Why is this guy so obsessed with wristwatches? Did he bring actual watches because I broke the card last time? Just how many paper bags are there? Does he know what style I’d like?
Among the questions that bubbled up, only one became vocalized.
“Don’t tell me you asked to meet today because of this?”
Chaehun’s voice and expression were sharp with a sense of disbelief.
“Not only because of this. But if I suggested doing something else, it seems like you’d bite me.”
“I really might.”
“Throw them away or break them, do as you please. But this time, don’t do it in front of me.”
Seunggeon’s words, spoken in a pleasant voice tinged with a faint emotion difficult to define, were once again commanding in tone.
The situation became even more peculiar with the arrangement where Chaehun, sitting on the bed, had no choice but to look up at Seunggeon.
Chaehun squeezed out his patience to keep from cursing at Seunggeon’s expressionless face. He’d had his suspicions, but it was clear Seunggeon was making a show of bringing actual watches because he’d broken the credit card.
Are you a child?
Chaehun suppressed the rage surging up hotly. The Seunggeon he knew was mature unlike his peers. Rather than being swept up in the atmosphere, he’d step back and observe. He’d even been called an old soul.
Of course, he had a stubborn side too. He’d sprained his ankle while climbing Hallasan but showed no sign of it and completed the climb to the end. At the time, Chaehun had thought that strong endurance was wonderful, but thinking back now, it was just harsh.
The guy probably only thought about giving the wristwatch according to his personality. But Chaehun was pissed that the suffering he’d endured for the past five hours was because of a wristwatch. His desire to just brush it off as bad luck disappeared.
“I want to curse. Really.”
“You can curse.”
When he lamented, Seunggeon calmly told him to curse. Chaehun sighed and swept back his bangs. It was an action to calm his anger, but it wasn’t very effective.
“You don’t know why I’m angry, do you? No, don’t answer. If you say you do, I’ll get angrier. Like you said, if I stay any longer, I really will bite you.”
“I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up over a mere watch. Don’t refuse what I give you. That’s the contract.”
Chaehun barely held back his face from crumpling in anger. The word “contract” finally came out. They’d made such a contract. What Seunggeon offered wasn’t criminal or immoral. So he had to accept it.
When Chaehun was truly angry, he became calm. Rather than raising his voice, he stepped back. Even though his head had cooled, he might say harsh words while not in a rational state. And there was also resignation about not being able to communicate with Seunggeon.
“You don’t have any other business, right? Give me clothes. I’m going back.”
Chaehun stood up and spoke calmly. Even the fact that he still had to look up slightly at Seunggeon due to their height difference was annoying.
He thought he understood why Seunggeon had said emotions shouldn’t get involved. He should have just smiled and said thank you, but he’d gotten worked up and rebelled, and this was the result. It was a relationship that still had to last 9 more months. Chaehun stomped once more on his pride that was already pressed flat to the ground.
*
*
Seunggeon frowned ambiguously but lent him clothes without comment. Changing clothes in silence, Chaehun carefully gathered all seven paper bags, his wet clothes, and even the umbrella before leaving Seunggeon’s apartment.
It was still raining, but fortunately he caught a taxi before departing.
Throughout the ride home, Chaehun alternately thought about his unlucky day, his relationship with Seunggeon, and his soft bed. He planned to collapse on the bed and fall asleep as soon as he arrived at his studio apartment.
But what awaited Chaehun was a trashed studio apartment.
On the table, leftover chicken and pork hock bones were rolling around. More than a dozen beer cans were crushed on the floor. It definitely wasn’t an amount Kang Yeonghwan would eat alone. Just in case, Chaehun went up to the loft.
As expected, the bed was a mess. The sheets were all crumpled and wet with bodily fluids—it was full of traces showing that sex had happened here.
“Are you insane?”
There had been a few times when Kang Yeonghwan had messed up Seunggeon’s studio apartment and disappeared. Sometimes he made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning. Each time Chaehun nagged, but he didn’t think things would improve.
But this crossed the line.
Curses came out spontaneously. Chaehun was more infuriated that Kang Yeonghwan had run away without even apologizing than that the studio apartment was trashed. He wasn’t even a kid anymore, and rage rose to the top of his head because of this bastard who couldn’t even take responsibility for what he’d done.
Chaehun immediately called Kang Yeonghwan. But naturally, the phone was turned off. There was no way to catch Kang Yeonghwan right now.
Chaehun suppressed his surging anger and started cleaning the room. He went to the convenience store, bought large-capacity trash bags, and stuffed all the sheets and blankets inside. All the leftover food went into the trash too. Only after spraying plenty of deodorizer on the bed mattress and laying the guest blanket on the floor could Chaehun finally sit and rest.
“Nothing’s going right today.”
Chaehun, who’d let out a lament, put his hand on his forehead. Whether it was from getting caught in the rain or from moving around fuming, heat had risen to his head.
Wondering if he should take fever reducer, he rummaged through his emergency medicine bag and remembered he’d run out. He regretted not buying it when he went to the convenience store for trash bags, but he had no energy to go again, so he sat down on the floor.
Then the paper bags he’d left by the entrance caught his eye. He’d thrown all the clothes in the washing machine, and all that remained now were the paper bags he’d received from Seunggeon.
Chaehun recalled Seunggeon, whom he’d forgotten while cleaning. Now that his head had cooled and his excitement had subsided, he became curious about what Seunggeon was thinking.
Someone had said it was impossible to completely understand another person. However, it wasn’t difficult to make some guesses from the small clues Seunggeon had dropped.
If the other person showed they disliked something, if they got angry, normally one would be considerate. But Seunggeon not doing so might be because he thought Chaehun had no such value. Or perhaps because he’d lived a life where it was natural to push through his opinions without reading others’ moods.
And Kang Yeonghwan was the same. No matter how much they were family, doing things the other person obviously wouldn’t like meant he didn’t feel the need to be considerate.
Either way, everything was the worst. This was the moment when his mental state was shattered.
“What even is this?”
Chaehun swallowed a sigh. As one unlucky thing piled on top of another, his thoughts flowed only in negative directions. Normally he would have just brushed it off as bad luck, but today it hurt more, making him depressed.
Especially the matter with Seunggeon. He could fight with Kang Yeonghwan right away tomorrow, but he couldn’t do that with Seunggeon.
Thinking about it, when Seunggeon offered the credit card, he should have accepted it with a business-like smile. Then he could have just smashed it somewhere Seunggeon wasn’t.
Chaehun blamed his own foolishness as he stood up, gathered the paper bags, and took out the contents onto the table.
The gold and black, or red paper boxes were all different sizes. And the watch boxes inside were also varied in material, from leather to velvet. The common point, if there was one, was that they were all luxurious.
Wondering how amazing these wristwatches would be, he opened the lid of the largest, most expensive-looking velvet box.
The sparkling wristwatch looked luxurious to anyone’s eyes. It had a brown leather band, white watch face, and a design with gold accents that weren’t excessive. Chaehun opened a few more. They were all his taste—preferring simple over flashy designs.
“Haah…”
That made him sigh even more. If Seunggeon had just offered it as a gift, he might have tried it on his wrist once. If that bastard had just said things properly, things wouldn’t have gotten this tangled.
Letting out one more sigh, Chaehun glared at the watch sparkling under the light.
“It must be expensive, right?”
If Seunggeon had chosen it, it would probably be expensive. Suddenly curious about the price, Chaehun turned on his phone and typed the brand name into the search bar. He had no interest in wristwatches, so he only vaguely knew brand names. Even when he heard them here and there, he mostly let it go in one ear and out the other.
As soon as he searched the English brand name, photos and price tags scrolled down. Chaehun had to blink several times without realizing it. The price range started at seven figures minimum. He couldn’t find the same design as what was in the box, but most were around 5 million won.
“Good lord…”
He’d heard men’s wristwatches were expensive. He’d heard Park Gwangho’s was expensive too, but actually seeing it with his own two eyes made it feel unreal.
Chaehun searched for another brand. This one was even more expensive. The baseline was in the 20 million won range.
Giving up on further searches, Chaehun closed the lids with complicated feelings so he couldn’t see the watches flaunting their presence.
He wanted to look inside Seunggeon’s head, telling him to do as he pleased with these expensive things.
“Crazy…”
Chaehun held back his words, feeling like the term for Seunggeon might become fixed as “crazy bastard.”
He wanted to throw away or sell the watches, but they were too expensive for that. Chaehun was a person of common sense. No matter how annoyed and angry he was, he didn’t have the guts to throw tens of millions of won into the air.
“What even is this?”
Chaehun, who’d let out deep sighs, roughly rubbed his flushed face. This kind of relationship was a first, and it had been a long time since he’d had such an answerless, childish fight. He couldn’t even grasp what to say to Seunggeon, who did as he pleased.
Though they were high school classmates, the two weren’t friends. Precisely, they were in a relationship bound by contract. It was even more so since he’d said emotions shouldn’t get involved.
“In the end, it’s business.”
He’d known it was business from the start. It just seemed the boundaries had crumbled from meeting without any problems. Repeating to himself several times that it was business, Chaehun organized the boxes and put them in the built-in closet.
It was already almost 3 AM. For tomorrow, Chaehun set several more alarms, grabbed the guest blanket, and lay down. He pushed both Seunggeon and Kang Yeonghwan out of his mind and closed his eyes to seek sleep.
It was the end of a long day.
