The day of the next appointment came around faster than expected.
It was a little past 8 when he got in the car after firmly rejecting Administrative Officer Lee’s insistence on an intimate dinner gathering of just the three of them—including Jaeha and the section chief—who wanted to hear “the story of a great woman breaking his high pride and causing him worry.”
He entered the address he’d received earlier into the navigation and set off. Though he hurried a bit, when he arrived it was a little past 9:10.
In the restaurant parking lot, there was only one black foreign sedan. Looking at the license plate, it was Jung Kyungwoo’s car as expected.
He parked at an appropriate distance and got out. Then Choi Dohyun got out from the driver’s seat of Kyungwoo’s car.
She glared at him with a determined expression, so he waited briefly, thinking she might have something to say. But her firmly closed lips didn’t move at all. Instead, Dohyun radiated displeasure at Jaeha with threatening eyes.
‘She looks ready to bite if things go wrong.’
She somehow reminded him of a military dog Doberman or a police dog German Shepherd. Since he had business with that fierce dog’s owner, Jaeha fastened the shirt buttons he’d left undone while driving and entered the restaurant.
“Welcome.”
He nodded only with his eyes to the employee who opened the door as if he’d been waiting, then went up the stairs.
Though the interior was slightly different from before, Jung Kyungwoo was still in the middle of the establishment that faithfully reproduced a high-end magazine photoshoot.
He was looking at the night view from the window, one sleeve of his jacket hanging empty. His injured hand was wearing a medical support device along with his shirt.
“You’re late.”
Without even looking this way, informal speech flew at him right off the bat.
“I was late because I was working without having leisure time to go out and play around like you, so just let it slide.”
When he came out like that, there was no way this side would speak nicely either. He’d skipped dinner and came out hungry. He thought food would be served like before. Contrary to expectations, on the very small table there was only wine, two glasses, and a few small finger foods.
Does it mean he doesn’t want to pay for food since he wasn’t the one who called him?
‘Petty bastard.’
Jaeha poured the wine and then picked up and ate a cracker topped with cheese and salmon. After rinsing his mouth with a sip of wine and picking up another one to eat, Jung Kyungwoo, who had approached at some point, held out a small paper bag.
“What is it?”
“A souvenir.”
Marijuana? Or some amazing object conceived to blackmail Jaeha? Or did he bring someone’s wrist?
When he took it, the weight was exactly about that of a person’s wrist. He didn’t want to know details about such weight, but his life as a prosecutor was the problem.
“Tell me what’s inside.”
Jaeha, who put down his wine glass, warned Kyungwoo with a strong gaze before opening it.
“It’s not a strange object, so there’s no need to be so wary.”
“How can I not be wary of something given by a bastard who stabbed someone in the back?”
“Then don’t accept it.”
When he tried to snatch it back like a sulking child, Jaeha quickly pulled it back to block him. Because of that, the bag shook and a strong fragrance leaked out from inside.
“This is?”
Jaeha, who smelled a familiar scent, opened the bag and took out the object inside. The object with a neat black logo printed on white PVC vinyl was clearly a coffee bag no matter how you looked at it.
“Coffee?”
Just in case there might be something else inside, he opened the bag and smelled it. He kneaded the bag in various places to check if there was any special texture, and not satisfied with that, he eventually stuck his hand in and stirred the powder.
No matter where he looked, it was coffee, and there were no traces of drugs or marijuana.
“Disgusting.”
Jung Kyungwoo frowned. Jaeha, who frowned just the same, tossed the bag next to the wine glass and brushed off the coffee powder on his hands.
“Why suddenly this?”
“I prepared it because I thought you’d treat someone who worked hard on market research and product development even while injured as leisurely folks who go around playing.”
“What are you talking about?”
Jaeha asked back, pretending not to know. In reality, he half didn’t know. Jung Kyungwoo sneered while putting his remaining hand in his pants pocket.
“You checked my immigration records.”
How did he know that too? No, the airport probably gave it out readily and also informed Taeryoung. Jaeha also sneered.
“You know Seattle is a city famous for coffee, right? It’s a hot coffee from that vicinity. I was generous, thinking a poor civil servant wouldn’t have a chance to taste something like this.”
“Taeryoung Logistics doesn’t handle coffee. And before that, you’re not even a director, so you handle overseas goods?”
“Business is fundamentally different from civil servants who only do what they’re told. You always have to look to the future.”
“Coffee must be a red ocean by now.”
“Premium brands are just beginning. For some, it’s still a blue ocean—no, why am I having to explain this to you?”
He was right. Jaeha observed the coffee bag for no reason.
“How very loving.”
The coffee Jung Kyungwoo handed over happened to have the same name as the oldest symbol meaning love.
Jaeha, who stared at the identical name to the internal organ symbolizing life, recalled Administrative Officer Lee’s ridiculous imagination.
‘Me? With a man? And of all people, with this crazy bastard?’
As his sense evaporated, laughter burst out on its own. He thought, shoulders shaking, that he should give this coffee to Administrative Officer Lee.
Just then, Jung Kyungwoo held out his hand.
“Don’t give it and then take it back. You bastard with plenty of money.”
Jung Kyungwoo, who hadn’t reacted to other insults, suddenly twisted his face.
“When did I ask for the coffee back? Your thinking is just so… poor.”
At the last word Jung Kyungwoo spat out after choosing his words for a moment, Jaeha almost got angry. It was less about feeling inferior about the economic difference and more because Jung Kyungwoo really talked about poverty as if it were a problem.
Even though Jaeha was actually at an ordinary level, no, even though his situation wasn’t bad considering he owned his own apartment in Seoul at a young age, it felt bad to be treated as if he had problems because he was poor.
“The side that’s in need is being quite obnoxious.”
He’d tried to handle the first transaction as quietly as possible. But the other party hadn’t let him.
“Why should I be in need of a cheap guy who treated me like dirt?”
“If it’s like that, then why should I treat a bastard who’s an attempted murderer and a druggie who’s constantly on the verge of dying as a decent human being?”
At those words, Jung Kyungwoo lunged at him as if having a seizure. His barely intact hand tried to grab Jaeha’s collar again. This time he couldn’t let himself be caught obediently.
He stepped back half a step and turned his body. The thin hand cut through the air. Before the opponent could charge again, Jaeha first grabbed a handful of his necktie and shirt collar.
“Listen, Jung Kyungwoo-ssi. I’m… having a hard time holding onto my spinning fuse to maintain my reason. Please cooperate, will you?”
While saying that, he muttered curses in a low voice. As the atmosphere turned hostile, an employee waiting in the distance flinched.
“How about having a candid conversation in a more private space?”
“What makes you think I’d follow you to your house?”
He expected Jung Kyungwoo, who was wealthy enough to have many space options, would suggest some alternative. He didn’t anticipate having to provide options from his side.
But thinking about it, it wasn’t so bad either.
“I’m not the kind of person who swings steel pipes just because I don’t like something. I’m a prosecutor of the Republic of Korea.”
“What you do is like a gangster action squad leader.”
While saying that, Jung Kyungwoo subtly thrust out his arm that hadn’t healed yet. His language center was paralyzed by a confidence whose foundation couldn’t be known.
“Ha! This bastard! You started this whole thing…”
“My body’s worth is different from a mere ordinary prosecutor.”
While saying that, Jung Kyungwoo pushed Jaeha with his intact shoulder.
“That mannerless shit.”
Cheap words popped out on their own. Jung Kyungwoo raised his middle finger toward the back while walking toward the restaurant entrance. Jaeha, who had been following a few steps behind, suddenly realized and turned back to grab the coffee bag.
Before the employee could even open it, Jung Kyungwoo, who flung open the restaurant door and went out, came face to face with Choi Dohyun.
Dohyun, who bowed her head, naturally opened the back door of the vehicle. But Jung Kyungwoo shook his head.
Instead, he went to the passenger side of Jaeha’s car. Before unlocking it, he tried to open the car door, then seeing Jaeha belatedly taking out the electronic key, barked at him.
“Open it.”
“So impatient.”
*Click.*
As soon as it unlocked, Jung Kyungwoo got in the passenger seat. Choi Dohyun approached in surprise.
“Executive Director-nim?”
“Today’s business seems like it’ll run long. Dohyun-ssi, please get off work on your own.”
“Ah, I…”
“Let’s meet Monday morning.”
While saying that, Jung Kyungwoo closed the car door. As Jaeha got in the driver’s seat, he looked at Choi Dohyun standing on the opposite window side.
The loyal subordinate looked down at her superior who was staring straight ahead, half surprised and half worried. And she threw her gaze at Jaeha again. Her tightly closed lips trembled faintly. She was like a righteous knight infuriated because a ruffian was taking away her princess.
“Start driving.”
“I know what to do without being ordered about everything, so shut that rude mouth of yours.”
He discharged his irritation mixed with slight excitement without holding back. Then Jung Kyungwoo glared at Jaeha from the corner of his eye.
The car smoothly descended the winding mountain road. It wasn’t a great boast, but he was confident in his driving. Still, it was an expensive car worth a fortune, and he wondered how a person who only rode in the back seat would evaluate it. His eyes naturally went there.
Jung Kyungwoo was gripping the safety handle above the window tightly with his right hand instead of his injured left hand. His mood instantly sank.
“Hey. Didn’t you learn it’s rude to grab the handle like that when riding in someone else’s car?”
“What am I supposed to do when the ride quality is terrible and my body is shaking because of reckless driving?”
“Ah, yes. You’re a precious person, right?”
Should he show him what real reckless driving is? Around the time Jaeha was briefly considering such a childish idea at Jung Kyungwoo’s level, he suddenly realized there was something he’d missed.
‘He’s not wearing his seatbelt.’
Usually when sitting in the passenger seat, you pull it with your right hand and insert it with your left hand. Jung Kyungwoo had to insert it with his right hand, but he hadn’t done so.
He pulled the car over to the side of the road. Following that, Jaeha unfastened his seatbelt and leaned his body toward the other person.
“What?”
Jung Kyungwoo was startled and pulled his upper body toward the window. Like someone afraid of being kissed by a thief, he pulled his head back to a place where there was nowhere left to retreat. Behind that was the seatbelt.
The reaction was too absurd. It wasn’t a relationship where he’d politely explain the intention of his actions one by one and ask for understanding, so Jaeha reached out and put his hand under his nape.
Then he pushed him forward slightly. Jaeha had also leaned his upper body in that direction. Naturally, the gap between their faces narrowed.
Jung Kyungwoo, who had turned pale white, widened his eyes.
