Even if he were called a coward, he had nothing to say. Strictly speaking, Seungyeon had never done anything wrong to that man. Reason and common sense shouted, ‘You don’t need to be intimidated like this! Stand tall!’ but instinct and gut feeling urged Seungyeon, saying, ‘Now is the time to grovel.’
He randomly picked any food visible on the menu and showed it to Yoon Taerim. Yoon Taerim took the menu with a satisfied face and called the staff to order the food. In the meantime, Seungyeon fiddled with the edge of the white tablecloth while furiously wracking his brain that wouldn’t work properly.
Yoon Taerim had been waiting for him here first. That in itself was off. It was Jung Sanho who had called Seungyeon to this restaurant, and no matter where he looked, Jung Sanho was nowhere to be seen. Then the possibilities narrowed down to one.
Are Jung Sanho and Yoon Taerim acquainted?
Though he didn’t know their purpose, from the circumstances it was clear that the two knew each other well or had some kind of relationship. Otherwise, how could Yoon Taerim be waiting for him here first? At the very least, Jung Sanho must have told Yoon Taerim that he’d called Seungyeon here.
His throat was parched. Seungyeon picked up the glass on the table to wet his lips. He couldn’t even gauge how the two knew each other. That was because—there should be some point of contact to even make a guess, but Jung Sanho and Yoon Taerim had no connection or overlapping category, like tomatoes and baking powder. So he didn’t understand why Yoon Taerim was sitting there staring at him with wide-open eyes, and he just didn’t understand the entire current situation. Because his head was stuttering like a broken machine, Seungyeon’s eyes sank gloomily.
“We’re cousins.”
“…What?”
At the voice that came like the wind, Seungyeon asked back with a dumbfounded face. Yoon Taerim tilted his head to the side and smiled.
“It was written all over Baek Seungyeon-ssi’s face that you were dying of curiosity. Sanho and I are cousins.”
“Ah…”
As Seungyeon hesitated and rubbed his face, Yoon Taerim’s smile deepened further.
“I was checking something on Sanho’s phone when I saw a message from Seungyeon-ssi. Do you know how surprised I was to see you two knew each other? Anyway, that’s why I called you here. You thought Sanho called you, but you were surprised to see me here, right?”
Unlike his bewildered feelings, new information was being inputted into Seungyeon’s head bit by bit.
“So you two, I mean you both… are cousins?”
Jung Sanho and Yoon Taerim. Two people who had no commonalities to Seungyeon besides being major figures turned out to be cousins. How was that even possible?
“Sanho’s mother is my aunt. You didn’t know that either, Baek Seungyeon-ssi?”
“No… how would I know that?”
“Hmm? Don’t people usually investigate that kind of thing before making a move on someone? I looked into various things about Baek Seungyeon-ssi too this time. You’re quite famous.”
Just then the food was being served, so the conversation cut off. In front of the toy-model-like appetizer, Seungyeon chewed his lips. When the staff disappeared, Yoon Taerim gestured for him to eat. Seungyeon mechanically picked up his fork and picked at his plate. Each time the fork scraped the plate, it created a sharp noise.
“Why did you just leave that day?”
There was no need to ask which day. He must be talking about when he’d met Yoon Taerim at the oriental medicine clinic, agonized at the cafe, then ran away with his tail between his legs.
Why do you think?
Was he asking while knowing, or asking because he really didn’t know? Either way, it was shameless. Did he think Seungyeon would just say ‘Yes!’ and wait there? Just how much did he look down on him? Of course, he did act like he could be looked down on… He did do that. It seemed like he had said with his own mouth while smiling, ‘Yes! I’ll be waiting!’…
Seungyeon responded with an awkward smile instead of an answer. Whether he understood the meaning to just let it pass, Yoon Taerim didn’t press him further. Instead, he brought up a completely different topic.
“I was curious about what Seungyeon-ssi does, so I asked Yeongbin-ssi about it. Then he told me an interesting story. That he was going to give Baek Seungyeon-ssi a 100 million won fund?”
“…What?”
Seungyeon’s fork stopped abruptly. Yeongbin was that man who had sent him a dick pic as consolation, who had told him the truth about the meeting with Yoon Taerim over the phone. But what did that man do?
“I told you I looked into various things. Baek Seungyeon-ssi, you’re really good at that, aren’t you? Seducing rich and lonely kids with your body. Well, it was the same when we first met too.”
The criticism embedded in the words “seducing rich and lonely kids with your body” sharply stabbed at Seungyeon. Just because it was wrapped in an affectionate tone didn’t make the hostility disappear.
Those few words were enough to understand how Yoon Taerim thought of him. Even if he protested that it wasn’t true, it wouldn’t make Baek Seungyeon’s past disappear. As Seungyeon picked at his plate with a solemn face, Yoon Taerim subtly leaned toward him.
“I’m not trying to condemn Seungyeon-ssi. I haven’t lived a clean life either. Who am I to criticize anyone at this point?”
“…What exactly are you trying to say?”
The more he listened, the less he could gauge what Yoon Taerim wanted. He had no intention of condemning him, but why bring up the past and deliberately arrange a meeting like this to talk? As the suspicious situation continued, Seungyeon’s eyes naturally sharpened.
“And let me be clear—I’ve reformed now. I couldn’t contact him first, but please tell that person named Yeongbin too. He doesn’t need to give me any fund.”
When their eyes met, Yoon Taerim shrugged his shoulders. Raising his glass, he stared directly at Seungyeon while drinking water.
“If I offended you, I apologize. I really don’t want to fight with Seungyeon-ssi. I just came here wanting to reach a good agreement.”
“What agreement?”
“Just… something similar to the impression Baek Seungyeon-ssi felt when you saw me here. I felt the same way when I discovered Seungyeon-ssi’s contact information on Sanho’s phone. ‘What the hell are you that you know Jung Sanho?'”
Thud—Yoon Taerim put down his glass on the table and shrugged his shoulders. His piercing stare reminded one of a beast eyeing its prey. While forcibly suppressing the instinct to shrink back, Yoon Taerim got to the main point.
“Whoever Seungyeon-ssi meets and goes around with isn’t my concern. But if it’s Sanho, the story changes. He’s a little—no, very special to me.”
Seungyeon looked at him with furrowed eyebrows in absurdity.
“…So you’re saying not to meet Jung Sanho right now, is that what you’re trying to say?”
“Ah, should I have been more clear?”
Yoon Taerim, who chuckled, reached out and clasped Seungyeon’s arm. The touch gently rubbing the inside of his wrist with his thumb was both affectionate and firm.
“If you need money, I’ll take care of you generously. If you’re lonely physically, I can solve that too. So give up on Sanho at this point. That would be better for both Seungyeon-ssi and Sanho.”
“Ha…”
Seungyeon let out a sigh as if dumbfounded. Roughly pulling his hand away, he glared at Yoon Taerim with a cold gaze.
So this bastard sees me as a piece of garbage slut hitting on his cousin?
No matter what excuse Seungyeon made, the other side was already looking down on him. Watching Yoon Taerim smilingly tell him to take some money and obediently back off, spite began to well up inside him.
Right. Fine, a beggar it is. Since I’m being treated like a beggar anyway, let’s really do it properly.
Seungyeon tilted his head crookedly. Toward Yoon Taerim who was still smiling, he calmly opened his mouth.
“Do you have a lot of money? With an oriental medicine doctor’s income, can you give me enough to take and leave?”
Seungyeon, brimming with spite, no longer cared about anything. He could see him as a slut or trash—it was fine. Even if Yoon Taerim hadn’t appeared and made threats, he’d been planning to cut ties with Jung Sanho anyway.
However, breaking up of his own will and being forced to break up against his will were completely different matters. Generally, Seungyeon was someone who read the room well and kept himself safe, but once he went off the rails, he could go to the ends of the universe. Just like right now.
“From what I see, you’re the one desperate to separate Jung Sanho and me. Honestly, for me it’s a deal I can take or leave.”
“Haha. That’s funny. So what, how much would satisfy you if I gave it?”
Like someone who’d heard an amusing story, Yoon Taerim rested his chin on his hand and giggled. Thinking that if he lost this battle of wills it was over, Seungyeon didn’t back down and shot back.
“Give me 100 million won.”
You can do that much, right? At the voice that followed, Yoon Taerim’s eyes widened.
