Midday Guest Chapter 76

He looked at the ring on his finger once, then at Cha Seokjoo once more. Watching Yiwon’s eyes dart busily back and forth, Cha Seokjoo grabbed both of Yiwon’s cheeks with one hand and spoke.

“Just try having those stray thoughts one more time.”

“…Is this mine?”

“Of all the things I’ve done in my life, I’m doing this too.”

Cha Seokjoo muttered while looking at Yiwon’s fingers. “It’s pretty.”

“Now that’s settled, let’s go. We have to catch the plane.”

They headed to the airport together in the car.

“When does your semester start?”

“Next week.”

“I was planning on going on a real trip, but I guess that won’t work.”

“…Ah, that might be a bit difficult.”

“Fine, then. Let’s plan to go during your break.”

Burying himself deep in the back seat, he spoke with a curl of his lips. Yiwon nodded quietly. His heart began to race at the promise scheduled for a future that was neither too near nor too far.

“Is there a place you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, should we go somewhere and live there for about a month?”

“I’d like that… but what about your company, Director?”

“I’ll just set one up. With maybe one employee.”

Cha Seokjoo laughed, interlacing his fingers and leaning toward Yiwon. Their joined hands were entwined with rings of the same design.

[Side Story 3]

One day, with only a few days left before the semester started, Yiwon took the written driver’s license exam.

The result of cramming five mock exams the night before was a pass. Although the schedules for the function test and the road test overlapped with the start of the semester, it was a schedule that finished within March, so it didn’t seem like too much.

Yiwon pushed the door lock open and sent a message to Cha Seokjoo.

Yiwon: I just arrived.

Yiwon: When are you getting off work?

Cha Seokjoo: I’ll be there within 30 minutes.

Yiwon: Then let’s have dinner together.

Gazing at his phone while entering the living room, Yiwon stopped in his tracks and turned his eyes toward the kitchen. A delicious smell wafted through the air.

“Has student Yiwon arrived?”

“Hello, Manager Im.”

The staff member waiting in the kitchen offered Yiwon a greeting.

After returning from Hong Kong, Cha Seokjoo had hired three staff members to help with the housework, and among them, the one with the highest position was Manager Im Jeongrye.

“Have you eaten dinner?”

“Not yet.”

“Shall I prepare it for you?”

“I’ll eat with the Director when he arrives.”

“Alright, then. I’ll prepare the bathwater first.”

“…Oh, I can do that myself….”

About five days had passed since he began receiving help not only with meal preparation but with general life tasks. Perhaps because the habit of greeting guests at Haeundang remained, encountering this kind of situation still felt awkward. It felt like I should be helping too. As Yiwon stood there like a useless sack of grain, Manager Im moved quickly with tact.

“Then please rest comfortably.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Manager Im Jeongrye gave Yiwon a kind smile and withdrew. Watching Manager Im Jeongrye move away in her neat attire, Yiwon went up to the second floor via the stairs.

He took off his coat and outer clothes, hanging them up properly, and after stripping down completely to his underwear, he went straight into the bathroom. As if Manager Im Jeongrye had performed magic, the bathtub was already full of water.

As he took a quick shower and soaked his body in the tub, he felt as if the winter still clinging to him was melting away into the water.

Feeling the rippling current, he leaned against the tub and looked around the large bathroom.

Looking at the well-organized, clean marble walls, he recalled the laughably ridiculous incident that happened on the day he first set foot here alone.

He had spent one year in an old dormitory and a full ten years in the old house in Yonggung-ri. Yiwon, who was used to twisted shower hoses and crude sink faucets, had to stand naked in a bathroom the size of a playground, struggling for a long time.

How to turn on the water, where on earth the showerhead was attached, where the body wash was—he couldn’t find a single thing easily.

After doing that for a while, he eventually had no choice but to poke his face through the gap in the door and call for Cha Seokjoo.

‘…Director.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t… know how to turn on the water….’

‘Ah, because you’re a baby, you can’t wash by yourself yet.’

‘It’s… not that. It’s just a bit unfamiliar here.’

‘Right. It might be a bit hard for a baby to use. I didn’t think of that.’

‘If you explain it just once, I’ll do it myself next time.’

‘Yeah, follow me.’

And then he was scrubbed thoroughly. It was no use even if he said he’d do it alone. Like a thug looking for a chance to start a fight, he massaged, licked, and chewed on Yiwon’s body. When the exhausted Yiwon went limp, he hooked both legs over the tub and took the smooth testicles in his hand, rolling them.

Having recalled that much, Yiwon shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Even though he was lying in the tub alone now, just thinking about the memories of that day made his underside twitch.

It couldn’t be helped. Ever since that day, Yiwon was being bitten and sucked by him almost every day until his whole body went soft. Now, if Cha Seokjoo’s hand wasn’t tucked between his legs when he slept, he felt empty and tossed and turned.

“…Ah.”

Am I becoming a pervert too….

Yiwon covered his bright red face with his wet hands and let out a sigh. Then, he hid in the bathtub as if escaping.

Other thoughts, other thoughts….

When he closed his eyes, Cha Seokjoo’s face became clearer. Even that voice that would frequently whisper dirty talk in his ear.

What “other thoughts.”

He submerged himself up to his head, held his breath as long as he could, then came out and wiped his face. He also pushed back his hair, which was stuck to him from the water.

Yiwon wiped the moisture from his face with his hands and searched for his phone with a flushed face.

Seeing that there was no message saying he was leaving, it seemed he was still at the office. There had been many days when he suddenly received a message saying he had to work late today.

In Seoul, he seemed truly too busy. He had so much work that it was incomparable to the time he was out for the due diligence in Yonggung-ri.

Even at home, he was a person who frequently opened his laptop and phone to check data, working without distinguishing between weekdays and weekends.

When asked if he was very busy, Cha Seokjoo replied that he was without a moment’s hesitation.

Yiwon had hesitated, fearing that staying in Cha Seokjoo’s territory would be a distraction to him, but after hearing something Oh Taesik said in passing, he decided to take it a bit easier.

‘The Director absolutely won’t do anything he dislikes. He won’t even spare a glance at what he has no interest in.’

Will he be late? While Yiwon was debating whether to contact him one more time, a call came through to his phone. Thinking it might be Cha Seokjoo, he looked, but it was Shin Heeyoung.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Yiwon answered the phone while leaning against the tub. His voice, hitting the wide bathroom, echoed, making it feel like he was answering the phone in a cave. Worried if the other person could hear him well, he adjusted his grip on the phone.

— What’s up, why does it sound like this? Are you outside?

“Ah, I’m in the middle of washing up.”

— Shall I call back later?

“No.”

I have nothing to do anyway. He planned to spend time talking with Shin Heeyoung. Yiwon continued as he settled in.

“It’s fine since I’m in the tub.”

— You said it was a house you’re staying in temporarily, but it has a tub?

“It’s a house belonging to someone I know.”

— Someone you know?

“Yeah.”

— Who is that someone?

I didn’t expect him to ask. Yiwon, suddenly choked up, let out a cough. While he was hesitating and making the sound of water on purpose, Shin Heeyoung asked again in a light voice.

— Who is it?

“An acquaintance. I decided to stay for a while. It seemed like he was okay with me staying for a bit, so I thought, why not… and well….”

— Ah, an acquaintance.

“Yeah….”

— Not living together permanently?

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Cha Seokjoo had readily invited him to the house to stay, but he couldn’t keep doing this forever.

He planned to get a house for his mother with the compensation money, so he shouldn’t touch that, and he was currently looking for a part-time job.

— Actually… I took for granted that you’d say you were coming to my place, so I even finished cleaning up the room. But since you didn’t say anything, I was asking because I wondered what was going on.

“…Ah.”

— And since there are many people looking for a chance to scam those who received redevelopment compensation, I was worried about that too. You heard, right? Even the elder who lived closest to the village entrance got scammed like that.

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing like that for me. I, just, was worried I’d be a distraction while you’re working.”

Yiwon babbled whatever came to his mouth. He hadn’t committed a great crime, yet his heart was thumping so hard he felt it might jump out of his mouth.

— I’m disappointed. To think a friend closer to Jung Yiwon than me has appeared in your life.

“Hey, there is no such person.”

This was the truth. Hearing that, Shin Heeyoung also made a sound as if his mood had lifted.

— Then what is it? Did you find someone to date?

Someone to date. Hearing that, Yiwon blinked for a moment.

“…Um.”

While the answer was delayed because he was debating how much to explain, Shin Heeyoung’s misunderstanding began.

— What? Hey, you aren’t out there losing your mind and having one-night stands, are you? You shouldn’t go around doing that carelessly in Seoul. You need to know how dangerous this place is, really.

“Hey, why would I have a one-night stand? Talk sense.”