My Only One Chapter 1.1

About two months before that.

It was early November, when the cold was gradually deepening.

With three months left until graduation and less than a month until the end of the semester, the school was in an uproar over an exclusive article that appeared online. The story was that the chairman of CH Corporation, the top company in Korea, had finally properly revealed the name of the adopted son he had taken in.

CH was famous for being a company that led charitable work. It donated a certain percentage of the money it earned from producing and supplying daily necessities every year, and also donated goods every month to social welfare facilities that lacked operating funds. And about twenty years ago, after news that the company’s chairman, Cha Seunghyuk, was raising the son he had personally adopted well was conveyed to the public, it had maintained its image as a good company and had been on a roll ever since.

CH Corporation’s competitor, who found this disagreeable, released a gossip piece. It was an article claiming that Cha Seunghyuk’s adopted son had actually grown up being abused.

CH Corporation, which had always had a good image, couldn’t help but take a hit, and Cha Seunghyuk, enraged by this, stepped forward to clarify things himself.

The contents of Chairman Cha’s interview were enough to tug at people’s heartstrings. Our Jinseo, for our Jinseo, because our son wanted it. The chairman’s words, with every response beginning with ‘our’, gave off the nuance that he cherished and loved his adopted son very much. And he was confident that he had raised him without discriminating against him and his biological child.

However, Jinseo, Chairman Cha’s adopted son who had seen that article, couldn’t even let out a bitter laugh. Rather, his stomach churned. Since when were we ‘we’? Jinseo was reading Chairman Cha’s interview when his stomach became unsettled, and he ended up closing the article midway.

Cha Seunghyuk and his wife, Lee Juyeon. The couple had tried relentlessly to have a child. After being diagnosed with infertility, they had even tried for an in-vitro baby for about two years. However, as if the heavens were indifferent, they could not have a child. So, as a temporary measure, they adopted a child to be their heir. That child was Jinseo.

Contrary to the contents of their interview, Jinseo had not had a single comfortable day since he entered that house as their adopted son. He was less than an eyesore in that house. He had to endure beatings that came flying if he was disliked in the slightest, and he even had to listen to harsh profanities.

That violence all disappeared when they had a biological child. After that, Jinseo was an inanimate object, that itself, in the house. So Seunghyuk’s detestable interview only made Jinseo feel a powerless sense of injustice.

Jinseo, who had been instantly demoted to Chairman Cha’s beloved child, tried his best to ignore the many eyes focused on him. They were full of curious gazes, and among them were some who sent looks of disdain.

The attention, which he was receiving for the first time in his life, was extremely burdensome. Jinseo, who forced himself to listen to the lecture while feeling a stinging sensation on the back of his head, headed straight for the place where the lockers were as soon as class ended. If he had his way, he would have tossed his assignment materials and everything else aside and escaped the school.

Just then, someone approached and suddenly slung an arm around his shoulders. The sound of snickering laughter from beside him was unpleasant, but he didn’t stop the hand that was grabbing a textbook from his locker.

“Well, well. I see now. There was a reason the clothes you wear are so expensive. And here I had no idea.”

It was a sarcastic tone. But Jinseo didn’t even show a reaction.

By school year, Sangcheol was one year Jinseo’s senior. He was originally supposed to graduate this year, but his graduation was postponed to next year because he had been held back. It was because he was caught freeloading.

It was another team member who had reported Sangcheol, who had vanished during the entire team project and only showed up on the day of the presentation, to the professor, but for some unknown reason, he picked a fight only with Jinseo. Jinseo’s own speculation was that the team member who reported him had a good reputation at school and many friends, whereas he did not. In short, it seemed to be because he was an easy target. Sangcheol had acted like a jerk once in a while before, but his persistent harassment had continued ever since that day.

Jinseo held the textbook under one arm and slammed the locker shut with a thud. Then he pushed off Sangcheol’s thick arm. He tried to leave the spot without even responding to Sangcheol’s words, but Sangcheol kept sticking to his back.

Your birth is nothing special, yet you act all high and mighty. This is why it’s fucked up when an uneducated kid gets treated like he doesn’t know the ways of the world, and so on. When Jinseo consistently ignored him no matter what he said, Sangcheol finally grabbed Jinseo’s arm hard.

“Hey, you fucker. Don’t a sunbae’s words sound like words to you?”

A dirty face was shoved in front of Jinseo. It seemed his intention was to intimidate Jinseo with a fiercely scowling face, since his words weren’t working. But Jinseo just found that face unpleasant and uncomfortable. The sight of a worthless person trying to act like a sunbae was laughable. Because Sangcheol was clinging to him especially hard today, he eventually gave up his plan to ignore him.

“Let go, sir.”

“What, let go, sir?”

“You must have a lot of free time, sunbae. Having the time to grab a junior who doesn’t know the ways of the world and lecture him.”

“Fuck, you dog-like bastard… Sunbae or whatever, looks like you don’t see a damn thing, you’re acting so fucking cocky.”

Sangcheol’s face contorted into a deep scowl, as if he would throw a punch at Jinseo at any moment.

In the obviously hostile atmosphere, passersby slowed their steps and glanced at Jinseo and Sangcheol. Sensing their gazes, Jinseo no longer wanted to deal with Sangcheol. Above all, if this situation reached his father’s ears… it would just become a hassle for him.

In the end, he carefully pushed Sangcheol’s arm away and tried to leave the spot. But Sangcheol, who wanted to screw Jinseo over just like any other time, didn’t stop there. Sangcheol’s crudely crumpled face slowly formed a sneer.

“Did you sell your ass to the chairman with that pretty face of yours?”

The steps that had been trying to walk quickly came to a dead stop. This was of a different quality than the over-the-line remarks he had made before.

Let’s just ignore it. Like I always have…

But the moment Jinseo stopped walking, Sangcheol was already convinced that his remark had hit its mark. Raising one corner of his mouth, he opened his mouth again.

“It makes sense… isn’t it weird that that family has a biological child but still took in an adopted son? Fuck, it’s obvious you sold your body.”

In the end, he couldn’t ignore it. As he strode without hesitation toward Sangcheol, Sangcheol was smiling a smile of victory. Jinseo wanted to beat that filthy face to a pulp. So, without any sign of hesitation, he fiercely swung the textbook he was holding.

It wasn’t even a thwack. There was a loud—thwump—sound as Sangcheol’s face whipped to the side.

After landing a satisfying blow, he came back to his senses. Sangcheol sprawled on the floor and the sound of startled people gasping. As his surroundings started to come into view one by one, a wave of regret washed over him.

It’s not the first or second time I’ve heard stuff like this. I should have just endured it one more time and walked away. Jinseo’s chest heaved rapidly up and down.

Jinseo left Sangcheol and tried to hurry away from the spot. But Sangcheol, whose pride had been wounded to its limit, apparently couldn’t stand the muttering that was ridiculing him, and he immediately got up and charged at Jinseo.

“Ugh!”

Sangcheol’s body rammed straight into Jinseo’s. Unable to withstand his weight, his body fell to the floor. There was no way the slender Jinseo could win against the heavily built Sangcheol.

Sangcheol spat out all sorts of curses and did not stop his feet from stomping on Jinseo. Even after beating him for a good while, as if his anger still wasn’t appeased, he finally got on top of Jinseo’s body. And he began to relentlessly strike Jinseo’s face with the palm of his hand.

Jinseo gritted his teeth as he took the fierce blows. It hurt less than when his father had hit him. Was this a blessing in disguise…? A bitter laugh, instead of a pained groan, escaped through Jinseo’s clenched teeth.

“Hey, you fucker. Are you laughing?”

Perhaps judging that Jinseo was laughing at him, Sangcheol’s face, which had looked relieved, contorted once again. Sangcheol clenched his fist as if to smash at least one of Jinseo’s noses and tried to slam it into Jinseo’s face. Jinseo, whose arms were already pinned under Sangcheol’s knees, squeezed his eyes shut at the fact that he would have to take that fist as well.

But the fist never reached Jinseo.

A long time had passed since he should have been hit, but when he felt no pain, Jinseo opened his eyes. And he discovered a man holding Sangcheol’s wrist. It was Hajun, a sunbae in the same department as Jinseo.

Hajun’s eyes, with pupils lighter than others, were looking straight at him. The moment their eyes met, a sense of shame that hadn’t arisen when he was being hit by Sangcheol surged up. He had never dreamed that Hajun would see him in such a state.

Hajun didn’t even use much strength. He simply lifted Sangcheol’s captured wrist up and flung it to the side. With a clatter, Jinseo, feeling his airways open up, gasped for breath and looked at Sangcheol, who had slammed his head into a locker.

At that moment, Hajun’s pretty face came into his field of vision. It was because Hajun had crouched down to match his eye level. Hajun’s face, which was always smiling, was hardened today.

To the point where he thought a chill was flowing from it.

“Uh, sunbae…”

Sangcheol’s curses could be heard again from the locker area, but Hajun didn’t pay any attention and helped Jinseo up.

“Are you okay? Can you stand?”

“Yes. I’m okay… Ugh…!”

Perhaps because his tension had eased upon seeing Hajun, the parts that had been hit by the man began to throb. The side that Hajun had lifted to support him happened to be the side that Sangcheol had kicked hard.

Just then, Sangcheol, who had approached without anyone noticing, abruptly grabbed Hajun’s shoulder. It seemed he still had the energy to fight.

“Fuck, hey. Where are you going? You want to die too?”

He didn’t stop cussing vulgarly either. Jinseo looked up at Sangcheol with a fed-up expression. Hajun didn’t react at all and only checked on Jinseo.

At their subdued reactions, Sangcheol’s face turned even redder, perhaps because his pride was hurt by the fact that he was the only one getting worked up. Just as he was about to let out another curse, Hajun stared at Sangcheol with a frigid face. Sangcheol’s body flinched slightly, as if he was overwhelmed by the atmosphere alone.

“Take your hand off.”

“…Huh?”

“I said, take your hand off my body.”

Hajun slapped Sangcheol’s hand away with the hand that wasn’t supporting Jinseo. Because of Hajun’s strength, Sangcheol let out a short groan. But Hajun paid it no mind and left the spot with Jinseo.

The place Jinseo arrived at after following Hajun’s lead was the school parking lot. Hajun put Jinseo in the passenger seat of his car, left a single comment that he had to go somewhere for a bit, and disappeared to another place.

Left alone in Hajun’s car, Jinseo’s mind went blank. It was partly because his whole body ached, but it was also because his skin, which had been in close contact with Hajun on the way to the parking lot, was still flushed.

His heart, which hadn’t budged when he was fighting with Sangcheol, began to pound uncontrollably after meeting Hajun.

…Even though I decided to give up.

Jinseo pressed his lips together at his troubled feelings, then let out a short groan in pain. It was because he had bitten his lip, which had been nicely split open from being hit by the man. He knew his face was a mess without even looking in a mirror. Jinseo felt a wave of embarrassment at the thought that he had shown this state to Hajun so plainly.

While he was steeped in shame alone, the driver’s side door was flung open. It was Hajun. As he was thinking that the brown coat he was wearing was a perfect match for him, the scent of Hajun’s perfume, which he hadn’t been conscious of before, brushed past the tip of his nose.

It was a sweet scent. That, too, suited Hajun well.

His feelings for Hajun unconsciously reared their head. It was no use trying to get rid of them. Even when he tried to act like nothing was wrong, his gaze kept being drawn toward Hajun.

Just then, Hajun rustled something and turned his body toward Jinseo.

Jinseo immediately turned his head forward, pretending not to be looking at Hajun. With a stiffened neck, he tried relentlessly not to feel Hajun’s gaze. But belying that action, his shoulders flinched when Hajun’s hand gently took the tip of his chin and turned it toward him.

His eyes darted around, flustered by the sudden proximity of his face to Hajun’s. Hajun turned Jinseo’s head this way and that and clicked his tongue, tsk. Then he briefly took his hand off Jinseo’s face and tore open a new cotton swab and ointment from a bag.

Was the place he went to for a bit the pharmacy? Just as he was about to fall for Hajun’s thoughtful side once again, Hajun opened his mouth.

“Did you pay him back?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m asking if you gave back as much as you got.”

“Ah, probably.”

At Jinseo’s answer, Hajun’s brows narrowed slightly. Then he brought the cotton swab with ointment on it to Jinseo’s wound and gently rubbed it.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Ah…!”

“Bear with it, even if it hurts.”

Every place Hajun’s hand touched was burning and stinging. It seemed his face was more cut up than he thought. He balled his fists and squeezed his eyes shut to endure the throbbing pain. It was also because it was hard to face Hajun directly.

Jinseo suddenly became curious. Wasn’t Hajun curious about why he fought? He cautiously opened his eyes again.

“Um, sunbae.”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you… curious about why I fought?”

Hajun, without stopping the hand that was applying the medicine, thought, hmm… Then he slightly furrowed his brow like before.