The House of Three Chapter 6.1

“Hyung, it’s so stuffy staying at home! Let’s go out to play!”

Cheonghyun, who had been at home ever since school let out, shouted as he put down his pencil. It seemed he had fervently completed three whole pages of his workbook, and now he was getting antsy.

Heeyoung readily accepted the child’s whining. Although the weather was still cold, the sky itself was clear. As long as they bundled up properly, a brief outing seemed like it would be fine. If it got too cold, they could just go to a café.

After finishing preparations to go out with the child, he sent a text to Gyojin. It was a simple report.

Boss, I’m going out with Cheonghyun right
now. We’ll go to the playground for a bit, then
go to a café for a snack before coming back.

Heeyoung hadn’t expected a reply, so he put on his shoes and stepped out the front door. Cheonghyun, with a scarf wrapped thickly around his small body, had already gone ahead to the main gate and was waiting for him.

“Hyung, hurry up!”

“Alright. Let’s hold hands, Cheonghyun.”

Just as Heeyoung extended his hand, worried he might lose the child, he paused his actions at the vibration ringing inside his pocket. When he took out his phone, a reply had arrived from Gyojin. 5 o’clock should have been his busiest time, yet a response had come back in less than five minutes.

I’ll stop by after work, so wait for me at the
café with Cha Cheonghyun

Even though there was no need for him to stop by, it seemed Gyojin had already decided to join them at the café. Heeyoung debated whether to send a reply, but ended up just shoving his phone into the pocket of his padded jacket.

Holding Cheonghyun’s hand, the place they headed to was the playground near the house. Since it was a cold day, there were no other children out playing, so Heeyoung had to play with Cheonghyun, running around energetically on the soft, cushioned ground.

He pushed him on the swing, rode the seesaw, and after they had a round of a game that was currently popular among kids, the sky began to grow dark. The sun set early in the winter, so it was already dark by 6 o’clock.

The two of them went towards the downtown area and visited a small, private café. As soon as they sat down with warm hot chocolate and bread, Cheonghyun, who had been smacking his lips, snatched up a muffin.

Heeyoung watched the child eat while drinking his tea. He had been pretending to be fine while playing until now, but his physical condition had been feeling unusual for a while. Because of the incident where he fell into the swimming pool during the day, he had a cough, a slight fever was rising, and he was feeling under the weather.

Still, spending time alone with Cheonghyun was more comfortable than being in the house where that Lee Seowon was watching him with wide eyes. It was a great blessing for him to be able to chat quietly with the child under the soft jazz music and gentle lighting.

Heeyoung sipped the warm tea, thinking he should buy some multi-symptom cold medicine on the way home.

“Oh? It’s snowing!”

Just then, Cheonghyun, who had been furiously devouring the bread, pointed at the window and exclaimed. When he turned his head and looked out the large window, white snow was indeed falling.

“Wow, it’s pretty…”

“Hyung! Hyung! I want to show Dad a snowman when he comes. Let’s build a snowman!”

The snowflakes were quite large, as if intending to fall all night. Come to think of it, he thought he remembered the weather forecast this morning saying they would see heavy snow. If it kept falling at this rate, it seemed they would be able to scrape together the freshly accumulating snow to build a snowman.

As it happened, he had a pair of gloves that he had brought just in case. He had packed them in case the child got cold, and it turned out to be a good choice.

“Should we? The snow is already starting to pile up. We won’t be able to make a big one, but let’s at least make a little snowman.”

“A little one? I can make a bigger one! Hyung, hurry up and come out!”

“Wait, Cheonghyun. You have to put on your jumper and gloves.”

The child, excited at the thought of building a snowman, was too busy looking out the window to pay attention, even while Heeyoung was helping him put on his jumper and gloves. Thinking they would probably have to sit in the café for a long time, Heeyoung ordered one more item from the menu before belatedly following Cheonghyun out.

Cheonghyun, having found a spot in front of the café, was gathering the thinly piled snow on the ground and packing it together. Heeyoung also squatted on the ground and scraped snow together.

Cough! His coughs became more frequent as the time spent outside grew longer. Eventually, his nose started running too, and Heeyoung had to sniffle like a child.

Hearing the sound, Cheonghyun, who had been skillfully shaping the snowman, stopped and came over to offer him his own scarf. The sight of a baby who had just started first grade acting so gentlemanly was so cute that a soft laugh escaped him.

“Hyung, hurry and put on the scarf. Did you catch a cold? Are you sick?”

“No, I’m not sick, just a light cold. You wear the scarf, Cheonghyun. I’ll just accept the thought.”

“No way! The person with the cold is the one who wears the scarf. Here, I’ll wrap it for you.”

It was endearing how he dependably wrapped the scarf around his neck with his tiny, fern-like hands. Cheonghyun, who had carefully and earnestly tied the scarf, became shy a beat later and ran off ahead. He put on a swaggering expression as if such a considerate gesture was nothing, but his ears were as red as a burning sweet potato.

Heeyoung was so grateful for the gesture that he forgot he was sick and did his best to play with him. As the two put their heads together and patted the snow, three palm-sized snowmen were soon completed in front of the café.

“Hyung, Dad is coming here, right? Then I want to put them where he can see them best.”

“Yes. I think putting them here will be good.”

“There. Now let’s go inside and wait for Dad. Hyung, your hands are so cold.”

After placing the snowmen in the most visible spot, Cheonghyun took Heeyoung’s hand and returned inside the café.

The child, hungry again from moving around so actively, focused on finishing the remaining bread and drink, while Heeyoung warmed his frozen body and checked his phone.

An hour ago, he had sent Gyojin the café’s location, and a reply had come in the meantime.

Arriving soon

Since it was welcome news for the child, Heeyoung immediately relayed the message.

“Cheonghyun, Dad will be here soon.”

“That’s a relief. The snowmen didn’t melt.”

“Haha. It’s cold outside, so they won’t melt even if we leave them there.”

He had wanted to show his dad the snowmen, and it seemed his expectations were high. Worried that Gyojin might crush his son’s expectations, Heeyoung gave him a heads-up via text.

Cheonghyun and I made snowmen in front
of the café. He worked hard on them,
saying he wanted to show them off to his
dad, so please make sure to praise him first
when you arrive.

Now that he had told him so directly, there was no way Gyojin would show an indifferent reaction.

Placing his phone on the table, Heeyoung suddenly felt a chill and took another sip of tea. A moment ago it was just a slight cough, but now his throat was becoming uncomfortable as well. A stinging pain made him frown involuntarily, but he didn’t let it show and gazed out the window.

But then, a couple of people caught his eye. Two men who had just come out of the convenience store were standing near the café, each lighting a cigarette. It wasn’t a very pleasant sight.

The men, who looked to be around Heeyoung’s age, lit their cigarettes and chuckled amongst themselves as they talked. Their voices were so loud that their curses—smacking each other on the arm and spitting out “you fucking bastard” and “what the fuck”—could be heard even inside the café.

They also made funny faces as they blew smoke out in the shape of donuts. Heeyoung glanced at Cheonghyun sitting in front of him. Thankfully, Cheonghyun was so engrossed in his dessert that he had no interest in the scene outside.

Heeyoung wished those men would disappear before the child saw them. Even if it wasn’t for the child’s sake, just looking at them made him feel unpleasant, and he didn’t want to keep them in his sight.

However, the men brutally crushed Heeyoung’s wish.

“What’s with this snowman?”

“It’s so fucking small I want to stomp on it.”

“Watch this. I’ll show you something fun.”

One of the men, who had flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground, swaggered over to the snowmen lined up in a row. Then, without hesitation, he kicked one and shouted.

“Head!”

Thwack.

He had mercilessly kicked the snowman that Heeyoung and Cheonghyun had painstakingly made.

The firmly packed snowman crumbled at once with a single kick. In front of the café, only snow stained with black grime was scattered here and there.

Heeyoung, who witnessed the scene and scowled deeply, first checked on the still-unaware Cheonghyun. What if the child got upset, since he had made it especially to show his dad? As he was fretting with worry.

An even more shocking scene unfolded outside the window.

Gyojin, who had appeared from nowhere and was striding toward the café, lifted his long leg and suddenly kicked the man in the back. Just like how the man had kicked the snowman.

The café’s large window must have been made of thin glass, because the sounds from outside leaked in vividly.

“What the fuck!”

The man, who had almost collapsed from the heavy blow, raised his head and let out a yell. When he spun around boldly, he flinched upon finding Gyojin, who was now right in front of him. He seemed flustered, seeing a man who was incomparably larger than him in both height and build.

Gyojin looked down at the man with an annoyed expression and spat.

“What are you staring at so rudely? You feel wronged because you got hit?”

His low, subdued voice was as chilly as the cold weather. The man briefly scanned Gyojin, who was dressed in a coat and suit, and answered in a tone that was neither too arrogant nor particularly polite.

“Well of course, wouldn’t anyone feel wronged?”

“That’s strange. You were acting like you deserved to get hit, so I kicked you as you wished, but I see you feel wronged after all.”

Unlike the man’s amateurishly edgy tone, Gyojin’s voice was nothing but relaxed.

The man, sensing he was no match for Gyojin, exchanged a look with his friend, assessed the situation, and then talked back.

“Hyung-nim, I don’t know why you’re suddenly doing this, but all I did was smoke a cigarette with my friend and break a snowman here. I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else, Hyung-nim.”

His attitude of revering his opponent, calling him Hyung-nim, Hyung-nim, was exactly at the level of a street punk. Gyojin, perhaps finding his repeated bowing absurd, took another step closer, posing a threat.

“Exactly. Why the hell did you kick the masterpiece that some other man’s kid painstakingly made to show his dad?”

As he spoke with a sneering smile, his already harsh and thuggish tone sounded even more vicious. If this continued, it seemed like Gyojin might actually do something.

Unable to watch any longer, Heeyoung stood up to go out and stop him. But unfortunately, someone else beat him to it.

“No! My snowman! Where did my snowman go!”

Cheonghyun, realizing the situation outside, shot out of the café with fire in his eyes.

“Cheonghyun!”

He darted out like a bullet before Heeyoung could grab him, forcing Heeyoung to hastily chase after him.

The area in front of the café was already a chaotic mess. Gyojin, spotting his son running out with a tearful face, threatened the man as if he was about to half-kill him. He grabbed him by the collar with one hand and shook him violently, making the man’s shabby body tremble pitifully.

“How about I make a snowman out of your ass? It won’t be a real snowman until there’s a person inside, don’t you think?”

“No, no, I’m sorry. H-hey, kiddo! Hyung will build you a n-new snowman!”

As if Gyojin running wild wasn’t enough, the child joined in, cornering the man like a cat cornering a mouse. Cheonghyun kicked at the man, huffing and puffing with rage.

“Why did you break it! Why! I made it to show my dad, so why!”

As a commotion erupted, even the people passing by on the street stopped to watch. It was truly an incredibly embarrassing situation.

Heeyoung, who had been gaping, unsure of what to do, first pulled the child away from the man, then grabbed Gyojin’s arm and began to break up the fight.

“Boss, Boss! Please stop. Okay?”

As he firmly grabbed his thick forearm with both hands, the arm holding the man’s collar was surprisingly easy to release. Gyojin took two steps back, feigning innocence as if he had never been violent. He became so docile it made Heeyoung’s frantic attempts to hold him back feel pointless.

The man, freed from Gyojin’s grasp and gasping for breath, cautiously eyed the situation before making a run for it. He fled so swiftly that the sound of his feet pounding the ground as he sprinted away could be heard from where they stood.

Heeyoung, who had been staring blankly at the retreating backs of the men, first turned to soothe Cheonghyun, who was sulking petulantly. He could feel Gyojin’s gaze fixed on him, but he naturally pretended not to notice.

“It was my snowman! It’s all broken!”

“Let’s make another one, Cheonghyun. I think the snowman went home.”

He was reluctant to say that the snowman had been stomped on by someone’s foot, so he softened his words to match the child’s level. Then, he heard a snort of laughter from above his head. Gyojin was smirking, his lips pulled up in an amused expression.

Why is he laughing? He narrowed his brow, feeling as if he were being ridiculed, but even Cheonghyun, who had been fuming until just a moment ago, started grinning along with his dad.

“Hyung, I’m not a baby, you know. A snowman is just snow, how can it go home?”

Heeyoung, realizing his mistake, felt his face flush red. In his eyes, Cheonghyun was just a little kid, so he had explained it innocently, but the child was an elementary school student who knew what was what. And he had babbled on about the snowman going home to a child like that. He was so embarrassed he could die.

“Hyung is a dummmyy.”

Heehee. The child giggled cutely and then ran around the café distractedly, kicking at the snow on the ground. The area in front of the café, which had been noisy with the sounds of fighting, was now filled with the child’s laughter.

Heeyoung, awkwardly scratching his head, raised his head with an embarrassed smile. What first filled his vision was not the open scenery, but Gyojin’s sculpture-like face.

Gyojin, who had been looking down at Heeyoung without erasing the smile from his lips, soon hardened his expression.

The longer they made eye contact, the deeper the furrow in his handsome brow became. Gyojin scrutinized every corner of Heeyoung’s face.

It was because Heeyoung’s face, which was usually as white as tofu, was flushed red. It wasn’t just that his skin had turned red from the cold. His lips were also a little dry and the area under his eyes was sunken; he looked sick at a glance.

His face, which had been perfectly fine when he saw him in the morning, had lost its vitality in just half a day.

In fact, he had been on the phone with Team Leader Jeong on his way to the café. Team Leader Jeong had reported that Lee Heeyoung had come in around noon, soaking wet. The report stated that Lee Seowon had ordered him to clean the swimming pool, and it seemed he had been bullied there.

He had thought, no way, but it turned out some fucked up things had been happening behind his back.

In weather where you could see your breath, what, cleaning a swimming pool? On top of that, he was pushed into ice-cold water. He was stunned by the truly low-class level of bullying.

Gyojin had agreed one hundred percent with Team Leader Jeong’s words that a warning seemed necessary.

Now that he had a reason, he had barely suppressed the urge to go home immediately and choke the life out of Lee Seowon, and had driven to the café where the two were waiting.

But now, facing Heeyoung’s condition, he felt a rage that surpassed his imagination.

Did it make any sense for a perfectly fine person to become so haggard in just a few hours? His complexion was far too gloomy to be suffering from a mere cold.

For a moment, a burning sensation rose in his chest, and his facial muscles twisted viciously.

“You, you were outside this whole time in that state?”

The worried words came out harshly. Seeing Lee Heeyoung barely holding himself up on his own two feet made his heart sink strangely, making him realize what it felt like to be devastated.

Heeyoung, who had no way of knowing Gyojin’s inner thoughts, merely replied innocently.

“No. I was only at the playground for a little while, and I was sitting in the café until now. I was only out in the wind for a moment while making the snowman. I made sure Cheonghyun didn’t catch a cold.”

That’s not what I meant. Gyojin, feeling frustrated, stopped trying to talk further. It was nighttime and the weather was cold. It was snowing, too. He couldn’t just leave a sick person standing outside.

“Cha Cheonghyun, come here. I’m going to grab our things from the café, so take him and go wait in Dad’s car.”

“Are we going home?”

“Well, the sun has set, so shouldn’t we be going home, my son?”

Whistle. Gyojin, whistling as if calling a dog, entrusted Heeyoung to his son, who had run up to him. He gestured with his chin towards the car parked on the side of the road, and the child nodded without a word.

“Boss, I’ll get our things. You can go ahead and wait.”

“Listen to this one, talking back so readily. I said go to the car with the kid.”

Even though Cheonghyun was pulling his hand, saying, “Hyung, let’s go,” Heeyoung didn’t move, staying put. He felt uncomfortable, as if he were making his boss do menial chores. However, Gyojin pushed Heeyoung on the back, sending him towards the car, and strode into the café.

He quickly found their table, gathered their things, and came back out in less than a minute. By the time he reached the car and had just opened the driver’s side door, Heeyoung and Cheonghyun were sitting close together in the back seat.

Heeyoung, who had ended up in the back seat at Cheonghyun’s insistence, thought it was impolite and started making excuses.

“Ah, I was going to sit in the passenger seat, but Cheonghyun said he wanted to sit together…”

“Ohh, is that so?”

“…Pardon?”

But Gyojin didn’t seem to care whether he sat in the passenger seat or the back seat. He replied casually as if dealing with a child, then fastened his seatbelt and started the engine. It was a habit from dealing with his son, and he wasn’t even aware of the tone he had used.

Momentarily flustered, Heeyoung blinked blankly before relaxing his tension. Anyway, after being in the cold, coming into the warm car made his throat feel itchy. Cough! He coughed, and his body felt like it was getting heavier.

Gyojin, glancing at Heeyoung in the rearview mirror, naturally turned the heater up stronger as he pressed the accelerator. He was the type to run hot, so the warm air wasn’t particularly welcome, but Heeyoung seemed to like the current temperature.

Heeyoung, who had been resting his weary body against the seat, started to feel sleepy and deliberately forced his eyes wide open to look out the window.

He watched the scenery whiz by and listened quietly to the sounds from the video Cheonghyun was watching. The cheerful dialogue of a cartoon character flowed from the phone’s speaker.

The atmosphere in the car, with only a moderate level of noise, was comfortable. He felt completely at ease, as if the last bit of strength in his body was draining away.

While Heeyoung was fighting a battle against sleepiness, Gyojin kept glancing at the rearview mirror. He carefully observed Heeyoung, who was quietly looking out the window with his mouth shut tight.

Is he seriously sick? Regular hospitals would already be closed, but they could certainly go to the emergency room. Gyojin decided to turn the car around right away and parted his lips. He was about to stop observing Heeyoung through the rearview mirror and recommend a hospital.

“Hey, you—”

“Oh, right! My teacher said to write a letter diary every day now!”

But Cheonghyun spoke up first, clinging to Heeyoung. The child, who had tossed his phone aside, was holding his head with both hands as if trying to remember the homework his teacher had given him in detail.

Heeyoung, who had been buried in drowsiness until a moment ago, was jolted awake by the child’s booming voice and sat up straight.

“A letter diary?”

When he played along familiarly, Cheonghyun nodded vigorously and continued his explanation.

“Uh-huh, it’s where I write a letter in a notebook and my parents write a reply!”

“Sounds fun. Work hard on it, Cha Cheonghyun. If you write it without any effort, you won’t get a reply.”

Cheonghyun’s eyes were clearly fixed on Heeyoung, but the reply came from the front seat. At Gyojin’s playful tone, Cheonghyun furrowed his brows determinedly and retorted.

“I’m not doing it with Dad! I’m going to do it with Heeyoung hyung!”

He insisted on doing the letter diary—meant to be exchanged with his parents—specifically with Heeyoung. Thanks to that, Heeyoung, put in an awkward position, had to cautiously check Gyojin’s reaction and try to persuade the child.

“Cheonghyun, the teacher gave you this homework so you can get closer to your dad, so you should do it with your dad.”

“I’m already close with Dad. I want to get closer to Hyung.”

But my, what a way with words he had. Cheonghyun shrugged his shoulders and acted nonchalant. Heeyoung was at a loss, his words cut off by the child’s attitude.

Then, Gyojin stepped in and smoothly resolved the situation.

“Hah, that little punk, betraying his father again. Is Lee Heeyoung your dad?”

Stopping the car at a red light, he looked back with a slight smile. He reached out and pinched the child’s cute nose, and the child laughed playfully and snuggled into Heeyoung’s arms.

“Yes! I wish Heeyoung hyung was my dad!”

In that moment, a bombshell of a statement was innocently dropped. Genuinely flustered, Heeyoung couldn’t help but flinch. Gyojin was the same.

His eyebrows twitched, and he gave the child a needless tap on the forehead before looking straight ahead. He muttered, “There’s nothing he won’t say,” but he didn’t explicitly point out to Cheonghyun that he shouldn’t say such things.

“Anyway! I’m going to do my homework with Heeyoung hyung.”

“Do as you please. But don’t hide it from me, and show me all the letters.”

Surprisingly, Gyojin easily gave in to the child’s stubbornness. Of course, there was one condition attached. To show him all the contents of the letters. It seemed he had secretly been looking forward to a letter from his son.

“Why? Why do I have to show everything to you, Dad?”

“What do you mean, why? It’s because I don’t want to be the only one left out, my dear son.”

Heeyoung, who almost burst out laughing at their conversation, bit his lips tightly and glanced at the back of Gyojin’s head.

With his hair slicked back with pomade and his cold eyes, he looked like a fierce gangster, but whenever he opened his mouth, unexpected words would pop out. Even though he seemed awkward dealing with the child, he had a knack for conversing on his level.

He might seem like an immature dad, but as long as the child liked it, that was all that mattered.

As Cheonghyun giggled, Heeyoung also laughed a little along with him. As he laughed silently, his head began to ring.

Did I overdo it too much today? Even though he wanted to laugh more, he didn’t have the strength left to laugh. His nose felt stuffy and swollen and his forehead throbbed, as if a fever was about to set in for real.

His energy completely drained, Heeyoung chose to gently close his eyes. He felt sorry for Cheonghyun, but he was in a state where it was difficult to even lift a finger, having used up all his strength.

“Oh? Hyung is sleeping.”

“Cha Cheonghyun. Shh.”

Unlike Heeyoung, who was limp like an overcooked vegetable, Cheonghyun’s eyes were wide awake. When the child spoke in a loud voice, Gyojin brought his index finger to his lips and quieted him.

He pressed the accelerator more carefully than usual, checking on the sleeping Heeyoung from time to time. The playful and mischievous expression had long since vanished from his face.

The eyes looking forward were chilling. It was a face that didn’t look like a scary but actually humane person, nor like an immature kid’s dad.

🌿

The car carrying the three of them came to a smooth stop in front of the house. Gyojin got out without turning off the engine and gestured with his chin towards the two who had just gotten out of the back seat and were holding hands.

“Go on in first.”

At those words, the worried expression on Heeyoung’s face melted away. It seemed he was conscious of Lee Seowon, who would be in the house. His overly relieved face was somehow pitiful.

Gaining certainty upon certainty from that one small change in expression, Gyojin realized that his choice just now had been the right one. If he had entered the house with Lee Heeyoung like some oblivious bastard, there was no telling how much worse that frail body would be tomorrow.

“Then, I’ll go in first and take care of Cheonghyun.”

“No. Tell him to wash up and go to sleep on his own, and you go rest as soon as you get inside.”

“How can I just leave the child—”

Even though he told him to get plenty of rest, Heeyoung, who didn’t know how to take care of his own body, was only thinking of the child, awake or asleep. Anyone would think he was the real father. Gyojin issued a threat that wasn’t scary towards Heeyoung, who just wouldn’t listen.

“I’m telling you to clock out already, aren’t I? Are you looking down on my son? He has hands and feet too. Isn’t that right, Cha Cheonghyun.”

“That’s right! I can wash up and go to sleep by myself, Hyung. I’m an elementary school student!”

“See. Just because he’s a tiny little kid doesn’t mean he doesn’t have pride. He says he can do it all. You’re supposed to raise a boy to be strong.”

It wasn’t exactly wrong. He wasn’t a kindergartener anymore but an elementary school student, so it was time for him to learn to do things on his own.

As he was bombarded with opinions, Heeyoung stood there dazedly and nodded his head. Seeing that his face was redder than it had been a few dozen minutes ago, it seemed his fever had worsened in the meantime.

Gyojin opened the main gate for them, telling them to hurry inside. Then, Heeyoung, who had been cautiously observing him, bowed his head deeply and passed through the gate. Cheonghyun also followed behind him, secretly looking up at Gyojin standing beside him.

Shhh.

The child brought his short and cute sausage-like finger to his lips. Gyojin, who had made a promise with his son about 10 minutes ago, let out a silly laugh and patted Cheonghyun’s head once.

‘Cha Cheonghyun. It’s a secret that you met Dad outside today.’

‘To whom?’

‘Lee Seowon.’

‘Why is it a secret? Because it’s good if only we know?’

‘Yeah. That’s right. If you keep the secret well, Dad will buy you one of those liquid monster things you like, okay?’

It was just a way to keep him quiet, but the innocent Cheonghyun firmed his resolve as if he had been given a grave mission. The child glanced back repeatedly until he reached the front door, clenching his fist. It was a sign that meant, You can count on me.

“Ah, that praiseworthy punk. Whose son is he?”

To think that cute little guy is my son. Gyojin, who had become a doting fool in front of his child, put on a pleased smile and raised his head. The front door closed, and the two of them disappeared. Before long, a bright light turned on in the second-floor hallway.

After confirming that the two had returned home safely, he hurried back to the car. He roughly turned the steering wheel to exit the residential area and headed to a nearby pharmacy.

He entered the pharmacy just as it was about to close and swept up medicine as if he were a robber. Multi-symptom cold medicine, fever reducer, pain reliever, liquid cold medicine, fatigue recovery drink, vitamins, etc. He requested all sorts of things and swiped his card without hesitation.

The pharmacist looked at Gyojin, who looked healthier than anyone, with a peculiar expression and handed him a plastic bag full of medicine.

‘Surely, you’re not going to take all of this at once, are you?’ the pharmacist, unable to erase his suspicion, asked, but Gyojin had already left the pharmacy.

Rustling the plastic bag, he returned to the car and started the engine again. However, he couldn’t press the accelerator right away.

It was because the image of the sick Heeyoung suddenly came to mind, and his heart sank heavily. Gyojin leaned his arms on the steering wheel and let out a short sigh.

It had already been almost two months since he started living with Lee Seowon.

To be honest, when he first accepted the Chairman’s proposal, he thought that a mere four months would pass by uneventfully. He just had to fill the period for courtesy’s sake, and after the promised four months passed, he could just reject Lee Seowon on his end.

He had expected to some extent that Lee Seowon would be picky with the staff working at the house. He did indeed work the employees to the bone, and Gyojin had known about it but had let it be. Since it wasn’t severe, there was no need to pick a fight and clash over it.

Some might call him insensitive if they heard it, but Gyojin’s attention was solely focused on his son, so he had no time to spare for the employees.

He had become particularly indifferent to his surroundings after Lee Seowon started showing a strange animosity towards Cheonghyun. It was because he was focused only on keeping his one and only son away from Lee Seowon.

But now, it seemed it was time to look around. After recognizing today’s situation, he even felt a sense of crisis that he could not be indifferent any longer.

What was Lee Heeyoung’s condition like when he saw him earlier? He looked precarious, as if he would collapse at any moment. His staggering appearance looked worse than a chick about to die. He was also thinner than before, his under-eyes were hollow, and his condition was a mess, to the point where he could barely breathe due to the fever.

For a moment, seeing that sight, he didn’t know why his blood boiled so much. It was similar to how he felt when Cheonghyun was three years old and suffered from a fever for several days.

Anger at his own helplessness, feeling like someone was gouging out his heart when watching him suffer, frustration, and the feeling of the ground collapsing beneath his feet.

It wasn’t simply because Lee Heeyoung’s appearance was weak and pitiful. It meant that the emotion was not light enough to be dismissed as mere sympathy or compassion.

A small worry quickly took root and spread widely. Why is he so foolish? If his body is sick, he should at least rest at home. He should at least say he’s sick. He should rather have a malicious thought and tell on someone.

Then, when he reached the end of his thoughts, one question arose.

Why am I worrying about Lee Heeyoung this much?

Gyojin slowly retraced his memories of the past.

On the day he first brought Lee Heeyoung home, his interest was naturally drawn to the way he treated the child. The sunshine-like warmth and untainted purity were aspects rarely found in an adult, so it was certainly shocking.

Lee Heeyoung, who was usually absent-minded but showed courage in strange places, always captivated him with his unpredictable actions. It was so funny how he would be holding his breath quietly one moment, then suddenly raise his voice and give him advice the next.

Although he lived with a ‘fuck everyone but family’ mindset, strangely, the meddling from Lee Heeyoung alone didn’t sound unpleasant.

And above all, not long ago, after the incident at Ignis where he had laid Lee Heeyoung on his thigh, it had gone beyond just being on his mind.

Gyojin was displeased that Lee Heeyoung couldn’t remember what happened that day. He wanted Lee Heeyoung to somehow remember that day’s events and come to him, get angry, and demand an explanation. With that powerless yet somehow firm voice, while dragging out the ends of his words.

*Boss, why did you do that that day? Why did you pour me drinks continuously? Did you enjoy fondling your cock in front of a drunk person? Pervert. Take responsibility right now. I’m telling you to take responsibility for me. You just have to let me fit in between Cheonghyun and you, Boss. The three of us can just become a family!* like that.

…Fuck, did I go too far with that one?

Anyway, Gyojin didn’t want to make what happened that day an ‘accident’.

At this point, the answer was slowly being deduced. He couldn’t help but admit it.

The fact that he was starting to give his heart to Lee Heeyoung.

He became conscious of Lee Heeyoung’s every action, observed every little change in his expression, and wanted to get involved in every single affair of that pitiful life and worry about him.

However, if asked to give a specific reason why he had come to like Lee Heeyoung, he didn’t think he could answer easily.

Perhaps interest and curiosity, or affection for a certain person, are things that originally come at a very ordinary time in a very ordinary way.

Whether love is truly something that just suddenly takes a place in a corner of your heart for someone one day, without you even knowing why you’re doing it. For the current Gyojin, it was hard to understand.

To say he had grown physically attached was not right, as they had never done anything that could be called sex, though to be precise, there was a time when he had unilaterally violated Lee Heeyoung. Of course, for Lee Heeyoung, the memory of that day was as non-existent as a speck of dust floating in the air.

But Gyojin could be certain of one thing: that day, when he had shamefully masturbated while the drunk Heeyoung was there, the feelings he harbored for Lee Heeyoung had become deeply embedded in his heart.

It was a vulgar and utterly disgraceful pure love.

Gyojin embraced a strange sense of excitement and guilt at the same time.

The thought of wanting to intervene more actively in Lee Heeyoung’s life, and the thought that he had become a shameful father to Cha Cheonghyun by committing a conscience-forsaken act at Ignis the other day and finally harboring lewd, dark intentions, rushed in simultaneously.

His mind began to grow more and more complicated.

“Haa…”

Letting out a bitter sigh and rubbing his dry face, Gyojin soon held his head up stiffly as if he had never felt self-loathing.

“Wait a minute, fuck. Is there really a need to suffer over something like this?”

So what if he became a shameful father? Since he had already given his heart to Lee Heeyoung, and had already exposed his dick before that, it was a problem he could just take responsibility for.

Wouldn’t messing with a perfectly fine Lee Heeyoung and not taking responsibility be the shortcut to becoming a shameful father? It was a great greed to wish for Lee Heeyoung to remember that day’s events, come to him, and get angry while demanding he take responsibility.

After having a child, he hadn’t played around with his dick carelessly, and he didn’t even have any intention of getting a serious partner. Of course, all of that was restrained for Cha Cheonghyun’s sake.

But if the other person was Lee Heeyoung, wouldn’t the child understand? Conversely, since Lee Heeyoung also likes the child, there wouldn’t be a big problem. Good for the sister, good for the brother-in-law, cleaning the ditch and catching the crayfish.

The corners of his mouth twitched and lifted. Gyojin, who had gotten ahead of himself, even imagining a wedding with Heeyoung, caught himself around the time he reached the thought, ‘A daughter would be nice for the second child.’

For such a future, he had to sort out the current headache of a situation first.

Fuck, even if a knife were at his throat, he should never have accepted the Chairman’s proposal. It was a moment where he deeply regretted his own past attitude of being complacent, thinking it would just pass.

The promised period of four months to live with Lee Seowon. And the remaining period of two months.

He had a premonition that it would be difficult to endure even those two months.

Gyojin, who had quietly returned home with the medicine, went straight not to his own room, nor Heeyoung’s room, but to Lee Seowon’s room. The excited feelings he had while indulging in all sorts of fantasies in the car had long since sunk deep down.

He crossed the hallway with wide strides and knocked on the door with a tightly clenched fist.

Knock, knock.

In that brief moment, the pitiful image of Heeyoung, coughing with his eyes cast down powerlessly, flashed through his mind. What kind of bullshit had he endured all this time? Imagining the scene of Heeyoung being bullied, his anger flared for the first time in a while.

“Who, …Mr. Gyojin?”

Seowon, who opened the door with an annoyed expression, brightened up upon finding Gyojin standing there like a wall. In the middle of the night, and on top of that, Gyojin had come to his room first, so for him, it could only be a welcome and joyous event.

However, Gyojin mercilessly crushed that expectation and pushed Lee Seowon’s body. When he grabbed his shoulders and pushed, Seowon stumbled back defenselessly. Unable to hide his dumbfounded expression, he said, ‘Mr. Gyojin, what are you doing,’ but did not resist much.

Thud.

Soon after, the two were sucked into the room and the door closed. The hallway was as quiet as if no presence had ever existed.

However, the air inside the room was somehow intense, and chilling.

Gyojin, who had cornered Seowon’s body against the wall, got straight to the point without any preamble.

“You, are you messing with my employees?”

His characteristic chilly tone was no different from usual. But Seowon could accurately pinpoint the hatred and sensitivity contained within it. How could he not know that Cha Gyojin, who was particularly sharp only towards him, was finally determined to wield that sharp edge today?

Wiping the smile from his lips, Seowon frowned without mercy. However, he did not lose his dignity and asked.

“I don’t know what this is about right now.”

“Are you laying a hand on my employees?”

Gyojin asked back without a second’s hesitation. He pressed on with his own conviction, as if he already knew the answer.

Ha. Seowon let out a scoff as if he was flabbergasted. Why would I? He let out such a laugh with the meaning that there was nothing to be gained from doing such a thing, so why would he resort to laying a hand on anyone. I’m being unfairly accused. If you push me any further here, you will regret it.

However, inside, a vortex of all kinds of anger was raging fiercely.

He wondered which fearless bastard had carelessly run his mouth and made Cha Gyojin move, and he ground his teeth to identify the culprit, recalling the faces of the employees who roamed this house like cockroaches one by one.

Then, a face suddenly came to mind. An unlucky face that had particularly gotten on his nerves.

Early in the morning, a face that had been kicked by his foot and was flailing in the cold swimming pool water surfaced ominously.

“Have you ever seen me pay any mind to the people who work in this house? No, even if I did, you never said a word like this to me until now. What’s the reason for suddenly coming in and doing this?”

Although there was a clear reason he could guess, Seowon’s guts weren’t so small as to fret and give himself away over something like this.

As he answered, feigning ignorance, Gyojin raised one eyebrow as if he had seen right through Seowon’s inner thoughts. A truly contemptuous gaze was shot at him.

“I keep hearing that you’re running wild in my house. Making the homeowner feel like shit.”

Replying with a thuggish attitude, he scanned Seowon’s lavishly decorated room.

With luxurious objects and works of art, the interior was even more excessive than his own room, the homeowner’s. It meant that he had paid too much attention to a house he would only be staying in for four months before leaving. It was absurd that Lee Seowon’s intention to settle down here was found here and there throughout the room.

Gyojin walked slowly around the room, letting out a cynical sneer. In particular, when he saw the practice golf mat laid on the floor, his brow furrowed deeply at the thought of him putting on airs.

He deliberately kicked the golf bag standing next to the desk with his foot, then stood in front of Seowon.

He could see Lee Seowon, with his two fists clenched behind his back, suppressing his temper and maintaining his composure. It was an utterly ridiculous sight, but Gyojin did not smile.

He only lowered his gaze chillingly to watch Lee Seowon, who was a head shorter than him.

“If you don’t want to see a dirty sight, let’s just stay quietly tucked away. You can bully innocent employees to your heart’s content in your own house.”

For an instant, a deep anger settled in Seowon’s two eyes.

Although Gyojin had clearly said ‘employees’ as a group, Seowon felt like he knew what he really wanted to say. It was surely a warning uttered with Lee Heeyoung in mind.

In the first place, Cha Gyojin was a man who did not know how to care for anyone other than his son. He was equally rough and cold to everyone, and it was common for him to act like a block of wood even after bringing an omega into the house. But such a Gyojin was showing a different attitude than before because of one Lee Heeyoung.

For Seowon, it was a deeply humiliating and infuriating matter. In the end, biting his lip hard, he looked directly into Gyojin’s chillingly open eyes and retorted.

“I get hurt every day from being completely ignored by you, do I have to hear things like this too? You know that you treating me this way is no different from insulting Chairman Baek, right? How much has my uncle done for you, Mr. Gyojin. Do you have no conscience?”

Seowon, twisting the corner of his lips into a sneer, continued in an arrogant tone.

“Because I like you, Mr. Gyojin, I’m putting up with it because I like you enough to endure being ignored every day in this house. If the Chairman knew what kind of treatment I’ve been receiving, he wouldn’t stand by idly.”

At that half-assed threatening tone, Gyojin rolled his eyes back as if he were fed up. Haa, at the same time, an irritated breath burst from his mouth.

“You seem to be seriously mistaken about something. I never offered up my life to the fucking Chairman. If I was scared of the old man, I wouldn’t have ignored you like a dog, huh?”

“…”

“I believe I showed the minimum courtesy by saying okay to the Chairman’s proposal that day. In other words, there’s no problem even if I ignore you like fucking shit and throw you out, Lee Seowon.”

He, who had been endlessly spewing verbal abuse, even kindly bent his back to meet Lee Seowon’s eyes. He looked at Seowon’s reddened eyes without a shred of pity and plunged a dagger with a cold face.

“We’re a relationship that will end soon anyway, so let’s not show each other an ugly side. Let’s cooperate so I can maintain my courtesy towards the Chairman until the end.”

There was no humiliation like this humiliation. Seowon, who had never been so insulted by anyone in his life, could not hold back the emotion that rushed up to his throat and exploded.

“Have you forgotten who it was that took in an orphan, found his family, and helped him get to this position? Mr. Gyojin, this is a betrayal. Do you know? Treating me this way is a betrayal in itself, and it’s stabbing my uncle in the back! Are you so uneducated that you can’t even recognize your own master?”

As he huffed and puffed, unable to overcome his anger, Gyojin suddenly took a step closer and cornered Seowon’s body into a corner. He was scowling fiercely as if he would let out a yell at any moment. Having been looked down upon as an uneducated person, he might even strangle Seowon right then and there.

However, Gyojin neither got angry and shouted, nor did he lay a hand on him. He just wore a hollow, meaningless smile.

“You know well. Since I’m working properly at a company and acting as a managing director, everyone thinks I’m a guy who lives a normal social life and crawls up to me just fine. Is it because you’re a young master who was raised delicately? As expected, that head of yours works well, doesn’t it?”

“…”

“That’s right, Lee Seowon. If one thing goes wrong, a gangster like me is the type to say fuck loyalty and all that shit. Huh? This is how guys who only know how to throw fists because they’re uneducated are. So let’s try a little harder if you don’t want to see a nasty sight. You have to end things on good terms with me.”

It wasn’t a warning. This was at the level of a threat. He was clearly smiling crookedly as he spoke, but every single word was laden with weight. Crushed by that intimidating pressure, Seowon could not open his mouth carelessly.

Feeling that the conversation had concluded with this, Gyojin turned his back, leaving the frozen Seowon behind. His attitude of not feeling even a shred of guilt after pouring out a round of knife-like words was almost infuriating.

Seowon, who was enduring the humiliation with his body trembling, picked up an object he could see and threw it hard at Gyojin’s back.

Then, the cell phone, which couldn’t quite reach him, hit the floor with a thwack! sound. The jet-black screen could not withstand the marble floor and shattered into pieces. Cracks and broken fragments scattered everywhere, with pieces flying to his feet. It was a mess, just like the relationship between Cha Gyojin and himself.

Seowon glared at the broken cell phone and took a deep breath. No matter how much he took deep breaths, his anger did not subside.

It had only been two months. A relationship that hadn’t even started was splitting and breaking. No, it was a situation where it might break and come to an end just like this.

Seowon thought back to what Gyojin had said again. The words that said since they were a relationship that would end soon anyway, they shouldn’t show each other an uglier side.

“I’m asking just in case, are you saying you’re going to break the promise you made with the Chairman right now?”

When he asked in a sharp voice, Gyojin turned around indifferently. He glanced meaninglessly at the cell phone lying miserably on the floor, then met Seowon’s eyes again and answered.