttered mind. This was the first time Jeong Si-jun had explicitly stated that he liked him.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t feel Jeong Si-jun’s sincerity. The problem was simply that this was a confession from a guy who had shown signs of an outbreak shortly after his mother’s funeral.
Above all, Yoon Ki-hyun was not in a position to be in a relationship. He lacked the luxury for it, both mentally and financially.
He had remained still in the embrace, swept away by the mood, but he couldn’t stay like this. As he pushed his upper body back and shoved himself away, Jeong Si-jun stepped back obediently.
He could feel the other’s gaze, anxiously awaiting an answer, as if it were piercing through his face. Yoon Ki-hyun briefly cleared his scratchy throat.
“Sorry.”
“Ah, why? Honestly, our sexual chemistry was amazing. Is it because my personality is like shit? If that’s it, I’m confident I can adjust everything. I told you, I’ve turned over a new leaf.”
Jeong Si-jun frowned, whining as if asking him to reconsider.
“I said no. Why would we date when I’m just working for money?”
As he shoved his feet into the shoes lined up at the entrance and rejected him again, Jeong Si-jun’s tone finally began to sharpen.
“People who work for money can still date. What’s the problem?”
“I told you clearly, I have no intention of dating you.”
“Then what about us rolling around and sucking each other’s faces yesterday? Honestly, from dawn onwards, there wasn’t a trace of guiding; we were literally just having sex. Isn’t that right?”
“…”
Yoon Ki-hyun remained silent for a moment. Since it wasn’t a lie, it was hard to refute immediately.
As Jeong Si-jun said, at some point, instead of trying to raise their wavelengths for guiding, they had focused solely on the act of mixing their flesh.
It was also true that their sexual chemistry was undeniably compatible. However, it wasn’t an act born from mutual affection. No, it shouldn’t have been. That was clearly…
“It was just a sort of happening that occurred during guiding. It’s exhausting to assign meaning to every little thing.”
When Yoon Ki-hyun murmured indifferently, Jeong Si-jun frowned.
“A happening?”
“Yeah.”
At the firm answer, his head cooled down as if he’d been doused in cold water. Jeong Si-jun glared at Yoon Ki-hyun’s face.
‘How can he say something like that?’
He believed there had been some level of emotional exchange with Yoon Ki-hyun. After going through various events, both large and small, he thought Ki-hyun didn’t completely lack feelings for him.
“So you’re saying I’m just getting ahead of myself because we rolled around a bit while guiding? Is that what you mean?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Why is it turning into that?”
He had simply rejected a confession; he couldn’t understand why the other’s thoughts were drifting in that direction.
Rejecting Jeong Si-jun’s confession today was awkward for him as well. However, instead of snapping back, Yoon Ki-hyun chose to soothe him.
This was because they were in a relationship where they would have to hold hands starting tomorrow to perform guiding as if nothing had happened. A pointless argument would be a negative for both of them.
“Are you really unfazed after having [stolen content]so much sex with me yesterday? Then what were all those kisses?”
“When you’re having sex and the mood is right, you can kiss. If you’re that aggrieved, just think of it as being sex partners. A one-night stand or whatever.”
“Ha, sex partners? A one-night stand?”
Jeong Si-jun let out a hollow laugh, sneering. Why was Yoon Ki-hyun’s usual indifferent face so infuriating today?
‘Fuck, this is unbelievable. He told me he didn’t remember getting wasted, stripping me, and eating me out, so I was the only one who looked like a total bastard and let it slide, and then he kept driving me crazy after that…’
‘What about him coming to the funeral home when I told him not to, hugging me and comforting me? And until dawn today, climbing on top of me while sober and taking my cock… what kind of fucking bullshit is this?’
His mind spun, consumed by the easily ignited rage. He thought he was quite used to approaching Yoon Ki-hyun and being rejected, but hearing this response to a direct confession made him feel like he was going insane.
Perhaps that was why, as if his reason had been momentarily severed, his inner thoughts escaped his lips without passing through his brain.
“Fuck, no wonder you got that shitty nickname, acting like this.”
It was a sneer close to a mutter to himself. However, it was more than enough for Yoon Ki-hyun, who was standing close by, to hear.
“What did you say?”
“What do you mean, what did I say? Because you talk about sex as if it’s nothing, other guys look down Read on Read BL Novelson you. Did you reject other bastards by talking to them like this too?”
The coldly spat words felt as if they were being carved into his ears syllable by syllable.
The rise and fall of the blatantly sarcastic tone, the utterly direct expressions, felt as if they had physical form, digging into his body and making his entire skin sting like small scratches.
Yoon Ki-hyun recalled the derogatory term the Center had given him.
The Awakened Management Center’s public good.
Jeong Si-jun was blaming him, as if he bore some responsibility for that wretched nickname that made him shudder just thinking about it.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know Jeong Si-jun was among the disgusting people at the Center who treated people like objects and called them a ‘public good.’ Yet, he didn’t know why he felt so dirty and sorrowful…
It wasn’t easy to suppress the emotions surging up to his throat. However, Yoon Ki-hyun did not pathetically shed tears or tremble. His thin pride would not allow it.
Yoon Ki-hyun slowly parted his tightly closed lips.
“I guess I’ve started thinking that way too, because bastards like you call me a public good so often.”
Fortunately, his voice, which snapped back bluntly, did not shake. He decided to speak as if it were nothing, as if Jeong Si-jun’s words could not hurt him.
But the reason his heart was throbbing so violently might be because, ironically, he was slightly hurt by the words he had style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]recalled himself to use in his rebuttal.
‘…If I’m being honest, it’s not entirely wrong.’
Having composed his emotions for a moment, he immediately turned and grabbed the door handle. It was as he pushed open the cool handle.
“No, I mean…”
Jeong Si-jun grabbed Yoon Ki-hyun’s hand in a hurry. He had blurted things out recklessly, but belatedly, Yoon Ki-hyun’s pale face caught his eye.
“…I went too far just now. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you…”
Jeong Si-jun’s voice trailed off as he offered his belated apology. He had no idea how to react to the expression on Yoon Ki-hyun’s face, which he had never seen before.
He had internally expected him to be angry or contemptuous, but it was a complete misjudgment.
Even now, in this moment, the eyes of Yoon Ki-hyun, who looked at him blankly, were dry and parched. As if even feeling sad over such verbal abuse was a waste.
Breaking the short silence that felt like an eternity, Yoon Ki-hyun murmured indifferently.
“No. You don’t have to apologize. I don’t need apologies from Team Leader Jeong anymore.”
At the utterly dry voice, reason began to return to him. The moment he met the emotionless eyes of Yoon Ki-hyun, who didn’t even [visit our site]show a hint of disappointment, it felt as if his heart had been slammed into the ground.
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