Speak of The Devil Chapter 11

The man came back when the clock said it was past five and time was ticking away. The wait was so long that I was about to die of boredom. I was full of desire to get off work quickly and do everything with him.

But when it was almost time to get off work, the phone rang. It was a phone call from the lobby on the first floor. Jung Yiyeon’s acquaintance had come to meet him. I went into the boss’s office and asked.

“A man named Min Seowon came to the lobby and wanted to meet you.”

“Who?”

“His name is Min Seowon…”

“Ah, tell him to come in.”

Jung Yiyeon said with a smile. Who is it that you laugh as soon as you hear that name? His face was of a welcoming expression, the smile subtly subsiding. I was really curious too.

After a few minutes which seemed like a long time to me, I heard the elevator stop. The door opened.

It was a young man who seemed to be in his mid-20s who came in with a brisk walk. I looked at him and thought of a colorful peacock. His eyes were round, and his double eyelids were thick, and his nose was straight. His thick lips were red as if they had been painted with lipstick. He was wearing a cherry blossoms-colored blazer with skinny jeans that were torn in several places, showing his bare skin, and he was wearing it very well. I had a hunch.

Min Seowon was gay.

He slammed the door of the boss’s office and sauntered in without giving me a chance to guide him.

“A-yo, bro.”

I couldn’t stop him, and as I followed him in despair, I doubted my ears for a moment. I thought some hip-hop type of person came.

“You’re back. When did you come to Korea?”

“Yesterday. I had to sneak out without Dad knowing. I have no money.”

“It’s a good thing. So you came here? Ah. Secretary Lee, you can leave. We don’t need any tea.”

It was a completely separate world. I was angry at the friendly appearance of a young, pretty man who was obviously gay and Jung Yiyeon, a man I like. However, how could I stand still when he had just kicked me out, a mere Secretary?

“But I missed you so much.”

Those were the last conversations I could hear before the door closed.

I deceived my parents and came to Korea. I miss Jung Yiyeon so much.

Thud. My heart fell to the floor. Feeling anxious, and frustrated, I tapped the desk with my finger. The tip of my fingernail touched the desk, and I could not stop those sounds which I didn’t want to hear.

It was probably impossible to leave work on time or to meet after work. If it was just that, I wouldn’t be so upset. The problem was that my gay radar rang perfectly towards Min Seowon. I am sure that there was a lot of emotion in his gaze and voice towards Jung Yiyeon. I wasn’t usually a mess like this. He was so full of talent that he was blatantly seducing Jung Yiyeon.

Ah fuck! Damn it. But even the reality that all I could do was curse and swallow it alone in this place was like hell.

They came out about 10 minutes later. I would have been suffering from all kinds of delusions if they had been there much longer since Jung Yiyeon didn’t care about having sex in the office. I was glad that nothing happened in the office, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on there, so I was upset again. I didn’t have a good feeling.

“Secretary Lee, I’m leaving.”

…Maybe I was expecting you to say that.

The attitude of breaking the promise we made in the morning so easily, something welled up inside me. It made me sad and upset that he let me go so easily because a new person appeared. If it wasn’t for that man named Min Seowon, it wouldn’t have been this difficult. Seeing a man with a slender physique who was clinging to Jung Yiyeon more than necessary, my insides burned black.

But, of course, I couldn’t give anything away from my expression. I struggled to stand up and asked in a calm voice.

“How about your car?”

I never thought that wearing an expressionless mask for a long time to hide my feelings for him would help in this way. The business-like attitude I had deliberately made up made it possible to treat him casually now.

“Ah. Secretary Lee can take it. Come to pick me up tomorrow morning.”

“Yes. Have a good night, boss.”

At my polite greeting, Jung Yiyeon looked at me with soft eyes and nodded his head.

Would he even know how much my insides were boiling? Or are you doing this on purpose to make me jealous? Watching them get on the elevator, I gently bit the soft flesh in my mouth.

“Huh? Why don’t we just go to your house now? I want to sleep at your house.”

“It’s uncomfortable.”

“Ah, Hyuung!”

The elevator door closed. The voice of the man named Min Seowon, who was unwilling to listen, also disappeared.

All that was left was me

I slumped into my seat. My head hurt like it was going to explode. I had to go home. It was the on-time work I had been doing for a long time. Either go get a good rest or forget about Jung Yiyeon and I could spend a hot night with someone else…

My legs didn’t move. I couldn’t move my body for a while because I couldn’t erase the image of him going out with another man, making the promise with me a non-existent one.

***

I barely slept.

Jung Yiyeon said he wanted to be with me in the morning, and my body was tight. So, I couldn’t sleep because the expectation that he might have breakfast with Min Seowon, who suddenly came, kept bubbling.

When I got a message from him at midnight, I hurriedly checked my phone with the same heart. But it wasn’t what I expected. It was a message asking me to come to his house in time for work in the morning along with his house code.

After leaving work, there was no news, and the call came at midnight. There was enough time to be there no matter what. Were you with Min Seowon until that time?

If so, would you have slept? Would he caress his whole body as if he had touched me, kissed him tenderly, and hugged him softly and violently?

I couldn’t fall asleep because of all the thoughts that kept coming to my mind. Even though I was tired and my eyes were throbbing from checking my phone over and over again. By the time I fell asleep, exhausted, I remembered Jung Yiyeon’s naked body and the figure of another man moaning beneath it, and my sleep vanished.

I shouldn’t be concerned about this. He and I were not dating, we were just sex partners. I knew it from the beginning, so there was nothing to be heartbroken about. I kept thinking about it, but nothing helped me fall asleep.

In the end, I got up in the morning without even being able to sleep, so I washed up and got ready for work. My face in the mirror was pale and scruffy. I had to pretend to be as calm as possible but would I be able to do it?

A sigh burst out. My heart was heavy the whole time I drove to his house. Even though it was my first time driving to work, I wasn’t as happy as I was when I was told to use his car the day before.

There was no obstacle to entering the parking lot, as the car was recognized at the gate of the apartment he lived in. I parked the car and got into the elevator I had taken before. As I got closer to him, my heart raced like it was going to explode. The chest that contained that heart was throbbing and painful.

What if Min Seowon was there? I didn’t think I would be able to manage my facial expressions. I was nervous and anxious, and my mouth was dry.

I finally arrived in front of his house.

I tried to enter the password, but I just rang the doorbell. Not long after, Jung Yiyeon opened the door.

“Come in. Why didn’t you just open it and come in?”

He greeted me with only a towel wrapped around his lower body as if he had just finished taking a shower. Water dripped from his wet hair.

Inside, my tears of blood were dripping down.

A moist, wet body that was exposed without a single cloth on. A white body as beautiful as a torso statue in the Vatican Museum imprinted on the clavicle…a red kiss mark. I could see the red line on his back.

It pierced my heart like a thorn. In an instant, my heart was destroyed rendering it shapeless.

Thinking without being able to sleep at all, I swallowed my anguish with jealousy thinking he might have hugged another man, but on the other hand, I still had expectations.

Maybe it was. Don’t tell me it was. Everything that I believed and expected was in vain.

So… what was that?

What could I say when I see a man who didn’t hesitate to show me the traces of an affair left by another man?

What else could I ask him and say?

What the hell was the relationship between Jung Yiyeon and Lee Nan?

I couldn’t show him my jealousy. I could never express this anger that exploded like an active volcano. I couldn’t even say that I was angry. So that shouldn’t be the case. We were not in a relationship

Yes. From the beginning, and now. There was no relationship

“Ah, my stomach hurts.”

Jung Yiyeon muttered to himself. Smelling the alcohol in his breath, he must have drank too much.

“I bought a hamburger. Please eat.”

At my words, Jung Yiyeon looked at me and the paper bag in my hand with a surprised look. He sent me a message after midnight and asked me to come home in the morning and gave me the house password, so I expected him to have been drinking, therefore I stopped by a 24-hour fast food restaurant on the way to buy it.

“Wow, as expected of Secretary Lee.”

Jung Yiyeon was genuinely delighted. Taking the paper bag in my hand, he went to the table and pulled out a hamburger and a Coke. Without delay, he opened the wrapping paper and began to eat.

I felt like throwing up at the smell of oil and cheese spreading through the air. The kiss mark on his collarbone remained like an afterimage, as if engraved on my retina, and did not disappear. When I took a closer look at his back as he ate the hamburger, a burning pain pierced my heart. It wasn’t deep. However, the red mark with a few lines was clearly a nail scratch.

How the hell did Min Seowon make such a mark? There were many times when I wanted to put my nails on his body, but I couldn’t do it because it was a waste. I hadn’t even thought of leaving a mark on his body for fear of offending him.

But was his relationship with Min Seowon such that it was okay for him to leave such a thing? Could I have left some too? I couldn’t stop thinking like that. I felt like I was going crazy with jealousy just looking at him, so I forcibly pulled my gaze away from him.

I sat next to him awkwardly and just stared out the window. Jung Yiyeon finished his meal quickly.

“I’m going to dry my hair, so you can rest here comfortably.”

After filling his stomach, he smiled like a full-fledged beast and went back into the bathroom. Left alone, I let out a sigh that I had been holding back.

Lee Nan. Why are you so heartbroken? Isn’t this something you expected from the beginning? Even Jung Yiyeon, who said that you should meet another man if you want to, might one day come to hold another man. In the first place, Jung Yiyeon wanted a relationship in which they simply had sex without being lovers. Knowing everything, I accepted Jung Yiyeon’s proposal. So now, don’t be so jealous. Between Jung Yiyeon and Lee Nan, there were only bodies.

… But I didn’t expect this to be so miserable.

Even so, I couldn’t stand still and look at the garbage that Jung Yiyeon ate and left. I folded the crumpled hamburger wrapper, put it in the trash, and organized the paper bags and cola cups. Even then, as if possessed, I went into his bedroom and organized the place where he slept.

I asked myself why I was taking care of these things like an asshole, but I couldn’t stop and looked around the bed. There were no traces of a love affair on the bed with the marks written alone. So I’m relieved again.

At that time, Jung Yiyeon, after drying himself off, came into the room. He frowned.

“Why is Secretary Lee organizing that?”

“Ah… I have nothing to do.”

“You should be resting. You look knackered, haven’t you slept well?”

It was rather a good thing I couldn’t sleep all night. I could use it as a reason for my hardened face because I was physically tired beyond my disturbed and confused mind.

“Yes, a little.”

“What, who did you play with and what did you do to get so exhausted that you can’t even breathe?”

He smiled softly and asked.

I am now… Now I know that it’s not jealousy. It was just a meaningless question. He wouldn’t even wonder. He was really convinced that I enjoyed myself with other people just like he did.

In the end, after returning from Busan, all the thoughts I had been thinking about for a few days were nothing more than useless delusions.

I was perplexed because I didn’t know what to say, and when Jung Yiyeon’s cell phone rang, I was able to get out of trouble. Jung Yiyeon looked at the phone screen and answered the call with a frown.

“Are you awake already?”

I knew intuitively that it was the person he had been with last night. I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but Min Seowon’s voice was so shrill that even I could hear it. He seemed angry, and he seemed to be annoyed.

The only thing that changed was Jung Yiyeon’s attitude. The day before, he had a rather welcoming smile on his face, but now he was obviously annoyed.

“Min Seowon, you’re being annoying.”

It was such a cold tone.

Wow, after having sex once, there was nothing to see anymore. After allowing kiss marks and nail marks, he was acting so mean. I was surprised at the sudden change of attitude. On the other hand…

“If you’re going to say that, I’m hanging up.”

… On the one hand, I find myself relieved by his completely different attitude towards me. Even while self-deprecating that it might be the future predicted for me.

“I’m done. Stop. I’ll hang up because I have to go to work.”

Click. His face was hardened with irritation as he hung up the phone coldly. He didn’t feel any regret at all. On the contrary, he sighed as if tired.

“Do I have a tight schedule this morning?”

Why are you suddenly asking about your morning schedule? Don’t tell me he’s going to go soothe his lover after hanging up the phone like that.

“… No. Nothing special this morning.”

“Let’s go to work in the afternoon, then.”

I expected this to be the case, but Jung Yiyeon really declared that he would not go to work. So unexpected!

“Let’s sleep a little more.”

He laid flat on the bed. Still wearing a towel on his lower body. He slapped the seat next to him.

“Lie down here.”

I was speechless for a moment. Lie down next to him. What do you mean by that?

After hanging up the phone call of the person he spent last night with, he was too kind to me. It’s clear they didn’t share the same bed, so why was he suddenly asking me to lie next to him? Jung Yiyeon’s attitude made me so confused.

Love was push and pull, but we were not lovers. He was just my unrequited love.

I forgot the topic for a while and thought I was going to push and pull for nothing, so I pushed him away yesterday morning, and then I spent the whole night vomiting blood. In order not to repeat such regrets, I should have been dragged away whenever he pulled.

I knew it. I knew it with my head, but my body didn’t move.

“… Secretary Lee?”

Even though he told me to come over, he called me in a slightly firm voice, probably because I was standing there.

“… Yes, sir.”

“…Ha.”

When I didn’t move, he got up from his seat. He asked as he sat on the bed.

“I’m asking out of concern. You’re not jealous right now, are you?”

It was a question that hit me right away.

“Are you?”

He asked the cruel question again as if to confirm.