# Chapter 185
It was somewhat extreme, but Kang Dongying took the bait. Lee Hwan instinctively realized this was the perfect timing to deceive him.
Lee Hwan, coughing repeatedly with his painful throat, stumbled through his words.
“Cough, ugh… the suit, haah, kuhp, that you sent… Kang Taesung…”
“He saw it?”
Lee Hwan nodded while thinking for a moment. Now’s the time. I should look pitiful around now.
In Kang Dongying’s eyes, he was a miserable soul trapped by Taesung, withering away day by day believing just one declaration of affection, and now even had the gift suit burned.
He was starting to think about escaping. Just as he was pondering how to get away, Taesung gave him a strange instruction. He could meet Kang Dongying, but in exchange…
“He told me to secretly use my ability…”
The fact that a distinctive smell spread when he used his ability would have circulated through those at the examination hall or training facilities.
Despite knowing this, Taesung had sent him to play tricks, and now he would be in a situation where he had been choked and frightened by Kang Dongying, whom he had visited with expectations.
Good. Though intentional, he had somehow managed to position himself perfectly as someone easy to snatch up.
He’d heard Kang Dongying was obsessive about handling matters. He wouldn’t want someone who couldn’t distinguish proper behavior and trembled uncontrollably even in official settings.
‘I should just pretend to suppress my sorrow, that should be enough.’
The problem was his acting skills. Lee Hwan had been worried all along whether he could properly pretend to be shocked while turning over in his mind the plan he couldn’t bring himself to tell Taesung.
But it was an unnecessary worry.
‘I was right. There must be a reason why someone with all limbs intact lives like this.’
The moment of the first regression. When the familiar face that had forcefully twisted his arm and choked his neck appeared, Lee Hwan felt a remarkable churning in his chest.
Taking a deep breath with his painful throat and strongly suppressing his emotions, his Adam’s apple moved significantly. Kang Dongying, who still had his hand on Lee Hwan’s neck, would have felt it clearly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would be so displeased…”
As Lee Hwan let his words trail off while his lips quivered, Kang Dongying, who had been looking down at him, let out a short “hmm.”
“Kang Taesung would have known that doing such a thing in front of me would make me furious.”
His tone had noticeably softened. Enough to quickly convince someone who was frightened and flustered.
“For him to order you to do this despite knowing… it seems a bit too much.”
It was an extremely cunning statement. He had choked him himself, but suddenly the blame was on Taesung. When Lee Hwan slightly bit his lip, Kang Dongying removed his hand from his neck, interpreting it in some way.
Then he brushed away tears from the corner of Lee Hwan’s eyes, tears that had formed at some unknown moment. Lee Hwan felt goosebumps all over and almost kicked him away.
“I apologize. Given my position, I grew up being very cautious.”
As if everything had ended, he reconnected the words he had cut off. Though his words were clearly an apology, his face, when Lee Hwan glanced up, was remarkably confident.
His attitude suggested that the one at fault was Lee Hwan, or rather Taesung who had instructed him to do something obviously harmful, and he had simply roughly stopped a disrespectful sudden action.
Lee Hwan swallowed the curses that had risen to his throat and replied with a constricted voice, pretending to be composed.
“No. I didn’t know that… I apologize for my rudeness.”
“If you have any lingering pain, please contact here.”
The business card he handed over was identical to the previous one. When Lee Hwan blinked and looked up at Kang Dongying, he gave a generous expression.
Though not the best, it was a face that could appear as the second-worst option. For someone with nowhere to go, he might seem like a decent boss.
He seemed skilled at creating and driving such atmospheres. The fact that he even naturally induced an apology showed he was almost a master at adjusting his behavior based on the person he was dealing with.
‘Is this how he gathered all his people?’
If so, he would have gathered only those who wouldn’t leave even after belatedly realizing his true nature. Judging by today’s summons, that was exactly how Lee Hwan appeared in Kang Dongying’s eyes.
Perfect. He had been worried because Kang Dongying, who had been quiet, had suddenly made a move. Now, before interfering with Taesung who controlled Team 1 and his brother who had sided with his father, he would try to target the easy prey first.
He didn’t seem like a patient person, so the wait would be at most one week.
The remaining date was D-6. That was enough time.
On the way back, Lee Hwan, drained of energy, took a taxi. The concern he had throughout his journey home erupted as soon as he opened the front door.
“…Was it that bastard?”
Red handprints had been left on his neck. Taesung’s eyes, scanning Lee Hwan, rolled back. Lee Hwan now knew well what kind of accident would happen whenever he made such an expression.
“Sit down.”
Though Lee Hwan approached the sofa and spoke to him, Taesung stood up without responding. His calm face was rather more unsettling. From some point, the one who used to handle everything with ease occasionally had dangerous eyes.
Both in the past and now, being thorough, he wouldn’t move without thinking, but the operation was right around the corner. He had no intention of creating unnecessary troubles and applying a debuff to their last chance.
‘After he himself choked my neck before…’
He couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud, fearing Taesung might choke his own neck in response.
Ahem, when Lee Hwan deliberately coughed, Taesung’s body, which was about to go out the door, stiffened slightly. Not missing the opportunity, he spoke again.
“Where are you going.”
His voice was a bit cracked when he asked. It seemed his throat was somewhat damaged, so he thought he should finish checking the route early and go to bed soon today.
Taesung turned his head. In his eyes, which rippled with anger, there was also deep distress.
“Right now… you need to be with me.”
The trembling at the end of his words wasn’t intentional. Although he felt dirty after having his neck suddenly choked, he was more angry than scared or sad.
Still, it seemed to work quite well on Taesung. He, who had looked like he might run out any moment, finally turned his steps. After suppressing his emotions for a while, he walked briskly back into the house.
“This much will disappear on its own in half a day without medicine. You know that.”
Although he tried to stop Taesung, who came out with a first aid kit first, he didn’t seem to be listening much.
He sat Lee Hwan down in front of him and gently rubbed ointment on his neck. As the medicine dissolved with body temperature, it became slippery, creating a burning sensation on his neck.
At the strange stimulation, Lee Hwan winced with one eye.
“Does it hurt?”
His voice, having suppressed his anger, was soft and excessively sweet. Lee Hwan suddenly realized that he liked not only his face but also his voice.
“No. It’s just itchy.”
If such a skill existed, he wished he had one to control his facial color. He thought he was good at managing his expressions in social life, but just being with Taesung, he could feel heat rising to his ears and cheeks.
“I’m fine. If this diverts Kang Dongying’s attention, it’s a profitable deal.”
“We’re not doing business. Don’t forget that your safety comes first.”
As fingers brushed upward, Lee Hwan shook his head slightly. Taesung was clearly giving serious advice, but why did everything approach with heat?
Although they had already confessed and kissed several times, in everyday life, they would hesitate for a long time even to hold hands.
Lee Hwan, always the one to initiate a kiss, sometimes stumbled on actions that others would find normal. Some days he would burrow into his embrace in bed, while other days he would hesitate to touch him when he was standing normally, eventually backing away after much deliberation.
Before confessing, he had buried his face in his hands several times, but once they acknowledged each other, his body stiffened.
The reason he kept acting shy and leaving regrets was partly because the newly changed relationship with Taesung was awkward, but mainly because the imminent situation was too weighty.
It seems multitasking doesn’t work for life-and-death matters. That was what Lee Hwan roughly thought.
“When everything is over, I want to spend a long time with you.”
So after carefully choosing his words, all that came out was just that one sentence. But even with just that, Taesung’s movement, as he was organizing the first aid kit, stopped completely.
“Don’t even leave the house.”
Already his compressed vocal cords seemed to be healing as his throat felt ticklish. When anger finally completely disappeared from Taesung’s eyes, Lee Hwan smiled and brought his face closer to him.
Always being the one to initiate the final kiss and embrace, he always had to start first for things to ignite. Knowing this was his own way of waiting, Lee Hwan sometimes found his friend, who was bigger, more handsome, and looked like he could burn down an entire mountain, cute.
They say once you find someone cute, it’s over. How did he come to find the friend he once admired increasingly cute?
Lee Hwan still called Taesung his friend. He didn’t know what else to call him, and sometimes that title felt deeper and more affectionate to him.
“From today, it feels like time will move a bit slower.”
Whispering, hot lips came to bite his lower lip. With those words, the weariness he had been feeling earlier seemed to completely fly away.
It was then.
Ding-ring- click.
Without even the sound of entering the door lock number, the house door opened at once. Lee Hwan, with the touch on his lips, couldn’t think properly even after hearing that sound.
Is the door broken? What was that sound?
Too heated to think of pulling away, he just rolled his eyes, and saw a figure that had just entered the house and paused.
‘!’
Only then did he realize someone had entered the house. Also belatedly realizing that it was someone who had a key to this house.
“……”
“……”
A man wearing dark sunglasses, making it impossible to tell where his gaze was directed, moved his lips as if about to say something but then stopped.
And then.
Click! Ding-ring-.
After nervously twitching his eyebrows, he went back out the door.
“……”
Taesung’s face, which he hurriedly looked at, was the epitome of calmness. As if nothing had happened, he calmly tried to kiss him again, but Lee Hwan pushed him away and muttered with a burning face.
Fucking hell.
