#69

It didn’t take long to reach climax. It was because he had been in a state of arousal since the middle of the housewarming party. After wiping away all the semen that had soaked his hand, he checked the time; it was already deep into the early morning.

After putting Jung-hyun in the passenger seat—who had suggested calling a designated driver—Shin Ho-jae took the wheel himself. It wasn’t that he couldn’t drive; he just didn’t because he didn’t own a car.

He had gotten his license when he entered Korea two years ago, and it was Ho-jae who had consistently driven his father to the hospital in an old car they had at home. This meant the days of being called a beginner were long gone.

“How do you plan on getting back after going all the way to Seoul? Stop being stubbornly pointless and let’s just go home quietly.”

“I’ll figure it out. Since we did… that in the back seat, I feel awkward calling a designated driver.”

“…….”

In truth, he just felt inexplicably displeased. Jung-hyun looked dissatisfied, but he seemed too tired to drag out an argument. Sensing that this silence was his chance, Ho-jae quickly started the engine.

It took exactly two hours to get from Suwon to Jung-hyun’s home in Gangnam, Seoul. The roads were empty because it was dawn, but it was because he had taken the wrong turn twice along the way.

Fortunately, Jung-hyun fell asleep shortly after the car entered the road and remained unaware that they had gone the wrong way.

“…CEO.”

“……Yeah.”

Jung-hyun woke up to the feeling of his body swaying slightly. Lifting his heavy eyelids, he found an unexpected face staring intently at him.

“We’ve arrived, but I don’t know how to open the garage door.”

“Ah….”

Still half-asleep, Jung-hyun opened the console box and pulled out a small remote. It was the remote to open the garage door. As he pressed the button, the garage door slowly opened with a whirring sound.

Checking the time on the dashboard, it was already well past 3 AM. He thought they had left Yuk Du-min’s house around 1:30; he wondered why two hours had passed. However, his thoughts were quickly scattered by Ho-jae’s voice.

“I’ll park in that empty spot.”

“…Yes, go ahead.”

The space was much wider than a typical parking spot, so he just had to pull straight in, yet Shin Ho-jae’s face was terrifyingly serious as he gripped the steering wheel. Looking closely, there was a slight redness in his white eyes.

He pulled the car back and pushed it forward four times, determined to align it perfectly with the line. Only after finally succeeding in parking did Ho-jae let out a satisfied smile.

“Please get out.”

“…How are you going to get home now, Ho-jae?”

Jung-hyun asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt. That had been weighing on his mind from the start. It didn’t make sense for him to drive someone all the way from Suwon to Seoul, as it wasn’t a short distance.

Strangely, Shin Ho-jae had refused to budge, and Jung-hyun had chosen to stay silent because he was too tired to argue. But now, with a clear head thanks to two hours of deep sleep, he felt he shouldn’t have let it happen.

“I’ll just… take a bus in a bit, or a taxi.”

Jung-hyun let out a small sigh as he closed the passenger door. Then, he grabbed a car key hanging on the garage wall and tossed it to Ho-jae. The key traced a parabola through the air and landed in Ho-jae’s hand.

“It’s too late. It’s dangerous to drive again immediately. Get some sleep, then take this car back.”

Shin Ho-jae’s eyes widened as he opened his palm to check the key. It was the key to the largest white SUV among the three cars in the garage.

I’ve wanted to give it to him for a while, and now I have the chance. Jung-hyun smiled inwardly as he climbed the stairs leading into the house.

“Then, I’ll return the car later…”

“You don’t have to return it. I don’t use that car anyway.”

“That’s a bit…”

Cutting off Ho-jae’s hesitation, Jung-hyun spoke quickly.

“I don’t have a separate guest room. You can just sleep on the living room sofa, right? When you wake up tomorrow, you don’t need to bother saying goodbye; just leave on your own. The garage door opens automatically from the inside, so you don’t need to look for the remote.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m the one who’s more grateful. For taking the club owner home just because he was drunk.”

“…….”

At the mention of ‘club owner,’ Shin Ho-jae’s pupils wavered slightly, but Jung-hyun, who had his back turned, didn’t see it.

“I’m tired, so I’ll head up first. Oh, there’s a bathroom on the first floor, so use it if you want to wash up. Goodnight.”

“…Yes. Sleep well.”

As their eyes met, a somewhat formal greeting returned.

There was a sense of distance between them, making it hard to believe that just two hours ago, they had been sucking each other’s genitals and stroking them with their hands. Jung-hyun responded with only a nod and walked toward the second-floor bedroom.

He had been tired enough to fall asleep instantly in the car, yet for some reason, sleep wouldn’t come. Jung-hyun tossed and turned for a long time, repeatedly drifting into a light, fitful sleep.

Then, he woke up to the sound of small footsteps. Lying still and listening, he heard Shin Ho-jae cross the living room, go down to the garage, and start the engine in succession.

Only after the sound of the engine faded and the garage door closed did he feel his frayed nerves slowly settle. Only then was Jung-hyun able to fall into a belated sleep.

* * *

The house Jung-hyun lived in as a child had a small cement yard.

The two-story Western-style house at the end of the yard was quite grand, but the place where Jung-hyun lived alone with his mother was a semi-basement rented room attached beneath that house.

He was told it was originally a storage room that had been rented out. Because of that, sunlight didn’t reach it well and there was no bathroom, so they had to use the one outside, but Jung-hyun loved this house.

He cherished the memory of cleaning every single speck of dust in the corner with his mother when they first moved in, and the orange light that entered through the two-span window attached to the ceiling at sunset was truly beautiful.

Moreover, thanks to the landlady’s permission, they could hang laundry on one side of the cement yard.

The goshiwon room they lived in before had no ventilation or sunlight. No matter how strong a fabric softener his mother used, Jung-hyun’s elementary school uniform always smelled musty.

He knew that his mother, upon discovering that his classmates were teasing him about it, had used the expensive dryers at the laundromat from then on. That was why he was especially happy to ease his mother’s burden in this way.

“Mom!”

As soon as he closed the front gate, Jung-hyun ran toward the house. The sound of his shoes hitting the cement floor was loud.

He was in a great mood. It was the day the results of the exam he took yesterday came out.

As soon as he flung open the semi-basement door, a stern voice said, “I told you not to run.” Jung-hyun quickly answered, “Yes,” and neatly arranged his shoes.

There was a smell of fish coated in flour being fried in oil. It was a savory and crispy side dish that Jung-hyun loved. This, too, was something they couldn’t often make when living in the goshiwon because of the smell.

After tidying his shoes, he peeked his head up to see his mother standing in the tiny kitchen, smiling at him. As Jung-hyun smiled back, dimples formed below her lips.

“Wash your hands quickly and sit at the table. I grilled flatfish, your favorite, today.”

“Okay!”

Jung-hyun quickly washed his hands and brought the exam paper out of his bag first.

His seatmate, who already attended four academies for advanced learning, had missed two questions on this math exam. But Jung-hyun had gotten them all right.

“Shall we sit? Oh my.”

Before sitting down, Jung-hyun thrust the exam paper in front of his mother. A satisfied smile appeared on her face as she scanned the paper.

“My son, did you get a perfect score?”

“Yes. I ranked first in the class.”

In truth, there were three other friends who also got perfect scores, but since saying he ranked first wasn’t a lie, he put it that way.

As he grew a bit older, he learned what words his mother liked to hear, so he began to answer selectively like this. Since it wasn’t a lie, he didn’t think of it as doing something bad.

His mother set the exam paper aside and opened her arms toward Jung-hyun. Jung-hyun smiled brightly and dove right into her arms.

“Who do you take after to be this pretty and smart?”

“You, Mom.”

“Of course. But our Jung-hyun also looks exactly like his father. You’ll be surprised when you see him later. So, let’s always be grateful to your father, who passed down such a smart brain.”

“…Yes.”

Jung-hyun nodded reluctantly. In truth, Jung-hyun preferred being told he resembled his mother rather than his father, whom he had never seen in his life.

However, since saying that before had made his mother angry, he simply nodded obediently. His mother hugged Jung-hyun tightly before pulling away.

70 – Puck Drop