KTS 17

Thump… thump… thump…

Contrary to the quiet room, his own heartbeat was so loud that Yu-jin had the illusion that it was echoing throughout the study. He didn’t want to reveal that he was agitated, but he couldn’t know for sure. He put on the most expressionless face he could muster, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

This was the third time he had run into Winston since returning to Delight, but it was the first time he had faced him head-on in such bright light.

The first time was in the dark, and the next time he had deliberately avoided him, focusing on the will. Because of that, Yu-jin was now able to scrutinize his face, feature by feature.

His thick, abundant hair was neatly combed back without a single strand out of place, and beneath his dark eyebrows were deep-set eyes with long, narrow shapes. Following the sharp bridge of his nose, his firmly closed, thick lips and strong jaw came into view. Ah, barely suppressing a sigh, Yu-jin realized. The man standing there was a fully grown, mature man.

The boy who always whispered sweetly to him was gone. The unfamiliar man was staring at Yu-jin with an utterly cold expression, but with the look in his eyes unique to someone who has been hurt.

Wasn’t it funny? When Yu-jin was the one who had been hurt.

Winston just stared at him without saying a word. Yu-jin didn’t open his mouth either. The tense silence seemed like it would never end, but it was Winston who spoke first, unexpectedly.

“Why don’t you sit down?”

Following the glance he casually threw, Yu-jin hesitated before moving. He felt annoyed that he was doing as he was told, but he couldn’t just stand there forever. Hadn’t he resolved to accept any offer? How was he going to resolve this situation if he couldn’t even do this much? His own feelings were a trivial matter compared to the situation at hand.

Not twice, never.

He scolded himself. He had to adapt to the situation as rationally and calmly as possible. Winston wouldn’t make unreasonable demands. After all, they were both in trouble because of the will. He just had to put up with him trying to mess with him a little.

Yu-jin, who had sat down again in the wingback chair he had sat in during the reading of the will, straightened his back and fixed his gaze on Winston. Winston narrowed his eyes as he watched Yu-jin sit back in the seat where he had imagined ravishing him.

The pheromone scent that usually flowed around him became even stronger. Winston was aware of it, but Yu-jin still showed no particular reaction. Suppressing his displeasure, Winston pushed himself off the desk he had been leaning on and asked.

“Tea, is that alright?”

“Ah, yeah…”

Before Yu-jin could even answer, he was already reaching for the pot on the desk. Winston lifted the tea cozy covering the pot and poured the still-hot tea directly into a teacup, then picked up the brandy next to it. Ah, Yu-jin opened his mouth unconsciously, then quickly closed it.

Would it be better to drink alcohol?

He knew he had to keep a clear head, but with his nerves so on edge, it might be better to relax a little rather than get a migraine. Just a couple of drops of brandy wouldn’t be that much.

Yu-jin watched as Winston then added a spoonful of honey and lightly stirred to complete the tea.

Tap… tap…

Suddenly, Winston moved. The regular sound of his shoes echoed across the herringbone-patterned floor. One step, then another. As Winston approached him, the eerie sound of his shoes echoing in the quiet study, Yu-jin tensed up, shrinking back. As he instinctively held his breath and pressed himself against the chair, Winston stopped.

Ah.

Winston, standing with his back to the only exit, looked down at him. Yu-jin’s face turned pale as he realized he was trapped. His anxious gaze kept darting behind Winston, but he nonchalantly handed him the teacup as if he hadn’t noticed.

“Here.”

Winston’s attitude was utterly nonchalant, but Yu-jin’s mouth was still dry as a bone.

“Th-thank you.”

Yu-jin took the teacup with its saucer in both hands and opened his mouth unconsciously, then quickly cleared his throat to clear his terribly cracked voice. Winston silently watched him lower his gaze, drink the tea, and moisten his mouth.

“How’s the aroma?”

“…Good.”

Yu-jin answered cautiously to Winston’s question. Silence fell again. What was he thinking? He couldn’t read any emotion on his expressionless face, which made Yu-jin even more anxious.

Slurp…

Perhaps because all his attention was focused on Winston, he ended up making a noise while drinking his tea. Embarrassed by the unpleasant sound echoing in the quiet room, Yu-jin quickly placed the teacup on his lap.

He felt pathetic at his flustered state. Why was he doing this? He wasn’t a teenager anymore, get a grip! How was he going to protect Angie in this state?

After giving himself a stern scolding, Yu-jin took a deep breath and opened his mouth. If Winston was going to act like this, he would bring up the matter first.

“Um…”

“How is living here?”

Winston asked almost simultaneously. Momentarily flustered, Yu-jin hesitated, at a loss for words, before reluctantly answering.

“It’s fine. But…”

“That’s good. If there’s anything uncomfortable, tell me, I’ll accommodate you as much as possible.”

He quickly added a question, but he was robbed of the opportunity again. To Yu-jin, who was looking at Winston in bewilderment, he continued nonchalantly.

“As long as you don’t say you want to go back to where you used to live.”

At those words, Yu-jin realized that the ‘here’ he had mentioned earlier didn’t mean the entire Delight estate, but the old detached house.

“…I’m not thinking about that.”

It was true that the place he was staying now was far from comfortable, but he didn’t care much. He hadn’t thought he would be staying here this long.

He had expected that he would leave as soon as he got even a small amount of money after hearing the contents of the will.

Bitterness and anxiety mixed within him.

“It wasn’t my house anyway…”

He trailed off and lowered his head. This was why he didn’t want to come back. There were too many memories here. The happy past hurt more than the painful and humiliating memories. He didn’t have many happy memories, so those meager memories were so precious that he couldn’t bear to forget them.

The memories of the past that had come unexpectedly weakened Yu-jin. He hesitated and carefully spoke.

“…Is anyone living there now?”

Winston answered in a dry voice to the question he asked without daring to raise his head.

“No one.”

Yu-jin slowly raised his hesitant gaze.

“No one lives there…?”

He could tell that his voice was trembling slightly. As his words faded away without confidence, Winston opened his mouth.

“Yes. It hasn’t been used in a long time.”

“…I see.”

Yu-jin had nothing more to say and closed his mouth. The past he had carefully buried was easily revived with just a small trigger.

His mind became hazy, and the laughter of that day seemed to echo faintly in his ears.

Those brilliant days that had made him imagine a different future, even for a moment.

All of it was a delusion.

“…So you didn’t go there either.”

Yu-jin muttered to himself as if he were talking to himself. How scared and lonely he must have been, alone in the detached house that no one visited. After the day he came to him, Yu-jin’s life had completely changed. He had thought he would live and die alone.

To think that he would miss the detached house that had been so lonely.

The youthful face of the boy smiling brightly overlapped with the fully grown adult man. In his distant memories, Yu-jin recalled a futile afterimage and was momentarily stunned.

Yu-jin.

Suddenly, a cheerful voice mixed with laughter vividly revived. Even the soft kisses and sweet whispers.

I love you.

…Ah.