Chapter 62: Show Only to Me
The pain penetrating to his internal organs was so intense he couldn’t even groan. When he barely managed to lift his head to look forward, Dohyuk, wearing leather gloves, was looking down at Lee Seojin with cold eyes.
“I don’t need to explain why, you understand.”
Instead of answering, Seojin lowered his gaze. When he had passed on Muryeong’s information, he had already been forgiven once. Having been a spy under Kang Sunhyuk for years, Dohyuk had overlooked it once, taking that into consideration. Though aware, he had diverted the shaman and lied to Kang Dohyuk that he was at Kang Sunhyuk’s house.
He had intended to do something worse. Though his heart wavered at the shaman’s words at the last moment and he couldn’t do anything, when he tried to hand the shaman over to a porn producer, he was prepared to be killed by Kang Dohyuk.
He thought that if he couldn’t have Dohyuk’s heart, it would be better to be abandoned completely. If he couldn’t have him, he didn’t want to give him to the shaman either. So he betrayed Kang Dohyuk, knowing the worst outcome awaited him. Anyway, if Dohyuk abandoned him, there would be no meaning to live, so death wasn’t frightening.
He saw Dohyuk’s foot coming but instead of dodging, he closed his eyes. A proper hit to the chest area sent a choked breath bursting out as his body fell sideways.
“Managing Director!”
Director Choi tried to stop Dohyuk when he saw Seojin just taking the blows without any resistance. Despite having been hit just twice, and not even in the face, red blood surged from Seojin’s mouth. When Dohyuk, who was just staring with icy eyes, showed no intention of hitting him further, Director Choi knelt down and wiped Seojin’s mouth with a handkerchief.
“Why did you do it?”
At Director Choi’s quiet admonishment, Seojin bit his lip hard, keeping his eyes on the ground. Though he heard Director Choi’s regretful sigh, he didn’t raise his head.
“You’re fired. Leave Korea.”
Only at these words falling from above did he finally look up at Dohyuk.
“Don’t ever appear before me again.”
So it comes to this after all. Tears instantly filled Seojin’s eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
He apologized but didn’t say he would comply with Dohyuk’s orders. He didn’t mind not appearing before him, but he didn’t want to leave Korea. He wanted to watch from afar.
“Seojin…”
Director Choi patted Seojin’s shoulder and put a passport and plane ticket in front of him.
“It’s a flight this evening. Just for a while… go away.”
Though he said “for a while,” Seojin knew best that it was unclear when he could return.
When Seojin didn’t answer, Dohyuk’s gaze sharpened as he looked down.
“Lee Seojin. I said get out of my sight.”
Despite Dohyuk spitting out each word as if chewing it, Seojin just dropped tears without answering that he would.
“Who do you think you are?”
Everyone turned at the voice that suddenly came from behind. It wasn’t clear when he’d arrived, but Kang Sunhyuk was leaning against a parking lot pillar, watching them.
“Ha, really.”
Exhaling in disbelief, Sunhyuk approached Dohyuk.
“Who are you to beat my secretary and tell him to get out or whatever?”
Dohyuk stared at the confrontational Sunhyuk with an expressionless, even chilly gaze. Haah. As Dohyuk took a deep breath, Sunhyuk frowned.
“You can’t grasp the situation even seeing this.”
After saying this as if pitying him, Dohyuk glared at Seojin with cold eyes and turned around. Director Choi also bowed to Sunhyuk before following Dohyuk to the car.
Left behind, Sunhyuk blankly stared at the departing car, not understanding Dohyuk’s words. Then, as a possibility suddenly occurred to him, his eyes widened.
“You didn’t…?”
Sunhyuk turned to Seojin with a contorted face. Seojin’s pale face added certainty to his suspicion.
“You were that bastard’s planted spy? No way. That can’t be right?”
Though he shook his head, not wanting to believe it, and asked again, Seojin couldn’t answer and just trembled.
“Ha, fuck… what kind of dog shit…”
Sunhyuk couldn’t continue. His clenched fist began to tremble. He swung his fist, clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palm, toward Seojin.
Bang! Sunhyuk’s fist hit the metal door right behind Seojin’s face, not his face, making a loud noise. Seojin, who had tightly closed his eyes expecting to be hit, slowly lifted his eyelids to find Sunhyuk’s face right in front of him.
“Tell me it’s not true.”
“Executive Director…”
“Fuck! Tell me it’s not true! I’ll believe you if you say it’s not, so tell me it’s not true!”
At Sunhyuk’s desperate voice, Seojin lost strength in his legs and slumped down.
“How much I cherished you… How could you do this to me? I treated you like a younger brother. Do you even know that!”
Sunhyuk’s shout reverberated throughout the parking lot.
“Ha… haha…”
Seojin couldn’t raise his head at the sound, unclear whether it was laughter or a sigh.
“Tell me it’s not true, please…”
Sunhyuk knelt in front of Seojin, bringing them to eye level.
“Fuck, what am I supposed to do if even you betray me in this situation!”
Seojin flinched at the outburst but then carefully raised his head to check Sunhyuk’s face when he heard sobbing. He was crying. With his mother’s death and now Seojin’s betrayal on top, he seemed to have reached his limit.
“I’m… sorry.”
Though Seojin felt like bursting into tears from guilt, he gritted his teeth, believing he had no right to cry in front of this person.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Sunhyuk’s tone and expression changed. His eyes, which had seemed about to fade, were now filled with venom.
“Leave Korea? Tell him to fuck off. You need to stay by my side.”
Sunhyuk grabbed Seojin’s chin, making their eyes meet.
“Keep assisting me like you have been. Unlike Kang Dohyuk, I need you. You need to fill in what I lack, just like you’ve been doing.”
“But because of me, Madam…”
“Shut up.”
Sunhyuk gritted his teeth and glared at Seojin. His eyes, reflecting Seojin’s face, shone fiercely.
“If you feel even a bit sorry to my mother, atone for the rest of your life. By helping me with my work.”
Seojin couldn’t respond to his bitter voice. Simply nodding was the best he could do.
***
Seated in the back of the car, Yeon kept looking back, though Sunhyuk and Seojin had already disappeared from view.
“What’s bothering you?”
Dohyuk, who had been ignoring him, finally asked, apparently too disturbed to continue doing so. Yeon’s gaze turned to Dohyuk, or more accurately, he was scanning around Dohyuk.
“Kang Dohyuk-ssi.”
“As you said, I didn’t hurt anyone, so what’s the problem?”
Dohyuk cut off Yeon’s words and answered first. Though he wanted to kill Lee Seojin, who had tried to deceive him, he had stepped back, not just one but two or three steps. Director Choi had pleaded with him to be lenient, considering their history together. He said he would take responsibility for Muryeong’s information being leaked because it was due to his own carelessness.
Moreover, Yeon was watching. In exchange for not running away, he had asked Dohyuk not to harm anyone. He couldn’t break that condition when not even a day had passed.
What’s a mere promise worth? Of course, he had such thoughts. But Dohyuk knew Yeon’s stubbornness. He would try to enforce whatever he had said by any means necessary. He hadn’t yielded even when threatened with his life. It was possible to forcibly hold him, but that would inevitably mean clashing with Yeon. That process was cumbersome and tiring.
No, beyond all that, he simply didn’t like the idea of quarreling with Yeon. If possible, he wished Yeon would stay by his side of his own will, without being oppressed or detained.
“You hit Lee Seojin-ssi.”
Despite being left in the car, Yeon had apparently seen everything and was now protesting.
“I feel like I deserve praise just for letting it go at that level.”
Yeon closed his mouth and stared at Dohyuk. Though he didn’t like it, he could guess Dohyuk’s true nature, so he couldn’t criticize him recklessly.
“Don’t create unnecessary evil connections. Please don’t do anything more to Lee Seojin-ssi.”
“Is that you speaking as a shaman, or as my destined partner?”
When Yeon frowned slightly, disliking the term “destined partner,” Dohyuk raised the corner of his mouth as if amused.
“Why should I?”
At the question of why he should leave Seojin alone, Yeon quietly took a deep breath.
“Because if your evil connections increase, I won’t be able to endure staying by your side.”
“So? Are you saying you’d run away when that time comes?”
His eyes suggested he would choke the life out of Yeon right away if he answered he would run. Yeon shook his head.
“No. I’ll sever all those evil connections. By any means necessary…!”
As Yeon was speaking, Dohyuk reached out and grabbed the back of his head, making him swallow his words and widen his eyes. The strong force pulled his face forward, and Dohyuk’s lips covered his. Dohyuk’s tongue pushed through the gap between his crushed lips.
“Ugh, wait…”
When he tried to turn his face away to avoid it, it was a meaningless gesture. Dohyuk gripped his hair even tighter, making it impossible to move, and freely explored inside Yeon’s mouth. Though Yeon pounded on his chest with his fist as his breath quickened, Dohyuk wouldn’t let go. A moan went down his throat at the hot breath and tongue pushing deep inside.
After a long while, a gap finally formed between their lips, and rapid breaths rushed out. Their lips were still so close they would brush against each other with the slightest movement.
“Don’t use that damn ability of yours recklessly.”
Dohyuk warned in a low voice.
“Not a single wound on your body, nor that black energy spreading on its own.”
Dohyuk’s large hand cupped Yeon’s cheek. At the hot sensation, Yeon raised only his eyes to look at Dohyuk’s face.
“I’m not a doll.”
When Yeon retorted, disliking being told not to use his abilities as a shaman, Dohyuk chuckled. That laugh implied, “Who was sitting stiffly like a doll until now?”
“I know better than anyone that you’re not a doll.”
The hand cupping his cheek moved slightly lower, and his fingers rubbed Yeon’s lips.
“A doll wouldn’t have this heat.”
Dohyuk’s gaze fixed on Yeon’s lips. Just that was enough to make the sensation of his recent kiss vividly revive.
“Show only to me. Like now.”
A quiet voice brushed his ear. Yeon avoided the gaze he had been meeting and shook off Dohyuk’s hand. He turned toward the window, and even though he could no longer see Dohyuk, his heart was still pounding painfully and fiercely.
