Salt Society Chapter 27

Kihyun’s wrist was grabbed and he was spun around. Startled, Kihyun reflexively looked past Yeonoh, who had grabbed him, and toward the area behind him. Yeonoh’s gaze roamed over Kihyun’s face. It was as if he were checking to see who Kihyun was looking at.

“I came all this way to pick you up, so where do you think you’re going?”

Even while the guy spoke with a disgruntled air, Kihyun was conscious of the people looking this way from beyond his back.

He knew they were friends, but he worried it might look strange for Yeonoh to abruptly end his conversation with the others and rush over to him.

Cho Yeonoh surely knew about Kihyun’s concern. Nevertheless, grabbing his wrist so suddenly and speaking to him like this was the same as saying he was upset and intended to act however he pleased.

Kihyun let out a sigh.

“Why did you come without even calling?”

He was exhausted and fed up. Even in the moment he closed and opened his eyes, he felt like this conversation itself was draining his soul. It was paradoxical that after enduring the whole day, the thing most difficult to bear was Cho Yeonoh looking down at him with worry.

As if he didn’t care about Kihyun’s feelings, Cho Yeonoh smirked and spoke.

“That’s one hell of a welcome.”

Seeing the face that had stormed out without a word at dawn yesterday looking perfectly fine today made Kihyun feel a sense of futility.

“People are watching.”

It was the moment he turned his head while saying that to try and push the guy away. A forceful grip snatched his chin.

“What are you—”

“What’s this from?”

With a freezing, hardened expression, Cho Yeonoh was inspecting Kihyun’s face. Only then did Kihyun realize that a trace of the afternoon’s commotion remained on him.

I didn’t want to cause a scene for nothing… Kihyun rolled his lips inward and moved his head. It was to escape the hand of Cho Yeonoh holding his chin.

“Answer me before you avoid me, okay?”

However, the guy whispered lowly and gripped Kihyun’s chin again as he tried to break free. Because the touch was forceful, a fine line naturally etched itself between Kihyun’s brows.

“I bumped into a strength-measuring machine. It’s no big deal, so don’t make a fuss. I told you people are looking this way.”

When he spoke while brushing off Cho Yeonoh’s hand, the guy let go obediently this time. He let out a sigh of relief inwardly. Seeing that Yeonoh didn’t say much, it seemed the matter had passed naturally, but knowing he was the type to bite whenever one let their guard down, Kihyun couldn’t completely let go of his tension.

Kihyun walked past Yeonoh with an indifferent expression, went back to the other teachers, and gave a bow.

“I’ll be going now.”

He didn’t add the part about leaving because Cho Yeonoh had come to pick him up. The gaze of Team Leader Lim, who was still staring this way, was a headache. …Does he have a one-sided crush on Cho Yeonoh? He couldn’t understand the reason why the man looked so displeased.

As he bit his lower lip because a long sigh felt like it might leak out, someone’s hand suddenly popped out and flicked the top of Kihyun’s lip.

“I sent over the corporate card; did they not give you any snacks? Why are you chewing on your mouth?”

“I told you to go wait in the car.”

He was bothered by people opening their eyes wide in surprise, causing his brow to furrow automatically. Lee Bumhee was nowhere to be seen, having long since left. He was annoyed by the thought that she was a person who was no help at all when actually needed.

“Alright. Stop being so annoyed.”

At that, Cho Yeonoh replied with a smirk. Unlike Kihyun’s heavy heart, seeing that light smile made even the still-chilly spring breeze feel refreshing. Kihyun, on the contrary, grew even darker, like a person living with soot held close.

It was because of a sense of deprivation. Something that was difficult and heavy enough to kill him became something trivial and light to Cho Yeonoh. The sense of deprivation created by his situation of having to just stare blankly at that fact right in front of his eyes. However, for Kihyun, there was a separate burden that Kihyun had to shoulder. Cho Yeonoh didn’t need to know that.

“Mr. So, are you going home with the Chairman?”

“Go on and get home quickly!”

Then Seunghee and Ahn Heemin, the general ward team leader, stepped forward and pushed Kihyun’s back. Seeing that Kihyun seemed uncomfortable, they appeared to be looking out for him, which put his mind at ease. Kihyun gave a bow and then turned around. Whether a persistent gaze was felt against his back or not was irrelevant now.

“It’s finally over, I see, that grand social life.”

Cho Yeonoh stood a few steps ahead and chuckled as he saw Kihyun approaching his side. Looking at his face, it was clearly a teasing expression. It was a face that looked to be in a good mood.

Cho Yeonoh liked it when Kihyun bustled about at the hospital claiming to have a social life. To be precise, he seemed to be fond of the sight of Kihyun working.

He probably occasionally recalled So Kihyun lying on a hospital bed after his ankle ended up like that, staring blankly at the ceiling. Because of that, he seemed to welcome Kihyun doing something active.

Cho Yeonoh cherished So Kihyun to the point where one would wonder if one person could worry about another this much. And that cherishing was in the present continuous tense. You’re a really good guy, but the problem is that you’re bad sometimes. Kihyun muttered only to himself as he headed toward Cho Yeonoh’s car.

Perhaps because Manager Yoo wasn’t driving today, the car model was different from usual. Since the rearview and side mirrors were set to fit Cho Yeonoh’s height, he always brought this car out when he drove himself. Kihyun climbed into the car without a word, fastened his belt, and closed his eyes first.

“Hey, take the hangover medicine and then sleep. This one, and this.”

Cho Yeonoh, who had walked around the hood and climbed into the driver’s seat, started nagging again. Various hangover remedies were spread out on the car’s console box. Kihyun let out a hollow laugh. Hangover medicine for alcohol he barely even drank. One needs a hangover to have something to remedy.

“I don’t need it. I didn’t drink much.”

“Take it. You really seem to ignore my sincerity a lot, don’t you? This isn’t something I ordered someone else to buy; I turned on the blinker myself, parked the car on the shoulder, ignored the honking from behind, got out of the car, walked to the pharmacy, chose the medicine, paid for it, asked for a bag—which cost an extra 100 won but they rejected it since I’d already paid—it’s something I bought with all my heart, you know?”

Since it was the start of a repertoire that would last for days if he didn’t eat it, Kihyun tried to take the medicine with an expression that said he was bored to death. Cho Yeonoh smirked and cracked open the cap of the small glass bottle with a “crrrr-ack” and handed it over.

…Where did he pick up a habit like this? It’s not like his wrists are so thin he can’t even open a bottle cap himself. It meant there was no need for such meticulous consideration.

Having been at Cho Yeonoh’s side for seven years, what So Kihyun realized was that Cho Yeonoh was even sweeter than expected, and he unconsciously applied the habits he used with his former lovers to him as well.

However, thinking about such things was only a loss for himself. He took the bottle without a word, drank it in one go, and left it carelessly on the console box. Cho Yeonoh picked it up again, closed the cap, put it in the car trash bin, and pressed the start button.

Kihyun suddenly became curious. He rested his elbow on the passenger side window frame and propped up his chin, then turned his head to look at the guy and asked.

“Who usually asked for the breakup in your cases?”

“What are you talking about?”

It was a careless answer. At the response spat out reflexively without thinking deeply about the question, Kihyun stared fixedly at Cho Yeonoh. He could see the guy’s profile as he looked at the side mirror, perhaps concentrating on entering the road. The headlights of a car passing in the opposite lane shone on his high nose, disappeared, and then shone again.

“When you were dating, who was the person who asked to break up?”

“Has this guy been drinking alcohol by the gallon?”

Cho Yeonoh clicked his tongue with a “tchk,” stretched out his arm, and felt over Kihyun’s face with his palm as if he were someone taking a temperature. It was a tone that implied he was talking nonsense while Yeonoh aimlessly massaged his face with a blind hand even while he only watched the front. Kihyun, annoyed by the palm crushing his lips, pushed it away with a “thud” and said.

“I’m asking if you broke up because someone asked to break up.”

Even when they were just friends, he knew the guy changed lovers frequently, but it would be correct to say he hadn’t heard the detailed stories about Cho Yeonoh’s love life. He hadn’t had the leeway back in high school while holding out next to the prickly guy, nor in college while enduring his own daily life after entering as a cadet.

He had liked him since they were young, but it wasn’t as if his heart was rotting away watching Cho Yeonoh swap lovers, so he hadn’t found a reason to ask. …And it wasn’t like he wanted to chase after such topics and pry.

So, just as Cho Yeonoh said, Kihyun thought he was being strange for asking such a thing. It meant he understood Cho Yeonoh wrinkling his brow like a person who had seen something he shouldn’t have. Or perhaps, as the guy said, he really was drunk.

However, curiosity was curiosity.

“I’m asking who it was.”

“Aren’t you sleepy? You suddenly wake up from a doze and talk nonsense.”

“I didn’t suddenly wake up; you woke me up. Just answer.”

“You’re the one who should just sleep.”

It was a conversation like that of elementary school students. To think two grown men with huge statures were having this kind of conversation. Kihyun suddenly felt a sense of futility.

…Right, what would he even do with that knowledge? It was a matter with no use anywhere. Kihyun just shut his mouth.

Then, he felt a gaze from the seat next to him. Wondering what it was, he saw Cho Yeonoh looking at him while slowly moving the steering wheel with one hand.

“Why are you curious about that?”

Then he asked like that.