“Can I ask now? Can you answer?”
Chaehun asked just in case. Judging by his reaction, it seemed like he would explain. Seunggeon made an inscrutable expression.
“It’s nothing much. It was an inheritance issue. Not my maternal family, but my paternal family. It’s complicated to explain in detail, but someone who could receive the inheritance if I died at that time was the one who made the move.”
“How is that nothing much? If it’s nothing much, that’s not okay. Besides, you were even stabbed with a knife.”
Chaehun omitted the fact that he had caused a car accident. Anyway, it was a life-threatening matter, so he couldn’t say it was nothing much.
“When people are blinded by money, they commit reckless acts.”
Seunggeon spoke as if it really was nothing much. It was common for people to commit reckless acts when blinded by money. He didn’t know when he was young, but as you get older, you see, hear, and experience all sorts of ugly things related to money. Getting scammed and falling into debt, almost dying over inheritance, selling a year of time for money.
Incidents that would only happen in dramas or movies had become everyday occurrences. And yet he was living without much trouble.
Instead of swallowing a bitter smile, Chaehun slightly changed the subject.
“What about now? Are you okay now? No inheritance issues or anything?”
“It ended because I received it. Even if I die, it won’t go to those people.”
Seunggeon’s voice, which rang out dryly, didn’t particularly contain feelings like resentment. He seemed to just dismiss it as something from the past.
“Do you know who it was?”
“No.”
“You don’t know?”
“Three out of the four kidnappers were found as corpses, and one went missing. There were roughly five people behind it, but I couldn’t identify who specifically. So all five were destroyed. Not by me but by my maternal grandfather. Ah, they’re all alive, so don’t make that face.”
Unlike Seunggeon, who casually talked about the brutal story, Chaehun’s heart grew heavy. He hadn’t known there was such a background.
Seunggeon continued bitterly.
“I seem to have brought up an unnecessary story. Your chopsticks have stopped.”
“Can I ask one more thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Back then. After that accident happened, why didn’t you contact me? That’s what I was most curious about. If it’s okay, tell me that too.”
Chaehun brought up something he’d been curious about for a very long time. It wasn’t to criticize. Hearing the background of the accident, he thought there might be other circumstances.
As if it was an unexpected question, Seunggeon’s movements stopped for a moment. Strength entered his jet-black eyes. This time it seemed uncomfortable to answer.
“If it’s hard to explain, you don’t have to.”
“I was in a coma for about half a year right after the accident.”
“—!!”
“When I woke up, I had lost about three years of memories. I had no memory of the kidnapping incident or my high school days. I didn’t know your contact information either.”
At the completely unexpected explanation, Chaehun was at a loss for words. Seunggeon spoke matter-of-factly as per his personality, but it was an extremely serious matter.
With Chaehun’s imagination, all he could guess was that Seunggeon, as the maternal grandson of Taehwa Group, was trying to distance himself from ordinary friends. He had resented him, wondering if he chose his friends selectively.
But a coma for half a year followed by memory loss—
It felt like being hit hard on the head with a hammer. As he stared blankly at Seunggeon, another question suddenly arose.
“Then how did you recognize me? That I liked you? Did your memory come back?”
“I remember almost nothing from high school. Only a few incidents came back, and you appeared the most in them. Before that, I knew about you from records first.”
His memory came back partially. Among them, it seemed the memory of Chaehun almost kissing Seunggeon’s cheek was there.
“Then the memory of the accident?”
“It hasn’t come back. I still don’t know what happened then.”
Chaehun had complicated feelings. Along with embarrassment, sympathy and regret washed over him. It was a disaster too difficult for a child who hadn’t even become an adult to handle. Also, it was regrettable that most of the memories they’d built together over a year and a half had disappeared.
And he felt sorry. He was ashamed of having resented him without knowing anything.
“Without knowing that……”
“Without knowing?”
“I cursed you out calling you a bad guy. Saying you were pretending not to know even though you obviously knew I’d worry.”
Chaehun honestly expressed the feelings he’d harbored. Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up, the best thing was to say he’d been hurt and move on.
“That’s an absurd misunderstanding.”
“Yeah. I know now it was a misunderstanding. I’ll reflect on cursing you out. But anyway, you never know about life. Losing your memory. You must have been really bewildered when you came to.”
“Since three years disappeared.”
The conversation continued gently like that as the meal went on. Following the bulgogi, the final dish choice was—Chaehun ordered jjajangmyeon for both himself and Seunggeon’s portion.
Chaehun didn’t bother telling Seunggeon that he liked this. Seunggeon had secretly liked it when jjajangbap came out in school meals during high school, but since he’d lost his memory, his tastes might have changed.
Fortunately, his expectation wasn’t wrong. Seunggeon, who had left food from everything that had come out so far, ate all of the jjajangmyeon. Although as a meal menu that concluded the course, the portion was smaller than usual.
“You like jjajangmyeon. Still.”
Only after seeing the bowl completely emptied did Chaehun speak. He even hinted with the word “still.” Seunggeon checked the empty bowl and twitched one eyebrow. His reaction showed he hadn’t known.
“I used to like this?”
“Yeah.”
“Seems like it.”
Seunggeon readily admitted it. While they had a brief conversation about the origin and evolution of jjajangmyeon, dessert and tea came out. Seunggeon ate all of the cold pudding, saying it was delicious.
And so lunch ended in a pleasant atmosphere.
* * *
Isn’t this like a date?
After finishing lunch, they were on the way home in Seunggeon’s car. Everything was satisfactory. They’d eaten delicious food and were full. Traffic was a bit congested but at a normal level. The conversation with Seunggeon was also ordinary too. Things like traffic being backed up, that car’s driving being too rough, the weather being nice.
Then it was when the car stopped at a red light. A couple caught Chaehun’s eye as he looked out the window. The young couple, naturally close together with linked arms, each held an ice cream in their hands. When the woman said something, the man held out his ice cream. Just as Chaehun was thinking it was a ticklish dating scene, he suddenly thought that today’s schedule with Seunggeon was like a date.
In fact, it really was. Although he’d been dragged along without knowing anything, they’d gone shopping, had lunch, had snacks and tea, and were now heading home in Seunggeon’s car. It was the epitome of a standard date.
Chaehun unconsciously looked at Seunggeon. As the light turned green and Seunggeon started the car, his gaze was fixed straight ahead. Afraid that if their eyes met, his thoughts would be read, Chaehun quickly turned his head.
A date.
If he said it out loud, he’d be ridiculed by Seunggeon. From the time Seunggeon proposed to meet, he’d made it clear he didn’t want emotions to get involved. But Chaehun kept thinking only in that direction. That was definitely not a good sign.
He was conscious that he was feeling favorable toward and attracted to Seunggeon. That’s how the feeling of liking someone starts. He knew it was stupid and foolish, but human hearts don’t go as one wills.
Chaehun scowled fiercely. He didn’t want a one-sided love this time either.
Especially if the other person was Seunggeon, it was impossible. He was the person who had investigated him, found out he needed money, and waited until he was cornered. He’d even written a contract saying emotions shouldn’t get involved. He’d also carelessly handed over a credit card.
There were plenty of reasons not to like him. But even considering those was already a problem.
I’m telling you, he’s impossible.
Chaehun thought cynically. Just last week he’d decided to just let things flow. But flowing and flowing, he’d arrived at a completely wrong place. It was truly troublesome.
“Are you sick somewhere? You don’t look good.”
“Uh…… No. I’m fine. I was just thinking about something.”
At Seunggeon’s voice, Chaehun came to his senses and answered roughly. Fortunately, Seunggeon didn’t ask what he was thinking about.
If he had, it would have been awkward. He couldn’t say he thought he might like him and was counting on his fingers the reasons not to.
“I don’t know about other things, but if you’re sick, say you’re sick. You have a tendency to endure too much. That’s a bad habit.”
The tone was cold but the content was “I’m worried about you.” That guy had been like that since the old days. He didn’t talk much but pointed out only the key points. And he also moved into action first. If he were just a bad guy who only used others, Chaehun could curse him out, but this ambiguous kindness shook people up even more.
Chaehun tried to blame Seunggeon but gave up. He was just being an idiot himself.
“It’s not that. It’s……”
“What is it?”
