I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 64
Jaewoo took a deep breath. He’d hoped that doing so would calm his mind, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. His fingers were trembling. He put down his cell phone and rubbed his face with both hands.
Hyunjin knew everything. He’d known that he was working for Mujin in exchange for reducing his debt.
‘How?’
How had he found out? Jaewoo thought that he had hidden it pretty well. Even if Hyunjin had discovered that he wasn’t working at the supermarket, he shouldn’t have been able to find out anything more than that. But Hyunjin had known everything.
“Choi Mujin.”
Maybe he’d told Hyunjin everything. How ‘considerate’ of him. Jaewoo picked up his phone again, then realized that Hyunjin had deleted Mujin’s number.
‘No, even if Hyunjin hadn’t deleted it…’
He’d impulsively wanted to call Mujin and complain, but even if he did that, it wouldn’t fix anything.
‘I need to find Hyunjin first.’
Jaewoo left the storage room, walking over the rain-soaked patio. As he did, he discovered the two children sitting on the floor across from him, looking like they were about to cry.
“Hyeonu, Woohee.”
Jaewoo approached the two of them. Even though they were under the patio roof, there weren’t any walls to block the rain. At this rate, the children were going to get soaked and become sick.
“You two, go inside.”
“What about you, Uncle? Are you going out?”
Hyeonu asked with an anxious expression.
“I’m going out to clear my head for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”
“Will you really come back?”
Hyeonu’s face was full of fear. Now that Jaewoo thought about it, the kids’ mother had abandoned them when they were young. Then their father also left them, leaving only Hyunjin to take care of them. But now even Hyunjin had run away without saying anything. Of course the kids were terrified.
“You know your brother.”
Hyunjin wasn’t the sort of person who would abandon his younger brothers and run away. At his words, the kids’ expressions looked a little better.
“Let’s go inside first.”
Jaewoo comforted the children again.
“It’s really cold outside, and it’s raining too. I don’t want either of you to get sick.”
The children hesitated for a moment more before they went into the house. Jaewoo needed to go find Hyunjin, but he had to take care of the kids first. He entered the kitchen and started a fire in the boiler. The heat would start to rise up through the floors in a little bit.
As soon as he was sure the house was heating up, he went outside again. He picked up the umbrella that had been tumbling across the patio and left through the gate. Where would Hyunjin have gone? All he could think of was the bar he had visited once before.
‘I should have gotten their number at least.’
Jaewoo let out a deep sigh, then took a step forward. The pouring rain showed no sign of abating, the drops rattling and pounding against his umbrella as he headed down the slope to find Hyunjin.
After running for a while, Hyunjin gradually began to slow down. His body was soaked from the rain, and the cold finally began to register. His skin was stinging, but the pain was short-lived compared to the pain in his heart. It ached so badly he almost couldn’t bear it.
‘I make everyone around me miserable.’
That was the thought that Hyunjin couldn’t seem to shake. It was enough to terrify him. It felt like the little bit of peace and happiness that he had managed to achieve was about to disappear like smoke.
Even now, there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it. What could he do when he was already on the bottom rung of society, living paycheck to paycheck and only able to focus on one day at a time?
Mechanically, Hyunjin started walking again. He had nowhere to go. There wasn’t even anyplace he wanted to go, he was just following the motions of his body.
He wasn’t sure how far he walked like that before someone blocked his path. When his eyes finally focused, he saw polished shoe tips in front of him.
When Hyunjin looked up, he saw exactly who he expected.
“Choi Mujin.”
A familiar man was standing in front of him. Mujin didn’t even hold his umbrella himself – someone else did it for him. Standing there, safe from the rain, Mujin looked down at Hyunjin silently.
“Why are you here?”
Only then did Mujin open his mouth.
“I came to see Jaewoo.”
Hyunjin rushed towards Mujin, grabbing him by the collar. As soon as he did, one of Mujin’s underlings tried to grab Hyunjin, but Mujin raised a hand to stop him.
“Why are you meeting with Jaewoo!”
“I need to talk with him about our contract.”
Mujin twisted Hyunjin’s hand, forcing him to let go, and continued speaking.
“So, the contract – this time, our conditions are even more lenient. Aren’t you curious?”
Hyunjin staggered backwards, glaring at Mujin as if he wanted to kill him.
“We will completely clear all of Yoo Hyunjin’s debt.”
Why? Why was he trying to use Hyunjin’s debt to manipulate Jaewoo?
“Do you think your precious ‘hyung’ will be swayed by that offer?”
“He won’t be. He might have taken your deal before, but he won’t do it again.”
Hyunjin spoke through clenched teeth.
“I’ll pay the debt on my own. Don’t get Jaewoo involved.”
“Can you afford to repay it?”
Mujin asked with a grin.
“I’ll make sure you get your money.”
“Even if you work hard, can you even manage such a sum?”
“I’ll repay you somehow.”
“How?”
Hyunjin knew what he was getting at. The size of his debt was soul-crushing; in order to pay it back, he’d have to give up any hope of living like a human being. Even if he worked his fingers to the bone, like he had been before, he’d have trouble just paying back the interest. Still, he had to find a way somehow. If he did, then Jaewoo could be free, and wouldn’t have to be tied down by Mujin’s unfair conditions.
“I was under the impression you were struggling with just the interest.”
Now, he had to make a decision.
He’d wanted to live an ordinary life. Even if it was hard, he’d tried to live with his head held high, and hoped that someday things would get better. But he’d known, hadn’t he? Such a dream was impossible. It was just that he’d awoken from that dream sooner than he’d thought.
Hyunjin knelt down right there in the street, prostrating himself in front of Mujin.
“…Please, I’ll do anything.”
Whether it was becoming a gangster or selling his body, he’d do whatever it took.
Mujin’s eyes had been dark and cold as he watched him, but when Hyunjin knelt down, they finally showed a spark of interest. He’d seen decent, hard working people reach their breaking point and sacrifice everything hundreds of times, but it had never given him such satisfaction before.
‘I won.’
Even though Hyunjin barely had anything to begin with, Mujin couldn’t help but feel triumphant.
“In exchange, please don’t touch Jaewoo.”
“That’s not up to you.”
From his place on his knees, Hyunjin’s fists tightened, but he couldn’t do anything more.
Mujin considered his next moves calmly. Normally, he would have made Hyunjin go out and sell his body. Even after his mind broke, his body would have remained intact.
But would that really be enough to satisfy him?
He wanted to completely destroy Hyunjin. He wanted to make him understand his place so that he’d never covet anything that didn’t belong to him ever again.
“Alright. As long as you do a good job, I’ll honor your stipulation.”
He’d listen to Hyunjin’s request for now. After all, Jaewoo would come tumbling into his arms sooner or later. He could bide his time.
Just a little bit longer, and he’d be able to experience the moment when a person’s life descended into hell once more.
After Mujin left, Hyunjin stumbled to his feet, feeling like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. But he couldn’t bring himself to fall just yet. He still remembered the look on Jaewoo and his younger brothers’ faces when he’d left.
‘I have to let them know I’m okay.’
He started back the way he came, his steps heavy and plodding. He was still drenched from the rain, and some of the other passersby looked at him strangely, but Hyunjin paid them no mind. His heart, which had been full of turbulent emotions, finally felt calm.
“Hyunjin!”
From far away, a familiar voice rang out. Jaewoo ran to him as if he had wings, covering Hyunjin with an umbrella. A warm hand wiped the rainwater away from his face.
“Your lips are white.”
Jaewoo bit his lip and tugged at Hyunjin’s arm.
“You can’t keep going like this. Let’s take a break and return later.”
The two of them went to a nearby motel. The motel owner looked at Hyunjin curiously, but didn’t make any comments before letting the two of them inside.
As soon as they entered the room, Jaewoo began taking off Hyunjin’s clothes. First the outer layer, then his shirt, which was so wet it was sticking to his skin. Hyunjin was so soaked that his hands slipped a few times, but he didn’t give up. Once they were off, he led Hyunjin into the shower.
“Take off your pants, too.”
At the sound of Jaewoo’s commanding tone, Hyunjin silently obeyed.
“And your underwear.”
As soon as he was naked, Jaewoo positioned Hyunjin under the shower and turned it on. Warm water poured over him, beginning to heat up his freezing body.
“Your clothes are a mess.”
Jaewoo sighed, wringing out his wet clothes and shaking the water off of them. As Hyunjin’s body warmed up, his senses seemed to return. No matter how much Jaewoo fussed, it wouldn’t fix anything.
The shower turned off, and a towel entered Hyunjin’s field of vision. Jaewoo wiped Hyunjin dry, then wrapped him in a bathrobe before dragging him to his feet and making him sit on the edge of the bed.
“Hyunjin.”
Sitting next to him, Jaewoo hesitated a moment before speaking up. He seemed to have something that he wanted to say.
Hyunjin had been staring blankly ahead, but when Jaewoo spoke, he closed his eyes tightly, fighting to keep his usual expression on his face.
“Hyung.”
“Huh?”
“It’s alright.”
“…What?”
“You don’t have to sacrifice for me anymore.”
Jaewoo’s expression shifted and wobbled.
“I wasn’t sacrificing myself. And I didn’t do it out of pity, either.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“I just wanted you to be happier.”
“But why?”
Hyunjin looked at Jaewoo, not sure what he expected him to say. Jaewoo licked his dry lips and continued speaking.
“We’re family.”
Ah yes, family. Hyunjin’s aching heart felt like ice in his chest.
“Right. Family.”
The room descended into silence. Both of them stayed quiet, hiding emotions that threatened to explode. Eventually Jaewoo was the one to crack first, unable to stand the awkwardness any longer.
“Speaking of your debt…”
“It’s alright. I fixed it.”
He’d fixed it by promising his life to that gangster. Hyunjin answered with an indifferent tone.
“What?”
“I said I fixed it.”
“How?”
“It was really simple. So simple, and yet I’d been dragging things out trying to avoid it all this time. All I had to do was kneel down and submit.”
Jaewoo’s face turned pale.
“Hyunjin, look at me. What did you do?”
Jaewoo asked again, covering Hyunjin’s cheeks with both hands.
“It’s just as I said.”
Hyunjin smiled sadly and answered.
