“Is it you?”
A trembling voice flowed from Yeongbeom’s mouth. He wanted to appear as least shaken as possible, but his lower jaw was trembling so much he couldn’t control his voice.
He struggled to somehow make his frozen head work. Could this man, Jeon Yujeong, really be that person? No, that couldn’t be. Didn’t he already know the identity of that person?
Then how on earth had he found out about that matter? Had the person involved in that matter broken their promise to never reveal it? After staying quiet all this long time, why now? No, wait—was Jeon Yujeong really even aware of that matter? Wasn’t he just testing Yeongbeom?
“I’m asking if it’s you!”
Yeongbeom shouted angrily. Even while knowing in his head that he wasn’t that person, he didn’t know why he was repeating the same words with such an impatient heart.
Yujeong just looked at Yeongbeom without saying anything. Looking at those irritatingly intolerable eyes, Yeongbeom ground his teeth.
‘Those eyes… he does know.’
Otherwise, he couldn’t look at him with those eyes. If he was really just pretending to know something, he wouldn’t have sent such a cold look of contempt. Yeongbeom muttered in a small voice.
“Just when exactly…”
This time too, Yujeong didn’t answer. He’d expected that much anyway. Rather than expecting his answer now, Yeongbeom began to ramble close to talking to himself.
“No, why now of all times?”
The more such muttering continued, the more confused Yeongbeom became. Yujeong’s existence knowing the truth felt like a time bomb that could explode at any moment. That’s why Yeongbeom’s voice rose as he muttered with his head bowed alone.
“You, what? Why are you next to Seongjo… Why now!”
Yeongbeom’s shouting didn’t seem to threaten Yujeong at all. He was still looking at Yeongbeom with an indifferent expression. His face was so motionless that just when Yeongbeom was wondering if he was standing before a plaster statue rather than a person, he finally opened his mouth.
“You seem to think I have some ulterior motive, but that’s not the case.”
A faint smile hung on Yujeong’s lips as he said that.
“Not everyone in the world lives with schemes like Jo Yeongbeom-ssi does.”
Hadn’t he definitely not used the title “sunbae-nim” just a moment ago? The name called calmly as “Jo Yeongbeom-ssi” had a distinctly different nuance. Though his expression was calm enough to make the word “sunbae-nim” feel like a lie, he didn’t think he’d misheard. Yeongbeom’s face became increasingly and uncontrollably contorted.
This situation right now was exactly that situation—the one Yeongbeom had once feared every day enough to tremble with anxiety. Would it have been better if Yujeong had definitively said something? If he’d revealed exactly what he knew, he might have found a way to deal with it.
However, he’d thrown a bomb and was just watching with an indifferent face, so there was no method and it was just frightening.
Yeongbeom looked at his face and barely calmed his mind. As his head cooled even a little, words to console himself also came to mind.
“No… no, it’s okay. Anyway, even if you say it now…”
Yeongbeom muttered while holding his head.
That’s right. Even if Yujeong really knew something, even if he was ‘that’ person himself, it wasn’t something to be this shaken about. At least not for Yeongbeom now.
He’d broken up with Seongjo anyway. Even if the fact he’d been hiding was discovered, it wouldn’t deal a direct and fatal blow to Yeongbeom.
…Then why.
Why wouldn’t this fearful heart calm down?
Yeongbeom racked his brain to somehow convince himself. He’d lived in fear because of that fact for a very long time. In the early days of the relationship, he’d had dreams of the lie he’d told Seongjo being exposed at least once a week. Though it had faded as time passed, the memory didn’t disappear entirely.
Right… that must be why.
It was just that memories of the past came to mind making him anxious, but it wasn’t that relevant anymore. Even if the lie was revealed now, the world wouldn’t collapse. However.
‘Then Seongjo would never see me again, especially then.’
…Thinking of that made him feel suddenly scared. It was ridiculous. Even knowing there was nothing worse that could happen in his relationship with Seongjo, he was worried about his reaction.
When his thoughts reached that point, he suddenly felt doubt about himself. What had he come all the way here for in the first place? In his drunken state, what Yeongbeom had recalled most intensely was the fact that he didn’t like the new man Seongjo had. So…
‘I wanted to make them break up.’
He’d come all the way here on that impulse alone.
But if that went as he wished, then what? What had he wanted to do with Lee Seongjo after that?
‘If I broke up with Seyeong…’
Yeongbeom recalled Seongjo’s words.
When he’d visited last time, Seongjo had definitely said that. Would ‘a bastard like you even give up on marriage’?
He’d spoken everything under the assumption that Yeongbeom wouldn’t do that. He’d gotten angry asking if he was planning to marry Seyeong and have an affair with Seongjo himself. Then what if it wasn’t that situation? What if it wasn’t something like an affair, but he completely returned to Seongjo and begged for forgiveness?
Perhaps the fact that Seongjo had bothered to ask the question ‘would you break off the marriage and come back’ itself was an action with some intention. Then couldn’t it be said there was a possibility of being forgiven?
‘But then…!’
His insides suddenly burned again. Yujeong in front of him couldn’t feel more like an obstacle.
If he visited Seongjo and begged, then he might have accepted him. That positive situation was ruined from the start because of that secret that Jeon Yujeong might tell on him.
“Even if you say it?”
Toward Yeongbeom who was trembling, Yujeong asked at just that moment in a slow voice. He seemed to be deliberately picking up the thread of the story Yeongbeom had started and trailed off. While Yeongbeom didn’t answer for a moment, his leisurely voice continued.
“If nothing would change even if I say it, can I just say it?”
“You son of a bitch…!”
Now it felt exactly like he was mocking him. Yeongbeom, who had staggered back, got worked up at those words and approached Yujeong as if lunging at him and grabbed him by the collar. Yujeong wasn’t flustered even with his collar grabbed. In a calm voice that was unclear whether it was meant to reassure or provoke Yeongbeom, he said,
“I don’t plan to say it right away. As long as you don’t act annoyingly like today.”
He was raising both arms in a gesture of surrender, but even that seemed to Yeongbeom like he was just mocking him. Yeongbeom ground his teeth and said,
“What makes you keep acting so arrogant? Do you think you can act this impudently just because you know that one thing?”
Hearing the extremely angry voice, Yujeong quietly looked at Yeongbeom. After silence, Yujeong’s mouth opened.
“It’s unfortunate and fortunate.”
“What again…!”
“That you’re such a pathetic human being.”
Yeongbeom was at a loss for words and couldn’t immediately retort. Yujeong didn’t push Yeongbeom away, didn’t raise his voice, didn’t spit out curses. However, Yeongbeom felt more insulted by the concise evaluation he’d thrown than by any curse he could have heard.
Yujeong calmly continued.
“Thanks to you, I think I don’t need to be so considerate after all.”
What he had been considerate of until now, and what he was saying he wouldn’t be considerate of from now on, Yeongbeom couldn’t know. But even in that situation, he could fully feel the bad premonition.
A barely visible smile was drawn on Yujeong’s lips. It was an expression that could only be interpreted as him ridiculing Yeongbeom.
He put more force into the hand gripping the collar. The impulse to land at least one punch on this arrogant and detestable face consumed his head. Yeongbeom momentarily couldn’t hold back that impulse that had rushed to the top of his head. He let go of the collar and swung his fist.
Yujeong didn’t dodge even while watching the fist flying toward his face. Even while getting hit in the face, he didn’t have a surprised expression. Yujeong’s face turned slightly in the direction he was hit, then soon returned to its original position.
Because Yujeong, stroking his marked cheek, had a fine expression as if this much didn’t even tickle, Yeongbeom’s mood wasn’t relieved in the slightest. When he grabbed the collar again, a small sigh escaped from Yujeong’s mouth as if annoyed. Just as Yeongbeom was about to spit out a curse at that sight.
Ding—a clear sound rang out.
