Salt Society Chapter 72

In fact, it was the Naban Gallery secretariat that had prepared the language study package for the congressman who actually had two Alpha sons. Even if his marital bliss was so overflowing that he had fathered a late-born child with the lady of the house, there was no way that child would already be grown up and sitting there.

Therefore, the fellow who was an Omega sitting there was a side-piece raised with pocket money. The ulterior motive was obvious. He was telling Cho Yeonoh to take him as a lover and become “hole-brothers” with him. That way, by attaching his own person to Cho Yeonoh’s side, other guys wouldn’t dare linger around the money field that was Haeseong.

Who the fuck does he think is a glutton for sex. Lately, his dick won’t even stand up if he isn’t thinking about So Kihyun. Even if he made up his mind to try something right now, only rumors would spread that Director Cho Yeonoh of Naban Gallery is an impotent bastard who couldn’t even be used as a dildo.

—Ah, forget it. You have plenty yourself, old man, and since I am leaving first, enjoy your meal or get a room and go up to hit this.

He had just stood up from his seat after tapping the top of his left fist a couple of times with his right palm. And it was as he came out and headed for the lobby that he ran into Cho Yeonsin.

The thing that snapped Yeonoh out of the brief flashback he was being dragged through with a languid face was Cho Yeonsin’s sly voice.

“Give my regards to that friend. He looked like a good person, and maybe I am getting older too, because now I like calm people.”

“If getting older bothers you, go to a dermatologist, hyung. You have gotten a lot of age spots.”

Since his eyes looked like he was hoping for something to catch on, Yeonoh only went that far and turned around with a smirk. Manager Yoo, who had parked the car in the drive-in outside the lobby, was waiting for Cho Yeonoh to come out. Cho Yeonoh spoke before getting into the back seat that Manager Yoo opened after he left the hotel.

“Cho Yeonsin’s back is fucking dirty, so look into whether anything gets caught.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“What happened to that?”

“It is currently being implemented. There is nothing distinct yet.”

So Kihyun’s initialized cell phone was found in a trash can at a rest area from which he had disappeared. Before that, there were no call records, and when he went to find Lee Bumhee to ask, he got annoyed saying he didn’t know either. Looking at his face, it didn’t seem like he was hiding it on purpose. It was because he wore an exhausted expression at Yeonoh, who had come to the hospital and was grabbing him by the collar like a debt collector.

Cho Yeonoh admitted that he had underestimated So Kihyun and put people behind everyone he knew. There must be someone with a point of contact, even just one person. He didn’t have a good relationship with his military comrades, but just in case, he had put people on all of them. There was no person of interest yet.

“……I see.”

Cho Yeonoh got into the car along with his reply. Thud, the door closed.

“Do you want to rest today too?”

“The person over there should rest, not me.”

At Kihyun’s answer, Yang Jisu shook his head, asking how long he was going to use formal military speech, and then replied.

“Even if I tell him to rest, he says he won’t, so what can I do?”

At the words said while shrugging, Kihyun also turned his head and looked at the bank clerk. With a pale complexion, he seemed focused only on counting buttons and had no interest in the conversation here.

Yang Jisu thought for a moment and then said.

“Then shall we have a staff dinner today? Since we can’t leave our posts, once it gets dark, let’s light some mosquito coils and grill some meat over charcoal outside.”

Kihyun nodded. That seemed like a more comfortable way to feed something to the bank clerk, who looked like he hadn’t even been able to get a drop of thin rice gruel.

“You are a kid who is cold-hearted yet soft.”

Yang Jisu said after looking at Kihyun quietly. Kihyun just nodded.

“Is that so.”

“It must be nice for the people around you, but are you okay?”

“It is not bad.”

Kihyun replied with a smirk. He had no regrets about loving Cho Yeonoh. He would have loved that fellow at least once in his life, no matter when. Thinking that way, it wasn’t a bad thing.

It was a lonely, difficult, tiresome, and exhausting thing, but if he went back, he thought he would do it again. So Kihyun did not know how to resist. Because to Kihyun, Yeonoh was always a guy who wasn’t a waste to love.

Yang Jisu looked at Kihyun and shook his head.

“Then since you are the guy who says service is good, you go buy the meat too.”

And then he held out a card. Kihyun didn’t even refuse and accepted it readily. Rather than a Second Lieutenant saying to a Captain that he would treat this time or whatever, it was better to be well-fed and work hard.

On his way out of the greenhouse to run the errand, he told the bank clerk suggestively to sit down and rest. It was because it seemed Yang Jisu would be stuck in the greenhouse for the time being. However, the bank clerk shook his head without even looking at Kihyun.

It also felt like he was doing that because he had a heavy burden on his heart and feared he would sink straight down if he sat still. He had seen many athletes with faces like that while going to the hospital. Faces of those who devoted themselves to exercise every single day because they were worried about the uncertain results of rehabilitation.

Because he knew that in those times leaving them alone was best, he only told him to wait because he would buy ice cream, and then left the greenhouse.

Inside, the air conditioner was running at full blast, unlike what you’d expect from a greenhouse. Stepping outside, the scorching sun beating down was incredibly stinging.

Kihyun wondered how hot it would be today as he started the scooter and set off for the town center. First, he stopped at a mart. There was a separate butcher shop, but since he had only ever bought meat at a mart and had never been to a standalone butcher shop, he felt burdened for no reason. It turned out that the owner of the butcher shop inside the mart and the butcher shop nearby were the same person.

Kihyun bought pork belly and pork neck, and since they were selling pork large intestines, he bought three servings of that too. When he bought pickled radish slices, kimchi, and a whole set of wrap vegetables, the butcher shop owner glanced inside the cart and gave him green onion salad and sauce as a service. After saying thank you, he bought instant rice, two bottles of soju, a bundle of beer cans, and a cider for himself.

Since Yang Jisu said he had a cauldron lid he got from somewhere, they might end up frying rice. After placing small tubs of seasoned soybean paste and red pepper paste and a small bottle of sesame oil in the cart, he headed toward the checkout counter, then realized he should buy ice cream, so he bought all kinds, whether they were cones or bars. Thinking that one of these would surely suit someone’s taste.

Then, when passing the fruit section, he almost drooled involuntarily at the sight of peaches. The pale white peaches smelled like butter. Unable to resist, he put a basket in.

After finishing the checkout and loading the shopping bags onto the scooter, he was about to set off when the obstetrics and gynecology clinic he attends caught his eye. Only then did it occur to him that they had told him to come get his internal medicine, and even though the reservation date was tomorrow, he felt he should just go today. When he went up to the hospital, it was fortunately uncrowded, so he quickly had his consultation and came out with a prescription.

He was about to head to the pharmacy below while just fluttering the paper in his hand when he felt a gaze, and looking back, a man in a foreign car—rarely seen in the countryside—was looking this way.

I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere, he thought, and then an elderly person standing in front of the pharmacy door said to Kihyun, “What are you doing standing there without going in,” so he opened the door for them. The car had disappeared in the meantime. Kihyun let out a “Hmm” from his throat and then got the medicine.

…If it were a person sent by Cho Yeonoh’s grandfather, there was no way they would look so openly. In that case, he thought there was no one who would look for him. Even so, he thought it would be better to be on guard. Kihyun soon left the pharmacy and got on the scooter.

The scooter headed straight for the greenhouse. The thick summer wind brushed against Kihyun’s cheeks. When he arrived at the greenhouse and went in carrying three or four bags in each hand, he was nagged about why a pregnant person was carrying such things. Kihyun found that worry hair-raising and looked at his former superior once.

“Ah, is that too much?”

“……Yes, it is a bit like that.”

Yang Jisu, who was mimicking the kids’ way of speaking from wherever he heard it, quickly organized what Kihyun had bought. The ice cream, which was on the verge of melting, went into the refrigerator located on the office wall first.

Just as he was thinking about taking it out and eating it once it got a bit firmer, Yang Jisu looked at Kihyun in disbelief.

“Soso, do you have a separate stomach for fruit?”

“Yes, that is right.”

To the words of Yang Jisu, who called him Soso for short for Second Lieutenant So, he answered simply, and he let out a smirk as if it were absurd, then quickly washed a couple of peaches and peeled them. The skin of white peaches is thin and soft so it can be peeled with just fingernails, but since he was carving them with a knife, Kihyun felt it was a waste inwardly. Still, he was grateful that he offered the peeled peach to him first, so he said he would eat well and quickly brought it to his mouth.

Then, thinking about it, it occurred to him that he hadn’t even invited the bank clerk to eat. He felt embarrassed, thinking that once one becomes pregnant, they start taking care of their own mouth first. He belatedly urged the bank clerk to have some peaches, but the bank clerk didn’t even answer. That is, until Yang Jisu stood up and shoved a slice of peach directly into his mouth.

For some reason, there were few customers today. While waiting for the sun to set, Kihyun went for a walk. Even if the day was a bit hot, if you walked under the shade, the bushes and trees were lush, making it bearable to get around.

Coming back after catching the attacking mosquitoes with his bare hands, Yang Jisu had his sleeves rolled up and was stacking cement bricks in the shape of a hearth in the shade between the greenhouses. Seeing the cauldron lid placed on top, he said, “Wow, this is the real deal,” and he held up his thumb and swaggered.

“I’m going to show you how it’s done today.”