PA 44

It was the moment he decided to leave. Yejun suddenly thought of Junhyuk, and a corner of his chest felt tight.

☂︎

Junhyuk couldn’t even sleep and had spent several sleepless nights. Today again, Junhyuk had been loitering in front of the hospital, and was on his way back without even being able to see Yejun. Junhyuk slowly stopped the car at an intersection with a red light.

Only then did he notice the phone he had tossed on the passenger seat blinking. He put on his Bluetooth earphone and quickly answered the call.

“This is Cha Junhyuk.”

— It’s me, Lee Yejun.

The person who called Junhyuk was Yejun.

“Oh, oh. Why, is something wrong with your body?”

— Junhyuk, I have a favor to ask.

“What is it?”

Junhyuk was more than willing to grant Yejun’s request.

“…”

Yejun was silent for a long time. Junhyuk waited patiently for him to speak. As time went on, his premonition didn’t get any better, but Junhyuk deliberately ignored his trembling heart and waited for Yejun’s sentence.

— Please take away all the bodyguards you have assigned to me right now.

“That’s… in case you might be in danger…”

— And not to monitor where I am, what I’m doing, or who I’m meeting?

“Yejun.”

— I’ll also send you the money for the hospital room I’m in now.

Junhyuk was silent for a moment before speaking cautiously.

“I’ll get rid of all the bodyguards. But please let me pay the hospital bills until you recover.”

— Junhyuk.

“This time… I also have a great deal of responsibility for you getting hurt. So…”

In the end, Yejun couldn’t break Junhyuk’s stubbornness. However, Yejun began to prepare to leave Korea, little by little and thoroughly.

☂︎

The bodyguards standing like a wall in front of the huge door of the suite were extremely flustered when they spotted Junhyuk approaching them. After hesitating for a moment, they were startled by the sight of Junhyuk about to open the door and blocked his path.

“Move.”

“You cannot go in right now.”

At the sight of Junhyuk about to pound hard on the door, the bodyguards grabbed his shoulders to stop him. They tried to push Junhyuk back, but for some reason, they couldn’t move him.

“I said, move.”

Junhyuk’s low, sunken voice was somewhat chilly. It was then. With the sound of urgent, thudding footsteps, the heavy door of the suite was thrown open.

“This is, this is too much.”

Junhyuk stared blankly at the face of the person who came out, his eyes even welling with tears. The man, who seemed to be a prostitute, was holding in his hand the clothes he hadn’t had a chance to put on.

“Please give me a room where I can change.”

The man’s and Junhyuk’s gazes met. Seeing as he looked familiar, he seemed to be a famous celebrity. The man flinched his shoulders at Junhyuk’s ice-cold gaze. He roughly covered his naked body with his clothes and followed one of the bodyguards.

Junhyuk pushed past the bodyguards who were blocking him with force and went inside. The bodyguards, who stumbled for a moment, were flustered by Junhyuk’s incredible strength and then fell backward with a thud as soon as the door opened. The bodyguard who hastily got up spoke urgently to Junhyuk.

“Y-young Master. This is.”

“What’s all this commotion?”

Sanghyeon asked in an annoyed voice as he came out from the bedroom into the living room.

“Father.”

“What is it?”

“Who was that bastard who just left?”

“Do I have to get your permission for every single detail of my private life?”

Junhyuk was dumbfounded at the sight of Sanghyeon, who felt no guilt whatsoever. Junhyuk, who remained silent for a moment without saying anything, slowly began to speak.

“I truly love Yejun.”

The word love was particularly grating to Sanghyeon’s ears.

“So what are you trying to say?”

“So don’t touch Yejun anymore.”

“Why… should I?”

A moment ago, Sanghyeon had tried to embrace another man who would obediently spread his legs beneath him, not Yejun who had adamantly rejected him. But the moment he got on top of the man he had called as a substitute for Yejun, the man’s face and Yejun’s face overlapped.

Fuck…

At the same time, the thought that he shouldn’t be doing this flashed strongly through his mind. However, Sanghyeon ignored the warning called guilt that came from his heart and, without any foreplay, pushed his body into the man. The man struggled wildly against the surging pain, and Yejun’s crying face appeared before Sanghyeon’s eyes.

“Cha Junhyuk.”

“Yes.”

“Did you think it was funny that I set you up with Jiyun?”

“What?”

Junhyuk’s expression twisted bizarrely.

“Why is Han Jiyun’s name coming up here?”

“You are the only remaining bloodline not just for me, but also for Taejin Group.”

“…”

Junhyuk’s brow narrowed as he understood the meaning of Sanghyeon’s words.

“So you still have one more gate to pass through, which is marriage.”

“I will…!”

“Even if you don’t live with her for the rest of your life, you have to have at least one child.”

“Is that why you married Mother?”

“Was there supposed to be something else?”

“Father! Aren’t you even sorry for Mother, who died so miserably?”

Sanghyeon pressed his temples and remained silent for a moment. Then he took a step toward Junhyuk and spoke threateningly.

“Let’s say that’s the case for me… how are you going to persuade your maternal grandfather that you’ll live with a man your whole life?”

“This is not a matter of persuading someone. It’s my life.”

“If you insist, do you think your mother’s side of the family will leave Lee Yejun alone?”

“Father! Grandfather, Grandfather is!”
“He probably pretended to accept it for now to appease you in your fiery passion.”

“My grandfather is not that kind of person…”

“He probably negotiated using Sail Group.”

“…”

Junhyuk glared at Sanghyeon, who had seen through everything. However, Sanghyeon, with a very relaxed demeanor, poured the whiskey on the table into a glass.

“So the one who has to give up on Yejun is you, Cha Junhyuk.”

Sanghyeon, holding a glass of whiskey, approached Junhyuk and spoke casually. Junhyuk did not step back. He only spat out words as sharp as an awl.

“So, does that kid like you, Father?”

“…”

Sanghyeon couldn’t give any answer to Junhyuk’s words, which had hit a nerve.

“Because he doesn’t have the rotten personality to seek out a sponsor on his own.”

“…”

“Father… there are things in the world that can’t be solved with money.”

Junhyuk recalled the unhappy image of Junghui, who had taken her own life, despondent over her situation of never being loved. So he spat out words as if to dig into Sanghyeon’s heart.

“Fine. Let’s say everything you said is right.”

“…”

“You have to get married at least once and have a child. Does Lee Yejun say he understands all of that?”

“I am not getting married.”

“For people like us, marriage is homework that must be solved and moved past.”

“I will live my whole life with the person I love.”

“Quite the romanticist, my son is.”

Sanghyeon let out a scoffing laugh.

“Chief Choi.”

At Sanghyeon’s command, bodyguards swarmed in and surrounded Junhyuk.

Creak

☂︎…

Yejun felt somehow invigorated by the members’ secret proposal. Neither Junhyuk nor Sanghyeon had looked for him for a while. Perhaps because of that, Yejun, who recovered quickly, decided to stay at the members’ dorm after being discharged from the hospital, instead of staying in his empty home.

“Yejun is here?”

“But if you’re out already, won’t it be too strenuous for your body?”

“I’m okay now.”

Taeyi and Yul decided not to act like they knew about Yejun’s situation.

“For now, Yejun, you should rest in your room.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s dinner time soon…”

“Lee Yejun. Our youngest has grown up so much. Ignoring what his hyung says.”

“Th-that’s not what I meant.”

Taeyi and Yul teased Yejun with playful voices and pushed him into the room. Yejun, left alone in the quiet room, looked around. It seemed their living situation had truly improved during that time. The bunk bed was gone, and two single beds were placed side by side.

Yejun sat on the edge of the bed where his laptop was and spaced out for a moment. From outside, he could hear the voices of the members cooking and laughing. He felt at ease for the first time in a long while.

Yejun reached out his arm, pulled the laptop over, and turned it on. On the laptop’s desktop, files shared for a group project were scattered about. Yejun had quite enjoyed his university life. But when he recalled that time, the image of Junhyuk naturally followed. Yejun let out a long sigh.

[Late Joseon Silhak Thought_Mokmin Simseo_Cha Junhyuk_Final]

Junhyuk’s file caught Yejun’s eye. He clicked on the file. Yejun scrolled with the mouse and read through the material carefully. Seeing that the document was dozens of pages long, it seemed he had done his research meticulously. Yejun let out a small laugh. He was just about to reach the end of the scroll.

[Yejun.]

A sentence that was out of place with the content of the document suddenly appeared. At the end of the file Junhyuk had sent, a letter written to Yejun was hidden.

[I know you must be all mixed up and confused. But my feelings for you are sincere. Lately, yesterday and today, I look forward to going to school. See you again tomorrow.]