While exchanging such small talk, they quickly arrived at their destination. Since the store was right next to Seunggeon’s apartment, they decided to park the car in the parking lot.
“Here, take this.”
Getting out of the car, Chaehun returned the jacket he’d been wearing to Seunggeon. But Seunggeon, who received and put on the jacket, frowned once more. It meant he still smelled other scents on him.
“Does it still smell?”
“Yeah.”
“Should I go wash up? It’ll disappear if I wash.”
“This would be better than that.”
“—?!”
Before Chaehun could react in any way, he ended up being pulled into Seunggeon’s embrace. Naturally, Chaehun, who hadn’t prepared at all, couldn’t help but be surprised. He reflexively tried to pull away, but Seunggeon caught his hand.
“Just stay still for a moment.”
“What?”
“So I can layer my scent on you.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It should be possible. With your constitution.”
Come to think of it, that seemed right, so Chaehun relaxed and stayed still. It was funny that two grown men were embracing in a vast empty parking lot, but Chaehun didn’t particularly care. Even if other people saw them, they’d probably think there was a good reason for the embrace.
However, being in that kind of relationship with Seunggeon, even though there was no sexual meaning, having their skin touch made him feel strange.
Chaehun hugged Seunggeon back to shake off the odd feeling. He even deliberately patted him. Being held by the large-framed Seunggeon like this reminded him of something.
“Cats do this kind of thing.”
“Cats?”
Whether he was satisfied with layering his scent, Seunggeon pulled away. Chaehun looked at Seunggeon’s face. At least his brow was properly relaxed.
“Taeho’s cat is a greeter cat, and when guests come, it rubs all over them with its body. Saying it’s marking them with its scent.”
“It is similar.”
“Still, it feels strange comparing you to a cat.”
No matter what, it felt wrong to compare Seunggeon to a cat. Moreover, Nam Taeho’s cat was even a chubby cat, making it even more so. Seunggeon also seemed displeased as his brow furrowed again. Chaehun just laughed, not knowing how Seunggeon had taken the cat comparison.
“It doesn’t smell anymore, right?”
“Right.”
“Then let’s go. I’m hungry.”
Chaehun, full of thoughts about eating, urged Seunggeon on.
* * *
“Answer it. Answer. I said answer.”
Park Gwangho, sitting in the driver’s seat, held his phone to his ear and muttered with desperate and irritated feelings. But the voice coming from the other end of the phone was stiff.
—The call cannot be connected, after the beep…
It was the fifth time he’d heard this message.
“Fuck!!”
Park Gwangho spat out a curse and roughly pressed the end button. He didn’t think about pressing redial for the sixth time. Seeing how he wasn’t answering the phone this much, he’d clearly been blocked.
“Fucking bastard!”
Park Gwangho threw his phone down without caring whether it broke or not, and along with a curse, he struck the steering wheel. The frustration not releasing, he pounded it several times, causing a loud horn to blare. As the sound echoed loudly in the club parking lot, passersby glanced over, but Park Gwangho had no time to care about that. He just panted and hit the steering wheel again and again. But the frustration didn’t easily subside.
“Fuck. Who the hell does he think he is? A fucking puppet!”
He verbally disparaged Seunggeon, but mentally he knew all too well that wasn’t the case. Unlike himself, who was just one of fourteen grandsons even though he belonged to a chaebol family, Seunggeon, who could influence contracts worth hundreds of billions, was a power player among power players.
“I’m going crazy!”
Park Gwangho screamed and banged his head against the steering wheel. Park Gwangho had a rough idea of what contract Seunggeon was talking about.
Although he’d lived as a good-for-nothing third-generation chaebol, once he reached a certain age, he’d kept his ears open to how the family business operated. This new drug development contract was something Park Gwangho’s father, Park Yongwoon, was staking his life on.
The new drug development was almost at the point of success, and this contract was just about getting their name slightly attached to it. For Park Yongwoon, who was several steps behind in the successor competition as the third son, this was an incomparably good opportunity. But if that opportunity fell through because of Park Gwangho, it was obvious what would happen.
Having been born and raised in this world, Park Gwangho wasn’t unaware of how cold-hearted people could become for money and power. If Seunggeon made it a contract condition to kick Park Gwangho out, Park Yongwoon was the type of person who would do it and more. He showed no mercy even to his sons. They hadn’t been particularly close from the start anyway.
The fate of those who were weeded out like that was almost predetermined. Most fell to become just mediocre losers. The worst case was being kicked out of Korea and never being able to return. Park Gwangho was right on the verge of that situation now.
“Ah. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
In frustration and resentment, Park Gwangho went berserk and struck the steering wheel several more times. Still, the situation didn’t change.
He didn’t know things would get this tangled. Who would have known that Chaehun’s backer was Seunggeon?
“That bastard!”
Park Gwangho thought of Chaehun. The root of all evil was that bastard.
He hadn’t liked him from the first time he saw him. Even mistakes that should have been passed over nicely never got passed over. With nothing to his name and only his face worth looking at, he didn’t know his place. But the reason he acted so cocky was because of his backer, Seunggeon.
So that’s why he could hold his head up so arrogantly.
Thinking about how Chaehun must have been sneering at him inwardly all this time made his insides churn. Whatever else, he couldn’t just let that bastard be.
But here was the problem. It would be easy to harm Chaehun. Not only could he get him fired from the hospital, but he could also destroy him so he could never hold his head up again. But dealing with the aftermath would be entirely his own burden.
If Seunggeon was serious, it was obvious he’d be kicked out somewhere. And penniless at that. Not being able to return to Korea was fine. But there was nothing more frightening than living like a beggar. The reason he only caused accidents that could be moderately handled while watching his grandfather’s mood was all because of money.
There was only one method left. Wait until Seunggeon abandoned Chaehun and then get his revenge. But he didn’t know when that would be. It could be as soon as tomorrow, but it could also be a year or two years later.
If it were up to his feelings, he’d want to see Chaehun rolling on the ground today, but the fact that he couldn’t do that was driving him crazy.
“Aaaaargh!”
In the end, Park Gwangho, unable to control his temper, went berserk once more. Thinking that because of Chaehun, he had to bow his head to Seunggeon, fury welled up again.
He wanted to at least try something, but there wasn’t much time. He had to choose between pride and money.
“Fuck. I really won’t let you off.”
Park Gwangho chose money. Even so, he dreamed of revenge.
