Chapter 52
***
Hahyun promised himself he wouldn’t be flustered no matter who it was and went to the intercom to check. He planned to pretend no one was home unless it was Secretary Kim.
However, the face on the screen was someone who absolutely could not be left outside.
“Fuck, Choi Eunji.”
If he pretended no one was home and left her outside, not only would she make a scene loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, but she might also do something to his precious car, so he couldn’t just leave her there.
Choi Eunji, the only person that even the crazy Seo Hahyun couldn’t defeat, was his fiancée and childhood friend. Of course, her sudden elevation to fiancée status was due to a contract for Chairman Seo’s benefit.
While Chairman Seo was alive, he’d pretended to be her fiancé, at least outwardly, following Hajin’s advice that it was better to go along with it. But now that Chairman Seo was dead, there was no need for that anymore.
“Haah…”
As he glared at the intercom, hoping she’d just go away, his phone started ringing. He ignored it, knowing it would obviously be Eunji.
“Please just go away. Things are complicated enough as it is. Fuck.”
The curse slipped out naturally.
When the phone stopped ringing on its own, she pressed the doorbell again and made a V-sign toward the camera. It seemed like she was saying, “Try me if you dare.” Hahyun reluctantly pressed the intercom button.
“What? Just go away. Please.”
“Oh my, our Hahyun. Have you been well? You think you can just ignore all my texts and hide, and that’s the end of it?”
Her shrill voice made it feel like his ears were bleeding.
“I told you. Our relationship is over now.”
“Who decided that? Don’t you know you’ll be punished for abandoning your lawful wife? Hahyun, will you open the door while I’m asking nicely? Or should I call Hajin oppa directly and throw a crying fit?”
To make matters worse, Eunji’s father was the most famous performance planner in the country and owned performance venues, so he wielded enormous influence over the family business. That must be why Chairman Seo had forced the engagement…
Anyway, Eunji’s threat to call Seo Hajin and throw a crying fit wasn’t something he could simply ignore.
“Eunji, why are you doing this to me? There are plenty of other men who like you.”
“Hey, why are you drinking kimchi broth when nobody’s offering you rice cake? Who said I came because I like you? I have something to say, so open the door quickly!”
“Not now. I’m busy.”
“So that’s how you want to play it? Fine, then Seo Hajin’s model will…”
“Fuck!”
Cursing, Hahyun opened the door irritably. Eunji crossed the yard at lightning speed. He was already going crazy just from the unpleasant things this morning, and now with Eunji barging in, he felt like he was really going to lose his mind.
Bang, bang, bang. Eunji, who’d reached the front door, started pounding on it. Hahyun had no choice but to open it.
“Why are you here? Just tell me what you want briefly and… Hey!”
Completely ignoring Hahyun’s words, Eunji walked into the house as if it were her own and sat on the sofa.
‘So annoying… I’m busy enough thinking about Yoon Juwon…’
If he followed his temperament, he should have grabbed her arm and dragged her outside long ago, but he forced himself to endure, afraid she’d threaten him again. Juwon was upstairs, and he didn’t want to waste time arguing unnecessarily.
Hahyun sighed and asked Eunji.
“What, should I get you something to drink?”
“Oh, what’s this? Why so kind all of a sudden?”
“Even if I get angry and tell you to leave, you won’t go anyway.”
“That’s true. Our Hahyun has finally grown up.”
Her face, giggling as if something was hilarious, made him feel like he could die of annoyance.
“Yuzu tea would be nice!”
“Haah…”
At Eunji’s shameless command, Hahyun went to make the tea.
Eunji burst out laughing watching Hahyun’s trudging figure from behind. But then, she felt something under her seat. Standing up and examining the space between the sofa cushions closely, she was shocked to realize what the object was.
A pair of men’s underwear was wedged between the sofa cushions. She stared at it for a long time with an incredulous expression, then grabbed the elastic waistband and pulled it out.
‘It’s too small to be Hahyun’s… and also too small to be Hajin oppa’s… Could it be Hajin oppa’s boyfriend’s?’
She thought it might be possible since Hajin was gay. She’d discovered he was gay after accidentally seeing him having a lovers’ quarrel with some man when she came to visit Hahyun.
Eunji had no intention of exposing or exploiting this, but when Hahyun begged her not to tell anyone, her thinking changed. She figured she could use it to manipulate Hahyun.
Nevertheless, leaving his boyfriend’s underwear in the middle of the living room didn’t match Hajin’s usual character. But as long as these weren’t women’s underwear, there was no need to overthink it.
‘Oh ho… Well, it could happen.’
Thinking this, she was about to put the underwear back where it had been wedged when there was a crash of breaking glass. Looking up, she saw Hahyun, who’d dropped the cup and was staring at her like he wanted to kill her, not even thinking about picking up the broken pieces.
“Hey, you…”
Hahyun rushed over and snatched the underwear from Eunji’s hand. Suddenly turned into a pervert who stole underwear, Eunji could only stare at Hahyun with her mouth hanging open.
“Fuck, why are you holding this? Haa… You should have left when I told you to. I fucking hate this.”
Then he stuffed the underwear he was holding into his pocket. This is when Eunji’s intuition kicked in.
‘If those underwear belonged to Hajin oppa’s boyfriend, he’d have no reason to act like that?’
Of course, it would be embarrassing if your fiancée discovered your gay brother’s boyfriend’s underwear, but that expression was more like…
‘It’s the expression of a gay man whose boyfriend’s underwear has been discovered.’
Eunji folded her arms and glared at Hahyun.
“Seo Hahyun, tell me straight. Whose underwear is that?”
As if he’d finally assessed the situation, Hahyun’s shoulders flinched.
“What does it matter whose it is? What are you going to do about it? I’ve told you several times. Our engagement is over. It was you who misunderstood by not listening.”
Eunji was about to throw something in the house as usual and call Seo Hajin to tell him it was a breach of contract and that he could forget about next year’s first-half show, but she hesitated.
It was because Hahyun’s demeanor was ominous. Having known each other since childhood through family connections, she’d seen Hahyun’s sudden outbursts many times and knew them well. Right now, Hahyun was on the verge of snapping.
Eunji replied calmly.
“Do you think an engagement made by contract can be broken just because one party changes their mind without the other party being at fault?”
Hahyun’s mouth shut tight. Seo Hahyun might seem crazy, but he had a surprisingly vulnerable side.
‘How cute. That’s why I can’t let him go… tsk tsk.’
Clicking her tongue inwardly, Eunji took a step toward Hahyun, and he stepped back.
“Fine, you might want to break off the engagement. But there’s a procedure for breaking engagements too, you immature young master. Especially for relationships bound by contract like ours.”
Hahyun hung his head like a criminal. Eunji inwardly mocked him.
‘You’re still far from being truly crazy.’
“The reason I came today is to arrange a meeting with our respective lawyers if you really want to break up.”
“T-that could have been done over the phone…”
At this point, Hahyun realized that he’d blocked all her contacts and had ignored all her messages, even changing his number repeatedly.
“I’m sorry.”
Eunji gradually approached Hahyun. Though he wasn’t backing away because he felt guilty, he still wanted to avoid her. Eunji wrapped her arms around Hahyun’s waist and rested her cheek against his chest.
“Yes, you should be sorry. You make women so miserable.”
Though he disliked Eunji clinging to him, Hahyun, having committed a sin, awkwardly waited for her to let go.
However, even after a long time, Eunji showed no intention of letting go. Unable to stand it anymore, Hahyun grabbed Eunji’s shoulders and said.
“So when shall we meet? It would be better to meet outside, I suppose?”
“Since we need to be accompanied by lawyers…”
Eunji tightened her arms around his waist, pulling him closer. Their bodies pressed together more.
“I understand. I’ll definitely keep the appointment once the time and date are set.”
“Good, Hahyun.”
“…”
Eunji just acknowledged his response but still didn’t let go. When Hahyun, reaching his limit, tried to forcibly pull her off, he heard a sound—”Hic hic…” Though Hahyun never cried in front of anyone other than Juwon, seeing a woman cry in front of him for the first time made him feel like crying along with her.
“Why, why are you crying?”
“…Hahyun, am I really not good enough for you?”
“…”
Eunji looked up. Her crying made it harder to reject her, but what wasn’t possible wasn’t possible.
‘What can I do when I can’t get it up for anyone but Yoon Juwon?’
Hahyun, frustrated with himself, had forcibly tried to meet other people and had even tried to get along well with Eunji since they were engaged. However, the more he tried to escape, the more his thirst for Yoon Juwon intensified.
“Sorry, you’re pretty, so you’ll meet a good man…”
As he tried somehow to comfort Eunji, before Hahyun could finish speaking, Eunji forcibly kissed him. Was it a mistake to let his guard down at her words about ending the contract? Because he never imagined Eunji would do something like this, he was caught completely defenseless.
Hahyun, momentarily frozen as he tried to figure out what had happened, belatedly realized his lips had been stolen and pushed her away.
