It was the elevator arrival sound. Unlike Yeongbeom, who was half out of his mind with drunkenness and anger and couldn’t think that the sound had come from this floor, Yujeong slowly turned his head in that direction the moment the elevator doors opened.
What moved Yeongbeom at that moment wasn’t the fact that the elevator had arrived, but displeasure at how Jeon Yujeong dared to play dumb at this important moment.
Yeongbeom moved his gaze toward the direction Yujeong was looking with an irritated face, wondering what on earth was interrupting him.
……Standing there was none other than Seongjo.
Yeongbeom’s expression became stupid for a moment. He momentarily couldn’t accept the fact that Seongjo had appeared in this place.
The eyes of Yeongbeom, who barely caught on to the situation, widened. It was because he realized how this appearance would look in Seongjo’s eyes. Yeongbeom urgently opened his mouth.
“Seongjo-ya, it’s a misunderstanding. This is……!”
But that voice didn’t seem to reach Seongjo’s ears. No, it seemed like he had no intention of listening to Yeongbeom’s words in the first place. From the moment his eyes met Yujeong’s, Seongjo’s eyes had been half-crazed.
The scene of Seongjo striding over looked like a very slowly rewound tape to Yeongbeom’s eyes. Perhaps it was just what he hoped for in his head.
Looking back at where Seongjo’s gaze was fixed, Yeongbeom finally noticed. That he still hadn’t let go of Yujeong’s collar that he’d been holding because he was so surprised. He hastily released his hand and looked at Seongjo with a deliberately desperate face.
Of course, that expression never worked.
Seongjo, who had approached right up close, forcefully separated Yeongbeom completely from Yujeong.
A face like his reason had been paralyzed.
Yeongbeom faced that face in a daze,
And Seongjo threw a punch at him.
* * *
It was only a few dozen minutes ago that Seongjo received the report from Kyeonghun.
“Executive Director, there’s something I need to tell you urgently.”
Kyeonghun stuck his face into the office with an extremely urgent expression. Seongjo gestured as if to say pleasantries could be skipped. Then Kyeonghun spoke, skipping even his usual silent bow.
“Jo Yeongbeom is showing suspicious movements right now. Evidence has been identified that he moved toward the Executive Director’s residence a moment ago.”
At the content reported in a stiff tone, Seongjo’s face wrinkled heavily. Ha, a short sigh leaked out. Since Seongjo was at the company now anyway, even if Yeongbeom went to Seongjo’s house, there wouldn’t be an immediate problem.
Before going home, all he had to do was have the bodyguards ‘clean’ in front of the house.
But the problem was that the apartment where Seongjo lived wasn’t just Seongjo’s residence. There was not only Yeongeun and her mother, but also Yujeong’s house.
Seongjo hastily looked at his watch.
A little past 6 o’clock. A contact from Yujeong for tonight’s dinner hadn’t arrived yet. However, since he generally tended to call Seongjo only after finishing meal preparations to some extent, the fact that contact hadn’t come didn’t mean he wasn’t home. He couldn’t feel reassured.
“Exactly where did he go? My house? Or to see his mother? Or if not that…….”
Seeing Seongjo trail off, Kyeonghun bowed his head deeply as if troubled.
“Since we only followed to the extent of not being caught by him, they say they couldn’t find him after he entered the complex. I apologize.”
Seongjo closed the pile of documents he’d been looking at as they were. Then he stood up from his seat and gathered his coat.
“It seems you’ve been continuing to watch. Good work.”
Though it was a voice with nerves completely on edge, he didn’t forget to leave praise for Kyeonghun.
He’d told him to attach people to Seyeong’s side, but it seemed he’d also watched Yeongbeom’s side without being negligent. If not for that, he wouldn’t have even known the fact that Yeongbeom was at his apartment now, so praise was deserved.
He didn’t have the mental leisure to wait for Kyeonghun at the parking lot. Sitting in the back seat of a car driven by someone else, even the nervousness during the trip would feel like stress. So Seongjo took the wheel himself and headed home.
While waiting at a signal, he pondered whether he should contact Yujeong or not. If Yeongbeom hadn’t gone to find Yujeong, calling unnecessarily to ask ‘Did my ex-boyfriend come to see you?’ itself could spoil the mood.
But what if, on the off chance, Yeongbeom had gone there thinking to harm Yujeong? It seemed right to contact him after all.
With that thought, he called Yujeong. But he didn’t answer. Since Yujeong wasn’t originally the type to not answer calls well, he couldn’t help but worry.
Seongjo, who drove as fast as he possibly could, was able to enter the apartment much faster than usual.
And…….
* * *
When Seongjo arrived in front of Yujeong’s house, the two were already confronting each other. Yeongbeom was gripping Yujeong’s collar as if he would harm him at any moment. It was unknown whether to say he was already too late or that he’d still arrived in time. However, the feeling Seongjo felt the moment he saw that scene was clear.
It felt like a string in his head snapped with a snap. Regret rushed in that he hadn’t dealt with Jo Yeongbeom definitively from the start.
He pushed him away and threw a punch. Yeongbeom, who was hit unexpectedly, couldn’t keep his balance and staggered and fell as he was. Because his body was held at the moment of hitting, it glanced off so there probably wasn’t severe pain for Yeongbeom and no wound would remain either.
Unsatisfied with that fact, he tried to approach him closely again, but it didn’t go as intended. It was because of Yujeong, who was holding onto Seongjo’s back and tearing him away.
“Calm down.”
However, it wasn’t a situation where reason would return just because he heard words to calm down.
Yeongbeom was sitting slumped while clutching the cheek he’d been hit, looking up at Seongjo. Though he hadn’t been hit that hard, his expression alone was pale as if he’d been treated cruelly.
And the expression looking at Seongjo was really strange. It was an expression exactly like someone betrayed. Does getting hit once on the cheek make you feel like the world has collapsed? Who should be making that expression?
Thinking such thoughts and gritting his teeth, Seongjo barely opened his mouth and spoke.
“……You can let go now.”
Though he managed to create a calm voice with difficulty, it didn’t seem very effective. Yujeong answered without loosening the strength in the arms holding Seongjo at all.
“If you say you won’t raise your hand anymore, I’ll let go.”
It seemed he didn’t trust Seongjo’s attitude of pretending to be composed. He probably thought he’d immediately punch Yeongbeom again if he let go. Since he actually would have rushed at him again the moment he released his hands, he couldn’t immediately deny it.
‘Who is causing this right now?’
If only Yeongbeom hadn’t touched Yujeong, this wouldn’t have happened. Whether knowing or not that he’d gone crazy because of him, Yujeong was deliberately strictly restraining Seongjo.
Seongjo sighed and glanced back at Yujeong. It was to say he understood so let go now.
However, Yujeong’s face he met like that already had a wound.
Seeing Seongjo’s wide-open eyes and trembling lips, Yujeong seemed slightly flustered. When he reached toward the corner of his mouth where Seongjo’s gaze was fixedly touching, a bit of blood came off. It seemed his lip had split when hit by Yeongbeom’s punch.
He thought it hadn’t even been a proper fight yet, but even that wasn’t the case. Seongjo’s head, filled with anger, snapped toward Yeongbeom. There was a whooshing wind sound when he moved his head.
More strength entered Yujeong’s arms holding Seongjo. When he turned his eyes to him again, Yujeong shook his head from side to side.
Did he mean to endure it? Seongjo barely released the strength from his body that had been full of tension while gritting his teeth. Finally Yujeong released his hands.
Seongjo stretched his arm that had been held and barked at Yeongbeom.
“……Get lost.”
Yeongbeom, who had continuously been making a betrayed face, didn’t resist. He, who looked particularly messed up even considering he was drunk and had been hit, stared at Yujeong instead of Seongjo.
What was he thinking? At the thought that he might be contemplating some harm in his head again, Seongjo raised his voice.
“I said get lost!”
Only then did Yeongbeom seem to come to his senses and stagger up. Listening to the footsteps staggering and disappearing down the stairs, Seongjo dry-washed his face with an irritated sigh. Yujeong, who had been watching that appearance, perceptively pressed the password and opened his own door.
At the gaze looking at him as if telling him to come in, Seongjo finally moved too.
