“That’s great. Congratulations.”
“Ha……. I’m honestly so nervous. I won’t embarrass myself when I get there, right? I’ve never been to an exhibition before so I’m kind of scared for no reason.”
“What’s so special about an exhibition? Just go and enjoy yourself.”
“There’s no dress code, is there? It’s not one of those places where you have to dress up, right?”
Hae-yul, who had been taking off his uniform vest and putting on his coat, finally burst out laughing at Im Seong-hyeok’s fussing.
“What exhibition has a dress code? As long as you don’t show up naked, you’re fine, aren’t you?”
“Hyung! What do you take me for?”
Im Seong-hyeok stuck out his lips in dissatisfaction, then suddenly glanced sideways toward the front of the back room and lowered his voice.
“But that person came again today. He really is your customer, isn’t he?”
“I told you, he’s not.”
“He is too. He looks like he’s waiting for you outside right now. Could it be… a date? Hyung, are you seeing someone? Since when?”
Hae-yul looked away from Im Seong-hyeok, who was staring at him with those gleaming eyes, and shook his head.
“We’re nothing. I just know his face and name, that’s all.”
“Eeh? What? If you know that much, you basically know everything, don’t you? What more do you need to know? These days people learn about each other while dating. Hyung, you’re surprisingly old-fashioned.”
Hae-yul gave Im Seong-hyeok, who was asking in a teasing tone, a mild glare, then grabbed his bag and walked out of the back room.
“I’m off. See you tomorrow.”
“Okay, get home safe. Have a good date!”
“You want to keep it up? I said it’s not like——”
He was scowling and grumbling at Im Seong-hyeok, who was calling out loudly from inside, when he made eye contact with Kwon Gyo-eon standing in front of the counter waiting for him, and quickly lowered his voice.
“……I said it’s not like that.”
After briefly watching Kwon Gyo-eon’s expression, Hae-yul walked out of the convenience store as if making a run for it. Kwon Gyo-eon stepped out after him in long, easy strides and asked in a mild voice from beside him.
“Heading home now?”
Did Kwon Gyo-eon have no shame? Even though Hae-yul had been ignoring him and pretending not to notice the whole time, how could the man always approach him with that utterly unfazed face? It made Hae-yul feel oddly guilty for no reason.
Could it be that the ‘responsibility’ Kwon Gyo-eon mentioned includes doing something like this?
Truth be told, it wasn’t as though drawing a line and being cold toward Kwon Gyo-eon was comfortable for Hae-yul either. Building a wall against someone who had helped him when he was a complete stranger — Hae-yul felt ashamed of himself for it. He was aware, too, that he was being rather rude to a man who was practically his savior.
But no matter how kindly the man acted toward him, that man was still Kwon Gyo-eon. Kwon Gyo-eon — the obsessive love interest’s other biological father, who had played a major role in driving the original story to its worst possible outcome. Getting entangled with him would be nothing more than repeating the original story’s misfortune all over again.
On top of that, he still didn’t understand why Kwon Gyo-eon — who in Faint Fragments had supposedly been brutally cold toward ‘Ju Hae-yul’, cold enough to send icy winds howling — was being kind to him now.
If Kwon Gyo-eon truly valued ‘responsibility’ as he claimed, then he should have exercised that sense of responsibility in the original story too.
Rather than abandoning and ignoring the original ‘Ju Hae-yul’ and his son the way he had.
More than anything, Hae-yul did not want to get entangled with Kwon Gyo-eon and end up dead. The original ‘Ju Hae-yul’ had formed a one-sided bond with Kwon Gyo-eon and withered away day by day, before suddenly dying for reasons unknown. It was a death that came at the end of waiting desperately for Kwon Gyo-eon to turn his gaze back toward him.
Which made it all the stranger. Was there any reason to act so shameless and push himself onto Hae-yul just because they’d spent one night together? Unless he wanted something from him……
Could it be……?
Could Kwon Gyo-eon be expecting repayment from him? But no matter what he prepared with his meager finances, it would never satisfy someone like Kwon Gyo-eon. Unlike Hae-yul, Kwon Gyo-eon lived in an entirely different world.
Someone standing at the very peak of wealth wouldn’t bother expecting or hoping for material repayment from him. Would someone squeeze blood from a flea for an amount that wouldn’t even show up as a rounding error in their own fortune?
Even so, it seemed like less trouble in the long run to say he’d repay what he could and then draw things to a close. No — if that was how he could completely remove Kwon Gyo-eon from his life, it would be a major gain for Hae-yul.
Was there anything else he could offer besides that?
…Come to think of it, he didn’t think he’d ever properly thanked Kwon Gyo-eon for what happened that day. A new light flickered in Hae-yul’s eyes as he recalled the conversation they’d had over the meal at Kwon Gyo-eon’s place.
To have helped someone only to receive nothing but cold shoulders in return, let alone repayment or gratitude — how frustrating and baffling that must be. No matter how out of it he’d been, how had he managed to apologize without even saying thank you? That was definitely his fault.
For now, it seemed best to express his gratitude to Kwon Gyo-eon and make his intentions clear at the same time.
Without a single word in response to Kwon Gyo-eon’s question about whether he was heading home, Hae-yul had been walking in silence when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Kwon Gyo-eon, who had been walking alongside him, likewise stopped and looked down at Hae-yul with a questioning expression.
“Is your leg hurting?”
“……was grateful.”
“Hm? I didn’t catch that — could you say it again?”
“I said… I was grateful. Back then. I was so out of it I didn’t even manage to thank you properly. I’m sorry.”
Hae-yul turned his head slightly and found Kwon Gyo-eon staring at him with a blank expression. As though caught completely off guard by the unexpected timing of the thanks and apology, Kwon Gyo-eon stood still for a long moment, doing nothing but blinking.
Hae-yul steadied his breathing for a moment, then added more. Thinking about the state of his pitiful bank account while trying to say this made him feel oddly like he might cry.
“And I’m sorry to say this as well, but I’m not in a great position financially, so I don’t think I’ll be able to repay you with an amount or a gift that would be satisfying to you. Still, I wanted to at least say thank you, even if it’s late. I’ll do my best to put together what I can within my means, so shameless as it is, could you give me a little time……?”
At those words, the slight softening that had appeared in Kwon Gyo-eon’s expression returned to its usual place. His face turned cold again in an instant, and Kwon Gyo-eon drew a short breath before asking.
“So to sum it up — you’re telling me to take some hush money and get lost, is that it?”
“Hush… what?”
“You may not have thought much of me, but I’m not so cheap a person as that. So I suspect the hush money I’d charge Ju Hae-yul wouldn’t be a small sum — are you sure you’re alright with that?”
His voice was smooth and unhurried, but the gaze fixed on Hae-yul was cold. He seemed a little angry, too. He had been somewhat lenient with Hae-yul up until now, but at the end of the day, this was still Kwon Gyo-eon. Hae-yul clenched his fist to keep himself from shrinking under Kwon Gyo-eon’s suddenly chilling atmosphere.
But no matter how he thought about it, he truly could not figure out what had been wrong with anything he’d said. Should he have offered to repay him in some other way? Or had Kwon Gyo-eon been somewhat moved by the thanks, only to have it ruined the moment money came up?
Or perhaps it was because Hae-yul had spoken about giving him money — an amount not even worth the paper it was printed on to someone like Kwon Gyo-eon — as though it were a great sum. But then again, ending things with just a thank you and clamming up after that would be strange too, wouldn’t it?
Hae-yul stood there unable to say anything, just blinking, and Kwon Gyo-eon let out a low sigh.
“Why are you so frightened. It’s Ju Hae-yul who went and hurt someone’s feelings first.”
“No, that wasn’t my intention. You’re choosing to misinterpret what I said——”
“Then let’s meet.”
“Pardon?”
Hae-yul’s eyes went wide at the conclusion that came out of nowhere.
“If that wasn’t your intention, then let’s meet. No need to be startled. I’m not saying let’s date — I’m saying let’s see each other occasionally, like today. Meet up, have meals together, get some coffee. It would be nice to go to exhibitions together too.”
“What are you——”
“Of course, we might end up dating somewhere along the way, but isn’t that a problem for later? So for now, let’s just meet. That’s the repayment I’d like from Ju Hae-yul. Even so, does Ju Hae-yul still want to substitute it with money?”
What on earth is he saying. He wants to do what with me? Kwon Gyo-eon’s words left Hae-yul completely flustered. As Hae-yul stood there flustered, his lips opening and closing without a sound, Kwon Gyo-eon curved up the corner of his mouth and added.
“Alright then. Let’s do it that way. I’ll name the hush money with Ju Hae-yul’s situation in mind. Hmm — would one billion won be enough?”
“O-, o-, one, one billion won?”
…To think the man would actually squeeze blood from a flea. Hae-yul’s jaw dropped at the utterly outrageous number. At that, Kwon Gyo-eon asked back with laughter in his voice.
“Why so shocked. Is the hush money higher than Ju Hae-yul expected?”
“…There’s no way someone like me would have one billion won.”
“I understand Ju Hae-yul’s situation, but there’s nothing I can do. There will no doubt be malicious rumors going around about what happened between us, and when that happens, I’ll be facing not only emotional damage but considerable social criticism as well — so I have no choice but to collect a fair sum.”
At the words that followed, Hae-yul forgot to even close his mouth and stared up at Kwon Gyo-eon blankly.
