Having finished the call in a good mood, Chahyun put down his phone with a smiling face.
Then Ji Eunho, who was sitting across from him at an outdoor table at a cafe near the penthouse, had a dumbfounded expression for some reason. Having watched Chahyun’s entire phone call with Yiyoung, he muttered.
“That’s one brutal way to date.”
Seeing Eunho, Chahyun’s smile naturally faded. At the same time, he tilted his head.
He understood that Eunho had deduced the other person was Chahyun’s lover from hearing the conversation, but he didn’t know what he meant by brutal. Eunho asked back as if Chahyun’s puzzled expression was bewildering instead.
“Wasn’t that just a phone call with the person you’re dating?”
“That’s right.”
Chahyun answered indifferently as he put his phone in the inner pocket of his leather jacket. Then Eunho, who had been probing Chahyun as if unsure until just now, was immediately shocked.
“What kind of crazy bastard talks to their lover like that?”
Eunho covered his mouth with a gasp, surprised even after shouting himself. Chahyun stared at Eunho blankly at being called crazy, then soon let out a light sigh.
“Everything I said was worth saying.”
Even if the expression was somewhat rough, he didn’t say a single wrong thing. In fact, none of it was bad for Yiyoung.
What’s the problem with telling him not to feel burdened since I’m doing it purely because I like him?
Originally, Chahyun hadn’t intended to help Taeseong either. He had only met him to get back the 3 million won that Yiyoung had scraped together, and to find out what kind of person he was.
But unexpectedly, he had a solid business plan, so Chahyun felt generous. That’s why he readily gave him 30 million won plus an additional 20 million on top of what he needed to start the business.
If things didn’t work out, he just wouldn’t get back that measly 50 million won. Conversely, if it went well and Taeseong brought even just 2 million won a month to Yiyoung’s house, it would be good in many ways. Even if not, at the very least he wouldn’t be asking Yiyoung and his mother for handouts anymore.
Having thought this far, Chahyun understood his twenty-eight-year-old self less than anyone else.
‘Unable to say a few unpleasant words to his lover, he let him live in a shack until now?’
The more he knew, the more cowardly and idiotic he seemed.
At first, he thought he’d become a miser who was stingy with money even to his lover. But watching Yiyoung carefully, that wasn’t it. All this time, Chahyun had completely kept his hands off because he was afraid Yiyoung would find him burdensome and keep his distance. He’d even hidden his identity to date Yiyoung, so it was obvious.
Of course, he could understand that back then he only chose to speak prettily and cater to Yiyoung’s whims just to look good to him, but what a pathetic bastard. He really didn’t know what Bae Yiyoung found so good about such a gentleman-like guy to make such a fuss.
With a thoroughly sullen expression, Chahyun recalled the text message the man whose contact he’d just saved as ‘Hamster’ had sent him.
‘Taeseong hyung just came by.’
That was all the text he’d been waiting for desperately for the past five days said.
Now that they’d started dating, Chahyun had greatly anticipated that Yiyoung might send him sweet and affectionate texts all the time like before.
It was an absurd hope. Yiyoung didn’t send him a single text asking ‘What are you doing now?’ which would have been natural to wonder about at least once. Looking at it now, it seemed he’d belatedly remembered he had a lover only after meeting Taeseong. All the effort he’d put into suppressing the urge to constantly visit Yiyoung’s house and workplace to see when he’d think of him felt so futile.
‘And why is he repaying the money lent to Taeseong?’
Strictly speaking, since Yiyoung was Chahyun’s partner, he should be in the position of collecting money from Taeseong together. The fact that he was thinking of joining forces with Taeseong to repay the money was subtly disappointing. He really felt like a vicious creditor who made family relationships even more solid.
Suddenly irritated, Chahyun scratched the back of his head roughly and got up from his seat. Chahyun looked down at Eunho and said.
“I’m leaving.”
“Huh? You’re leaving?”
Eunho, who had been suddenly called out near Chahyun’s penthouse while working at the company, showed a flustered expression. But Chahyun had only called Eunho out because he felt like he’d get a nervous breakdown just waiting for Yiyoung’s contact.
Chahyun turned on his heel and waved his hand over his shoulder in greeting. Then there was a light clattering sound from behind as Eunho hurriedly stood up and seemingly hit his leg on the table. Following that, Eunho groaned briefly and muttered.
“I have something to tell you.”
Ah. Come to think of it, Chahyun also had something to ask Eunho.
Chahyun turned to look at Eunho and asked about something he had no memory of at all.
“Do you remember the composer I liked when I was twenty-two?”
“What…?”
Eunho, who had been clutching his shin and groaning, asked back. Looking bewildered at the completely out-of-the-blue question, Eunho rolled his eyes left and right, then answered vaguely.
“Was there such a thing? Well, even though you often said so-and-so’s something was good these days, I don’t think you particularly liked one specific person.”
“What about a song I was obsessed with back then? Called ‘The Day You Come to Love Me.'”
Chahyun probed Eunho while playing completely dumb. Eunho slowly shook his head as if it was a title he was hearing for the first time in his life no matter how hard he thought.
Eunho added, furrowing his nose bridge as if suddenly recalling a nightmare from the past.
“All I remember is you going around wearing a hideously red long padding back then.”
……It was a bit unsettling, but that was enough for now. He’d only asked just in case because the photo he saw at Yiyoung’s house kept bothering him.
Actually, back then Chahyun had suspected whether he had been the anonymous fan who gave Yiyoung the red long padding.
It was because he’d clearly seen a photo of himself wearing the exact same outfit when he was twenty-two in his older sister’s stalking diary. Unlike what he’d told Yiyoung, of course he didn’t have it until now. At this point, there was no way to know if he’d given it to Yiyoung or thrown it away.
But since Yiyoung also seemed to remember the face of the person who gave him the clothes differently from Chahyun, it seemed it wasn’t him after all. Thanks to that, Chahyun was greatly relieved.
‘I really hope I wasn’t a creepy bastard who fell for a street performing artist when I was twenty-two and stalked him for 6 years before seducing him.’
Please. If that were true, he felt like he’d want to commit suicide from shame.
Seeing what his twenty-eight-year-old self did to Yiyoung, that absurd hypothesis didn’t seem entirely impossible even to himself, which gave Chahyun chills down his spine. Somehow, finding his memories was becoming increasingly daunting.
Soon shaking his head to dispel his thoughts, Chahyun moved his steps toward home. Eunho’s voice was faintly heard from behind.
“You’re not going to listen to what I have to say?”
“I’m busy.”
It was true. He had to hurry from now to organize the Sunday date plans that had been full of various concerns. Chahyun hastened his steps, leaving Eunho behind.
And finally, Sunday morning, at the empty lot in front of Yiyoung’s house.
Chahyun was leaning against his car dressed more impressively in a suit than ever before. For once, it was a sedan chosen with riding comfort as the top priority over design or performance. Looking carefully, he’d noticed Yiyoung showed signs of slight motion sickness every time he got in the car, so he’d gotten a new one.
He’d come out too early, so while he was waiting for Yiyoung for quite a while, the dim dawn gradually brightened. It was only when the morning sunlight became complete that he saw Yiyoung coming out through the green metal gate of his house.
Chahyun tensed up and unconsciously gripped his left chest tightly with a stiff expression. Nevertheless, the fierce heartbeat he felt in his palm showed no signs of calming down. It only grew faster as Yiyoung came up the slope.
It had been a whole week since he’d seen him. Yiyoung was definitely much better in person than in Chahyun’s imagination.
On the other hand, Yiyoung approached little by little with a calmer expression than usual, looking only at the ground. It was only when Yiyoung, who had reached the hill, calmly raised his head that Chahyun flinched and lowered the hand that had been gripping his chest. His breath stopped for a moment as Yiyoung looked him over with slightly surprised eyes.
Yiyoung muttered, looking down at his outfit with a dazed gaze as if drowsy.
“You didn’t send anything today, so I just dressed casually…”
But Chahyun had put excessive effort into formal attire, so it was understandable he’d be puzzled.
Chahyun looked over Yiyoung’s simple outfit with satisfaction. As he said, since he hadn’t sent clothes today, Yiyoung was wearing a clean white t-shirt and cotton pants.
Even the style that Chahyun had definitely thought shabby when he first saw him now just looked refreshing. It was exactly the same feeling as looking at a game character wearing only the basic items provided before making any in-game purchases.
