It wasn’t so much that he coveted the amount of 100 million won, but he just wanted to make him feel the pressure that came from the word “hundred million.” It would be nice if he gave it, but it didn’t matter if he didn’t.
No, rather, it would be a thank you if he said he wouldn’t give it. He was planning to snap back at him for running his mouth so arrogantly as if he could give the whole world when he didn’t even have that much money. 100 million won wasn’t just some dog’s name, but it was indeed a small amount to exchange for his pride and everything else.
As Seungyeon intended, Yoon Taerim let out a hollow laugh when he heard “100 million.” At his dumbfounded expression, Seungyeon sent an even more shameless and provocative look.
“Why? Can’t give it? Don’t have money? Geez, if you don’t even have that much, what are you-“
“Fine.”
“…What?”
This time it was Seungyeon who showed a dumbfounded face. What’s fine? The money is fine? Or is he really going to give 100 million?
Judging from Yoon Taerim’s expression that didn’t seem to show much impact, it didn’t seem like he was joking. Yoon Taerim shrugged his shoulders with a momentum as if he would say ‘Why not?’ at any moment.
“100 million won is enough, right? Got it. If it gets settled cleanly with that amount, that’s good for me.”
At the conversation that treated 100 million like it was about 1 million won, Seungyeon’s eyes shook violently. Is that bastard crazy? Has he lost it? Or is the income of oriental medicine doctors in our country so good that 100 million is laughable? Really?
However, if he wavered here, nothing would make him look more ridiculous. He put full strength into his brain and lowered his eyes. Taking it however he did, Yoon Taerim tapped the table to draw attention.
“I’ll give you half as a down payment first. I’ll give you the other half after the job is done. Since a large sum of money is changing hands, I can’t just give it all to you trusting only Baek Seungyeon-ssi’s word… I need proof that you’ve definitely broken up with Sanho and that you won’t meet Sanho again.”
“Proof…? What kind of proof?”
How am I supposed to produce proof that we won’t meet? At Seungyeon’s question, he smiled.
“I can’t readily trust someone who has ‘good at lying’ written all over their face like Seungyeon-ssi… More than anything, to make it certain, the only way is to make Sanho completely lose interest in you, right?”
At the subtle disregard and contempt underneath, Seungyeon’s eyes twitched finely. Regardless, Yoon Taerim, who had been pondering something, soon snapped his fingers.
“Baek Seungyeon-ssi, you’re free tomorrow, right?”
If you’re not, you’ll have to make time. In front of Yoon Taerim who casually threw out a coercive comment, Seungyeon once again found himself at a loss for words.
*
Throughout the drive, a smile didn’t leave Yoon Taerim’s lips. Stepping on the accelerator then stopping, he burst out laughing with a “Pft!”
“That’s really funny.”
His shoulders shook along with his muttering. After giggling for a while, he came to his senses and wiped away the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes.
It seemed like it had been years since he’d laughed like this. Ruminating on the meeting from earlier, Yoon Taerim curved his lips again.
“Baek Seungyeon…”
Meeting Baek Seungyeon again made him feel such a strange impression, to the point where he wondered if someone could be this different from their first impression. Setting aside the sense of disparity between the information he’d found and the person Baek Seungyeon that he’d directly faced, Baek Seungyeon’s reaction had quite a cute side to it.
No matter what was said, he read the room, yet that appearance didn’t particularly look servile. He was generally shameless, free-spirited, and charming. When he’d first met Baek Seungyeon, it definitely wasn’t like this—had there been some change of heart in the meantime?
Up until he’d investigated the background of this person Jung Sanho had fallen for, Yoon Taerim actually hadn’t planned to get heavily involved. He was just going to know about it for information purposes, for the sake of his cherished cousin. Jung Sanho, no matter how young, wasn’t stupid enough to need him to look after every little thing like this. Because of the background he had, there were many people who approached with intentions and purposes, so Jung Sanho wasn’t easygoing either.
However, in front of the name he discovered at the end of his investigation, Yoon Taerim overturned his own judgment. Baek Seungyeon? That Baek Seungyeon he’d met back then?
For Yoon Taerim, who blindly believed in the saying “birds of a feather flock together,” Baek Seungyeon was definitely not someone to put next to Jung Sanho.
It was an easy judgment if he looked back to when he first met Baek Seungyeon. Wasn’t Baek Seungyeon the one who hung around birds of a feather with Go Yeongbin, who was famous for playing dirty? Looking at his skill in using his body to extract money, Baek Seungyeon hadn’t done it just once or twice. When Yoon Taerim looked into it, he was quite famous.
Actually, when he’d faced Baek Seungyeon again at the oriental medicine clinic, he’d been flustered though he didn’t express it. He hadn’t expected to see again at his workplace a connection that had passed by for one night. If he became annoying, he’d been planning to get rid of him, but before he could say anything, he’d run away with his tail between his legs.
His awkward, foolish reaction was definitely refreshing. He was curious about how Baek Seungyeon had come to find him, and wanted to know what he wanted. He’d been wondering whether to find Baek Seungyeon, who had completely disappeared leaving all those questions behind.
“Interesting.”
Yoon Taerim, who burst into a chuckle, drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
When they first met, Baek Seungyeon had been skillfully sucking Go Yeongbin’s cock. When they met the second time, he’d acted much more innocent than that, and now he was shamelessly and clumsily demanding money.
At the similar yet different reactions, his curiosity grew more and more. He was curious which was the real appearance, and looked forward to what kind of appearance he’d show next time.
After pondering for a moment, Yoon Taerim made a phone call. A familiar voice flowed from the Bluetooth speaker connected to the car.
—Don’t call me.
At the blunt response, Yoon Taerim chuckled. It was so like Jung Sanho to tell him not to call while faithfully answering every contact. While the car was moving slowly, Yoon Taerim leisurely opened his mouth.
“Sanho. What time are you going to the party tomorrow?”
Only after a long silence did Jung Sanho answer slowly.
—Why are you curious about that?
“It’s nothing else. I’m planning to bring a partner tomorrow, you see? I really want to introduce him to you. It seems like this time we’ll be together for a long time.”
—Together for a long time? With hyung?
“Why? Can’t believe it?”
—Isn’t that obvious? Given what hyung has been doing… It’s strange that someone who sticks with people who rolled in from who knows where and breaks up all the time is saying it’s someone you’ll be with for a long time. Is this time a bit more of a serious relationship?
At the reaction being drawn out as intended, Yoon Taerim chimed in with “Mm-hmm, that’s right.”
“It’s a serious relationship. That’s why I want to introduce him to you too. Anyway, you’re definitely coming to this party, right? Ah, you can come with that secret friend you talked about. Tomorrow there I’ll intro-“
—I’m hanging up.
The call ended abruptly without warning. At the beeping call termination sound, Yoon Taerim shook his head.
“That personality, really.”
Still, with this level of reaction, well, it wasn’t bad. Yoon Taerim glanced at the disconnected phone and organized his thoughts.
Yoon Taerim knew well how stubborn Jung Sanho’s personality was. Setting aside how Baek Seungyeon came to know him or what method he used to seduce him, with Jung Sanho’s personality, he would normally never willingly let go of something he’d taken a liking to. Even if he explained all day that Baek Seungyeon was an extremely promiscuous person and a materialist who would be fine with anyone as long as there was money, there was a high probability Jung Sanho would react with “As long as I like him, that’s enough. So what?” Even if he told him Baek Seungyeon and he didn’t match, it wouldn’t work, and the antipathy might only grow instead.
Yoon Taerim grasped his cousin’s personality quite accurately. If he was stubbornly meeting Baek Seungyeon in secret with that personality of opening up once and giving everything to the end, it meant he also felt something was off about it.
But he couldn’t just stay still either. There was the duty of being an older brother figure—how could he just stand by and watch Jung Sanho be enchanted by Baek Seungyeon and give him everything, liver and gallbladder and all?
Baek Seungyeon was too stimulating for a twenty-year-old to experience. If two jaded people met, that might be different, but he was bothered by pushing innocent Jung Sanho into a relationship where it was obvious who would get hurt. Wouldn’t it be better for Baek Seungyeon too to hang around with him rather than eat money with a kid’s snot still on it?
So rather than grabbing Jung Sanho here and talking about Baek Seungyeon’s truth this and how they’re an ill-matched pair that—stories that wouldn’t work at all—he needed a more direct and certain method.
At times like this, he just had to show it and make him realize it. Like shock therapy, for instance.
“It’ll be fun after a while.”
As he intended, all the cast members were scheduled to gather at the party venue tomorrow. Since he’d reached an agreement with Baek Seungyeon, now all that remained was Jung Sanho.
It hurt his heart that he had to give his cousin the wound of heartbreak in this way, but there was no other method. He’d have to regret that his own taste was trash for meeting someone like Baek Seungyeon thinking he was good—what else could be done?
Yoon Taerim hummed as he pressed down firmly on the accelerator. This was the first time he’d looked forward to a party this much.
