The wedding was over and all that remained was dessert. After throwing everything up, his appetite had disappeared too. As he turned off the faucet and straightened up, someone approached Hui-myeong.
An uneasy feeling. The moment he raised his head thinking ‘Surely the groom wouldn’t come in here,’ Hui-myeong breathed a sigh of relief.
It was Do-ha’s friend Kang Yeong-mu. He wasn’t in the group of friends earlier, so it seemed he’d arrived late.
“It was Yeong-mu…”
Hui-myeong muttered as if to himself.
“You’re really pitiful. Did you want to chase him all the way here?”
He looked down at Hui-myeong with folded arms and a pathetic expression. Perhaps because he was wearing a neat suit, he too looked as dashing as any chaebol heir. With his social mask on, he was certainly far removed from his debauched appearance inside Mad Hat.
“I should bless him. He’s someone I ‘love.'”
“Love, my ass.”
Kang Yeong-mu sneered at the word ‘love.’ Well, even he thought it was a funny expression.
“Where’s Do-ha going for his honeymoon?”
“Maldives.”
“For a week?”
“Yeah.”
The interrogative tone was unpleasant for no reason. He could easily ask the person directly that level of question, so he didn’t know why he was asking him.
When the dizziness got a bit better, Hui-myeong looked for timing to leave. Knowing full well how filthily the Mad Hat members played and what they thought of Jung Hui-myeong, avoiding them was the best course. But Kang Yeong-mu approached Hui-myeong slowly as if he’d been waiting.
“Free for a week?”
At Kang Yeong-mu’s ominous tone, Hui-myeong backed away while avoiding his gaze. He’d said if they bullied him again, he’d rip their mouths open. But memories of being bullied as a child rose up like a habit, and Hui-myeong couldn’t bring himself to raise his hand.
“Wh-where do I have freedom?”
Hui-myeong’s back hit the wall as he backed away.
“If it’s not freedom, what is it? It’s not like Do-ha’s leaving his eyes here.”
Kang Yeong-mu’s hand grabbed Hui-myeong’s chin and turned it this way and that. Hui-myeong struggled to compose his trembling heart and deliberately turned his gaze away. He hadn’t thought at all that Do-ha being away for a week could be a good opportunity for others. He’d completely forgotten the fact that they were chaebol delinquents who could do whatever they wanted and were always targeting Hui-myeong.
Then suddenly, he felt pathetic for being scared of just Kang Yeong-mu. Anyway, he was just not by his side right now—treating Hui-myeong roughly was the same as confronting Do-ha, and the Mad Hat members knew better than anyone how crazy he was.
“If you do this and Do-ha catches you, you’re dead.”
Hui-myeong gathered courage and opened his mouth.
“Ha, Jung Hui-myeong’s grown up a lot?”
“I’m not joking. I’m saying this thinking of you.”
Though initially intimidated, Hui-myeong gradually raised his voice.
“You’re thinking of me? Ha, this is a funny bastard. Hey, do you think I can’t hit on you because I’m afraid of getting beaten by Do-ha?”
“Not beaten—killed. You think Do-ha can’t do it?”
Hui-myeong roughly shook off Kang Yeong-mu’s hand holding his chin. Then Kang Yeong-mu let out a hollow laugh, “Ha- ha.”
“Do you think you’ve become Do-ha’s level just because you’re clinging to him?”
What if he bullied him? Could he be worse than Do-ha? Thinking there was nothing scarier in the world than Do-ha, courage he didn’t have welled up.
“Yeah. So don’t mess around.”
“This little shit!”
“Just touch my body, I’ll rip your mouth open.”
After shouting angrily, Hui-myeong ran like he was fleeing and opened the bathroom door. But as soon as he faced the person standing at the door, he flinched and stopped walking.
Do-ha. Wearing the bright-colored suit for greeting guests, he stood there with a knife in his eyes. The appearance of the groom who had been smiling brightly at the guests was nowhere to be found.
“Good job.”
Do-ha smiled brightly and stroked Hui-myeong’s head. His eyes were smiling but his lips were trembling—that appearance was so incongruous that Hui-myeong instinctively backed away. That was a sign that Do-ha was angry like a madman.
“D-Do-ha…”
Leaving the frightened Hui-myeong behind, Do-ha put his hands in his pockets and glared at Kang Yeong-mu inside the bathroom. Judging by his eyes, he seemed intent on beating Kang Yeong-mu to a pulp right there.
“Haha! It was a joke, a joke. As if I would really touch Jung Hui-myeong?”
As soon as Kang Yeong-mu saw Do-ha, he waved his hands and stepped back one step at a time.
“When did I ever say you could joke around with Hui-myeong?”
Just as Do-ha was about to rush into the bathroom with clenched fists, Hui-myeong suddenly hugged him tightly. At the sudden embrace, Do-ha’s sharp eyes wavered for a moment.
“Stop here. Today is your wedding.”
Hui-myeong said pleadingly.
It was a day when attention was focused on him. No matter how much he hated him, he didn’t want to see him ruined here.
Fortunately, guests began crowding into the bathroom at the right time. When those who recognized the groom glanced at them, Do-ha reluctantly relaxed the strength from his fists where blue veins had been standing out.
“Bow to Jung Hui-myeong. He saved your life.”
Do-ha made the threat and turned his head toward Hui-myeong.
“Go home. Section Chief Kim is waiting outside. I’m going to change clothes now and go to the airport.”
“Okay.”
Do-ha gave a light nod to the guests entering the bathroom and then went outside. Kang Yeong-mu approached Hui-myeong again as if to save face. Having gained courage, Hui-myeong no longer avoided his eyes.
“Hey, Jung Hui-myeong, you have fucking good backing, huh? A person can fight with a bad guy, but you shouldn’t fight with a crazy guy. Where are crazy guys like Do-ha common?”
“You think only Do-ha is crazy?”
Emboldened by Do-ha’s appearance, Hui-myeong fought back without backing down.
“What?”
“Don’t touch me. If you try anything with me one more time, I’ll tear off your dick first.”
“Ah fuck, really everything’s acting up. Walking around with a golden pussy.”
“Shut up, and never talk nonsense to me again.”
Having shot back fiercely at Kang Yeong-mu, Hui-myeong left the bathroom without lingering. He heard frustrated laughter from behind, but he wasn’t scared anymore.
“Let’s go.”
Section Chief Kim, who had approached at some point, naturally guided him to the car.
Hui-myeong plopped down in the back seat of the car and leaned his head against the window. Even seeing that, Section Chief Kim didn’t talk to him. As the tension released, his buttocks started hurting again. To forget the pain, he deliberately closed his eyes.
Everything was disgusting to look at. The brilliant scenery outside as if celebrating the shitty marriage, Do-ha who lost his mind over Hui-myeong’s affairs even after becoming husband and wife in front of guests, and Kang Yeong-mu running wild without knowing his place.
Hui-myeong folded his arms and frowned while trying to sleep. Just as he was barely dozing off, the car stopped. When he opened his eyes, they were already in front of the house.
“What will you do about dinner?”
Section Chief Kim asked politely as usual. But even that sound grated on Hui-myeong.
“I’ll take care of it myse… ah…”
As he tried to speak, a problem occurred to him. Since the credit card was with Section Chief Kim, whether he ordered food or bought food, he had to ask him.
“My stomach isn’t feeling well. I’ll skip dinner.”
“If you don’t eat, the director will worry. I’ll at least buy you porridge.”
Without Do-ha, even a fake Do-ha was interfering. He’d clearly said he wouldn’t eat, but Section Chief Kim didn’t listen to Hui-myeong’s wishes at all.
“Do whatever you want.”
Spitting out a blunt answer, Hui-myeong got out of the car.
As soon as he entered the house, he took off his jacket and threw it somewhere, then crouched down below the sofa. Sitting on the floor hugging his knees like this made him feel somewhat calmer.
The swelling from the slap he’d received in the morning had all gone down, but his mouth still tingled. Hui-myeong rummaged through his pocket, put two painkillers in his mouth, then checked his watch. It was about time for Do-ha to leave for the airport.
He suddenly recalled the moment of confrontation with Kang Yeong-mu. Did I have such pride alive in me? Hui-myeong smiled bitterly. Anyway, just because Do-ha got married didn’t mean Hui-myeong’s role changed. However, there was a world of difference between a boyfriend of a man you’d been seeing for 10 years and a boyfriend of a married man.
‘Just like Mom.’
Hui-myeong swallowed a bitter smile while thinking of his mother’s face after a long time.
He’d wanted to live a different life from his mom who worked at Suseolhwa, but he was living an even more vulgar life. What kind of situation was this?
Hui-myeong climbed onto the sofa and lay down, slowly closing and opening his eyes. As the medication took effect, his body became languid. He was tired. Of this kind of life. With that thought, Hui-myeong briefly fell asleep.
How much time had passed? At the sound of someone knocking on the front door, Hui-myeong slowly got up from his seat. The visitor was Section Chief Kim who had brought porridge.
“Thank you.”
After a formal greeting, Hui-myeong snatched the bag and closed the door. Without even smelling it, he threw all the contents into the food waste bin. Perhaps because his body was languid from the painkillers, he had no appetite at all.
