# Chapter 28
“Have some hangover soup. You seemed to drink quite a lot yesterday.”
Yeomin had woken up at the crack of dawn and left his room before eight. He’d naturally assumed everyone would still be asleep, but Taeyang and Jiho were sitting amicably together at the dining table.
In his dazed state, Yeomin sat at the table and cursed Taeyang with his eyes. If he thought about the ordeal he went through because of him yesterday, his fists would be crying.
“…Why are you still here if you’re awake?”
“Jiho said to eat before leaving. Joo Yeomin, hurry up and eat too. It’ll cure your hangover right away.”
How can he be so comfortable in someone else’s house? He’s acting like he’s the homeowner.
As Yeomin sat there reluctantly, Jiho placed a spoon in his hand.
“If it’s hard to hold the spoon, should I feed you?”
“…I was about to eat.”
Please refrain from saying nonsense in front of Lee Taeyang. Yeomin quickly took a spoonful of soup, not realizing how hot it was.
It’s not like he was secretly dating Jiho, and he certainly wasn’t gay. He didn’t understand why he felt like he was deceiving Taeyang.
‘Why? I feed you, let you sleep here, and even arrange tutoring for you.’
‘Hey.’
‘Is that all I can do for you?’
Why did Seol Jiho have to say such things? And now he’s sitting there with an innocent expression, making Yeomin even more uncomfortable.
Jiho asked Taeyang:
“Did you two drink that much yesterday?”
“Maybe because we were excited to see each other after a long time, the alcohol went down easily. Joo Yeomin, you said you carried me all the way here yesterday, right?”
…Shut up if you know. Yeomin just silently raised his eyes.
“Thanks for the hard work— But it’s okay for you to do that. How many times have I carried you since our freshman year?”
Just eat your food. Yeomin couldn’t understand why Taeyang was being so tactless today.
“I see~ Since freshman year.”
Jiho repeated Taeyang’s words in a murmur. His cloudy gaze seemed to pierce through Yeomin, making his stomach feel bloated even without eating.
Yeomin stomped on Taeyang’s foot to shut him up, but his mouth wouldn’t stop.
“By the way, Jiho is really an angel. Taking care of a senior who has nowhere to go like this.”
“I was bored living alone anyway, so it worked out.”
“I’m bored during the break too. Is it okay if I come over often?”
‘Lee Taeyang, are you eating drugs instead of food? Did you take drugs?’
Or maybe he was still drunk from yesterday.
Yeomin glanced at Jiho. He could clearly see the smile freezing on Jiho’s lips.
Oblivious to this, Taeyang was on his fourth verse of how amazing the view was. Yeomin was about to tell him to stop when Jiho answered with a smile.
“Of course, come over often. Let’s hang out, the three of us.”
It was a voice without even a gram of soul.
* * *
Taeyang seemed to want to stay and play longer, but Yeomin dragged him out as soon as they finished eating.
He desperately wanted to escape the situation with the three of them – Seol Jiho, Lee Taeyang, and himself.
“I’ll just take him to the front and come back!”
As he shouted this and left through the entrance, he couldn’t forget Jiho’s cold final expression.
Maybe I should just follow him and leave the house completely…
“Haah.”
In the descending elevator, Yeomin leaned against the wall as if collapsing.
It felt like he’d lost ten years of his life between last night and this morning. What the hell is all this?
“Hmm. So that’s how it is, Joo Yeomin…”
Taeyang mumbled while looking at Yeomin, who was crouching down.
“What? Don’t you start annoying me too.”
When Yeomin responded sensitively, Taeyang clicked his tongue. And then he abruptly asked:
“Can you handle it?”
“…What?”
Yeomin was inwardly startled. Taeyang might seem clueless, frivolous, and without a filter, but occasionally he was surprisingly sharp.
Should I say the kid has good intuition?
“I’m talking about Seol Jiho. Can you handle him? How does it feel living in a tiger’s den?”
“What are you talking about…”
“Well. Even if it’s a tiger’s den, at this level, you might want to live there forever. Being a tiger’s meal might not be all bad.”
Yeomin couldn’t tell if Taeyang was mumbling with knowledge or just spouting nonsense without understanding. Either way, he couldn’t answer.
“…”
To Yeomin, who was as silent as if he’d eaten honey, Taeyang offered sincere advice in his most adult and solemn tone in recent times.
“They say there’s no such thing as kindness without a price.”
“…”
“The way Seol Jiho looks at you is like a tiger holding its cub. What do you think he’ll take from you while you stay with him?”
At first, I thought he was a lost dog, sometimes like a fox, and often like a wolf. But as it turns out, Seol Jiho was a tiger.
Yeomin tried to deny it.
“…What could I give him?”
If the worry is about what he could take from me, that’s actually a relief. I have nothing, absolutely nothing, that bastard could take from me.
Just then, the elevator arrived at the first floor. Yeomin got up, supporting himself on his knees, and muttered:
“And it’s not like I chose this.”
It’s just that Seol Jiho was my only option. Yeomin truly, truly believed that.
* * *
Taeyang treated him like someone willingly entering a tiger’s den, expressed his condolences, and left.
“Always making people feel more uneasy. Unhelpful guy…”
After sending Taeyang off, he somehow didn’t want to go back up to that towering house.
So Yeomin bought a pack of cigarettes at a convenience store. He had smoked briefly as a freshman but quit because it was too expensive. Today, for some reason, he desperately wanted to smoke.
The first puff was unpleasant, but after that, it felt like his insides were clearing up. While smoking one cigarette after another, Yeomin thought calmly.
‘Was this really my only option?’
Hand on his heart, honestly… it probably wasn’t.
If he had truly been worried about being left on the streets, he could have relied on Manager Cha or Taeyang. He could have even eaten and slept at the PC bang.
Of course, it would have been uncomfortable, hard, and depressing, but wouldn’t his mind at least have been at ease, more so than now?
But despite having these other options,
‘You’re shivering so much. Why are you so wet? Did you get caught in the rain?’
Yeomin had taken Jiho’s hand that day.
Yes, I admit it. I did want to take the easy way. Is it so wrong to get a free ride? I might have had a tiny thought that I could piggyback on someone else’s life a little.
Perhaps,
‘This time, I’m the one who picked you up, hyung. So I’ll do as I please.’
Maybe I wanted to just rely on Jiho who said that, to hand myself over…
I was wrong. As Taeyang said, there’s no such thing as kindness without a price, no meeting without intention, no relationship without reason.
“Get a grip, Joo Yeomin.”
They say even if you willingly enter a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.
Yeomin quickly searched through his phone contacts and called his landlord. Without the luxury of waiting for a text reply, he called directly.
After the dial tone, he heard the landlord’s voice for the first time in a long while.
– Hello?
“Hello. This is the student from room 101.”
– Oh my~ Are you doing well, student?
“Ah… yes, I guess.”
‘Why is her tone so friendly?’
Strange. He couldn’t remember if the landlord had ever asked him if he was doing well.
Well, if eating well and sleeping well counts as doing well, then I guess I am doing well…
With urgency, Yeomin got straight to the point.
“How far along is the repair work on the place? I’d like to move back in soon.”
– Huh? Weren’t you not coming back?
“What?”
Yeomin was taken aback by the unexpected answer.
“What do you mean?”
– Some man who said he was your guardian contacted me and said you wouldn’t be coming back soon, just asked me to keep your belongings, so I’ve been postponing the repair work.
“I said that?”
– A man claiming to be your guardian called and said so. He also paid the rent for the remaining contract period.
Yeomin’s mind raced.
‘But Seol Jiho definitely told me the repair work would be done in 2 weeks.’
He was a fool for trusting those words completely without double-checking.
‘Just how far is this bastard planning to deceive me? At this point, is he keeping me around because he enjoys messing with me?’
Yeomin hurriedly corrected the situation.
“Anyway, circumstances have changed, so I think I need to come back.”
– Oh dear. So suddenly? Then I’ll have to check again.
“Yes, please do that.”
– Alright.
“Please make sure to contact me when you have a schedule.”
The landlord sounded like she found the matter troublesome. Yeomin made sure to get a definite answer one more time before hanging up.
After that, rather than feeling angry, he found himself laughing.
“…This is driving me crazy.”
When a person is too dumbfounded, their heart turns cold. It was also comical.
What kind of things does Seol Jiho do just to deceive someone like me? Did he hope I wouldn’t be wary of him? Did he want to remain gentlemanly and mannered until the end?
‘For that… you shouldn’t have been Seol Jiho. There’s not a single aspect of you, from head to toe, that lets anyone feel at ease.’
“…You live such a tiring life, Seol Jiho.”
To consider it a cute hobby of a bored young master, hasn’t he crossed the line?
Yeomin muttered as he threw away his cigarette butt.
