# Chapter 109
After detaching myself from the reluctant Kwon Dojin and entering my room, I racked my brain until it felt hot. Despite staying awake until dawn with endless thoughts, I couldn’t reach a satisfying conclusion.
I was irritated, feeling like I was standing on a path where thick fog obscured my view ahead. It felt similar to being stuck on a math problem I couldn’t solve.
I pressed my throbbing head and swallowed a sigh. Perhaps because my worrying was going nowhere, I started by questioning why I was even having such concerns, then cursing Ji Haecheon, and finally lamenting my situation.
“Habin?”
“Huh? What?”
When I suddenly lifted my head at the touch of someone tapping my shoulder, Kwon Dojin’s worried face came into immediate view. Perhaps because he was slightly bending his knees, the distance was too close. When I reflexively stepped back, Dojin straightened his body.
“I kept calling you but you didn’t hear me— You’re not feeling sick, are you?”
“Ah… No, it’s not that. Just. Maybe because we played too hard yesterday, I still feel like I haven’t fully recovered from the fatigue.”
When I shook my head to tell him not to worry, his tense expression finally relaxed.
“That’s a relief then. We’re about to leave. Did you pack everything?”
“Yeah. It’s all packed.”
I had already checked several times, concerned I might have forgotten something. Dojin responded with a faint smile at my answer, then checked his phone when a notification sound rang.
“Let’s go. They’ve arrived.”
“They got here quickly.”
“Yeah.”
As Dojin and I dragged our suitcases out the front door, there was a car right in front. We immediately loaded our luggage and sat side by side in the back seat, just as we had when we arrived at the villa.
Perhaps due to the languor that comes on the last day of a trip, the car was enveloped in silence. Usually, it was Dojin’s role to bring up appropriate topics and lead the conversation at times like this, but for some reason, he also remained quiet.
It was strange, but fortunate for me since my mind was too complicated to confidently maintain a conversation. It meant I had been given one last chance to untangle the knotted threads of my thoughts.
After contemplating and re-contemplating, it was only when familiar scenery began to appear that I could reach a conclusion. Once, twice. I slowly blinked my eyes and shook off the remaining thoughts.
During this time, the car arrived in front of my house. The moment had come to speak, even though I wasn’t sure if what I was about to say was the right answer.
Dojin and I got out of the car and gathered our luggage. Although I tried to get mine, Dojin was quicker and pulled my suitcase for me. With the rolling sound of wheels, we walked and stopped near the main entrance.
“Habin—”
“Kwon Dojin.”
Our voices overlapped as if both of us had something to say. It was an unusual occurrence, but I wasn’t surprised because part of me thought this might happen.
After a moment of silence, Dojin smiled and gestured for me to speak first.
“Are you sure you want me to go first?”
“Yes.”
I had an intuition that Dojin would regret this moment after hearing what I had to say. But I wasn’t composed enough to care about that, so I decided to ignore it.
“Should we keep our distance during summer vacation?”
“…What?”
His bright, beautiful smile shattered in an instant. I tried hard to control my involuntarily trembling shoulders at his unusual expressionless face.
“I’m a bit tired of similar situations repeating. Things seem okay lately, but—”
To be exact, things had been okay since Ji Haecheon left that strange remark. But that meant I could be in danger again if Ji Haecheon changed his mind, so it wasn’t reassuring.
This was probably something Dojin was well aware of too. That’s why he couldn’t say anything.
“Even if our relationship changes, the fact that I’m in a dangerous situation doesn’t change, so I think I need some time.”
Seeing Dojin stiffen up, I couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. Although I had been acting like an oblivious idiot, I wasn’t completely blind to what Dojin was trying to tell me.
That’s why I felt more sorry, and my heart was heavy, feeling like I was doing something cruel to him.
“That won’t change the situation.”
“That’s why I’m saying just during the vacation, only during that period. At least during that time, I can have a break.”
After I calmly finished what I wanted to say, a terrible silence descended. I had never thought I would have a conversation with Dojin in such an atmosphere, which made me think that you truly never know what will happen in life. It felt like I couldn’t breathe, but since I was the cause of the current situation, I endured it.
Dojin, who had been chewing on his lips, touched his forehead with a sigh. It seemed like he wanted to get angry but was trying hard to hold back.
“What if the situation changes?”
“Then I would have just been kicking at nothing.”
I deliberately acted lightly to change the mood, but it didn’t improve at all. With Dojin’s still depressed atmosphere, I only felt awkward and meekly lowered my head.
“Just tell me this.”
At the introduction that seemed like it would conclude the current situation, I raised my lowered head and looked at him. As we met each other’s gaze, I slowly nodded, and Dojin spoke.
“The relationship changing, do you dislike it?”
My eyes trembled at the unexpected question. In a way, it was no different from a confession, so I was troubled about what answer I should give. After moving my lips several times, I whispered.
“…Of course not.”
* * *
Kwon Dojin’s lips twisted as he stared blankly at the spot where Habin had left in a rush.
“Fuck.”
He let out a hollow laugh and ran his fingers through his hair, suppressing the emotion that was about to surge up. Habin’s words had not only exceeded his expectations but trampled them, making him dizzy.
In fact, he had thought Habin was planning to confess today. More precisely, it might be more accurate to say that he had been planning to do so. During the trip, the atmosphere had been good, and Habin hadn’t avoided skinship that would never happen between just friends.
In reality, Dojin had long noticed that Habin’s reactions had started to change after they went to the amusement park. After checking multiple times, he was convinced that Habin liked him too.
He had just taken more time because Habin seemed confused. He thought of the confession as merely a confirmation and decided to wait patiently until Habin was certain.
Even suggesting going to the beach was to help Habin grasp his feelings. More accurately, it was to cement things.
Perhaps because it was an unfamiliar place, Habin had acted comfortably during the trip. He frequently blushed, smiled as if excited, and easily fell into Dojin’s arms. Seeing those reactions, Dojin was inwardly happy, thinking that Habin had finally sorted out his feelings after wandering in confusion for a long time.
“Haah—”
It felt like he had been hit hard on the back of his head. From the first time they met, Habin never moved according to his expectations. That’s why he liked him, but today, he couldn’t shake the thought that it was excruciating.
“Young master.”
Since he was standing still and not moving, his attendant approached, thinking something was wrong. At his call, Dojin bit his lower lip and forced himself to turn around.
Standing here wouldn’t solve anything. The only consolation was that it was clear what he needed to do to change Habin’s mind.
“Let’s go back home.”
“The Vice President has called for you.”
“Mother?”
Dojin showed a puzzled reaction at the unexpected schedule. Nevertheless, the attendant stood neatly without any particular expression. In the face of his unchanging stiff attitude, Dojin eventually nodded slightly, indicating that he would go since he had been summoned.
“So Secretary Lee personally came because Mother called.”
Habin didn’t seem to have noticed, but unlike when they went to the villa, Dojin had been slightly puzzled that Secretary Lee came to pick them up. When that question was resolved, he snapped his fingers.
“I don’t think I’ve run away before.”
“You’ve often deliberately been late, though.”
Since it wasn’t wrong, Dojin shrugged. Honestly, having just been rejected by the person he liked, he wasn’t in the mood to go to his family home. But he wasn’t in the mood to resist either, so he moved his feet obediently.
With a somewhat loud sound, he closed the car door, and Secretary Lee settled into the driver’s seat.
“It seems you’ve been rejected.”
“…Are you making fun of me?”
“I say this because you seem sincere.”
“Well, that’s a considerate excuse.”
Secretary Lee swallowed a laugh at Dojin’s irritated response. The gesture of tapping the plastic conveyed the message to start driving quickly, so he lowered the hand brake and changed gears.
“If you’re going to cause trouble, please tell me in advance.”
The tapping sound that had been heard in a steady rhythm stopped. Then, with what seemed like a practiced smile on his face, Dojin tilted his head slightly.
“Do I look like I’m going to cause trouble?”
“Aren’t you?”
As their eyes met in the rearview mirror, Dojin deepened the smile on his face. Secretary Lee, who skillfully read the silent answer, instead of adding more words, began to narrow down the range of trouble Dojin might cause.
He knew that Dojin only caused trouble that wouldn’t be difficult to handle, but it was better to be prepared for later convenience. The biggest trouble Secretary Lee had experienced from Kwon Dojin was him going out without notice to engage in ranking fights and coming back, so he had a certain level of trust.
“Anyway, if you cause trouble, I hope you’ll contact me first.”
“Well—”
“You know that for quick and appropriate response, equally quick information sharing is essential.”
Dojin nodded casually at what seemed like nagging advice. In reality, he was planning to do something that adults would consider trouble.
