And now, this situation. Like someone caught cheating, Kim Yu-shin had become a startled rabbit, eyes wide. Even though his face was being roughly wiped, he just kept his hands down and blinked.
Jun-wan threw the crumpled napkin carelessly. It wasn’t behavior befitting a man who valued courtesy.
“Jun-wan… what’s wrong with you?”
Yu-shin’s expression said he didn’t understand. That innocent face made him want to explode. Instead of raising his voice, Jun-wan stood behind Yu-shin and pressed down firmly on his shoulders.
“Later… let’s talk at home.”
“Uh, wait. Since you’re here, say hi to hyung before you go.”
Yu-shin grabbed Jun-wan’s collar.
There’s a limit to rubbing salt in the wound. At the outrage of introducing the unfamiliar man he’d been dining with so affectionately, more affectionately than anyone else in the world, Jun-wan’s eyes turned fierce.
“Kim Yu-shin, let’s be reasonable.”
“You don’t know Hyun-woo hyung?”
“Should I know him?”
“He’s our brother-in-law.”
Song Hyun-woo took this opportunity to offer a handshake. With an amiable smile to boot.
“I heard a lot about you from Sara. It’s even nicer to meet you here. Brother-in-law.”
Brother-in-law.
…Brother-in-law.
Forms of address that didn’t deviate even an inch from family flowed into Jun-wan’s ears one after another. Ah, fuck. What kind of fucking situation is this?
Unfortunately, Song Hyun-woo’s overseas conference schedule had overlapped, so he couldn’t attend the wedding. Therefore, Jun-wan had also only heard about him and this was the first time seeing his face.
Jun-wan barely swallowed the curse that almost burst from his lips. His deflated frontal lobe was covered with something like shame. Fortunately, before that could be noticed, he crafted a calm expression as always. He extended his right hand and grasped the offered hand.
“I’m sorry for not recognizing you. I’m Park Jun-wan.”
“That can happen. Haha, haha….”
The gradually dying laughter made the atmosphere uncontrollably awkward. Yu-shin looked up at Jun-wan while twisting his upper body crookedly.
Above his neatly arranged collar, Jun-wan’s flushed nape was visible. Yu-shin, witnessing Jun-wan’s flustered state for the first time, also found his mouth going dry. He opened his mouth carefully.
“…Who did you come with, Jun-wan?”
“I came with the professors.”
“Ah, then I should also say hello…”
Yu-shin pulled his legs out from under the table. As he hurried to stand, Jun-wan pressed down on his shoulder, making him sit back down.
“It’s fine. You seem to have been drinking, and meeting them now doesn’t seem like it would benefit Kim Yu-shin’s image. Just finish your meal.”
Put that way, there was even less to say. Park Jun-wan speaking in a curt tone was the same as always, and his reddened nape had already returned to its original state.
Jun-wan turned around emptily and headed back to his seat. Song Hyun-woo, who’d been frozen in bewilderment, plopped down in his chair. He sighed while watching Park Jun-wan’s retreating back as he strode steadily on his way.
“Wow… just as I heard.”
“What?”
“Polite bastard. I wondered what Kim Sara was talking about, but now that I’ve met him, I get it.”
At the devastating assessment, Yu-shin’s mouth fell open. Why does it hurt my feelings when he badmouths Park Jun-wan?
“He didn’t make any mistakes. He just didn’t recognize you, but he was good to hyung, so why are you like that?”
“Not to me, to you. Didn’t you hear what he just said? He subtly criticized you.”
“That’s… there are circumstances.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say they’d fought in the morning.
Yu-shin brought over the remaining champagne and drank it like water to erase his embarrassed feelings. Park Jun-wan’s stiff expression and the earlier refusal of introductions floated around in his head like afterimages. I want to resolve things as positively as possible, but he still seems to have lingering resentment from this morning. The tone that had felt colder than usual kept bothering him.
“Sorry, let me drink one more glass.”
Yu-shin finally reached for the champagne bottle. Perhaps because of his dejected expression, even his attending physician Song Hyun-woo couldn’t stop him this time.
His body kept leaning forward. His vision swayed and all objects split into two. He shouldn’t have drunk that last glass. The alcohol he’d had after so long turned Yu-shin into a drunk.
Song Hyun-woo sat him on a bench and looked around. They’d arranged to meet a designated driver in front of the hotel, but the driver didn’t appear even after time passed.
“Yu-shin, are you okay? Don’t you feel like throwing up?”
“…Hyung. Get me some water.”
“Yeah, yeah, sit here for a bit. Don’t go anywhere. Got it?”
At the coaxing words like he was dealing with a child, Yu-shin waved his hand instead of answering. Song Hyun-woo hurriedly ran into the hotel entrance. It was to buy something from the lounge.
Left alone, Yu-shin bent at the waist and covered his face with both hands. To get drunk on just champagne.
It seemed he’d been okay until they came out after paying. Right? He remembered squabbling with Hyun-woo hyung about who would pay. After that, he came out being supported. He didn’t even say goodbye to Park Jun-wan. That was certain.
Yu-shin rubbed his flushed cheeks with his palms. Getting drunk made the sad feelings surge. It seems my relationship with Park Jun-wan has grown more distant as of today. Even when I try to do well, situations just go awry and don’t help me at all.
Visitors’ vehicles were lined up at the hotel’s porte-cochère. Well-dressed guests also constantly came and went through the revolving door. In the bright midday sunlight, he was the only one sprawled drunk.
He knew many eyes were watching. He wanted to sit properly, but his waist bent on its own accord. At this rate, he’d end up lying down completely, so Yu-shin propped up his forehead forcefully with his fingertips. All his drowsy eyes captured was the gray-white stone pavement.
Just then, pitch-black shoes invaded the stone pavement. Thinking it was Hyun-woo hyung, Yu-shin slowly raised his head. The neatly pressed suit pants extended endlessly upward.
Hyun-woo hyung’s legs can’t be this long.
Above the wrist thrust into the pants pocket, a familiar wristwatch was visible. The waistline of the man with his jacket buttons undone was solid.
Yu-shin’s gaze gradually moved upward. Above the perfectly tied necktie knot was an icy face.
“…Why are you glaring again?”
Yu-shin made the most pitiful expression in the world. He questioned not why Park Jun-wan was standing in front of him, but why he was looking at him so fiercely.
Without responding, Jun-wan lowered his eyes. His eye shape was long and almond-shaped. Perhaps because of his light double eyelids, the aloof feeling was strong. When he deliberately glared with such eyes, one couldn’t help but become tense.
But drunk people have bodies soft like mollusks. Yu-shin barely straightened his drooping waist. His head fell back weakly from looking up at the tall man.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Jun-wan has a weird personality.”
“What did you say?”
“You always scold only me… Even when I’m good to you, you never say thank you.”
Yu-shin let out the words he’d been holding inside, borrowing the drunkenness. Jun-wan listened with an upright posture. His face said he’d see just how far this would go.
“I don’t know how pathetic you think I am… but I don’t like you either.”
“Ah, really?”
“Acting like you’re the only smart one. Always trying to teach me.”
“……”
“Is buying you clothes such an objectionable thing? If you don’t want to wear them, just don’t wear them. Why disregard someone’s sincerity and rebuke them?”
Yu-shin spewed out what he wanted to say to his heart’s content.
“Not letting me greet them is also ridiculous. Am I your flaw? Are you embarrassed? You’re the only person who treats me carelessly. Do you even know that?”
“Just how much did you drink?”
His face that had been dizzyingly high came down to meet Yu-shin’s eye level. Jun-wan, with one knee on the ground, carefully examined Yu-shin’s condition.
Yu-shin’s cheeks and around his eyes were all reddish. Through his parted lips flowed short breaths. It was absurd that he was sprawled alone on a bench in this state.
“Don’t drink anywhere.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Drink some water, you drunkard.”
Jun-wan opened the bottled water he’d brought and held it to Yu-shin’s lips. Perhaps because he was thirsty, Yu-shin obediently accepted and drank the water. Most of it spilled because of his bobbing head. Jun-wan cupped his chin to make him drink the water and also carefully wiped the moisture around his mouth.
The surrounding gazes were blatant. People coming and going through the lobby stopped completely to watch the two, and even the doorman who should be attending to guests openly stared, neglecting his duties.
I don’t care how others see it. Jun-wan’s head was only filled with concerns about how to handle the drunk in front of him. He stared intently at Yu-shin with cold eyes.
