EAR Ch 33

“What?”

“Since it’s the exact same model, the year should be similar, and I think it’ll be fine if you reset it and use it. If you’re okay with it.”

“I’m not okay with it. What about my phone?”

Jaemin looked at Seungpyo cautiously, then dropped his gaze with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry. I lost your phone.”

“What did you say?”

Seungpyo’s eyes widened. Even though it was a cell phone that wouldn’t matter much if he just bought a new one, dragged his feet without returning it, and then wiped his hands of it with a single phrase saying he lost it now—isn’t that really out of line?

A sudden thought crossed his mind that perhaps Jaemin had played a foolish trick like making a bet right from the start just to buy time because he had lost the phone. Considering the way he had acted toward him at first, he was a guy more than capable of doing so.

When it hit him that he had been played by Ryu Jaemin, his mood was completely ruined. Even the sweet, budding goodwill that was on the verge of sprouting withered away in an instant. Seungpyo scowled.

“Are you kidding me? What the hell did you do with someone else’s phone to lose it?”

“I was trying to keep it safe, but when I looked to take it out again, it was gone…. It seems like it got mixed in with the stuff the housekeeper threw away while cleaning.”

“If you’re going to compensate, do it with money, or if you’re giving a phone, buy the exact same model and give it. Where do you get off offering a completely worn-out thing to replace it? You have no conscience.”

“…I’m sorry. My allowance that I can use freely isn’t that much.”

“I heard your family is rich? Tell your parents and ask them to compensate. If you can’t do it, I can just talk to them, so give me your father’s or mother’s phone number.”

Jaemin couldn’t answer and became visibly dispirited. But Seungpyo had no intention of being fooled by that expression. For Ryu Jaemin, who even put on a show of shedding tears just to screw with him, this level of acting would be a piece of cake.

By the looks of it, he seemed to have a distressed face because he couldn’t tell his parents, but if they probed into it, it might even trace back to that ridiculous social media story, so from the perspective of the number 1 model student in the whole school, he wouldn’t want to open his mouth at all. It did seem like it would feel like hell to try and settle the situation while hiding all the backstories so far.

He was a ridiculous guy. It would have been over long ago if he had agreed to swapping the cell phones and pretending it never happened, yet he acted shamelessly saying he had to get an apology, and now he’s acting weak out of nowhere? Changing his attitude on a dime whenever it was advantageous to him at the moment—as expected, he didn’t like it.

‘I almost thought he was a decent guy just because we played a little ball together.’

Seungpyo firmly steeled his heart. There was no need to listen to a guy like this who thought stabbing someone in the back was a light matter. If he let his guard down, he didn’t know what kind of trick he would use to make a fool out of him again, so he had to play hardball.

“This won’t do. No matter how long I’ve used it, it’s lost due to your mistake, so there’s no need for me to accept a used item as compensation.”

“…Okay. Then I’ll tell my parents. I just brought it up because I thought it would be better if you agreed to do it like that.”

Because he backed off so easily, it actually made him feel more offended. It felt like because he kept making allowances for him, Jaemin was now taking him lightly and probing him with an ‘if it works, great; if not, whatever’ attitude.

If he knew it would turn out like this, he wouldn’t have let him off and would have delivered all ten flick beatings on his forehead. A full wave of spiteful resentment welled up inside. Seungpyo held Jaemin’s cell phone by the tips of his fingers and shook it, as if picking up something filthy.

“And why the hell would I use a dirty phone like this? I know full well this is the stuff you used when hanging out with perverts. It’s so disgusting I don’t even want to touch it.”

“…”

“Did you take my phone, go play the whore outside again, and lose it? Since you can just make a new account anyway.”

“Are you crazy? No.”

Jaemin denied it with a look of disbelief, but it was none of Seungpyo’s business. He wouldn’t meekly say yes here anyway, and he wasn’t even curious about the truth.

“I saw before that there were a shitload of guys who wanted to give you money. If you don’t want to tell your mom and dad, take off your clothes one more time, extort money out of those people, and buy it. Do whatever you want.”

“Hey, Oh Seungpyo. I’m sorry for losing the phone, but I said I’d try to solve it. Why do I have to hear that story from you again? Didn’t you say yesterday that you were sorry for threatening me?”

“Fuck, I was sorry. Until you started looking down on me.”

“When did I ever—”

Jaemin, who was about to protest, lost his words as if he couldn’t continue the rest of his sentence, and shut his mouth. Tension went into his sharply chiseled jawline, and his tightly closed lips trembled faintly.

He tried hard to return to his usual expressionless face, but as if it wasn’t working well, the area near his brow kept scowling. Unless it was acting, Seungpyo’s spitefulness seemed to have worked properly. Just as the strength was draining from his hardened jaw, Jaemin’s voice sank low.

“Fine, I was wrong. I should have been honest with my parents from the beginning instead of talking nonsense to ask you for a favor.”

“You must have thought spouting bullshit to me would work better than telling your parents. You put on a big show about your house being strict, so are you scared of your mom and dad? You’re scared of your parents, but doing that kind of shit with strangers on the internet wasn’t scary?”

“…It’s not that I’m scared, it’s just annoying to explain every single detail.”

“Oh, really? But even if it’s annoying, you have to do what you have to do. You misjudged your man. Why in the world would I lose my phone entirely and keep making allowances for your situation? It’s not like a whore-like thing like you is pretty or anything.”

Jaemin raised his lowered gaze and met Seungpyo’s eyes directly. His trembling expression had settled into a coldly frozen sculpture before he knew it.

His complexion was paler than before entering the reference room. Unlike when he played the match, where he was unusually lively and energetic, facing Jaemin’s expression that was frozen like a plaster bust hanging in the hallway made Seungpyo’s heart sting somewhat.

“What are you staring at?”

Even when he needlessly scowled harshly and shouted, Jaemin didn’t move a single eyebrow. In his black, unblinking gaze as he stared, there was an unpleasantness as if he were trying to dig up and analyze everything inside a person.

Just a moment ago, he had been trembling even at the lips, pretending to be wronged and sorrowful, but before he knew it, he had returned to the Ryu Jaemin that Oh Seungpyo had observed for a year. The coldness felt when facing a white wall that looked blue beyond white, that arrogant expressionlessness as if it didn’t matter at all what a person like him did because he was superior.

It was a situation where it wouldn’t be strange even if he stormed out of the reference room, but Jaemin反而 stepped one pace closer to Seungpyo. His face and gaze drew stride-for-stride close, as if they would bump into each other if he moved just a little more. Just as Seungpyo was about to say a word to get his eyes out of his face, Jaemin opened his mouth first.

“Does it turn you on because I’m a whore?”

The words that calmly popped out from his tightly closed lips were contents far beyond expectation. To the extent that it couldn’t even be processed right away in the brain of the number 2 in the whole school, Oh Seungpyo.

Seungpyo froze for a moment, then asked back blankly.

“…What?”

“That’s right, isn’t it? Every time our faces meet, you’re itching to talk about that. When running the account, I saw plenty of guys like you. Bastards who, if they dislike it, shouldn’t look, but insist on purposely coming over to leave filthy comments.”

Until now, Seungpyo had chewed over Jaemin’s words obstinately without letting a single word slip past, but this time he couldn’t make any answer. Jaemin stared straight back at Seungpyo without a trace of a sneer.

It wasn’t that he was brandishing a knife or a gun, nor was he making threats like when they talked in the reference room last time, but Seungpyo froze rock-solid as if he had run into a robber. He could feel cold sweat seeping out on the nape of his neck.

This perverted bastard is spouting perverted nonsense to the very end. And didn’t you say that account wasn’t yours and the photos weren’t you either? While his mind screamed that he just needed to counter like that, Seungpyo’s mouth was closed as heavy as a rock, without even a sign of opening.

Interpreting the silence as whatever meaning, Jaemin gave a weak snort. Only then did he shift his gaze slightly, glare into the empty air beside Seungpyo, and open his mouth once more.

“Come to think of it, you said you wanted to see me jerking off, right?”