Chapter 64
Looking into Jeon Hyesu, I found she was the daughter of a formidable family. That made it even more suspicious.
Could a scandal between top stars and children of prominent families break so suddenly? If this had been decided beforehand… what was I to him? Was I, as he said, just an object of love-hate that he never truly loved?
All sorts of thoughts appeared and disappeared in my mind.
Hajin was the type of person who imprisoned me, obsessed over me, and then brazenly claimed he’d never once said he loved me. So dating someone else or two-timing would be nothing to him.
My heart raced wildly and my breathing became rapid.
“No, no matter how much of a bastard Seo Hajin is, that can’t be right.”
I deliberately said it out loud. But the more I protested, the stronger the doubt grew in a corner of my heart: ‘If Hajin really is dating someone else, what will happen to me?’
He constantly told me I was cute, that he was glad I’d become nicer, that I shouldn’t think about getting away from him. Someone like that wouldn’t change suddenly.
I must have misunderstood. I should stop worrying and just ask him. That would be better. This was my conclusion.
I called him. But all I got was a voice saying the phone was turned off.
Just then, the intercom started ringing.
My heart sank even more than when I’d answered the phone earlier. As I carefully approached the intercom, holding my breath, I saw it was Choi Eunji who had come without notice.
“Haah…”
Though it was a relief it wasn’t the police or Secretary Kim, Eunji was just as uncomfortable a visitor.
What’s with Seo Hahyun? I thought he said he’d finished sorting out the paperwork…
My head felt like it was about to explode with Hajin’s scandal already making me upset, and now Hahyun’s fiancée visiting on top of that.
Choi Eunji, without any shame, shouted loudly for Seo Hahyun to come out before finally leaving.
***
About an hour later, the brothers came home together.
Feeling disappointed, I just gave them a brief greeting before going upstairs.
In my previous relationships, girlfriends would get upset over small things, but I’d never done it myself… I didn’t like how increasingly childish I was becoming.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door. Without checking, I knew it was Hajin. I thought Hahyun would come first, so it was a bit unexpected.
“I’m coming in.”
“Do as you please.”
The door opened, and Hajin entered the room. His appearance was very tired, which softened my heart, but my feelings of disappointment remained.
Hajin, who had been looking at me intently, pressed down on my shoulders to make me sit on the bed, while he sat on the floor. Then he rested his arms on my knees and looked into my eyes.
“Are you angry because I came late? I tried to come right away, but I had a lot of work. I had to look after Hahyun. There were things we needed to prepare for in advance.”
He explained his lateness in a gentle tone, but it only made me feel worse.
Looking at Hajin with his usual expression and voice, I found it increasingly difficult to speak. Even as Hajin kept turning his face to follow my eyes when I avoided his gaze, the words wouldn’t come out.
“What’s wrong? Our Juwon… Were you very scared today?”
Hajin’s shameless attitude made me furious. So I stood up abruptly. Hajin’s arms, which had been resting on my knees, were pushed away.
“Seo Hajin-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?”
I swallowed dryly, hoping he would tell me it wasn’t true, that it was just a rumor.
“An idiot? What’s with that all of a sudden?”
Hajin asked, tilting his head. His expression suggested he didn’t know anything.
“I hear you’re dating Jeon Hyesu-ssi.”
As soon as I brought up the main point, Hajin’s expression hardened. Surely he didn’t not know about his own scandal? If that were the case, his behavior would make sense…
“Oh… Hajin-ssi didn’t know either! No wonder, I thought it was a ridiculous scandal. I was being oversensitive about something even you didn’t know about.”
I muttered to myself as he didn’t answer immediately. I wished he would quickly say it wasn’t true, but Hajin silently got up and leaned against the sofa. His rigid face crumpled with irritation.
Did I make a mistake? Is he angry because I believed such a ridiculous scandal was real? That could be it. Still, I had to ask.
“I’m sorry if I misunderstood, but I’d appreciate an answer.”
“I released that article.”
Hajin said it so casually that I almost mistook it for him saying he didn’t know about the scandal.
“…”
Not knowing what to say, I looked at Hajin as if seeing a stranger. He didn’t avoid my eyes. Then he tried to change the subject matter-of-factly.
“About the building. As you said, I’ve decided not to sell it. So I was busy today… Sorry I came late. Were you very anxious?”
“…?”
Is he a psychopath with no empathy? Or does he just think of me as a side piece? Otherwise, he wouldn’t talk as if his relationship had nothing to do with me.
“No… how could, Hajin-ssi…”
Why had I never once doubted Hajin’s feelings until now? Why had I never considered that his obsession and attempts to impress me might be something other than affection?
As my voice trailed off, Hajin said, “What? What’s the problem?”
“…”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to say you’ve given your heart only to me?”
My clenched fists began to tremble. Bringing up Hahyun at this moment was despicable. I might be selfish, but at least I didn’t hide that I had similar feelings for Hahyun too.
“Tell me. Are you sincere only to me?”
Hajin urged me to answer with a cold expression and tone. Such an attitude wasn’t how one treats a lover who spent the day in anxiety.
If we were a normal couple, I would have turned around and said I never wanted to see him again, but even if I got angry today, it wasn’t like I could avoid seeing him tomorrow. So it would be appropriate to just say, “Oh, I see. I was out of line,” and comply with him.
But having just realized my true feelings for him, I couldn’t act as before. It hurt that “pretending to like” had changed to “pretending not to care much,” but there was nothing I could do about it.
I turned around and left the room. I slammed the door hard enough to make a loud bang. I thought he would forcibly take me since it was his turn today, but he didn’t follow me out.
***
Left alone in Juwon’s room, the corners of Hajin’s mouth were raised high. He was clenching his fist so hard that his nails were digging into his palm, trying to hold back from hugging and comforting Juwon, thinking he was so cute he could die, and wondering how Juwon kept getting prettier.
As soon as Hajin got home, he instinctively knew that Juwon had found out about the scandal when he saw him turn around with his feathers ruffled and go to his room.
When he pretended not to know and entered the room asking what was wrong, Juwon’s reaction was so pleasing that he wanted to record it on video and cherish it forever.
The muscles of his lips twitching as if he had something to say, the hurt look in his eyes, and his trembling shoulders… When he recalled the awkward smile Juwon had given while asking if he didn’t know about the scandal, it felt like all his years of unrequited love were being compensated for at once.
The mention of Hahyun at the end, saying “you don’t only look at me either,” was a bit petty even to himself, but Juwon gave the perfect reaction, slamming the door with an expression that looked like he might cry at any moment.
Trying to look cool in front of the adorable Yoon Juwon was just a luxury.
Now that the one who had been pretending to like him finally revealed his true feelings, Hajin feared nothing.
***
“Hmm? Hyung? Why, why are you crying? Wow… I can’t even cry because it’s such a waste—who made you cry? Who?”
“Who said I was crying? I’m not.”
“What do you mean you’re not? Tears are streaming down…”
Hahyun grabbed my cheeks firmly and examined me from different angles. I was embarrassed to show him my crying face, so I avoided his gaze in all directions.
“I said I’m not!”
I shook off Hahyun’s hands and snapped at him. Hahyun, his mind apparently on something else, muttered something strange to himself.
“Fuck, we should have cut off the internet earlier…!”
Hahyun’s words sounded like he knew why I was crying. Did he guess that I was crying because I’d seen the scandal online?
But Hahyun’s next words were completely different from what I expected.
“Using the internet and unnecessarily meeting other people… isn’t that what this is about?”
What is this now…
It was a statement so bewildering that it made my tears stop.
