#55

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“Shin Ho-jae!”

“You didn’t die in there, did you!? Hey!”

At the noisy voices coming from outside the room, Shin Ho-jae flinched, his eyelids twitching. Soon after, the sound of someone pounding on the door as if trying to break it followed.

Only then did his eyelids slowly lift. Shin Ho-jae blinked sluggishly, staring blankly at the image forming in his pupils.

A small room, and a crumpled blanket.

“……?”

He felt as though he had been tightly hugging something warm and elastic, but there was nothing in his arms. With a sense of emptiness, Shin Ho-jae brushed his hand against what he could reach. He felt only the dry, cold texture of the blanket.

Bang!

“Hey, Shin Ho-jae! Wake up!”

“We leave in 30 minutes!”

At those words, Ho-jae bolted upright. His head throbbed, so he clutched his skull and stumbled toward the door. With a click, he opened it to find Yuk Du-min and Ji Min-chul standing outside, as expected.

“Holy crap. You really slept until now?”

“Whoa. Maybe cover your bottom before coming out?”

“…….”

Looking down at those words, he realized he was completely naked, not even wearing underwear. It was Yuk Du-min who slapped Shin Ho-jae’s forearm—still heavy with sleep—with a loud smack.

“Hey, hey, no time to space out. Go wash up. We’ll pack your bags in the meantime. The bus is already downstairs!”

Then, he shoved Shin Ho-jae firmly into the bathroom. Ji Min-chul, following behind, let out a shout. He had almost tripped over a t-shirt.

“Ah, I seriously almost died just now. Why did you leave your clothes scattered everywhere? Were you putting on a strip show or something?”

Shin Ho-jae stopped his steps toward the bathroom and turned around. Just as he said, his t-shirt and pants were strewn one by one from the entrance.

It seemed he had stripped and jumped into bed in a drunken stupor. He had no memory of it, but….

Shin Ho-jae’s brow furrowed. A faint memory, as if trapped in a thick fog, felt just out of reach.

“What’s this? A button?”

Yuk Du-min, who was picking up the clothes, held out something the size of a fingernail that had been rolling on the floor. Reflexively, Shin Ho-jae snatched the button from his hand.

Yuk Du-min looked at Shin Ho-jae’s face with a puzzled expression.

“Didn’t it fall off your shirt? Take it and make sure to sew it back on at home.”

“…….”

“I knew it. Ho Jae-shin’s phone battery is dead, too. I’ll charge this for a bit, okay? Don’t forget to take your charger later.”

“Ah, what are you doing just standing there blankly? I told you to wash up and come out quickly!”

“……By any chance, did I go out with someone yesterday?”

“Huh? You don’t know? You disappeared at some point.”

“…….”

Shin Ho-jae frowned and pressed his hand to his forehead. The clothes, the button. Something felt like it was about to come back to him, yet it remained elusive.

The hint came from Ji Min-chul, who was roughly stuffing the clothes and belongings into a bag.

“Hyeong-hun said you went out with the owner.”

“Ah! Right, right. That’s why we stopped looking for you. We definitely didn’t give up halfway, okay?”

“…The owner?”

“Yeah.”

Kwon Jung-hyun.

Only then did the thick fog lift a layer, and the blurred memories began to take shape.

The memory of arguing outside before kissing, returning to the hotel in a frenzy and throwing himself at the other man in excitement, burying his nose in the man’s neck recklessly, and finally driving himself between the man’s thighs to reach a climax; the memory of forcing him back onto the bed when he tried to pull away, rubbing their genitals together until he begged him to stop, and hugging the man from behind, refusing to let go, exhausted by the consecutive ejaculations….

“Fuck.”

“Oh my. Did Ho-jae just swear?”

Slam.

Ho-jae shut the bathroom door and pulled the shower lever.

Cold water immediately poured over the crown of his head. It was a chill that felt as if it would wash away the remaining intoxication all at once.

However, unlike his head, which was beginning to cool, blood rushed quickly to his lower half. Even without opening his eyes to check, he could tell his member had risen almost to his navel.

Shin Ho-jae closed his eyes with a scowl and muttered curses. It was a heat that showed no sign of subsiding on its own unless he used his hand to release it.

＊＊＊

His father’s condition suddenly worsened. Without any warning signs.

The caregiver who was with him hurriedly called 119, and his father was rushed into emergency surgery. They said the bleeding in the brain wouldn’t stop.

Ho-jae had rushed to the hospital in the middle of training. His mother was sitting alone in front of the operating room.

After the long surgery, it was decided that his father would be admitted to the intensive care unit in an unconscious state. His mother went in for a consultation with the doctor.

It was only around the time Ho-jae was waiting for his mother alone that Shin Yeon-jae arrived at the hospital. Since one cannot enter the ICU freely, Yeon-jae slumped down beside Ho-jae with a hollow expression.

Without even glancing at his younger brother, Shin Ho-jae asked stiffly.

“Where the hell were you until now?”

The time his father was brought to the hospital by ambulance was originally the time Shin Yeon-jae was supposed to be caregiving.

But for some reason, a professional caregiver was by his father’s side instead of Shin Yeon-jae.

No matter how good a caregiver is, it’s difficult to care for someone as much as family does. That was why the three family members split their time to look after their father.

Even knowing that what happened cannot be undone, that is how the human heart works.

Since the caregiver had been working double their usual hours, perhaps they were tired and noticed his father’s condition a bit late. If Shin Yeon-jae—no, if any one of the family members—had been there, could they have called the ambulance even five minutes sooner?

That thought had been haunting his mind for a while.

Shin Yeon-jae couldn’t answer immediately. Shin Ho-jae’s face hardened further.

“I asked where you went.”

“Lately… I started attending an academy, so I was coming back from there….”

“An academy? What kind of academy?”

“An acting academy….”

“What?”

It was an absurd claim. Shin Ho-jae’s salary and the income his mother made from the convenience store were going entirely toward his father’s care expenses.

In a situation where they had to take out loans even for Shin Yeon-jae’s school tuition, there was no way they had the luxury to attend an academy.

“Since when?”

“…About three months ago….”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

That meant the caregiver’s hours had doubled starting three months ago. If so, the caregiving costs must have doubled as well. His words naturally came out sharp.

“Where does the house have that kind of money?”

“It doesn’t cost money.”

“Why wouldn’t it cost money? It’s an academy.”

When asked, Shin Yeon-jae pressed his lips tight and shifted his eyes. Suddenly, the commotion Shin Yeon-jae had caused last time came to mind.

“Are you doing something weird again, like getting a sponsor or whatever?”

“I’m not.”

“Shin Yeon-jae. Are you really not going to get your act together?”

“I said I’m not! The CEO is lending it to me! I agreed to pay him back once I make it!”

Ho-jae’s eyes flashed sharply.

“……The CEO?”

Shin Yeon-jae shut his mouth as if he had made a slip of the tongue.

“Are you talking about CEO Kwon Jung-hyun right now?”

“I’m going to step out for a moment. Mom asked me to buy something earlier….”

Shin Ho-jae grabbed the arm of the abruptly standing Shin Yeon-jae and forced him back into his seat. Blood rushed to his head.

“What did you think I meant by what I said that day? I told you not to even mention that man’s name or think about him.”

“I told you it’s not like that.”

“What do you mean it’s not?”

“CEO Jung-hyun isn’t a bad person. Even with the academy, the CEO was very cautious and told me not to tell you….”

As the conversation veered in an unexpected direction, his head began to ache. Shin Ho-jae pressed his hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

“Start over and tell me properly from the beginning.”

“…I had received a business card that day, so I contacted him first to apologize. Honestly, you were incredibly rude to the CEO back then. You admit that, right?”

“…….”

“Then the topic came up. He said if I wanted, he could introduce me to a place he knows. I’m telling you this so you don’t misunderstand, but I haven’t met the CEO once since that day. He really just introduced me to the academy, that’s all.”

“…Exactly when was that?”

“When was it…? Around July? Ah, I think it was the day you went to Gangneung for a practice match. That’s right. The CEO mentioned Gangneung too.”

“…….”

Ho-jae’s brow tightened.

If it was that day, it was the day the article about his father was published in Daily One. It was also the day he had poured verbal abuse onto Kwon Jung-hyun in anger.

……After hearing those things from him, he was helping Shin Yeon-jae behind his back?

56 – Puck Drop