Kwon Taejung arrived at the parking lot and the parking agents, as if it was urgent, started rushing from here and there. The parking agents stood as politely as they could and Kwon Taejung, wordlessly, reached out their hand. Unfortunately, the men didn’t understand what he implied with ease, so they got flustered.
“Can you give me the key?”
At his irked tone, a car key was finally placed in his hand. Kwon Taejung beelined among the parking agents who had bowed and pressed the button on the car key as the light on the black car standing in front of them blinked.
“Get in.”
Kwon Taejung opened the door to the passenger seat and tilted his head. He clearly looked like a thug. Seeing the parking agent’s face stricken with fear once they saw him, it was clear that he was more famous than expected. Can a thug be that famous…Yigyeom thought to himself as he saw Kwon Taejung climbing into the driver’s seat.
“Seat belt.”
“….Yes…”
Yigyeom stretched the seat belt and held it away from him so that it didn’t touch his wet uniform and looked towards the driver’s seat.
“….My clothes are wet…so I think I am going to keep this here.”
“You want to take your clothes off?”
“…Huh?’
“If your clothes are wet, you can take it off.”
Kwon Taejung seemed to be teasing yet genuine at the same time. Yigyeom looked at him unable to answer and only pressed his lips on the seat belt held in his hand. Kwon Taejung laughed at seeing Yigyeom like that, bent his body towards the passenger’s seat, and pulled the belt to buckle it instead.
“It would be okay to head for home, right?”
“…Yes…”
The steering wheel moved smoothly and the car left the parking spot. Yigyeom looked at the parking agents from the window, who were standing in a line, bowling deeply down to their waist and Yigyeom unconsciously bowed his head.
“…”
Kwon Taejung did not speak until the car left the parking lot and entered an unknown road. Yigyeom felt quite awkward and took out the phone from his pocket, turned it on, and stared at the screen. There was nothing to see on the phone but looking at an empty screen seemed better than doing nothing.
“Do you meet Goo Daebom often?”
Yigyeom looked up from the screen, as he heard his voice piercing through the silence and towards the driver’s seat. It wasn’t a pleasant question but rather than the atmosphere staying awkward, it was better to roll questions like that.
“…We don’t often or sometimes. Just once a month or so…”
“Does he come to find you?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The nuance of the question sounded a little strange. What other business would a private lender have with a debtor? It was definite that there would be no future if the debtor failed to pay back and Yigyeom already said multiple times how weak I felt whenever he came by but he didn’t ask the question looking for a rehearsed answer. So Yigyeom couldn’t reciprocate his question.
“….I don’t know how I should answer.”
“It would be okay, to be honest.”
“…He hears about how much debt I have left, and says that he would kill me if I try to run away…and says that it would be better if he could sell me off.”
“He said the same to me earlier. That you are a beta who has the perfect face to put on sale but since you came out on the broadcast, he couldn’t do so. That bastard is a really crazy one. How he shamelessly talks about selling people or whatever…”
“I thought you were close but I was surprised to know that you met him for the first time today.”
“Hey, Yigyeom. I fuck, I have a fucking standard. Even if it wasn’t for you, there was no reason for me to meet him. Fuck, how dare such a lowlife meet me?”
Even among the gangsters, they were concerned about standards and ranks. Yigyeom sighed and darted his eyes at his phone which started vibrating. On the small screen, he could see the name Kang Jihoon so he turned his body sideways and carefully received the call.
“Hello? Yes, hyung…yes, I had a situation so I left first. Ah…right. My bag and clothes…yes, please take care of them. Yes, sorry.”
Since that man dragged him out of the banquet hall, he forgot his bag and clothes inside the locker. He requested Kang Jihoon to take care of the bag and hung up the call.
“Who? Your boyfriend?”
“…We work together at our part-time jobs.’
“Ah, your hyung. I thought you two were dating. You don’t talk like that with me but you were pretty sweet to that guy.”
Kwon Taejung stopped the car at the red light and turned his head slightly and looked at Yigyeom, who was fumbling with the seatbelt across his body. When their eyes met, he recalled the time when their bodies were glued together behind the pillar, and thinking of that, his ears went red.
“How long have you known that hyung of yours?”
“…It’s been about a year.”
“Then, if you spend a year with me, will you talk like that with me?”
“…”
“Prettily.”
Kwon Taejung spoke incomprehensible words well. Yigyeom couldn’t find an answer to a question he hadn’t heard of until that day and like an idiot, he could only have his mouth agape.
“You are not answering me again.”
“You can just answer what I’m asking you. If you are going to talk prettily to me or not.”
“…Uh, but I haven’t talked prettily ever. Just that hyung…since I know him so I speak with him comfortably…”
Yigyeom stopped talking and while Kwon Taejung started driving again, he took a glance of him secretly. He didn’t know what he should call that man, so worrying about that, he couldn’t continue speaking.
“…With Chief…still…we don’t know each other well, you are a difficult person as well…”
“Why am I difficult? I am pretty simple.”
The man looked at Yigyeom who averted his eyes and lowered his head and laughed at him. As expected, he was a much better person than the manager in charge before.
Kwon Taejung didn’t use violence, he looked after his grandfather and he didn’t tell him to get out of the demolition village, and honestly, he was grateful. But he didn’t agree that he was simple. But whenever Yigyeom saw him he couldn’t figure him out, whether it was his actions or words, he couldn’t understand any of it.
“From now, if we see each other every day, we will get close. It doesn’t make sense if we don’t, given that you are going to play around with me every day.”
It wasn’t something that he said that they meant to see each other because they live in the same place and would end up crossing paths sometimes but they would have to purposefully meet. Kwon Taejung who proposed to play around together every day, Yigyeom listened to it, while absentmindedly tapping around on the screen of his phone with his fingertips.
Earlier, he couldn’t grasp whether Kwon Taejung was teasing him or was sincere. Everything he said seemed like a joke but then again, it all seemed genuine.
“When should we meet tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?”
“I told you to play with me. If I go to the gym tomorrow, I think I‘ll be done by 10.30.”
“…I have work tomorrow.”
“I told you I’ll pay you.”
The car entered the dim demolition village. Since there was a streetlamp, the surroundings were brightly lit compared to the exceptionally dark Daramdong. The alleys were weary and brightened by the absence of some street lamps. The car couldn’t enter the narrow alley and thus parked at the entrance. Yigyeom loosened the seat belt and turned halfway toward the driver’s seat.
“…You helped me today, and even escorted me home…thank you so much.”
“It would be a pity if I leave you here.”
“…”
“I will take you to your house.”
“No. I can go there by myself.”
“It’s because I still have some things to say.”
Kwon Taejung got off the driver’s seat and passed around the front of the car and came to the passenger’s side and Yigyeom who broke off from his trance opened the door.
Outside the door, Kwon Taejung arrived already and grabbed the door open. With small movements, Yigyeom exited the car and stood in front of the well-groomed man and tried to cover the large wine stain on his uniform with his hand for no reason.
“Yigyeom.”
“…Yes?’
“Do you know why I come to this disgusting place every day?”
From where the light was a bit dim, Taejung began to walk towards the place where there was distinct light and tossed a crushed can that was rolling on the floor, with his shoes. The can rolled somewhere and bumped into something, the loud noise of the commotion filled that alley.
“I come to see you. It might seem like a joke. You want to say, there he goes again, right?”
“…”
“I wanted it to be a joke as well, or a tease as well, but sorry to say it is not either.”
“…”
“It is up to you whether you want to spend the rest of the three months putting up with me or being locked up somewhere.”
“…Locked up?”
Yigyeom’s shoulders shrunk when he saw Kwon Taejung saying scary words so casually. There were about three steps left to the house but it felt like nothing could be solved within that distance.
Yigyeom looked at Kwon Taejung who stopped in front of his house. Yigyeom stood still and pursed his lips. The street lamps that were always blinking illuminated Kwon Taejung as if it was waiting for him all along.
“We are here.”
“…Are you going to lock me up?”
“I’m tired. I will stop talking here. There are still three more months left so let’s take it slow. Whenever we meet, I will answer whatever you are curious about one by one. How is that?”
“…”
“Even though it seems like we have a lot of time on our hands, it isn’t so. It is a very short time for something to disappear without a trace. So you have to do your best to play with me.”
Yigyeom faced the eyes that seemed serious and trembled within. Kwon Taejung came close to Yigyeom who was shivering and patted his head gently like he did at the banquet hall.
“Play with me until the demolition. Until everything crumbles down completely.”
It was Yigyeom’s first time listening to Kwon Taejung threaten him with such a friendly voice that he couldn’t even realize it was a threat. Kwon Taejung’s voice, his laughter, and his relaxed voice and gaze, the streetlamps did not suit his intimidating self.
“Should we grab lunch tomorrow? What do you want to eat?”
“…”
“Think about it. I will come around 11. Let’s meet here.”
…. I felt kinda threatened… But not really… However it felt serious…while being kinda hot
???¿¿¿ I’m confusion
And that is good suspenseful romantic storytelling!
Thanks, finally they start a friendship relationship
Thanks 😊