“Does it show? I tried to act like it wasn’t the case.”
Even though he answered that way, Chahyun showed no sign of being embarrassed about being caught having lost his memory. Instead, he warned Yiyoung.
“It would be better if only you knew about it. Unless you can hire a lawyer better than ours.”
It meant he wouldn’t hesitate to sue if Yiyoung leaked the fact that he had amnesia. It seemed he suspected Yiyoung might sell his secret to reporters or rival companies.
Because of that, it became awkward for Yiyoung to ask Chahyun if he was confused from losing his memory or if he was hurt anywhere else. Yiyoung gripped the seatbelt even tighter.
‘Uncomfortable.’
Of course, Chahyun hadn’t been comfortable before either, but he had never been this intimidated.
Not only the cold atmosphere he exuded, but also his car and attire were burdensome. It was to the point where Yiyoung wondered if Chahyun had been deliberately acting modestly out of consideration for him until now.
When Yiyoung had kicked at empty air and stepped on an imaginary brake about fourteen times, they arrived at their destination.
It was a hotel across the Han River that he rarely had occasion to visit. He didn’t know which hotel it was, but it was clearly a place befitting someone dressed like Chahyun.
When Chahyun got out of the car, a man in a neat suit approached and bowed his head.
“I received word through Director Jin that you’d be coming and have been waiting.”
Just from seeing two employees who appeared to be attendants standing behind the man, it was certain he wasn’t a valet parking attendant. He seemed closer to being the hotel owner or general manager.
“I didn’t ask to be greeted like this.”
Even with a flat tone, Chahyun clearly showed his annoyance with the man.
“Don’t mind me and go inside to attend to your business.”
“Yes, Executive Director-nim. Please rest comfortably.”
The man bowed without being flustered or offended, as if accustomed to Chahyun’s attitude. Instead of responding to the man, Chahyun handed over the car keys and walked toward the hotel entrance. Before following him, Yiyoung bowed politely to the man he presumed to be the owner and thought.
‘VVIP membership… something like that, right?’
Yiyoung had no way of gauging how much money one needed to become a member of a place like this.
Yiyoung hurriedly chased after Chahyun, who had gotten far away in the meantime, then stopped dead in his tracks. As he hesitated in that state for a moment, Chahyun turned to look at Yiyoung and asked.
“What are you doing instead of following?”
Yiyoung looked around with an awkward expression and tightly gripped the hem of his hoodie jacket. Then Chahyun, who had been frowning and tilting his head in puzzlement, soon let out an “Ah” of realization. He spoke with an expression that was beyond absurd to the point of being insulting.
“We’re going to the sky lounge.”
Of course he would think that, which is why he hesitated. However, Chahyun misunderstood the reason for Yiyoung’s hesitation and said something off the mark.
“I don’t know what it was like before, but right now I have no intention of sleeping with you either.”
“That’s not it…”
Though Yiyoung flinched in surprise at Chahyun’s direct way of speaking, he wanted to ask if they couldn’t go somewhere a bit more modest. It was because his attire was noticeably shabby compared to the other guests in the hotel lobby. It seemed like it would be even worse at the sky lounge.
But because irritation began to show on Chahyun’s face, his lips wouldn’t part easily. It was also embarrassing to suggest going back because of clothes after coming all this way.
As he wavered like that, Chahyun turned on his heel again and complained quietly.
“If we were dating, making such a fuss is…”
Yiyoung’s face flushed red at being told he was making a fuss, and he reluctantly followed Chahyun.
***
The place Chahyun brought Yiyoung to was a hotel sky lounge with the name ‘Clair de Lune.’
As Yiyoung knew, since French wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to him from music titles and lyrics, it meant moonlight. Befitting its name, it was an elegant and beautiful place. Among all the tables, Chahyun chose one with the best view.
Even after sitting across from Chahyun, Yiyoung couldn’t easily make eye contact and kept wiggling his toes inside his worn sneakers.
‘This is what a sky lounge is like?’
Of course, Yiyoung had experienced visiting sky lounges before. However, the places Yiyoung had been to were at best just restaurants slightly more upscale than ordinary eateries. In contrast, this place was so luxurious that he wondered if he would have had occasion to set foot here in his lifetime if not for now.
Yiyoung increasingly felt like he was sitting on a bed of thorns.
‘Couldn’t we have just gone to a nearby cafe?’
While he was feeling restless, Chahyun ordered wine.
While waiting for the server to bring the alcohol, Chahyun tapped the table with his fingertips, tap, tap, exactly like someone facing a troublesome matter and seeking a solution. Just as Yiyoung opened his mouth to say something before the atmosphere became even more awkward, Chahyun beat him to it with a cold gaze.
“Why do you think I brought you here?”
Wasn’t it simply because it was a place he frequented?
Unable to grasp the intention of the question well, Yiyoung tilted his head while keeping it lowered, then answered honestly.
“I don’t know.”
“Because it’s a hotel I’ll be managing soon.”
Ah. Yiyoung let out a faint exclamation and raised his head.
Only then did he look around carefully. The luxurious view that hadn’t been visible well when he was shrinking came into his eyes step by step. To Yiyoung’s eyes, it looked exactly like a set from a drama or movie.
It was already surprising enough that he was a VIP of a place like this, but to be the owner.
The name Clair de Lune must have also been taken from ‘Moon’ in Moongang Group. Yiyoung’s lips parted naturally, but he was at a loss for words. Chahyun continued to ask.
“Do you understand now?”
He could roughly guess now. It seemed Chahyun wanted to personally show Yiyoung just how different of a class the two of them were. Sure enough, Chahyun explained calmly without even showing any intention to insult Yiyoung.
“It means we’re not people who can meet just because we’re attracted to each other.”
Yiyoung stared blankly at the sky lounge and meekly acknowledged.
“That’s really true.”
To become a bit shameless and still want to keep seeing Moon Chahyun? Not a chance.
Yiyoung was even burdened by the curious gazes of the customers filling the tables here. Even to Yiyoung, who knew nothing, they were people of the class called the so-called upper class. He wouldn’t have recognized them at all even if he’d passed them in daily life, but he could tell because everyone was dressed up for dinner time.
As much as the place felt surreal, everyone seemed like characters in a drama.
And the protagonist of this scene was undoubtedly Bae Yiyoung. Because in clichés dealing with romance with a chaebol, it’s natural that the noticeably shabby-looking person among them is the protagonist.
Unfortunately, this was reality and Yiyoung wasn’t the protagonist. Therefore, there would be no fairy godmother who put fairies in pumpkin carriages to turn Yiyoung into a prince befitting Chahyun. Yiyoung would leave this place feeling exactly as shabby as he did when he entered the hotel.
Yiyoung made eye contact with Chahyun for the first time and asked seriously.
“Did you have to tell me like this? You could have just said it in words.”
“Because seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.”
In other words, he wanted Yiyoung to keenly feel just how excessive of a man he had been meeting all this time. It was certainly easier to understand than hearing an explanation a hundred times in words. It was just that the method felt too rude.
Just then, the table’s server came with the wine.
The name of the alcohol Chahyun had asked for without even looking at the menu was Romanée-Conti. From what Yiyoung had learned working as an employee at the whiskey bar, it was a wine whose price per glass was equivalent to Yiyoung’s monthly salary.
While the server filled Yiyoung’s glass, Chahyun said.
“Bae Yiyoung, twenty-eight years old. An obscure composer. In reality, a bar employee.”
Following that, he listed Yiyoung’s personal information one after another.
“You’ve been chased by debt collectors since you were young and moved residences about ten-odd times a year. I don’t know how it happened, but you finally settled down only after becoming a high school student, but the debt remained. Last year your mother was imprisoned on fraud charges. Right?”
Yiyoung felt the server glance down at him. As a server, it would be natural to be curious about what kind of appearance this man with such an interesting story had. Since it was a familiar curiosity, Yiyoung answered obediently while keeping his gaze fixed on Chahyun.
“Yes, that’s right. You know well.”
Though it wasn’t exactly a sore spot, it was an awkward topic, so he had never told Chahyun about it.
Still, if Chahyun had been curious, he would have confessed everything without hiding it, but Chahyun had never asked Yiyoung anything. It suddenly occurred to him that it might have been because Chahyun already knew from investigating his background like now.
