Love Born of Pity Chapter 32

The conversation naturally shifted towards the unfamiliar man. The cafe owner looked back and forth between Kwon Jiho and Kang Gyumin with curious eyes.

“….No. Not an acquaintance….”

“Wait a minute.”

Seeing Jiho’s embarrassed expression, the cafe owner didn’t pry further. He quickly filled a clear glass with ice water and handed it over.

“Thank you. I’ll just wash my hands and bring it over.”

“Ah, then I’ll bring it to you. I’ll bring your drinks over too when they’re ready. Service, service.”

The cafe owner said it was service, but in reality, his intention was largely to eavesdrop on their conversation. Jiho, with an innocent look, thanked him again and turned around. He left the cafe and entered the building’s shared restroom.

Holding onto the sink, he let out a long, shaky breath and washed his pale face. As if trying to regain his composure, he splashed cold water on his face several times and washed his hands thoroughly. The exposed skin of his neck was mottled red. He tried pulling up his clothes to cover it, then sighed deeply, his face etched with frustration.

He couldn’t decide how much longer he should hide this uncomfortable encounter from Do Yeonjae. His steps were heavy as he dried his wet face with a paper towel and hurried back to the cafe. The ice water, brought over earlier by the cafe owner, was on the table where Kang Gyumin sat.

Kang Gyumin drained the ice water with a displeased expression. Emptying half of it in one gulp, he gestured for Jiho to sit down. As Jiho reluctantly sat across from him, Gyumin let out a heavy sigh.

“I hate doing this kind of pathetic thing too, you know.”

“….Yes.”

“But Mr. Kwon Jiho isn’t helping.”

At the irritated tone, Jiho raised his head and met Gyumin’s eyes. Objectively and subjectively, he was a handsome man. Enough to make Gyumin momentarily forget what he was about to say.

He had never seen Jiho standing next to Do Yeonjae, but they would definitely look good together. He knew it without seeing them. He suddenly felt strange. Just imagining it, Gyumin felt an emotion he shouldn’t have and hardened his expression.

“….I was too flustered that day to tell you.”

Jiho spoke calmly. He voiced the words he had organized in his mind while washing his face to compose himself.

“Even if you come to me and say these things, probably….nothing will change.”

“What?”

“As you know, in this kind of relationship….the one bestowing the favors makes all the decisions.”

“Mr. Kwon Jiho.”

Kang Gyumin’s face flushed red. He understood faster than anyone what Jiho’s softly spoken answer meant.

“So even if you tell me to stop seeing him, I can’t. As you’ve found out….I’m very dependent on the Director. I’m receiving a lot of help from him.”

“Mr. Kwon Jiho, you look so innocent, but you’re really shameless.”

“….I’m sorry.”

“If your sugar daddy, who’s about to get married, is getting married, shouldn’t you stop, no matter how much he’s given you or what kind of help you’ve received? Are you planning to continue seeing him even after he’s married?”

“If the Director wants to….I intend to.”

At the calm, though occasionally trembling, voice, Kang Gyumin let out a hollow laugh. He thought Jiho, who he had thought innocent, was quite good at speaking impudently.

“This situation isn’t just strange to me, is it?”

“….That’s why, even if you come to me….it’s no use.”

“No, it has to be of use.”

Kang Gyumin’s gaze shifted behind Jiho and quickly returned. The cafe owner, approaching their table with a tray, his footsteps quiet, placed the drinks down with an awkward expression.

“….Thank you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

He made awkward eye contact with Jiho and quickly turned away. Jiho pushed the latte that Kang Gyumin had ordered towards him. As Jiho stared at the fingers tapping on the table and swallowed hard, Kang Gyumin’s lips parted.

“I was trying not to involve family. I was annoyed, wondering why I had to go that far. And I pitied you, thinking how desperate you must have been to resort to such measures for your sibling’s hospital bills. But I shouldn’t have done that, Mr. Kwon Jiho.”

“…….”

“Kwon Heeyeon, was it? She was transferred to Kangsung Rehabilitation Hospital today, right? Why do you look so surprised? Did you really think I wouldn’t know something like that?”

Jiho’s hands trembled. He had a strong feeling he knew what Gyumin was going to say next.

“I’m thinking of visiting Kwon Heeyeon on my way back. Your sister should know what kind of money you’re using for her treatment. It’s money you earned by selling your body day and night. Do you think Kwon Heeyeon will be happy about that? I think it would be horrible to know that my family used dirty money to pay for my treatment.”

His sarcastic voice was elegant. His posture was upright, and Kang Gyumin maintained a faint smile throughout, his expression unchanging. Jiho, finally losing his feigned composure, slumped his shoulders. He barely managed to ask in a shaky voice,

“….Why are you doing this to me….?”

“You can do it, but I can’t? The fact that you’re so adamant about me not telling your sister means you know what you’re doing isn’t right….so why have you been living like this?”

“I, I really….can’t.”

“You see, Mr. Kwon Jiho, I find it most pathetic when people say they can’t without even trying.”

His wide, surprised eyes quickly welled up with tears. His face, murmuring “please don’t,” soon became wet. His tearful appearance felt disgusting. Who’s supposed to be crying? Kang Gyumin simply stared at the tissues on the table, not bothering to offer them.

“Aren’t you past the age where crying solves problems? Please stop, I don’t want to hear it. I guess crying has softened other people’s attitudes, but it doesn’t work on me.”

“…….”

“Is it difficult to ask him to end the relationship? If that’s the case, shouldn’t you make Mr. Yeonjae dump Mr. Kwon Jiho?”

“….I really….can’t.”

At the blunt suggestion to end things with Yeonjae, Jiho shook his head. What would happen to Heeyeon’s treatment if Yeonjae stopped helping him? What if, while he hesitated, Gyumin went to his sister and told her how he earned the hospital bills? Jiho’s mind was a tangled mess.

“How much time should I give you? One month? Two months? Choose. Tell me how much time I should give you.”

Jiho’s tearful face, with his red eyes and nose, looked pitiful even to Kang Gyumin. However, regardless of those feelings, the damage Jiho was inflicting on him was not something he could overlook.

“Alright, I guess it’s better to just visit Ms. Kwon Heeyeon.”

“Huu, t-two months. But really, I….I don’t know. Just….”

“Try to lead him into breaking up with you. Get caught seeing another alpha, or something. That man has OCD. He might dump you if you’re touched by someone else.”

Another person? Jiho recalled the memory of being hit for simply riding in another person’s car. Back then, he had just gotten a ride, but if he were to meet an alpha or beta and develop feelings for them, as Gyumin suggested, perhaps he might be dumped.

“….I, I really need the Director’s help. My sister….huu, she was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital for treatment, and the Director is paying for it.”

“I know, that money. That’s all Mr. Kwon Jiho’s debt, isn’t it? Are you aware of that?”

“Ah, I know.”

“A lot of sponsorships involve clearing debts and providing money or whatever is needed, but this is strange. Mr. Kwon Jiho’s debt is increasing.”

At the blunt statement of fact, Jiho raised his tear-filled eyes.

“….Huh?”

“There’s nothing you can do about being taken advantage of because you’re naive, so consider yourself lucky that you know now. Mr. Kwon Jiho, you’ve been selling your body at a loss for three years, even enduring an alpha’s rut as a beta to pay off your debt, but why haven’t the principal or interest decreased, but rather increased? Didn’t you think it was strange?”

He hadn’t. He had never once thought of his and Yeonjae’s relationship as normal. He thought of it as a debtor-creditor relationship where borrowed money had to be repaid. It wasn’t something he could ask others about, and he didn’t know where to get information on such matters. To him, Yeonjae’s words were always the truth and the correct information.

“…….”

“Well, it’s not my business that you’re ruining your own life. I’ll assume you’ll break up within two months. If you do that, I’ll pay off all of Mr. Kwon Jiho’s debt. That money may be a lot to Mr. Kwon Jiho, but it’s just pocket change to me. Think of it as alimony.”

“….What about my sister’s treatment costs…?”