#112

Ho-jae strode toward the vehicle with long, running steps. He hadn’t seen wrong. Jung-hyun was gone.

“CEO!”

Ho-jae called out to him in an urgent voice as he headed outside. Gravel splashed under his feet. He went out to the main road leading from the pension and looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.

After running around for a while, beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. As he stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat away, he heard the sound of waves from somewhere.

Turning his head instinctively toward the sound, a vast ocean unfolded at the end of his gaze. And there, he saw Jung-hyun’s back, standing atop a large rock.

What flashed through his mind was the image of Jung-hyun from the previous night. That face, staring blankly outside from the eighth-floor hallway.

For a moment, a chill ran down the back of his neck. Shin Ho-jae rushed down toward where Jung-hyun was. The time it took to retrace his steps felt unimaginably long.

He didn’t know why the man kept looking like someone who had given up on everything. Even though he knew Jung-hyun wasn’t the type of person to do such a thing easily, the thought occasionally crossed his mind—that he might throw his own life away.

Having finally returned to the front of the pension, Shin Ho-jae panted as he pushed through the brush. Stepping briskly across the rocks, he found Jung-hyun still standing there.

Ho-jae hurriedly caught his breath and spoke to him.

“……Were you out here?”

Jung-hyun turned around slowly. In his hands, he held Ho-jae’s coat and phone. As Ho-jae wiped the sweat from his temples, Jung-hyun walked slowly toward him.

Then, handing over the items he was holding, he spoke.

“Why do you look so startled?”

“…You weren’t in the car, so I thought you had left.”

“I don’t know the geography of this place; where would I have gone?”

Ho-jae lowered his gaze as he took his coat and phone.

“……You could have fallen into the water.”

At those words, Jung-hyun glanced at the side of Ho-jae’s face and walked past him.

Ho-jae swallowed a sigh and habitually checked the screen of the phone in his hand. A message from Ji Min-chul was displayed on the screen.

Ho-jae snapped his head up to look at Jung-hyun’s back. He was gripping the door handle and stepping inside the pension. His heart beat rapidly.

Did he happen to see this message?

He hoped Jung-hyun didn’t know that tomorrow was the final. He didn’t want to burden him with pressure or guilt.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”

He heard Jung-hyun’s voice standing by the front door. Ho-jae composed his expression and moved his feet.

After taking the luggage out of the car and entering the pension, he saw Jung-hyun standing in the living room.

His gaze was scanning the somewhat crude props and outdated interior.

“How do you know this place?”

Ho-jae set the duffel bag on the sofa and answered as he headed toward the kitchen, still carrying the convenience store bag.

“It’s a place my family used to visit often when I was young. It was a pension run by Ji Min… no, an acquaintance of mine, so I could rent it cheaply.”

“Hmm.”

Responding lightly, Jung-hyun sat on the sofa. Ho-jae glanced at the spot where he sat. He was glad he had wiped the sofa twice earlier.

“I guess there were no guests staying today?”

“They closed the business a while ago and put it up for sale.”

Ho-jae, who was taking things out of the plastic bag, paused. The number of damp, steamed buns had decreased. He had bought all five that were in the steamer.

He had eaten two. Since he said he had no appetite, Ho-jae thought he wouldn’t have touched them. Just as the muscles in his face naturally relaxed, a voice asked in an indifferent tone.

“Are your mother and Yeon-jae doing well?”

It was an abrupt change of topic. Ho-jae glanced in the direction he was sitting and moistened his dry lips with his tongue.

Talking about his family with Jung-hyun right now was uncomfortable. Since he had left without a word, taking only the car keys while they were asleep, his mother must have noticed his absence by now.

As if reading his mind, Jung-hyun brought up an even more difficult question to answer.

“What did you tell your family before you left?”

Ho-jae turned his back to him under the pretext of putting water and drinks in the refrigerator. Since it hadn’t been long since he plugged it in, the inside of the fridge was still lukewarm. As he neatly organized the items he had bought inside, Ho-jae crafted a tone that sounded as nonchalant as possible.

“I didn’t say much. Everyone was asleep anyway….”

“You mean you left without saying a word?”

“Well….”

The phone placed on the kitchen counter vibrated with a humming sound. Ho-jae glanced at the screen while folding the plastic bag.

It was a message from his mother. His heart stung for a moment. The message asked where he was, worrying about her son who hadn’t returned last night.

Ho-jae deliberately avoided reading it in detail and immediately flipped the phone face down. Then, he gathered the necessary items from the first-aid kit.

“How is your hand? I think it would be good to change the bandage once more after you wash up. Do you want to wash now? I turned on the boiler earlier, so there will be warm water.”

“Contact your mother. Tell her you’ll be home soon.”

“What…?”

Ho-jae stopped and looked at him.

Jung-hyun, who had been looking at the scenery outside the window while sitting on the sofa, shifted his gaze to Ho-jae.

“I think this is enough for me.”

A composed smile hung from the corners of his lips.

“Thanks to you, I had a nice drive.”

Ho-jae stared at him with blank eyes.

“…What does that mean?”

Jung-hyun stood up. Now that he looked, he hadn’t taken off his coat even after coming inside. Like someone who was ready to leave this place at any moment.

Ho-jae swallowed hard and spoke.

“…For now, it would be better to wash up and get some sleep. Rest well and think about it again. It’s not too late.”

“It is late. The final is tomorrow.”

Ho-jae’s jaw tightened, the masseter muscle bulging. As expected, he had seen Ji Min-chul’s message. It was a mistake. He should have taken the phone.

“…I know what you’re thinking, CEO. But this is no longer something that concerns me. You don’t have to worry about it either.”

Jung-hyun frowned. Before he could say anything, Ho-jae quickly continued.

“Just get some comfortable rest for now. That’s the most important thing to me. And let’s talk again in the evening.”

“…….”

“I’m curious, of course, about what happened that made you have to run away, or who did that to your face, but if it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to tell me.”

Jung-hyun looked at Ho-jae blankly without saying a word.

“But I want us to talk about the plans for the future. How long you have to stay hidden, where is safer….”

“If I say I have to spend my whole life running away, will you stay with me for the rest of your life?”

“Yes.”

Shin Ho-jae answered without a single moment of hesitation. He couldn’t have been more sincere. However, Jung-hyun only wore a somewhat exhausted expression.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds. You might never be able to see your family again for the rest of your life. Could you really do that?”

“…….”

“Think about how much your mother or Yeon-jae would worry and search for you. I think you were too flustered to think that far earlier, but try thinking about it now.”

With impeccable timing, the phone in the kitchen began to vibrate with a humming sound. It was likely a call from his mother or Yeon-jae. Shin Ho-jae clenched his fists.

“…I told you that you don’t have to worry about it.”

“How can I not worry? It’s not like I don’t know those two.”

Jung-hyun replied stiffly.

“And, you have to go. It’s the final. Is there anything more important than that for Player Shin right now?”

He felt cruel. Hadn’t he told him to run away with him last night? He had looked so exhausted and worn out. Ho-jae had been so happy he felt like he was floating when the man asked him to run away together.

But in less than a day, he was acting like someone who had just woken up from a dream. Was yesterday a dream and today the reality for him? His voice grew sharp with disappointment.

“Why are you suddenly saying this? Didn’t you say before that it wasn’t your achievement, so you didn’t care whether I won or not?”

“I don’t care. But it matters for Player Shin’s career.”

“…I told you. You are more important to me than that.”

He had decided the moment Jung-hyun told him to ‘run away’ today. He didn’t care what happened to other things. The fact that the man had come to him when he was struggling, that he had chosen him—that alone was enough to bet his life on.

“The final and the Blue Wolves aren’t important to me anymore. I can throw everything away just to be with you.”

Jung-hyun snapped with a cold face.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Ho-jae did not back down and took a step closer.

“I’ve already completely made up my mind. You knew I would be like this when you came to find me. You knew I would choose you. …Didn’t you?”

At those words, Jung-hyun frowned. His expression was complex.

“No matter what happens, I will stay by your side.”

“…You’re saying you’ll ruin your career, never see your family again, and just spend your life running away? Just for me?”

“Yes. I can do it.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Didn’t you know? That I’m completely crazy for you.”

“Ha….”

Jung-hyun swallowed a hollow laugh. Ho-jae moved close to him and took his hand.

“I can throw everything away. So you throw it away too.”

“…….”

“There’s something making things hard for you right now. I don’t care who it is, throw them all away. I’ll be by your side.”

“…….”

Jung-hyun furrowed his brow deeply, then, as if his strength had left him, he slumped down onto the sofa. Ho-jae approached him and knelt.

And he carefully kissed the tips of his cold, rough fingers. Jung-hyun’s fingertips twitched slightly, but he didn’t particularly stop him.

Heat rushed through his body instantly. It was a small permission from the man who had thrown him into the fire whenever and wherever.

“CEO….”

Ho-jae kissed his palm. Moving his lips slowly, he moved from the palm up to the wrist. And with his other hand, he gripped the man’s leg, stroking from the long shin up to the knee.

It was so ecstatic that his whole body tingled. To think that he was before him, and that he could be by his side. Ho-jae poured out his surging emotions.

“…I love you. CEO.”

Jung-hyun looked down at him without a word, and after a long while, he spoke.

“I thought wrong. I shouldn’t have gone to your house.”

113 – PUCK DROP