Chirp chirp—
Through the gap in the open window came the peaceful sound of crickets chirping.
“Hueeeeng—”
And Uyeon shed tears in rhythm with those cricket sounds. Even while secretly hoping his sobbing would be heard, he had his face buried deep in his pillow, worried his crying might leak out.
Mrs. Min immediately followed him upstairs and knocked on the door, but Uyeon said he wanted to be alone and locked the door tight.
Mrs. Min didn’t just knock on the door. She tried to communicate even from outside the door, somehow wanting to clear up Uyeon’s misunderstanding that wasn’t really a misunderstanding. However, there was no way that attempt could reach Uyeon, who was already absorbed in his own crying.
In the end, Mrs. Min lingered outside the door with her husband who had followed her up for about 10 minutes before giving up and going back downstairs to finish dinner. Of course, she didn’t forget to tell him to stop when he’d had enough and come down to eat dinner, whether Uyeon listened or not.
Mrs. Min had clearly and repeatedly said that if it was an uncomfortable situation, he didn’t have to go, but there was no way such words could reach Uyeon, who had already fallen into his own drama.
What will happen if I don’t go to this matchmaking meeting? Uyeon had already finished imagining all possible futures after assuming the worst-case scenario. Mom said I don’t have to go, but if I don’t go, the family…!
‘Yes, yes, Uyeon says he’ll meet them once… What? Tomorrow at 3 o’clock? Ah, yes. Then I’ll convey that.’
Uyeon crouched down beyond the door and eavesdropped on Mrs. Min’s phone call.
It seemed the matchmaking meeting was urgent. Even so, tomorrow at 3 o’clock! Before Mrs. Min even conveyed the news, Uyeon had already finished all manner of imaginings and started crying with his face buried in the bed.
Knock knock.
“Uyeon-ah, you heard, right? They want to meet tomorrow at 3 o’clock, and they’ll send a car by 2:30. It’s still not too late, so if you don’t want to go, say so anytime.”
Mrs. Min, who knew Uyeon’s personality, sighed. It wasn’t like she didn’t know Uyeon’s personality—she should have brought it up more carefully.
But regret, no matter how quick, is always too late.
Uyeon cried for a long while. For those entire 3 hours of crying, in his head, Be Strong, Golden Thread—which had already passed 70 episodes despite the ending still being far off—replayed from episode 1 to the latest episode, selecting only the juiciest parts. The juicy parts consisted entirely of provocative content.
He stamped his feet in grief and resentment. Am I being sold off like Geumsil too? Really?
“Huwaang—”
Waaah, tears burst out again and Uyeon buried his face even deeper into the pillow.
“Puha!”
Of course, he was suffocating, so he had to lift his head again before long.
Moonlight filled the room. It was already midnight. Not knowing his sorrow, the moonlight was only brilliantly beautiful. A soft halo sparkled like mist.
Uyeon raised only his upper body while still lying face down and looked at the full moon outside the window with a wistful expression.
“I’m still only twenty-one… I haven’t even been to a group date once…”
When he pitifully hung his head down, he saw the pillow stained with tear marks.
Two eye areas, and two round snot marks embedded in circles. And even saliva marks from his mouth.
To have to cry so miserably because of an alpha whose face he didn’t even know!
Uyeon couldn’t hide his grief at his own misfortune. Had he watched so many dramas that as punishment, something like a drama was happening to him?
It was something he’d secretly hoped for and dreamed of, but according to the common sense he’d learned from dramas, this was the timing when he should cry profusely like an innocent and pitiful protagonist, lamenting his situation. So Uyeon cried profusely.
Seeing the tear marks imprinted on the pillow, the sorrow that had barely subsided exploded again.
“Uwaaaang!”
Whether his crying was heard or not, what do I care!
Uyeon buried his face in the pillow again and began to wail at the top of his lungs. Of course, just before his face touched the pillow, he didn’t forget to carefully match his eyes, nose, and mouth again. Su Uyeon was a meticulous man, no matter what anyone said.
***
“Hey, Uyeon-ah. Are you going to sleep more? It’s already 10 o’clock. Mom’s going to work, so get up and eat breakfast.”
He didn’t answer Mrs. Min’s voice announcing 10 o’clock. Full of thoughts of selling me off while acting like a kind mother! Uyeon tried hard to think, “I deliberately didn’t answer because I was resentful and upset.” It absolutely wasn’t because he was sleeping in and couldn’t hear her, so he couldn’t answer.
“Uyeon-ah, it’s already 1 o’clock so Dad’s going to work too? Eat lunch properly and have a good time this afternoon.”
Uyeon didn’t answer President Su’s voice announcing 1 o’clock either. It was because he’d brought up the matchmaking meeting without knowing how troubled his heart was. To emphasize once more, it absolutely wasn’t because he was sleeping and didn’t hear President Su’s voice.
President Su and Mrs. Min often went to work even on Saturdays. Moreover, Saturday was the day the household helper auntie went home and came to work late in the afternoon.
“Hel… looo…”
Uyeon sluggishly picked up the phone ringing loudly with vibrations and brought it to his ear without even opening his eyes.
[What’s with you? Why does your voice sound like that?]
“……”
[Hey, Su Uyeon. Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping?]
“Who is this…?”
The person on the other end of the speaker was extremely frustrated and yelled.
[Who else! I’m the person who’s the younger brother of Gong Jiwook, who you’re supposed to be meeting right now!]
***
There was definitely a reason Uyeon woke up late. Uyeon wasn’t the kind of thoughtless person who would just randomly be late to appointments for no reason.
With his troubled mind, sleep wouldn’t come easily. Since sleep wasn’t coming anyway, it didn’t seem bad to prepare for tomorrow’s matchmaking meeting. Right now, Uyeon desperately needed what people commonly call image training. So Uyeon turned on the drama.
Now he could know what scene was in which episode even with his eyes closed. The scene where the two protagonists first meet at a matchmaking meeting arranged by their families was definitely around here. Uyeon focused on the phone screen glowing brightly in the darkness.
It was a drama he already knew, but that made it even more interesting. What he’d chosen happened to be one of his favorite dramas.
Uyeon unconsciously followed along with the male protagonist’s next line. Because it was a drama he’d replayed enough times to memorize it, not only the lines but even Uyeon’s intonation matched the actor’s intonation perfectly. It was a situation where the female protagonist in the drama was late because she got into a traffic accident on her way to the matchmaking meeting.
“You seem to have no concept of time.”
Even saying it himself, Uyeon was already frightened. It felt like the actor’s stiff expression and cold voice were being directed at him. Uyeon desperately hoped such a situation wouldn’t happen to him as he continued watching the drama.
He’d definitely intended to watch only the matchmaking scene, but the drama was too interesting. Sniffling and immersing himself in the characters, he ended up binge-watching the drama straight through and only managed to fall asleep long after the sun had risen.
And sure enough, Uyeon ended up being spectacularly late.
‘It’s 3:30 right now, you crazy bastard!’
Jiseok’s last voice that had come through the speaker before hanging up still echoed in his head.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’m Driver Kim, working under Division Head Gong. I’ll escort you comfortably to the location.”
As soon as Uyeon opened the back seat door, he apologized to Driver Kim, who was sitting in the driver’s seat waiting, and got in the car.
Driver Kim didn’t know Uyeon’s urgent heart and went on and on with his self-introduction. It was the usual greeting drivers gave, but there was no way it would enter Uyeon’s ears.
After fumbling twice, Uyeon finally fastened his seatbelt, looked forward, and only then gave a proper greeting.
“Hello, Driver-nim. I’m Su Uyeon.”
When watching dramas, chaebols sometimes spoke rudely to their drivers, but he was just someone whose family was doing only a tiny bit better than the dirt-poor protagonists in dramas—his fate of being sold off was the same. Perhaps his position in Jiwook’s household might be lower than Driver Kim’s.
When he should be groveling, and they’d even sent a car but he was late for the appointment. If he could, Uyeon wanted to bang his head against the window.
***
“Young master, is there anything you need?”
Driver Kim, who had been receiving Uyeon’s continuous glances, asked. Uyeon startled and pretended to look out the window.
Because he was late, he’d barely managed to wash his hair before coming out. If the car he was riding in right now were his own, if the person sitting in the front seat driving weren’t Driver Kim but Driver Yun, he could have at least combed his hair and massaged his puffy swollen face diligently.
Uyeon, who was extremely shy around strangers, had been sitting at attention without even being able to put his hands on his face, busy reading Driver Kim’s mood, to the point where his whole body was about to cramp up.
“No. I’m fine.”
Pretending to be nonchalant, he pointlessly examined the car interior carefully once and even cast his gaze at the trees passing by outside the window.
He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but it seemed like Driver Kim was looking at him and laughing. He already felt distant from chaebols because of the overly formal chauffeur, and now that driver was even laughing at his actions, so Uyeon’s face turned red.
Of course, if Driver Kim had known what Uyeon was thinking, he would have jumped up in injustice.
Driver Kim had treated him respectfully because he couldn’t speak informally in front of a young master he was escorting for the first time, and while it was true he smiled, it was only because the grandson-aged young master who was reading the room in an unfamiliar situation looked cute, like a little rabbit.
After hesitating for a long while, Uyeon added something. It was a random thing to say, but he felt like he couldn’t bear it without venting this grief of his to someone. Like the drama he’d watched at dawn, he was scared the alpha he’d meet today might say sharp words to him for being late to their appointment, but the bigger problem lay elsewhere.
“Driver-nim, you know.”
Uyeon said blankly while looking at something far away outside the window. The expression reflected in the window was already one that had lost the world.
“Yes, please speak.”
“I’m being sold off today…”
Driver Kim didn’t know how to react and quickly turned his gaze straight ahead, pretending to be busy driving.
