It seemed Chahyun had changed his mind about canceling the date course he’d originally prepared, despite Yiyoung saying he was tired. It was true that he’d gotten his energy back, and since Chahyun said it would only take a moment, Yiyoung readily nodded his head. Chahyun grinned and entered the destination into the navigation.
They passed through Seoul’s terrible traffic congestion and gradually entered a quiet downtown area.
For some reason, it was a neighborhood where there seemed to be more tall buildings than passing pedestrians. Yiyoung happily observed the scenery that felt neat and tidy, quite different from the places he usually frequented. In the meantime, the sun began to set and the car’s headlights clicked on. The streets became increasingly deserted.
Chahyun stopped the car in front of a building that vaguely reminded one of a classical hotel.
However, there were no guests to be seen at all, and the quietly serene atmosphere didn’t look like a commercial establishment, so after a long while, Yiyoung opened his mouth to ask.
“Where have we come?”
“……”
Without answering, Chahyun just gave a meaningful grin and got out of the car.
Yiyoung couldn’t wait for Chahyun to open the door and quickly followed him out, overwhelmed by the unique dignity that the historic building exuded. There were no conspicuously flashy decorations, but it was a building where one could feel the solidity that had endured through long years. Despite this, it was elegant and weighty without a single shabby aspect.
Chahyun handed the car keys to the valet parking attendant standing at the entrance and said.
“There’s still something I want to give you.”
Yiyoung tilted his head in confusion but followed Chahyun anyway.
The first-floor lobby of the building was spacious enough to have a small fountain in the center, with high ceilings. They reached the elevator while the sound of Chahyun’s dress shoes echoed pleasantly on the dazzlingly white marble floor.
Above the elevator was a bronze sculpture of a baby angel holding a trumpet. As if this elevator would naturally lead to heaven.
The interior of the elevator wasn’t much different from the luxury hotels he’d occasionally stayed at while traveling. The only difference was that instead of a card key, fingerprint authorization was required to press the buttons. The place the elevator reached with Chahyun’s authorization was the top floor.
As soon as the doors opened, Yiyoung’s lips parted involuntarily at the view that unfolded before him.
The top floor of the building was a living space that could truly be called heaven. Yiyoung was especially captivated by the view outside the floor-to-ceiling windows visible straight ahead and moved his feet as if possessed. The wide Han River seemed to be right before his eyes, making him feel as if he were walking on water just by looking out the window.
As he was gazing at the sparkling downtown beyond the peaceful river water, Chahyun asked from behind him.
“Do you like it?”
Yiyoung turned to look at Chahyun and nodded vigorously. It seemed that even staying in a place like this for just one day would become a lifetime memory. Already, any desire to return to his shack had completely disappeared.
With an excited and curious smile on his face, Yiyoung asked.
“Is this Chahyun-ssi’s home?”
“No.”
No? He’d thought it was his home since he used his fingerprint, but was it a hotel after all?
Just as he was puzzled, Chahyun answered refreshingly.
“This is where Yiyoung-ssi will be living from now on.”
For a moment, Yiyoung doubted his own ears. He pressed his temple and quietly closed his eyes, dizzy from the shock. Yiyoung asked again with the hopeful expectation that he must have misheard Chahyun’s words.
“What?”
“I’m glad you seem to like it.”
Chahyun’s voice even sounded pleased.
Come to think of it, the items they’d bought at the department store today were piled up like a mountain near the living room sofa. When he’d said there wasn’t enough space at his place for all these things, Chahyun had replied that he had a method he’d thought of in advance. He’d never dreamed that meant preparing a home for him.
Yiyoung gradually became short of breath from embarrassment and distress. After letting out sounds of “uh” and “um,” he said with difficulty.
“Chahyun-ssi, you don’t have to go this far for someone you’re going to break up with soon.”
It wasn’t exactly romantic, but it was the truth.
He didn’t know what romance movies and novels Chahyun had watched, but it seemed he was obsessed with playing the role of a protagonist who saves a poor lover. The problem was that Yiyoung didn’t want Chahyun’s salvation. There was no such thing in the world.
Moreover, this wasn’t a play. Even if it were, Yiyoung wanted to go home safely after the performance ended. He wanted to avoid the reality he returned to feeling like rock bottom. The department store shopping had been fine, but this was going too far.
At Yiyoung’s words, Chahyun clasped his hands behind his back and made a thoughtful expression, then nodded as if he understood.
“Even if we break up, I won’t tell you to leave.”
“What do you…”
Chahyun seemed to think Yiyoung was troubled simply because it would be bothersome to move to a home he’d only live in briefly. Of course, that wasn’t wrong either, but it was a second or third issue he didn’t have the capacity to consider right now. Chahyun rummaged through the inner pocket of his suit jacket and continued.
“I really don’t like the place Bae Yiyoung-ssi is living in now. That’s not going to change just because we break up. So stay here for as long as you want, whether it’s one year or ten years.”
Chahyun handed over a paper he took from his pocket and deliberately acted superior.
“If you dated Moon Chahyun, you should at least receive this much.”
“……”
Yiyoung received the paper with an anxious heart. When he unfolded the neatly folded paper, it was a document with five or six A4 sheets fastened together with a stapler. Without needing to check all the contents, Yiyoung felt deflated after reading just the first page.
“Certificate of debt repayment?”
“I said I’d pay off your debt for you. Since you’re nominally a chaebol’s lover.”
Come to think of it, when he’d asked to date for just two more months, he had made that condition. He’d completely forgotten.
Looking carefully through the documents, the bank loan that had been taken out in Yiyoung’s name had been cleanly repaid. Even though it was the moment when the debt that had tormented him his entire life was instantly forgiven, Yiyoung muttered gloomily.
“Now I understand why Chahyun-ssi offered to give me money when you asked to break up with me.”
“What do you mean?”
Yiyoung looked up at Chahyun calmly and answered.
“Actually, I didn’t really know what you were offering to give me back then. But now that I’ve received this much, I really don’t have the audacity not to comply with Chahyun-ssi’s demands. I feel like I should do anything.”
Now Yiyoung felt like he had to obey without any complaints, no matter what kind of relationship Chahyun demanded.
Until yesterday, he’d only wanted to be considerate of Chahyun, who must have been uncomfortable with their shabby dates. That’s why he’d obediently accepted the clothes, shoes, and accessories that would last a lifetime. Previously, Chahyun had said Yiyoung’s appearance damaged his reputation, so if he was going to date him anyway, he’d need to dress appropriately.
But now he only thought that he had to please Chahyun because of the debt he owed him. Yiyoung’s eyes welled up with tears because he was so upset about it.
“Chahyun-ssi, this won’t do. I guess I’m not qualified to meet Chahyun-ssi after all.”
Really, he couldn’t date a chaebol. The fact that they would break up in two months was actually fortunate.
Chahyun seemed fed up and irritated that Yiyoung found him burdensome, but it was beyond his control. Yiyoung couldn’t find the audacity anywhere to accept what Chahyun gave him without a care. He just felt awkward, didn’t know where to put himself, and only wanted to refuse everything.
As if he’d naturally thought Yiyoung would be happy with his gift, Chahyun’s eyes widened as if struck by lightning and he asked back.
“What?”
Yiyoung flinched and hunched his shoulders, startled by Chahyun’s loud voice. At the same time, a large teardrop fell onto his cheek, and then it was like a faucet had been turned on, so he covered his face with both hands.
In the darkness of his vision, he heard Chahyun’s urgent voice.
“Bae Yiyoung-ssi, what did I do wrong? Am I getting dumped right now?”
Of course, his impoverished circumstances that made him feel only shabby and his timid personality weren’t Chahyun’s fault. But when his thoughts reached this point, Yiyoung felt a rather misplaced resentment.
‘That’s right, wouldn’t it be nice if you were only moderately accomplished?’
Just as it wasn’t Chahyun’s fault that Yiyoung was poor, it wasn’t his fault that he was a chaebol.
Yiyoung, overcome with hurt feelings, lowered his hands from his face and glared at Chahyun with fierce eyes. Unusually, Chahyun flinched in fear. Yiyoung burst out with the complaints that had been accumulating knowingly or unknowingly.
“Why do you like me, Chahyun-ssi?”
“What?”
Chahyun responded with an expression like he was breaking out in a cold sweat. Yiyoung poured out his words like a machine gun.
