# Chapter 23
“No. I’m not going! Who are you to tell me, Secretary Han?”
“Young Master, it’s late. You need to go home.”
“Why did you suddenly appear….”
The sight of Jaehyun from behind earlier was pathetic in itself. He still hadn’t come to his senses and was giving Woojin resentful glances.
What would have happened if he hadn’t come today? It’s not like Jaehyun was an abandoned child.
‘I should have just left him.’
Woojin was utterly exasperated by Jaehyun’s disgraceful behavior.
“Young Master, let me support you.”
“I said no! Olivia left because of you. Han Woojin, you take responsibility!”
So that damn woman’s name was Olivia. Not that it would be her real name anyway.
Jaehyun suddenly grabbed his arm and thrust his face close. Even calling Woojin by his name, which he had never done before.
“Do you know what kind of person that woman is? How could you follow her so easily without any suspicion? Do you know what she was doing earlier? She was putting an unidentified white powder into your drink.”
“Tch… No way! What would Secretary Han know!”
An unexpected argument broke out. Woojin, judging that Jaehyun had completely lost his mind due to alcohol, spoke to him directly. It was behavior he wouldn’t dare attempt normally.
Woojin could speak so bluntly partly because Jaehyun’s current state appeared utterly pathetic. Whining and throwing a tantrum like an unpleasant seven-year-old.
“Young Master, as you know, there are guns in America, and it’s really dangerous to wander alone this late at night. If you had followed that woman, something terrible could have happened.”
“Ah, I can’t hear you! That’s not possible… No… way…”
After grumbling, he suddenly banged his head on the table and passed out. What a fate, having to coax a grown man like a kindergartner.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Woojin hoisted Jaehyun onto his back, wondering for what purpose he had to do such things, feeling the futility of it all.
‘This crazy guy is now giving me trouble in a different way.’
What would have happened if he had arrived even a little later and this immature man had followed the woman?
Of course, whether this guy got shot or died wasn’t his business, but stray thoughts crossed his mind about why he had to be carrying this guy on his back at this ungodly hour.
“Young Master, I’ll help you into the car.”
After placing the unconscious Jaehyun in the passenger seat, Woojin sat in the driver’s seat and started the engine. As the engine sound was heard, suddenly the guy opened his eyes wide and spoke.
“What? Where am I? Where are we going?”
He suddenly became a question mark murderer. He smiled cheerfully and spoke to Woojin as if he couldn’t even remember the commotion at the bar earlier.
This bastard’s film hadn’t just been cut—it had been completely destroyed. Woojin wanted to smack him on the head and knock him out for his bizarre behavior, switching back and forth like this, but of course he couldn’t.
“Young Master, we’re going home.”
Woojin answered calmly, suppressing his irritation.
“Wow~ So we’re going home. Did you come to pick me up? You study well, cook well. And you have a pretty face too. What can’t you do?”
The crazy guy was grinning and saying all sorts of nonsense. Did he even know what embarrassing words he was spewing out? Could he possibly be mistaking Woojin for that damned woman he met earlier? Woojin decided to ignore Jaehyun’s words.
“Secretary Han, when someone speaks to you, you should answer!”
When Woojin kept ignoring him, Jaehyun glared with wide eyes and urged a response. His expression was so ridiculous it was almost a shame to be the only one seeing it.
‘Has this guy finally lost his mind?’
“Young Master, you seem very drunk. I’ll take you home as quickly as possible.”
“I’m not drunk!”
“Yes, Young Master. I’m sorry.”
A chatterbox ghost must have possessed this guy. Despite Woojin’s indifferent response, Jaehyun started talking non-stop like a broken dam.
“But… I have something to say. Thanks to Secretary Han, the group project ended well, right?”
He was smiling brightly over just one group project. Was completing a group project such a big deal?
“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”
“Right? I was drinking because I felt good. You’re really capable. Last time, you figured out the front door password so quickly… Do you know how surprised I was?”
‘…?’
Even considering his shattered memory, the man before him didn’t seem like the Jaehyun that Woojin knew. The behavior he was showing now was merely that of an ordinary male college student.
A college student who studies hard when it’s time to study and plays hard when it’s time to play. Of course, Woojin knew very well that Jaehyun had changed drastically, but his drunken state was even more strange.
Woojin thought this might be his chance. He threw a direct question at Jaehyun.
“Young Master, why did you suddenly change?”
“…Do you want to know?”
After a moment of silence, he suddenly lowered his voice. The noisy atmosphere instantly changed to serious and heavy.
“Yes, Young Master. I would like to know.”
“…Heh, it’s a secret! Gotcha!”
He answered as if teasing Woojin and then started laughing out loud by himself.
‘Shit, what did I expect?’
“Secretary Han, but do I seem that strange? I don’t think I’m strange…”
After laughing loudly, he suddenly put on a gloomy expression and asked if he seemed strange. He was putting on a one-man drama.
What was Woojin expecting from dealing with a drunk person? He felt self-disgust.
“You’re not strange, Young Master.”
“Right? I thought so. Hehe…”
* * *
“Young Master, we’ve arrived home.”
Before he knew it, they had arrived at the house after enduring the irritating drunken antics. When Woojin opened the passenger door to get him out, Jaehyun was completely unconscious, unable to even hold his body upright. Eventually, trouble broke out in the middle of the night.
While trying to get him out of the car, Jaehyun lost his footing and they both tumbled to the ground. Onto the asphalt. The comical situation occurred where Cha Jaehyun fell on top of Woojin’s body.
Due to the sudden accident, Woojin’s bangs were pushed back, clearly revealing the scar on his forehead.
“A scar on your handsome face. How did that happen?”
The guy on top of him wasn’t thinking about getting up quickly, but instead clung to Woojin’s body and suddenly started touching his forehead. This hideous scar was caused by this bastard. He wasn’t just mocking him.
“It’s because of you, Young Master.”
Since Jaehyun would forget everything by tomorrow anyway with his memory blackout, Woojin shot back refreshingly without thinking of the consequences.
“What? I did that? …I’m sorry.”
Upon hearing those three words, “I’m sorry,” Woojin felt as if his head had been hit with a hammer, leaving him dazed.
“Forgive me. What can I do to make you feel better?”
With a troubled expression, he kept touching Woojin’s forehead while clinging to him.
Cha Jaehyun. He had left an indelible scar not only on Woojin’s face but also in his heart. That bastard was now clinging to Woojin, repeatedly saying “sorry.”
It was clearly a situation where anger should boil up. How could he just repeatedly say sorry after leaving such a scar in someone’s life? But something was strange. Not a trace of anger arose in Woojin’s heart.
Why am I not angry? Is my emotion broken? Woojin was confused by his own lack of anger.
The guy grinning and clinging to him right in front. A great whirlwind stirred in Woojin’s heart. What was this emotion? Disgust? Doubt? Emptiness? It was none of these.
“Hmm? I’m really sorry, forgive me. What should I do to make it up to you?”
Whether he knew Woojin’s feelings or not, he kept repeating the same words over and over. With a voice as smooth as if coated with honey. But Woojin could no longer hear Jaehyun’s words, due to the unfamiliar emotion that had rushed in without any warning.
“Why aren’t you answering? Secretary Han, please answer me…”
Suddenly, as if he’d never fallen, Cha Jaehyun stood up perfectly fine. And then he blocked Woojin’s path.
“I won’t move until you answer!”
Woojin stared into Jaehyun’s eyes. Whether he was drunk or not no longer mattered. What was this guy’s intention? Such a cunning guy.
“I’m serious. I really won’t move!”
There it was again. The childish behavior. When Woojin continued to stare at him without speaking, Jaehyun whined, demanding an answer.
“Haah… Young Master. Then please eat breakfast starting tomorrow.”
Thinking they might not get into the house until sunrise at this rate, Woojin blurted out something he didn’t even mean. Even as the words left his mouth, he thought it was nonsense.
Here was the guy who had left such a scar on his forehead, shamelessly asking for forgiveness with an incredibly flippant attitude, and Woojin responded by telling him to eat breakfast?
“Just breakfast? Say something that makes sense.”
The crazy guy in front of him suddenly gave a normal response. This guy, was he really drunk? Everything was confusing, not knowing how much was an act.
“Yes, please eat your meals.”
Woojin answered in a spirit of resignation, giving up on thinking.
“Secretary Han, will you regret this later? Think carefully.”
Jaehyun flashed the same eye-smile at Woojin that he had given that clueless woman earlier. His sharp eyes, normally expressionless, instantly curved into beautiful half-moons.
“There’s really nothing else. Please just eat your breakfast.”
“Then it’s a deal! No taking it back later. Breakfast is nothing. I could eat 100 bowls a day!”
Jaehyun answered triumphantly, as if satisfied with Woojin’s response. Woojin wanted to go inside. He was tired of this pathetic conversation about food.
“Yes, Young Master. It’s a promise. From tomorrow, you must eat.”
“Of course! Secretary Han, you’re an easy man after all…”
The guy who had been standing perfectly on two legs lost consciousness again after his final words. Leaning his body against Woojin. It was an exasperating day in many ways.
“Hah… what a lunatic.”
In the end, Woojin carried the unconscious Jaehyun up the stairs. As Woojin had thought, he wasn’t very heavy, so climbing wasn’t difficult.
As soon as Woojin entered Jaehyun’s room, he roughly threw him onto the bed like a sack of luggage.
“Hehe…”
Whether he knew he had been thrown or not, as soon as he hit the bed, he smiled broadly at Woojin and then fell asleep.
Thump-
Suddenly, Woojin’s heart rate increased rapidly. Had he become angry at this guy’s outrageous behavior without realizing it? Woojin had no idea why his heart was suddenly pounding so wildly.
