Divorce in Bed Chapter 29

“…”

“I think it’s because I’ve been deceived so much in my life. I hate it most of all when people do that because of money.”

“…”

“Other than that, as for looks… I used to think it would be nice if they were pretty. But I think being handsome is good too. Cool, sexy, and forceful. Like, someone who looks like they could split an apple with one hand… Oh, age doesn’t matter. No matter how old they are.”

“…”

“Anyway. I want to meet someone like that. What about you, Mister Dowon?”

“…”

“…Mister Dowon…?”

After a long silence, a voice mixed with a sigh cut through the darkness.

“…I don’t have one.”

“Pardon?”

“I said I don’t have something like that.”

Dowon added as if he found it bothersome, or perhaps as if he were exhausted.

“I’ve never set such idle standards in my life. And I never will.”

“…Ah.”

Yeohwi’s mouth hung open blankly.

To not have an ideal type.

Did that mean there was no one who had caught Dowon’s heart until now? Or did it mean that, from the beginning, he had lived his life excluding the emotion of love itself?

“Mister Dowon, then have you ever dated? I haven’t.”

“You said you’d sleep quietly if I told you.”

“Ah, did I?”

“You heard what you were curious about, so that’s enough, right? Go to sleep.”

“But I actually know something.”

“What.”

Yeohwi mumbled while burying his face in the pillow.

“The fact that you, Director Do, never had a single scandal. Not with women, not with men—neither side.”

“…”

“I suppose, if Mister Dowon had a specific someone, Do Jingyu or Do Jinsang wouldn’t have left them alone. Just like how they came to me and acted like total assholes…?”

“…”

“It’s not that there was no one, but that there couldn’t be anyone. Someone who caught Mister Dowon’s heart.”

“Stop babbling. Just get some sleep.”

Dowon’s voice hardened. It was a clear signal that he would not permit any further conversation. But Yeohwi did not stop.

If there is no fixed right answer, then I could become that right answer.

Even if I’m the wrong answer right now.

“If I happen to grow on you, please let me know. Anytime—I’ll be first in line.”

“…”

“Are you sleeping? Are you really asleep?”

“…I’m not sleeping.”

Dowon’s voice dropped even lower. He was staring at the ceiling in the darkness.

“Are you someone who doesn’t know how to give up?”

“Pardon?”

“You even agreed to the divorce. Why do you cling to this side so much when you know clearly it’s a rotten rope that will snap? I thought I told you it’s a waste of time, a waste of emotion, and full of inefficiency.”

Dowon’s words were heartless, but Yeohwi read the slight question contained within them. It was a tone that suggested he truly didn’t understand. Yeohwi rested his chin on his hands atop the pillow and stared intently at Dowon’s back.

“Because Mister Dowon… doesn’t tell lies.”

“What?”

“And you aren’t kind.”

“…”

“All the people who tried to scam me were kind. They pretended to be the sweetest people in the world, pretended to be on my side.”

Yeohwi’s voice flowed out calmly.

“There was a man named Chief Clerk Gye. He was a butler who had served my grandfather his whole life. That man held my hand and sobbed his heart out. He said, ‘My poor baby young master, if you would allow it, I will dare to become a father to you from now on.’ I thought that was real, and I followed him, calling him ‘Dad, Dad.’ I used to sleep in that ajhussi’s room every night because I was scared.”

“…”

“But it turned out he was conspiring with my grandfather’s personal lawyer to forge the will. On a day my grandfather’s condition was good, when he briefly regained consciousness, he found out and a huge mess broke out—there was even a knife fight, it was chaos. We even called the police… I was lucky.”

In the darkness, Dowon’s breathing became as still as if it had stopped.

“I realized then. That a smiling face is the scariest thing. That it’s better to have someone who reveals their true colors openly.”

Yeohwi laughed bitterly.

“Mister Dowon was like that from the start. Annoying, hates it, you’re a brat, get lost.”

“…”

“But that… actually puts me at ease. Because at least Mister Dowon won’t smile at me and then stab me in the back. Even if I’m rejected, it happens to my face. And actually, everything Mister Dowon says to me is the truth anyway…”

Yeohwi truly believed it. At least this man does not deceive me.

That was why being by the cold and hard Dowon’s side felt safer than any kind embrace outside. A sturdy fence—no, perhaps it should be called a fortress wall. Even knowing he would be kicked out, he wanted to enter.

“That’s why I like it. Because Mister Dowon is truly honest. You pretend to be a villain, but you’re actually the most transparent person.”

Silence flowed for a long time. Only the sound of the night wind tapping against the window could be heard in the darkness.

Gauging the weight of the past Yeohwi had confessed and that distorted yet pure trust directed at him, Dowon suddenly spoke.

“…What do you know. Acting as if you understand everything.”

He turned over and lay facing the sofa. In eyes adjusted to the darkness, each other’s outlines were faintly visible.

“In this world, there are plenty of people who are bastards on the surface and bastards behind the scenes—enough to rot the world through.”

“Then, does that mean Mister Dowon is one of those bastards?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Wow, that was a clumsy attempt. If you were a real bastard, why would you tell me that?”

“Because there’s no need to pull a stunt just to take your pocket money. It looks like you’re going to come and offer it on your own two feet even if I leave you alone, so why bother.”

“…Pffft.”

Yeohwi eventually couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

“Wow, you’re really obnoxious… but it is true.”

Yeohwi buried his face in the sofa back and chuckled. He felt as if the heavy stone that had been sitting in a corner of his chest had become a little lighter.

“I’m thinking I might as well just give Mister Dowon all the money I have and become penniless. Then wouldn’t Mister Dowon take me in out of pity?”

“Don’t even dream about it.”

“Hey, I can at least dream. It’s my freedom.”

“It’s a hollow dream.”

“You never know. In my opinion, it seems quite likely. Someone who keeps protecting a poor kid and won’t even lay a finger on him because it weighs on his conscience… would a person like that watch me get divorced and end up on the streets?”

Dowon stared wordlessly at the silhouette of the laughing Yeohwi. His eyes glinted occasionally in the darkness. Yeohwi continued to spout dream-like words.

“The plan is this. I don’t leave this house and just hold out for ten years. Then I’ll be thirty. I’ll be mature and ripe, so you won’t even be able to reject me with the excuse that I’m young, right? No, thinking about it, I don’t think I need to wait until thirty. I’ll wait about five years and then sneak into Mister Dowon’s room and just…”

“…Are you saying you’re going to pounce on me?”

“W-well. If I’m twenty-five and Mister Dowon is thirty-seven. Wouldn’t I win if I use my strength?”

“As if. It’s not like I’d even get it up for you anyway, so how do you plan on committing anything?”

“I get it up just fine, so there’s no problem.”

“What? This brat…”

“Why. Am, am I not allowed to? Is it not okay…?”

“You little mutt. If you want to play with your cock, go outside and find a hole that fits. I said I’d permit it.”

“No…! Hmph… I clearly said I didn’t want to. I don’t want anyone if it’s not Mister Dowon.”

“How do you know without even trying? You look like the type who’d fall for the first person you see outside the house and follow them around like a puppy. It’s obvious just looking at how you act.”

“No way. Do I look that shallow to you?”

“Yes. A guy whose heart is easy to take. One finger—no, one fingertip, and you’d roll over.”

Dowon was the first to close his eyes.

“Tomorrow will be busy. Stop whining and sleep to save your energy.”

“…Yes. Goodnight, Mister Dowon.”

Yeohwi followed suit and closed his eyes.

Sleep didn’t come even for a moment, but he just closed his eyes and quietly spent this moment.

‧₊˚🍊༉‧₊˚.

Sure enough, Yeohwi couldn’t sleep a wink all night.

When his eyes were closed, it felt like he could hear Dowon’s regular breathing from the bed placed over there, so his every nerve was on edge; even when he wanted to toss and turn, he couldn’t even breathe loudly for fear of waking him. In the end, he had no choice but to watch the sky outside turn bluish-white through wide-open eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling and the elaborate Rococo-style molding decorating it. And a massive crystal chandelier glowing faintly. Only when the morning sunlight started squeezing through the gaps in the curtains did Yeohwi, unable to overcome the rushing fatigue, fall into a light, fitful doze.

“Get up.”

Had he slept for about thirty minutes? A low voice pierced through his hazy consciousness and struck his ears.

Yeohwi let out a pained groan as he struggled to lift his heavy eyelids.

“Uuugh.”

He blinked painfully. His vision was blurry. Someone was standing by his head with their back to the backlight. A familiar scent of cedarwood wafted from the person.