I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 84
Jaewoo dialed Eunjoon’s number, and after a few seconds, the call was picked up.
─ Hello, Jaewoo.
Something was strange. Eunjoon’s voice was too clear, as if they were standing next to him. As soon as that thought occurred to him, Jaewoo looked up and spotted Eunjoon standing in the shade nearby, waving. Jaewoo looked around anxiously, but Hyunjin wasn’t in sight.
‘That’s right, he’s still at the hospital.’
Jaewoo let out a sigh of relief before glaring at Eunjoon.
“Was it you?”
─ Hm?
“Did you send Yoo Junghyun here?”
Jaewoo could see Eunjoon’s lips curl up in a smile.
─ What makes you think it was me?
“You’re the only one it could be.”
─ Well, you’re not wrong.
Jaewoo had never felt rage like that before. He put down his phone and stalked towards Eunjoon, who was just standing there. As soon as he was close enough, he clenched his hand into a fist and threw a punch directly at Eunjoon’s face. The move was so obvious that Jaewoo had thought Eunjoon would avoid it, but he didn’t even try.
Wham!
Jaewoo’s fist made a dull thudding sound as it impacted Eunjoon’s cheek, turning it red. But even that wasn’t enough to satisfy him. He wanted to make Eunjoon hurt even more.
“What in the world were you thinking?”
Jaewoo asked, his voice trembling. Eunjoon rubbed at his sore cheek as he answered.
“It was all for you.”
“For me?”
No, that wasn’t true. No matter who asked, Jaewoo would say the same: if it had really been for his sake, then Eunjoon should have believed in his promise and waited patiently.
“Are you really my friend?”
The doubts he’d had before had become even stronger. The friend from his memories and Eunjoon acted so differently, he couldn’t help but doubt him.
“…Yes, I am.”
Eunjoon answered slowly.
“Why don’t I believe you? My friend would never act like this.”
He could be selfish sometimes, but he was still a normal person. He was someone who would hang out with his friends; who’d laugh and cry together with them.
“That’s because you only ever saw the best of me. On the inside, I’ve always been like this.”
“No.”
Jaewoo refused to believe that.
“It’s true. Where do you want me to begin?”
“I want you to explain everything, absolutely everything.”
“Fine. First of all, the reason I used Yoo Junghyun was because it was necessary. You asked me to protect Yoo Hyunjin, but there was one person that could have gotten in the way.”
“You mean his father?”
“Exactly. I had to put a lot of thought into this. How could I get rid of him? Of course, I could always have used a less-than-legal method, but those sorts of things can get complicated. I decided on something simpler.”
Eunjoon’s voice was calm as he continued speaking.
“He can’t cause trouble if he’s in jail.”
“You didn’t have to go that far.”
“No, listen, listen. It’s not a bad plan when you really think about it. I can get rid of Yoo Junghyun and I can make sure you die, all at the same time.”
“And leave Hyunjin traumatized.”
Eunjoon shrugged his shoulders at Jaewoo’s icy tone.
“Well, it’s true that I was a bit annoyed at the time, but it was still a reasonable plan, right?”
What utter nonsense. Eunjoon had done all that just because he was a bit annoyed? If anything had gone wrong, Hyunjin could have died. Even if everything had worked perfectly and Jaewoo had been killed, it still would have been a problem. How could anyone be okay if they had to watch their father murder the person they loved right in front of them? They were so lucky that things had worked out like they did.
“If Yoo Junghyun killed someone while high on drugs, then I could use my influence to make sure he wouldn’t get out of prison for quite some time. There’d be no one left who could bother Yoo Hyunjin after that. He’d be free.”
Eunjoon dusted his hands together, as if wiping them clean.
“Stop trying to bullshit me. If you’re going to be like this, I’m not going to keep my promise either.”
At those words, Eunjoon’s expression changed completely, his playful face turning cold.
“You think this is bullshit? You haven’t seen anything yet. Shall I show you?”
Now he’d resorted to making outright threats. Jaewoo made a fist and punched Eunjoon in the chest. He hit him hard enough that he had to take a step backwards to keep his balance.
“Do you want to fight? If you don’t want to, then don’t do something like this again. If you’re planning something, you need to run it past me first!”
Eunjoon shrugged his shoulders, looking down towards the ground. As Jaewoo stood there, on edge and wondering what this crazy guy was going to do next, he suddenly raised his head again.
“Ah, this is why I like you. Alright, fine. I’ll get your permission before I do anything.”
Eunjoon raised his hands in the air in a motion of surrender, and his voice was calm. But knowing what he’d already done, Jaewoo didn’t let down his guard.
“Since that’s the case, how exactly are you planning on dying? And when? You have less than a day left before Choi Mujin will come for you, right?”
“Just leave that to me.”
“Alright, fine. I’ll wait patiently. It shouldn’t be long now, right?”
“Even if it takes a long time, I need you to not interfere.”
“I don’t agree to that.”
Eunjoon frowned, looking like he was about to launch into a complaint. Then he paused, glancing at something past Jaewoo.
“I knew it. Seems like Mujin has someone watching you from nearby.”
“What?”
“His assistant is heading over. I’ll leave, but make sure to keep in contact.”
With that, Eunjoon faded back into the shadows. A few moments later, Dongsoo appeared.
“Hello.”
“You got here quickly.”
“The Director told you he was sending someone. I just happened to be nearby; I wasn’t watching you.”
Mujin’s associate responded calmly to Jaewoo’s insinuations. Jaewoo was too worn-out to keep arguing, so he turned around and went back to the RV.
Dongsoo followed Jaewoo, but he made sure to maintain a certain distance. He seemed aware of Jaewoo’s feelings on the subject.
When Jaewoo returned, he found the children napping awkwardly on the floor. They must have been exhausted. After carrying the kids to their bed, Jaewoo sat down in the chair and waited for Hyunjin to return.
Tick tock, tick tock…
Jaewoo found the sound of the wall clock’s second hand increasingly annoying. If he could, he wanted to stop time in its tracks. Every time he blinked, it seemed like more and more time had slipped away.
‘No. I can’t leave things like this.’
He’d originally planned to quietly disappear after the trip, but then things had gone wrong. Jaewoo stared up at the ceiling blankly.
Why couldn’t everything just work out? Was there really no way to get rid of both Mujin and Eunjoon and stay with Hyunjin forever?
Hundreds of possibilities flew through his head, until he lost track of time and just sat there, tormented.
Suddenly, the RV door opened.
“Jaewoo.”
Hyunjin had returned.
“Hyunjin!”
Jaewoo sprang up and rushed towards Hyunjin.
“Your wound! Is it really okay?”
“It was just a few stitches.”
“Let me see.”
Hyunjin had said he was alright, but Jaewoo couldn’t help himself. He lifted up Hyunjin’s torn shirt and examined the wound. After looking at it, he felt sick to his stomach, and regretted that he hadn’t hit Eunjoon even harder.
“Do you think it would be better to stay here for a few more days?”
“No, it’ll be fine. Let’s go back home.”
“With that wound? And there’s still things we have to handle before we can leave.”
“Do you mean the police? I went to the station and spoke with them already.”
No wonder he’d been so late coming back.
“Why did you go there alone? I would have gone with you.”
“It’s a problem between my father and I. How can I ask you to deal with it?”
Hyunjin spoke firmly, turning away from Jaewoo before secretly glancing back at him to judge his reaction. Jaewoo plastered a look of surprise on his face. He already knew that the man that had attacked them was Hyunjin’s father, but Hyunjin probably didn’t know that. If he didn’t look surprised, Hyunjin might think it strange.
“That was your father?”
“Yes.”
Hyunjin’s expression darkened.
“I think he was after me, but because he’d taken a lot of drugs, he got the two of us confused.”
Wrong. Yoo Junghyun had meant to target Jaewoo all along, but Jaewoo couldn’t tell him that.
“W-Why was he after you? Did you two have a fight?”
Hyunjin reached out and gently held Jaewoo’s hand. He hadn’t realized it, but it was trembling slightly.
“My father’s addicted to gambling. He needed money, but according to him no banks or loan companies would lend him any more. I guess he thought it was my fault.”
Mujin had let Hyunjin go because of Jaewoo’s promise, but he’d also agreed not to lend money to Hyunjin’s father anymore. That was all Jaewoo’s doing, not Hyunjin’s.
Without realizing it, Jaewoo began to bite his lip again. He’d tried to do a good thing, but every time it seemed as though Hyunjin was the one to suffer. His heart ached with a deepening feeling of guilt.
“Jaewoo, your lips are hurt.”
Hyunjin carefully rubbed Jaewoo’s lips with his finger.
“See? You’re bleeding.”
Jaewoo felt like he was going to cry from Hyunjin’s kindness. As the number of things he couldn’t tell him increased, his heart had become heavier and heavier.
“Don’t cry. There’s nothing to cry about. I like it more when you smile.”
Jaewoo couldn’t figure it out. Why did such a good person have to suffer? Jaewoo swallowed back his tears and tried to smile.
“See? You look much handsomer like this.”
“I’m not handsome. You’re much more handsome than I am.”
At those words, Hyunjin’s face brightened.
“You think I’m handsome?”
“Of course. You’re incredibly handsome.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
Hyunjin said with a joyous laugh. Jaewoo stared at him, awestruck at the sight. Even though he had to leave soon, he couldn’t bring himself to look away. That was why he wasn’t able to avoid the approaching lips.
Hyunjin’s lips were dry and slightly chapped, but the sensation was still sweet. The two of them stayed like that for a moment, kissing silently, before breaking apart just far enough for them to wrap their arms around one another.
“Jaewoo, I love you.”
Hyunjin poured his heart out once more.
“Is it all in my head? I feel like you love me too.”
Jaewoo swallowed back a sigh at those words.
“Do you not?”
Jaewoo couldn’t bring himself to answer.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to answer me now.”
Despite his silence, Hyunjin didn’t give up. He’d decided that he wasn’t going to back down anymore.
“We have all the time in the world.”
That wasn’t true. Their time was almost up.
After today, Jaewoo would have to leave Hyunjin’s side and return to his own world. That was something that he couldn’t change.
