Chapter 44

“I thought you left, so I was about to call… Oh, you went to pick up your lover.”

Lee Jun silently held his breath at the lively voice that greeted him as soon as he entered the room. Just from the sound of his voice before making eye contact, Han Jeong-min’s personality was somewhat evident.

If he were a stranger, it would be a voice that would instantly make one feel good. He didn’t have as low a voice tone as Chaeheon, but it wasn’t bad.

“Hello. I’m Han Jeong-min.”

As soon as Lee Jun stepped out next to Chaeheon, the greeting came as if it had been waiting. He was a man with a smile that suited him well. His bright, open smile created deep dimples around his mouth, making him look fresh.

“I’m Lee Jun.”

Lee Jun nodded his head in greeting and then went to sit where Chaeheon indicated. Since he was directly opposite Han Jeong-min, the latter’s gaze naturally followed him. Even without looking, Lee Jun knew what kind of thoughts were behind the eyes that scanned his face. How could he not know when the man was smiling with his lips but his eyes meticulously scrutinized him, not missing a single detail? Disliking that gaze, Lee Jun avoided even fleeting eye contact.

“So you’re a shy person.”

“Quiet.”

Chaeheon cut off Han Jeong-min’s comment, who had interpreted it differently.

“I only said hello?”

“Even that greeting is noisy.”

Chaeheon told Han Jeong-min to lower his voice and brought a glass in front of Lee Jun.

“Do you want alcohol? Or a soft drink?”

“Give me alcohol.”

“This has a high alcohol content, I’ll order something else.”

While Han Jeong-min watched, Lee Jun turned his head as if interested in Chaeheon’s question. After seeing his face, Lee Jun felt like his heart was going to burst.

If he had followed his impulse, he would have grabbed Han Jeong-min by the collar and shouted at him the moment he saw him. He had been happily dating Haein, found out about the pregnancy, and then broke up with her, so he shouldn’t have appeared again. Lee Jun wanted to yell at him, asking why he was coming back to Haein. His heart was pounding rapidly from the intense displeasure he felt towards him.

To suppress that urge, Lee Jun held the glass and said to Chaeheon,

“Anything is fine.”

If it meant he didn’t have to grab that man by the collar, any alcohol would do.

“This is for someone else, don’t drink it. I’ll get you a new one.”

Chaeheon immediately called a staff member and seemed to order drinks, then had the entire table re-set.

Thanks to this, several staff members came in to clear the table, giving Lee Jun time to observe Han Jeong-min.

Was he handsome? He was no different from the man Lee Jun had met at the entrance earlier. Unlike Chaeheon, he didn’t strike Lee Jun as handsome, but he didn’t seem ugly either.

Lee Jun had thought his smile suited him well, and it wasn’t wrong; he smiled often, and even when he said nothing, the atmosphere around him was light.

If they were together, he seemed like he would comfortably lead the mood. He didn’t want to think about it, but Haein also had a bright personality, so if they had continued dating until now, wouldn’t they have been a good match?

‘There’s nothing more useless than thinking like this about a relationship that’s already over.’

Lee Jun forced himself to stop thinking, emptying a glass that he didn’t know when it had been filled. The aroma rising from the alcohol was quite strong, but the liquid itself was surprisingly light once it entered his mouth.

It was a drink where the scent was stronger than the taste, which wasn’t bad, so he took another sip and set it down. In that moment, Chaeheon pushed some appetizers towards him.

“Don’t just drink alcohol, eat some appetizers in between too. I won’t even ask you to eat a lot.”

Among the table full of appetizers, Chaeheon had pushed over the type that Lee Jun quite liked. He wondered why Chaeheon was taking such good care of him, but then he remembered that Chaeheon was faithfully fulfilling his promise to “like him a lot.”

Indeed, Han Jeong-min was looking at them with a surprised expression. Just when Lee Jun felt relieved that Chaeheon was listening to him, Chaeheon leaned closer. Chaeheon whispered into Lee Jun’s ear so that Han Jeong-min couldn’t hear.

“It’s not because you told me to like you.”

As if reading Lee Jun’s thoughts, Chaeheon denied it.

“I was always a good boyfriend to my Senior. You know that.”

Lee Jun, understanding the multiple meanings in Chaeheon’s smile, pushed him away and covered his face with one hand. Whenever Lee Jun woke up the morning after spending the night with Chaeheon, his body was always clean. Chaeheon never forgot to wipe Lee Jun’s body, not once.

It was possible that the thought was an exaggeration on his part. But then Chaeheon whispered in his ear again.

“Since we’re dating, we can go beyond kissing, can’t we?”

So, it wasn’t just his own thought.

Lee Jun looked at Chaeheon, trying to warn him to stop, but was surprised by how close they were. Just a slight tilt of the head, and their lips would meet. When did he get so close?

“Since you said we’re dating, I can ask for that much.”

Lee Jun swallowed hard, feeling nervous at Chaeheon’s temptation. To be honest, he hadn’t thought about it at all when Chaeheon suggested they date earlier. But now he felt like he had responded too carelessly. If he had known this would happen, he would have resisted the idea of dating until the end.

…Could he really have resisted? Even if he went back to that moment, wouldn’t he have given the same answer? How could he refuse now, unable to tear his eyes away from Chaeheon’s lips? He almost gave in on the day they kissed, so how could he possibly…

“Shall we kiss?”

At Chaeheon’s last words, it felt as if the thread of his rationality snapped. He was on the verge of succumbing to Chaeheon’s temptation, drawn by the atmosphere. Suddenly, a dry cough was heard, and Lee Jun, remembering Han Jeong-min belatedly, pulled his head back.

“Tch.”

Chaeheon seemed to know that Lee Jun had almost given in and regretted missing the opportunity.

“Sorry to interrupt, but…”

“If you were sorry, you should have kept quiet.”

“Ah, right. I apologize.”

Han Jeong-min apologized again and bowed to Lee Jun as well. When their eyes met again, Lee Jun unconsciously grabbed Chaeheon’s clothes. Because of this, Chaeheon, who had been about to pull back, couldn’t and froze awkwardly, but Lee Jun couldn’t help it.

‘His eyes have changed.’

Even before, there was a cautiousness in how Han Jeong-min treated him. Lee Jun thought he must have heard something from Chaeheon, but that was as far as it went.

The gaze of observation was stronger, and it felt like he was being evaluated. That’s why, even though Han Jeong-min smiled often, Lee Jun felt wary and couldn’t let his guard down. But now…

It changed in an instant. From someone to be observed to someone to become friendly with.

Lee Jun felt a mix of amusement and sadness at the favor in Han Jeong-min’s eyes. He had intentionally come to meet him and roughly imagined this kind of reaction, but it wasn’t easy to lift his spirits, which kept sinking.

He felt like drinking alcohol to calm his boiling stomach would only make it burn more, so Lee Jun reached for the water next to Chaeheon. In doing so, he accidentally knocked over the alcohol glass in front of Chaeheon. With the sharp sound of the glass falling, the alcohol spilled and stained Chaeheon’s clothes.

“I’m sorry.”

Lee Jun hastily grabbed a tissue nearby and dabbed it on Chaeheon’s clothes. It seemed unlikely that the stained alcohol would wipe off, but he felt he had to do something.

Lost in his gloomy mood, he hadn’t paid attention to his surroundings and made such a mistake. He felt terribly upset that Han Jeong-min was watching.

“It’s fine, just sit down.”

At that moment, Chaeheon took Lee Jun’s hand and made him sit. Pushed by him, Lee Jun sat obediently and looked at Chaeheon, unsure what to do, as Chaeheon calmly began to tidy up their surroundings.

“You were reaching for the water, weren’t you?”

First, Chaeheon took care of what Lee Jun needed, and just when Lee Jun thought he was done, he pulled out a handkerchief and even wiped Lee Jun’s hand.

“You’re going to reek of alcohol.”

As Lee Jun silently watched the handkerchief wrapped around his hand, Chaeheon finished wiping it and then turned his eyes to the table.

He righted the fallen glass, roughly wiped the spilled alcohol with the tissue he’d used on his clothes, and pushed it aside. Having thus simply dealt with the situation, Chaeheon picked up Lee Jun’s glass.

“It seems we’ll have to share this one glass.”

And then, as if to show off, he drank the alcohol, making it seem as if what had just happened was nothing.

“How affectionate.”

The remark about Chaeheon’s actions came not from Lee Jun, but from Han Jeong-min.

“I didn’t know you were so good to your lover. The others should have seen this.”

Han Jeong-min’s continuous exhalations, as if genuinely surprised, made Lee Jun want to sigh along with him. The purpose of his being here was constantly being blurred by Chaeheon. But if he were asked if he resented it, the answer was no. It felt like they had gone back to before, now that they were dating again.

The problem was that seeing Chaeheon’s unchanging feelings didn’t feel unpleasant.

“By the way…”

Lee Jun was also nervously watching what would happen next when Han Jeong-min suddenly spoke to him.

“Have we met somewhere before?”

Lee Jun froze, unable to even blink, under the intense gaze that stared at his face.

“Your name is unfamiliar, but why does your face look so familiar? As if I’ve seen it somewhere.”

With every light remark Han Jeong-min made, Lee Jun tightly clutched Chaeheon’s clothes.

If he was seeing Haein through Lee Jun’s face… If that’s why he recognized him, then this meeting would not go smoothly.