Yujeong looked at Seongjo with an absurd expression. It made sense since he’d basically said with his own mouth that he welcomed background checks. Seongjo laughed out loud, then explained the reason.
“It means you’re that interested.”
“You have a unique way of thinking.”
Of course, that reason didn’t seem to convince Yujeong. Yujeong calmly retorted and shook his head from side to side, then turned his eyes away from Seongjo. Seongjo let out chuckling laughter while looking at Yujeong.
It was half joking and half sincere. Because he actually thought it wouldn’t feel too bad if Yujeong was overflowing with enough interest in him to do a background check and follow him. And Seongjo, the heir to a renowned company, was already used to being on people’s lips. It meant that even if he was subjected to a bit of background checking, the impact would be less than for others.
But Yujeong’s case would probably be different. Seongjo explained in a deliberately dignified tone.
“That doesn’t mean I did a background check on Teacher Jeon though.”
“Yes, please continue not to in the future as well.”
He hadn’t planned to do so in the future anyway. There were several reasons, first of all because the moment he was caught doing a background check, he felt like he would receive unprecedented contempt from Yujeong. And even aside from that, Seongjo wanted to hear directly from Yujeong’s mouth rather than secretly digging into him.
However, upon hearing the answer that came right away, he couldn’t help but become curious. Whether there were parts that Yujeong absolutely didn’t want to reveal or be caught about.
But at least now wasn’t the time to voice that question. He didn’t really want to break the current atmosphere. Seongjo opened his mouth and said a word.
“I think you can turn off the heated seats now.”
“Are you not cold anymore?”
Before he knew it, warmth had been circulating through his body for a long time. Though it was a function he’d never used in his life, it was certainly quite fast at warming the body.
When he nodded, Yujeong turned off the heater without asking or saying more. Seongjo found it fascinating that Yujeong had noticed his condition even though Seongjo hadn’t said he was cold, but since he didn’t seem to want to make a big deal of it, he passed over it without specifically mentioning that part. Instead, he threw out a different question.
“Really, why did you come? I mean, how did you come to decide to let me use you?”
Yujeong coming today was something he hadn’t expected at all. Since he’d told him in advance that he might not be able to come back at dinner time, there was no need for him to call Seongjo. Even if he happened to be nearby, there was no reason to come pick up Seongjo either. On top of that, coming to pick him up wasn’t enough, there was even less need to help provoke his ex-boyfriend. All of it felt like actions purely for Seongjo’s sake.
Upon hearing the question, Yujeong was silent for a moment. Seeing his face that seemed lost in thought, Seongjo realized he wasn’t trying to avoid answering but was carefully choosing what to say. Soon Yujeong’s mouth barely opened.
“Your voice… wasn’t good. So I wondered if something had happened.”
This time it was Seongjo who was at a loss for words. He thought he’d answered the phone nonchalantly. Even Yeongbeom, who had been there with him, would have thought Seongjo was nonchalant when answering the phone. But did that mean Yujeong had noticed something was off just from hearing his voice?
“…That showed? I’ve gotten a bit sloppy too.”
He answered feeling embarrassed. Yujeong only glanced at Seongjo’s face and didn’t react to those words. That response was the right choice since anything he said would have only made things more embarrassing and awkward.
Instead, Yujeong threw out a somewhat out-of-the-blue question.
“Should I turn it on? The radio.”
Seongjo slowly nodded his head. Yujeong’s attitude of acting indifferent as if he had no more interest in that matter instead of making a big deal of it made Seongjo’s mind calm. Seongjo also naturally threw out a question unrelated to the previous topic.
“What kind of music do you like?”
“Things that aren’t noisy.”
Yujeong immediately answered calmly. He was being unusually compliant today. Was this also because Seongjo was more subdued than usual?
The statement that he liked music that wasn’t noisy suited Yujeong very well. True to those words, he tuned the radio frequency to a channel that played quiet pop songs. Letting the lyrics of a song he seemed to have heard somewhere pass through one ear, Seongjo suddenly opened his mouth.
“It’s strange. Earlier I kept thinking other thoughts, but now I’m not thinking anything else at all.”
Yujeong looked quietly at Seongjo for a moment, then soon turned his eyes back to the front of the road as the light changed to green.
His answer came after a brief moment this time as well.
“It was worth coming to be used.”
* * *
The two headed straight to Yujeong’s house. Yujeong had Seongjo sit in front of the dining table while he hurriedly prepared dinner. He said he’d prepare something simple since they’d already missed dinner time, but for saying such a thing, the menu was quite diverse.
Seongjo’s eyes widened as he looked at Yujeong. In front of a dining table laid with various side dishes, dong-geu-rang-ttaeng, hamburger steak, and dried radish greens soup, Yujeong calmly explained. The side dishes were prepared in advance, the dong-geu-rang-ttaeng and hamburger steak were just frozen foods he grilled, and the dried radish greens soup was just a retort he boiled.
The next words flowed out in a calm voice no different from what he’d been saying before.
“That man earlier was your ex-lover, right?”
It was a statement that seemed already certain. Though he knew that he’d noticed, he didn’t know he’d ask so directly. A disgruntled look appeared again on Seongjo’s face at the thought of Yeongbeom. He answered with a half-hearted nod.
“…Well.”
He lightly shrugged his shoulders. He thought, why would he ask such a question with a rice bowl in front of him, when at the very least he could have asked while setting the table? If he picked up his spoon like this, he might get indigestion.
But Yujeong paid no attention to Seongjo’s disgruntled face and continued throwing out questions.
“Did you go out to meet your ex-lover?”
It wasn’t an interrogating or blaming tone. Yet Seongjo hesitated the moment he heard that question. There was no reason to feel guilty, but somehow he did. Even though Yujeong hadn’t said anything, he wanted to explain for no reason.
“No way, I unavoidably ran into him at the place I went.”
Usually Yujeong would have nodded with a disinterested face around this point, but today Yujeong was also very different from usual. Another question was thrown again.
“What did you talk about that made you feel so bad?”
“He asked if I got a new man?”
Once he started talking, he thought there was nothing to hold back now. Seongjo answered right away as if it was no big deal. It was such an absurd statement even thinking about it again that a hollow laugh came out naturally. However, there wasn’t a trace of laughter on Yujeong’s face.
“What did you answer?”
“Well, I just… brushed it off. Because I didn’t feel it was worth answering.”
It seemed like it would be a problem whether he said he had or hadn’t gotten someone. If the former, he would have heard nonsense from him again like he didn’t expect that, or that he was disappointed. If the latter, it seemed like he would have misunderstood that he still had lingering feelings.
Only after hearing those words did Yujeong stop questioning and close his mouth for a moment. Rather than all his questions being resolved, it seemed he’d fallen into thought again this time too. As expected, Yujeong opened his mouth again after a moment.
“From next time, answer that you did get someone.”
“What? Hahaha.”
Words he hadn’t even expected came out. For a few seconds, Seongjo made a dazed expression as if doubting his ears, then immediately burst into laughter. Yujeong looked on with a displeased face, seeming slightly embarrassed by Seongjo’s reaction, who didn’t even try to hide his laughter.
Seongjo, who barely stopped laughing, asked.
“Why?”
Yujeong didn’t answer. He turned his head to the other side as if annoyed, but Seongjo thought that might be embarrassment rather than annoyance. That’s why he persistently asked again.
“I’m asking why. Why would you want me to answer that I got someone?”
“It’s so obvious you have an answer you want to hear that I don’t want to say it anymore.”
Yujeong finally opened his mouth. Of course, it was true that there was an answer he wanted to hear. Instead of saying so, Seongjo smiled broadly and stared intently at Yujeong’s face.
“You wouldn’t know since you’re someone like Lee Seongjo-ssi, but that’s the standard way. When a bothersome ex-lover is clinging, it’s best to shake them off by saying you got a new person…”
Yujeong, who answered with a sigh, slightly avoided his gaze. It wasn’t just Seongjo’s own illusion, Yujeong really seemed to be embarrassed. Seongjo asked.
“You want me to use you like that? Do you want to help me?”
