The Smell of Something Fishy Chapter 11.3

“Baek Heonjae.”

“Yes, young master.”

“When the police come, hold them up as long as you can.”

Baek Heonjae answered respectfully, as he always did.

“Yes.”

Tae Shinju bounded up the stairs, not even waiting to hear the full answer.

“Park Yeonseo!”

He becomes just another young man, searching desperately for his lover.

He scans the upper floor with the flashlight he brought from the car. If Yeonseo were here, he would have heard his voice, but it is quiet like a cat curled up under a bed.

“Mr. Yeonseo!”

The abandoned factory was on a large plot of land. As he was running frantically, a familiar object caught his eye on the stairs leading to the third floor.

“…Pajamas?”

It was none other than Yeonseo’s pajama top.

For this to be dropped here meant that Yeonseo was here, or had passed through this place. Whether it was dropped on purpose or torn off by force, he was certain that Yeonseo had been on this path.

“Fuck…”

The buttons on the top, which he had helped him put on with his own hands, were dangling loosely. It was a sign of being forcibly torn.

‘Am I too late?’

To cling to a sliver of hope, the pants were missing. No, maybe the pants are on the floor below, a floor he had not yet had time to check, just as he was gripped by anxiety.

“You!”

Tae Hyunwoong’s roar echoed, short and thick. Tae Shinju snapped his head up. It was from the floor above.

He leaped up two floors at once. And in a corner of the hallway, he opened a door he hadn’t even known existed, and an astounding scene unfolded before him.

“……!”

Tae Shinju’s face turned deathly pale. A small room that seemed to have been a control room or a monitoring station.

Yeonseo was peeking out with only his eyes from beyond a latticed steel frame attached to the ceiling, somehow having gotten up there. His whole body wasn’t visible, and it was so dark that unless one deliberately searched every inch of the ceiling, anyone would have passed by without noticing.

The look of dismay in his round eyes seemed to be one of someone fully realizing his mistake. It appeared that when he heard the presence, he had poked his head out to check who it was and got caught. Since it was dark, Yeonseo would have had to look straight ahead to identify the intruder who had burst into the room.

Tae Shinju registered the bruises that covered his smaller face. At the same time, Yeonseo’s gaze turned toward the entrance, the source of the flashlight. His clouded eyes filled with shock.

“…Mr. Tae Shinju?”

A bewildered voice. Tae Hyunwoong, standing a few steps ahead, whipped his head around.

“Tae Shinju?!”

The man finally came face to face with his damned half-brother. The bastard he wouldn’t mind beating to death. He gritted his teeth.

Yeonseo said calmly.

“Mr. Shinju, just a moment.”

At the strangely composed voice, Tae Shinju paused. The Yeonseo he knew should have been scared and trembling, but this was a far cry from his expectations.

Neither Tae Hyunwoong nor even Tae Shinju knew what he was about to do.

Yeonseo glanced at Tae Hyunwoong and then slowly backed away. Only a rustling sound echoed from beyond the unseen ceiling. Even that was only perceptible because the surroundings were so quiet.

Hooo….

A deep breath. Tae Shinju, too, took a deep breath in and out, calming his startled heart. The moment he confirmed Yeonseo was safe, the trembling subsided astonishingly.

Crash!

“Agh!”

The latticed steel frame fell without warning. Tae Hyunwoong, who had been standing right below it, was struck squarely by the frame and fell to the ground. Tae Shinju, not missing the timing, quickly reached out his arms.

“Mr. Yeonseo, this way!”

Yeonseo leaped into his lover’s arms without hesitation. Tae Shinju immediately held Yeonseo, turned around, and ran.

Ugh…. Had a faint groan not seeped out of Yeonseo, he would have gone straight to the first floor.

Tae Shinju stopped dead in his tracks.

“Are you hurt?”

Of course, he must be. Tae Shinju brushed back Yeonseo’s disheveled hair. The dark blue bruises were clearly visible even in the darkness.

His heart pounded. Even with him right here, Tae Shinju paid more attention than ever before, afraid he might vanish like a mirage. Just in case, he touched his hair, and it was real.

It was the same for Yeonseo.

“Is it really… Mr. Tae Shinju?”

“Yes, it is. I’m sorry I’m late. You must have been scared.”

Yeonseo smiled faintly and shook his head.

“No, it’s okay…. Did you finish your work well?”

At the unexpected question, Tae Shinju paused.

“Are you curious about that?”

In a situation like this?

It was strange. It was the same feeling he had when Yeonseo was leaving, saying ‘Goodbye’. And Tae Shinju recognized this feeling as anger.

I’m angry.

Why.

Why do you love me but not desire me. When you love someone, wanting to have them, not wanting to be apart from them, should be the normal psychology.

Instead, he was the one who was desperate to possess the other person. Even before he had him.

Tae Shinju bit his lip. Yeonseo’s shirt was off, and his body was covered in injuries. His once beautiful skin was scraped, bruised, and chafed all over, a complete mess.

The sight of him not expressing his pain overlapped with the face from his younger days. Yeonseo seemed no different from back then. Worrying about Tae Shinju, getting into danger because of Tae Shinju….

He feels a sense of powerlessness.

For now, even Tae Shinju found it hard to gauge what he held in his grasp.

“Keuheuk… fuck.”

Just then, Tae Hyunwoong appeared, rubbing his head. Tae Shinju moved Yeonseo behind his back.

“…Mr. Shinju.”

Yeonseo called him softly. Mr. Shinju. Calling him without his last name sounds softer, more like a ‘lover’.

What is he thinking? He is anxious. He was anxious because of Park Yeonseo, then relieved, and now anxious again.

The source of the anxiety is uncertainty. Tae Shinju was afraid that Yeonseo would sacrifice himself again for his sake.

I wish his love for me was greater than his desire to save me. I wish his desire to be by my side was bigger, so he would hesitate and falter a little. Am I being too much for wishing that?

“Mr. Yeonseo.”

No.

“…Ya.”

“Pardon?”

Unexpected informal speech. Moreover, an unfamiliar form of address.

Yeonseo asked back with a bewildered tone, as if he had heard something strange. Tae Shinju continued without turning around.

“…‘My name is not ya.’”

“……?”

“You don’t say that anymore?”

—My name is not ‘ya’.

A memory buried long ago, a past that only he remembered, unfolds before his eyes.

The round pupils slowly widen. His mouth hangs open as he stares blankly at Tae Shinju.

An unnatural silence. Tae Shinju raised the corner of his lips. He holds up his severed hand. He wiggles his little finger.

“This.”

“……”

“Fortunately, it was reattached just in time. Because some kid reported it promptly.”

…Hyu,

“Hyung…?”

A shiver ran down his spine.

Tae Shinju couldn’t hold back and turned around. The dazed, blank expression was much better to see.

“Sorry I’m late. Let’s go back.”

Will this make him desire me a little more?

Will he no longer go anywhere and just stay quietly in ‘Tae Shinju’s’ arms? Even if he runs away someday, will he come back to these arms?

He was about to embrace the child who had grown up so much.

“Ha, what a fucking soap opera.”

Clap. Clap. Clap. Tae Hyunwoong approached, clapping his hands. The numbness seemed to have subsided, as his walk was steady. Heh heh heh, he lets out an eerie laugh.

“Go on, keep going. Fucking hell, I’m so embarrassed I tripped trying to fuck one kid, so please, film your melodrama. But… was that the brat who reported it back then? Now that’s something I didn’t know.”

His vile face sticks out its tongue and licks his lower lip.

“So you’re saying our Yeonseo interfered with oppa’s business back then…. Ha, well now.”

Tae Shinju clicked his tongue in displeasure. It was because Yeonseo, who had heard the damned trash’s words, had created a distance just as he was about to come into his arms.

“…Mr. Shinju.”

Yeonseo, for some reason, stared intently at Tae Hyunwoong.

“Did that person… hurt Hyung?”

At that time, Tae Hyunwoong had not appeared in the shantytown. Strictly speaking, he had not directly inflicted the harm.

However, the reason Yoon Cheolgon insisted on his gangster ways. The reason he had said he would cut the bastard off by harming ‘Tae Shinju’. At the center of it all was Tae Hyunwoong.

“The successor Yoon Cheolgon wanted was Tae Hyunwoong.”

“Th-that, that’s….”

“Because he believed Tae Hyunwoong was his son.”

The behind-the-scenes story—that Yoon Cheolgon was picked up by a benefactor in his childhood and was indebted to him, that he loved his daughter, and that the daughter, in turn, wanted to take over the main house of the Keumwoong family to wield power—was a pathetic third-rate scenario.

“Even after it was determined he wasn’t his son, solidifying Tae Hyunwoong’s position would have been useful in many ways, so he would have tried all the more to tarnish me and make Tae Hyunwoong my replacement. Because he would have known better than anyone that Father is obsessed with bloodlines.”

He glanced at Tae Hyunwoong.

“Though I didn’t know the stupid fool was aware of Yoon Cheolgon’s plan.”

“Yeah, fuck you, hyung-nim. I was the one who said let’s break a bone or two before that. You didn’t know, did you?”

Tae Hyunwoong cackled like a man who had completely lost his mind. He seemed excited by the fact that he had backstabbed Tae Shinju. Since his brilliant life had indeed been twisted by his meddling, Tae Hyunwoong, with his severe inferiority complex toward his half-brother, would never have been able to forget that taste for the rest of his life.

That was the final blow.

Yeonseo was certain. As long as Tae Hyunwoong was around, Tae Shinju would get hurt again someday.

He was such a strong person, but even someone like him couldn’t be free from someone’s betrayal or the wounds people inflict. After all, wasn’t the incident where his hand was ruined and the tragedy where his finger was cut off committed by someone tied to him as ‘family’?

Bloodline. Kinship. People who weren’t connected by blood but were closer than blood relatives.

Perhaps the Hyung of the past wanted to forget all of that and be reborn. Maybe that’s why he had abandoned his memories, Yeonseo guessed.

He couldn’t forgive Tae Hyunwoong. It’s not that he doesn’t think he himself could get hurt in this incident. Of course, he’s scared. Just a short while ago, Yeonseo was almost raped by Tae Hyunwoong.

He had barely escaped to get here.

And, and….

“…Hyung.”

He finally met Tae Shinju again.

He felt like crying. What’s more, it was a Hyung who had regained all his memories.

He had imagined what Hyung would say first when he got his memories back. He had harbored the expectation that he would greet him with ‘Hello’, just like their first meeting.

But to call him ‘ya’.

He liked that it didn’t go as expected, so typical of him, and he liked that he recognized and called his name.

Tae Shinju. Tae Shinju….

How many days had he spent savoring his name anew after learning he was Hyung?

He was happy. It was a name that suited him so well. Isn’t there an expression, ‘to treat something like a pearl [shinju]’? It was a beautiful and good name, befitting a precious person.

If possible, he hoped his future life would be filled with only precious and beautiful things. For that to happen, the obstacle had to be removed.

‘Maybe I’m the cleaner?’

It was a coincidence, but he felt a delusion that he always happened to be there whenever Tae Shinju was in unavoidable danger, or when a particularly vicious obstacle needed to be dealt with. As if God had moved an errand boy into position for his beloved son.

‘That might be it.’

Otherwise, there was no way he would feel as if he had been artificially plucked from somewhere and transplanted here. Looking back, that’s how it was. A person he thought he’d never meet again. If the conclusion brought by a reunion disguised as coincidence is ultimately a repeat of the past, isn’t it worth suspecting at least once?

He was rather glad.

He always thought there was nothing he could do. But if he actually had a given destiny, and if that role was to handle the obstacles in Tae Shinju’s life, he couldn’t be more pleased. He even felt proud.

‘I… have to do it.’

The decision was swift. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t scared at all. Even if God had given him a role, it didn’t mean his safety was guaranteed. It’s just that a more precious subject had numbed his fear.

If he was fated to be hurt or to die here anyway, he wanted to at least make sure he took care of Tae Hyunwoong.

‘It’s a shame I won’t get to see the baby….’

He is not afraid of death.

It was a life he got as a bonus anyway. If he hadn’t shown up, what else would have happened but for him to be caught by Tae Hyunwoong and suffer a miserable fate? Afterwards, he would have endured a life harder than death, calling it life, and then probably killed himself while watching his insides rot away.

He knows that because he is a kind person in the end, he had given him a corner of his heart. Even if memories fade, the essence does not blur.

“Hyung… I love you.”

Yeonseo confessed shyly and ran, leaving Tae Shinju behind. Honestly, he had no plan whatsoever on how to handle things. He just wanted to get rid of the obstacle that tormented the person he loved, here and now.

Whether Tae Hyunwoong knew it or not, the ceiling of the top floor was not completely finished. Steel frames that must have once been smoothly connected had collapsed in a heap, revealing their bones, while materials that hadn’t been cleared away were scattered all over the floor. His vision, sharp in the dark, illuminated the path ahead of Yeonseo without issue.

What Yeonseo judged in that moment was to hang from that steel frame and kick Tae Hyunwoong in a vital spot.

Running straight at him and trying to push him had a high probability of failure. It was better to try in a way that might create an opening, even if he got hurt in the process. Just like when he had kicked his groin and run away before.

This time, it would be great if I could knock him out completely….

“Park Yeonseo! Don’t…!”

Tae Shinju, who had paused at Yeonseo’s sudden action, reached out his arm a step too late. The skin that brushed the tip of his fingers, almost within reach, recedes.

The slender, straight body leaps into the air. Screech…. He grabs onto the debris of the steel frame hanging low below the ceiling like a horizontal bar and extends his legs toward Tae Hyunwoong.

Thwack!

“What the, ugh!”

Fortunately, Tae Hyunwoong was caught off guard and took a blow to the solar plexus. The fact that his heavy frame stumbled backward and stepped on the scattered debris was a chance accident.

“…Huh?”

Slam, his waist caught on the railing, and he instantly flipped backward.

“Ha, euk…!”

“Mr. Yeonseo!”

Thud!

Ah, it hurts…!

It felt like his limbs were being torn apart.

When he came to his senses, Yeonseo was hanging from the railing, his wrist caught by Tae Shinju. And likewise, Tae Hyunwoong was desperately holding onto his ankle, trying his best not to fall.

“Heek, f-fuck! You fucking bitch, are you crazy?!”

He knew it wouldn’t go as planned, but….

Using the momentum to kick him in the solar plexus was good. But he should have predicted that Tae Hyunwoong would then have the option to grab his leg and cling on; that was a mistake. However, even if he could go back in time, there weren’t many methods Yeonseo could have used, so he didn’t regret choosing this one. It was an attempt made possible because he was not afraid, even if danger came.

Rather….

“Hyung….”

Yeonseo looked up with difficulty at the man who was gripping his wrist tightly, as if not to lose him.

Tae Shinju was also on the verge of falling, his own body pressed tightly against the railing as he held onto Yeonseo. Even without light, it wasn’t difficult for Yeonseo to recognize his face.

A face that looks like it’s about to cry….

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a tearful expression. Tae Shinju on the verge of tears was something he couldn’t even imagine. Nevertheless, Yeonseo thought the man looked as if he would burst into tears at any moment. His whole face was contorted like never before, his emotions coming through more strongly than usual. It was hard to imagine him crying, but seeing Tae Shinju now, he thought he might actually shed tears if he were to die right then.

Perhaps that’s why he can’t bring himself to tell him to let go.

Screeech….

“Ugh….”

A metallic sound rang from the railing Tae Shinju was braced against. It was proof that he was exerting a considerable amount of force. With his body completely over the railing, Tae Shinju was supporting the weight of two people.

‘I don’t think he can hold on for long… Should I say what I want to say first?’

“Hyung.”

“How dare you,”

Just as Yeonseo was about to speak, Tae Shinju spoke first.

“You say ‘Hyung’ so easily. Why? What were you going to say? Were you going to give up?”

“……”

“You call me Hyung, and yet you were going to abandon me and leave me alone again?”

“Wh-when did I….”

This is strange…. I’ve never once abandoned or given up on him, so why is he acting like an abandoned animal?

“Is it because I didn’t tell you I love you?”

At the unexpected topic, Yeonseo’s jaw dropped blankly. It was a shame that he couldn’t calmly ask him how he had arrived at such a conclusion.

“So you were going to let go of this hand, pretending to do it for me again?”

“Ah….”

It seemed that the act of hanging up the phone had a greater impact than he had expected. Worry, concern, anxiety, agitation…. The emotions he must have felt during my absence were vividly drawn.

“I love you.”

A terribly low, raspy, and cracked voice. It was a confession as mournful as a line spoken by a tragic hero.

My heart breaks. I received a confession, yet I felt a sense of guilt. The decision I made because I never wanted to lose him again had, on the contrary, hurt him.

Tae Shinju said, as if spitting out the words.

“So hold on. Even if your arm feels like it’s going to fall off, hold on with all your might. If you love me, if you want me to live safely, then you cannot die recklessly, nor can you get hurt.”

Drip… drip.

Along with the warning, lukewarm moisture fell onto Yeonseo’s face.

It was sweat. The sweat that had formed on Tae Shinju’s forehead ran past his eyes and the bridge of his nose, reaching Yeonseo.

The man who was always cool is drenched because of me, shedding tears of sweat. That fact was strangely moving.

‘This isn’t a dream.’

He’s really ‘Hyung’. Not the pervert who lost his memory, not the half-dead man whose finger was cut off, but,

A whole Hyung.

He is asking me to live. Telling me not to give up, to stay by his side.

“……want to.”

I want to live.

I also want to live with you and our child, without any worries.

The change was instantaneous. They say a person’s heart is as fickle as a reed, and as soon as I heard his confession, I regretted the action I thought I would never regret.

I should have looked for a better way. There must have been a way somewhere to bring down Tae Hyunwoong without me getting hurt.

“Heugh… fu-cking, goddamn it!”

“Agh…!”

Tae Hyunwoong, who had been clinging on tenaciously, moved his grip up a handspan from Yeonseo’s ankle to his calf. Yeonseo winced and groaned, his nose wrinkling. His fingers were like claws. It hurt as if his flesh was being dug into.

“Mr. Yeonseo, can you shake your leg? Shake him off. I’ll take responsibility.”

Tae Shinju gritted his teeth and pulled Yeonseo up. The veins on his forehead, neck, and arms bulged.

“Ah, ugh…! N-no, I can’t.”

Yeonseo tried to follow Tae Shinju’s instructions. He tried to move his ankle repeatedly, but it was not enough. The more he did, the more the pain intensified where the fingers were digging in.

The only fortunate thing was that Tae Shinju had succeeded in getting Yeonseo’s upper body onto the railing.

“Heok!”

“You did well. You held on well.”

God, thank you. Tae Shinju, without realizing it, found himself calling out to a god he had never sought in his entire life. He was simply grateful for the reality of being able to hold Yeonseo in his arms again.

The problem was Tae Hyunwoong. An incredibly persistent nuisance.

As Yeonseo’s upper body cleared the railing, Tae Hyunwoong’s chances of being rescued had also increased. Tae Shinju, holding Yeonseo—who was gasping for breath—in his arms, looked down coldly at Tae Hyunwoong before pulling up the rest of his lower body.

His gaze, now devoid of hesitation, resembled that of a wounded beast.

I will not let him live. No, I will let him live, but I will give him a life worse than death.

My lover would be gravely injured, but with Tae Hyunwoong’s resilience, there was a high chance he would survive even if he fell from here. Though it would be good if he just died.

“Haa, haa….”

Whether it was misfortune or a blessing, Yeonseo seemed to have no room to pay attention to anything else. He was breathing heavily, as if hyperventilating.

In that gap, Tae Shinju pulled Yeonseo up a few more handspans, bringing his lower body over the railing as well. He buried the body that had fully come over deep into his chest.

“Oof, fuck. That was fucking scary…!”

And before the leech attached to Yeonseo’s leg could move to the stable railing, he snatched its wrist.

“Wha-what!”

Since he was holding Yeonseo with one arm, he could only use one hand to stop Tae Hyunwoong. But Tae Shinju only wanted to use his remaining hand to comfort Yeonseo.

Tae Shinju stood in front of the monster to prevent it from climbing over the railing.

“What the fuck, I said!”

Naturally, Tae Hyunwoong struggled, veins popping on his neck. It was understandable, as he had thought he was safe for a moment, only to be thrown into a situation where his safety was not guaranteed.

Tae Shinju stared intently at the bastard who was struggling to live somehow.

At first, he had resolved to cut off his fingers if he grabbed the railing. It would be simple to grab his wrist and push him off, but he didn’t want to touch something like that.

If he had had the leisure, he would have stabbed him with a knife. In the end, he chose Yeonseo and ended up in the current situation, but he doesn’t regret it. Compared to Yeonseo’s safety, a squabble over cutting off fingers or not was too much of a waste of time.

This isn’t to say that the feelings he had harbored until now, be it vengeance or disgust, were insignificant. It was just that because there was a more important existence, he didn’t want to waste even a single second more here.

“Get lost.”

He let go of the hand he was holding.

The body that had been holding on precariously with one hand is pushed into the air without any support.

“Ha, fuck.”

I knew this would happen…. I knew I’d be fucked in the end.

In that brief moment, Tae Hyunwoong mumbled something, but it didn’t reach Tae Shinju’s ears. He had neither the time nor the mind to listen to the monster’s words. As soon as he threw away the trash, he was busy holding his lover close and checking his condition.

Thump.

A sound like a heavy sack falling. No one paid any attention to that sound.

“Heok, heuk….”

“Mr. Yeonseo?”

The way he was breathing raggedly was definitely not normal.

“Park Yeonseo!”

“Young master.”

At a coincidental timing, Baek Heonjae came up to the floor they were on. Without looking back at him, Tae Shinju said.

“Get a hospital on the line.”

“What should I do about Tae Hyunwoong.”

“Let him di….”

Tae Shinju suddenly closed his mouth mid-sentence. He looked into the air for a moment, then said coldly.

“No. Keep him alive.”

“Yes.”

If it were up to him, he would have left him to die or live as he may. But there was still something left to take care of. It would also be troublesome if, by any chance, Yeonseo felt guilty. It would be better for his stability to keep him alive for now and then clearly show him that he had taken care of it himself. Tae Hyunwowoong cannot be allowed to leave even a speck on Park Yeonseo.

‘Though it was unexpected that he would think of getting rid of him like that.’

“Heuk, heok….”

His thoughts could not continue any further. It was because Yeonseo had collapsed forward, clutching his chest.

“Mr. Yeonseo? Get a hold of yourself, Park Yeonseo!”

Haa, haa, haa….

Even as his surroundings filled with the sound of his own breathing, Yeonseo’s eyes followed one place. Tae Shinju. The direction where that person was.

“A-are you… sa… heok, heu, heok!”

I think it was like this before… Aah, I can’t breathe.

A blurry vision. A heartbeat that only quickens, never calming down.

As his chest heaved violently, his mind also became dazed. The familiar scent of cologne pierces through that gap….

Come to think of it, that person looked very handsome today….

He said he had an important event, so he had his hair done and dressed with more care than usual, making an already handsome person even more dazzling.

It was a pity that on a day when he should be nothing but happy, he was frowning.

‘Hyung….’

Yeonseo tried to caress his cheek before he lost consciousness and blacked out.

“…Mr. Yeonseo?”

Hoping that his beloved would not be sad.

🕷️

Beep, beep, beep….

A luxurious hospital room. A person who had been looking down at the man lying on the large bed checks the bedding. He tucks the pale wrist under the covers and props his chin on the bed, watching the sleeping face.

“Sleepyhead.”

His cheeks have become gaunt again, making the little bit of weight he had put on seem pointless.

This is his lover, who has been unconscious for three days now.

“When are you going to wake up.”

It probably wasn’t an appropriate thing to say to someone whose visible skin was wrapped in bandages. But for Tae Shinju, these past few days had been him using up the greatest patience of his life.

“The doctor said there are no major problems… is he a quack?”

“Eummm….”

As if to prevent his lover’s patience from running out, Yeonseo’s eyelids fluttered. It was the moment he finally returned to his lover’s side.

Blink….

Yeonseo struggled to open his heavy eyelids. He felt like he had a dream… but he can’t remember it. He rolls his eyes and looks straight at his lover. Tae Shinju takes Yeonseo’s hand out from under the blanket and presses a kiss to his fingers.

“Hello, sleepyhead.”

“Ah… uhm.”

“You’re thirsty, right?”

He tried to say hello, but the only thing that came out when he opened his mouth was a cracked, hoarse sound. Tae Shinju, knowing somehow, wet a handkerchief with water. He first moistened his dry lips before letting a small amount of water trickle into them.

“Haah….”

Now I feel a little more awake.

Tae Shinju was in comfortable clothes. A thin knit sweater and cotton pants were definitely not his work attire. But to say it was a caretaker’s outfit… the problem was that it looked plausible on him in its own way.

Yeonseo just blinked and looked at Tae Shinju. With a familiar touch, he moistened Yeonseo’s lips, wiped his hands, and put the used towel in a basket. The series of actions he performed with his sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm was so familiar that Yeonseo couldn’t help but feel a flutter in his heart.

“Have you… been here the whole time?”

“Are you curious about that?”

The way he drinks water with his head turned to the side looks like a model from some magazine.

Yeonseo nodded his head. His voice was still hoarse, but not to the point where he couldn’t speak.

Tae Shinju crushed the empty plastic bottle with one hand and threw it into the trash can. He stares at Yeonseo and then lets out a small laugh.

“You’re so quirky. That’s right. The day I went to save Mr. Yeonseo, I kicked my CEO position to the curb and have been holed up here ever since. The company is in an uproar, the chairman is in an uproar, and I’ve become unemployed… I’m joking.”

If he said any more, Yeonseo looked like he would pass out again, so Tae Shinju lightly pinched his pale cheek.

“The situation at that time was resolved safely. I told my secretary to tell the chairman that he’ll soon have a grandchild, and what do you know, he actually relayed it.”

“Ah…?”

What is he talking about. Yeonseo tilted his head with a bewildered expression.

“Anyway, it seems the chairman stepped in to handle it himself, so we should consider it well resolved. More importantly, aren’t you curious about your own condition? Where and how much you were hurt, and if the baby is safe.”

“Ah, the baby!”

Yeonseo gasped in surprise and wrapped his arms around his stomach. His flat stomach was just as flat now as it was before the accident.

Tae Shinju leaned his body diagonally next to Yeonseo and wrapped an arm around his thin shoulders. He covers Yeonseo’s hand with his own.

“The baby is….”

“D-don’t tell me it’s….”

“Healthy. Both of them.”

Yeonseo’s mouth fell open. Both of them…?

As he awkwardly turned to look at the man, he, as if he had been waiting, sucked a mouthful of Yeonseo’s cheek.

“Eut….”

“We didn’t get to properly hear about the ultrasound on the day we went to the hospital, did we. I was also unsure back then… but the tests this time showed it’s twins.”

“Tw-twins….”

“Your womb and baby pouch are so small, yet you’re so greedy, our Mr. Yeonseo…. Trying to hold two babies. Hm?”

It felt like months ago, but it was a recent past. Yeonseo ducked his head low at the vividly recalled lovemaking.

‘Twins….’

…I’m happy.

I was even doubtful if I could get pregnant, and yet two children have come to me. I had only thought about handling one by myself, and never thought about raising two, but I was still happy.

“You like it?”

“…Yes.”

“If you like it, then you should take care of Mr. Yeonseo’s husband now. I was so worried my heart was burning up.”

“Hus….”

At the unexpected title, Yeonseo paused. He was more surprised than by the news that he was pregnant with twins.

Tae Shinju seemed unfazed.

“What. Why. You’re carrying my kid, so I’m the husband. Do you have another husband somewhere, Mr. Yeonseo?”

“N-n-no. I don’t.”

“…Right. If you say no, then that’s a relief.”

His eyes were such that one would be afraid of what he might do if you said you had another husband, even as a joke.

A warm breeze returned to his eyes, which had turned coldly somber. Just by slightly curving his eyes, his impression became gentle.

Yeonseo leaned his head into his embrace as he was led. A comfortable and peaceful embrace. Only then did the reality that he had returned hit him.

“Why did you do it.”

“Pardon?”

Tae Shinju tried to ask as lightly as possible, but it didn’t work out as he intended.

“Why. Why did you follow Tae Hyunwoong alone, leaving me behind.”

“……”

He had wanted to keep asking. Even though he had already come to a conclusion in his mind, and even though he knew the actual answer would not be different from it, he was curious about Yeonseo’s answer.

Even without his memories, he cherished him. It was the first time he had ever cared for and looked after someone like that. To me, you were that precious, so is there a need for you to be so selfless?

Looking down at his peacefully sleeping face made him feel pity, yet anger boiled up. It was agonizing because the heat pooled in his heart would not escape.

“You’re such a coward. Why weren’t you scared then?”

“……”

“Do I not… make you greedy?”

A bare face with nothing left to hide.

It’s a question that hurts one’s pride. It would have been, a few days ago. He could have asked with a thunderous rage, “Why did you follow Tae Hyunwoong there?”

It’s not that he isn’t angry now. His pride stung at having to voice the value of his own charm. He had merely realized that such pride is useless when there is no one to listen to it.

Park Yeonseo is alive. Alive, and he has woken up safely. That is why he can ask such pride-hurting questions, Tae Shinju clearly recognized.

In other words, it was also a process of realizing that Park Yeonseo had woken up by asking himself a painful question.

Because he… looked as if he would die right there.

“I love you.”

Drip.

“Wooo….”

The dry cheeks finally become wet. It was only a moment before Yeonseo’s ear and cheek turned red and damp.

“I… I’m, I’m very, greedy.”

Plop. Hot tears fell as soon as they welled up.

Yeonseo pulled Tae Shinju’s hand and placed it on his own heart. Thump, thump, thump, thump…. It is a heart that beats uncontrollably when he is in front of him. He had to force his heart to behave, going back and forth between the gap of hyperventilation and apnea, wanting to see him for as long as possible. Of course, he failed.

“Fr-from the first time I saw you… I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

At first, I thought it was because of money, but it wasn’t. The true feeling hidden by money was just the greed of wanting to have you.

Desire.

Craving.

Thirst.

The man had surely forgotten. Who it was that confessed their love first.

“…I love you.”

Yeonseo confessed blankly. His unfocused gaze was that of someone lost in his own world.