Hazardous Concentration Chapter 22

The dark pupils glistened with interest. It felt as if the fog that had been clouding his mind had vanished in an instant.

The grown-up Joo Eunhoo overlapped with the lingering image of the boy that had been blurry all this time. It matched so precisely that it was puzzling why he hadn’t known until now.

“That was you?”

The corners of Yeo Taejun’s eyes curved craftily.

Is it because I’m in the midst of a three-year cycle of bad luck that things are even worse, as if my luck wasn’t already bad enough? Ever since my family went bankrupt, there have been overwhelmingly more bad days than good ones, but lately, Eunhoo felt like he was walking on thin ice every single day. With the principal repayment date not far off, it seems like I’ve really been struck by bad luck.

For a while now, the man who collects the payments kept calling me.

—Peek-a-boo! Pretty thing, are you doing well?

‘What is it?’

—Does there have to be something going on for me to contact you? You’re making oppa feel sad.

‘…If you have nothing to say, I’m hanging up. I have to work to pay back the money.’

It’s annoying enough that he calls once a month about interest payments, but because he calls without any real business just to say useless things, Eunhoo’s stress only deepened day by day. As a result, mistakes naturally became frequent.

Yesterday, I broke a plate that cost over 100,000 won each, and the day before, I forgot one of the most important ingredients. The head chef, who had been lenient at first, saying such things could happen, scolded me after Eunhoo’s repeated mistakes. And that news reached the manager not long after.

‘Mr. Eunhoo, I’m disappointed. What’s wrong with you lately? Why are you making so many mistakes, like someone who has lost their soul somewhere?’

‘I am truly sorry.’

The serving work went over smoothly since the customers, Assemblyman Jung and Yeo Taejun, didn’t say anything, but the manager still frowned at Eunhoo as if some resentment remained.

It was only natural, considering that one was the most likely person to be the next president, and the other was someone who would inherit a large conglomerate.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Be a bit more careful. Got it?’

‘…Yes. I’m sorry.’

Eunhoo bowed his head repeatedly. And as he returned to the kitchen feeling dejected, the head chef, who was waiting to scold him, clicked his tongue.

‘Did you get scolded a lot?’

‘No.’

‘Let’s stay sharp and do well from now on.’

Perhaps feeling sorry for a dejected Eunhoo, the head chef didn’t say anything else after that. From then on, Eunhoo stayed sharp and didn’t make any more noticeable mistakes. While he thought it was a relief, he was angry on the other hand.

“Why am I really like this lately? Joo Eunhoo, let’s pull yourself together.”

This isn’t the time for this, but I haven’t been able to settle my mind since reuniting with Yeo Taejun. In his life, Eunhoo had never doubted his sexual orientation. Rather, he had lived buried in the thought that he had to act like a man obsessively. So, even when he was exempted from the military, which all South Korean men go to, he felt sad rather than happy. Being drawn to Yeo Taejun four years ago wasn’t because of an interest in the opposite sex. It was just a mix of fascination at seeing someone who looked like that for the first time, and a mix of feeling good from being praised by the words he tossed out while pretending not to care.

Looking back, if that was butterflies, then it was butterflies, but it wasn’t enough to make him sick every day. Eunhoo had no interest in the opposite sex at all, enough that his cousins were worried. He wasn’t in a position to do so anyway, but his cousins, who didn’t know the circumstances, used to tease Eunhoo, saying his romantic cells were too dried up. However, now, now he was confused.

Why didn’t he try to get away more actively from under Yeo Taejun in that room back then? It was terrible when the man collecting the payments looked at him as a sexual object. To put it bluntly, it was so dirty that he wanted to gouge out those eyeballs. He hated it even when he was just looked at, but Yeo Taejun even bit and sucked on him. Yet, he didn’t feel disgusted.

Eunhoo was unfamiliar and tormented by that difference. It felt as if he had opened a box that shouldn’t have been opened.

“I’m going crazy.”

Why should he be flustered because of that man? That man wouldn’t even recognize him.

He wasn’t talking about what happened a few days ago. At first, Eunhoo was flustered and uncertain too, but no matter how much he thought about it, it seemed unlikely that he would remember the meeting from four years ago.

The reason Eunhoo was this confident is that there is already a precedent. He tried not to think about it as much as possible because it made him feel unpleasant when he recalled it, but Eunhoo had reunited with Yeo Taejun before graduating high school.

It was on graduation day. Eunhoo headed to school for the last time.

That day, middle and high schools in the area, including his alma mater Cheongwon High School, held graduation ceremonies at the same time, making the place crowded with people holding bouquets of flowers.

The kids were also giggling to their hearts’ content, free from entrance exam stress. In the midst of that, Eunhoo was spending time alone a little way off.

Even though it was a place where he spent a long three years, he had no feelings. He was only tired from solving puzzles yesterday and wanted to go home quickly and rest.

Eunhoo blankly lifted his eyes and looked at the people passing by busily and the cars passing slowly on the road.

—Mom and Dad think it will take about 10 minutes. The traffic is heavier than I thought.

‘Yes, that’s fine. Please come slowly and safely.’

Just as he finished the call, a car stopped in front of the school gate. The car door opened, and the first thing he saw was long legs.

Eunhoo’s eyes, which were looking in that direction without much thought, widened immediately after.

Yeo Taejun?

He was the same as the last time he saw him. The way he got out of the car with his coat draped loosely over his shoulders was as elegant as a scene from a classic movie. Yeo Taejun walked over, slowly putting on leather gloves. It was nothing, but when he did it, it looked different. Sure enough, people’s gazes turned to Yeo Taejun all at once.

Thump.

Every time he took a step, the hem of his coat swayed. Then, when Yeo Taejun turned his body toward him, Eunhoo gasped in surprise.

‘Gasp!’

He’s coming this way. What do I do? Should I just turn away while pretending I don’t know him? He pondered countless times in his head, but his eyes locked with the man’s. Eunhoo froze in place.

Realizing it was too late to run away, he hesitated and bowed his head.

‘A-ah, hello….’

‘Yeo Gijoon!’

However, he furrowed his brow sharply and shouted toward the back of Eunhoo.

‘Huh?’

Did he not see me? That’s strange. I clearly thought our eyes met.

‘Over there, that….’

Eunhoo tried to summon the courage to open his lips once more, but he passed by Eunhoo without a care.

At that moment, he realized.

That to Yeo Taejun, he was a being like a still life that would evaporate from his mind in a few months. At that moment, he came to his senses as if he had been drenched in a bucket of ice water.

“Joo Eunhoo!”

At the angry shout, Eunhoo quickly woke up from his reminiscence.

“Ugh!”

At that moment, the paring knife grazed his fingertips. The head chef, who happened to be nearby, burst into a roar with a menacing expression.

“Are you crazy! Where are you losing your mind while handling blades!”

Blackish-red blood was oozing from his index finger.

“Don’t get water on it, wrap it with a paper towel!”

Trying to head to the sink, he stopped and wrapped the cut from the knife with a paper towel that was kept there.

“Go and put on a bandage or something. And let’s pull yourself together! If you’re caught losing your mind one more time, you’re out of the kitchen!”

At the head chef’s declaration, Eunhoo bowed his waist with a face turned pale.

“I’m sorry.”

The wound on his index finger throbbed. Although it was a paring knife, it was always sharpened, so it was fatal even if it just grazed him.

Eunhoo had to bow his head once again, saying he was sorry.

After being cut on his index finger once, Eunhoo seemed to have really pulled himself together. Even the small mistakes that had occurred sporadically disappeared completely.

The head chef, who had been watching him as if monitoring him, also felt relieved and took his attention off.

“Cough.”

Eunhoo covered his mouth with his clenched fist. Not only did he sleep poorly because his dreams were unsettling, he caught a summer cold, which they say even dogs don’t catch.

Since he kept coughing, the head chef told him to handle dishwashing so it wouldn’t get on the food. It was work he did as a matter of course when he was the lowest in the kitchen, and he had only managed to get out of it when Kim Eunseong joined. His position had jumped up a level, so he could handle simple food himself. But everything was ruined because of the cold.

“Cough. Cough.”