Hayeop was utterly flustered. You’re bringing that up now? Hadn’t we agreed not to talk about it? Weren’t we just going to pretend neither of us knew?
"…Why are you asking all of a sudden?"
Yoonwon had disturbed something Hayeop had buried deep in his heart, and for an instant, his chest seemed to lurch. Of course, it sometimes resurfaced without warning and made his heart ache as though a hard lump had formed inside it, but he had thought he had buried it well enough.
"You know why."
Yoonwon set down his fork and knife and asked languidly,
"You should have gotten angry with me."
It must have been your first kiss. His tone was coaxing.
"B-but, Young Master."
Hayeop twisted and squirmed as though wringing out laundry.
"I understand."
"You understand?"
Yoonwon’s expression instantly turned vicious.
"Did you seriously just say you understand?"
He frowned and pressed his long fingers to his temple. A sharp headache struck as though lightning had flashed through his skull.
Damn it.
"A-and it wasn’t my first time anyway."
"It wasn’t your first? You expect me to believe—"
Yoonwon tried to snap back, but the headache surged through him. The effects of kissing Hayeop were wearing off.
"It’s true. It really wasn’t my first time."
Then Hayeop added with surprising boldness,
"You don’t even remember it properly, so how would you know?"
Yoonwon was about to answer. Now that he knew it had been Hayeop, everything from that day had come back to him with perfect clarity.
"That day…."
But someone suddenly shouted his name, cutting him off.
"Hey, Jung Yoonwon!"
An unwelcome guest had appeared. Wondering what bastard it was, Yoonwon turned his head and scowled.
"Fuck."
At the coarse curse, Hayeop looked over as well. He wondered who could possibly provoke such a reaction, only to be seized by horror a moment later.
Crazy. Crazy. Completely fucking crazy.
That punk swaggering toward them, his hair braided like a delinquent, was unmistakably Yang Chul, the basketball player he had met yesterday!
Could he possibly be the Young Master’s friend? No, Apgujeong was enormous. How in the world could these two be friends?
"I saw the red sports car out front and thought it might be you."
Terrified that Yang Chul might recognize him, Hayeop desperately ducked his head toward his plate.
"Do you have any idea how much Hana tormented me because of you?"
Yang Chul came closer and slung an arm around the Young Master’s shoulders, laughing with insolent abandon.
"She kept grilling me about where you were. Fuck, I nearly got turned into fried rice. You haven’t even been showing up for golf, so I was wondering what the hell you were doing."
Then he let out a long, drawn-out "Daaamn" and whistled.
"So Hana’s out now?"
He loudly declared that Jung Yoonwon’s skills at seducing women truly were something else. What did seducing mean now? And what were these skills? Hayeop wrinkled his nose.
"Fuck, if you’re even ignoring the goddess of our university, what kind of goddess have you found instead? Well, well…?"
He turned to look at Hayeop, who had squeezed his eyes shut and was trembling. He had curled up like a small animal, leaving only his ears exposed.
"…Who’s this? Not a woman, I see."
Please, please don’t recognize me. The nightclub had been dark, and Yang Chul had been quite drunk. There was every chance he would not recognize him, Hayeop told himself desperately.
"No, wait. Hold still."
Please….
Yang Chul’s eyes widened behind his yellow lenses. He slowly lowered his sunglasses, then abruptly thrust a finger at Hayeop.
"Hey, you’re that kid from yesterday…!"
"No, I’m not. You’ve mistaken me for someone else."
"It is you! Look, there’s the bruise."
Yang Chul pointed at Hayeop’s forehead. A crease formed between Yoonwon’s elegant brows. He looked from one of them to the other, propped his chin on the back of his hand, and spoke ominously.
"What exactly are you two doing?"
Then he smoothed back his hair, his eyes narrowing. As though reining in his temper, he raised the corners of his mouth and asked gently,
"Do you know each other?"
The silver tennis bracelet slowly licked its way down his wrist.
"No, yesterday, I—"
At the sight of that glittering accessory, Hayeop felt cold sweat stream down his body. The moment Yang Chul began to speak, Yoonwon raised a hand and stopped him.
"Hayeop, you tell me."
Yoonwon’s gaze settled on him. Hayeop stammered his way through an answer. His tongue felt so swollen that he worried he might bite it.
"I-I-I met him when he came in as a customer at the restaurant where I work."
"…Huh?"
"It was a restaurant, wasn’t it?"
Hayeop shot him the most desperate look imaginable.
Please, please, please….
Yang Chul looked bewildered and trailed off with a series of hesitant noises.
"Ah, uh, well, right. If you want to call it a restaurant, I suppose it was one, but…."
"What kind of restaurant?"
The Young Master’s curt question made Hayeop’s mouth go completely dry.
I shouldn’t have lied. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just told him the truth.
"Uh, well, there’s this new restaurant. A popular place somewhere around… there."
Yang Chul tried to muddle his way past the question, then simply changed the subject altogether.
"No, that’s not what matters. What exactly is the relationship between you two?"
The moment Hayeop cleared one mountain, another rose in front of him. The Young Master and Hayeop must have looked like two people who could never possibly have anything to do with each other. Should he say they had met at church? A cathedral? A temple? The supermarket? No, none of those sounded right. But he certainly could not admit that he was secretly freeloading in the Young Master’s house.
"W-well…."
"He lives at my house."
You’re going to be that honest?
Yang Chul sprayed a fountain of water from his mouth. Coughing violently, he thumped his chest with a huge fist.
"Wait, what? What kind of relationship do you have?"
Then, as though struck by a sudden realization, he clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Don’t tell me your father…?"
Hayeop was stunned by the sheer audacity of his rudeness. Was he asking whether Yoonwon’s father had fathered a child outside his marriage?
"Hayeop is my relative."
That was unexpected. Yang Chul’s gaze swept over Hayeop.
His clothes looked poor, and his eyes were timid and downcast. Relative, his ass. How could the Jung family possibly have blood like that in its lineage? Jung Yoonwon might seem easygoing, but no one could ever tell what he was really thinking.
Yoonwon silently mouthed, "Why?"
"Fuck, what is this, some long-lost-family reunion show? Your story looks seriously complicated."
Whatever the truth was, Yang Chul merely shrugged and sat down beside Hayeop.
"Hey, kid."
"H-hello…."
"Yeah, you little brat. You said you were a fan of mine."
"Y-yes."
Hayeop sent him a silent, pleading look. Please, just let me get through this safely. I promise I’ll cheer for you even more passionately from now on.
"I get the feeling you and I are going to have a hell of a lot to talk about later."
Looking thoroughly entertained, Yang Chul slurped up some of Hayeop’s spaghetti. Hayeop watched resentfully as the noodles disappeared between those rather thick lips, then discreetly pulled the plate closer to himself.
What do I do? This is a disaster….
"Y-yes, we’ll talk later. Later."
Hayeop smiled wanly, squashing his plump cheeks. His lips stuck out like a little bird’s beak, making him look like a baby.
"Eat first. I’m paying today."
"Oh, really? Fantastic. The steak here is damn good."
Yang Chul talked incessantly. Taehee was quite the chatterbox himself, but next to Yang Chul, he seemed positively reserved.
All his friends had been so busy dating lately that he had been living like an outcast. He had come miserably to the restaurant intending to eat alone, only to run into them. What incredible luck!
"Ha ha ha. So that’s what happened…."
Hayeop thought his ears might start bleeding. Fortunately or unfortunately, Yang Chul’s endless chatter buried their original conversation. It had all dissolved into muddy water.
"That was delicious!"
The oblivious intruder rose from his seat, patting his stomach. Hayeop tried to pay, but the employee informed him that Yoonwon had already settled the bill.
"Haah…."
Hayeop sighed. He had failed to buy Yoonwon a hamburger or a steak. Not a single thing was going the way he had intended.
"Then I’ll be going!"
After eating his fill, Yang Chul departed cheerfully, leaving the two of them alone. Hayeop could feel an ominous gaze boring into his back.
"What are you waiting for? Get in."
With a clunk, Yoonwon opened the passenger door and jerked his chin toward the interior.
"It seems we have a great deal to discuss."