* * *
Hajin hadn’t returned from the police station yet, and even Hahyun didn’t come back until after 2 AM. I forcibly pulled Hahyun, who hadn’t even changed his clothes yet, to sit on the sofa. Though exhaustion was evident on his face, I had to ask questions.
“Seo Hahyun, explain. You said you’d help your hyung, so why did you do that?”
“I don’t know either.”
“…What? If you don’t know, who would?”
“Hyung, I had a really tough day today. That’s why I told you we should run away together. Why didn’t you listen to me and make things so difficult for me?”
That wasn’t the important thing right now…
As always, Hahyun ignored my question and, lost in his own thoughts, started saying things I wasn’t curious about.
“What are we going to do now? I’ve become the CEO. This happened because you said you liked capable people. They said I’ll be extremely busy from tomorrow… We won’t have time to be together…”
“Seo Hahyun, enough! Stop it!”
Unable to endure his childish talk, I shouted. Hahyun stared at me with wide eyes. Then, he yelled back even louder.
“Hyung, are you only worried about Hajin hyung? I’ve been forced into a job I didn’t even want, but you’re not concerned about me? That’s really unfair.”
“Ha… Hahyun-ah, at least you’re not the one taken by the police right now. It’s natural to be worried when Hajin-ssi isn’t reachable and we don’t know what’s happening to him. I told you, I like both—”
“Fuck!”
“…”
I closed my mouth at the sign of his outburst. Right, what’s the point of talking to him? Half giving up, I patted the back of Hahyun’s hand as he fumed.
“Alright. You had a hard day too, and I was too focused on Hajin-ssi, so I understand why you’d feel that way. But you know, I thought you’d grown up a bit today.”
The hand I was holding flinched. His gaze, which had been fixed straight ahead in anger, turned to me.
“Grown up?”
Since he was being unreasonable, I didn’t answer his question and just continued with what I wanted to say.
“Since Hajin-ssi was taken by the police, I thought you, having matured, would naturally be more concerned about that. No, I thought you’d tell me that news first, considering how worried I’d be. Because you were so grown-up today.”
“No. I mean, what do you mean I suddenly grew up? Why do you keep changing the subject?”
He seemed frustrated that I was doing what he usually did.
“Sigh… I get it, everyone naturally prioritizes their own affairs. I understand. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I’ll just worry by myself.”
Swallowing my laughter inside, I stood up as slowly as possible. Then Hahyun embraced me from behind. His rough, excited breathing tickled my ear.
“Is this about the listening device I placed earlier? Did you like that?”
I wanted to quickly ask about Hajin, but first I had to soothe this child.
“Yeah.”
“Do you like me?”
“Yeah.”
“Even though I just acted like a child?”
“Well, you had a tough day too. But you came to your senses and calmed down in the middle of it all.”
“Then tell me you worried about me too.”
I met Hahyun’s eyes as I tried to detach him, as he clung to me like a leech.
“It’s so obvious I didn’t even mention it. How could I not worry about you? What do you take me for…?”
“Hyung, I love you. I really love you. I’m serious.”
This was truly maddening. Even though I held back what I wanted to say and tried to comfort him, the conversation wasn’t progressing. As I was just clutching my chest in frustration, Hahyun blurted out something absurd.
“Haah… I thought about you the whole time during today’s meeting. Did you think of me too?”
“Hahyun-ah… please.”
“I guess not. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve made a decision.”
Suddenly saying he’d made some decision. Frowning with anxiety, he cupped my face with both hands and said:
“No matter what you say, I need to run away tonight. I need to go and live with just you and me.”
“No, Hahyun-ah…”
It felt like my mind went blank.
“You’ll hate me for being a loser, right?”
“You know that well. Of course I would hate it.”
“But there’s no choice. Right now, the situation has become really strangely tangled. Even if I try to grasp what’s happening through intuition, I can’t figure it out. Hyung, should I tell you something truly shocking?”
Finally, the topic shifted to the company situation. I nodded earnestly.
“The evidence I submitted today? Hajin hyung gave it to me. He gave it to me and told me to submit it to the board meeting. So, I’m pretty sure the fox’s instinct has awakened.”
I gaped in shock. I couldn’t believe that Hajin had personally given Hahyun evidence that was disadvantageous to himself. Moreover…
“Fox instinct?”
Hahyun tapped his chest as if I was being dense.
“Geez. Have you experienced so much with Hajin hyung and still don’t know? He’s a completely cunning fox, like I’ve told you before. He enjoys setting up plans and having people follow them. He’s the kind of person who needs to predict and control every little thing to be satisfied. I’m sure he did this to buy time so he could have your heart all to himself.”
My mind began racing quickly. Did this mean that even Hajin being taken by the police today was all part of a plan? Would Seo Hajin make such a risky move as getting arrested by the police just to win my heart?
“So… if we don’t want to be eaten by the fox, our only option is to run away quickly. What if we stay here and he eats our liver whole?”
Hahyun shuddered as if the mere thought was horrifying. Until just a moment ago, I was too worried about Hajin to do anything, but after hearing Hahyun’s words, I was starting to get scared too.
But on the other hand, knowing that Secretary Kim was planning to frame him for murder, it seemed unlikely that Hajin would deliberately involve the police in such a reckless manner. Hajin wasn’t someone who would act so recklessly without thinking ahead.
“Hyung, you’re thinking Hajin hyung wouldn’t do such a thing, right?”
Startled, I stared at Hahyun with wide eyes. The corners of his eyes were turning red. He was on the verge of tears.
“I knew it. You always only trust Hajin hyung. You never believe what I say, but you trust Hajin hyung even when there’s evidence against him… It’s really upsetting.”
“No, but running away now would be too dangerous. Let’s think positively. Anyway, it’s Hajin-ssi who’s been taken by the police now and…”
Having said this much, I couldn’t bring myself to continue and paused.
“How can I think positively when we won’t even have time to meet? You need to say things that make sense.”
“That… Well! At least we can be alone at night until Hajin-ssi gets out.”
I really didn’t want to say this, but I had no choice if I didn’t want to be kidnapped by Hahyun. However, there was no reaction from him. Thinking that he wouldn’t fall for such words, I turned my head and found Hahyun staring at me intently, frozen like a statue.
“Hahyun-ah?”
When I called his name, Hahyun, with a changed gleam in his eyes, began to kiss me fiercely. From the start, his rough kisses came at me as if he would devour my entire mouth. I tried to push his shoulders away, but he caught my wrists.
“Aack!”
When I came to my senses, I was already being carried to the second floor by Hahyun.
“I wanted to do it in the living room, but I know you don’t like that.”
“…No, Hahyun-ah, first calm down and let’s clean up.”
“I’m in a hurry…”
“It’s dawn, so I don’t think he’ll be back today. So we could take our time to clean up and then…”
Hahyun, who had been standing still while holding me, entered the bathroom. He put me down on the bathroom floor, then began to tear off my clothes as if ripping them apart. He was pressing forward with such momentum that it seemed pointless to tell him to calm down.
“Hnng… It’s, it’s cold.”
“I’ve turned on the water, so it’ll warm up soon.”
Hahyun sat me on the sink. Then he started kissing various parts of my body again. Despite the discomfort in the corner of my mind due to worry about Hajin, the soles of my feet tingled.
This wasn’t the time. While someone might be trembling with anxiety in a cold cell right now… I hated myself for responding to Hahyun’s touch even in these circumstances.
* * *
“Let’s, let’s clean up first and then… okay?”
Hahyun seemed not to hear my words. Every time he bit my body, a sound like “Ugh!” involuntarily escaped my lips. Even though my muscles were relaxing in the hot water, the sensation where Hahyun’s hands and lips touched was becoming increasingly vivid.
“Hnng… ah, stop it!”
Just as I was about to push Hahyun’s shoulders away with my feet because I couldn’t stand it anymore, he caught my ankle.
With my ankle in his grip, I stopped all resistance and gazed at him blankly as he looked up at me. Water streams soaking his hair slid down his face, chin, and along the contours of his collarbone and chest.
“Haah…”
As he exhaled, his broad chest heaved greatly. It felt as if the sound of his rapidly beating heart would reach my ears.
Hahyun, staring at me with deeply sunken eyes, bit my ankle firmly while still holding it. My body trembled, and my lower abdomen began to tingle. After repeating the same action several times, he suddenly changed his posture, embraced me tightly, and whispered lowly.
“Hyung.”
“What?”
“I can’t make it to the bedroom. Let’s do it now, and once more in the bedroom.”
He was so serious that I thought he was going to say something significant. Well, it was significant—a declaration that I might die today. I could only nod in resignation.
“Yoon Juwon.”
Hahyun called my name as he pressed his body against mine. As I moved my body slightly backward in response to the hot heat touching my skin, Hahyun grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him. In the blink of an eye, I felt something heavy in my hand.
“…!”
“Touch me.”
Then he brought his lips to mine, tilting my head back. Water droplets splashed here and there, quickly wetting various parts of my body.
