By Zephyria Kwon Tae-hee stared intently at his trembling eyes and gestured with his chin. In the parking lot, which he hadn’t had time to examine closely when he rushed out, was the vehicle he had seen in front of Seo Jeong-won’s house yesterday. Song Hae-seop felt a sense of despair as he picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground, shoved it roughly into his pocket, and moved his feet.
If I turn around and run now, will I get caught? Should I shout and let Seo Jeong-won know that Kwon Tae-hee is here? He really had all sorts of thoughts.
But Song Hae-seop couldn’t try any of them. Kwon Tae-hee’s eyes, which were looking at him, seemed as if they would twist his neck off at any moment.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
The place he was dragged to, or rather, voluntarily rode in Kwon Tae-hee’s car to, was a bakery-style cafe located on the outskirts of the city. Even though it was long before the opening time written on the entrance door, the cafe was perfectly ready to welcome guests.
“Drinks?”
“……I’ll just have an iced, anything.”
“Okay.”
Kwon Tae-hee told Chief Jung to bring an iced Americano and green tea. As the person who had been by his side disappeared, the air became even heavier. Clearly, classical music that wasn’t unpleasant to listen to was playing in the room, but the atmosphere was very eerie.
“I, well—.”
“I want to hear how the two of you met first.”
“……”
“Jeong-won didn’t have a cell phone, and he wasn’t in a situation where he could meet anyone. Why would someone who lived in my house, looking only at me, go to Song Hae-seop? In his pajamas, too.”
His low voice was soft. The unique, neat tone was familiar, but it made the back of his neck feel chilly. Song Hae-seop imagined an unsavory incident that would never happen in such a bright and open place and smiled awkwardly. He felt like if he said even one word wrong, some gangster-like people would appear from somewhere and drag him away.
“Ah, well—, that’s—.”
“I don’t have time to listen to long excuses or explanations. Does it look like I’m free because I came to find Jeong-won myself?”
“……I met him at the hospital back then, I don’t remember exactly. I don’t know exactly why he came to the hospital, but Jeong-won was sitting alone in front of the doctor’s office. I also went to the same hospital to get a prescription for suppressants because of Pheromone. It was surprising that a Beta was pregnant, and I heard that Hyung had died.”
“Why is that.”
Song Hae-seop’s shoulders slumped even more at the toneless words.
“He didn’t seem to be doing well, so I… I gave him my contact information in case there was anything I could do to help. And for a while, I forgot about it. I waited for a day or two, but when I didn’t hear from him, I thought it was nothing. But yesterday, well, yesterday morning, I got a call from an unknown number. It was Jeong-won. He asked for help, so I helped… Ha, I said I would help.”
“What makes Song Hae-seop help Jeong-won?”
Song Hae-seop nodded at the cold question. He mumbled that it was true and repeated the word “sorry” again. His mind was only filled with the thought that he might lose his cafe. He was finally getting into the realm of a normal life, but he was afraid that he would go back to the way he was before, like a repeat sign.
“I… I think I did something presumptuous. I’m sorry. I was going to contact you anyway. Really. He’s probably sleeping at home right now, if you go now—.”
“You said you’d help, but you’re changing your mind in less than a day. I wonder how absurd Jeong-won would feel if he knew this.”
“That’s not it, Tae-hee. I really wanted to keep Jeong-won with me until he sorted out his feelings, I really did…”
Song Hae-seop was rambling excuses when he was startled by the sudden appearance of Chief Jung and jumped up slightly. Then, looking at the drink placed in front of him, he bowed his head.
“……Thank you.”
There was no response. Song Hae-seop waited for Kwon Tae-hee to open his mouth, being careful even with the sound of his breathing until moisture formed on the surface of the glass.
“What did Jeong-won say?”
“Yes? Ah, he said thank you for helping him. I kept hearing the word ‘thank you’. Jeong-won wasn’t in a situation to go outside, and he didn’t seem to know anything about this kind of thing, so I—.”
“No, not that. Didn’t he talk about me…?”
At the quiet question, Song Hae-seop blinked his eyes and nodded with a look of delight. He could confidently talk about this part. Song Hae-seop thought it was a perfect opportunity to let him know that he had rather defended him, and straightened his hunched upper body. In addition, he even met the gaze he had been avoiding because he was intimidated.
“Jeong-won was very distressed because of Hyung. After Hyung died, Tae-hee’s baby, being pregnant… It seems like it was a huge shock. In that state, after hearing that you would be a good spouse and meeting your parents, he started to have more and more negative thoughts.”
“……”
“I think he pretended to be okay in front of Tae-hee… But when he came to me, he said he couldn’t live like that anymore and left the house. Didn’t you know what Jeong-won was feeling at all? He said the relationship was very disgusting… He felt so guilty towards Hyung that it was pitiful to watch from the side. He told me everything… Didn’t you know?”
A lot of things were added to the short conversation, but Song Hae-seop continued to speak without any hesitation. He instinctively felt that if he went wrong here, even the cafe would be blown away. So he decided that an exaggerated explanation would be better. He had to let him know that Seo Jeong-won was relying on him in order to guarantee his own personal safety.
“Especially about Hyung’s death, he seemed to resent Tae-hee for no reason, so I told him that as far as that issue was concerned… Tae-hee was not responsible. I told him to think rationally. I don’t know about other things, but he seemed to agree to some extent that he was not at fault in that part. I spoke directly, without emotions.”
Kwon Tae-hee didn’t show it on the outside, but he was greatly shocked as he listened to Song Hae-seop’s explanation. He thought that there was an unspoken agreement to understand and move on about Seo Gyu-won, but that little thing had hidden such inner thoughts and treated him like that. He felt miserable.
“Ha.”
“……I think I can positively, positively change his feelings about Tae-hee. It’s true. Just looking at the fact that he came to me means that Jeong-won doesn’t have anyone to rely on right now. I’ll soothe him well and send him back in a complete state. I can do it.”
“Jeong-won doesn’t have any really trustworthy people around him. He should have received proper help in his life so that he could choose people well. The person he barely found changes his mind in one night. Really… Song Hae-seop is also trash.”
Song Hae-seop flinched at the cynical voice. He felt uneasy because he wondered if this was not what he wanted with the subtly mixed criticism. The hands placed on his thighs were tangled on their own. Just as he was barely breathing, afraid of being caught showing his nervousness, Kwon Tae-hee’s voice continued.
“But it’s a relief that we can communicate.”
“……”
“Pretend to help him like you have been doing. That means let him escape safely.”
Kwon Tae-hee laughed softly. He thought that the situation was fucked up, but on the other hand, he felt relieved. It was definitely a relief that he could at least handle it. Except for the fact that he found out what Seo Jeong-won was feeling, it was like he was playing in his palm.
“Then… Are you not going to pick him up?”
“You said you’d take good care of him.”
If he used Song Hae-seop to calm Seo Jeong-won’s mind, then he could coax him and bring him back. Thinking about it that way, this runaway didn’t seem so bad. At least he knew what the problem was.
“Let’s do this first.”
Kwon Tae-hee’s gaze briefly groped the air.
“There’s a regular checkup next week. Do you know?”
“Yes, I heard… I know.”
Song Hae-seop answered without delay.
“I’ll prepare the hospital and the doctor. Song Hae-seop, you take Jeong-won there.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. To the place you tell me.”
“What else did he ask you to help him with? Why did you stop by Seonam?”
“He went to the house to take anything that Tae-hee left behind that could be turned into cash. Tie pins and cufflinks. He was looking into taking out the jewels and selling them… As you already know, Jeong-won’s financial situation is not good.”
Song Hae-seop told the truth. It was obvious what would happen if he used shallow tricks and lied to him.
“……Tae-hee?”
“From now on, talk to Chief Jung about financial matters, and Song Hae-seop, reassure Jeong-won that things are going very well and keep him with you.”
“Ah, I understand.”
“I’ll decide where to go after that and where to live. You just have to take Jeong-won to that place as if you’ve found a suitable place. It’s as easy as betraying him, right?”
Song Hae-seop silently agreed with his words, but he couldn’t help but imagine the worst-case scenario.
“But, if he finds out… I think Jeong-won would be very shocked if he found out everything.”
Kwon Tae-hee frowned at the unpleasant assumption that he was rambling on while trembling.
“That’s right. If he finds out, then I’ll have to make sure Song Hae-seop… never sees the light of day again. Even if you disappear overnight, there’s no one who will look for you, right? It’s not like you’ve lived a life that has remained important to someone.”
“……”
“Then, let’s assume you understood well and get up now.”